Hours later, Justin was beginning to feel like he’d been blindsided by a Mack truck. After talking with Em, he had walked back to the diner to be accosted by Debbie. Apparently, Michael had taken his woes to her and she wanted to talk with him about it. Well, it was really Debbie talked and Justin listened. Because he had so much respect for her, he didn’t say much back. He just nodded and politely told her that she might want to re-check some of her information with Michael, as she obviously did not have all the facts. 

Justin was relieved when Debbie gave him a long searching look and said that she would double check her facts with Michael. She’d then patted him on the cheek, took the glass top off the lemon bar display, grabbed what smelled to be a fairly fresh one, and handed it to him.  As she walked to the back of the diner, Justin was a little taken aback at how glad he was that Debbie hadn’t pushed him. He loved Debbie and really didn’t want to be at odds with her- living with her or no. 

He continued his thoughts as he took a healthy bite of the lemon bar. It was, as Justin knew it would be, utterly perfect. He took a moment to enjoy it before looking at his watch and realizing that it was almost time to meet Brian out front. 

As he was putting on his jacket, the bell to the diner’s door jingled. Justin smiled at Ted and Emmett as they walked over and took the booth that he was getting ready to leave. 

“How did your meeting go?” Justin asked Emmett. 

“Great! In fact, I have more work for you, if you are interested. The client is very imaginative; I think you would have a lot of fun working with her.” 

Justin nodded. “Depends,” he said. 

“I know, I know,” Emmett assured Justin, “First you have to have your meeting with Brian. Isn’t it about time for you to meet him?” 

“Yep, that’s where I was heading.” Justin said as he grabbed his backpack. 

“Have fun,” Ted said with an odd look on his face. 

“Thanks,” Justin said with his sunshine smile. 

“Remember,” Emmett said loudly as Justin was about to open the door, “I want details! Lots and lots of details!” 

Justin shifted his backpack up on his shoulder and prepared to wait. It was 6:40pm and Brian should be there in about five minutes. 

“Hey,” a male voice said from behind him. Justin turned around to see Michael standing there, a very unhappy look on his face. 

Justin was not about to let Michael ruin his evening before it even started. “What part of: I said I would come to you, did you not understand?” 

Michael put up both hands in a surrendering fashion. “I’m not looking for a fight. I just wanted to say that I hope your talk with Brian goes well tonight.” 

“Right,” Justin said with a lot of skepticism in his voice. 

“I know you don’t think that I want you and Brian together, but I do.” Michael tried to assure him. “It’s just that Brian’s changed a lot since you’ve been around. And I’m not saying that it’s for the worse. He’s just different.” 

“Yeah, well, Michael, I’d say that you are different, too. You’ve got Ben, Hunter, and a baby on the way. What’s wrong with Brian growing up, too?” 

Michael shook his head. “There isn’t anything wrong with it. That’s why I wanted to catch you before you talk with Brian. I wanted you to know that I do support you and Brian- your relationship. And I’ll also support whatever decision you make about working with Brett Keller.” 

“No questions or comments- you’ll just accept it.” Justin asked, wanting to make sure everything was perfectly clear between them. 

“No questions or comments,” Michael agreed and re-assured him. 

“Ok,” Justin said. “I’ll let you know something as soon as I can.” 

“Ok, thanks,” Michael said. As he walked into the diner, he turned, patted Justin on the back and told him that he really did wish him the best regarding the big talk tonight. 

“Thanks,” Justin said as Michael walked into the restaurant. 

Justin had barely digested the scene with Michael when he saw the green Vette pull up and park right in front of the diner’s main entrance. Letting his backpack fall off his shoulder, he walked over and opened the door. 

“Evening, Sunshine,” Brian practically sang as Justin tossed his backpack into the backseat and got into the car. Once he was settled and had his seatbelt on, Brian turned his head by grasping his chin and planted a long, sensuous kiss on him. They both groaned a little when it broke apart. 

Watching Brian put the car into reverse, Justin asked, “So, where are we headed? The loft?” 

Brian just shook his head no, and slowly backed the car into the street. Putting her into gear, Brian squealed the tires as they headed down the street. 

“Oh,” Justin continued in his questions, “Let me guess, we’re going to the park and having a picnic!” 

“Smartass,” was Brian’s only response. 

“Better than a dumb ass,” was Justin’s quick response before he asked another question about the evening. “So, where are we going?” 

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” was Brian’s annoyingly, coy response. Justin was pretty sure that if anyone else had said that to him, he’d be beyond annoyed. 

Ten minutes later and truly having no idea where they were, Justin was starting to get a little annoyed with Brian. Fifteen minutes later, he was definitely annoyed. 

“You know, it’s cute when you huff like that, Sunshine.” 

“Bite me,” was Justin’s less than brilliant comeback. 

“If things go my way, I’ll bite you and a whole lot more tonight,” Brian assured Justin with a sexy chuckle in his voice. Unfortunately, Justin was annoyed and was not in the mood for anymore of Brian’s attitude. 

“I wouldn’t bet on it,” Justin smarted back. 

“I would,” Brian said with obnoxious self confidence. And to make it worse, when Justin huffed again and turned to look out of the passenger side window, Brian outright laughed. 

The rest of the ride was made in silence. Justin became very confused when they turned into a really nice neighborhood that he recognized. Brian made one more right turn and then parked in the driveway of a beautiful, contemporary home. 

“Where are we?” Justin demanded. 
 
“Home,” Brian said as he leaned over and unhooked Justin’s seatbelt. 

“Huh?” Justin intelligently responded. 

“Justin,” Brian started talking while cupping Justin’s cheek, “What I did that night was horrible. I heard Lindsay go on and on about being a good partner and I freaked. And because of that, I almost lost you. I can’t apologize because we both know that I meant to do it at the time, but what I can do is show you that I’ve changed. Prove to you that you are what matters. I want to prove to you that I want to make you happy above all else.” Brian paused a little here and gave Justin’s cheek a little rub. “So, I’ve sold the loft. I don’t want you to be reminded of what I did. I want us to start new, have a clean slate, so to speak. This, Justin, is our new home- just you and me, if you want it to be.” 

Justin was dumbfounded. He wanted to go take a look, but he didn’t think he was physically capable of moving just yet. In fact, he was starting to think that either he hadn’t heard Brian correctly, or he was in shock. 

“Justin?” Brian inquired, a concerned look on his face. 

Justin’s eyes flew to connect with Brian’s. “Sorry,” he softly and slowly got out. “You, uh, sold the loft?” 

“Yep,” Brian told him, “We have to be out in twenty-one days. So, you want to look around? See if it deserves the Justin Taylor seal of approval?

Justin simply nodded. He was quite sure that he was in shock. 

Brian got out of the car, closed his door with a soft thud, and walked over to help Justin out of his seat. Brian closed the car door, and they walked over to the home’s glass front door. Brian flipped to a new key on his key ring and unlocked the door. He pushed the door open and motioned for Justin to precede him in. 

Justin had to work very hard to not let his mouth drop open. The house was exquisite. There was a two story foyer that was mostly glass and wood. The floors were a rich, amber-colored hardwood that matched the hardwoods on the ceilings. From the right of the foyer, you could see the massive windows in what looked to be a family room. In fact, the entire back wall of that room was nothing but large, custom shaped windows. 
To the left of the foyer, there was a pair of glassed French doors that looked to lead to a study of some sort. 

“Over here to the left will be your studio,” Brian said, gently pulling Justin by the coat towards the French doors. He opened the doors and continued, “You should see the natural light this room gets during the day. Look up! There’s even a skylight to increase the light.” 

Justin looked around the room. There were several built-in shelves that, to his surprise, already held a lot of his supplies that had just hours earlier been at Debbie’s. Apparently, someone had been busy. Giving the room a long glance, he decided that the room would be perfect for any art he might want to create. Looking to Brian, he felt his face erupt into a wide smile. 

“I guess that means you like it?” Brian smirked knowingly. 

Justin nodded his head, “Yeah, I do.” 

“Good. Come on, there’s more.” Brian gave him a gentle push out into the foyer again. 

Justin allowed himself to be led all over the good sized house. When it was all revealed, Justin didn’t know what to say or do. Brian had bought, literally, the perfect house for them. And he had even started to move their things into it. He was also pretty sure that he’d seen some items that only his mother could have given to Brian. So, he realized, that answered why she was acting so oddly earlier. She’d been in on Brian’s secret. 

“How long has my mom known about this?” Justin asked. 

“Figured it out, did you?” Brian responded without really answering. 

Justin arched his eyebrow and smirked, “Yep.” 

“Long enough to help me find it, buy it, and start moving you in,” was Brian’s brief answer. 

“Yeah,” Justin replied, “I thought I recognized some things that I had left at her house.” 

Brian smiled. “Yeah, well, you did get 1500 on your SATs.” 

“I did.” Justin agreed. 

“So?” Brian prompted. 

“So?” Justin echoed back, knowing that it would probably annoy Brian. 

“Don’t be a twat,” Brian cautioned him, “So, what do you think of the house?” 

Justin smirked, “I love it. And I love you. Are you really serious about this house only being for us?” 

Brian nodded slowly. “I’m not saying that we’ll be monogamous. We’re not a pair of fucking lesbians, but this place- this place will just be for you and me. 

“You are such a romantic, Mr. Kinney.” Justin joked, and smiled so widely that his nose crinkled. 

“I know,” Brian assured him as he pulled Justin in for a long, passionate kiss. As they pulled apart from the kiss, still in each other’s arms and foreheads resting together, Justin decided this was good. In fact, it was very good: they were together and they were home.