called
Justin's school to make sure he showed up for work. As long as he knew
where
Justin was, he had to time to come up with a plan. He was pulled from
his
thoughts by the sound of Gus opening the car door. "Hey, how was
practice?"
"Good. Can we go to the diner now? I'm hungry."
"Of course," Brian answered with a smile. Not many nine-year-olds
frequented
the diner, but Gus had grown up on Liberty Avenue. And Debbie loved to
fuss
over him.
"Da, why did you let Justin leave?"
"What?" Brian asked, looking up from the plate of food he'd been
picking at.
"You were supposed to make him stay."
Brian really did not want to have this conversation, but it didn't look
like
he had a choice. "Look Gus, I know you saw Justin and I kiss. Maybe you
thought that meant he would stay, but we don't have that type of
relationship
anymore. Even before he moved, we weren't together. You remember that.
Besides, Justin lives in Philadelphia now. It's not that far you can
still
see him."Gus rolled his eyes, "I know I can see him again, Da. But I
wanted
him to stay for you. When Justin was here you used to smile and laugh
all the
time, I just wanted you to be happy again."
"Gus, I appreciate that, but I am happy. With a great son like you, how
could
I be anything but happy? I know that you remember Justin and I being
happy
together, but sometimes it's more complicated than that. Things didn't
work
out for us."
"I'm not stupid, and I'm not a little kid anymore. I know what it means
when
you kiss someone like that. Justin would have stayed if you asked him."
Praying this wasn't going to turn into a conversation about sex, Brian
tried
to wrap it up, "It was just a friendly kiss. You see me kiss people all
the
time. Your mom, Uncle Mikey. I don't want you to think it means Justin
and I
are getting back together"
"Mom doesn't count because she's a girl. And you never kiss Uncle Mikey
like
that, gross! Mama said you never told Justin you loved him. That's why
he
left you. That and something about doing too many tricks. I never saw
you do
any tricks. Did she mean magic tricks?"
Brian chocked on his water when Gus mentioned tricks, "It means you
shouldn't
eavesdrop on your mothers' conversation."
"When I was in the hospital, Justin told me he was leaving. He said it
wasn't
because of me and that he loved me. Than he said, he had a really
important
favor to ask me. He said since he would be gone I needed to take care
of you
and tell you I loved you everyday so you wouldn't forget. If you never
told
Justin you loved him, how is he supposed to remember? If you told him
now,
he'd come home. I know he would."
Not knowing what to say to Gus, Brian changed the subject by asking him
if he
wanted dessert.
A few hours later, Brian sat at the bar at Babylon trying to forget his
talk
with Gus. He looked out and saw Michael waving to him from the dance
floor.
Brian finished his drink and decided to join his friend.
"Hey, what's up?" Michael asked him with a smile.
"Not much. Are you on your own tonight?"
"Ben will be here later. Emmett's on a date and Ted is having a reunion
dinner with Dan. So it's you and me for now."
"Great," Brian answered hoping Michael wouldn't be in the mood to talk.
"Mom talked to Justin today."
Brian tried to appear uninterested, "Did she?"
"Yeah, she wanted to know when he was coming back."
"Hmmmm."
"He said he didn't know. We could be rid of him for good if you didn't
keep
encouraging him."
Obviously, Michael wasn't taking the hint, "What is that supposed to
mean?"
"First you kiss him. Where everyone can see you!"
"I didn't realize Deb's driveway was a public viewing area."
Michael continued as if Brian hadn't spoken, "And then you fucked him!"
"And how would you know that?"
"Lindsay said he didn't pick up his car till morning. I know you two
weren't
talking all night."
"What the fuck to you care, anyway?"
"I don't want him getting any ideas about you getting back together.
Then
he'll be hanging around all the time again."
Brian was really starting to get pissed so he didn't say anything. But
Michael just kept talking, "I mean it took him forever to get the hint
last
time."
"What are you talking about?"
"Anyone could see you were sick of him right around his graduation. But
did
he get it? Nooo. It was months before he finally left. I don't now why
you
didn't throw him out once he had a job. He didn't need you to take care
of
him anymore, and it was clear you didn't want him around."
"Is that what you think?"
"It's not what I think; it's what I know. You felt responsible for his
dad
cutting him off and for what happened to his hand. But he got through
school,
he got a good job. There was nothing for you to feel guilty about
anymore. No
wonder you were so eager to get rid of him. You'd put your life on hold
long
enough. Even he finally had to admit he wasn't there because you loved
him.
He should have let you go along time ago. Just tell me it isn't
starting
again."
Brian didn't hear the last thing Michael said because he had finally
figured
it out. Between what Michael and Gus had told him, he might actually
know
what Justin was thinking. Feeling hopeful for the first time since he
woke up
alone, he gave Michael a huge smile, "Mikey you are so fucked up, but
sometimes you're a genius. If this works, I'll owe you everything." He
gave
him a quick kiss and headed out the door ignoring the questions Michael
continued to yell after him.
Friday afternoon Brian stood outside Justin's apartment waiting for him
to
come home. He had been tempted to drive here straight from Babylon the
other
night, but decided to wait. By coming on the weekend, Justin couldn't
use
work as an excuse to escape him. A few minutes later, he spotted Justin
coming toward him.
"Brian, what are you doing here?" he asked clearly irritated.
"We have some unfinished business. Now be a good boy and let me in."
Justin glared at him as he unlocked the door, "I told you not to
contact me
again. I thought I was fairly clear."
"I lied to Kip. I thought you would know that," Brian got right to the
point.
No games this time.
"What are you talking about?"
"When I told him I never noticed you were gone. Did you think I would
actually tell him the truth? I wouldn't give him the
satisfaction."
"Brian," Justin whispered closing his eyes.
"Listen to me for a minute," he led Justin over to the couch and sat
down
facing him. "I wouldn't tell Kip that I hated coming home to an empty
loft.
That I missed all the stories you told me about your day. That I had
gotten
used to having the same person in my bed every night. That I still
picked up
the phone to call you when a meeting went well. I wouldn't let him see
that
he had won; that he had taken something away from me."
"Don't," Justin put a hand up to stop him. "Don't do this. I don't want
to
hear this."
"Justin, I never let you go."
"Don't lie to me, Brian. I was there; I know what happened. Why do you
think
I didn't come to you about Kip? Because I didn't think you would care.
I may
have left town to protect Gus, but I left you because it was what you
wanted.
You let me go Brian. You let me walk out the door without a word. There
was
still a part of me that hoped I was wrong, but you didn't fight for me,
for
us. Don't try and tell me you didn't let me go."
"I didn't let you go, but I did push you away."
"Semantics, Brian. It's all the same in the end."
"No, it's not. There is a difference. I didn't fight you because I
thought
you needed to go. Even after I found out about Kip, I thought that was
just
an excuse."
He could see Justin struggling to decide if he should say anything.
Finally,
he just asked "Why?"
"Because of the job in California."
"What job in California?"
"The one you never told me about. You were going to out grow me
eventually.
You just needed a push to move on. You even told me when you left I was
never
going to give you what you wanted.""If I never told you about the job,
how
did you know about it?"
"Michael mentioned it to me. He said it was a great opportunity, and he
couldn't believe you passed it up."
"You are so fucked! Why would you ever listen to Michael, who would
sell his
soul to get rid of me?" Justin pulled farther away from Brian anger
evident
in his voice. "I didn't tell you about the job because I wasn't
interested.
It was drawing for some stupid comic book. That's Michael's dream job,
not
mine. I only told him because I knew some people who were interested,
and I
wanted to know if it was a good company. If it was important, I would
have
talked to you about it."
"I didn't want you to miss out on anything because of me. I didn't want
you
to feel tied down," Brian tried to explain what he had done.
"Again, those are your demons, not mine. When are you going to stop
hurting
people for what you think is their own good? Instead of asking me what
I
wanted, you decided for me. Fuck that."
"Will you calm down. I am just trying to explain what I thought at the
time.
I know better now."
"And how did you arrive at this brilliant revelation?" Justin threw
back at
him.
"Gus. He told me what you said to him at the hospital. How you asked
him to
take care of me and tell me he loved me so I wouldn't forget."
"Someone needs to tell you," Justin answered softly.
"Gus is pretty smart you know. He also said you would come home if I
asked
you to. Was he right?"
"What do I have to home to?"
"He asked me if I never told you I loved you how could you remember? I
also
depended on you to know how I felt about you, but that doesn't work
anymore.
I can't tell you I love you. I'm still not sure what that means. I can
tell
you that you mean more to me than anyone else in my life. When we were
together, I was happy or as close to happy as I've ever been. You
complete me
in ways I don't understand. I want you with me. Can that be enough for
you?"
"Brian, I love you; I always have. It's not the words I need from you.
It's
the feeling behind them. I thought I knew how you felt about me, but
then you
changed the rules on me. It was easy to let other people's doubt creep
in. I
needed to know that I mattered to you, and you wouldn't give me that.
Your
reasons don't matter. I need to know that you would fight for me."
Obviously Justin wasn't quite ready to jump back in his arms, but Brian
was
determined. "I'm fighting for you now. All I've ever had is my
reputation and
my pride. I am putting that aside for you. I always said never go after
anyone, but here I am. I'm asking you to come back. Don't
misunderstand, I'm
not proposing marriage or anything. But I still want to come home to
you
every night. I want you to be the only who sleeps in my bed. I want to
wake
up with you every morning." Brian stopped and waited for Justin's
reaction.
This was the most he'd ever opened up to anyone, and he hoped it would
be
enough.
Justin gave him the most beautiful smile and said, "Gus was right. All
you
had to do was ask."
"Thank God," he whispered before pressing his mouth down on Justin's.
He
wanted, needed to reclaim Justin. He quickly shed both of them of their
clothing and pulled Justin tightly against him. He kissed him roughly,
pushing his tongue deep into Justin's mouth. He groaned when Justin
reached
his hands around to his ass and pressed their hardening cocks against
each
other. Brian responded by rolling Justin's nipples in his fingers and
then
pulling on the hard buds. When Justin slipped a hand between them and
began
stroking Brian's cock, Brian bit him gently on the neck and nuzzled the
sensitive flesh there.
They continued teasing and tormenting each other until they were both
panting
and covered with sweat. At one point, Justin reached a hand up to
stroke
Brian's face. When he neared his mouth, Brian pulled his fingers into
his
mouth. He sucked then deeply into his mouth then pulled back and sucked
them
back in. He swirled his tongue around and in between them smiling when
Justin
closed his eyes and sighed. Justin pulled his hand away and stunned
Brian by
sliding one wet finger into his hole.
"Ahhh," Brian gasped at the unexpected pleasure. Justin explored him
gently
for a minute then added a second finger. He slipped them in an out
slowly
going deeper and faster with each entry. Finally, when Brian thought he
would
explode right then, Justin pulled away and shoved a condom into his
hand.
"Fuck me Brian," he demanded breathlessly.
Brian positioned Justin beneath him. He leaned down and kissed him once
more
while he put on the condom and lube Justin had also managed to produce.
He
pushed partly into Justin and paused to make sure he was ready. When
Justin
tried to push up and bring him the rest of the way in, Brian thrust as
deeply
as he could. He saw Justin's eyes glaze over with pleasure before
Justin
leaned up, reached a hand into Brian's hair, and pulled him down for a
kiss.
Brian knew they would last long as continued to pound into Justin. With
each
thrust, he pulled almost all the way out before quicky pushing back in
as
deep as he could. His hands kept up a similar rhythm on Justin's cock.
They
were both gasping for breath and straining to stay as close as
possible.
"God, Brian I love you," Justin yelled as he climaxed. Brian felt
Justin
contract around him and shouted his own release. After getting rid of
the
condom, he shifted on the couch so they were laying side by side. He
kissed
Justin gently and stroked his hand along his back. Justin wiggled
closer and
brushed Brian's hair back from his face.
"I do love you Brian. We'll be OK this time."
"I know we will, baby," Brian answered as he laid his head on Justin's
shoulder.
A few hours later, they made it to the bed. Justin turned on his side
and
smiled at Brian. "So I have Gus to thank for this reunion?"
"Well Gus and Michael."
"Michael? You've got to be kidding."
Brian laughed and filled Justin in on the conversation they had at
Babylon.
"Mikey unintentionally gave me the last piece to the puzzle. He helped
me
understand what you were thinking when you broke things off. That's
when I
knew what to do to get you back."
"Give me your cell phone," Justin demanded with a devilish look in his
eye.
"What?"
"Give me your cell phone," he repeated.
Brian shook his head and gave it to him. Justin turned it on and hit a
speed
dial.
"Ben, hi I didn't wake you up did I? It's Justin. Can I talk to
Michael? Hi
Michael, just wanted to say thank you. For what? Well if it wasn't for
you,
Brian and I would never have gotten back together. He's right; we do
owe you
everything. No, I am not making a crank call," he put his hand over the
mouthpiece and turned to Brian, "He doesn't believe me. You talk to
him."
Brian took the phone back in time to hear Michael say, "What the fuck
is
going on. Brian is that you? Where are you?"
"Hello to you too, Mikey. I'm in Justin's bed right now.
No, he's not kidding. We have you to thank for it. Tell your mother
he'll be
home real soon. Bye." He shut the phone off ignoring the sound of
Michael's
voice as he kept talking. "You are evil Justin. I am never going to
hear the
end of that one."
"Poor baby."
"You're not getting off the hook that easy."
"I guess I'll just have to make it up to you," Justin replied reaching
for
Brian. He spent the rest of the night doing just that. When he woke up
the
next morning, Brian was staring at him. "What are you doing?"
"Enjoying my first day of waking up with you."
"I love you."
"What was that for?" Brian asked.
"Now it's my job to tell you everyday. That way you'll never forget."
"Neither will you this time?"
"Never," Justin said with a smile and he leaned over for his first kiss
of
the day.