Better Than Gone

Justin yawned as he woke up. He stretched, sat up and looked at the clock.

"Fuck!" He exclaimed as he got out of bed quickly. The alarm didn't go off and he had exactly half an hour to get to class.

When he was in the shower, Brian woke up and went to make some coffee. Justin's project that was due that day was sitting on the kitchen counter. Since it was a Saturday, Brian didn't have anywhere to go.

"Oversleep, Sunshine?" Brian asked with a smirk as Justin left the bedroom in the middle of pulling his shirt on.

"Thanks to you."

"What did I do?"

"You turned off the fucking alarm, that's what you did." Justin glared at the older man.

"The fuck I did."

"You wanted to sleep in so you turned it off. Admit it."

"I didn't touch the fucking alarm, Justin." Brian was in the process of setting his coffee mug down and somehow missed. The coffee mug tipped over, spilling coffee all over Justin's project.

"Fuck!" Justin almost screamed. Brian grabbed a towel and started to try to dry it up, though it was obvious that the project was ruined. "That's due today!"

"It was an accident."

"The fuck it was! You so did that on purpose."

"Why would I purposefully ruin something that you had to turn in for school?"

"So if it wasn't for school you would do it on purpose?"

"No, Justin. That's not what I mean and you know it! I'm sure if you just explained what happened, maybe they'll give you an extension."

"I already had an extension, Brian. It's today or fail."

"Justin.....it was an accident."

"Well, it doesn't fucking matter, now does it?" He started gathering up his stuff to leave.

"Let me drive you."

"No. I'm taking a cab."

"If you won't let me drive you at least drive yourself." Brian walked over and got the keys to the Jeep, tossing them to Justin.

"Fine." Justin said as he caught them, then he left.

Because of the problem with the project, Justin had to stay after class. When he finally got home around two, Brian was in a pissy mood.

"Where the fuck have you been?"

"I had to stay after to make up for the project that you ruined." Justin glared at him.

"I'm hungry."

"Why didn't you get something to eat?"

"Because you had the Jeep," Brian retorted.

Justin walked over to the drawer full of takeout menus, pulled out a handful of them, then walked over and shoved them against Brian's chest. "You've done it before, you can do it again."

"I like it when you cook."

"Cook? You expect me to cook? Brian, I've had a for shit day, part of it being your fault, and you expect me to cook? Fuck that!"

"Just fucking forget it then. If it's too much trouble for you to cook, then just fucking order something." Brian slammed the menus down on the counter.

"What do you want to eat, oh great one?" Justin had a snarky expression on his face.

"I don't give a shit." Brian growled, then stormed off to the bedroom.

Justin picked up the phone and ordered a pizza. He decided to get everything that Brian hated because he was getting tired of the older man's attitude. He ordered the greasiest, most fattening pizza he could think of. An extra large stuffed crust pizza with hamburger, Italian sausage, extra cheese and anchovies. He didn't really like anchovies all that much, but he would deal with it to piss Brian off. When the pizza arrived, Justin set the box on the table and opened it. Brian came out of the bedroom and looked at the pizza.

"What the fuck is that?"

"That would be called dinner," Justin said.

"That is a fucking heart attack in a box. I am not eating that." Brian glared at the blond.

"Then you're not eating," Justin answered smugly. He sat down and picked up a piece of pizza, taking a big bite.

"I can't believe you're eating that shit."

"I have youth on my side." Justin smiled. Brian growled.

"I'm going out."

"Fine," Justin said.

"Fine," Brian answered and he grabbed his jacket.

Not even ten minutes later he came storming back into the loft. "You scratched the fucking Jeep!"

"I did not!" Justin protested, his voice reaching that higher, almost squeaky range.

"Yes, you fucking did."

"No, I did not!" Justin grabbed his jacket and started to go downstairs. His blue eyes scanned the entire Jeep, finding no scratch. "Okay, Brian. Where's this supposed scratch?"

"Right here," Brian said pointing to a spot on the door of the Jeep. Justin moved to look where Brian was pointing.

"Give me a fucking break! That's not even close to a scratch."

"It's enormous!"

"I have to practically put my eyeball against the door to see it."

"Your eyesight can't be that bad," Brian said, rolling his eyes.

"And how is it that a 32 year old has better eyesight than a 19 year old?" Justin crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow. The vein in Brian's temple started to throb. Justin knew exactly how to push his buttons.

"Don't even bring age into this, twink."

"I am not a fucking twink."

"Then what are you? Hmmm? You're only 19. That's a twink in my book."

"Fuck you!" Justin said as he started to go back inside.

"Not fucking likely!" Brian yelled before getting into the Jeep and driving to the diner. He walked in and didn't even acknowledge Debbie as he went over and took a seat in one of the booths. It was obvious to anyone that looked at him that he was not in a good mood. Debbie walked over to take his order.

"What'll you have?"

"Bacon double cheeseburger, chili cheese fries and a chocolate shake," he said without looking up.

"Okay, what's wrong?" she said as she took a seat across from him.

"Nothing's wrong." Brian wouldn't look at her.

"Bullshit. I've known you long enough to know that when you order this shit, something's wrong. Now spill."

"I don't want to talk about it." Brian was almost pouting.

"So you'd rather eat stuff that'll make you spend ten hours in the gym to work it off?" she asked with a smirk and Brian sighed. He then began to recount the entire day up to that point. When he was done she could only smirk.

"I'm glad you think it's so funny."

"It's fucking hilarious," she said and he glared at her. "You're acting like any other married couple." That got Brian's attention.

"Except that we're not married."

"You might as well be. Jesus, Brian. Couples fight all the time. It happens. You work it out and go on."

"We've never fought all day like this before," Brian admitted.

"It's called a bad day, Brian. Look, let me ask you one question that might put things into perspective for you."

"Okay."

"Would you rather fight all day with him, or not have him to fight with?"

"I'd rather fight with him," Brian said with a sigh.

"Then go home and apologize."

"Why should I apologize?"

"Because it's the more mature thing to do. And....unless I'm mistaken, you are supposed to be the more mature one," she said with a smirk and Brian could only laugh. He got up and kissed her cheek.

"Thanks, Deb."

"Any time, sweetie." She stood and went back to work as Brian left. Brian calmed down considerably by the time he got back to the loft. He took the stairs slowly and sighed heavily when he heard the music blaring out of the loft. To make matters worse, he’d apparently left the door unlocked when he left and Justin didn't come and lock it behind him. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly before opening the door. Rather than cause another argument he simply went over and turned the music down to a tolerable level before heading into the bathroom. Justin looked up at his lover's retreating back. He got up and followed Brian.

"You okay?" His voice thick with concern. Brian sighed and shook his head before shrugging off his leather jacket and lying down on the bed. Justin moved over to sit on his side of the bed. "What's wrong?"

"Come here," Brian said, opening his arms. Justin rested his head on Brian's chest and the older man wrapped his arms around him.

"Brian?"

"I'm sorry I was such a shit," Brian said softly against the top of Justin's head. Justin smiled slightly.

"I wasn't much better," he admitted.

"And I'm really sorry about the project."

"Like you said. It was an accident."

"We should try not to fight," Brian commented and Justin simply nodded. Brian looked over at the clock and couldn't help but laugh.

"What?" Justin asked looking up.

"You know.....the fact that the alarm clock stopped at about two-thirty in the morning might be why it didn't go off." He laughed again. Justin looked at the clock and laughed. They shared a tender kiss before Justin got up to go cook something suitable for dinner.

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