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"Mikey! To what do I owe this pleasure?" Brian felt like he hadn't talked to his old friend in ages. In truth it had been nearly a month since the last time they had spoken - trying to coordinate a visit to the great white north to visit Jenny Rebecca and Gus. Brian looked at the clock across the kitchen. "Rather early for you to be up on a Saturday."
"Well, I have some things to do down at the store. Hey. Uh, so how's it going there in the Big Apple?"
"Great, great, can't complain - Kinnetik continues to exceed expectations and keep me in the manner to which I am accustomed."
"And Justin?"
"Oh he's doing well - right now his lazy ass is still buried under the covers."
"So are you guys, like, planning on doing anything for Gay Pride today?"
Brian snorted. "Yes, we have a communications blackout - no television, news, radio. I'm perfectly happy to be unproud, as I am the other 364 days of the year. And you should know better than to ask. After hosting the merry men of Pittsburgh for that Pride Week debacle three years ago, Justin and I swore off any rainbow activity for the entire month of June.
"So... uh, you haven't read the newspaper today?"
"Nope." Brian puffed out the "P" extending the word.
"No listening to the TV news?"
"No, Michael." Brian was getting annoyed.
"No Radio or Internet broadcast?"
"No Michael - no NPR, no New York Times, no Daily News, no Wall Street Journal."
"And Justin hasn't either?"
"Enough Michael, what is this all about? Has hell frozen over? Pigs flying?"
"Uh, you might want to read the news."
Brian sighed and activated his tablet. "Any particular newspaper?" Flipping past the icons for The Daily, Huffington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and NPR. "What am I supposed to be looking at anyway?"
"Remember that speech you gave last year at Thanksgiving?"
"Fuck Michael, you know I was drunk." Brian had been a bit overzealous in celebrating the demise and acquisition of the former VanGard Agency and its assets. It was a business triumph to have run them into the ground, and a personal satisfaction to have stuck it to old Gardner Vance.
"Then you really don't remember your speech?"
Brian gave an agitated growl. "Michael, will you quit beating around the bush? Just tell me."
"In front of everyone, you declared your love for 'your Sunshine' and told us if it were only legal to marry in New York, you'd make him your husband."
"Yes, fine, whatever, what the fuck does this have to..." the display on his iPad opened up to full screen. "oh... fuck!"
"Kind of gives a new meaning to 'no apologies, no regrets'." Michael snorted into the phone. "So will you be Mr. Taylor-Kinney or Mr. Kinney-Taylor?"
"Fuck off!"
"You can run, but you can't hide -- eventually your news blackout will lift." Michael laughed even harder. "Say hello to the Missus for me!"
Brian cut the call without saying goodbye. Fuck!
Justin entered the room with a sleepy smile and headed to the espresso machine. "Who was that on the phone?"
"Uh... Michael."
"Oh... that's cool. We haven't seen him in a while. Do you think he and Ben might want to come for a visit next month? Maybe we could go out to the Hamptons. We should rent a big house, invite the gang, make it a party. We haven't had everyone here since the big Pride disaster three years ago. You know, I kind of miss going to the Pride parade."
"hmmmm"
"Hey Brian! Why don't we lift the ban and go over to the parade this morning. I'm sure, after three years, all the bad karma is gone."
"Uh... Justin..."
"C'mon... it will be fun - Happy Pride!"
"Justin..."
Justin looked at Brian. "Don't you feel well, you look a little nauseous." He crossed the room and raised a hand to Brian's forehead.
Brian caught the hand in his and looked down at it. Oh what the fuck, who was he kidding, he loved the man.
Justin tugged at his left hand, but Brian held it firmly.
"Justin... Sunshine... we've been together for a long time now. You know I love you..."
"But...?"
"I never thought I'd say this again, but... will you marry me?"
Justin wrenched his hand from Brian's. "Yeah, right. Look, all you had to say was you didn't want to go to the parade." Justin turned back and prepared himself an espresso. The term "fucker" may have slipped from his mouth.
~>~>~>~>~>
Brian steered Justin to a police barrier near where Christopher Street met Greenwich Street in the East Village. Fuck, if he was going to be in this mess, he may as well go the whole hog.
Justin was grinning ear to ear. "This is great! It seems like it's even bigger than three years ago!" He gave Brian a hug. "I never thought I'd get you out to one of these again." Justin looked up into Brian's beautiful hazel eyes and quietly said, "thank you."
Brian rolled his lips and wrapped his arms around Justin.
They watched as merry makers began to gather from nearby restaurants and apartments. Christopher Street was at the end of the parade route, and people were already celebrating. Brian suppressed a shudder as he watched Drag Queens, Leather Daddy's and every other costumed gay cliche empty out of the nearby shops and bars. Christ save me. But then he looked down at Justin and his beautiful smile. Some things were worth the suffering.
The buzz in the air heralded the arrival of the March as people and floats preceded by New York's Finest began to fill the cleared street. Brian noted that Wells-Fargo led the group and tucked the information away to have Ted look into the policies of who Kinnetik was banking with. A Gay Straight Alliance was next, followed by the It Gets Better Campaign and The Trevor Project.
Justin's smile dimmed a bit, thinking back to his time at St. James Academy, the bullying he'd endured, and his attempt to start a Gay-Straight Alliance with Daphne. Things had changed and they did get better. A couple of other groups passed, then the Marriage Equality New York group arrived and the crowd erupted. The noise was deafening. Justin covered his ears and pressed back into Brian. His body started to tremble as he tried to quell what he knew to be the beginnings of a panic attack.
"Shit!" Brian wrapped his arms around Justin and valiantly searched the crowd for an escape route. The crowd was pressing forward into the police barrier, and Brian couldn't see a way out. Looking into the street he saw a mounted police officer and somehow managed to catch his eye. Seeing that something was afoot, the officer steered his way over to the couple. Brian pushed a surprised Justin toward the officer who latched onto his wrist. Brian boosted his partner's butt up, and Justin found himself on the back of the horse.
"Get him out of here. He has my number, call me when he's safe, I'll meet you." Another fucking Pride disaster -- he should have known better.
~>~>~>~>
It was over an hour by the time Brian was able to make his way to the First Aid station set up in a nearby gym. He found Justin sitting quietly speaking to someone who reminded Brian of Vic. He approached them silently and ran a hand across Justin’s shoulder to alert him that he’d arrived.
Justin smiled up at Brian. He looked to be in pretty good shape. If he’d had an attack it certainly had been mild with no long lasting effects.
“Hey,” he greeted Brian.
Brian nudged his chin up in greeting to Justin and his companion.
“This is Steve.”
Brian extended his hand.
“Steve’s been looking after me,” Justin said in a sheepish manner. “He talked me down.” He smiled at the older man.
“Justin was filling me in on the parade.”
“Oh yeah, all I saw of it.”
Brian gave a small smile. If Justin was able to joke he’d be okay.
“And Steve was filling me in on the big news.”
“What big news?” Brian looked from one man to the other.
Justin hauled off and hit him in the arm.
Brian rubbed the spot where Justin’s fist had landed. “What the fuck, Justin!”
“You neglected to inform me that, while we were on news blackout, it became legal for same sex couples to marry in New York!”
“Oh. That. No big deal.”
“No big deal?!”
“Well, it’s not like we’d be getting married or anything.”
Steve, who had been the byplay between the couple, gave a look of genuine surprise.
Brian turned to Steve explaining, “I asked him to marry me this morning and he turned me down.”
Justin sputtered and coughed, “You… You! You knew! I didn’t think you were serious!”
Brian continued to direct his conversation to Steve. “These young ones, always making demands, then when you give them what they want, they want something else.”
“Bri-i-i-an!” Justin warned.
Brian turned and fluttered his lashes, “Yes, dear?”
“You are so going to marry me!”
“Yes, dear.”
“You're also going to get down on one knee and ask me properly!”
Brian knelt down, “Yes, dear.”
Steve hooted a laugh.
Brian grabbed Justin’s wrist and pulled him down to sit on his bended knee. “Justin Taylor, in front of Steve and in the middle of the biggest fag celebration New York has ever seen, will you do me the honor of pissing off a bunch of narrow minded, homophobic asshole breeders by joining me in our legal right to marry in the state of New York?”
Justin rolled his eyes. “Some proposal!”
“Fuck Justin, will you just say yes?!”
Justin turned serious. He stared Brian straight in the eye. “Do you really mean it? No regrets?”
“No apologies?”
Justin snorted, “as if you’d ever apologize about anything!”
“I’m waiting Sunshine.”
“I’m thinking…”
Brian growled.
“Yes!”
“Yes, what?”
“Yes, I’ll marry you – if only to shut you up.”
“There are better ways to shut me up.” He pulled Justin closer and kissed him.
Cat calls and whistles greeted them when they finally parted for a breath of air.
“No regrets, Brian?”
“Never, Sunshine.”