Michael's Point Of View:

Lilly and I went back to the apartment to change. Brandon is sitting on the small couch in the living room. When Lilly and I walk into our bedroom, I turn her around and say,

"Lilly, this is very rare for someone to help us like this. You know that right?"

She nods. "Yeah, I know, daddy."

"I want you to be on your best behavior. You need to appreciate this, because this will probably never happen again. "

She nods. "I will be very grateful. "

I smile. "Good girl. Now go get dress."

Brandon's Point Of View:

I tap my foot while I wait for Michael and Lilly. I'm glad I ran into him today. He's so gorgeous and his daughter is beautiful.

I always pay for people's groceries or whatever it is they buy. I love helping. I have enough money, so I do everything I can to help others. I bought a very expensive car for a stranger once. I paid everything so they wouldn't have to worry about payments to the car.

I love doing it. It makes me feel warm inside. I now run my father's company, so I have plenty of money to spend. People always try and manipulate me. They think because I'm so young, that they can easily trick me. Well, I'm very smart so I always trick them, making them feel like assholes. They always apologize and say we didn't mean to and all that crap.

I'm 25 years old. I admit, I'm pretty young to be running my father's company, but I was raised to take his place.

Lilly walks out and sits next to me. She's wearing a pink shirt and pink shorts.

"You're favorite color is pink. Isn't it?"

She nods. "Yes! I love it... What's your name?"

"My name is Brandon and your name is Lilly."

She blushes and giggles. I notice her hair is in a messy ponytail.

"Who did your hair?"

"My daddy," then she whispers, "But he isn't very good at it."

I giggle. I motion her over.

"Come here. I'll make you look all pretty."

She sits on the floor in front of me. I can braid hair really good. I braided my sister's and mother's hair all the time. I love doing it.

When I'm half way through, Michael walks in. I look up. I swear could've melted right there! He's wearing a dark green shirt that is tucked in his dark jeans. He's wearing black boots.

His hair is down. Wow! He looks at me braiding Lilly's hair.

I quickly say, "I offered to braid her hair. I'm very good."

I finish and she stands up.

"I'll take a picture so you can see it."

She turns and I take a picture of her hair. She turns around and I show her. Her eyes widen.

"Ohmegosh, Brandon! It's so pretty!"

She hugs me. I hug her back. I love making people smile. Michael smiles at Lilly's excitement. He looks at me. Those eyes... I ask,

"Ready?"

Michael nods. Lilly grabs his hand and mine as we leave the apartment. He locks the door. We go down the elevator and outside.

There's a limo waiting. I look at Michael and smile. He looks confused. I say,

"I called my driver. Hope you don't mind."

Before he could answer, Lilly yells,

"I don't mind at all!"

I laugh. I open the door and let Lilly go in first. Michael hesitates. Before he decides to go in, I place my hand on his shoulder. He looks at me. I say,

"Enjoy yourself, Michael. It's Lilly's birthday. "

He nods and gets in. I follow behind him. I close the door and say,

"To Fun Zone, Martin!"

He nods. The limo pulls out into the road. Michael looks at me and asks,

"Are you a famous celebrity or something? I don't own a TV so I don't know."

I giggle. "No, I'm no celebrity. I just run my father's company. No biggie. "

Lilly looks around in awe.

"Brandon, this is so cool!"

I smile. "Thank you."

I can't help but look at Michael. I can tell he works hard to provide for Lilly. I wonder if he'll accept a job offer.

I notice his strong jawline. My heart starts to beat faster. I study his face. Those lips...that cute nose...even his cheeks are making my heart flutter. I never had this feeling before. Now, don't get me wrong, there were times when I thought I was in love, but I haven't even talked to this guy for an hour and already that feeling is coming.

I shouldn't rush things though. I don't even know if he's gay or not. I look down at his hands. Oh my goodness! Those big hands. I look down at his boots. He must have big feet. I bite my lip. I love being on the bottom during sex. I can just see him dominating me.

Brandon! Stop it! It's his daughter's birthday for crying out loud! Quit it. He's probably straight as a nail. He has to be...right?

We pull up to the Fun Zone. Lilly starts bouncing in her seat. She says,

"I've always heard great things about this place! I'm so happy!"

Michael pats her head. People watch in awe, probably hoping we were celebrities, as we got out of the limo. When they didn't recognize any of us, they continued on their way.

Lilly grabs my hand. I say,

"You know, I've never been here either."

"None of us have!" she says in excitement.

Michael laughs. Lilly grabs a hold of his hand also. We walk inside the building. We stop at the podium. Lilly looks around in excitement.

A lady comes up, but notices we were all holding hands. I think she got the wrong idea, because she said,

"We don't serve homosexual people. "

Michael looks at her in confusion. I just giggle.

"Well, despite that completely rude remark, I'll like to talk to my sister. Her name is Nina Clifford. "

The woman's eyes widen. My sister runs this Fun Zone. Hell, my company owns all Fun Zones. The woman quickly walks away.

"What was that about? "

I look at Michael and say, "We're both holding Lilly's hands. She obviously got the wrong idea."

What's his answer going to be? I show a little too much disappointment as he says,

"Well, that's absurd. I'm far from gay. Do I look gay? "

I shake my head and try to sound normal, "No. You look straight as a nail."

He smiles and fixes his shirt. I smirk. He's so gay. He's probably one of those people who don't accept it.

"Brandon!"

I turn and see Nina. "Nina!"

She runs up to me and hugs me. I hug her back.

"It's been a long time little bro."

I laugh. "Too long, sis."

I direct my attention back to Lilly.

"This is Lilly and its her 6th birthday. We just want to have fun instead of being accuse of homosexuality. "

Nina looks at me weird. She knows I'm gay. She sees Michael and quickly gets what's going on.

"I'm so sorry about that. Right this way."

She leads us to a booth.

"Here you go."

(AN: I know nothing about Fun Zone except that they have a play area and a arcade.)

There's a buffet so we don't need menus.

"Oh, Brandon, may I speak with you."

I nod. I look at Lilly and say,

"I want you to have fun, okay. "

She nods fast. I giggle. She already as that adrenaline rush. I look at Michael and say,

"I'll be right back."

He nods. I get up and follow Nina to a private area. When we arrive, she turns around and hits me on my arm.

"Ow! What was that for?"

She whispers harshly, "What the hell are you doing?"

I whisper back, "I was trying to have dinner!"

"I can't believe you! You're using that girl to get in that man's pants. "

I gasp. I whisper, "That's a horrible thing to do! You know I wouldn't do that! You wanna know?"

She nods. I whisper,

"I helped this guy with a purchase and I learned it was for Lilly's birthday! He told me all he had planned was that bike I bought! So I thought it would be nice to take them out! Okay, I admit, he's very sexy, but I would never use Lilly to get to him! That's sick!"

Nina folds her arms in front of her chest.

"I'm guessing Lilly is his 'daughter'? No way that's her father! "

She pulls me to the side so we can see both of them.

"Look at her...and look at him!"

I turn to her and say,

"That's her father by blood! I just know it! Now, can I just make this day a good birthday for her?"

Nina sighs. "Yeah, yeah."

I begin to walk away, but Nina stops me.

"I'm sorry about Benita. I didn't know she was homophobic. "

I shrug my shoulders and say,

"It's cool. Just talk to her about it. That kind of attitude will drive customers away. Do everything you can before you reach the decision to fire her."

Nina nods. "I will. Have a good time."

I smile and walk back to the booth. Michael asks,

"Is everything okay?"

I nod. "Everything is fine. We were just reminiscing. "

He nods and says, "Lilly went to go play. So its just us for now."

I nod. I have to tell him I'm gay. I don't want to have any secrets. Even if he isn't gay, he still can be a friend.

"I'm sorry about earlier with the hostess. "

He shakes his head. "Its cool. I can see why she thought that."

I nod and say, "I would like you to know that I am gay. I didn't want that to come up in future conversations and you be surprised. "

He nods and asks, "Why would we have future conversations? "

That hit me hard. He could see the hurt in my eyes, because he quickly says,

"Not that I don't want to have future conversations. I didn't know if we would speak to each other after this. People usually leave Lilly and I."

He must be talking about Lilly's mother. I say,

"Well, I would like us to be friends. "

He nods. "I'd like that."

I smile and say, "Well, let's eat!"

Michael chuckles. We get up and go to the buffet. We grab our plates. Michael goes one way, and I go the other. I get a salad with pizza. This is a kids place, so there won't be many food options. I go back to the booth. Soon, Michael comes back with a bunch of chicken. I giggle.

He looks at me and smiles. He asks, "What?"

I shake my head, while smiling and say, "Nothing. Nothing at all."

Lilly comes back.

"Chicken!"

I remember something and say, "I'll be back."

Michael's Point Of View:

Brandon gets up and leaves. He's very nice and giving. Lilly likes him. That's good. Lilly takes a leg from my ate. She begins to eat it.

"Having a good time?"

She nods. "This is the best birthday ever!"

I smile. As I take another bite of the chicken, I hear someone singing. I turn and see Brandon coming our way. He's with a few employees and they are carrying a cake.

They come to our table. Lilly's eyes are wide. She has the biggest grin I've ever seen.

"Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! "

I join in with Brandon and the employees.

"Happy Birthday to Lilly! Happy Birthday to you!"

They put the cake on the table. Lilly closes her eyes, makes a wish, and blows the candles out.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Later that night, I carry Lilly to bed. Brandon is sitting in the living room. Lilly is exhausted. I kiss her forehead and whisper,

"Goodnight, sweetie. I love you."

She groans and turns over. I leave the room and go into the living room.

Brandon looks at me and smiles. What's that feeling in my chest?

I sit next to him and say,

"Thank you so much. I think she had a wonderful time."

"No problem. It was my pleasure. "

I start to get a little emotional as I say,

"She'll never have a birthday like that again. "

He looks at me concerned and asks,

"Why not?"

"I got fired today! I can no longer provide for her! No one will hire a highschool drop out. This day was the worst until you showed up. Thank you so much."

He doesn't say a word for awhile, then he says,

"I have a job for you."

"What?"

"I have a job. I noticed you wearing your uniform earlier. I have a few cars...well many cars that need tending to. I don't have time to go to the shop and I don't trust anyone else to take them. I trust you though."

I couldn't believe this was happening. I couldn't help what I did next. I pulled him into a warm embrace.

"Thank you so much."

When he pull apart, I could tell he was blushing.

"No problem. I'll pick you up tomorrow for work."

He gets up and leaves the apartment. That was fast.