THANKSGIVING 2017 Gus Peterson-Marcus was a very bored young man. He was the only youngster at his family’s Thanksgiving get-together. The next youngest person was his 34 year old Uncle Justin, one of his Dads, who was busy in the kitchen. For some reason, that no one had bothered to tell Gus, this year the Thanksgiving gathering was being held at the tiny house of Debbie Novotny instead of at one of his parent’s houses, like it always had been as far back as Gus could remember. The family had always alternated holiday meals, along with his birthday party, between his Mother's and his Dad’s houses. Whether it was at the house of his Mothers or his Dads he had someplace he could go when he got bored with adult talk. Here at Debbie’s he was stuck with no safe sanctuary from the adults around him. As much as he loved his Mom and Mama, Dad and Uncle Justin, Emmett, Teddy, Mikey and Debbie he could only take so much of their reminiscing at a sitting. After a while his boredom must have become apparent because Debbie told him “Gussy, I mean Gus, why don’t you go upstairs to Michael’s old room where you can listen to your music while we old fogies gossip. I’ll call you when the turkey is ready.” “Thanks Debbie I’ll do that.” So Gus went out to his Dad’s Jeep, his Dad always owned a Jeep of some kind(it was some kind of joke between Dad and Uncle Justin) and got his player and some discs. He then returned to the house and went upstairs to the small room Mikey had grown up in and where Uncle Justin had stayed when he had lived with Debbie and her brother Vic after his father had thrown him out for being gay and before he moved in with Dad for good. After an hour or so Gus tired of his music and started looking around the room. It had been 3 or 4 years since he had been in the room. It hadn’t changed since then and probably hadn’t changed since Mikey had lived in it. Faded Captain Astro curtains on the window and motorcyclist wallpaper on the walls. There was an old picture of Mikey and Dad, from when they were younger than Gus was now. A couple of sketches done by Uncle Justin; of himself and Dad were still tacked to the wall. What with Uncle Justin’s success as an artist they were probably worth a large amount of money now. As Gus continued snooping he found an old memory book stuck in the desk drawer. It was titled Memories 2001. Being curious Gus opened the book and was stunned at what he found. The book was full of newspaper clippings. They all seemed to deal with an incident that had happened in May 2001 and the follow-up of the story through that summer. As he leafed through the book some of the headlines stood out. Student Attacked by Fellow Student Gay Bashing at St. James Academy Victim Danced with Adult Man at Prom St. James Athlete arrested for bashing fellow student Taylor in Coma Ad Executive identified as adult in gay bashing incident Taylor still in coma after 2 weeks Hobbs Plea Bargains to Lesser Charge Taylor Leaves Hospital Judge Gives Probation and Community Service Gus was stunned at the headlines and the tidbits of the stories he read while he browsed through the book. In his entire life nobody had ever mentioned that Uncle Justin had been attacked and nearly killed at his High School Prom. Gus’ thoughts were interrupted when Debbie stuck her head in the door. “Honey, dinner is almost ready. What's so interesting?” “I found this book full of newspaper articles and I never knew that this happened.” “Oh shit honey, I wish that you hadn’t found that or that I hadn’t saved it. Promise me you won’t say anything to anyone. After the holidays we can talk about it if you want. If your Dads haven’t said anything it's still a painful subject for them.” “OK Debbie, but I'll hold you to your promise for after the holidays.” “I never had any doubts about that Gussy, just a little hope.” *** After everyone had gone home Deb called Justin’s mother, Jennifer. “Hi this's Debbie, I’ve got a problem. Gussy found the old memory book Vic filled with newspaper clippings from the bashing.” "Oh Deb why didn’t you get rid of that?” “I had forgotten that I had it to tell you the truth. Anyway I got Gussy to agree to not say anything to his Dads and to wait to talk to me until after the holidays. What should I tell him?” “No more than absolutely necessary to answer his questions.” “I’ll try but you know my big mouth.” “Deb I think Justin could handle the opening up of old memories about that disaster better than Brian could. I’m not sure he totally got over the blame he felt for not protecting Justin that night. I know my actions didn’t help at the time.” “Don’t blame yourself Jenn, we all came down too hard on Brian. I certainly should have known better, after all I'd known him for 16 years.” “Deb I’m sure that Gus'll be paying all of us a visit about this subject, should we warn the others?” “No I don’t think so, just emphasize to Gussy to not bring it up to Brian and Justin.” “OK Deb I’ll see you soon.” *** All through the holiday season Gus was thinking about what he'd learned at Debbie’s house. It still surprised him that his Dads had never told him about the incident. He finally decided that they must still be in pain over the incident if they hadn’t been able to talk about it in over 16 years. It never entered his mind that they might have gotten over it and just never felt the need to talk about it with him. By Christmas he had pretty much decided what he was going to do for his Dads. All that remained was to gather as much information as he could. Since the payoff of his plan wouldn’t happen for well over a year he decided that he wouldn’t push his family members in finding out what he needed to learn. He would take his time in asking his questions so that they wouldn’t figure out that he was up to anything. Of course like the typical teenager he underestimated the intelligence of the adults in his life. *** NEW YEARS 2018 Gus spent New Years with his Dads so that they could watch the college Bowl Games. Penn State was in the Rose Bowl for the first time in many years so they had big plans for watching that particular game. They would watch the earlier games to build their spirit for the big Penn State-Nebraska matchup for the National Championship. Since Gus was in the 7th grade, when Gus started playing organized football, his Dads had started following the sport, actually Uncle Justin was the one who really followed the game. While his Dad went to every game that Gus had ever played in and watched games with him on TV he really didn’t learn the game. Uncle Justin on the other hand truly became a fan of the sport for his own enjoyment. It started out as a way for him to get closer to Gus, since Gus truly loved the game, but it became more than that over time. *** On the 2nd of January Gus drove over to Debbie’s from his Dads’ house, to find out what she knew about the bashing incident at his Uncle Justin’s Prom. He knew she would be home. Debbie had bought the Liberty Diner, with Michael’s help, several years earlier. As the boss she spent much more time at home than she had when she worked at the Diner as a waitress. Though there were times when she thought that she wouldn’t mind trading the pain of management for the pain in her feet from waiting tables. Gus knocked on the door, he'd always been a proper gentleman, he never walked into anyone’s home without knocking no matter how well he knew them or how many times he had been in the home. Debbie answered the door and let him in with a sigh. “Gussy I was hoping you would've dropped this search of yours, but I didn’t expect it.” “Well Debbie I just have this need to know, I don’t really know why but I do.” “Well do you want anything? Juice, soda, or a snack?” “No I’m fine maybe later.” “Well what do you want to know?” “Everything you witnessed that night and during the weeks until Uncle Justin left the hospital.” “Remember Gus it has been over 16 years I can’t guarantee that I remember everything.” “That’s OK just what you remember. May I borrow the book so that I can read the articles?” “Sure, but I sure wish I had gotten rid of that book.” “What is done is done Deb.” “Quit sounding like Sunshine.” “I can’t help it he helped raise me you know?” “Yes and you're the spitting image of him except for the fact that you look just like Brian with blond hair.” “You’d be surprised how often people tell me that.” Debbie chuckled at that response. “OK then, first of all Jennifer and I convinced Justin that he should go to the Prom, that it was one of his rites of passage and if he didn’t go he would regret it for the rest of his life.” “Why didn’t he want to go?” “He thought that the Prom was for straight kids and since he was gay it wasn’t for him. We convinced him otherwise. There were times in the coming weeks when I wished that we hadn’t been successful. What we didn’t know, until after the dance, was that Justin asked your Dad to go to the Prom as his date. Brian turned him down, of course, so Justin took Daphne, but as best friends not as a date. The night of the Prom your mother, Melanie,Jennifer, Vic and I were downstairs, while you were sleeping in my room, waiting to see what magic Emmett would perform on Justin. All I can say was that he made Justin look gorgeous. I don’t know what he did but he did a great job, Justin was and always has been good looking but that night when he came down the stairs he was just gorgeous, he just glowed. Justin then left to take Daphne to the Prom and Emmett left to go somewhere with Teddy. Lindsay, Melanie, Jennifer and I decided that we would wait to see Justin after the Prom, to hear how his night turned out, so we started playing cards, Vic was relegated to baby-sitting you. The Prom was supposed to be over at midnight so we were expecting Justin to get home about 1 AM. At 11:30 or so I got a call from Daphne who was almost hysterical. Justin had been attacked by a classmate and was on the way to the hospital. We rushed there, Lindsay had to drive since Jennifer and I were totally fucked with fear We were horrified when we got to the hospital and the Doctors couldn’t tell us anything more than that they were doing what they could for Justin. What scared me even more was when I saw Brian sitting in a hallway just staring into space with tears streaming down his face. In all the years I had known Brian Kinney I couldn’t remember him crying about anything, and he had gone through some fucking terrible times with that bastard of a father he had. Michael was trying to comfort him but was having no success. Brian was off in some other world. If Justin hadn’t made it through that night I don’t think Brian would have either. That probably is what had scared Brian so much, that he could lose Justin after he had finally admitted to himself that he actually cared about him as more than a sex partner. Everyone had known for months that Brian cared deeply about Justin but Brian hadn’t been able to admit this fact to himself. I’ve wondered over the years what happened to finally make him admit it to himself. Since going to the Prom and dancing with Justin in front of his entire class, not to mention kissing him, was telling the world that he loved Justin Taylor. Not that he would have ever admitted, verbally anyway, to that fact. Michael and Emmett were able to get Brian into the bathroom a few times during the next day and night, otherwise he would have pissed himself, and worse, he was that out of his mind with grief but they had no luck getting him to eat though he did drink a little water. Michael managed to find time to go to the Loft and get Brian some clean clothing. His Tux was spattered with Justin’s blood and he had the scarf he had used to staunch Justin’s head wound clutched in his hand. Everyone tried to get through to Brian but no one had any success he just continued to stare into space hardly even blinking. Then early Sunday morning the Doctor came to the waiting room and told us that Justin had slipped into a coma. That they had no idea when he would wake up from it. That they couldn’t know what damage had been done until he woke up. But there was no reason to believe that he wouldn’t wake up fairly soon. As soon as the Doctor left the waiting room Brian just woke up. He asked Michael why he was still in Pittsburgh, that he better be on the next flight to Portland, to be with David, and then he just walked out of the room. Then as far as we knew he never came back to the hospital again. Justin was in his coma for 2 weeks and almost the first words out of his mouth after he woke up was asking where Brian was. Then no matter who visited him he would ask when Brian was coming to see him. It broke everyone’s heart because we all knew that Brian had gone back to his old ways and wasn’t going to come to the hospital to see Justin. So Justin worked as hard as he could in his physical therapy so the Doctors would discharge him so that he could go find Brian on his own. What we didn’t know was that Brian came to the hospital every night and watched Justin sleep for hours at a time. He blamed himself for not protecting Justin from that asshole Chris Hobbs and couldn’t bring himself to face Justin and see the blame in his eyes. While Brian should have known that Sunshine wouldn’t blame him for anything he couldn’t think that clearly. He knew that he blamed himself and therefore so would everyone else in the world including Justin. The rest of us should have known that Brian hadn’t abandoned Justin like we thought he had. My only excuse was that you don’t think straight when you are in extreme distress. The Doctors released Justin 4 weeks after he came out of the coma. That night Vic and I went to Jenn’s condo to celebrate Justin’s homecoming. We had to push our way through the throng of reporters trying to find anything they could about Justin. I forget what happened that night to cause the interest of the news media to go away from Justin’s bashing but we were all happy that we didn’t have to deal with them anymore. Later that night Justin snuck out of the house and got Daphne to drive him to Liberty Ave. where he started looking for Brian. He found Brian and Michael, who had returned from Oregon, in Woody’s and he and Brian went back to the Loft where they had a talk and then Brian took Justin back to Jennifer’s. It was amazing the change in Brian’s behavior after that little talk he had with Justin. Justin has always been so good for Brian. The next week was Chris Hobbs’ sentencing hearing where the son of bitch judge just gave that bastard Hobbs a god-damned suspended sentence and fucking community service. I could have taken a crowbar to the asshole judge and that son of a bitch Hobbs but Michael and the guys took me home before I caused too much of a ruckus. Well I guess that is pretty much all I remember. Any questions?” “No, you’ve given me a lot to think about. Thank you. Don’t worry I certainly won’t mention anything to Dad or Uncle Justin. You know that I would never do anything to cause either of them any pain. I love them so much it hurts sometimes.” “Yes you get that from Justin.” After Gus left Deb called Jennifer. “Hi, Gus was just here he’ll probably be over to see you very soon if not today.” “How'd he take the news Deb?” “Well considering how much I overloaded him with pretty well. He's planning something but I don’t have a clue as to what it is. I’m sure that he'll do everything he can so that it doesn’t hurt Brian or Justin but he can’t know how they will handle the opening of old wounds.” “Deb it might be good for Justin and Brian to finally deal with it once and for all.” “I hope so but you never know how Brian'll react to anything. Of course if anyone had told me back then that Brian would ever be monogamous I would have laughed in their face. Justin and Gus were the best things to ever happen to Brian Kinney and I’m sure he knows it.” *** While Jennifer prepared herself for Gus’ visit he didn’t come by her house for over 4 weeks. Gus was being sly. He figured that if he spread his fact finding visits over months no one would put it together that he was up to something. He also had a lot of other things going on in his life he was a Junior in High School after all. He never thought that they would think twice about him asking them about something that had happened before he had turned one. In early February 2018 Gus pushed the doorbell of his Grandma Jenn’s condo. “Hi Gus, what brings you to this part of town?” “May I come in?” “Of course, where are my manners?” “Grandma I found out that Uncle Justin was attacked at his High School Prom and I just have to know everything I can about that situation. I don’t know why but I have to know, I suppose because Dad and Uncle Justin have never mentioned it and they have never kept anything from me.” “Gus I'll tell you what I know but I want you do promise me you won’t bother your Dads about it. It was a very tough time in their lives and I don’t want them hurt again.” “Don’t worry about that Grandma, the last thing I would ever do is cause them pain. I don’t want to cause you any pain either so you don’t have to tell me anything if it's too hard for you to do.” “I know that you wouldn’t cause any of us pain on purpose but it could happen accidentally especially with your Dad. He blamed himself for not protecting Justin and I don’t want that brought up again.” “Why would he blame himself for something he didn’t do?” “Gus, your Dad was a very different person back then, he didn’t feel that he deserved to be loved and so he tried to ignore it or chase it away. Justin wouldn’t back down about his love for Brian and eventually Brian admitted to himself that he could be loved and that he could love back. Then that SOB Chris Hobbs hit Justin with a baseball bat and Brian wasn’t able to stop it, he blamed himself and I didn’t do anything to help him deny that false blame. In fact I made things worse by blaming him as well.” “Didn’t you like Dad?” “Gus you have to remember that back then Justin was 18 and your Dad was 30 that was very hard for me to accept along with the gay issue. I would've had problems with the age difference even if Brian had been a woman and Justin straight. Justin’s dad on the other hand just had problems with Justin being gay and Brian’s age just added to his disgust. As far as I know Craig and Justin haven’t seen or spoken to each other since late 2000.” “Is that why you divorced him?” “It was a part of it but certainly not all.” “What do you know about the bashing incident?” “I spent that Friday night at Deb’s, we played cards with your mother and Melanie while we waited for Justin to come home and tell us all about his big night. I hadn’t had such an enjoyable night in years. It's always amazing how four women can talk about just every subject in the book. Vic was upstairs watching you. Around 11:30 Daphne called to let us know that Justin was in the hospital. Your mother drove us to the hospital, since neither I or Deb could've driven safely, if at all, where the doctors told us that he had been struck in the head by a baseball bat but until he woke up they wouldn’t know the extent of any brain or physical damage. Even more frightening than not knowing how Justin was going to be was to see Brian staring into space totally oblivious to the world. He just sat there until Michael and Emmett forcibly stood him up and took him to the bathroom Saturday morning. But when the doctor came, Sunday morning, and told us that Justin had gone into a coma Brian came back to the world, told Michael to go to Portland and then he walked out of the hospital. Everyone was shocked but we were willing to believe that he had gone back to his old ways. That Justin was just a trick to be used and then thrown out. I found out 3 or 4 days later, from the night nurse, that Brian was coming to the hospital every night to watch Justin sleep. I didn’t tell anyone because it suited my selfish purposes for Brian’s friends to think he had totally abandoned Justin . I regret that to this day though your Dad forgave me long ago. Justin was in the coma for two weeks and after he woke up all he wanted to know was when Brian was coming to visit. I should've told him that Brian came every night after he was asleep but I hoped that if he thought Brian had abandoned him he would get over his crush. I couldn’t have been more wrong. He worked his tail off in physical therapy so that he would be released from the hospital so he would be able to go find Brian. Which he did the very first night he was out of the hospital and then when Brian brought him home I wanted to just go out to him and tell him to leave Justin alone and never see him again. I didn’t do it then but I wanted to. I’m ashamed to admit how much I wanted to blame Brian for everything that happened that night. Then to add insult to injury the judge gave Hobbs a suspended sentence and community service. A day or two after the sentencing I did finally tell Brian to leave Justin alone and never see him again. That's something else I have regretted almost from the minute the words came out of my mouth. Luckily that turned out reasonably well. While Brian agreed to stay out of Justin’s life Justin refused to go along with our plan and within a week I was forced, for Justin’s well being, to ask Brian to let Justin move in with him at the Loft. As bad as the bashing was it did eventually lead to Justin and Brian becoming the loving couple they are today. Do you remember your part in that Gus?” “No, what did I do?” “They had split up over something, that they have never told me about, but both of them were miserable while they were apart. One day you managed to get them in close proximity to each other and the next thing they knew they were kissing and hugging and talking. The talking was the important part of them getting back together. I guess you were about 30 months old, that's probably why you don’t remember.” “Well thanks for your time Grandma. Remember if you ever need me to do anything that all you have to do is call.” “Sure honey, while you’re here you just as well take the trash out and I've some things upstairs that I need taken out to my storage area in the garage.” “OK Grandma I’ll get right to it.” Gus replied with a grin. *** Keeping with his plan of not pushing too fast Gus waited until St. Patrick’s Day to visit his Aunty Em. “Hi Emmett” Gus said after the door of the apartment finally opened after his 5 minutes of pounding on said door. “Couldn’t you take a hint and go away?” “What hint?” “Usually if no one answers after a minute of knocking they aren’t home.” “But Aunty Em I knew you were home and I really need to talk to you.” “All right Gus come on in, don’t notice the mess.” “What mess?” Gus answered as he stepped over something in the middle of the hallway. “Think you're cute don’t you?” “Brian Kinney’s son thinking he's cute, no way.” “Well what do you want to know that's so important you banged on my door for forever?” “Last Thanksgiving I found a memory book at Debbie’s filled with newspaper clippings about Uncle Justin being gay bashed at his High School Prom. For some reason I need to find out everything I can about that incident. Don’t worry I’m not going to say anything to my Dads, Debbie and Grandma Jenn made me promise to not do that. Not that I planned on doing it anyway.” “Well Gus there really isn’t that much I can tell you.” “But you were there before the Prom and at the hospital.” “Well we all were at the hospital while Justin was there.” “Any details you can remember would help me deal with this.” “Why do you need to deal with this, you weren’t even one year old when it happened?” “I don’t know I just know that I need to know in order to understand my Dads better. For some reason they've never said anything about it and they've never kept anything from me, well they've never given me any details about their sex lives not that I want any details about their sex lives.” “That isn’t 100 % true Gussy.” “What?” “Well you probably don’t remember but when you were 3 you managed to see them one night when they thought you were asleep. What was interesting and why I remember is that you made up a song about what you saw.” “I did?” “Yep it was an interesting little ditty, it actually led Brian to decide to sell the Loft and to buy the house he and Justin live in today.” “Do you remember it?” “Yes but Brian would have me singing soprano if I told you, You will have to ask him.” “Well back to the bashing.” “Damn it Gus I was hoping you would have forgotten that line of questioning. That was a very painful time for all of us. We really did fear for Justin’s life, and Brian’s.” “Well I won’t force you to tell me anything Emmett.” “No I'll tell you what I can.” “I’ve heard how you made Justin look gorgeous.” “Been talking to Deb have you?” “Yes.” “Well when you have such a great subject to start with it's easy to be successful. I altered his tux just a little so that it fit him perfectly and I spent a few minutes on his hair, well more than a few, and he did look gorgeous. It made it all the harder to see how bad he looked in the hospital the next morning. After Justin left to get Daphne I went to be with Teddy. Ted had problems of his own that night so don’t ask him about the bashing Gus, he doesn’t know anything and I don’t want him to remember his problems. OK?” “Sure Aunty Em.” “The next morning I got a call from Michael and I went to the hospital, I hadn’t read the paper yet or turned on the TV so I didn’t know about the bashing or I would have been at the hospital before he called. While it was horrible how bad Justin looked it terrified me to see how out of this world Brian was. Brian was always the most self-assured of our group so to see him out of control like that was frightening. He just stared into space, his face was streaked with tear tracks, he had cried himself out by then. Just the idea of Brian Kinney crying was frightening to me. Michael and I forcibly stood him up and walked him to the bathroom, Michael had to do everything for him because he just stood there staring into space. We tried to get him to eat but the best we could do was to get him to take a few sips of water. Michael then went to the Loft where he got some clothes for Brian. We all tried talking to Brian that Saturday but he just stayed oblivious to everything around him. Sunday morning the Doctor told Deb and Jennifer, and the rest of us who were in the waiting room that Justin was in a coma. That until he came out of the coma they couldn’t determine the extent of his injuries. Brian just came to his senses, he told Michael to get the fuck out of Pittsburgh, go to David and get on with his life. He then turned on his heel and walked out of the hospital. We all just assumed that he had gone back to his old ways and had abandoned Justin. Finally deciding that the trick that wouldn’t go away wasn’t worth the bother anymore. Why play with a broken toy when there are so many new ones available at the toy store. We should've known better, Brian hadn’t followed any of his rules with Justin so why we would think that he suddenly was going by those rules still surprises me. Maybe we just wanted to have someone to blame and Brian was convenient. We found out later that he'd been going every night to watch Justin sleep. He was afraid to face Justin since he blamed himself for letting that bastard Hobbs bash Justin. That's all that I know Gus.” “Thanks Aunty Em, rest assured that I won’t do anything that'll hurt my Dads, though I might ask them about a ditty made up by a 3 year old.” “Well if you do make sure you have a clear path to an outside door.” Emmett said with a hearty laugh. “Hello.” “Hi Michael.” “What do you want Em, do you know what time it is?” “Michael it isn’t that early what were you up to last night?” “None of your business, so why did you call me on my one day off from the store?” “Guess who just visited me?” “Em just get on with whatever you want to tell me.” “OK Michael it won’t take long and you can get back to your nap. Gus was just here asking about Justin’s bashing.” “What the hell, how did he find out about that, we all agreed, years ago, to not talk about that in front of him. Brian'll be fucking furious.” “He found a memory book at your mom’s last Thanksgiving. He says he just has to find out everything he can so that he can better understand his Dads. You know as well as I do that means he's planning to do something for them. Should we let them know that he knows about the bashing?” “No lets just let it play out by itself, Gus is a very bright boy he won’t do anything to harm them.” “OK Michael, I’m sure he'll be to see you before too long.” *** While Gus didn’t plan on another question session anytime soon he knew he had to talk with Daphne when she flew into Pittsburgh the Saturday after St. Patrick’s Day since she never knew her schedule very far in advance and wouldn’t know when she would be back in town. So when his Uncle Justin mentioned at Sunday dinner that she was back in town Gus knew that he had to talk to her before she flew out again. So the next day he called her phone and set up a time that they could talk. “Gus you were very mysterious about wanting to talk to me. Are you suddenly interested in older women? That would make you even more like Justin though, going after an older person.” Daphne said with a laugh. “No, it has to do with Uncle Justin being bashed in 2001.” “Why would you want to know about that?” “I found out about it last Thanksgiving and for some reason that I can’t articulate I have to know everything I can about that night and the weeks following it. Before you say anything I have no plans on saying anything about this subject to Dad or Uncle Justin.” “Good, that was a horrible time for them and no one wants them to relive that horror.” “But what do you remember about that night Daphne?” “Justin and I had gone through a rough stretch where we hardly spoke to each other. We'd known each other since kindergarten and had been best friends since the 2nd grade so for us to not talk was a terrible time for me, though Justin would say I was the one that went weird. Any way when Brian turned Justin down about going to the Prom Justin asked me to go as best friends. That week before Prom was one of the happiest of my life. I was going to go the Senior Prom with my best friend even if it was just as best friends. But most importantly we were talking to one another again. That Friday night Justin came to my house to pick me up. He came to the door so that he would have to talk to my parents instead of just waiting in the car like I told him to do. My folks had been listening to Mr. Taylor and so weren’t too happy about me going to the Prom with Justin. By the time we left he had them eating out of his hand again. They realized he was the same Justin that he had always been but that they wouldn’t have to worry about him doing anything with me. Little did they know. After eating a meal that certainly wasn’t worth what Justin paid for it, and he paid for both of us even though I told him I would pay my share, we went to the ballroom of the hotel. We had a great time talking and dancing. It was kind of amusing to see how miserable Chris Hobbs was even though he was there with the head cheerleader. Chris had been picking on Justin all year, supposedly because he didn’t like the fact that Justin was gay. Then I noticed that Brian had shown up, when I first saw him he looked like a deer in headlights. It looked like he was thinking what am I doing here, this's the biggest mistake of my life. Then he spotted Justin and the look on his face just changed to one of joy. He joined us, we chatted a bit and then he asked if he could borrow my date. He took Justin by the hand and led him to the dance floor, everyone just moved out of their way. The DJ started playing ‘The Last Dance’ by the Drifters. You know it just occurred to me Gus that song was totally different from everything else the DJ had been playing, Brian must have arranged for it to be played once they got on the dance floor. Then they started to ballroom dance, it was amazing, I didn’t know that either of them could dance like that. They moved so gracefully, then Justin removed Brian’s jacket as a part of the dance and threw it to me. Brian had a white silk scarf around his neck and they put it on each other’s neck as they danced. Then after some special moves, with Brian dipping Justin and picking him up and spinning around they just had the most romantic kiss. Brian took Justin by the hand again and led him out of the room, Justin was just floating on air. After about 5 minutes they came back, they were both flushed, and got Brian’s jacket from me. Brian told Justin to come to the Loft after the Prom was over and he had taken me home. I told them to go that I could drive Justin’s mother’s car home. They both insisted that we finish the Prom festivities and that Justin would escort me home like a proper gentleman. Justin then walked with Brian to his Jeep to say goodbye. After about 10 minutes I started to worry about Justin not coming back so I went to the parking garage where I saw that Brian was sitting on the ground holding Justin and rocking back and forth as he tried to hold his white scarf onto Justin’s head to stop the bleeding. Chris Hobbs was lying on the floor and moaning with pain. About then an ambulance and a cop car drove up. Chris tried to claim that Brian had attacked him, Brian just said which one was hit in the head? So the EMTs got Justin on a stretcher and into the ambulance and Brian got in as well and it raced off to the hospital. The cops arrested Chris and called for another ambulance. By now most of the Prom goers had heard what had happened and were in the garage. None of Chris’ friends thought it wise to say anything in his defense. I called Debbie to let her know that Justin had been hurt and was on his way to the hospital. Then I called my parents and told them that Justin had been attacked and that I was going to the hospital to see how he was doing. I had to get a friend to drive me since Justin had the keys to his mother’s car with him. At the hospital I joined up with Mrs. Taylor and Debbie, who were trying to find out Justin’s condition. It was terrible to hear what the doctors had to say but it was horrifying to see Brian just sitting in the hallway staring into space with tears running down his face. While Michael was trying to comfort him he was having no luck. After a while my parents showed up, talked to Mrs. Taylor for a bit and then they took me home. I was so afraid for both of them, that Justin would die and that Brian would never come back to this world without his “Sunshine”. When I went back the next day the doctors still didn’t know anything and Brian was still staring into space though he was no longer in his tux. On Sunday Justin had gone into a coma and Brian was gone. Emmett told me that as soon as the Doctor had said that Justin was in a coma that Brian had come to his senses, told Michael to go to Portland and had walked out of the hospital. While Justin was still in his coma we had graduation, when his name was called he got a standing ovation. I still wonder how many of those people who stood and clapped said nothing when Chris was picking on Justin throughout the school year. Chris’ name wasn’t called though I know he did get his diploma in the mail. After Justin came out of the coma he immediately started asking when Brian was coming to visit. I didn’t know what to say since we all believed that Brian had given up on Justin and wasn’t ever going to see him again. I just couldn’t understand that since I had seen how much Brian loved Justin as they danced. Justin worked as hard as he could at his physical therapy so he could go home. That first night after he was released from the hospital he called me to come over to his new house and drive him to Liberty Ave.. We did go by the Loft first but Brian wasn’t home. I let him out like he wanted, and he did find Brian and they went back to the Loft and had a talk. Justin told me later that the reason Brian didn’t come and see him at the hospital was because he blamed himself for Justin being hurt. Justin being Justin he immediately told Brian that it wasn’t his fault and I guess that did help Brian get over some of his pain from the incident. Then Hobbs only got a suspended sentence and community service.” “Thanks Daphne that helps me understand why they have never said anything to me.” “Whatever you are planning Gus make sure that it can’t backfire on you. I don’t want Justin or Brian hurt again.” “What do you mean?” “Gus don’t play the innocent, there's no way you aren’t planning to do something with the information you're digging up. I’d tell you to give up your idea but you are Brian Kinney’s son with a big dash of Justin Taylor so I know that would be a waste of breath. Just be careful.” “Am I that transparent?” “Yes, you can’t lie any better than Justin ever could.” “Yes I'm planning something but I guarantee that it won’t cause anyone any pain.” “You can’t guarantee anything Gus when it deals with how other people deal with situations.” “I’ll keep that in mind Daphne.” “But make sure you let me know how everything turns out.” “OK.” *** After Easter dinner at the Peterson-Marcus home Gus asked Mikey if he could come by the comic book store someday after school for a confidential conversation. “Sure Gus anytime you want to talk I’m there for you.” “Thanks Mikey, just don’t say anything to my Dads.” “Why?” “You’ll just have to wait and see won’t you?” Gus said with an evil grin. “Gus you get more like Brian everyday.” “Thanks Mikey.” The next Wednesday Gus found his way to the comic book store. “Hi Mikey. Do you have some time for me to ask you some questions?” “Sure, the game room is empty for a change.” They moved to the game room at the back of the store. “Last Thanksgiving I found out about Uncle Justin being bashed at his Prom. I have this need to know everything that happened back then.” “Why?” “I wish I knew.” “Who've you talked to already?” “What makes you think I have talked to anyone else?” “You found out in November it's now April, if you hadn’t talked to anyone else why weren’t you here asking me this question months ago?” “I guess you caught me Mikey, I’ve talked to Debbie, Grandma Jenn, Emmett, and Daphne.” “Why not your Dads?” “Because I don’t want to take the chance of hurting them.” “What about your Mom and Melanie?” “I didn’t thing they would be able to keep my questions secret from Dad and Uncle Justin.” “You’re probably right about that. What makes you think I won’t tell them?” “Because you don’t want to cause Dad any more pain than I do.” “I guess you know me about as well as I know you. Well whatever you're planning to do make sure there's no way it can be misinterpreted, especially by Brian.” “What makes you think I'm planning anything.” “Gus I/ve known you all of your life, if there's one thing you have learned from Justin it's to take care of everyone around you.” “Well I do have a plan but it isn’t going to cause anyone any pain, I guarantee it.” “Don’t be so sure, since your Dad'll be involved.” “Why do people keep saying things like that, Dad isn’t overly sensitive.” “Gus I've known your Dad for almost twice your lifetime, he can be very oversensitive.” “Well what do you remember about the Prom disaster?” “I had finally decided that I was going to go to Portland with David and had rushed to the airport. I was just about to board the plane when my phone rang. I almost didn’t answer when I saw it was from Brian but I did since lifelong habits are very hard to break. While I don’t remember his exact words I do remember the abject terror in his voice. I'd dealt with Brian’s pain many times, it usually had to do with his father, but this was magnitudes worse than anything I'd ever heard from him, as you know he usually shows his emotions non-verbally this time he had to show them through his voice. So I turned around and rushed to the hospital. Since Brian wasn’t a relative of Justin’s they hadn’t let him into the ER and I found him sitting in a hallway. He was just staring into space and tears were streaming down his face. I tried to comfort him but I really don’t think he was even aware that I was there. As everyone showed up waiting for news on Justin they were all amazed at Brian’s state. If Justin had died that night Brian would have followed him. I've no doubt about that which made his subsequent behavior even more surprising. Saturday morning Emmett and I stood Brian up and walked him to the bathroom, I had to do everything, pull down his pants, sit him down, wipe him and pull his pants up, wipe the blood off of his face. He simply wasn’t in this world. We tried to get him to eat but the best we could do was to get a few sips of water down him. I then went to the Loft to get him some clean clothing, his tux was spattered with Justin’s blood. When I got to the Loft I was amazed at what I saw. Brian had obviously been planning on having a celebration with Justin after the Prom. There was a bottle of champagne sitting in melted ice water on the table along with a beautiful flower arrangement, the refrigerator was filled with all of Justin’s favorites and there was a path of rose petals leading to the bed from the table. The bed was covered with more rose petals and it was surrounded by candles just waiting to be lit. I had never known Brian to do anything so romantic. I almost went back out into the hall to make sure I was in the right apartment. Rose petals, I wouldn't have guessed that Brian even knew where to buy rose petals let alone be willing to use them. I knew how hard it would be for Brian to return to the Loft and find this reminder of how wrong things had turned out so I quickly cleaned the place up. I then got some casual clothes for Brian and returned to the hospital. We got Brian changed but we couldn’t get the scarf he had used to staunch Justin’s head wound away from him. That damn scarf. We took him to the bathroom a few more times but he still wouldn’t eat. Sunday morning the Doctor came to the waiting room and told Jennifer that Justin had slipped into a coma, that they didn’t know when he would come out of it, that they couldn’t assess any brain damage until he did wake up but that there was no reason to think that the coma would last very long. As soon as the Doctor left Brian just woke up, he told me to get the fuck out of Pittsburgh, get my ass to Portland and be with David, he then walked out of the hospital. I made sure that things were under control with Justin and made arrangements to fly to Portland. Looking back I should have stayed in Pittsburgh, I might have been able to get through to Brian where all of the others failed. My relationship with David tanked and I returned to Pittsburgh the day before Justin was released from the hospital. I found out that Brian hadn’t been to see Justin at all and that he had gone back to his drugging and tricking ways. I found him in the backroom of Babylon but it was clear to me that he wasn’t enjoying anything. The next day I went to the Loft where I tried to get him to go and see Justin at the hospital, I didn’t know that Justin had been released by that time. Brian refused to go saying that there was nothing that he could do. He then decided we would go to Woody’s but that he needed a shower. Wandering around the Loft I accidentally managed to see that he was wearing the scarf covered with Justin’s blood under his clothes. I should've confronted him but I have never been one to confront people especially Brian. When we got to Woody’s I tried to get him to admit that he needed help, but in his most Brian way he declined to admit that there was anything wrong with him. I'd never seen him in such bad shape but as long as he wouldn’t admit it to himself there was nothing I could do. While he went to the bathroom Justin showed up. We didn’t know it at the time but part of his trauma from the bashing was a fear of being touched and being close to other people so for him to seek out Brian on Liberty Avenue took a lot of courage since he had to move through so many crowds of people, many of whom recognized him and wanted to talk to him about the bashing. When Brian came back and saw Justin he sobered up immediately, I’ve never seen anything like that instant sobering up before or since. The two returned to the Loft for a talk which started Brian on the road to recovery because the very next day he was in much better shape. At the Hobbs sentencing hearing the only one more upset by the lightness of the sentence than my Mom was Brian though he didn’t show it quite as obviously as Ma did. He did get even with that judge though, you’ll have to ask him someday.” “Thanks Mikey, I know that this had to be hard for you.” “Surprisingly, it felt good Gus.” “Emmett, I finally got my visit from Gus. I imagine that I was the last one on his fact finding expeditions. I wonder how long it will be before we see some results?” “Well Mikey I hope that it turns out as well as Gus hopes it will. Will you be at Babylon tonight?” “Of course, well goodbye Em.” “Bye Mikey.” *** Gus had left the comic book store and returned home. Once in his room he got out the notebook that he'd been using to write down what he'd found out and started to organize what everyone had told him. Basically they had a wonderful time at the Prom. Uncle Justin was having a good time with Daphne and then he had a wonderful time after Dad came and danced with him. But then Chris Hobbs ruined their after Prom plans by hitting Uncle Justin with a baseball bat. Dad was not able to stop Hobbs in time and thus blamed himself. Uncle Justin was in the hospital for 6 weeks but never saw Dad since he only came after Uncle Justin was asleep. Dad suffered greatly while Uncle Justin was in the hospital but for whatever reason was unable to tell any of his friends what he was going through and thus made it worse for himself. But once Uncle Justin got out of the hospital he found Dad and started the healing process. Gus knew that what he had planned was going to do good things for his Dads but now came the hard part how to make it come to fruition. Well he had a year or so to get everything worked out. *** JUNE 2018 Gus had arranged to have a summer job working as a busboy/waiter at the Liberty Diner. On the first day of this job he met his future wife. Most 17 year olds aren’t so perceptive about their future but Gus had heard the stories about how his Uncle Justin and Dad had met and how Uncle Justin had known from the first night that he wanted to be with Brian for the rest of his life. Gus knew that he wanted to be with Katherine Napoli from the moment he saw her. It turned out that she was the grand-niece of Debbie Novotny. She was the granddaughter of Deb’s sister Maxine and was working at the diner during the summer to save up some money for when she started school at the University of Pittsburgh in the fall. She was staying with Deb in Michael’s old room. While Gus still had his senior year to go in High School and Katherine had graduated from High School she wasn’t that much older than Gus. They got to talking and they just clicked. Gus’ shift was over before he knew it and he couldn’t wait to come back the next day since he would get to see Katherine again. He knew that he could also visit Deb at home and see Katherine even more. That night Gus startled his Dads when he said “I know who I'm going to marry. Don’t worry I know that it's going to be years before I’m ready to get married but I know who it's going to be.” “How can you know that Gus?” asked his Dad. “I just know it just like Uncle Justin knew that he was going to be with you the first night he met you.” “Who's the lucky girl?” asked Uncle Justin. “Katherine Napoli, she's Deb’s grandniece, she's staying with Deb and working at the Diner this summer and starts school at Pittsburgh this fall.” “Wait until Mikey finds out that our two families are finally going to be joined in matrimony.” Brian said with a huge grin. “Don’t make fun of the boy Brian.” “You two just wait, in 5 or 6 years she'll become my wife.” “Have you told her this little fact Gus?” “Of course not we just met.” With that Gus went to his room. Once there he got out his notebook and started writing down things he would need to accomplish in order to fulfill his plan of making his Dads forget the horrors of Uncle Justin’s Prom. 1. Get on the Prom committee 2. Get some allies to help accomplish the details of the goal 3. Save money in order to buy what would be needed Over the summer Gus and Katherine did become closer and closer and Gus felt that he could take her into his confidence over his plans. “Gus that's such a sweet thing to for you to do for your Dads. I'll do everything I can to help it work out.” “Thanks Katherine I can’t wait to see them when everything plays out the way I know it's going to play out.” “What movie do you want to go to Saturday?” “Whatever you want to see is fine with me.” “Gus do you ever do anything just to make yourself happy?” “Making other people happy makes me happy.” “Gus you're a wonder.” “No I am a Kinney-Taylor as well as a Peterson-Marcus.” *** AUGUST 2018 A week before Gus was to start his senior year of High School he and Katherine were spending a lazy Sunday afternoon at the local park. “Katherine you've never told me anything about your family.” “Why this sudden interest Gus?” “I just like to know things about people I care about.” “You care about me, why Gus I didn’t know that.” Katherine said with a huge grin. “Well as much as I look like my Dad I’m not exactly like him. I can actually tell someone how I feel.” “Gus I was just fooling.” “I know. But seriously I would like to know more about your family. I know that your Grandmother and Deb are sisters but that's pretty much all I know.” “OK you asked for it, do you want the short or long version?” “Long.” “My Grandmother, and she would faint if anyone called her Grandma, was the oldest of the 3 Grassi children. Deb was next and Victor was the baby. They were one year apart in school. Grandmother had 3 children, Uncle Manny, my mother Maria, and Uncle Paul. My Dad's the same age as Uncle Manny, that's how he met my mother he came to the house with Uncle Manny. My Grandmother never believed Deb’s story of secretly marrying a soldier before she graduated High School just before he was shipped to Vietnam, so she always considered Michael to be a bastard and tried to limit how much contact my mother and my uncles had with him. Michael, and your Dad, were one year ahead of Uncle Manny and my Dad, my mother was a Freshman the year Michael was a Senior and Uncle Paul was in the 7th grade. They went to the same High School but lived on opposite sides of the attendance zone so they mostly saw each other in school. When Grandmother found out that her adored baby brother Victor was queer she made sure that everyone started calling her oldest son Manny instead of Vic, his complete name is Victor Emanuel. Michael was my mother’s favorite cousin since she barely knew any of the cousins on her father’s side of the family, they were from the Philadelphia area. So when Grandmother found out that Michael was gay she stopped coming to Deb’s house completely. My parents were married a year after Mom graduated from High School. Grandmother was not happy at all when she got the birth announcement for my oldest brother 2 years later, Michael Brian Napoli was not a name she was happy with. Needless to say we weren’t Grandmother’s favorite part of the family. When we moved to California she didn’t shed a tear, or so I was told since I was only 2 at the time. The only time we came back to Pittsburgh was in December of 2011 for Great-uncle Vic’s funeral. Were you there Gus?” “Yes.” “Then we saw each other before this summer.” “I don’t remember you Katherine.” “I don’t remember you either.” “Well anyway back to my long family story. Deb took us to the Diner after the service, Grandmother was just outraged at the choice though I’m sure Deb was just making a point. I decided that I wanted to get to know Deb better so I started writing her and we became penpals. When I decided to enroll at Pitt, family roots and all that, I asked her if I could stay with her and work at the Diner. As you know she said yes, I’ve only seen my Grandmother twice this summer, it's very hard to believe that she and Deb are sisters they're so unlike each other. She certainly wouldn’t approve of you. The child of a gay man and a lesbian can’t possibly be anything but a sexual monster. She would be sure that you would sexually attack me everytime we were in the same room. She's going to really be pissed when she finally finds out that my younger brother Vic is as gay as his namesake. I can just hear what she'll say, how can a descendent of mine be a pervert?” “Has he come out?” “Only to me, he's waiting until he graduates before he tells our folks. He'll be a Junior this year. That about does it, are you still interested in me?” “You are kidding aren’t you?” “Of course.” *** In October when the Prom committee was forming Gus made a point of joining. This surprised pretty much everyone at his High School since football players generally didn’t have anything to do with non athletic school functions. Gus felt extra lucky when he found out that the faculty sponsor of the Prom was a 2002 graduate of St. James Academy and had been at the Senior Prom in 2001 as a date of one of Uncle Justin’s classmates. “Yes Gus I remember that dance, everyone who was there remembers that dance. It was one of the most romantic things I’ve ever seen. I never knew that a kiss could be so amazingly special. Then that Chris Hobbs had to ruin everything. Things were much different at St. James during my senior year everyone was much more understanding of one another. So yes I'll do whatever I can to help you with your quest to make your Dads forget the bashing. They were such an amazing couple that night. We can get them to the dance by making them chaperones, I can get the DJ to play any song you want at the appropriate time, and I can get the students to clear the dance floor.” “Thanks Mrs. Henderson.” When the Prom committee met to decide what the theme should be Gus pushed for the same theme that the 2001 St. James Prom had, he'd learned what it was from Uncle Justin’s yearbook. He pushed for the same colors as well. Since Gus was a very popular student, as well as a varsity football player, his views carried a lot of weight and he got his way in these relatively minor items. He didn’t get his way in where the Prom was to be held since the school had a contract with another Hotel than where Uncle Justin’s Prom had been held. Meanwhile Gus had enjoyed the experiences of his Senior year, the football team was Pennsylvania State Champion in its class, and his friendship with Katherine. Every time he was with her he became even more sure that they would be married someday. He hadn’t told her about his plans yet but he thought that right after his plan for his Dads was finally completed would be a good time to tell her how he felt. *** MAY 2019 Before Gus knew it the Prom was only a week away. It was time to fortify the final plans. He had to decide which of his family members to ask since there were things that he couldn’t do because of his age. He finally decided that Aunty Em would be the most likely to help out. Actually he knew that any of them would do it just that Aunty Em would be able to do it with the most aplomb. “Aunty Em I need you to do something for me.” “Yes Gus, what can I do for you?” “I guess you remember when I asked you about when Uncle Justin was gay bashed at his Prom?” “Of course I do, is the plan about to play out.?” “I intend for Dad and Uncle Justin to relive the good parts of their Prom and to be able to do what Dad had planned for after the Prom.” “Are you sure that this isn’t going to backfire?” “Yes or I wouldn’t do it.” “What do you want me to do?” “I need you to buy some things, here's the money, and to set things up at the house.” “What do I need to buy? Keep your money Gus, it'll be my part of the occasion.” “OK you need to buy a good bottle of champagne, a fancy flower arrangement, loads of candles, and a bushel of rose petals.” “Somebody did a lot of research.” “Yes, can you get these items and put them in the house after everyone leaves for the Prom?” “Of course Gussy. Just exactly do you want done?” “According to Mikey Dad had the champagne on ice on the diningroom table with the flower arrangement, I'll make sure that all of Uncle Justin’s favorite foods are in the refrigerator. Then the rose petals made a path from the table to the bedroom and covered the bed. The candles were arranged around the bed.” “Make sure I have a key and I'll make the place look exactly right for a romantic interlude.” “Thanks Aunt Emmett.” *** Finally the night of the 2019 Prom arrived. Gus and his Dads were dressed in tuxes. “Justin why're we wearing tuxes, I've never heard of chaperones wearing tuxes?” “All I know is that the letter from the school requested that we wear tuxes so that we could blend in better.” “As if I could blend in with 18 year old kids, you on the other hand will probably have to beat those randy teenagers off with a stick, don’t forget to take a stick.” Brian joked. “I’m going to go get Katherine and go to the banquet I’ll see you at the dance itself. Oh by the way I bought you two something you can wear tonight.” With that Gus left the house. “Now why would he buy us something?” “Well Justin you brought him up very well. We're doing him a favor by going to the Prom as chaperones so he feels obligated to get us something as a thank you.” “I suppose we should find out what he got and I’ll bet the gifts are on our bed.” So Justin went to the bedroom and as he had predicted there were two wrapped gift boxes on the bed. He brought the boxes to Brian where they opened them together. Inside each was a white silk scarf with an embroidered initial. “What a coincidence Brian, the last time I held a scarf like this was when I found that blood stained one that you were wearing under your clothes when we first made love after the bashing.” “That doesn’t bring back bad memories does it?” “No, I got over that long ago. So let me put yours on and you put mine on. ” “Justin you are devious.” “How else do you explain how I captured the King of Liberty Avenue?” “We better be on our way to dinner so we can get to the Prom on time, because if we stay here much longer these tuxes are going to be on the floor.” Just to be perverse Brian drove to the Liberty Diner and they had dinner with everyone staring at two handsome lovers eating a romantic meal of hamburgers and fries while dressed in matching tuxes set off with two almost identical silk scarves. As soon as Brian and Justin had driven off in the Jeep, Emmett let himself into their house and started setting up for the romantic interlude the guys would be having after the Prom. When Brian and Justin got to the hotel they found that the dance part of the Prom had already started and that they were the only parent chaperones. The only other adults were hotel staff, the DJ and school staff members. Gus introduced them to Mrs. Henderson and Justin said “You look familiar, do I know you from somewhere?” “I was a year behind you at St. James.” “Oh OK, but I haven’t been back there since, well I’m sure you remember?” “Yes that was a beautiful night until that bastard Hobbs had to screw it up. Sorry for my language Gus.” “What happened?” Gus asked knowing he had to cover up the slip by Mrs. Henderson. “Nothing to worry about now Gus, just have fun tonight.” Gus and Katherine went off to dance again. “Mrs. Henderson Gus knows nothing about that night, we decided long ago that he didn’t need to know about that horrible time in our lives.” Brian told the teacher. “I’m so sorry that I let it slip.” “Don’t worry about it.” “Thank you again for being chaperones, I’m sorry that none of the other parents were able to attend.” Of course she couldn’t admit that no other parents had been asked. “We were glad to help out.” Justin answered. “Well enjoy the rest of the night. I better go and make sure the punch hasn’t been spiked.” At that comment Brian gave Justin a huge grin. Gus and Katherine had a great time while Brian and Justin were thrilled to see their son having such a good time. “You know Brian I’m glad that we came. I was a little worried that being at a Prom would bring back bad memories. But seeing Gus and Katherine enjoying themselves so much just brings back the good memories from my Prom.” “Well if any bad ones start cropping up just let me know and we can be out of here in no time.” “Brian I'm 36 years old I can take care of myself once in a while.” Justin said with a grin. Before anyone knew it, it was 10 to 12 and the DJ announced that the final dance was coming up and it was going to be a dedicated song to a special couple. Then Gus’s voice came over the sound system “I want to dedicate this dance to my Dads, Brian and Justin, so that they can finally have the perfect ending to a perfect Prom.” Brian and Justin just stared at their son and then at each other. Then the words to a very emotional song in their personal history started. “Justin may I have The Last Dance?” Brian took Justin by the hand and led him to the dance floor and just like 18 years before the Prom goers cleared the way for them. Brian and Justin danced just like they had 18 years before and anyone would have thought that they'd practiced ballroom dancing every day since, the two moved around the dance floor like professionals and just like 18 years before they ended it with a passionate kiss. But this time the audience started clapping to show their approval. When they came back to the world they sauntered over to their son. Both were beaming with love and joy. “Gus how long have you been planning this?” Brian asked. “Over a year, since I found out about the bashing at the Thanksgiving dinner at Debbie’s. I knew I had to do something to get you two over the last vestiges of that night. By the way my plan isn’t over. Go on home. I'll spend the night at Mom and Mama’s.” “Gus you know we're going to pay you back for this.” Justin stated. “Yes Gus we old guys can only take so many ridiculously romantic nights in one lifetime.” “You just go on home and find out what I have in store for you there.” Gus said with a huge smile. Gus and Katherine then left so that they could go to the after Prom festivities. Brian and Justin just stared at each other with amusement and love. “We certainly raised a wonderful son don’t you think?” Brian asked. “Yes, that we did, but we can’t forget Linds and Mel had something to do with it too. Let’s go home and see what else he has up his sleeve.” Once they got through the door they stopped and stared in amazement. Emmett had done what Gus had asked but he had gone several steps further. The champagne was on ice with a beautiful flower arrangement framing it. There were lit candles lighting the room and a snack tray full of everything Brian and Justin liked on the table as well. Emmett had stayed in the house until 11:30 before putting the snacks out and lighting the candles. The path of yellow rose petals led to Brian and Justin’s bedroom where more candles awaited and the bed was covered in green rose petals. “Why would he decorate the house in this manner Brian?” “Because this's how I had the Loft decorated all of those years ago for our after Prom date. Once I decided that I did indeed love you I wanted to show you in a way that couldn't be misunderstood. I might have gone a bit too far though." "You think so? But I imagine I would have been thrilled that you were willing to act so out of character just for me." "Gus must have found out from Mikey how I'd decorated the LOft. He went to there to get me some clothes that first day while you were in the hospital. He must have cleaned everything up because I certainly don’t remember doing anything about it.” The two lovers returned to the diningroom where they proceeded to open the champagne and eat the snacks between inspired kissing sessions. Eventually they followed the "yellow rose petal road" to the “Emerald Bed” where they proceeded to undress though they kept the white silk scarves around their necks. To say that they had a night of unbridled versatile passion would be to understate what happened. Finally they fell asleep in each other’s arms. When they woke the next morning they retired to the shower where they replayed the first time they had shared a shower. That afternoon when Gus finally made an appearance the two were sound asleep on the couch from sheer exhaustion. Gus wisely backed out the door and went to see Katherine. “Katherine it worked out even better than I ever expected. While I’m sure they'll remember the horror of that night they now have after Prom memories to counter the bad ones.” “Oh Gus you're such a good son.” “Thanks Katherine, I have something I have to tell you though.” “What is it Gus?” “I just want you to know that I have loved you, with all my heart, from the moment I met you last summer and that I plan on making you Mrs. Gus Peterson-Marcus.” “Gus we aren’t ready to get married.” “I know that but in 4 or 5 years that'll change and then I'll come proposing that you join my family.” “We’ll see Gus.” “Just ask my Dad about the persistence of Uncle Justin, I learned from the best so there's no doubt in my mind that we'll be a married couple, probably with a dozen kids.” “A dozen you say?” “Well no matter how many we have we'll love them as much as my Dads love me.” “Then they'll never want for love.”