| Justin sat at his desk looking over the plans for a new project that the company was taking on. He was staring at the papers regretfully. The campaign was a major international project which meant that he and Brian wouldn't be able to avoid each other anymore. It had been a month since Brian's arrival in New York and in that time the two had done everything in their power to avoid working closely. Unfortunately, this campaign was going to foil their plans. As heads of their respective departments, the two men would be working closely together for several months on the project. "Mr. Taylor," April buzzed him and he feared that he was going to be faced with Brian from the tone in her voice and the use of his name. "Yes, April?" Justin replied. "Mr. Kinney and Mr. Davis are here to see you." April replied. Justin told her to send them in after breathing a sigh of relief. He was only worried about being alone with Brian. If the company's CEO was there, he was sure he would be safe. When Brian and Mr. Davis walked in Justin stood and shook both of their hands. He had never pictured himself in such a professional career, but he truly loved it. Brian and Davis sat down across from Justin and Mr. Davis began talking. "Ahh, Justin, I see you've been looking over the new campaign." His tone of voice showed that he was pleased with this. "That's what I wanted to talk to the two of you about. I have been waiting for a campaign like this so that I can pair you two together. I think you would make a wonderful team." "Thank you, Mr. Davis." Justin said with a plastered on smile. He wasn't looking forward to working on the campaign with Brian at all. The thought of spending that much time with Brian, alone, scared him. He didn't want to find that there were any more flames still burning, and he was sure that he would "Please, call me Roger." Mr. Davis said with a smile. "Alright, Roger." Justin, again, pasted on a smile. "Well, I would like to send the two of you to Los Angeles to meet with the clients and get a better feel for what they want the campaign to be like. I'm sure you both know that this is a multi-billion dollar campaign and we don't want to lose it." Mr. Davis continued. "You leave Friday." "For how long?" Justin asked. The thought of traveling with Brian was even more terrifying than the thought of working with him here in New York. "About three weeks. We want you to get a feel for their operations and have some meetings with their marketing people." Davis explained. "The arrangements have all been made, have your schedules cleared for those three weeks." "Ok, Mr. Davis." Brian, who had been silent until that point, said. "You call me Roger, too, Brian." Davis said. "I'll leave you two to discuss the plans. Please, take tomorrow as a personal day to get ready for your trip." With that, he was out of the office, quick and efficient as ever. "Looks like you can't avoid me anymore." Brian said knowingly. Justin almost laughed. Brian still didn't hold back, his thoughts became words before he could stop them, or you could prepare for them. "It goes both ways, Bri." Justin said, knowing that saying anything else would reveal too much. He wasn't ready to put his heart out on his sleeve. "Well, it looks like we'll be together for three weeks." Brian shook his head. "I had better go get Cynthia to clear my schedule." "Cynthia?" Justin asked with confusion. "Didn't think I'd leave her in Pittsburgh, did you?" Brian chuckled. "No one else can put up with my shit AND type 85 words per minute." Brian walked to the door. "Later." He flipped the word over his shoulder. Justin stayed where he was and thought of what the one word, the word "later", meant to him. Until that last day, he and Brian never said goodbye. It was always "later", the events of the prom scaring them too much to say goodbye. Goodbye held certain permanence, later was light and it meant "see ya soon". He tried to figure out how he was going to curb the feelings that were already showing themselves after speaking to Brian a few times and seeing him in the halls at work or in meetings. He wasn't sure that he could keep them under control during their stay in LA. *.*.*.* Brian sat at his desk thinking of Justin's reaction to their impending trip to California. He had seen the strange clouds pass over Justin's eyes at hearing about the trip and he wondered what had caused them. Brian knew that Justin was doing everything he could to avoid working closely with him, but he couldn't figure out why. "Did I fuck him up that much?" Brian asked himself out loud. He thought back to the weeks after Justin had moved out of the loft. He had wanted so badly to go to him, to drag him back, but he didn't have the strength. It was then that he realized that the reason he didn't get close to people wasn't because he didn't believe in love. It was because he knew that he wasn't strong enough to heal if he let someone in and then they wanted out. And he was right. After Justin left, he was only half a person. Work consumed him. It was his blinding dedication to his work, his complete immersion in it, that had gotten him this job. He supposed he had Justin to thank for that. Brian thought of all the times, since he had come to New York, that he had picked up the phone to call Justin or jumped in his Jeep to go over there. And then he started to laugh at himself. 'When are you going to get it, Kinney? He grew up, and he doesn't want you anymore.' he thought to himself. "Brian, everything is set. You're cleared until the 26th." Cynthia came into the office and sat across from Brian. "I was talking to April today." "Who's April?" Brian asked with a sneer. He wasn't in the mood for chit chat. "Justin's assistant." Cynthia grinned when she saw the look on Brian's face change. "She said that Justin told her all about you a few weeks before you came here." "What, that I'm a selfish asshole who he was fucking for a couple of years?" Brian asked with disdain. He couldn't imagine the things that Justin would have to say about him. "No." Cynthia paused. "He told her-- He was drunk, by the way. He told her that you were the love of his life and he missed you." "He said that?" Brian raised an eyebrow. He couldn't imagine the Justin that he had seen in the last month saying those things. The old Justin said things like that all the time, but this Justin was different. "According to April he said a lot more, but she didn't want to tell me. They're friends and she didn't want to break their confidence." Cynthia stood. She could tell that Brian was retreating into the pensive state that she had come to recognize and knew that it was time to leave him alone. *.*.*.* Justin was waiting. The car that Cynthia had arranged to take them to the airport was late and Justin guessed it was because Brian was late. He wondered if it was last night's trick that caused the delay but he pushed that thought from his head. Brian's personal life was none of his business anymore. Moments later, Justin saw a limousine pull up in front of his building. The driver got out and helped him with his bags. Justin climbed into the car and found Brian sipping on a scotch and looking over some figures that the client had faxed him. "Hey." Justin sat at the other end of the car from Brian, still desperate to keep that distance. "I don't bite." Brian snapped. After spending almost 48 hours thinking about what Cynthia had told him he had been hoping that he and Justin might have a chance for something, it killed him that Justin was still trying to avoid him. Justin chose not to reply to Brian's comment, instead he pulled out a portfolio and started looking at all the ideas he had sketched for the campaign. Brian, who had gotten angry at Justin's disregard, grabbed the portfolio and threw it across the car. "What the fuck are you doing, Brian?" Justin demanded. Brian smiled. He had finally gotten an emotion out of Justin, not just a look in the eye but an expression of raw emotion. "We're going to talk." Brian said simply, calmly. Justin looked at him in disbelief. He quickly composed himself and decided to lighten the mood. "And here I thought you were going to fuck me." He said with a well acted pout. "Don't fucking do this, Justin. Don't cover it up!" He exploded. "You've been avoiding this for a month! Do you think I don't know that you've been assigning Williams to the accounts that I work on personally? Do you think I don't notice that you always sit between two people at meetings so that you don't have to sit by me?" Brian was very angry. "Leave it alone, Bri." Justin turned his face away. He didn't want to show Brian what he was feeling. Brian had stomped on his feelings more times than he could count and he wasn't sure he could let him do it again. "I will not leave it alone, Justin. And look at me, for Christ's sake." Brian demanded. When Justin turned to him and looked into his eyes, what he saw there made him feel weak. "Really?" He asked quietly. Justin nodded. Suddenly, Justin was pulled into an embrace so tight and so warm that he nearly cried. "I love you, too." Brian said the words so quietly that at first Justin wasn't sure he heard them. "You do?" Justin asked as he pulled away and looked into Brian's eyes. Brian smiled a little and nodded. "But after all this time..." "It doesn't matter." Brian said as he pulled Justin close again. "We have all the time in the world to get to know each other again." Justin couldn't believe the words coming out of Brian's mouth. It was as if Brian had a need building up inside him and he would do anything, sacrifice anything, to get that need met. And what he needed was Justin. "Brian..." Brian silenced Justin's words with his lips. It was the kiss that both of them had been waiting three years for and it was even better than they had hoped. The warmth, and the taste, and the feeling was still as they remembered and both of them felt complete. "Gentlemen, we're here." The driver said keeping his professional exterior though he was more than a little surprised to see the two executives in the position they were in. "We have to talk later." Justin said as he straightened his suit jacket and climbed out of the car. Brian smiled. He hoped that their talk would involve them getting back together. *.*.*.* Brian watched as Justin unpacked his suitcase. They were sharing a large suite at a beautiful four-star hotel in Beverly Hills. Justin as hanging his suits and seemed lost in his thoughts. "Can we talk now?" Brian asked anxiously. Justin took a deep breath and turned to Brian. "I think we should just be friends." There, he said it. He felt confident with his decision until he saw the hurt on Brian's face. Throughout the whole flight and the limousine ride to the hotel, Brian had been excited to talk to Justin. Now, all of the hopes that he had built up during that time were dashed. "What the fuck are you talking about?" Brian tried to curb the anger, but he found that he just couldn't do it. In the time between kissing Justin in the car and hearing Justin tell him that he just wanted to be friends, Brian had felt filled, complete. He hadn't felt that way since before Justin left three years earlier. "Bri, we work together." Justin couldn't look him in the eyes; he knew what he would see there. Hurt, confusion, and anger clouded Brian's beautiful, expressive eyes. "Yeah. And?" Brian was now sitting back, very controlled, with his arms crossed over his chest regarding Justin curiously. "Think about it, Bri. We were never a sure thing. We were the kind of couple who couldn't keep things together for more than a couple of months at a time." Justin wanted so desperately to jump into Brian's arms and tell him that he loved him and wanted to be with him, but he couldn't do that. "Fine, Justin. Whatever you want." With that, Brian stood and he was gone. Justin vaguely heard the door slam but was too lost in his own thoughts to pay attention. He had done it, the one thing that he never thought he'd do. He turned down Brian Kinney's love. "What was I thinking?" Justin asked himself. He curled up on the bed and closed his eyes. He hoped that sleep would stop the ache. *.*.*.* As Brian slipped into the suite in the wee hours of the morning, reeking like the bathhouse, he actually felt guilty. Brian Kinney, who never regretted anything or apologized for it, felt bad about spending an evening getting his needs met at the baths. He found Justin sitting in front of the TV with some reports in his hand. He noticed that Justin wasn't really looking at anything; he seemed lost in his own mind. Brian started to strip off his clothes to have a shower. Justin looked over at him as he walked into the bathroom and wanted nothing more than to touch him. When he heard the water running he made a decision. He climbed off the bed and stripped off his own clothes. When he stepped into the shower, Brian turned and looked at him strangely. "What the fuck are you doing now?" Brian demanded defensively. "What I really wanted in the first place." Justin whispered as he fell to his knees in front of Brian. "God, you're beautiful." He spoke the words only a moment before wrapping his lips around Brian's length. "Jesus!" Brian breathed. In all his 35 years he had never met anyone who could do the things to his body that Justin could. As Justin slid Brian's cock in and out of his mouth Brian leaned back and gripped the wall. "Do you like that?" Justin asked with a smile. Brian looking down at him with lust in his eyes and Justin went back to his work. Just as Brian was about to cum, Justin pulled back. "Uh uh. Not yet. There are other things that I want you to do before you cum." Justin took Brian's hand and pulled him out of the shower. As they dried each other off they both remembered the game they used to turn this act into. Each of them would take their time drying off the other, touching in all the right places, turning the simple act of drying off from a shower into very erotic foreplay. "I need you now." Brian growled against Justin's ear before pulling him into the bedroom. He all but threw Justin down onto the bed, pausing only long enough to grab a tube of lube and a condom from his carry on before joining him. "Hurry, Bri." Justin said as Brian applied the lube to Justin and to himself. They were both impatient to feel each other's body's again. When Brian finally pressed himself against Justin's tight opening and slipped inside, it was as if the world stopped. They were lost in their own pleasure and the sensations that tingled and burned against their skin. Afterwards, as they came down from their high, they lay exhausted in each others arms. "What made you change your mind?" Brian asked. He was holding Justin against him. He never wanted to let go. "I was lying to myself when I said I wanted to be just friends." Justin shrugged. "I didn't want to lie anymore." "I'm glad you decided not to lie." Brian closed his eyes. Justin snuggled closer and they fell asleep in each other's arms. *.*.*.* During the next three weeks the two were inseparable. They worked hard all day in meetings and tours of the company's facilities and by the end of the trip had a solid campaign worked out for the company. Their evenings were spent exploring Beverly Hills and then going back to the hotel to spend hot, passionate nights together. On their last night there, after a bout of passionate sex, they lay in bed together, limbs entwined. "Are things going to change when we go back to New York?" Justin asked. "No." Brian said without even having to consider it. The question had plagued him during their time together in LA, wondering if leaving La La Land would change things between them. After thinking about it though, he had decided that he wasn't willing to let things change between them. "Ok." Justin said with a small smile. He snuggled closer to Brian and let himself drift off to sleep. For the first time in a long time, he felt content with the direction his life was taking. As he fell asleep he reveled in the feeling of Brian's warmth. Everything finally felt right. To Be Continued... Against Brian and Justin's best intentions, things do change once they get back to New York and they wonder if they will ever overcome the forces that always pull them apart. |
| Part 2 : I Want To Hear You Call My Name |
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