Just Us - Part 8

“Look at that ass,” Ted commented about a guy that just passed them. 

He, Emmett, Michael, and Brian were standing by the bar, watching hundreds of bodies move on the dance floor. 

“Had him,” Brian stated.

“What about him?” Ted pointed to some guy he chose at random.

“Uh…” Brian tried to remember, “Had him.”

“Jesus…how do you even remember all of them?” Ted shook his head.

Brian was about to reply when he heard Justin behind him.

“Hey,” Justin said, smiling at all of them.

Emmett immediately hugged his baby and gave him a kiss on the cheek.  “I thought you weren’t coming back until tomorrow night.”

It’s been almost two months since Justin’s opening.  A week later both he and Brian came back home.  Brian told everybody that he had some business trip.  They didn’t plan on lying to everybody.  It just sort of started by Justin lying to them in New York.  Then they just weren’t sure what to say when they’d get flooded with questions on what that meant and how it would work.  They themselves had no idea.  Both of them were putting off the conversation about what their arrangement was going to be.  Whatever happens – happens.  They usually spent 3 or 4 nights a week together, both still tricking…never talking about it though.  Justin was taking summer school classes and working on his own art for the gallery.  He had to go to New York three times…for some dinner parties and such.  One time Brian went with him…of course telling everybody else that he was going to be in Boston for some conference.

Even though he was answering Emmett’s question, Justin was looking directly at Brian, with a slight smirk on his lips, “We got done sooner than we thought, so I caught an earlier flight.”

Brian nodded slightly, Justin being the only one who noticed, letting him know that he got it.

“Well, don’t forget…dinner at my mom’s tomorrow night,” Michael told him.

“Are you kidding?  I’m not suicidal,” Justin joked.

~~~

Justin walked into the bathroom, trying to get away from all the noise for a few minutes.  Suddenly, somebody pulled him into one of the stalls.   As Brian locked the door behind them, he immediately pulled him into a passionate kiss. 

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming back early?  I could have picked you up.” Brian asked, breathless, in between kissing his lover.

“I wanted to surprise you,” Justin answered, panting, pulling him closer.  “Surprised?”

“Mmm-hmmm.”

“Have any plans tonight?” Justin asked. 

It was sort of the unspoken rule…they didn’t assume the other one was available.  They always made plans first or made sure that the other one didn’t have something planned.

“I do now,” Brian answered.

Justin smiled at him.

“My place?  Half an hour?” Brian asked.

“See you there,” Justin said, kissing him one last time before pulling the lock and popping his head out to make sure that nobody they knew was around. 

~~~

“Summer school sucks,” Justin stated walking down the stairs from the bedroom.  He had to get to class.

“I warned you,” Brian replied from the couch.

Justin walked over to him and put his arms around his neck, placing a soft kiss on Brian’s neck. 

“Yeah, but think of all the time I’ll have to fuck when I graduate early,” Justin joked and they both laughed.

Justin pulled away and started to button his shirt.

“Are you going to Deb’s dinner tonight?” he asked.

“Oh, shit, I almost forgot.”  Justin laughed at him.  “You said it yourself…I’m not suicidal,” Brian added, “I’ll be there.”

“You wanna do something afterwards?” Justin asked.

“What do you have in mind?”

“You’ll see,” Justin smiled at him seductively.  “See you tonight then.”  He kissed Brian again before leaving.

~~~

Everybody gathered at Deb’s for dinner.  As always there was lots of food and wine and conversation.  Everybody asked Justin questions about the gallery and his trip.  He tried to answer every question and smiled politely, despite the fact that for the most part of the dinner Brian’s hand, who was sitting to the left of him, was on his dick.  As Brian moved his hand up and down his thigh, Justin bit his lip to keep himself from moaning or laughing.  In fact both of them, exchanging quick glances from time to time, tried very hard not to let their grins show up on their faces.  If somebody passed by them, Brian quickly snatched his hand, only to put it back the minute they were in the clear.  Michael was the only one who noticed the glances, and the smiles, and their hands touching by “accident”.

While Debbie, with the help of Justin and Vic, was cleaning up the table and getting it ready for desert, Brian pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his jacket and went outside.  He heard the door open behind him and was sure it was Justin.  He turned around with a smile, only to see Michael standing behind him.

“Want one?” he offered, knowing full well that Michael wouldn’t smoke.

Michael shook his head.

“You wanna go to Babylon afterwards?” he asked Brian.

“You’re kidding right?  I can barely breathe, let alone move after that dinner your mother just served us.  The only thing I’m doing is going home and hoping that I won’t die from a heart attack in my sleep,” Brian lied.

Michael’s face turned serious.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

“Are you and Justin back together?”

Brian looked at him.

“Where the hell did you get that idea?”

Michael shrugged his shoulders.

“Just…I don’t know…just a thought.  You’re just awfully friendly lately.”

“We’re friends,” Brian stated.

“I guess I just thought that since Andrew’s no longer in the picture...”

“I’d take him back and we’ll live happily ever after?” Brian finished for him, sounding angry and annoyed.

“That’s not it.  I just thought…” Michael couldn’t find the right words.  “Are you?  Back together?” he asked again.

Brian looked directly at him, “No.”

“Do you still love him?” Michael asked.

Brian looked away. 

“You know, it’s really none of your business,” he said.

“Do you?” Michael insisted.

Brian took a deep breath and looked at his best friend again.  “No,” he finally said.

The two friends stood next to each other quiet for a while, neither noticing a young blond twink looking in through the half opened door.

~~~

Ten - fifteen minutes later Brian and Michael came back in.  Brian looked around.  Someone was missing.

“Where’s Justin?  I was supposed to give him a ride home,” he asked Debbie, trying to sound nonchalant.

“He said something about having to finish his homework for class tomorrow and just flew right out of here.  He seemed different though. Did you say something to him?” she said accusingly.  Whenever something was wrong with Justin, it pretty much always had to do with Brian.

“We were outside.  Didn’t even see him,” Michael defended his friend.

Then Brian realized.  “Shit,” he swore.

“What?” Michael asked him.

“Uh…nothing,” he lied.  “I should go.”

“But we still have pie,” Debbie said.

“Tell me you’re kidding,” he said to her. 

Deb and food was like Brian and sex…you can never have enough.

~~~

Justin saw Brian leaning against the jeep, waiting for him.  He walked up to him. 

"What are you doing here?" Justin asked, bitterness in his voice.

"We had plans."

"I told Deb I had homework to do," Justin turned around and started to walk towards the door.

"Hey, I drove all the way over here.  Don't fucking walk away from me," Brian was right behind him.

Justin turned around. "Why?  Why did you come here?  If you don't give a shit, why did you go to New York? Huh?" he shouted.

Brian took a deep breath.  He was trying to stay calm.  "Look, just because you overhear something..."

"I know what I heard!" Justin cut him off.

"It was your idea to lie to everybody!" Now he was getting upset as well.  "So, that's what I did, ok?  I lied.  I fucking lied to my best friend." 

Ignoring the stunned look on Justin's face, he continued, "For you...for...us," he said quietly. 

He watched Justin's features soften, anger disappear completely.  And then he realized what he just admitted.  He stared at his lover, waiting for Justin to call him on that.  He didn't.  Justin smiled as he walked over to him and covered his lips with his own.  Brian put his arms around Justin and pulled him in closer.

Suddenly they heard somebody clear her throat behind them.  They turned around to see Daphne beaming her smile at them. 

"Hi, Daphne," Brian smiled at her, giving her an innocent look.

"Hi, Brian." 

"How's it going?" he asked.  While Justin tried to come up with some lame excuse for what she's seen, Brian tried his best to charm her.  He knew it didn't take much.

"Oh, you know, same old, same old."

"Right," he replied, for the lack of something better to say.

The three of them stared at each other uncomfortably for a moment.

"Well, I'll see you upstairs," she said to Justin as she walked past them, "Bye, Brian."

When the door closed behind her, Brian turned his gaze to Justin.

"Upstairs?  I thought we had plans tonight."

Justin grimaced, "I really do have homework...due tomorrow morning.  I completely forgot about it.  I'm sorry.  Rain check?"

"Fine, whatever" Brian pretended to act hurt and betrayed.  Even though he was disappointed, Justin's education always came first.  There was no question about it.

Justin smiled at him.  "I promise I'll make it up to you."

"You better," Brian smiled back.

He kissed him again.

~~~

Justin closed the door behind him, took a deep breath, and turned around to face Daphne.  He knew it wasn't going to be pretty.  He took off his jacket and threw the keys on the table.

"Hey," he said. 

She was eating ice cream on the couch and watching TV.

"Hey," she glanced at him, smiled, and then turned back at the TV.  Justin watched her.  Something wasn't right here.  Then he understood.

"You knew, didn't you?" he asked her.

She looked back up at him.

"Well, it doesn't take a genius to figure it out."  When she saw the confused look on his face, she continued.  "Brian shows up in New York and you suddenly decide to come home...to finish up school..." she mimicked him when he gave her that line when he came back.  He smiled.  "You spend at least three nights a week somewhere else.  Oh, and of course the most obvious reason...you have this permanent grin on your face...it just won't go away." He laughed, shyly.  It was true...he was happy.  He couldn’t hide it.

"See, doesn't take a genius," she repeated.

He sat next to her.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

She shrugged, "It's ok.  I understand why you didn't."

"You do?"

"You didn't need all that pressure from everybody else.  I know what it did to you before.  And of course all the hot sex from sneaking around couldn't hurt either, right?" They both laughed.

"I love you, Daph," he said, calming down.

"I know," she said.

~~~

A couple of weeks later, both Justin and Gus were staying over at Brian’s. 

“Yes, mom, it’s fine,” Justin was on the phone with his mother.

At that very moment Gus decided to venture into the world of art…Justin’s drawings were all over the coffee table because he was showing his new stuff to Brian the night before.  Brian saw him right before Gus was ready to add his talents to Justin’s using Crayola crayons.

“Gus, no!” He got to his son right before any damage could be done.  He picked him up and carried him over to the dining room.

“Oh, that was Daphne’s boyfriend,” Justin lied to his mother.  “No…not Gus…he said gas.”  Brian shook his head at him.  “Ok, yeah…bye, mom.”  He finally hung up and walked over to where Brian and Gus were.

“You know you shouldn’t leave your shit where he can reach it.  He’s going through a demolition phase right now,” Brian said, trying to put the shoes on his son’s little feet.

Justin smiled.

Brian finally had enough of Gus’s whirling and twisting.

“Jus’n,” Gus reached for Justin.

“Here, you try.   I need coffee.” Brian said handing his son to Justin.

Justin sat down with Gus in his lap and started to put the shoes on the toddler.  “Your daddy’s grouchy today,” he said to Gus. 

“I’m not fucking grouchy,” Brian replied from the kitchen.  “And you should get dressed too,” he added.  Justin was only wearing pants at this point.

“Brian, we have over 2 hours left.  Relax.”   Lindsay and Melanie invited everybody for brunch.

“I couldn’t be more relaxed,” he replied.

“Wanna bet?” Justin gave him an evil smile. 

“Not in front of my kid,” Brian’s expression softened.  “He gets enough of that at home.”

Justin laughed. 

Just then somebody buzzed in from downstairs.  Both Justin and Brian looked at each other.

“Expecting somebody?” Justin asked.

Brian walked over and pressed the ‘talk’ button on the intercom.

“Who is it?”

“It’s us,” Lindsay said.

The two looked at each other again, now panic in their eyes. 

“What do I do?” Justin whispered, even though nobody else could hear them…yet.

Brian shrugged.

“Uh…here,” Justin carried Gus over to him and then ran to the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

Brian, with Gus in his arms, opened the door.

“I thought we were bringing him to your place for brunch,” Brian asked when Lindsay and Melanie walked in and he shut the door behind them.

“We?” Melanie asked.

“Uh…I…me,” he corrected himself.

“I know, but we had a couple of hours to kill and the kid’s store by our place is having a sale, so we thought we’d go buy Gus new shoes.”

“You have a couple of hours all to yourself and you’re going to buy shoes?  I guess that’s what happens to old married couples,” he handed her Gus. “I’ll get his stuff,” he went into the bedroom.

Lindsay put Gus down and started gathering his toys.

“Jus’n,” Gus shouted and headed towards the bathroom.

Brian practically ran out of the bedroom, picked up his son, and carried him over to the living room again.  He put him down.

When he saw the puzzled look on Lindsay’s face, he added, “I guess he misses Justin.”

“I guess…we should have him over more often,” Lindsay said turning to Melanie. 

As soon as Brian put his kid down Gus ran towards the bathroom again.  This time he didn’t stop him.  Gus started pounding on the bathroom door with his little fists.  “Jus’n!  Jus’n!”

Lindsay looked at him, he just shrugged.  They all walked over to Gus.  Brian took a deep breath, picked up his son, and opened the door to the bathroom.  There, leaning on the sink, was Justin.  He smiled and waved at them, “Hi.”

“Traitor,” Brian said to Gus as he walked over to his lover, handing him his son.

They both looked at Lindsay and Melanie who stood there with their mouths open. 

~~~

“You’re ready?” Brian asked, walking down the stairs.

“Yeah,” Justin replied from the kitchen.

Brian walked over to him and put his arms around his lover.

“Do you think they told anybody yet?” Justin asked him.

“We’re talking about Lindsay and Melanie here, remember,” Brian said.

“Yeah.  Probably the whole gay population of Pittsburgh knows about it by now,” Justin said.

“You disappointed?” Brian asked, pulling away a bit.

“No, it’s not that.  I just loved having you all to myself…without anybody else giving us their five cents,” Justin said, kissing his neck.

“Well, there’s nothing we can do.”

“We could break up again…and then get back together,” Justin proposed, jokingly.

Brian pretended to think about it for a moment.  “I don’t think that’s gonna work,” he said, getting back to the task of kissing the man in his arms.

~~~

Everybody was already inside when the two of them arrived.

“Did you come together?” Debbie asked as they sat at the table.

“Uh…” Brian looked at Lindsay, puzzled.  She smiled at him.  He realized that nobody knew anything.

“Brian gave me a ride,” Justin said, sitting next to Emmett, while Brian sat across from him, next to Lindsay and Gus.

The brunch went by as usual…food and conversation. 

“There’s this new guy working at the diner now,” Debbie started saying, “Blond, green eyes…cute butt.”

“Trying to replace me?” Justin pretended to look hurt.

“Nobody could replace you, honey.” She gave him a peck on the cheek.  “I told him all about you.  I thought maybe the two of you could go out.”

“I think he’s more of Brian’s type,” Ted said.  Brian shot him an evil look, then looked back at Justin.

“Uh…Deb,” Justin didn’t know what to say.  He looked at Brian who was staring at him. No help from him. 

“What?  It’s been months since you and Andrew broke up.  What’s stopping you?”

“I…uh…I’m already seeing somebody else,” he finally said.

Brian raised his right brow.  This was amusing to him.  “You are?” he asked his lover, which earned him a ‘you’re going to pay for this’ look from Justin.

“Yes, I am.”  Justin stared back at him.

Then they all started speaking at the same time, piling the questions on him.

“Do we know him?”  He chose to ignore that question.

“How long have you been together?”

“We’ve known each other for a while.”

“Is he from school?”

“Not exactly.”

“Why haven’t you introduced him to us?”

“Well, we just sort of wanted to see how it goes.”

Justin felt like his head was about to explode when he saw Brian trying to cover up an obvious grin with his right hand.  Brian thought he was going to burst out laughing.  He was biting his lip, sticking his tongue in his cheek, covering it up with his hand…it didn’t seem to work.  The look on Justin’s face was priceless.

~~~

“I can’t believe you just sat there,” Justin said the minute Brian pulled out of Lindsay’s driveway. 

“What did you want me to do?  Besides, nobody forced you to say anything.”

“What was I supposed to do?  Deb practically had me married to the guy already.”

Brian chuckled, “So?  From the way she described him, he sounds hot.”

“Then you date him,” Justin said, pouting.

Brian looked at him, trying to hide his smile, “No, thanks.  I’ve got all the hot blond twink I can handle.”

Justin stuck his tongue out at him, which made Brian laugh harder.

~~~

“I thought we were meeting at Woody’s,” Brian said shutting the door behind Michael, Emmett, and Ted.  It’s been two weeks since the brunch and Lindsay and Melanie kept their mouths shut.

“I know, but we were driving by.  Thought we’d just pick you up on the way,” Michael replied.

“Fine,” Brian said, walking towards the bedroom, “Give me a minute.”

A few minutes later, Brian emerged, fully dressed and ready to go.  Just then his cell phone rang. 

“Yeah…This is.” he said into the phone.

The guys watched blood drain from his face. 

“Is he…Yeah, I’ll be right there,” he said, then hung up.

“What’s going on?” Michael asked.

~~~

Brian, with the three of the guys behind him, ran through the hall of the emergency room.  He finally spotted a nurse station. 

“Yes, I’m looking for a patient…Justin Taylor,” he said, trying to stay calm. 

A middle-aged woman looked up at him, “Are you family?” she asked.

“I’m his…” He was never ashamed of being gay or tried to hide it, but the most important thing right now was to see Justin and he had to do whatever was necessary.  Besides, he remembered how they treated Melanie when Gus was sick.  “We’re together,” he said, ignoring the shocked looks in his friends’ faces.

She studied his face for a moment.

“Ahh…Dr. Wilkins,” she turned to a man standing to the side, “This gentlemen is here to see Justin Taylor.”

“Oh, hello,” the doctor extended his hand, “Robert Wilkins.”

“Brian Kinney,” Brian shook his hand.

“I treated Justin,” the doctor said.

“Is he Ok? Can I see him?” Brian started to panic again.

Dr. Wilkins motioned for him to follow him down the hall, leaving three confused friends behind.

“Justin suffered from smoke inhalation.”

“Is he ok?” Brian repeated his question.

“Yes, he will be.  He was given oxygen and we ran some tests that show that he should be just fine…Right in here,” he opened the door and let Brian in.

“Hey,” Justin smiled at him. 

Brian walked over to him, finally letting out a sigh of relief. 

“So, he’s gonna be alright,” Brian asked again. 

“I’m fine,” Justin said, “Dr. Wilkins was just about to release me, right?” he smiled at the doctor.

“Yes, he’ll be fine.  But…”

Justin groaned.  He’s been prodded and stabbed with needles for over two hours now.

“But if there’s any problem at all…difficulties breathing, upset stomach, vomiting, extensive coughing…you bring him in right way,” Robert finished.

“Of course,” Brian nodded.

“I’ll go get the papers and you can go home,” the doctor said.

“Thank God,” Justin exclaimed.

As soon as they were alone in the room, Brian pulled him in for a long kiss.

“You know, you don’t have to get yourself into life-threatening situations in order to get my attention.  All you need to say is ‘fuck me’, and you’ll have it,” Brian joked as he pulled away.

Justin smiled at him.

“What happened?” Brian asked, serious this time.

“Some idiot decided to smoke in a room full of paint…so the part of the building where all the studious are…were…went up in smoke,” Justin explained.  He decided to skip the part where five of them got stuck in one of the classrooms and couldn’t get out or that he passed out and woke up in the ambulance.  He thought Brian looked freaked out enough.

Finally, the doctor came back with the papers and Justin was ready to go.  Brian helped him put his shirt back on and led him through the hall since he was still a little dizzy.  In the middle of the hall Justin suddenly stopped.

“What is it?” Brian asked, concerned.

“Uh…I think our secret is out,” Justin said, motioning to something in front of them. 

Brian looked straight ahead to see their friends waiting for them.

Brian couldn’t believe Justin thought he cared about that right now.  “Fuck it,” he said and led Justin towards the exit. 

~~~

Justin opened his eyes and looked at the clock.  Almost 9am.  He turned a bit, trying not to disturb Brian, whose arm was draped over Justin throughout the whole night.  Brian was still asleep.  Justin tried to slowly move Brian’s hand, not to wake him, so he could get up. 

“Where are you going?” Brian asked.  Justin saw him open his eyes.

“Thirsty,” he explained.

“I’ll get it,” Brian said, getting up.

“You don’t have…” Justin began to say.

“I’ll get it,” Brian said again.

He came back a couple minutes later with two bottles of water, handing one to Justin.

“Thanks,” Justin said, taking a sip.

“How are you feeling?”

“Ok.”

Brian searched his face for any sign of Justin lying.  Moment later looked away, satisfied that he didn’t find any.

Brian dropped back on the bed.  “Well, you should get ready, ‘cause I’m sure that we’ll have company soon,” he said.

“You think they’ll show up?”

Brian just gave him a look that said…we’re talking about our friends here.

“Oh, right,” Justin answered his own question.

As Brian predicted, the whole gang showed up a couple of hours later.  They all settled in the living room when Justin came out.  Coming down the stairs, he wavered a bit.  Brian was right there to catch him.

“Ok, you’re going back to bed,” Brian said.

“I’m fine.  I’m just a little groggy, that’s all,” Justin said.  “I’m fine,” he tried to reassure his lover.

Brian didn’t say anything, but as Justin made his way to the living room, he was right behind him in case he got dizzy again.

To their credit, their friends didn’t ask them about being together or give them grief about lying to them all this time. They asked Justin questions about what happened and about school and the hospital.  Brian stood back and watched Justin… the younger man trying to make a joke out of everything.  It was his way of letting everybody know that he was ok.  For the first time since he got a call Brian felt like he could breathe easier.  Telling himself that Justin was alright and that he was in good hands, Brian picked up a pack of cigarettes and went downstairs to smoke.  He didn’t think having Justin inhale more smoke right now would be a good idea.

~~~

“So, how long has this been going on?” he heard Michael ask.

He turned around to face his friend.

“Since New York.”

He saw Michael’s eyes grow bigger.  “New York?  You’ve been together all this time?”

Brian nodded.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

Brian looked away.

“And when I asked you…you lied to me.  You fucking lied straight to my face.”

Brian took a deep breath and looked back at him.

“Why?” Michael demanded.

“Because it wasn’t any of your fucking business.”

“We’re friends.”

“I know that.”

“Well, friends tell each other these things and friends don’t lie to each other.”

“Look, what do you want me to say?  That I’m sorry? Ok, fine, I’m sorry for lying to you.”  Even though Brian felt guilty for lying, he was also angry with Michael for putting him in that position instead of minding his own business. 

“It’s not that simple.”

“What else do you want me to say?”

“I don’t know….”

Brian put the cigarette out and took another deep breath. 

”Look,” he said calmly this time, “I could have lost him last night…again.  I’m not gonna stand around here and apologize for something that had nothing to do with you.  I’m going to go upstairs and take care of my…lover.”  With that he walked through the door.

~~~

“Ok, I gotta get going,” Justin said, emerging from the bathroom. 

It’s been a week since the fire and he got a clean bill of health from his doctor.

“I swear I am never taking another summer school class again.”

“I want you to stay,” Brian suddenly said.

He was standing at the kitchen counter.

Justin smiled at him.  “I can’t.  I have this stupid study group early tomorrow morning.  And if I stay we’re going to have to get up at least an hour earlier and I know how you…”

“No, I mean I want you to stay,” Brian cut him off.

“Oh,” Justin tried to process the information just given to him.  “Oh,” he said again.

“So, what do you say?” Brian asked when he didn’t get an answer.

Justin stared at him for a moment.

“No,” he finally said.

“No?” Brian laughed nervously.  He did not expect that particular answer.

“Come on, Brian.  That’s not what you really want.  You’re just freaked out over me getting hurt again.”

“That’s not true.”

“Yes, it is.  Every time something bad happens…my dad throws me out…you feel responsible…I move in, I get bashed in the head…you feel guilty…I move in, I get hurt in a fucking fire…you get scared…I move in?”  When Brian didn’t say anything, he continued.  “Starting to notice the pattern?  And it all ends the same way…I move out…and I…I don’t want that.”

“What do you want?” Brian asked.

Justin walked over to him.  He had to answer this question once before, to someone else, but this time he definitely knew the answer.

“You.”

Brian’s expression softened.

“So, you’re saying ‘no’,” he really couldn’t believe it. 

“I’m saying that I want to do it for the right reasons…when we’re ready,” Justin said, putting his arms around Brian.

“Tell you what, though,” Justin said when he pulled away from a kiss.

“Hmm?”

“How about I ditch my study group and you call in sick tomorrow…we can stay in bed all day fucking.”

“Is that like my cancellation prize?” Brian asked.

“Uhm…uh-hu,” Justin smiled at him.

Brian smirked, “Sounds good to me.”

He kissed Justin again and then led his lover to the bedroom.

Go to Part 9

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