Endeavor
Chapter Twelve: December

It is your work in life that is the ultimate seduction. - Pablo Picasso

Justin grabbed his vibrating cell phone from his pocket and cautiously answered it. “Hey, Daph.”

“Why have you waited over a week to call me?”

“It’s been like eight days,” Justin defended.

“That’s over a week. Now I’m sure he’s listening so you don’t have to tell me everything, but at least tell me how the sex was.”

“I’m driving to work,” Justin cautioned.

“Yeah, I figured this would be an appropriate time to call you since you’re probably not in the middle of fucking. Tell Brian I said hi.”

“He isn’t with me.” Because I’m a spineless idiot.

“Well then you can give me all the details now.”

“There aren’t any details to give.”

“Whoa! Wait a minute. You’re driving to work but there aren’t any details so that means you didn’t do it. You didn’t tell Brian that you quit, you didn’t tell him that you’re in love with him?”

“I couldn’t, Daphne.”

“When I didn’t hear from you for a few days I figured that everything had gone as planned. I’ve been sitting here for days thinking that you and Brian are just too busy fucking and that’s why you hadn’t called.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You should be,” Daphne stated. “So how are things at work? Have you talked to him at all?”

“He hasn’t been there. He was in Chicago then Boston all last week. But he’ll be back today.”

“Are you going to quit?”

“I don’t know. I’ve been thinking about it all fucking week and I haven’t made a decision. I probably should’ve gone over to the loft last Sunday and done what you told me to do, but it’s been too long since then. I doubt me quitting would have the same impact.”

“Well you need to decide what will have an impact on him and do it.”

“Okay,” Justin agreed. “I’ll figure out something. I gotta go; I’m pulling into the garage now.”

“This time, if I don’t hear from you it better be because you’re with Brian. Otherwise, you have to call me right away.”

“I will, I promise. You know, the last time we talked I was freaking out and didn’t ask you about how Thanksgiving with Steven and your families went.”

Daphne sighed dramatically, “It was okay.”

Justin laughed. “So I take it you’re in crisis mode too?”

“No, I’m not in crisis mode. Mom and Dad didn’t even bat an eye when they met Steven; he’s a doctor so that trumped the whole race issue. It was only ‘okay’ because I burned the outside of the turkey and the inside was still frozen. All we had to eat was the side dishes.”

Justin refrained from laughing. “Well knowing how well you cook side dishes, I’m sure the dinner was enjoyable even without the turkey.”

“That’s what Steven’s parents said. But my mother is insisting that I come to Pittsburgh for Christmas so that she can show me exactly how to cook a turkey. Apparently I miscalculated the thawing time because I was calculating grams and not pounds or something.”

Justin excitedly asked, “So you’re coming to Pittsburgh for Christmas?”

“Both Steven and I are coming. His parents are going to his sister’s for Christmas and I wasn’t going to leave him alone.”

“Of course not,” Justin said. “I can’t wait to meet him.”

“He can’t wait to meet you and Brian too. That is, if there is a you and Brian at that point.”

“You’ve told him about us?” Justin groaned.

“Yes, he knows the whole story. He’s extremely romantic and a sucker for love stories.”

“Well I don’t know if Brian and I will have a happy ending by Christmas, so Steven will have to be disappointed by only meeting me.”

“We’ll only be there for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day because we have work two days after Christmas. But I promised him that you’d take us dancing.”

“So Steven is bisexual?”

“No,” Daphne answered, laughing. “He definitely isn’t. He just loves dancing and I told him how much fun I had at Babylon, so you’ve got to take us there on Christmas Eve. I checked the website and it said there’s going to be a big drag show.”

“I guess even if Brian and I aren’t speaking at that point I can still take you there,” he resigned.

“I’ve got to go and get ready for work. Work on the whole speaking to Brian thing,” Daphne pushed.

“I’ll try,” Justin agreed.

“Good luck, Justin.”

“Thanks, Daph. Bye.”

“Bye.”
 

*****

Brian had avoided Justin all morning. Sure, the first thing he’d wanted to do the moment the elevator doors opened on the tenth floor was to stop by Justin’s office and at least get a small glimpse at him. He hadn’t spoken to him in a week, hadn’t seen his face in a week and he was going through withdrawal, as silly as that sounded it was true.

He’d had the meetings in Chicago and Boston scheduled long before Justin decided to turn into a lunatic. As much as he’d wanted to see Justin, the time away from him allowed Brian to clear his head. He had decided that under no circumstances would he speak to Justin Taylor unless it was absolutely necessary and concerned Exhibition. That was the only way that Brian would be able to survive working with him, if he could actually survive it.

He’d only been in the same building with Justin under four hours and he had spent the first hour debating whether or not Justin would seek him out. When that didn’t happen he spent the next two hours going back and forth between slogan ideas for a fitness candy bar and wondering what Justin was doing in his office. That was just fucking pathetic. Moving toward the fourth hour Brian broke down and called Michael. Michael was busy doing inventory and couldn’t talk long so they made plans to meet at the diner for dinner. After that he played with his stress ball, alternating hands every twenty squeezes, and during his ninetieth his office phone rang.

Brian couldn’t decipher where in the office the call was coming from, directly connected outside lines flashed slowly as the phone rang and this flash was like a miniature strobe light. So it was entirely possible that it was Justin calling him. It could’ve been Karen, Cynthia, Ted or one of the other employees, but there was still a possibility that it was Justin. So Brian had to prepare himself to answer the phone.

He sat up straight, cleared his throat, gave a test ‘hello’ to be sure his voice was calm and normal sounding and then he picked up the phone. “Kinney.”

“Brian, I wanted to remind you that we have the employee meeting after the lunch hour at two.”

Brian should’ve been relieved, relaxed even, but he was actually pissed. He managed a polite, “Thank you, Karen,” and hung up his phone. What the fuck did he have to be thankful for? In a couple of hours he’d be in the same room with Justin and now that he knew that was coming, it made everything for him worse.

Brian felt pukey and shaky and thought that perhaps there was a God and he would have a legitimate excuse and would really have to go home sick. That’s right. If he was sick, no one would fault him for skipping out on the meeting. The meeting had nothing to do with the expansion, they were having that one next week. Today’s meeting was just a run of the mill, touch bases with the employees kind of meeting. Cynthia wouldn’t mind if he went home sick. Airplanes were one of the easiest places to pick up a flu bug.

The question was, would it be more awkward to have his first meeting with Justin in front of people where it would be perfectly acceptable to have his attention elsewhere, or would meeting Justin alone because of some unavoidable work issue be the better bet? Brian would have to think carefully about that before he went home sick.

It occurred to Brian how ignorant he was being, allowing a piece of blond boy ass to actually get under his skin. It was practically unbelievable. He wouldn’t have believed it himself, except the butterflies in his stomach and sweat on his skin (yes he knew he wasn’t sick) gave him ample proof.
 

*****

“Ooooh, kinky.”

Justin placed his hand over the trick's mouth as the elevator doors opened. “Be quiet,” he whispered. The tall, dark haired man nodded and Justin took him by the wrist and led him through the empty hallways and into his office.

Justin turned on the lights, left the door cracked open and pulled the trick into a kiss. The trick had tried to unbutton his shirt but Justin stopped him. “No time for that,” he whispered, pushing the trick toward the couch.

His phone vibrated in his pants pocket, it was the second consecutive call to his cell, but instead of answering it he grabbed the lube and condom wedged in beside it. He’d picked a trick that appeared easy-going and the least likely to make a scene. The trick allowed Justin to forcefully position him over the arm of the sofa and let out a small laugh, indicating that Justin had chosen right.

The sound of his office phone ringing drowned out the tear of the condom wrapper.

“You’re not gonna get that?” the trick asked, craning his head to look back at Justin as his jeans were pulled down.

Justin pulled his dick out of his zipper and lied, “They’ll leave a message.” He knew they wouldn’t make use of his voicemails and Karen was at the meeting too so they couldn’t leave a message with her. Exhibition was closed for the hour and Justin knew that it was an office to office call. The phone on his desk continued to ring as Justin smeared lube onto his latex-covered cock, spread apart the olive-toned ass cheeks before him, and placed his slippery cock right outside the man’s hole.

“Yeah, fuck me,” the trick begged while circling his hips.

The office phone stopped ringing and Justin waited, appearing to tease the man’s entrance with his cock tip. His cell phone vibrated again and Justin wondered if the caller would ever get the fucking point and stop calling. He wasn’t sure what he would do if… The call ended and he waited to hear his office phone ring, but there wasn’t a call. His office was completely silent, even the trick was quiet; the only thing Justin could hear was his anxious breathing. He closed his eyes and waited… and waited… and… oh my fucking God he was sure he was going to die if he had to…

“So this is what you’re doing instead of coming to the staff meeting?”

“Oh fuck!” the trick gasped, wiggling out from under Justin.

Justin stepped away from the trick and straightened his shoulders. “Yeah. I needed a break.”

“Some break,” Brian said coolly, though his outward appearance to Justin was casual.

“Uhh....so...” the trick stammered pulling his jeans up. “I guess this isn’t going to happen?”

Justin shook his head at the trick that seconds later bolted toward his open door.

This was the part of the plan Justin wasn’t exactly prepared for because he hadn’t predicted this scenario at all. He imagined that any one of the employees could’ve been the one to catch him, but he figured that even if that were the case, Brian would still rake him over the coals and fire him. Justin was panicking, but he didn’t look away from his boss’ intense gaze as he closed and locked the door.

Justin’s office phone rang and when he made to walk over and answer it Brian held his hand up and Justin stopped all movement.

Brian walked around Justin’s desk, picked up the phone and calmly said, “Justin and I will be unavailable. Go on with the meeting without us.” After placing the receiver back in the cradle he turned his attention back to Justin. “Put your dick away,” he spoke, showing his agitation.

Justin looked down at his cock, still wrapped in latex, shining from lube. He quickly skimmed off the condom and walked toward his desk to deposit it in the trashcan. He held Brian’s eyes once more as he tucked himself back into his underwear and zipped up his pants.

There was no way in hell that Brian could have the conversation he needed to when Justin’s dick was deliciously on display for him. Brian noticed that once Justin had zipped up, his cheeks blushed, his eyes glimmered and he worried his bottom lip in between his teeth, waiting on him to make the next move. Brian thought this Justin was going to be just as hard to deal with as the Justin with his cock out waiting to be sucked. He walked around the desk toward Justin and almost smiled when Justin backed away from him.

“It... it never was going to happen,” Brian spoke. He tilted his head and gave Justin a look that basically translated to words as, ‘you’re a fucking idiot’.

Justin felt like Brian had kicked him in the gut. Eager to put some separation between the two of them he slid into his chair as Brian confidently sat in one of the chairs in front of his desk.

They were never going to happen. Justin kept hearing that over and over in his head as he stared at Brian, having no idea what it was he was supposed to say to that knife in the heart statement.

“You were never going to fuck him!” Brian shouted, making Justin jump and blink at him with an expression of surprise. He whispered his next words, “Clever devil, don’t think you can deceive the master.”

Justin swallowed thickly and tried to deny it, “No. You don’t know what I was going to...”

Brian slammed his hands down on the desk and leaned over it. “Why do you want to lie to me right now? Why?”

“I....” Justin had never felt so fucking stupid. “I... you’re...”

“Grow some fucking balls,” Brian taunted. “Tell me if you think you’re man enough to.”

“You’ll never say it,” Justin hissed, angry that Brian would make it into a joke.

“Say what?”

Calmer, Justin said, “You’ll never say it. I know you won’t. You’ll never say it.”

“What? That you’re fired?” Brian asked.

“Yes, that’s what I want.”

“Liar.”

“No. I’m not lying.” If Brian was going to make it a big game, something he could poke fun at and tease him about, he’d definitely rather be fired.

“That’s what you want? You really want me to fire you so that you don’t have to deal with it? You want me to make it easy for you just like Eric makes things easy, right?”

“We’re over,” Justin told him. “It wasn’t easy with him.”

“Maybe it should be. Maybe it has been with...” Brian wouldn’t allow the word ‘us’ to finish his statement.

“Now you can’t say it,” Justin pointed out.

“All right, I will.”

Justin sucked in a deep breath and held it, eyes darting everywhere but to Brian’s face.

“You’re fired.”

Justin’s head snapped back to look at Brian. “What?”

“There. You have your out. You’re gone. Pack up your shit and leave.”

“No.”

“No?”

“I....” Justin stuttered, feeling weakened by the confusing confrontation. He wasn’t sure if he understood any of what had just happened. “I don’t…. Brian…I…”

“You wanted me to fire you and I have. You got what you wanted, Mr. Taylor.”

“No. I didn’t!” Justin yelled in frustration.

Brian shook his head in defeat and started to get up from the chair but Justin reached across the desk and grabbed Brian’s tie, pulling him forward and kissing him hard before pushing him back down in his seat.

“Brian, Mr. Kinney.”

“Taylor.”

“I don’t want you to fire me.”

“Well I already did.”

“Then I want you to take me back.”

“You understand that you’ll be required to be an honest, trustworthy, dedicated employee and friend.”

They were friends again! That’s all? That’s all Brian wanted! Justin couldn’t take that. He pushed his chair away from the desk, stood up and started to walk toward the door, unable to look at Brian.

“So it’s just as hard for you to admit that you’ve fallen in love me as it was to admit that we were friends?”

Justin stopped moving as his heart bottomed out in his stomach, jumped back up where it belonged and proceeded to beat so rapidly it hurt. He wasn’t sure if he’d actually heard Brian right because it seemed so fucking impossible that he had. The only way of knowing was if he turned around and faced him. As he did, he saw Brian was now sitting on the edge of his desk in the same position he had been sitting the first day that Justin had met him and imagined fucking him in that place. Now Brian sat there, giving him a much different expression than the sexy smirk that had garnered the lustful imagery in his head almost a year before. Brian had a vulnerable look on his face; one Justin hadn’t ever imagined seeing.

He walked over to Brian and stood only inches away from his long legs. “You’ll never say it,” he said softly. “I don’t need it in words but…”

“If we play ‘I never’ I might just take a toke one day,” Brian offered.

Justin beamed at Brian a bright smile. “Do you think I’ll take a hit too?”

Brian chuckled as he nodded. “Will you ever get over yourself?” he asked Justin, smiling slightly.

Justin cocked his head to the side and licked his lips once before replying, “I could ask you the same question. But what would be the point?”

Brian smirked and uncrossed his legs so Justin could step closer to him. “I guess that makes us equals.”

“So you’re not going to freak out every time I fuck you?”

“That depends, are you going to freak out every time I fuck you?”

“No,” Justin promised, while cupping Brian’s chin. “Mr. Kinney?”

Brian was going to have to punish Justin if he addressed him at work like that ever again. He’d been fighting throwing Justin over whatever surface was available for months whenever Justin called him ‘Mr. Kinney’, and those times he hadn’t spoken his name in such a sexy voice. “Hmm?” Brian grunted, done with talking.

“Can I go first?”

Brian nodded slowly, knowing that this probably wouldn’t be the only time he gave up control so easily. Justin had him hornier than he’d ever been, yet they weren’t really touching in any overtly sexual way. Their bodies were close; their hands skimmed over one another, exploring, both reaching a contented level of gratification, which Brian never would have thought was possible. “What do you have in mind?” he asked, his hands cupping Justin’s ass, testing its firmness with a slow squeeze.

Justin kissed just under Brian’s left ear lobe and whispered, “I want to show you what I’ve been thinking about doing to you since the day you hired me.”

Brian pushed Justin away from him, crossed his arms over his chest and said, “Go to it.”
 

*****

Of course actually fucking Brian across his desk was much better than the hottest and dirtiest of fantasies Justin could have ever conjured.

Brian was on his back, draped over Justin’s desk which seemed to be made for fucking because the width of it was perfect for him to rest his head comfortably an inch from the top edge while his ass rested on the bottom edge. He was dressed in only his button up shirt and tie, the striped shirt was pushed up under his armpits and the tie was almost completely undone, the silk sliding against Brian’s right nipple in tandem with vibrations made from the thrust of Justin’s thick cock inside of him. He was practically silent as Justin fucked him, but every now and then he’d elicit a low ‘Uh’ or ‘Mmmm’ noise that he just couldn’t keep inside of him.

Those quiet sounds coincided with Brian’s ass muscles rippling, wrapping Justin’s cock in a tight wet heat that drove Justin to the cusp of orgasm. Justin managed to hold off, with every surprising noisy breath expelled from Brian’s throat, but only because the excitement and need to stay inside Brian for as long as possible exceeded the need to come. That was until Brian wrapped his arms around his back, pulled him close and began devouring his mouth while purposefully squeezing his ass so tight and never letting up.

With anyone else, Brian never would’ve even considered doing what he was doing at that second. It wasn’t just him bottoming, no it was much more. He was bottoming, face to face, lying across his employee’s desk and getting fucked. But Justin wasn’t just anyone, and fuck he was giving Brian the best fuck he’d ever had! It had started off with a bit of hesitation on his part and he’d almost considered putting a stop to Justin’s fantasy as Justin ordered him to lie back on the desk once his pants had been taken off. But he took the risk and as soon as Justin began pumping into him, expertly fucking him in a way that Brian had only before imagined he had the skill to do, Brian lost any inhibitions he’d ever had.

Brian pushed all doubts and trepidations away from him and opened himself up to Justin. He didn’t want their first fuck to be some run of the mill quickie in the office, he wanted it to last and as Justin took him to edge for the fifth time he had to release the grip he had around Justin’s torso and use one hand to stroke his cock, he was ready to come and he knew Justin was ready too.

They kept their eyes open and mouths sealed together as their orgasms rocketed through their bodies for the first few seconds. Justin fell to the side, moaning into Brian’s neck as his body weakened when the force of the next rippling took over him. Brian gripped Justin’s ass in his hands and used the tight space between their stomachs to thrust his cock in between as he lost all senses and came loudly with complete abandon.
 

*****

Brian hated Justin’s bathroom, the thing was designed for the colorblind and there was no functionality to it. The pedestal sink was too small and there was only a little space to keep a cup for toothbrushes on the back of the porcelain. The toilet was wedged right beside it, positioned so that you absolutely had to close the door to use it. He especially hated the claw foot tub and the tiny shower head, which wasn’t a shower head at all. You actually had to detach the hose from the wall and spray off your body yourself.

After making themselves barely presentable they’d left work and gone to Justin’s apartment because it was the closest to Exhibition and the sexual heat between them had been threatening to take them over practically the moment Justin had skimmed the condom from his dick and tossed it in his waste bin beside his desk.

Once at Justin’s, Brian was pushed down onto the sofa and given a blow job that was a testament to the skill Justin had told Brian he had. The orgasm left Brian boneless and had Justin not decided to straddle his head and fuck his dick into his mouth, he wouldn’t have had the energy to reciprocate the act for some time. After Justin came he straddled Brian’s lap and they lazily kissed and touched one another until the setting sun reminded them that Brian was meeting Michael for dinner. This now included Justin too.

As Brian rinsed the conditioner from his hair he contemplated why it had taken him so long to actually realize that he was in love with Justin Taylor. He’d given up the luxury of his amazing shower many mornings and barely bitched about the uncomfortable and completely not relaxing showers he took at Justin’s apartment, surrounded by tile that made his eyes want to bleed. He’d taken hundreds of showers at Justin’s without much complaint. That should have been a sign that he had been sacrificing his comfort just to be with Justin. It was totally lame but true nonetheless.

“You’re getting water all over the floor,” Justin groused, throwing the towel he’d used to dry his hair next to the bathtub.

Brian momentarily ignored Justin, rinsed off his body one last time and turned off the taps. He grabbed a fresh towel from the rack and said, “If you had a real shower with an actual shower curtain, that wouldn’t happen.”

Justin laughed and toothpaste shot out of his mouth and splattered the medicine cabinet’s mirror. “Whatever,” he garbled, while brushing.

Brian dried himself methodically before stepping out. He noticed that Justin had toothpaste on his toothbrush ready for him; they always did this for one another. It was so totally domestic, but it hadn’t ever bothered Brian, he hadn’t ever even given it meaning, but now… Brian shrugged it off, it was only toothpaste on a fucking toothbrush. His towel wrapped around his waist, he walked up behind Justin and wrapped his arms around him.

Justin spit into the sink and looked at Brian and him in the mirror. He had to close his eyes and open them to make sure he was actually seeing the silly smile adorning Brian’s face.

“What are you doing?” Brian asked, as Justin closed his eyes a second time before opening them a few seconds later.

Justin shook his head, his damp hair tickling Brian’s bare chest. “We’re together and we’re happy.”

Brian loosened his hold on Justin and asked, “Why do you sound worried?”

“I’m not, I’m just… well it’s sort of unbelievable that we are,” he tried to explain. “I wasn’t looking for…”

“I definitely concur,” Brian said and kissed Justin’s neck. “For months I’ve been hosing myself down when I could’ve been taking luxurious showers at my loft.”

“Just so you know, I don’t ever plan on living anywhere that doesn’t have a bathtub,” Justin joked. Or he thought he’d meant it as a joke but the implication that they would one day be living together came out of his mouth so easily.

Brian was going to let what Justin had said drop, but he wanted to press Justin and see if he meant it. He didn’t want to be another Eric to Justin; he wasn’t going to waste his time if that’s what it was. However, talking about their future, if they had one, seemed like an awful prospect to Brian. He made to comment off-handedly, “I suppose a separate bath and shower can be arranged,” but there was more promise in his words than he’d intended.

Justin gave Brian a relaxed smile and remembered what he’d first gone in the bathroom to tell him, which Brian’s naked body spraying water everywhere had made him forget. “Oh, Michael called while you were in the shower.” He backed away from Brian and walked into the bedroom. “I heard his ring,” he explained, going through Brian’s pants pocket to find the phone.

“I’m supposed to have dinner with him,” Brian called back. Really, he wanted to stay at Justin’s so they could fuck their brains out but Justin had already been telling him he was hungry. But that meant bringing Justin along with him, which meant a slew of other shit Brian wasn’t sure he wanted to deal with.

Justin returned to the bathroom and handed Brian his phone. “I’m going to clean up,” he informed, touching his lips to Brian’s, feeling a heady rush envelop him from just the small peck.

Brian brushed his teeth and dressed before he called Michael. “You rang, Mikey?”

“Mom heard we were having dinner and now she’s making lasagna. So meet me over there at six and we’ll go to Woody’s after?”

“Can’t make Woody’s, but I’ll see you for dinner.” Brian took a deep breath and added, “I’m bringing Justin.”

“Yeah, I figured,” Michael replied. “Gotta go, I’ve got a customer.”

Brian laughed as he closed his cell phone and pocketed it. “I guess it’ll be a surprise.”
 

*****

“You didn’t tell me that everyone was going to be here,” Justin commented.

“I didn’t know.” Brian parked the jeep behind Melanie and Lindsay’s station wagon. “This should get us out of making an appearance for dinner on Sunday,” he reasoned.

Justin rubbed his hand up from Brian’s knee and rested it on his crotch. He rubbed over Brian’s bulge and asked, “Do you have plans for Sunday, Mr. Kinney?”

Brian grabbed the back of Justin’s neck and brought him into a crushing kiss. “What have I told you about calling me Mr. Kinney?” he asked breathlessly, pushing Justin away from him.

Justin bit his lip and mock-innocently batted his eyelashes. “You’ll have to refresh my memory.”

“Unless you want to lose your virginity in the back of my Jeep parked in front of Debbie’s house, you will get out of this car this very second and refrain from touching me, looking at me or…or…”

Justin giggled as he threw open the car door, stepped out into the freezing air and turned back to smile smugly at Brian. “Or talking to you?” he finished for Brian.

“Fuck you,” Brian growled, adjusting his boner.

Justin laughed louder. “No, fuck you.” As Brian joined him on the sidewalk, he put his hand over his mouth and gasped, “Oh wait, I already did and you’ll have to wait until dinner is over before you’ll get to fuck me.”

Brian drew back his left arm and slapped Justin’s ass as hard as he could, nearly making Justin pitch forward into the snow.

Justin rubbed his tender ass and warned, “I’m thinking that I might want to stay for dessert too.”
 

*****

Brian didn’t bother knocking on Deb’s door, it was too cold outside to wait and they were expected anyway. He pushed the door open, and with a glance at Justin’s cold-watery eyes and pink cheeks, he pushed him inside first.

Michael and Ben were sitting on the sofa, having what appeared to be a funny conversation about whatever book it was that Michael held on his lap. Their attention immediately shifted from the book to Brian and Justin who were stomping their snowy shoes off on the rug in front of the door.

“Hey!” Michael and Ben greeted in unison before giving one another lovesick looks.

“Hey,” Brian and Justin replied together, a moment before mock gagging and scrunching their noses in distaste.

Ben and Michael shook their heads as they watched Brian help take Justin’s coat off him and hang it on the rack with the others. Brian ran his hands up and down Justin’s cashmere covered arms, warming him, coaxing a relaxed smile to form on his face. Michael and Ben held in whatever they wanted to say about it. They both knew that they’d seen something much more romantic and intimate than jinxing words with their lover.

“Smells so good in here,” Justin declared, rubbing his stomach.

Brian licked his lips as he watched a tiny bit of Justin’s back expose itself to his trained eye before the blue sweater he wore fell back into place above his round ass, accentuated by a perfectly tailored pair of charcoal gray slacks. He wanted to drag Justin right out the door and lock them both in his loft for weeks. He considered the possibility for a whole ten seconds, his plan thwarted by the sound of his son’s voice.

“Dad, you’re here! I’m hungry!” Gus exclaimed.

“What? I don’t even get a hello?” Brian asked. “You care more about the food than seeing me?”

“Well come on,” Justin muttered, “it’s Deb’s lasagna.”

Debbie laughed and ruffled Gus’ hair as she came into the living room behind him. “Go wash up, kiddo.”

“Ookay.” Gus gave Brian and then Justin a quick hug before he ran upstairs to the bathroom.

Debbie smiled at Justin. “It’s good to know you appreciate my cooking.”

“I definitely do,” Justin said, “thanks for inviting me.”

“You’re always welcome here,” Debbie said, pinching Justin’s cheek. “Now the man next to you who has made us all eat late…”

“Actually,” Justin cut in, “it is my fault we’re late.”

“You really don’t have to defend him,” Melanie added, joining them with Lindsay on her heels.

“He’s late to everything except work,” Lindsay explained.

“Or ‘dates’,” Emmett added, making quotation marks in the air.

“We’re used to it,” Ted spoke up, walking down the staircase.

Brian rolled his eyes and looked over at the dining table where Blake was sitting across from Jenny, looking completely awkward. “Aren’t either of you two going to say something about me being,” he glanced at his watch, “four minutes late?”

Blake shook his head, “I’m sure you’ll offer to fire Ted already, so…”

Feeling bad for the man whom she worshipped, Jenny declared, “You come right on time, Uncle Brian!” She ditched her chair and ran over to Brian, hugging him around the knees.

Everyone of course burst into laughter, but Jenny had no idea what was so funny. She looked at Justin with a pout and said, “Don’t make him late.”

“I’ll try not to,” Justin promised. He wondered what her reaction would be when she found out that Brian was off the market.
 

*****

Brian and Justin were both immensely surprised that they had gotten through the entire dinner with no one any wiser to their recent ‘status’. Sure, Ted knew but he also knew better not to spill the beans before Brian or Justin did the honors. It was perplexing, because they weren’t holding back their affection, sure, they hadn’t made out or groped, but that was hard to do while stuffing their mouths with lasagna in front of two children.

After dinner, Justin turned down dessert and they were almost about to leave when he spotted the book on the coffee table that Michael and Ben had been looking at when they’d walked in. “Are you in here?” he asked Brian, retrieving it.

“He sure is,” Michael snickered. “That’s from our senior year.”

Brian gave Justin an evil look. “If you open that, I’m leaving you here,” he warned.

“We can take him home,” Ben offered.

Brian turned his glare to Ben. “No, thanks.”

“Oh, come on,” Melanie teased, “what’s it matter if he sees your high school pictures.”

“We all have,” Lindsay told him.

“I can’t believe you still have those,” Brian said, trying his best to appear unbothered. There was one picture in particular that he didn’t ever like looking at and he hated that everyone else had seen it.

“Ma had Carl get them down for me from the attic,” Michael explained. “I figured Justin should see what you looked like when you were practically his age.”

“Hey!” Justin griped. “I do not look like a teenager.”

“Brian never really looked like a teenager either,” Debbie said wistfully.

Brian groaned, “Fine, have a look. I’m going to have a cigarette.”

Justin felt everyone’s eyes on him as he watched Brian try to act casual as he walked away. He couldn’t believe that Brian would become so pissed about him looking at his yearbook. He’d shared his own with Brian, so he really didn’t get what the big deal was.

“He’s on page twelve or something,” Michael said, standing beside Justin.

Justin slowly turned to the page and felt relief as everyone but Gus and Michael slowly fell into their own conversations.

“Can I see too?” Gus asked. “I didn’t get to see before.”

“Sure, buddy,” Justin said, sitting down on the sofa. He scanned the black and white photos, looking for Brian.

“There he is,” Gus said, pointing Brian out. “He looks just like me.”

“He really does,” Michael agreed, looking fondly from the photo to Gus. “And you’re great at soccer just like he was.”

Justin gazed at the picture, surprised at how right Debbie had been. Brian really didn’t look like a teenager at all. He had hardness in his eyes, in his overall expression, even though he was smiling. Justin could see the resemblance to Gus too, but there was a big difference between Gus and Brian. In the photo, Brian looked gorgeous, but he looked tortured too and Justin didn’t think it had anything to do with teenage rebellion. He doubted that Gus would ever look that way.

“Gus, come play Go Fish!” Jenny called from the dining table.

Gus’ attention was diverted from the yearbook, he ran over to the table and giggled, “I’m gonna beat ya at it.”

“You too, Daddy!” Jenny said, calling Michael over. “You can be on my team.”

“All right, pumpkin,” Michael said, leaving Justin to page through the yearbook on his own.

Justin flipped to the index in the back and found two more pages where Brian had his picture. One for chemistry club, where he was making a put upon ‘too cool’ expression and the other picture was the varsity soccer photos. When Justin saw that picture, he knew exactly why Brian hadn’t wanted him to look at the yearbook. The photographer took the picture at an angle, printed in black and white and all you could see was Brian’s beautiful profile. The group picture was different, taken head on and in color. Justin saw that Brian’s entire right side of his face was black and blue, his eye practically swollen shut. He imagined thousands of ways that Brian would’ve gotten so hurt in a span of a few seconds.

“You done?” Brian asked, startling Justin.

Justin looked behind him and up at Brian as he shut the book, trying to form a neutral expression on his face when all he wanted to do was hug the man and offer him comfort for decades old hurts. He wasn’t stupid, he’d heard many references to Brian’s father and the fact that he’d abused Brian, many things drew Justin to the conclusion that the abuse had a lot to do with why Brian was the way he was now. But seeing the physical results of the abuse was a lot different that just knowing it had happened.

“Yeah, I’m done.” He honestly praised, “You were gorgeous in high school, Brian. But I have to admit, I prefer you now.” He looked around the room to see if anyone was listening and seeing that no one was, he leaned in close to Brian and whispered, “I like my men older.”

“Uh huh,” Brian croaked, a little caught off guard. He’d expected a remark about the soccer picture and even though Justin said nothing the excuse fell from his lips, “Soccer can be a rough sport.”

Justin was angry that no one had helped Brian, angry that they’d put the picture into the yearbook, angry that Brian would still after all this time feel like he needed to lie about how he attained the bruises. Justin knew it was a lie and he knew that Brian knew that he didn’t believe it. It shocked him that their friends didn’t seem to think it was a big deal to be showing off the album, knowing everyone would want to see Brian too. He suddenly realized Brian’s explanation to him had probably been how he’d explained the bruises to everyone else and he suspected that for the most part, everyone believed him, even if they knew of his past. This wasn’t exactly something new that he was learning about Brian, but it did shock him. Brian could sell anything. Except to him.

Justin buried his anger, knowing that now was not the time to question Brian about any of it. Today had been a good day and he could tell from the look on Brian’s face that he needed to drop all talk of the past. “Let’s get going,” he said, “we have plans.”

Brian thought about all the plans he had for Justin and instantly his mood shifted and his mind was back on getting Justin to his place as quickly as possible.

They pulled on their jackets and started to say their goodbyes when Lindsay asked Justin, “Do you and Eric want to come over for dinner next Saturday? We thought we’d throw a little holiday party. Mel has a stuffed baked tomato recipe she wanted to try.”

Brian laughed as he pulled his gloves on and gave Justin a sly grin.

“Eric won’t be able to make it,” Justin replied, grinning back at Brian. “But Brian and I will come.”

Melanie laughed, “I don’t think Brian will want to come.”

Lindsay placed her hand on Justin’s arm and attempted to explain, “We’ve invited couples: Vivian and Laura, Jackie and Denise, Debbie and Carl, Ben and Michael, Ted and…”

“Brian and Justin,” Brian interrupted her, smirking deviously.

Every other conversation in the room abruptly ended making for an uncomfortable silence while everyone’s eyes to landed on Brian and Justin.

“You’re boyfriends!” Gus yelled, wrapping his arms around Justin’s waist. “I told Dad that you were,” he insisted to Justin.

“You did?” Justin asked, feeling uncomfortable.

“But he’s mine!” Jenny whined, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked up at Justin with an angry look.

“When did this happen?” Debbie asked.

“Brian, I can’t believe you stole Justin from Eric!” Lindsay gasped.

“Daddy you don’t steal, do you?” Gus asked worriedly.

“Justin stole,” Jenny grumbled, “I liked you but not now.”

“Of course not, Sonny-boy,” Brian assured, ruffling Gus’ hair. “And Justin didn’t steal me either, Jenny.”

“Brian didn’t do anything that caused Eric and me to break up,” Justin said. “And I don’t think we need to be talking about this,” he glanced down at Gus and Jenny, “do we?”

“No, we don’t,” Michael said. “It’s between you and Brian, and by the way, we’ve seen what ‘it’ is between you two for a long time.”

Emmett nodded. “Electricity.”

Debbie kissed Brian’s cheek and then Justin’s. “I knew there was something going on between the two of you.”

Justin blushed and wiped Debbie’s lipstick off his cheek. “Apparently we were the last to know.”

“Last week everyone at Exhibition took bets to see how long it’d take you two to get together,” Ted revealed.

Brian glared. “And who may I ask won?”

Ted grinned. “I did, of course. They have no idea that I’m practically an inside source.”

“Well I’ll be expecting you to donate your winnings to a charity of my choice,” Brian warned.

“Of course, Bri,” Ted replied laughing.

“Justin, I hope you know what you’re doing,” Melanie said, concerned.

“Actually, I’ve never been more confused and yet at the same time more sure of anything, Mel. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“All any of you need to know is that we’re together now. And we’re leaving,” Brian said, pulling Justin toward the door.

“Bye!” Justin yelled as Brian pulled him out of Debbie’s house.
 

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