Brandis Redemption - 1

The following story is entirely a work of fiction, and is not intended to imply anything about any real people. All of the characters in the story are fictional, and must not be confused with any real people. The characters in this story may have the same names as some real people, but the characters are in no way supposed to actually represent any real people.

It had been a great concert! It was Metallica--how could it possibly be bad! Jared was still pumped, so the chances of going back to the apartment and getting some sleep were nil.

He looked at his watch and realized that it was almost one in the morning. Great, and I have to work in the morning. Well, there is only one thing that will put me to sleep now--a couple of beer.

For some reason, after a couple of beer, Jared is always ready to go to sleep. He had always been different like that. While everyone else wanted buttered popcorn, he wanted no butter or salt. When the rest of the kids wanted to play baseball, he wanted to practice his topspin forehand. When all the guys went after a girl or two, he was checking them out.

Yeah, he was gay. He'd accepted it easily enough, but he didn't admit it to anyone. Growing up in a small town of only 3000 people did not provide a friendly environment for expressing 'wrong' feelings. That was what most people in his hometown thought--being gay was wrong. That is why Jared was so determined to make a good life for himself and get out of that place.

But things had not gone according to plan. He'd gone to university and had gotten his degree, but now...now he was a deliveryman for a large department store. Not exactly what he had originally planned. His mother had complained that he spent "Too much time partying and not enough time studying. People don't get hired if they have bad grades." Like she knew anything. His grades were fine, but it was hard to break into the industry. He had had to take the first thing that came up, which just happened to be in Los Angeles--not only on a different coast, but also in a different country. Living in Newfoundland was a lot different than LA. It wasn't every day that he got the chance to see Metallica in Newfoundland.

Anyway, the past aside, Jared made his way to the nearest bar. One of the things that he had picked up shortly after moving to LA was the location of all the good clubs. No, not all of them were gay bars. It was about half and half actually. This one wasn't, but it had great draft beer.

It was another typical LA summer night. The air was warm and somewhat smoggy. That was one of those things that he just couldn't get used to--the air quality, or lack thereof. Newfoundland had such clean air.

Jared was checking out the late night assortment of guys that he passed on his way to the club. Not bad really. Tonight's selection was better than it had been earlier this week. It must be the concert crowd that he was seeing.

As he neared the club he caught a glimpse of the standard "surfer dude" type and started checking him out. Nice ass and probably has great abs. I bet there is a nice package under those shorts too.

Unfortunately, his sightseeing was cut a bit short as he noticed something coming at him out of the corner of his eye. He looked up just in time to see the club's big metal front door smash into his shoulder. Jared staggered backwards several steps before regaining his balance.

"Watch what yer doing, you fuckin' idiot!" slurred the guy who opened the door. He was in his mid forties and was reeking of liquor. His dark blue shirt was half undone and his blue jeans were stained with what looked like motor oil.

"Sorry" was all that Jared said as he absently rubbed his shoulder. He wanted to call the guy off just for being an asshole, but he knew better. Sure, he had a temper, but he usually knew when to keep it under restraint.

The man kept yelling at him. "Young punks, never watch where you're going anymore! YOU SHOW ME SOME RESPECT YOU LITTLE SNOT! I AM TWICE YOUR AGE AND I CAN KICK YOUR ASS!" He staggered backwards a few steps. Jared took the opportunity to slip past him into the safer confines of the bar.

That was different. I get hurt and he yells at me. Strange how he could talk again when he started yelling. Weird.

He shook his head, trying to clear the whole idea from his mind. He rotated his left shoulder just to be sure it hadn't been hurt. He realized that the pain was practically gone. That was one of the benefits of working as a deliveryman. You easily managed to stay in good shape. Jared wasn't sculpted by any means, but he wasn't fat either. His arms were nicely muscled and his chest and abs were firm. Not quite six-pack quality, but they were well on the way.

Taking a look around, he realized that there was a good crowd here tonight. It looked like an even mixture of men and women. Jared made his way to the bar hidden at the other end of the dimly light building. It was an excellent chance to check out the crowd, or more specifically the guys. The music was very upbeat tonight. What song is that? Oh, I know! That's the single from Geri Halliwell. Cool song!

Just as he approached the bar and was about to grab a stool to sit on, someone cut in front of him and took the seat. Jared jumped back, mostly out of surprise. He looked at the back of the guy's head for a few seconds, hoping that he would turn around and let him see who the prick was that had stolen his seat. No such luck. He walked to an empty stool only three seats down.

Damn, that guy seemed familiar. I know I recognize that hair from somewhere.

"What'll it be?"

Jared quickly snapped his head around to stare directly into the face of the brutish bartender. By his size you could tell that he was also the bouncer and was not a guy that you wanted to have pissed at you.

"Well?"

"Uh… draft."

"Glass or jug?"

"Gl...Glass" stumbled Jared. Damn, this guy was intimidating.

"Ha ha hah! No way?? Shut the fuck up, you got to be kidding?"

Jared looked in the direction of the voice and noticed that it was coming from the asshole that took his seat. The guy was definitely drunk. The guy half turned around and gave Jared a quick glance at his face.

Fuck! No way! That can't be who I think it is. Not here, and not drunk! Jared sighed. If only those two guys weren't sitting between us.

As if by some divine intervention, the two guys sitting between Jared and the center of his attention got up and walked out of the club. They had obviously had enough of the loud obnoxious attitude of this guy.

"That is awesome! Hey, Joey, can you believe this? Roger thinks that…Joey?"

Apparently the guy knew the two men who had just left, since he was trying to talk to them. Or at least, he was talking to the nearest empty seat.

Jared froze immediately. It was really him. I can't believe it! Damn he is so cute.

His mind was racing a mile a minute. He looked away quickly as he realized that he had been staring at the one guy that he had obsessed about for the last 5 years.

I can't believe Jonathan Brandis is sitting next to me! I can't believe he's drunk. But he is, isn't he?

At that instant, Jonathan looked over at Jared, who now had his head down pretending to find interest in something that was etched into the bar top.

"Hey, you…buddy? Have you seen my pal Joe? Have you seen Joey? Hey buddy?"

Oh yeah, he is drunk. Very drunk.

Jared looked up and to his left at Jonathan and was about to answer in the negative when their eyes met. Looking into those beautiful blue eyes, Jared lost the ability to speak.

"Uh...Joey? He...uh, he...Joe...What?" Oh, great Jared. Nice first impression.

"Hey moron! Have you seen my pal Joey?"

"Uh, Joey and another guy just left."

"Another guy? You mean Jim?"

Jared was stuck. He didn't know the guy's name. "If that was the guy sitting next to Joe, then yeah, they left together."

Jonathan seemed to get angry all of a sudden and Jared thought that he was about to have to deal with his second angry drunken guy of the night.

"Well fuck'em! Fuck'em both!" Jon gave a small shrug and turned back towards his other companions. Jared was amazed at how fast his mood had changed.

Before he had time to think about it though, the bartender slid a glass in front of him. "Here! That'll be two fifty."

Without hesitation Jared gave the big bad bartender three dollars and turned towards the dance floor. That was all the tip that the bartender was going to get.

The next fifteen minutes went rather smoothly. Jared slowly sipped his beer as he watched all the guys and girls (mostly the guys though) shake and groove out on the dance floor. He also tried to sneak peeks at Jon Brandis without the gorgeous drunken actor taking notice. He actually thought that a few times he caught him returning his glances, but dismissed it as wishful thinking.

At one point he found a nice gay couple that were more interested in each other's tongues then they were in dancing. He watched them for a minute or two until he realized that his glass was empty and decided to get another beer. One more should make him tired enough that he would have no trouble getting to sleep.

As he was turning around, he could hear Jon starting to get louder again. He took a quick look as he turned and noticed that Jon was starting to wave his hands around. The music had gotten substantially louder, so he could no longer understand what was being said. From the gestures and the tone, he assumed that Jonathan was getting mad.

"Can I get a refill?" Jared said to the bartender.

The bartender took the glass and placed it under the edge of the bar top, under the draft nozzle, bringing it back into view shortly thereafter containing another fine batch of liquid with a nice frothy head.

"Here ya go," said the bartender as he deposited the glass onto the bar top.

Jared pulled out a five, and since that it was all that he had left, gave it to the bartender. He started turning towards the dance floor, hoping to again see those two guys out there frenching the life out of each other. Of course, he had to turn so that he could get another look at Jonathan.

Just as he was turning around, Jonathan started waving his hands even more furiously. He lost his balance and stagger backwards. Jon's left arm was still swinging, and the bottle he was holding struck Jared squarely in the forehead with a loud thud. It was a wonder that the bottle didn't break.

Jared staggered backwards a step. That was enough for him to trip on the bar stool and go crashing to the floor. His beer spilled all over his favorite Metallica shirt.

Well, this was not one of those times when he managed to control his temper. It didn't matter that it was Jonathan Brandis, the guy that he had wanted so badly for the last 5 years. He was angry and someone was going to know about it.

He jumped up, still holding the glass in his hands. "God damn it!"

"Watch what you are doing you stupid sonofabitch!" Jonathan immediately went on the attack.

Jared lost any and all control that he might have had. He slammed the glass down on the bar top and it smashed. "Who are you calling a stupid sonofabitch you drunken idiotic, no talent, brainless, loud mouthed pussy-assed bastard? You hit me with a beer bottle, knock me down, make me spill my beer on my favorite shirt and it is my fault! Fuck you!"

"No fuck you! I have more talent in my right hand than you do in your entire body!" retorted Jonathan.

"Oh, big surprise. The actor only takes offence to someone saying he has no talent. And yeah, you are right, you do have more talent in your right hand, but we aren't talking about jerking off so it doesn't count!" Jared smiled. Wow, that was a good one.

Jonathan's expression turned into pure anger and anger alone. "That's it buddy, I'm gonna kick your ass!"

"No one is kicking anyone's ass here tonight." The bartender had walked up behind Jared and stood there with his arms folded. "Come on buddy, let's go."

Finally, they are going to throw him out of here. Before he had a chance to say or do anything else, Jared felt the bartender grab him from behind by his arms and start to lead him to the door.

"Hey! Me? I didn't do anything! He was the one who hit me remember. Are you that blind?"

"Shut up little man," snapped the bartender. For safety sake, Jared did as he was told.

When they reached the door, the bartender hit it open with his foot and walked Jared outside where he released him.

"Why me? I didn't do anything!"

The bartender held up his hands as if asking for calm. "I know that. But Mr. Brandis is one of our most frequent customers and brings a lot of people with him. He is good for business. You are not. And we are not going to start anything for ourselves in the media by kicking him out and making a scene any worse than this one already is."

Jared was shocked at the unjustness of the situation, "But...."

"Look, I'm sorry! But that is the way that it is. You can come back again, just not tonight." The bartender turned around and walked back inside the club.

Jared looked around at the small group of onlookers that had assembled on the street. He quickly realized that he looked like an idiot, so he turned and made his way home. There goes all hope of sleep tonight. This turned out to be a lousy night.
 

Back inside the club, the bartender walked up to Jonathan and placed his hand on his shoulder to get his attention. "Sorry about that Mr. Brandis, it won't happen again. Let me get you another beer, on the house. Budweiser right?"

Jon looked at the bartender. "No thanks. I've had enough. Just call us a cab. Come on guys, let's go." With that Jon and his remaining two friends walked towards the front door, to await their cab.

During the ride home, Jon kept to himself while his friends talked about the asshole that Jon had "Put in his place, man!" Jon was also thinking of that guy, but not in the same way. He was remembering a cute guy with beautiful hazel eyes, silky short brown hair and a killer smile.

As he staggered into his house and went to bed, his thoughts kept returning to Jared's face. Good job Jon. You really fucked that one up good. You'll never see that guy again and the only time that you did, you made him hate you. Stupid beer.

And on top of that, Joey has gone off with another guy. I thought we were going to be together forever. We ordered a new entertainment center together. I can't let him go. I have to call him first thing in the morning.

With that decision made, Jon drifted off to sleep. But instead of dreaming about his boyfriend Joey like he always did, he dreamt of the cute guy at the bar.
 

On the other side of town, Jared lay awake having somewhat similar thoughts.

Nice work Jared. You meet the guy of your dreams and you call him a no talent idiot. Fat chance he will talk to you again. What a night.
 

The next morning, Jon awoke with a hangover. But, he had a mission to complete. He put on his robe, went downstairs into the living room and found the cordless phone.

Wait a minute. I don't even know where Joey is! How am I supposed to call him?

He threw the phone onto the sofa. He made his way into the kitchen to prepare a nice breakfast. When he was hung over, he always wanted a big breakfast. He opened the refrigerator and took out the egg carton and the bacon. He turned on the right front burner on the stove and started to heat up the skillet.

Just as he was cracking open his first egg, the phone rang. He placed the egg in the skillet and ran into the living room to get the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi Jon. It's me. Joey."

"Joey! I was going to call you, but I didn't know where you were!"

"I'm at Pete's house."

Jon's face took on an expression of fear. "Who's Pete?"

"Pete is...well...the guy that I left the club with last night."

"Oh. Did, uh. Did you two sleep..."

"Yes we did. Jon, look, I'm not going to beat around the bush. I can't live with you anymore. You drink too much, you have a bad temper and you don't show me half the love that I show you. It just isn't a good relationship. I'm sorry. I will be over tomorrow to pick up my stuff and pay for my half of the entertainment center. You can keep it, as a reminder of us if you want."

Jon was in shock. He wasn't sure whether he was sad, angry or betrayed. "I…I can't believe this. We have been together for almost a year. How could you?"

"I had to do what is best for me, Jon. And you aren't what is best for me."

"So Pete is! That is so fucking unfair!" Ouch. Not good Jon, don't yell with a hangover.

"There you go again. We can't have a simple conversation without you yelling at me."

There was an uncomfortable silence. Jon slowly realized that it was over. Joey was just trying to find a good way to say good bye.

"Well, I gotta go. Pete is making breakfast. I'll be over tomorrow like I said. See you then. Bye."

"Uh, yeah. Bye." Jon hung up the phone and slowly walked back into the kitchen. The egg that he was frying was burned black. He turned off the burner and threw the egg into the disposal. The skillet clanged loudly as it hit the rack of the dishwasher.

Jon moaned, as the loud sound caused his hangover to return. He shuffled slowly back into the living room. He stood there, and looked around the room. Everything reminded him of Joey. He slowly turned, and went up the stairs to bed.
 

Across town, Jared and his partner Rob were busy delivering a living room set. As they finished and drove away, Rob started a conversation that Jared didn't want to get into.

"So, what did you do last night?"

"Not much." Jared said. "Went to that Metallica concert."

"Oh yeah, how was that anyway?"

"It was excellent! They performed a variety of stuff from their first album right up to their newest one. I had a blast. The T-shirts were a bit expensive though."

Rob laughed. "No they weren't. You're just too cheap."

"Now don't start that again." Jared said. "I'm not cheap. I paid $50 for that ticket."

"Ooooh. Mr. Big spender. So what else did you do? Don't tell me that you just went home and went to bed."

"No. I went to the club."

"Which one?"

"The one on the corner across from the stadium. I'm not sure what it was called."

"And you never picked anyone up? I figured after a good concert you would have gotten yourself a guy and had a nice dessert."

Jared laughed. It was just like Rob to make a comment like that. "You know that I don't do that."

"Yeah, yeah. You want a relationship. Have you ever thought of just picking someone up for the sex?"

"Yes, I have thought about it. I want the sex to be a part of the relationship, not just..."

"The sole purpose of being together." Rob said. "I know. You say that way too much."

Jared chuckled. "Then you ask me way too much."

"Just drive would ya."
 

The rest of the day on Tuesday went pretty smoothly for Jared. On Wednesday night he was feeling brave, so he decided to go back to the club.

As he got out of the cab, he looked at the front of the club and took a deep breath. "Here goes."

He walked up to the door and pulled it open. The music was more subdued than it was when he, uh, left a few nights earlier. He walked across the floor and took a seat at the bar. He looked around and took notice of the crowd. It was rather empty tonight.

"What'll it be? Hey, it's you. How are you tonight?"

Jared turned back towards the bar and saw the bartender that had tossed him out a few nights ago.

"Not bad I guess." Jared said. He smiled. "Can I get a beer tonight?"

"Sure thing. I hope you and Mr. Brandis aren't going to start anything tonight."

Jared's jaw dropped. He's here again! Maybe I have another shot. "You mean he is here again tonight?"

"Again tonight? Try every night this week. He does the same thing too. Walks in, orders a beer and takes a seat in the corner. Every night he gets drunk and tells me to get him a cab." The bartender handed Jared his beer.

"Gee, that's a lot of drinking." Jared said.

"Yeah. Personally I think there's something wrong, so I'd advise you to keep your distance tonight." With that the bartender smiled and walked away.

Jared took a sip of his beer and looked around. Where Jonathan was sitting? He scanned the room carefully, but he didn't see him. He took another sip of his beer. Then he heard a familiar voice.

"Bartender! Another one!"

Jared followed the voice and finally saw who he was looking for. Jonathan was sat in the corner at a table all alone. He had his head leaning against his right arm, blocking his face from everyone's view. It was obvious by his body language that he was drunk and not very happy.

Well, maybe this isn't the time to go up and talk to him. Hell, if he sees me, he might just try to kick my ass like he said he would.

But I can't just sit here. He looks like he needs a friend.

Jared sat there for another five minutes just watching Jonathan. Every second made Jared feel worse. Jon just looked so sad. Finally, Jared couldn't stand it anymore. He swallowed the rest of his beer in one gulp and headed over to where Jon was sitting.

"Mind if I sit down?"

Jon raised his head from his arm and looked up. Oh God. It's him. It's that cute guy again. Damn I wish I wasn't so drunk right now. Ok, Jon. Straighten yourself up a bit.

Wait a minute, why should I bother? He is just going to treat me like Joey did. "Yeah, sure. Whatever."

Jared sat down across from Jon and looked at him. Jon returned to his previous position, and rested his head on his arm.

Well, what to say? Jared thought for a moment. "Do you remember me?"

"Huh?" Jon looked startled. "Yeah I remember you. You were the guy who called me a no talent idiot the other night."

"Yeah, well, sorry about that. I wasn't thinking straight. I lost my temper and said things that I didn't mean."

Hmmm. Maybe he could extract a bit of gratuitous praise out of this guy. "So, you think I do have some talent?"

"Oh hell yeah! You are my favorite actor! Your characters have so much feeling. You become the character so easily. And you are so cu...Uh, quite a snappy dresser." Jared immediately turned blood red after realizing what it was that he was going to say.

Jon looked down, to check what he was wearing. Just a simple pair of blue jeans and an NWO T-shirt. Jon smiled. "You're pretty cute yourself."

Jared's jaw dropped. He said I was cute! He knew what I was going to say! Oh, shit, I need to keep this going. "Uh, thanks. The name is Jared by the way." He holds out his hand for Jon to shake.

Jon sat up straight, and shook his hand. The handshake was a firm but friendly one.

"So?" says Jared.

"So?" replies Jon. "You, uh, you want another beer?"

"Uh, no thanks. And to tell you the truth, I think that you have had enough yourself."

Jon looked Jared directly in the eyes for a moment. He then looked at the beer in his hand. He pushed the beer to one side. "I think you're right."

Wait a minute Jon, don't go liking this guy too much. He is just going to turn out like Joey.

But he seems so sincere. Damn it! I wish I wasn't so drunk.

"Maybe I should go." Jon said. "I'm a bit drunk and it is getting late."

Shit! And we were just getting started. "Uh, ok. You want me to get you a cab or anything?"

"Sure." Jon smiled. "That would be nice of you."

Jared's face lit up. "No problem!" Jared hurried over to the bar and had the bartender call a couple of cabs. Then he returned to Jon, and told him that the cab was on the way. One of the nice things about LA was that cabs arrived pretty quickly. Probably because there is one on every corner.

Jon got up and they walked to the door. Jared had to help Jon maintain his balance. He was more drunk than he'd thought. When they got outside there were two cabs there waiting. Jared led Jon to the first cab and opened the door for him.

"Thanks, Jared." Jon said.

"No problem Jon. Uh, will I, like, be able to see you again sometime?" asked Jared hopefully.

Jon looked up at his face. "Yeah, sure. How about we meet back here again tomorrow night. Say around, 8?"

"Sounds cool, but it is a bit early for me. I don't finish work till 7. How about 9?"

"Yeah, sure sounds good. See you tomorrow," said Jon. He smiled and got into the cab.

"Ok, see you tomorrow" Jared said, as he shut the door. He watched the cab pulled away from the curb, and then got into his own cab.

As they drove away Jared sat back and thought. I think this is going to be a great friendship. Maybe it could even turn into something bigger.

He smiled and enjoyed the ride home. Well, as much as one can while sitting in a cab.