Title: Ready in Time
Fandom: Queer as Folk (US)
Rating: R
Length: 392
Content notes: strong language, discussion of sexual situations
Author notes: Written for the role reversal challenge at fan_flashworks and the bingo card challenge at qaf_land. Title paraphrased from La Roux's "In For The Kill".
Summary: Lindsay meets an aspiring lawyer one night on Liberty. The question is whether she'll ever let it happen again.



"I mean…it's crazy, right?" Lindsay asks, wringing the hem of her shirt in her hands. "What the hell am I thinking?"

Brian's brow arches as he feeds Gus another spoonful of baby food. "Yeah, crazy. You, picking up some lezzie outside of a dyke bar on Liberty. What's the world coming to?"

Lindsay huffs, shooting him a look. She should have expected this from him. It's not as if she hasn't known him long enough to understand just how unhelpful he can be. Honestly, she's not sure what she was expecting when she drove out to his and Justin's house this morning. Sympathy? A lecture?

All she wants is anything but indifference.

She plops down in the kitchen chair next to him, leaning forward with her arms resting on her thighs. Brian wipes some stray food off Gus' chin before bothering to acknowledge her. And when he does, he looks at her, exasperated, and shrugs.

"What do you want me to say?"

"I want you to tell me that I should never see her again."

"You should do whatever the fuck you want. No apologies, no regrets." Brian lifts Gus from his highchair and passes him off to Lindsay. "Speaking of which, Justin wants you to see Gus more. He won't say it, but he does. He's been bitching at me for weeks to talk to you about it."

"That wasn't part of the arrangement, Brian," she says, holding Gus a little awkwardly. "I said I'd carry him, but my obligations end there. You and Justin are his parents."

"Would coming to one of Justin's stupid dinners really kill you? It would make him happy, and my sex life would improve exponentially."

"I teach an evening course. You know that."

"Cunnilingus 101 to barely legal munchers?"

"Very funny."

Brian smiles, smug. Lindsay looks down at Gus and considers how she got into this mess in the first place. To think that she was reconsidering going out last night. Maybe she should have reconsidered. But that would have meant maybe never meeting Melanie, and Lindsay's not sure if she could live with that. The girl she dropped off at some public school in Oakland this morning gave her an evening she could never forget.

And maybe for the first time in her entire life, Lindsay wonders if Mel feels the same about her.