Chapter Text
Gus doesn’t believe in labels; he believes in fucking.
It’s simple, it’s stress-free. You learn more about yourself without worrying about other people’s bullshit perceptions. Gus still struggles some days in that area. He’s quite the combination of his biological parents – with his father’s quick-to-judge attitude and his mother’s need for absolutely everyone to like her. Not that he’ll ever admit it.
Gus is, after all, the byproduct of the two most emotionally repressed people. Unlike his younger sister, Jenny Rebecca. J.R.’s biological family tree is full of loud and larger-than-life characters – meaning that she is in good company.
Gus is reminded of that fact yet again. They are in Pittsburgh, where he was born, for his high school graduation celebration. The festivities are held at J.R.’s father’s house since he and his husband, Ben, have the biggest backyard, and everyone is there. It’s not always the case that everyone can drop what they are doing and get together when he and his family are in town.
“Who wants another burger?” shouts an all-too-familiar voice.
“Debbie, honey, would you slow down?” Carl implores. He gives his wife a long-suffering, albeit amused look. “I can only grill so fast.”
“Yeah, Deb. This isn’t the diner,” Ben reminds her. “You don’t have to serve us.”
“No one will lose their pants if you don’t hop-to,” Michael teases, earning scattered laughs.
“That’s what you think,” Ted says, casting a wry look in Emmett’s direction.
Emmett smiles innocently while his fiancé, Drew, snorts into his beer. Drew is in the midst of a deep conversation with Ted’s husband, Blake, about a topic Gus cannot be bothered to follow.
“Honey, you’ve hardly eaten.”
Gus looks up and sees his mother standing there with a look of concern written across her features. Gus adopts a weary expression.
“I’m fine, Mama,” Gus says, frustration evident in his tone.
“You’ve been surly since we got in the car to drive here.”
“Oh, Mel. Give him a break,” Lindsay says, appearing behind her wife. She wraps her arms around Mel’s waist. “You remember what it’s like for young love to end for the first time.”
Gus’ eyes nearly roll to the back of his head. He retorts, “Young love is something that you read about in a fairytale.”
Michael shivers involuntarily and shakes his head.
“For a minute there, you sounded exactly like –”
“Someone wiser than most.”
Gus immediately rushes to his feet and turns to see his father standing there with a smirk on his face. A couple paces behind him is Justin. He is holding hands with a bright-faced toddler, Gus’ other little sister, while wearing his own perpetually amused expression.
“Hey, Dad.” Gus claps his father’s hand and they meet in the middle with a half-embrace.
“College Boy,” Brian greets him. He has taken to using that moniker in lieu of the traditional Sonny Boy. “Good to hear you still remember the tricks of the trade.”
“You’re the one who said a good trick is worth remembering.”
“Jesus Christ,” Mel mutters as Justin looks at Brian and murmurs, “Is that so?”
“I can neither confirm nor deny,” Brian says, impassively. “I was told there’d be booze.”
Brian passes by J.R. and ruffles her hair, causing her to swat at him.
“So,” Emmett draws out, dramatically. “Who was the young Mr. Peterson-Marcus in love with?”
All eyes in the vicinity land on Gus.
“No one,” he emphasizes. “My mother is talking out of her –”
“Watch it,” Lindsay and Mel warn him. J.R. snickers.
“His girlfriend broke up with him,” J.R. sing-songs.
“You little twerp,” Gus hisses. “She wasn’t my girlfriend.”
“A girlfriend?” Ted repeats. He looks at Brian in astonishment. “Brian Kinney’s first-born and heir to the throne is a breeder?”
Emmett cuffs Ted upside the head as Lindsay and Mel protest. Brian does not look any more impressed, but Gus isn’t sure if it’s due to Ted’s comment or the alleged girlfriend bombshell.
“No one says that anymore, Teddy,” Debbie points out.
“The times have a-changed,” Emmett agrees. Then to Gus, “Sorry to hear that, sweetie.”
“I would be, too, if it were true,” Gus says, flatly. “She wasn’t my girlfriend. We hung out a few times. That’s it.”
“She wanted more.”
“Would you shut up?”
“God,” Justin laughs. “You’re like how me and Molly were.”
“Aunt Molly?” Gus’ youngest sister asks.
“That’s right, Laurel,” Justin replies, crouching in front of the toddler.
Justin gently tugs at her left pigtail and she giggles. She’s quite cute – even more so when she scampers over to Gus and hugs his legs. Gus scoops her into the air. If memory serves, Laurel was named in honor of her Aunt Daphne, whose name’s Greek origin translates to “laurel tree.”
“Daddy says girls are smelly,” Laurel stage-whispers to Gus.
Gus’ lip twitches as his mothers and Debbie uniformly reply, “Is that so?”
“It is so,” Laurel confirms. Laughter echoes throughout the backyard.
“That holds up,” Hunter agrees, emerging from the house with more hot dog rolls. His girlfriend, Denise, walks with him. She playfully smacks his arm.
“You’d better watch it,” Michael snorts, glancing at Brian. “Your title as the leading heterophobe is being called into question now that you may end up with two straight kids.”
“I never count my eggs before they’re hatched, Mikey,” Brian says, sounding bored. “They don’t come from the co –” Justin deliberately clears his throat. “… From the source I’m interested in.”
Tired of the current discussion and his role in it, Gus lowers Laurel and makes his way over to the grill. Carl is the only one who’s not actively engaging with the conversation, so he figures it poses the least chance of it continuing.
“You’re practically the spitting image of your dad. Do many people tell you that?” Carl asks.
“Just about everyone who knows him. Which is admittedly –”
“Quite a few people,” Carl finishes with a chortle. “You’re different in a lot of ways, too.”
That is something that Gus doesn’t hear as often.
“How?” Gus questions, with genuine curiosity.
Carl flips several burgers before he responds. First, he looks over at where Brian is standing talking to Lindsay and Mel. Gus watches his parents talk as well. He does not remember too much from when he lived in Pittsburgh, but he does recall some of the knock-down drag-outs that the trio had often over him. Today, they’re all in a much better place in ways that only age and distance can afford you.
“You don’t act like people are lucky to be in your presence,” Carl finally answers. “You don’t even strike me as someone who particularly likes attention unless you actively seek it.”
“You got all that from the past hour?”
Carl laughs.
“That’s Kinney,” he says, shaking his head. Then, “I was a detective by trade, kid. The day that I can no longer read a person, I might as well be dead.” Carl transfers some burgers onto a plate. “Go on and take these over to Debbie before she has my balls and my spatula.”
Gus does as the older man asks and is intercepted by Justin on his way to the table.
“What exactly did we walk in on before?” Justin asks.
Gus gives him a humorless smile.
“You should ask the others.”
“I’m asking you.”
Gus shrugs.
“Everyone else seems to have their own take. Who cares about the truth?”
Gus excuses himself and spends the rest of the afternoon chasing Laurel around the yard.