“I’m sorry,” Brian repeated, his tone serious and deliberate. “For a lot of things over the last two days. I… I didn’t know what to do with what happened before I left Pittsburgh, and I wasn’t ready to talk.” He paused, sighing. “And I don’t know how to lie to you. I haven’t for a long time, and you know that. So sometimes, it’s easier to piss you off, so you’ll leave me alone until I find enough of my remaining ball to face you -- as irrational as I know that sounds.”

“Or,” Justin said, a small smile playing on his lips, “you could say, ‘Hey Justin, I’ve got something on my mind that I’m not ready to talk about, and I need a little space.’” He gave his husband a meaningful look before continuing. “Brian, I know what you’re doing when you do it now… But what I don’t understand is why, almost two decades into our relationship, you still think the solution to anything is to push me away -- if for no reason other than it won’t fucking work.”

***

Brian gets some unexpected and difficult news and turns to his usual coping strategies. Justin knows better.

When Melanie and Lindsay conspire to keep Brian and Justin from attending Gus' high school graduation, the two men and their son have all had enough.