Brian trudged up the last flight of stairs to his loft, taking each step a little slower than the last until he reluctantly dragged himself unto the landing.

  
How did he let the little brat talk him into these things?

  
He regarded the door to his home suspiciously, expecting to find, at the very least, yards of orange and black crepe paper streamers or some cheap plastic pumpkins, maybe even some spooky music.  

  
There was nothing.

  
He took a tentative step forward and stopped, frowning. He knew better than to believe that Justin would have forgotten the bet. He certainly wouldn't have given up on it; the boy loved a challenge no matter how impossible the odds. And anyway, it had been his idea - he's the one who'd begged Brian for the chance to decorate for Halloween.

  
So what horror had his twisted little artist managed to create under the conditions Brian had set: something that Brian would consider frightening but had to be able to be set up in one afternoon and removed in an hour, and couldn't cost more than twenty-five dollars.

  
Oh, Justin had pouted a bit about that, but once the prizes had been settled on - a whole weekend with the winner getting to decide what the pair would do together, he'd been more than enthusiastic. Brian had found a lot of reasons to be out of the loft for the last few days. Another reason to hate holidays.

  
With a deep breath, Brian strode forward and opened the door, stepping into the loft and closing the door quickly before turning to face... nothing out of the ordinary.

  
"Hi," Justin greeted, looking up from where he was preparing dinner. Soft music played in the background and candles were already lit on table where their salads were waiting. Justin carried the plates over and set them down, then hurried over for a kiss. "You okay?"

  
"Mmm? Yeah." Brian looked around suspiciously, then down at the man in his arms who was holding on tight. "Everything all right?"

  
"It is now." They stood together another minute before Justin reluctantly pulled away. "I made your favorite; we'd better eat before it gets cold."

  
"I'm just going to get changed." Brian shrugged out of his jacket and loosened his tie as he headed into the  bedroom. He paused as he noticed a gift-wrapped package lying on his pillow. Changing into jeans and a t-shirt, he picked up the package and returned to Justin at the table.

  
"What's this?"

  
Justin smiled and blushed. "I didn't think you'd find that until later. It's just a little surprise." He reached out to Brian. "I know it's not fair to
ask, but could you wait to open it? Just until after we eat?"

  
Brian smirked, thinking of the reaction he'd get if he asked Justin to wait to open a package. But the boy's eyes were so open, his expression so trusting; he was the first person he could rember who believed in him to do the right thing. With a smile Brian set the gift aside and took up his fork.

 
"This looks good, Justin. You must have spent all afternoon preparing it."

  
Justin shrugged. "I got my assignments done early this week so I would have time. I wanted it to be special. How did the Candy Books meeting go?"

  
"They want me to sell edible books. Somehow I can't see people buying copies of 'War and Peace' and eating them while they read."

  
"I can," Justin laughed. "Consider it survival rations."

  
Brian just shook his head and continued to eat his dinner while Justin launched into a story about one of his literature professors and her unconventional teaching methods.

  
When the meal was over, Justin cleared the table, then walked over and took Brian's hand, leading him over to the sofa. Brian grabbed the mysterious present, laughing at Justin's expression.

  
With a gentle push, Brian landed on the sofa, while Justin knelt in front of him and leaned forward for a kiss. Sitting back a little, he gave Brian a soft smile, his eyes bright. Brian leaned in for  another kiss.

  
Moving apart again, Brian picked up his gift.  It was the size of a shirt box, wrapped in silver paper with a matching bow. Holding it now, Brian
suddenly remembered the bet. He looked up uncertainly  at Justin whose eyes were now guarded. With a sense  of resignation, Brian looked down at the object in  his hand and opened in slowly.

 
Tossing aside the paper, he lifted the lid off the box and shifted the white tissue paper. Inside was a card and a photo album. He picked up the
card first, frowning at Justin's scrawl.

  
"To Brian," it read.

 
He turned the envelope over and slid the card out, aware of the tension in his lover's body. The little shit.

 
"Happy Anniversary?" He looked up demanding an  answer and caught Justin's expression, somewhere between mirth and pain. Brian looked down quickly, unable to stand seeing Justin's struggle. He had the uncomfortable feeling that he was in the middle of a joke gone horribly wrong. Brian scanned the text  inside the card, the words barely registering beyond the impression of incomprehensible mush.

  
And more of Justin's scrawl: Three years down, an eternity to go. Love, Justin.

  
"Fuck it, you win," Justin declared, yanking the card and package out of Brian's hand and tossing them aside before grabbing his hand and dragging him towards the bedroom. "It was a dumb idea anyway."

  
Brian looked at the photo album lying abandoned on the sofa and wondered what was inside, but he didn't protest as Justin pulled him away. He smiled as the younger man practically attacked him, working at clothing fasteners until Brian was undressed and Justin was almost frantic with need.

Taking Justin in his arms, he finished undressing the younger man before easing him down to the bed. Brian was kissing his way down Justin's chest when he discovered something different.

"What's that?"

  
"What?" Justin squinted and looked down.

 
"That?" Brian leaned back. "That... mark." Brian pointed to the symbol on Justin's chest over his heart. It was two rings intertwined with initials and a date underneath - a year ago today. "That had better be washable."

 
"Um, sort of... not exactly." Justin mumbled. "I knew this was a bad idea. "I told Em I should have just dressed up as Cupid and decorated for Valentine's Day."

  
"So how long can I expect to have to see this thing?"

  
"Well, Daphne's friend said it'll wear off in a few weeks."

  
"Daphne and Emmett, two of the biggest mouths in the Pitts. I guess that means no Babylon for you for the next few weeks." Brian smirked at Justin's pout. "And," he rolled the blond over roughly.

  
"Brian!"

  
"I am not looking at that for the next few weeks either. Get used to this."

 
Justin made a disgusted sound and Brian smiled.

 
"I could put a band-aid on it."

  
"And tell everyone you got a boo-boo?" Brian mocked. "No, just consider this your punishment." Brian reached for the toychest and selected a few special items. He proceeded to demonstrate his favorite methods of punishment and although Justin produced more than a few sounds worthy of Halloween night, the boy didn't protest once.

After Justin had fallen asleep, Brian slipped out of bed and walked quietly out to the sofa to retrieve the photo album. Stretching out, he slowly paged through the full album, looking at the photographs of himself and Justin together and with their crazy family. There were silly photos of them playing in the snow or laughing together, and serious photos where they were wrapped up in each other, oblivious to everything else. There were family shots at Deb's and pictures at the park and zoo with Gus.

 
Brian turned to the last few pages and sighed. Little brat. Leave it to his demented Picasso to do something like this: a fake wedding invitation, marriage license, even a wedding program and reception menu. Brian turned the page and stopped breathing for a moment; Justin had drawn the two of them dancing,  surrounded by friends and balloons, each with a matching white silk scarf contrasting their black tux. Justin's head was thrown back, laughing and Brian was smiling  with joy.

  
In that too familiar scrawl were the words: Our First Dance.

  
Brian turned the page, surprised that his hand wasn't shaking. The final page was a drawing of the two of them in bed together under the blue lights, the bedding twisted around them, but as Brian studied it, the shapes took on the form of the infinity symbol.

Carefully he closed the book and put it back in the box, leaning his head back against the sofa and resting his eyes.

 
"It did't quite turn out the way I intended," Justin said quietly, walking up behind him and kneeling by the sofa. He kissed Brian lightly.

 
"It happens," Brian shrugged. "The pictures are nice."

"I wasn't sure I should give it to you. I almost didn't."

  
"I'm glad you did."

 
"Are you?" Justin reached over and picked up the album. He opened it from the back and looked at the picture of the dance, studying it for a moment before looking at Brian uncertainly. "I did this on my own. I didn't show anyone until it was finished. I'm not sure how much I remember and how much I made up but," Justin shrugged. "Daph said I wasn't too far off so maybe a little came back." He looked away "Or I just remembered what I was told. I don't know." He closed the book in frustration.

  
"It doesn't matter if you remember that dance," Brian said very seriously. "That was the last dance. This," he tapped the book, "is the first."

  
Justin smiled a little. "The first what?" he teased.

  
Brian leaned over and kissed Justin's temporary tattoo. "The first dance of my favorite nightmare. If you cooked up a fake marriage for
Halloween, I can't imagine what you'll do for Christmas. Or February 14th."

"Some people call that Valentine's Day, Brian."

"Some people own lawn gnomes. Speaking of terrifying things..." Brian grinned at him, almost daring Justin to revive the old joke they'd once shared - when Justin had taken to leaving a small gnome figurine randomly around the loft.

Justin's frown eased a little but he still worried that he'd gone too far. He couldn't get past his own emotions to read Brian's real reaction to what had been intended as a joke and had somehow turned into something else.

Brian reached out and caressed Justin's face. "So what was that I heard that about you dressing up as Cupid?" he asked in that tone of voice that always got Justin hard. "Sounds scary. Come to think of it, maybe you'd better give me a preview of all your holiday plans, so I can be prepared." Brian leaned close to Justin and breathed into his ear. "After all, you can be quite frightening year-round, not just on Halloween."

Justin grinned and threw his arms around Brian, pulling him into a deep kiss. Who was he to  argue with a compliment like that?

  
:::end:::

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