Lois and Carolyn, thanks for the beta...you’re the greatest!
I would also like to thank everyone who previewed the chapters for me.
Author's Comments: Of course, you'll let me know if reader's fatigue begins, so I can slow down my posting rate a little. (smile) Otherwise, I'm planning to continue my frequent updates. I think this story requires that the updates happen close together so you don't lose track of thngs.
Chapter 7 – Requests
Early Sunday Evening…(Day 56)
“Well, there you are!” Ben said, as Hunter entered their apartment. “Where did you disappear to?”
“Oh, I thought since you were going to be busy, that I would go down to the Red Cape and give Michael a hand.”
“That’s nice,” Ben said, showing no emotion in his voice. “How is Michael?” he quietly asked.
“You know Michael…whenever he’s in the comic book store, his world seems perfect,” Hunter said cautiously.
“Yes, I remember. Comics and superheroes are things that Michael has always been passionate about,” Ben said softly, remembering the first time that he’d walked into the comic book store. It was just after Michael had bought the store from Buzzy, and Ben was there looking for comics to read to gather background material for his lectures. Ben remembered that he and Michael were instantly attracted to one another…but it took a while for every thing to work out between them.
Hunter noticed that Ben was deep in thought, and he didn’t want to intrude. Deep down he secretly hoped that Ben would remember how much he loved Michael. He hoped that in that remembrance, Ben and Michael would find their way back to each other. Hunter hoped these things, but he knew that it would be a long time before Ben would be able to, once again, cope with Michael’s feelings towards Brian.
Finally, Hunter said, “I think I’ll go in and lie down for a while.”
“Lie down? Are you feeling okay?” Ben asked with some concern.
“No. I’m fine. The store was a little busier than usual. I just need to stretch out for a minute.”
“Sure…take all the time you need. I’ll go start dinner. I was thinking about preparing my bean curd casserole and a salad. What do you think?”
“Would it do any good to tell you I was hoping for a cheeseburger?”
“Not really,” Ben said with a laugh.
“I didn’t think so,” Hunter said with a smile as he turned towards his room. “But it never hurts to ask,” he added sarcastically.
Ben couldn’t help smiling too.
Hunter managed to keep it together and hide his feelings while he was talking to Ben, but as he lay there, pondering what he and Michael had found on the Internet, his level of concern grew. He was definitely worried about Michael’s ability to cope with this new information about his father.
Finding out that the man Michael had always believed to be your father…couldn’t possibly be his biological father…would be enough to shake the foundations of anyone’s life. Things were made worse, at the moment, because Michael was now alone with no one to turn to.
In spite of Hunter’s relief that Ben could finally find a respite from the constant reminder of Michael’s obsession with Brian, he never intended for Michael to be so totally and completely alone.
Then Hunter remembered all the times that Michael had been there for him. He remembered their time on the run together when his mother had come to town to claim him through his problems at school. Michael, along with Ben, had always been there for him.
And as Hunter tossed and turned, he knew he had to figure out something to try to help.
***
The Next Day, Monday Morning…(Day 57)
The next morning, Hunter showed up bright and early to the Diner. He really wanted a chance to talk to Debbie about what he and Michael had learned from the Internet.
But now that he was actually IN the Diner, things looked a little different. He still didn’t want to betray any confidences, but he knew that he needed some help.
Hunter wanted to do whatever he could to keep the remaining elements of his family intact…and Debbie and Michael were both still family.
While he was still on the horns of this dilemma, he heard a familiar voice ring out.
“Hunter, what are you doing here so early?” Debbie asked, when she noticed him sitting in one of the booths.
“I wanted a decent breakfast so I snuck in here before Ben had a chance to feed me nuts and weeds,” Hunter professed.
“I see,” Debbie said with a laugh, fully understanding his plight. “What can I get for you?”
“How about pancakes with sausage…that should keep me going for a bit,” Hunter teased.
Debbie laughed. “Coming right up,” she said. Then she added, “How about some orange juice with that?”
“Oh no, not you too?” Hunter protested.
“Grandmother’s rights,” she reminded him as she smiled and turned to leave.
When she returned with the orange juice, Hunter asked her to join him.
Debbie was surprised by this request. But the Diner wasn’t crowded, so she announced that she was taking a break.
She poured herself a cup of coffee and re-joined Hunter in the booth.
“Now what’s on your mind, kiddo,” she gently asked.
“Michael has always been there for me. I feel that I’ve let him down. I don’t know what to do.”
“What do you mean? Michael knows that you love him,” Debbie quickly reassured him.
“Yeah, but I chose to live with Ben. I’m sure that has got to hurt.”
“Look honey, Michael understands that you and Ben have always been close.”
“But maybe I didn’t understand how much Michael might really need me…after all, before he always had Brian to lean on.”
“Yes, Brian….” Debbie grumbled.
“Now he’s all alone. Where will he turn?”
“Hunter, my son is a grown man. I’m sure he can take care of himself. Do you understand?”
“Yes…” Hunter answered quietly, although from experience, he knew better.
At that moment the bell sounded, meaning that Hunter’s breakfast was now up, so Debbie slid out of the booth to go get his order.
Hunter ate in silence, trying to decide what his next move should be.
Finally, he made a decision. He just couldn’t talk to Debbie about this. There had to be another alternative to his dilemma.
As he continued to consider things over breakfast, he had another idea. Then, he pulled out his cell phone and made a call.
The call, as expected, rolled over into voice mail, so he left a message requesting a call back.
With that task out of the way, Hunter could now enjoy what was left of his breakfast. The he would be ready to start his day...confident that everything was going to be okay.
***
Later that day, Hunter’s cell phone rang. “Hello,” he answered.
“Hunter, it’s Justin. You called…is everyone all right?” he immediately asked with some concern, since this was not someone he was used to chatting with by phone very often.
“Everyone’s fine, honest. I just need a favor.”
“A favor? You must be desperate if you’re asking me! What kind of a favor? And no, I won’t leave Brian so you can have him,” Justin teased.
“Somehow, I figured that was pretty much out of the question,” Hunter responded with a laugh, “But it never hurts to try. You never know, I might get lucky,” he teased back. It felt good for him to be able to laugh and joke with Justin.
Over the years, Hunter had long since gotten over his crush on Brian, but he still liked to tease both Brian and Justin about it every chance he got. It had become a running joke between them.
Then Hunter’s tone turned serious again. “You know I still need that favor.”
Justin patiently sighed. “Okay, what is it?” he finally asked.
“I need you to get Brian to get in touch Michael,” Hunter said rapidly, without taking a breath. There he’d managed to get all out in one breath.
A protracted silence followed on the other end of the phone.
“And why on earth would I do that?” Justin asked, already dropping into protective mode where Brian was concerned.
“Something is going on with Michael…he really needs his best friend,” Hunter explained.
Justin asked the obvious question, “Can’t Ben handle things?”
“I guess you don’t know…Ben and Michael aren’t together anymore. Ben moved out, and I’m living with him now in an apartment. Michael is all alone at the house now.”
“What? When did that happen?” Justin wanted to know, but then he realized that he shouldn’t be really surprised, for he knew that Ben had finally had enough.
“It’s been about a week now. Ben left right after dinner was over,” Hunter revealed quietly, now he didn’t want to talk about this part anymore, so he shifted back to the issue at hand. “So will you do it? Will you talk to Brian?” he pleaded.
“Why didn’t you call Brian yourself?” Justin asked quietly once all the facts had sunk in.
“Because I was afraid that Brian wouldn’t pay any attention to me. I knew you would at least listen, before you completely blew me off.”
“I see. So, what is it that I’m supposed to listen to?” Justin felt compelled to ask.
“Through a series of completely innocent and unexpected events, Michael found out yesterday that John Michael Novotny couldn’t possibly be his real father. Either there has been some big mistake, or Debbie’s been lying to Michael all this time.”
“Come on, Hunter, everybody knows the story of Michael’s father and his dying a war hero. Are you letting your imagination run away with you again?”
“Not this time, Justin. Michael has solid evidence this time that John Novotny couldn’t possibly be his father. I know. I saw the evidence!” Hunter strongly proclaimed.
“Oh shit…” Justin responded. “How did you find out?”
“I was with him when he figured everything out. Look, it’s a long story. Will you talk to Brian? Maybe he can do something before the explosion happens within the family,” Hunter cautioned.
“I’ll see what I can do, but don’t expect too much.”
“Thanks, Justin.”
Justin closed his cell phone. He looked at the time. He was due to meet Brian for lunch.
Justin quickly cleaned up a few things at his studio, changed his clothes, and left to meet Brian at the nearby coffee shop.
***
“I can’t believe it…you’re relatively paint-free for a change,” Brian teased as Justin joined him at the table.
“I needed the paint for the canvas I was working on,” Justin teased in response. He quickly settled down, and the two ordered lunch.
During lunch, Justin casually mentioned that there were several paintings still at the West Virginia mansion that he thought that he might need to work on while he was here in New York. Then he waited for Brian response.
“Ah huh?” Brian innocently said, trying to look as bored as possible.
Brian was immediately suspicious that Justin was up to something, for Brian knew that Justin had already routed to his New York studio, any potential paintings that he MIGHT want to work on. It wasn’t possible that Justin could have overlooked anything.
At first, Brian didn’t want to get into this, but he wasn’t buying Justin’s explanation either. The innocent expression that his partner was trying to maintain was the first tip off.
Finally, he just gave up and easily said, “Do you want to tell me what’s going on?”
Justin let out a sigh.
Brian prepared himself for whatever was to come.
“Michael and Ben separated a week ago,” Justin revealed, trying to set the stage for the bombshell that was to come.
“Tragic though it may be,” Brian interrupted, “That has nothing to do with me,” he added for emphasis.
“And….” Justin added, stopping mid-sentence.
“And?” Brian asked with renewed interest in whatever was to follow.
“And…Michael just found out that John Michael Novotny couldn’t possible be his father,” Justin practically blurted out.
“I see,” Brian responded quietly, waiting to see if there was anything else his partner wanted to add. As expected, he was not disappointed.
Justin continued, “Hunter called and wanted me to persuade you to talk to Michael. According to Hunter, Michael’s pretty upset about the news.”
Brian listened carefully and then calmly smiled and finally responded, matter-of-factly, “Everything is fine. There’s no need for me to talk to Michael.”
“Why not? I know that you’re upset with him, but he’s still your oldest friend,” Justin reminded him.
“It has nothing to do with that,” Brian quickly set the matter straight. “There’s just no need for me to talk to Michael about THIS…because Michael already knew this…or at least he suspected. In fact, Michael’s known about this for years,” he finally added. “So there’s no need for you to be concerned and it’s unnecessary for me to do anything.”
“How could he suspect years ago?” Justin challenged. “Hunter said that he just found out the truth yesterday? It seems as if something just happened that made him aware of everything,” Justin argued. “Hunter also said there’s proof.”
“Look, I don’t know what’s going on with Hunter, but I know that Michael already knew the truth about his father. Do you remember years ago when Ted was working on some benefit and he wanted Divina Devore to appear?”
“Yeah, during my days as a go go boy. What about it?”
“Back then, Michael began to doubt that John Novotny was his father.”
“That can’t be true. If Michael already believed that years ago, why is this coming up now?”
“Something must have happened to confirm what he already knew. Something must have brought this issue back up again… because this topic has been dormant for all these years.”
“I wonder what happened?” Justin asked, trying to figure out what was going on. Then something dawned on him. “Wait a minute…for all these years, Debbie has still maintained that shrine on the mantel in the living room. Does she know what Michael suspects or that he knows?”
“Of course…yes…they even had several arguments about this years ago. So trust me, you can stop worrying.”
“So you’re telling me this is old news,” Justin said with some disappointment.
“Pretty much. Now do you really need something from the mansion…because we can call Thomas and have him send whatever it is that you THINK you need?”
“No…no…that’s okay.”
“Good. So now that that’s settled, let me get back to work,” Brian said with a smile, gently squeezing Justin’s hand under the table. “I’ll pick you up at the studio when I’m done. In fact, why don’t you let me give you a ride back there now?”
Justin thought for a minute and then finally agreed.
As they were almost back to his studio, Justin had to ask, “Brian, if John Novotny isn’t Michael’s father…who is?”
“I’m going to tell you because we don’t keep secrets from each other, but I want you to promise not to tell anyone.”
“I promise.”
“Michael has reason to believe that his father is Divina Devore, otherwise known as Danny Devore. It seem that Danny and Debbie dated in high school.”
“Oh no! And Michael’s known or suspected that, all this time?”
“Yes,” Brian said emphatically.
“Well, aren’t you curious?” Justin asked.
“Am I curious about what?” Brian foolishly asked.
“What’s going on…”
Brian shook his head and tried to remember that this should have been expected. After all, he was dealing with Justin, and Justin tended to over-think everything. Inwardly, Brian just smiled. Outwardly, he simply answered quietly, “No.”
“So I guess we aren’t going back to Pittsburgh then, huh?” Justin persisted.
“Why, do you have a craving for lemon bars?” Brian asked with a smile and one raised eyebrow as if he already knew the answer to this question.
Justin simply leaned over and kissed Brian as the only reply.