A/N: Apparently the key to healthy fanfic writing is to be gainfully employed. Got a job (finally, after nearly a year of not working) and banged this out in a couple of days. Also, should you come across any really weird typos, I do write most of my chapters on my phone and, even though I obsessively edit, I don't catch everything.
Cynthia Moore guarded the bathroom door, keeping track of Blondie and Pipsqueak, her personal names for Lindsey and Michael. She wouldn't put it past the two to rush the door in a chance to talk Brian out of marriage again. She knew Brian counted them as part of his very limited circle of friends but her own theory of friendship meant you promoted and supported your friends and didn't try to push them down.
The first time she'd met Michael, when Brian had still been an assistant copywriter, she'd instantly disliked the man who'd gone out of his way to remind her that Brian was gay. Apparently Michael took the term "work wife" too seriously and she'd walked in on her co-worker seducing whomever too many times to not know. And Blondie, well, she annoyed her solely on personal principals. Something about the waif-ish, woe-is-me attitude Lindsey projected made Cynthia want to smack her or gag. She hadn't made her way to the top by pretending to be incapable.
She always got a quick jolt of pleasure when she said Brian was too busy to take their calls and she'd trained her replacement well. Cari also disliked Pipsqueak and Blondie and seemed to take joy in telling the duo that Mr. Kinney was unavailable.
She and Brian had pushed and pulled each other up the corporate ladder, an endeavor that had paid off as she was now the COO of Kennetik. They'd started at the agency on the same day, sitting together at the back of the orientation room, making snide remarks about their fellow trainees. Being in each other's suit jacket pockets meant she'd gotten to know her boss fairly well. Thus, she knew that when he informed her that she was to inquire if he wanted to take Justin's calls instead of the normal, he's in a meeting but I can take a message speech that Justin was different with a capital D.
And, unlike Blondie and Pipsqueak, Justin didn't complain when Brian needed to pull all-nighters to put together campaigns. Most often he'd wait for Brian to show up at the loft. He'd feed the man something before they worked those calories off. Sometimes, however, he'd kept himself on stand-by, slouched in a corner of Brian's office, ready to make food, coffee or tampon runs. He also understood advertising and that was a plus. They'd been able to bounce ideas off someone of the target demographic.
Also, Brian was nicer to the staff who hadn't had years to grow immune to his ways when Justin was around. That was reason number two she'd plotted with Justin to arrange this event. Reason number one was that she wanted her quasi-brother to be happy and Justin was the path to that happiness. So, she stood outside the door, eyeing Blondie and Pipsqueak as if daring them to just try it.
By God, she was going to see Brian married by the end of the day or there would be hell to pay. She'd plotted with Justin over this crazy scheme from the first day he'd approached her. She'd been the one to rope Ted and Blake into the mechanics of the plot. She'd been the one to drive her moody boss all the way to Vermont in the fucking snow in order to deliver him to his one true love. She'd been the one to risk her neck by sneaking into Brian's loft to liberate the rings from his safe.
If this all went to shit, she'd either be demoted or fired completely. Yes, Cynthia Moore had a lot riding on this wedding actually happening this time.
So focused on Blondie and Pipsqueak, she jumped when Melanie Marcus approached her and handed over a glass of water. Slapping a hand against her chest, Cynthia cast a quick glare at her lawyer. "Next time, make noise."
Melanie was something else she owed Brian for. She knew that the two were like oil and water but when she'd needed legal advice a few years ago, he'd taken her to Melanie. With Brian and Melanie's help, her mother was in a quality long-term care facility with a trust established to pay for her needs and legal protection.
Melanie shrugged and leaned back against the wall. "Sorry. How's your mother? Any trouble?"
"She's been having some really good weeks lately. This new therapy program is helping. There's been no trouble; the others seem to be leaving her alone now that the restraining order is in place. Thank you again for that, by the way."
Melanie shrugged. "That's what the trust pays me to do. I'm glad to hear that she's doing better. Maybe one day, I will be able to speak with her in person."
Cynthia rolled a shoulder. "The doctors say there's some hope in the latest research but actually applying it to patients is a long way off."
Both women lapsed into silence, watching the room as their friends scurried around. Daphne helped the mothers of the grooms to scoot furniture out of the way while Granny Smith directed the affair. Molly buzzed around the room, recording everything on her new camera, an early Christmas present. Ben ran herd on the children while Ted and Blake helped Emmett to set up a simple buffet table. Pipsqueak and Blondie, not helping to set up the nuptials, stood across the room.
Cynthia had to wonder if Blondie's glare was directed at her for guarding the bathroom door or if it was because Melanie was standing next to her.
"So, Ted said you helped to plan this whole thing?"
"Ted's scared of Brian and Justin needed someone who could manage Brian in order to get him up here. I've been managing our fearless leader since our first day at Ryder."
"Why'd you do it? I mean, what's in it for you?"
"A happy, well-fucked Brian is a productive Brian who doesn't scare off three copy writers in a week because he's moody and misses Justin; not that he would actually admit to missing him out loud but, generally speaking, throwing coffee cups because of a silly typo is a good indication."
"How is he not drowning in lawsuits?"
"He's good at charming people, his employees know that the company is raking in the money and we offer a very generous benefits package. If I actually manage to get those two hitched this time, he'll be happier and Justin will be closer in case we need him to head off a nasty mood."
"They don't have to be married in order for that to happen and if you need him to get off in order to get stuff done, there'd be a line around the block just waiting."
Cynthia nodded her head. "Very true on all points. Here's my counter argument. The high he gets from an anonymous ass doesn't last long and he'd need another far too soon and he'd then get no work done. He's a sex junkie; it's like Justin is the purest form of his particular drug and no one else can achieve that high for him. And no, they don't have to be married; Justin could just move back home. They want it and they want it on their terms. However they define their relationship, they are their best selves when they are together. They boost each other's egos beyond what random sex partners can do. Separated, they are strong forces but together they can be unstoppable. Also, at the launch party last June, Brian started growling at the son of our client when the idiot started to flirt, heavily, with Justin. Neither found the idiot attractive and Brian got possessive when the man couldn't take a hint. My hopes are that a ring on Brian's very attractive partner's finger will make other idiots back off before there's growling and threats and the possibility of bloodshed."
Melanie swallowed and looked towards the bathroom door. "I always forget that he's capable of violence."
"He abhors it. You know that when he resorts to violence that he's been pushed too far," Cynthia paused and glanced around before leaning closer. "He donates large amounts of money, and time, to several of the domestic abuse shelters and has taken on the advertising for free."
Melanie blinked and stared at the closed door. "It's hard to think of him as the good guy. He acts like such a jerk most of the time but, every now and then he does a 180 and pulls something extremely generous."
Cynthia nodded. "He's hard to pin down. They've been in there far too long to just be selecting appropriate clothing. Damned men; can't keep their pants zipped for longer than five minutes around each other."
Melanie watched, swallowing laughter, as Cynthia pounded on the door, demanding that they'd better be dressed.
Lindsey had spent most last night and the morning trying to talk Justin out of marriage. He just seemed to brush away the ideas that New York was his only chance and that Brian would never change or settle into a monogamous married man. He'd actually hissed at her that they were perfectly fine with their polyamorous relationship and to stop whining about him not living her dream of starving New York Artist.
She stood next to Michael, twisting her necklace around her fingers, and stared at the closed bathroom door. Justin had hustled him in there after his talk with the old lady and she was starting to think they weren't going to leave. "It'll never work out. Brian won't change and Justin won't succeed if he's not in New York. Why are men such idiots?"
"Brian Kinney isn't supposed to do marriage or love or monogamy-"
"Polyamory. Justin calls their relationship a polyamorous one."
"Whatever the fuck they call it, it won't work. Everyone wants love and commitment. Just you wait. You'll see, when Brian doesn't change, Justin will leave just like always."
"Soon enough, Justin will go back to New York because that's where he needs to be in order to be a successful artist but Brian can't leave. Gus and the business are here, in Pittsburgh. That would end it."
Beside her, Michael nodded. All those years ago, when Justin had first shoved his way into their lives, Michael had never expected this as the ultimate outcome. If Brian ever reached this point in his life, it should have been with him but somehow the blonde twink had slipped in under the wire. And he'd brought with him all sorts of strange changes.
The man being dragged up the aisle was a completely different creature from the god he'd been at the start of the century and Michael was sure that the change was a bad thing.
"You're both wrong, you know, about Justin and Brian."
Lindsey and Michael jumped, one after the other, and turned to see Justin's little sister standing behind them. "You shouldn't listen into other people's conversations."
"Dude, your own daughter doesn't listen to you; why should I? Besides, it's my brother you two are talking about and he's my business. And you're still wrong."
"What are we wrong about, Sweetie?"
Molly raised an eyebrow at the nickname Lindsey had just bestowed on her. "Don't call me Sweetie. Justin will only ever return to New York for any business trips. He's making Pittsburgh his home base. Even if Brian had said no and fucked off back to Pittsburgh, Justin would still be staying. Half his stuff is cluttering up Mom's spare room and the rest can apparently wait till after the holidays. He's been in town for a week, dragging Mom through rat-infested dives in search of studio space."
"Just because he's moving back home doesn't mean they have to get back together," Michael said.
"Brian has never been able to commit to anything besides having as much sex as possible and making as much money as possible," Lindsey said.
Molly looked between the two. "And here I thought no one could be dumber then Stanley Howard. Those two...they are like a pair of binary stars or something. No matter where they are, there is some sort of gravity between them that pulls them together. Committed to each other or not, polyamorous or monogamous, married or not, it just doesn't matter because they are caught in an orbit around each other and nothing short of a supernova will break that circle. No matter what, they will always be in each other's lives in some fashion."
"You're just a kid; you don't know anything about the real world," Michael said.
"I may only be 14 years, Michael, but I'm not an idiot. Just because someone is a 'kid' doesn't mean they don't see, hear and know things. JR already thinks you're a joke and Gus wants to grow up to have someone like Justin, but a girl-version of Justin. Soon enough, they'll both be old enough to understand what you all say about my brother and brother-in-law. They'll also understand that the marriages of you two are not as strong as they appear. Even when angry and separated, those two were drawn to each other. Can the two of you say the same thing? Now, if you'll excuse me, I need pictures of the grooms," she said before flouncing away to where Cynthia was dragging Justin and Brian from the bathroom.