Brian POV
London. I was so anxious on the five hour flight to see Justin that I was shifting in my seat so often that the lady sitting next to me probably thought I had hemorrhoids. It had been three weeks since I'd seen him and his schedule had been so crazy since he'd arrived in England that we'd only been able to talk on the phone a couple of times a week. They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, I'm 100% certain that they're right about that. I'd been going crazy without my daily fix of Sunshine. It was all worth it though. Justin was thrilled to be showing in London, and it made me so happy to see him that way.
In the two months after his first visit to the Pitts and before his departure for England, we'd spent as much time together as we could. I had spent a total of three weeks in New York and he'd visited Pittsburgh twice. Justin and I had been leaving more and more stuff at each other's places in New York, and a lot of Justin's things seemed to be migrating to Pittsburgh, and I was starting to wonder about our living arrangements.
Justin had told me several times that an artist could work anywhere, but I wasn't sure that I could ask him to live with me, moving between New York and Pittsburgh all the time. I didn't know if that was fair to him.
Things between us had been extremely comfortable and every so often a feeling of dread would come over me that I would lose him. He and I had never been able to make things really work for more than a few months at a time, so I often found myself wondering when the shoe would drop. The "We All's" were very supportive of us, for once, and I think that had a lot to do with us being able to keep things together. It's amazing how much easier it is to do something when you don't have all the people you care about betting against you.
But now, I was starting to want more. I wanted more time with him. I wanted to wake up with him every morning, and know that he was going to be there when I got home from work. Our visits made me so happy because we never made a point of doing "visit things", we just lived. I wanted that everyday. As soon as we were together, it was like we had never been apart. I wanted to be able to sit and read or work and know that he was just through a doorway or across the room.
Now, I know what you're thinking. Is this really Brian Kinney talking about wanting all the things that he used to hate? Sort of. You'll still never see me in the matching suits taking vows and pledging eternal love. And I definitely don't want the house with the white picket fence and the golden retriever. Lucky for me, Justin doesn't want that either. What I really wanted more than anything is just to have him with me, just to be a normal couple. A couple that doesn't have to leave the state that they live in to see their partner. That's not so strange, is it?
I resolved to broach the subject gently sometime during the week that I'd be in London with Justin. He was really excited about the show so I was going to wait to talk to him about it after the opening, just in case it didn't go well. I didn't want him to be upset with me and then have his night ruined by it. I had everything worked out in my head, I just hoped that I could get it all to come out the way it is in my head. I know that I can't ask him to travel back and forth with me all the time, that would be selfish. I'm going to ask him to maybe move some more of his art supplies to Pittsburgh, visit more often. And also, I'm going to ask him about sharing an apartment in New York. There's no need for us to have two places since whenever I'm in town, we stay together. And as much as I love my Manhattan apartment, I was hoping that he'd suggest we share his place.
I shifted in my seat once more, shooting the woman next to me an apologetic look. I think she took pity on me because she started to speak. "Anxious to get to London?" She asked with a thick Irish accent.
"Yah, my.. uh… My boyfriend has been there for three weeks, so I'm really excited to see him." I admitted. I couldn't believe that I had stuttered on telling her that I was going to see my boyfriend. I was feeling like an awkward kid more than a grown man.
"Does he live there?" The woman asked.
"No, thank god!" I chuckled. "He's an artist and his work is being shown in a gallery in London. The opening is in a couple of days and then he should be coming home a couple of weeks after that."
"You must really miss him." She gave me a little grin and I knew that my feelings about Justin showed on my face. There was some leftover weirdness about letting my feelings show, but all in all I was unfazed by that.
"Yes, after these past few weeks, I never want him to go away again." I was starting to see why people said that it was easier to talk to women than it was to talk to men. She didn't look at me like I was crazy or anything, she just smiled.
"Where is his stuff showing?" She asked me. When I told her, she smiled. "That's not too far from where I'm staying. Perhaps I'll stop by there and see his work, hmm?"
"Yeah, that would be great. I'm Brian Kinney, by the way."
"Rian Sullivan." She shook my hand. "It's nice to meet you."
The rest of the flight, Rian and I talked and got to know each other and I asked if she'd come to the opening and meet Justin. I knew that he would like her. She accepted and told me that she'd see me there.
When we got off the plane, I hurried to where Justin would be waiting for me. I saw him and smiled, he looked just as anxious as I was. When he saw me, his face lit up and he hurried over to me.
"Hey!" He exclaimed before launching himself at me and hugging me. "It is so good to see your face. I missed you so much."
"I missed you too." I pulled back a little and kissed him. "Did you get a lot done?"
"Oh yah!" Justin took my hand and we made our way to the baggage claim. "You wouldn't believe how much work there is when you're doing an opening. And with this one I spent so much time unpacking and cataloguing all the pieces that I sent out here. It was insane."
I smiled and squeezed his hand. I was content just to listen to him talk. He told me all about what he had been doing while in London and about all the things that he wanted to show me while I was there.
"Being that I'm working with so many people who live here, I've found a lot of great places that most tourists would never find." Justin smiled at me happily.
"Can't wait." I said with a smile. "Can we go to your hotel and spend some time there before we go out and see the sights?" I winked and he chuckled.
"Been going crazy without me to satisfy your urges?" He grinned.
"Roger's been doing a good enough job." I said, hoping to get a reaction.
"Roger?" Justin raised an eyebrow. I don't think he was sure how to take my response. We'd never talked about monogamy, and I'm pretty sure he didn't expect it of me. But I hadn't fucked anyone but him since that first night that I saw him again in New York.
"Roger Long."
"The porn star?" Justin asked in shocked. "You fucked Roger Long, the porn star?"
"I didn't say anything about fucking him." I laughed. "But his new film, Who Wants To Fuck A Millionaire, is absolutely fabulous."
"You shit!" Justin said as he slugged me in the arm. I wondered if this little conversation was going to lead to another, more serious conversation about our relationship and it's boundaries. I hoped it did so that I had an easy lead in to me living together idea.
"Oh, come on, you know that some light weight like Roger Long could never make me feel as good as you do." I nuzzled his neck and the Sunshine smile was instantly back on his face.
"Aren't you just being a little sweetie today." Justin teased.
"A little sweetie??" I gave him what I hoped was a death glare. I don't think anyone had ever called me a "sweetie" in my life.
"Sorry." Justin chuckled. "A big manly sweetie." He burst out laughing and I promised myself that he would pay for it later.
"You're so funny, Sunshine. Stick to art. Comedy isn't your forte." I rolled my eyes and put on my bored face. I didn't hold it for very long though, I was having a lot of trouble with my masks whenever Justin was around.
"Come on, let's get your stuff and get back to the hotel so that we can fuck ourselves into oblivion for the next twelve hours." He panted against my ear.
"Good plan." And I went into super mode, intent on getting back to the hotel as quickly as humanly possible. Three weeks without fucking Justin was far too long.
*~*~*
As soon as we were in Justin's room in the Hazlitts hotel, I started to laugh. "Of course you would pick this place," I chuckled.
"Well, there are some very naughty things we could do with the four poster bed." Justin winked and suddenly I was filled with all sorts of ideas that would keep Justin and me in his room as much as we possibly could.
"How'd you afford this place?" I asked. I knew that the hotel was expensive, and I found it hard to believe that Justin could afford to stay there for 6 weeks.
"You're forgetting that my painting's sell for $25,000 and more." Justin winked. "I might even be richer than you at this point."
"The how come I'm still working?" I joked. "How come I'm not a kept man yet?"
"Well, if I were to keep you as my kept boy, what would I do with Raul?" Justin said completely seriously and it took me a minute to realize that he was kidding.
"You're gunna pay for that little remark, Sunshine." I growled and started to chase him towards the bed. I caught him at the edge of the elaborate four poster.
As soon as we hit the mattress, all teasing was forgotten and we were on our way to making up for lost time. Ours mouths found each other in record time and we lost ourselves in an intense kiss. Kissing has always been an important part of sex for me, but kissing Justin is like nothing I've ever experienced.
*~*~*
"So, have you been keeping busy with me away?" Justin asked me as we sat in a trendy little restaurant near the hotel in Soho.
"If I hadn't, I would have jumped on a plane and came to see you two and a half weeks ago." I admitted. It was true, I had been keeping myself really busy with work to stop myself from missing him any more than I could stand.
"I missed you, too." Justin said, looking up at me from lowered lashes. He looked so much younger than his twenty-five years when he did that and it brought me back to the early days of our relationship, when he was still a teenager.
"You were too busy being a rich, famous artist." I pretended to pout. I was in a playful mood, and felt like having Justin "make it up to me".
"I'm a rich, famous artist who can't stand having his boyfriend across the ocean." Justin smiled. "Next time, you have to come visit me every weekend."
"Make me your kept boy and I'll be all over it." I chuckled. It was nice that we had become financially more equal and I could joke about him being rich.
"You're a little old to be a boy toy, don'tcha think?" Justin laughed. "Unless I was like eighty."
"You're looking for a red bottom, little boy." I threatened chuckling. I never thought that as I became older, I would become more comfortable with age, but I had. I hadn't lost my looks, I still looked thirty, and while I didn't have sex as often, I was still satisfied. Maybe even more so because now I only had sex with Justin.
"Promise?" Justin grinned.
"There are some very naughty things that we can do on that bed in the hotel." I winked. I was so happy to see him again that I knew my good mood couldn't be spoiled by anything. Well, maybe one thing….
*~*~*
"Are you okay?" I called through the bathroom door. Justin had kicked me out right after the first time he threw up, said that he didn't want me to see him like that.
"Uh huh…." The muffled response through the bathroom door was followed by the retching sound. I wished that there was something I could do to help him.
"Can I come in?"
"Noooo!"
"Jus…"
"Go away!" I knew that Justin was embarrassed that he got sick on my first day in London, but all I really wanted was to help him. Obeying him, I went over and sat down on the bed.
I didn't know what to do. What I wanted to do was go in there and rub his back, like I did for Gus when he was sick. I think Justin was scared for me to see him like that, he didn't feel comfortable enough with us for that. That kind of made me sad.
I picked up a book and started to read, I figured that the only way I wasn't going to barge into the washroom to help was to keep myself as occupied as I could. About a half hour later, I heard the door to the washroom creak and a pale, sweating Justin appeared. He looked terrible, but I didn't dare tell him that.
"How are you?" I asked him.
"I think I must have eaten something bad at dinner." Justin groaned and curled up on the bed. "I hope this goes away before the show."
"I'm sure it will, baby." I put down my book and slipped off my glasses before climbing onto the bed with him. Unsure of how he would react to my touching him, I reached out and touched his hand softly. I felt a little better when he intertwined his fingers with mine.
"I'm sorry I got so sick." He whispered looking me in the eye.
"Hey, you just worry about getting better." I winked. "We have a whole week together."
"Brian, I know you weren't planning on coming to London and listening to me puke." Justin looked even more miserable.
"Baby," I said pulling him a little closer, "I'm happy to be here with you, no matter what, okay?"
"Are you sure?" Justin looked like he was seventeen again and I felt my heart swell. I liked that he still felt vulnerable when it came to our relationship. It kept me from feeling completely emotionally retarded.
"I'm sure." I leaned over and kissed his forehead. "Don't worry about being sick while I'm here, okay?"
"Okay." He agreed with a small smile.
*~*~*
~ring, ring~
"Brian, can you get the phone?" Justin called weakly. I chuckled. He'd definitely taken me on my word when I said not to worry about being sick. Since the moment I spoke those words, Justin had me waiting on him hand and foot.
"Yah, I got it." I replied. "Kinney General Hospital." I answered.
"Brian?" Jennifer's voice floated into my ears and I immediately regretted answering the phone the way I did. "Is everything okay?"
"Everything's fine. Justin has a touch of the stomach flu, no big." I wanted to downplay everything as much as I could. I knew how Justin's mother could be when she was in coddling mode.
"I'm downstairs. What room are you in?"
I groaned inwardly. I knew that as soon as Jennifer saw Justin, pale and sweating, she was going to freak out and Justin and I wouldn't get a moment's peace until he was better, or it was time for her to leave England, whichever came first.
"Jenn, I don't know if Justin wants any company right now." I improvised. "Why don't you get settled into your room and then call us a little later?"
"Brian Kinney!" Shit. "You tell me which room you two are in immediately so I can come and make sure my son is okay or I swear I will start banging on every door in the building."
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
"We're in 316." I said quietly. Who'd have thought a petite blonde woman could put me in my place the way Jennifer Taylor could. Mother's can be scary.
"I'll be up in two minutes." Jennifer paused. "Can you make sure you're dressed, please?" Her afterthought almost made me burst out laughing, but I held it back. Jennifer had seen me au naturel far too many times.
"Of course." With that, I hung up the phone and walked over to the bed. "Your mom is on her way up."
"Fuck!" Justin exclaimed with as much force as he could muster in his weakened state. "Please, please, don't let her get all Mommy on me! She's worse than Deb when I'm sick."
"I'll try, but your mom is fucking scary." I commented.
"Big Bad Brian Kinney is scared of my mother?" Justin chuckled. "That's something I thought I'd never see."
"Fuck you. You said yourself that she's worse than Deb. And Deb is fucking terrifying most of the time." I grabbed a wet cloth and gently swabbed his head with it.
"So true."
"You look like shit."
"Gee, thanks, honey." Justin stuck out his tongue at me.
"I'm only telling you so that you can expect your mother to be completely freaked." I pressed a kiss to his temple. "At least she didn't see you last night."
"I hate you." Justin groaned miserably.
"Oh, come on. You know that looking like shit is still beautiful when it's you." I said, hoping to make him smile.
"You're only saying that so I don't dump your ass when I get well." He grumbled.
"Don't be such a Ted Schmidt." I teased him. "I've never seen anyone whine like him, but you're getting there."
"Fuck you." He rolled over and buried his head in the pillow.
"Can't right now. Your mom warned me not to be naked when she got here." I informed him.
"Seriously?" Justin rolled back over to look at me, laughing.
"Well, remember last time?" I raised an eyebrow as I reminded him of his last visit to Pittsburgh when his mother had invited her into the loft to find us licking whipped cream off of each others bodies.
"The time before that was worse." He countered. It was true actually. She came to New York to surprise him and she caught us in the midst of fucking on the counter, his wrists bound behind his back with my tie.
I was about to answer when the loud banging on the door interrupted me. "And there goes our peaceful day alone at the hotel." I grumbled as I made my way to the door to our room. I paused a moment, to put on my Justin's-Mom-is-here-and-I-don't-want-her-to-start-hating-me-again face.
"Jennifer!" I said with a smile as I pulled open the door.
"Where's my son?" She asked, frenzied. I stood back and gestured to the bed, where Justin was once again curled up in a ball facing away from the door. "Sweetie, are you okay?" She asked in that saccharine sweet tone of voice that mother's use when their children are sick or hurt.
"I'm fine, mom." Justin grumbled, still not lifting his face from where it was buried in the pillow. Suddenly, Jennifer whirled around and faced me looking ready to pounce.
"Have you taken his temperature?" She demanded.
"No, he's not warm." I didn't know what else to say.
"Have you felt his forehead?" She raised an eyebrow and looked like Melanie did when she was "protecting" Gus against me.
"Yes." I sighed.
"He looks sweaty."
"It's from the puking." I replied, regretting my words immediately.
"He's been vomiting?" Jennifer raced over to the bed and sat next to her son. "Honey, have you been able to keep anything down?"
"I haven't tried to eat anything." Justin replied. "I'll be fine, mom."
"Have you seen a doctor?"
"He says he's fine, Jenn." I stepped in. I knew that if I didn't, she would drive him crazy. "He doesn't want to see a doctor."
"Well, doesn't this make it easy for you, Brian." Jennifer stood and glared at me. "He could be dying and you wouldn't let that interrupt your plans, would you?"
"Pardon me?" I was shocked that she'd spoken to me with such hostility.
"You heard me." Jennifer stood her ground. "Did you even plan on staying here with him or were you planning on going out and shopping or clubbing?"
"Mom!" Justin suddenly bolted up in bed, and I was a little scared of what he was going to do. "I'm twenty-five years old! I don't need anyone to take care of me. And I most certainly don't need my mommy!"
"Justin…"
"No, Mom, listen to me. Brian has been here with me since the first time I threw up last night. He only left the room once when I asked him to get me some ice. He's been taking care of me. And that's how it should be. He's my lover, and that's what lover's do." Justin looked really upset.
"Justin, I didn't mean to…"
"What? Insult Brian and me?" Justin glared. "Get out, mom. Go to your room. Go to Harrods and shop. I don't really care where you go, just don't be here."
"I'm sorry, I…"
"I'll call your room when I'm feeling better." Justin rolled over and both Jennifer and I knew that the discussion was over.
"Brian, I…"
"Jenn, you really should go." I interrupted her. "I'll make sure he calls your room once he's feeling better."
"How dare you!"
"Mom!" Justin sat straight up in bed and glared at his mother. "Would you please just get the fuck out!"
Jennifer lifted her hand to her throat and I knew that she was very upset. Without another word, she turned and walked towards the door. Once the door was open, she paused and looked back at her son. It wasn't until she knew that she wasn't going to be invited to stay that she turned and walked out.
"You shouldn't have freaked on your mom like that." I said softly as I crawled onto the bed once the door was safely closed behind Jennifer. "She was only worried about you."
"There's no need. I have you here, I don't need my mommy." Justin grumbled. "And she didn't have to be so rude to you."
"I'm used to it." I shrugged. It was true, sharp words from the women in my life were something I'd become accustomed to. With Deb, Lindsay, Mel, and now Jennifer it was hard not to be used to it.
"That doesn't matter. She had no right." Justin snuggled deeper into the bed. "Now come over here and cuddle up to me and make me forget all about my mom turning into the Evil Dragon Lady."
"You sure you want company?" I asked.
"Yes! The only way I'll feel better is if you cuddle up to me." Justin sighed a little and lifted the duvet for me to slip in. I stripped down to my briefs and climbed in next to him. As soon as I was settled down on the bed, Justin curled himself against my body and succumbed to sleep.
I watched him sleep for a while, thinking about the direction our lives were taking. It was hard for me to imagine what life would be like had I not decided to let him go all those years ago. Again, I was comforted by the fact that I knew I did the right thing sending him with Ethan. With me, he wouldn't have had that chance to find out who he is. And we probably wouldn't have stayed together much longer than we did anyways.
I know I had growing up to do, too, I admit it. I had stopped growing up sometime when I was in college and I needed to really figure out that being a grown up wasn't about being successful in work and having nice things. In those five years that Justin was gone I figured out that the most important success was having people who loved and trusted you, who you loved and trusted in return.
And now I had it.
My son adored me, and I would do anything for him.
I had Lindsay and Michael, who had always loved me and I'd always loved. But now I respected them and treated them the way they deserved to be treated. It felt good.
And I had Justin.
My Justin. As much time and strength it had taken me to trust him and let myself love him, I knew I'd done the right thing. For the first time in my life, I really felt like things would be okay. I'd never felt that before, not even when we were together the first time. Sure, I'd been happy, I'm not going to deny that. But I was still so fucking terrified of being comfortable that I never was.
But now, things were different and I was finally ready for the relationship. And that felt better than I ever expected it to.
*~*~*
I woke up to the sound of music and smiled. I could hear Justin singing along softly, obviously trying not to wake me. Rolling over quietly, I found him swaying around the room, tidying. There wasn't really anything to tidy, the previous day I'd been tidying intermittently throughout the day because there wasn't really anything else to do.
It was obvious by the way Justin was swaying that he was feeling much better, if not completely cured. He was swaying his hips and singing the chorus to the song, horribly out of key, I must say. But he looked happy.
"Morning, Sunshine." I said softly, alerting him to the fact that I was awake.
"Hey." He turned to me and smiled. "I hope I didn't wake you."
"No, it was just time to get up." I reached out my hand and he moved back to the bed and clasped it in both of his, sitting down next to me.
"How are you feeling?"
"A hundred percent better." He smiled brilliantly and I knew that he was telling the truth. "It must have been one of those 24 hour bugs."
"Good. Then we can go out and have a little fun today." I smiled and pulled him closer. "But first, you can strip and get in here with me. We have a whole day of lost time to make up for."
"Ooh, I like the way your mind works." He grinned and pulled his shirt over his head.
*~*~*
"You're looking much better today, honey." Jennifer told Justin as the three of us were sitting down to lunch later that day.
"It must have just been one of those twenty four hour bugs." Justin shrugged as he repeated what he said to me earlier that morning. "We had it in hand."
"I apologize if I overreacted." Jennifer said stiffly. It was obvious from Justin's body language that he was still upset with her, and she was obviously trying to remedy that.
"It wasn't just that, Mom." Justin replied. "You had no right to speak to Brian the way you did. You had no idea what he'd been doing for me and you had no right to tear into him and accuse him the way you did."
"I assure you that wasn't my intention." Jennifer was obviously getting on the defensive a little bit and I was a little scared of where the conversation would end up.
"It doesn't matter whether you intended it, Mom." Justin pushed a hand through his hair. He was trying really hard to keep his anger at her in check. "You barged into our room, interrogated Brian, and then you started criticizing him. You have to understand that I'm not a kid anymore, and from now on, when I'm sick, it'll be Brian taking care of me, not you."
As much as I hated the tension at the table, it felt really good to hear him say that from then on I'd be taking care of him. It assured me that he wanted the same things I did. I needed that assurance sometimes.
"I understand, Justin." Jennifer looked upset. "And I'm sorry if I was rude to you, Brian. I really didn't mean anything I said."
"Sure you did." I shrugged. "But your apology is accepted."
The rest of lunch was somewhat strained, but it was much better now that the scene from the previous day was cleared up. Justin talked about the pieces he had in the show and I was impressed yet again by him. The way he spoke of his work was highly intelligent and it was obvious that he put a lot of thought into what each piece meant to him.
"Any of me?" I asked. I always got a kick out of him painting or sketching me.
"Uhm… Yah, one." He looked a little nervous and I got suspicious.
"Which one?" I sat back in my chair and regarded him suspiciously. When he said nothing, I thought for a moment about what could possibly have him so nervous. "Is it the one in my glasses?"
He nodded and then looked away. "It's the best portrait I've ever done, and I'm really proud of it, and I wanted to show it. You look sexy in your glasses, you really do." He spoke without taking a breath.
"It's fine, Justin." I said softly, reaching out to take his hand. For some reason, I found myself really flattered that he wanted to paint me in a non-sexual nature.
"You sure?" He asked, biting his lip.
"I'm sure." We'd completely forgot that Jennifer was there for those few moments and when we looked at her again she was gaping at us in shock.
"You two are…" She paused, searching for the right word. "Like something out of a movie."
"Mom." Justin groaned.
"Thanks, Jenn, I always kind of thought I looked like a movie star." I joked. There was no other way that I could take her comment.
*~*~*
Three Days Later
After having a hugely successful opening, Justin was on a high. After dropping Jennifer off at her room, he and I made our way back to ours, barely able to keep from tearing each other's clothes off.
"Congratulations, Mr. Artist Man," I whispered in his ear as I nibbled at it's lobe. "With the acclaim you're getting, pretty soon everyone who's anyone will want an original Taylor. And then I can be your kept boy."
"Boy?" He turned his face to me and raised his eyebrows.
"Fuck you." I growled, taking a little nip at his neck with my teeth. "Get the fucking door open so I can fuck you."
"Patience is a virtue." Justin chuckled.
"Shut up." I growled again, reaching down to cup him in my hand.
"God, Brian." He moaned. "Let me concentrate on getting the door open."
Once we were inside, I pushed him against the closed door and attacked his mouth with mine. I had been thinking about taking him ever since he'd dressed in the skin tight black turtleneck that he'd picked out for the opening. He looked so hot in it.
"Brian, uhn, the bed, take me to the bed." Justin panted.
"Now who's impatient?" I chuckled before lifting him up to wrap his legs around my waist. I loved that he was slight enough that I could lift him and carry him around, although I'd never let anyone know that. The feel of his legs wrapped around me was incredible, no matter what setting we were in.
"Don't pretend like you didn't wear that shirt to tease me." He said before running his tongue up and down the length of my neck. He was right, I had decided that if I was going to be tortured by skin tight black cashmere I would torture him with red silk.
"All's fair in fashion." I moved his face back up to mine and nipped at his bottom lip. "The skin tight sweater had me hard all night."
"You liked that, eh?" He chuckled as I lowered him to the bed. As soon as we sunk into the softness of the duvet, all words were forgotten and we lost ourselves in each other.
Nearly an hour later as we lay in the big clawfoot tub, Justin sitting between my legs, nestled against my chest, I decided that it was time to ask him about living together. I couldn't think of a better setting. I didn't want him to feel like it was a business deal.
"So, how about we live together?" I asked casually.
"What?" He tipped his face to the side to look at me.
"Well, we're keeping two apartments in the same city, but we never spend a night apart if we're within 100 miles of each other. So I was thinking that if we got rid of one apartment and made the other one 'Ours', it would work out a lot better." I was sure that my reply had come out sounding like it would be a financial arrangement than a commitment, so I kept going. "And maybe you could spend more time in Pittsburgh with me, keep more things at the loft."
"Where did all this come from?" He asked softly.
"I've been thinking about it for a while. But if you don't want to, I totally understand. It's probably too soon…" I wanted to get out of the situation without looking like a jerk.
"It's not too soon." Justin replied with a small smile. "But I just don't want to get rid of my place, I love it there."
"Who said it would have to be your place we got rid of?" I asked with a grin. "I could get rid of my apartment and move whatever stuff I have there into yours, put the furniture in storage or bring in back to Pittsburgh."
"You mean, you're not asking me to get rid of my loft?" Justin's eyes were sparkling.
"I was actually kind of hoping you'd want it that way. I love your place." I kissed his lips. "So, what do you say?"
"I say yes." Justin beamed and rolled over so that we were face to face. "I say definitely, absolutely, one hundred percent yes." He started to laugh excitedly.
"And you'll come to Pittsburgh with me more often?" I reached up and touched his face to let him know that I wanted more than just to move my stuff to his place.
"How often?"
"As much as possible." I shrugged. "If I had my way, I'd have you with me all the time, but if you can't do that I'll take what I can get."
"Well, I can work anywhere, so as long as I have supplies and stuff at the loft… I can be there whenever I'm not showing." Justin beamed.
"So that's a yes?"
"Yes yes yes yes!!" Justin wrapped his arms around me tightly. "I love you."
"I love you, too." It meant so much to me when we said those words. We didn't say them often like other couples who said them twenty million times a day, we kept it to when it was really important. The rest of the time we just knew.
To Be Continued…
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