Living in Hope AU series Part 10/10

[guavejuice]

Banner by urugwaj thank you SO much!!


Author:guavejuice
Pairing:Brian/Justin
Gus' POV
Beta:Kim predec2 Can't thank you enough!!!
This is NOT a WIP.
Click here for previous chapters.
Disclaimer:I own nothing but this story.
Comments are love.


Part 10

-My room, early evening, the next day-

As I open my inbox, I'm excited to find an email from this guy who sent me an attached file with the converted videotape I had handed him earlier this morning.

I stare at the title, "Justin's prom,” and I don't really know what to think. I decide I might watch it by myself first, and then I'll let Justin and Dad know about it.

I click to open the file. At first all I see is a dark frame, but then the room lights up and I can see my dad looking young and ravishing in his tux, holding Justin close, almost gliding across the floor with him. A group of people stand around, apparently Justin's classmates, but I can't see their faces because a ray of soft white spot light washes over the dance floor, almost caressing Dad and Justin as they continue to dance closely. As much as I try, I can't recognize the song that's playing for them in the background, but there's one line that sticks in my head: ‘Save the last dance for me.’

I can't take my eyes off my computer screen when suddenly Dad sweeps a younger Justin into his arms, literally picks him off the dance floor and holds him in his arms as they swirl around with Justin's legs a few inches off the floor. Then right before the music dies down I can see my dad leaning towards Justin, pressing their foreheads together and ever so gently molding their lips together into an intense, deep kiss.
I don't know why, but I can feel tears streaming down my cheeks. I know I must show it to them. Even if I don't understand everything I've just seen, I know this must have been an amazing moment for them and I must let them know I found it.



_ _ _ _ _ _

-The Next Day, the Country House-


"Where did you find this, Gus?" Justin asks quietly, his voice cracking with emotion. As he lifts his head from my laptop, I can tell he's been crying the whole time.

"I…I found a videotape in that box in the attic, so I…decided to take it to this guy to convert it into a different format so we could…" I stop in mid-sentence so I don’t ramble too much at this delicate moment.

"Did you know about this, Brian?" Justin turns to his partner, my dad, who sits on the sofa beside him.

Dad sighes. “Yeah, I knew about it,” he admits quietly as Justin’s mouth gapes open in astonishment.

“You did? My God, why didn’t you ever tell me about it, then? Or more importantly, why in the hell didn’t you ever show this to me? You knew how much I wanted to remember that night!”

“Justin…” I can see Dad struggling with his words as he explains, “And I told you before how much I wanted to forget about that night. Don’t you understand how much that night hurt me, too? How helpless I felt that night, out in that parking garage, watching you lying there, bleeding and lifeless?” He brushes his hair restlessly with his hands before he lets out a shaky breath. “That was one of the best – and worst – days of my life, and it always will be.”

Then my father pauses for a moment as he stares intently into Justin’s eyes, and at that moment I feel like they don’t even know I exist, at least temporarily.

I can see Justin processing that information before he replies softly, “I know it must have been, Brian. But still, you could have told me you had this, and let ME decide whether I wanted to see it or not.”

My dad nods slowly. “I’m sorry, Justin. I realize that now. But truthfully? Back then, when someone mailed the videotape to me anonymously at work – I guess they had read about it in the paper or something and wanted to help – it was right when the trial was going on, and you were freaking out about everything. I was so concerned about your recuperation back then that I put it aside in that box and forgot about it. That’s the plain and simple truth." He pauses then so Justin can consider what he was saying, and I hold my breath. "You do believe me, don’t you? You know never once have I lied to you about anything.”

I notice Justin considering my father’s words and swallowing hard before he finally nods. “Yeah, I believe you, Brian.” He takes a deep breath before he looks over at me as if he is acknowledging my presence again., and I feel like shit for causing what could have been a disagreement between my father and him.

"Are…are you mad at me, Justin? If so I'm really, really sorry. I do apologize if I took it without asking you guys first. You know I would never want to do something to cause trouble between you and Dad, but I wanted it to be a surprise…Please don’t hate me," I plead.

"I could never hate you, Gus," Justin says, his eyes shining with tears. "You know I love you, kiddo."

I feel tears coming to my eyes as well then, and a great weight lifting from my shoulders as I nod back at him with a smile, too emotional to say anything yet.

"I'd like to tell you what happened that night," Justin suddenly tells me.

"Justin…" my dad interrupts, but Justin shakes his head at him.

"Justin, please, let it go…" my dad urges him softly.

"It's okay, Brian. It's been 18 years. He deserves to know. I mean…he's a man himself now…" Justin states firmly as he turns to face me. "So I guess I’d better tell you all about it, Gus. 18 years ago I did ask your dad to be my date to my prom, because I didn't want to go with just anyone. I wanted to go with the person I cared about, and that person happened to be Brian. To my disappointment, though, he turned me down and I decided not to go, but then my mom and Debbie convinced me I shouldn't miss out on it, so I decided to take my friend Daphne instead. We got all dressed up and showed up there, but then Brian decided to surprise me and showed up just as the prom was about to end," Justin explains, and it seems as though he's reliving every moment of that story.

"So then he stole me away from Daphne – after asking,” he add with a smile over at my father. “And he took me out on the dance floor, and…Well…I don't remember anything after that. It took me almost eight months and a lot of tender loving care to remember that Brian was there with me to save me, but…Not much more than that," Justin's voice trails off, and there is no mistaking the distinct sadness in his voice.

"Save you? From what?" I ask.

My father spoke up then, sensing that it was too difficult for his partner to continue. "Justin was bashed, Gus. After our dance, we went out to the parking garage so Justin could walk with me back to my jeep, and then this scumbag named Hobbs came after him with a damn baseball bat.”

My mouth hung open in stunned disbelief, and I felt sick to my stomach. How could someone do that to someone as wonderful as Justin? "He did what?? God, that is terrible! Justin, I'm so sorry to hear that! I really shouldn't have stuck my nose where it didn't belong. I shouldn't have touched that videotape,” I say.

"No, Gus, It's not your fault. In fact I should thank you. YOU brought back a memory that I'd never thought I could own again. For years after that, even long after I was able to regain control of all the parts that were damaged by the bashing, and I was even able to restore some memories of what had happened that night, I couldn't possibly remember THAT moment. The prom dance itself. MY prom dance, with the man I …" Justin stops in mid-sentence, staring into my father’s eyes.

"…love," I help him finish the sentence and he nods at me.

'Thank you,' Dad mouths at me before he slides his arms around Justin and envelops him in a comforting embrace.
"And by the way, Gus, while you were up there in the attic I finished the piece I was working on. I call it Rapunzel." Justin sounds a lot calmer now as he explains, "like that young princess who was trapped in this tower, waiting…" he stops in mid-sentence.

“…for the prince," I add playfully, happy to see my dad and Justin so at ease.

"Careful, Sonny Boy, don't push it…” Dad warns me with a slight smirk.

"Okay, okay…But I just thought I should thank YOU guys for showing me that… that it's okay to have hope," I tell them.

"Sometimes it can take a while to get there, though, Gus," Justin warns me gently.

"I know that now. But at least I'm on my way…" I answer confidently.

My dad nods at me, the pride clearly showing on his face as he responds, “Yes, you are, Gus. And I couldn’t be more proud of you – or love you any more than I do right now.”

And when my father sweeps me up into a decidedly little-boy hug a few seconds later, I didn’t care one bit.

****************************

Comments

[yumyumpm.livejournal.com]

Love this. But I'm sorry to see it end. I always felt that someone had to have recorded that moment. I notice they didn't tell Gus that Hobbs got off practically Scot free and is still out there somewhere.

[guavejuice.livejournal.com]

Thank you SO much for your thoughtful feedback. It means a lot to me.
I always thought there had to be someone who recorded that prom and that Justin deserved to have a memory of that moment.
As for Chris- I felt B/J didn't need to mention him more than they already did in this'verse, tbh.
Thank you so much for following this story.