Intrepid Traveler - Part 14

“Well, Brian certainly knows how to get in trouble, doesn’t he?”

Justin looked up, not believing what he had just heard his friend say.  “It wasn’t his fault,” the blond responded, harshly.  “Jim got in his face.”

“I thought Brian liked guys in his face,” Nick joked.  He quickly wiped the smile off his face when he received a less than happy glare from Justin.  “Sorry,” he added.

Justin sighed, hiding his head in his hands once again.  “We gotta do something.”

“What can we do?” Lindsay asked, speaking up for the first time since Justin had arrived in her apartment. 

He couldn’t remember how long he stood in the doorway of their room after Brian was taken away in handcuffs.  It seemed so unreal, something out of a movie or some cop TV show.  Watching his lover being arrested.  For something that wasn’t his fault.  Something that Justin was responsible for.  And he just stood – unable to move, unable to think straight. 

When the first wave of shock wore off, he sprinted to Lindsay’s.  He needed to get Brian out of jail, to get him out of this mess he’d pushed his boyfriend into.  But he couldn’t do it alone.  He needed help; he needed his friends.

Except, his friends weren’t much help either.  Dropping his head back, Justin shrugged his shoulders.  “I don’t know.  Something.  Anything.  We have to help him.  We have to get him out of jail.”

”And then what?  He’s still going to have the arrest on his record,” Lindsay added.

“I don’t know,” Justin snapped.  “I…” he looked away.  “I don’t know,” he whispered, dropping his head in his hands. 

He felt the bed shift.  Looking to the right, he found Nick sitting next to him, his friend’s hand on Justin’s shoulder.  “Kevin’s father is a lawyer.  Maybe he can help.”

Justin nodded, but he knew that just getting Brian out of jail wasn’t going to be enough.  Lindsay was right.  It could ruin the rest of his life, his future, his career. 

And there was only one person who could change all that.

~~~***~~~***~~~

He chose his favorite place on campus to try and call Nathan, not really sure whether the timekeeper would even hear him.  And even if he did, after the way Justin had treated him, he wouldn’t have blamed the angel for not responding.  But he had to try.

“Nathan,” he called.  No answer.  “Nathan, please!”  Still nothing.  He sighed, knowing deep in his heart what he should say.  He dropped his head back, arms open wide.  “I’m sorry, ok?” he shouted at the sky.  “I’m sorry.  You were right and I was wrong.  Is that what you wanted to hear?  NATHAN!”

“You gotta be careful,” he heard the voice behind him.  Turning around, Justin saw the short man leaning against a tree.  “You could lose your voice like that,” Nathan smirked.

Justin inhaled sharply.  His plan was to somehow get Nathan back here, but he had absolutely no idea on what exactly he was going to say.  How he was going to get the timekeeper to help him.  Help Brian.  “I didn’t…I wasn’t sure you’d hear me,” Justin managed to say with a shaky voice.

He was greeted with a crooked smile.  “Oh, I heard, alright.”  Seeing the confused look on Justin’s face, he explained, “Did you really think that I would just dump you here in the happy 90s and leave?  That’s not how I work, Sunshine.”  He lowered his hand, reaching into his pocket and taking out a pack of cigarettes. 

“I thought you’d quit,” Justin tried his hand at joking.  But when the angel raised his eyes to meet his, the blond looked away, feeling guilty.  “I’m sorry,” he said quietly, looking back up at the timekeeper.  “About what I said, I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean it.”

“Sure you did,” Nathan countered, pushing away from the tree trunk and taking a couple of steps toward Justin.

Justin sighed.  “Maybe when I said it.  But I was upset and…”

“Look, I’m sure you didn’t call me here so loudly to rehash the past or apologize for anything you might or might not have meant.”

Justin held his gaze for a moment before slumping down on the bench.  “Brian’s been arrested.”

He felt the other man next to him.  “I know.”

Justin’s head snapped up, surprised at the admission. 

“I told you, I’ve been watching,” Nathan explained.

“Then why didn’t you do anything to stop it?”

Nathan arched his eyebrows.  “Do what?  There was nothing that I could do about that.”

Justin shook his head as if to clear it.  “Well, we gotta do something now.  We need to fix this.”

“Justin, there is nothing I can do,” Nathan insisted.

“Of course there is,” Justin argued passionately.  Nathan was his last hope and he was not about to give up.  “You changed it.  Brian’s future, his life.  You changed it when you brought me here.  We’re the reason it got so screwed up.  The reason Brian ended up in jail.”

“No, Justin.  All I did was give you a choice.  YOU made the choice to come here.  YOU made the choice to stay.  Just like Brian made the choice to punch that guy in the face.”

“He deserved it!” Justin shouted, rising from the bench.  Yes, it was a lame excuse, a stupid defense, but it was the only one he had in his arsenal. 

“You got no argument from me, kid,” Nathan responded, “But that’s not the issue here.”

Justin stopped pacing in front of the bench and looked up at the man.  “You have to help him,” he pleaded with a quivering voice.  “You have to.  There’s nobody else.”

Nathan stood up and walked over to him.  “I’m sorry, Justin.  There is nothing I can do.”

Justin shook his head.  “No.  You can…you can take me back in time, or just make it that I never came here.  Do SOMETHING!”

Nathan sighed.  “I can’t.  I can’t just manipulate time like that.”

“Aren’t you the timekeeper?”

“Yes,” Nathan replied, “But I’m not God.”

Justin took a step back, his shoulders slumped in defeat. 

“I’m sorry, Justin,” Nathan said again.

But the blond didn’t even look up when the timekeeper disappeared into the thin air.  He had to figure out a way to fix this.  To make it the way it was supposed to be, the way it should have been if he hadn’t come here at all.  Being selfish and trying to get what never belonged to him in the first place, what was never supposed to happen was what got him to this point.  And now he had to somehow fix it and leave before he made more of a mess out of Brian’s life.

And there was only one thing left to do.

~~~***~~~***~~~

He didn’t bother knocking on the door.  If Jim was inside, he wouldn’t voluntarily let him in any way and Justin didn’t have time to play games now.  Brian had been in jail for over two hours now and he had to get him out at all cost.

He didn’t feel scared.  Or anxious.  Or worried about going into the room.  There was nothing worse that could happened to him there than what already had.  Brian was arrested because of him and nothing else, no matter how bad it was, could compare to that. 

Swinging the door open, Justin walked inside, his shoulders square, his head held up high.  He exuded confidence, even though inside he was anything but.  Immediately his eyes landed on the large form of his former roommate.  Jim’s nose and everything surrounding it was almost black and swollen. 

“Get the fuck out,” the man growled when his eyes locked onto Justin’s.

“Why?  You’re going to send cops after me too?” Justin tried to sound as casual as possible as he made his way through the room, carefully inching closer to the other man.  He watched wearily as Jim rose from the bed, standing on guard similar to Justin.

“No.  I don’t need cops to deal with you.”

Justin laughed angrily.  “You think you scare me?  You think that you’ve won?  That you made the Faggot run like a scared little mouse?”  He took a step closer to Jim.  “You didn’t.  You’ll never win,” he hissed, his face only inches away from the other teen’s. 

“I already have,” Jim replied arrogantly.  “Kinney’s already in jail.”

Justin narrowed his eyes, his eyebrows creasing.  “He won’t be there for long.”

“Really?  And how do you plan on getting him out of there?”

Justin’s mouth twitched at the corners, his lips spreading into a derisive smile.  “You’re going to help me.”

Jim snickered.  “You think I would help you?  You’re fucking crazy.”

“Maybe I am, but you ARE going to help.  Because if you don’t, everybody will find out that you’re just a self-hating, cock-loving fag.”

The blood drained from Jim’s face.  “I am not a fag,” he griped.

Justin shrugged.  “It doesn’t matter.  It only takes one person to start the rumor and that’s all you’ll ever be for the rest of your pathetic, miserable life.”

“Nobody would believe you anyway.”

“Maybe not.  But I’ll bet they’ll still wonder.  I mean, it all makes sense.  You were rooming with a queer for months now.  And it would explain the fight with Brian.  You got jealous because I left you for him.  So you attacked Brian.  He was just defending himself and me from your jealous rage.”  Justin smiled at the look of complete fear on the other teen’s face.  “Like I said, it only takes one rumor.”

“You’re bluffing.”

Justin cocked his head to the side.  “Are you willing to bet on it?  I mean, think about your daddy’s reaction when he reads a heartfelt letter from your former lover.”  He took another step closer.  “I can be very descriptive when talking about cock.  And I’ll write all about how great you are at sucking it.  Think what an interesting read it would make.”

“You’d never do it.  You’d be outing yourself to everybody.”

Justin shrugged his shoulders.  “You think I give a shit?  I just want Brian out of jail.”

~~~***~~~***~~~

It was almost an hour later when Justin finally saw Brian walk through the heavy doors, accompanied by a policeman.  More than anything Justin wanted to launch at Brian, wrapping his arms tightly around the other teen, but doing that in the middle of a police station wasn’t a good idea and Justin recognized that. 

Instead, he waited patiently as Brian slowly made his way toward him.  His breath caught in his throat when the brunet neared him.  There was no need to ask Brian whether he was ok.  It was painfully obvious that he wasn’t.  He looked scared and tired.  Completely and utterly exhausted. 

Brian stopped a few inches away, silently waiting for Justin.  The blond managed a small smile.  “The car’s outside.”  Brian nodded and without a word exited the building, with Justin trailing closely behind. 

 

When they got to the car, Justin took out the keys, ready to offer them to Brian.  After all, it was his car.  And Justin knew all too well that Brian did not like anybody else to drive unless it was absolutely necessary – i.e. when he was completely plastered.  But when Justin looked up, he saw Brian already getting in the passenger seat.  He tried not to give it too much thought, instead focusing on climbing into the car and getting them the hell away from the police station.

The drive back to the dorm was short and quiet, filled with Justin sneaking glances at his subdued lover who hadn’t said or moved even once.  He just stared out of the window, watching the passing cars and buildings.  It was only when Justin parked the car and told Brian that they were home that the brunet finally looked up.  The only sign of acknowledgement was a slight nod before Brian opened the door and got out. 

Justin sighed loudly and climbed out of the car as well, following Brian into the building.  He was hoping that when Brian finally got to their room, he would relax, or at least feel a little better.  But that didn’t seem to be the case. 

Justin opened the door and waited for Brian to walk through it, following him inside.  When he locked the door behind them and turned around, he found Brian just standing in the middle of the room, looking completely lost.  It broke Justin’s heart seeing his lover like that.  He wasn’t used to it, seeing Brian always in control, or at least pretending to be.  Brian was never off his game and now…now Justin had no idea what spending hours in a cell meant to Brian, what kind of damage it did, would do in the future.  And it scared him.  Not knowing what was to come now scared him to death.

Justin dropped the keys on top of the dresser and walked over to where Brian still stood, staring blankly at the wall.  “You ok?” he asked, putting his hand on Brian’s shoulder and gently gliding it down his arm.  The question was stupid, but he had to start somewhere.  He needed to get Brian to talk and that was the best he could do.

Brian blinked and let out a sigh.  He wasn’t ok.  Nothing was ok.  Not anymore.  And Justin held the sole blame for that.  Caressing Brian’s cheek with his hand, Justin pulled the man in for a hug.  At first Brian didn’t seem responsive, but soon Justin felt Brian’s arms go around his waist as Brian dropped his head on Justin’s shoulder.

“I’m so sorry,” Justin whispered, absently running his hands up and down Brian’s back. 

They stayed like that for a while, wrapped in each other’s arms.  Brian needed that.  The comfort, the feeling that he was finally safe.  And more than anything Justin wanted to give it to him.  To somehow make up for the shitty day, shitty life that Brian had survived.

Finally, Justin began to pull away.  What Brian needed more than anything was to get some rest, to just forget about the last twenty-four hours, at least for a little while.  And Justin intended to help him with that. 

He moved his hands to the front, his fingers immediately going to work on the buttons.  As quickly as he possibly could Justin unbuttoned Brian’s shirt and gently slid it off Brian’s shoulders and down on the floor.  Then Justin focused his attention on the zipper of the jeans Brian was wearing.  Pushing them down as well, he waited for Brian to step out of them.

“Come on,” he said softly, taking Brian’s hand in his and leading the taller man over to the bed.  He held the covers up for Brian, watching as the teen quietly did as he was told and lay down, with Justin getting in right next to him and pulling the thin blanket over their bodies. 

Justin propped himself on one hand, the other trailing up and down Brian’s arm in gentle, soothing circles.  Finally he saw Brian’s eyes close, felt his body relax against Justin’s.

“It’s ok now,” Justin whispered.  “It’s ok.”

Go to Part 15

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