Ridiculously Romantic

Brian woke up early even though he was technically on vacation. He'd just gotten back from a week long business trip and was taking a couple of days to recuperate. The day before Justin had a very bad day and Brian decided he was going to try to make Justin feel better. He got up very slowly so as not to wake the artist, pulled on a t-shirt and some sweats, then went into the kitchen. He knew that Justin's favorite breakfast was two eggs over easy, bacon and raisin toast.

Brian got everything he would need out of the cabinets as quietly as possible. As he cooked, he occasionally looked over his shoulder to make sure Justin wasn't waking up. Apparently, the blond was just tired enough to sleep through anything. He sighed slightly to himself, feeling bad that Justin had such a bad day.

Once the food was done, Brian placed it on a tray along with a cup of coffee, a glass of orange juice and a single red rose in a thin crystal vase, then headed into the bedroom. He placed the tray on the bed beside Justin and kissed him lightly on the lips. Justin opened his eyes, yawned and stretched, then sat up.

"What's this?" he asked as he looked at the tray.

"Breakfast in bed," Brian said with a smile. He waited until Justin was sitting up, leaning back against the pillows before putting the tray over his lap. Justin smiled as he removed the vase and put it on the nightstand before taking a sip of coffee.

"What's the occasion?" he asked a little suspiciously.

"No occasion," Brian replied. Justin raised an eyebrow. "What? I just thought I'd do something nice for you, that's all."

Justin continued to look at Brian for a minute, then nodded. He decided that things like this wouldn't happen often so he'd enjoy them when he could get them. Once he was done eating, Brian took the dishes to the sink while Justin went to take a shower and get ready for school. He hated that he had class while Brian was off, but there wasn't really anything he could do about it.

When he was dressed and ready to go, he noticed Brian standing by the door, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and his running shoes, keys in hand. Justin just smiled and shook his head, then grabbed his bag and headed out the door. When they pulled up to the school, Brian leaned across and quickly kissed Justin's cheek.

"Later," he said with a smile.

"Later," Justin said. He then got out of the Jeep and headed inside. About halfway through his last class before lunch, Justin felt his cell phone vibrate. He pulled it out of his pocket and quickly looked at it, seeing that he had a text message. He put it away, deciding to read the message later. Once class was over, he pulled his phone out and checked the message. It read "Meet me in the courtyard after class, B." Justin laughed softly to himself, then went outside. Sure enough, there was Brian. He was leaning against a tree smoking a cigarette.

"What's up?" Justin asked.

"Didn't have anything else to do so I thought I'd take you to lunch." Brian smiled before flicking the cigarette butt away. Justin simply shrugged, then followed Brian to the Jeep. They pulled up in front of a building that was easily within walking distance of PIFA. When they got inside, Justin's eyes went wide. The place could only be described as romantic.

The walls were a deep hunter green with tan swirls throughout. The floors were marble tile that looked like honey mixed in cream. The tables and chairs were all light natural wood color. There was soft light provided from lamps overhead as well as from candles in the center of each table. From a shelf around the top of the walls as well as pillars in each corner, dark green ivy was draped. Justin followed Brian over to one of the tables and took a seat, staring at his lover in shock.

"What?" Brian asked.

"Why here?" Justin questioned.

"They have really good food," Brian said with a smile. Brian ordered for them, a light lunch of fruit and buttered croissants. He held a strawberry between his teeth and leaned across the table. Justin leaned in, biting into the strawberry. As soon as their lips touched, it turned into a kiss that lasted a little longer than originally planned. Once lunch was finished, Brian drove Justin back to the school for his final class.

"I won't be home until around eight. I gotta work. Danielle called in sick," Justin said.

Brian sighed slightly, then nodded. "Okay. See you then." He pulled away from the curb and Justin couldn't help but think that Brian was at least slightly disappointed. Justin really wanted to spend time with Brian, and he knew how easily Brian got bored. He only hoped that Brian wouldn’t relieve his boredom at the baths.

Justin had been at the diner for an hour and he still had three hours to go before he could go home. He sighed slightly as he bussed a couple of tables. When he heard the bell over the door ding, he didn't think anything of it.

"Justin Taylor?" an unfamiliar voice asked. Justin looked up and saw a man standing there with a single, long stemmed Vanity rose. This was Justin's favorite because the petals started out white at the bottom and ended up a dark pink around the edges.

"That's me." Justin put the dish bin on the stool beside him. The man nodded and walked over, handing the rose to Justin, then walked out of the diner.

"Who's that from?" Debbie asked.

"There's no card," Justin said with a shrug. Moments later the man returned, followed by two friends. Each man was carrying two vases, each filled with a dozen Vanity roses. Justin's eyes went wide as the men came in and set the roses down on the counter.

"Holy shit, Sunshine, what did you do? Win the Kentucky Derby?" Debbie commented, eliciting several chuckles from various diner patrons. Justin went into his pocket to pull out some money to give the man for a tip.

"It's already been taken care of," the man said with a smile, then left.

"I don't fucking believe this," Debbie said.

"What?" Justin asked, turning to look at the woman. She had a small white card in her hand, which she read out loud:

"J, one rose for every time I think of you while we're apart. These mere four hours seem like an eternity. Love, B."

She looked at Justin. "That B can NOT mean Brian."

Justin sniffled as his eyes sparkled with unshed tears. He took the card and looked at it. "That's Brian's handwriting," he said, his voice shaking slightly.

"Holy shit."

"Deb.......Brian's been acting weird all day.........first breakfast in bed........then lunch at this romantic little café........now this......you don't think something could be wrong, do you?" The worry in his expression was readable by all.

"I really don't know, Sunshine." Justin could tell she was worried too. Justin ended up leaving the roses there to decorate the diner since he really had no way to get them home. He worried a little when Brian didn't come to pick him up, but he thought maybe the older man was busy. When he opened the loft door, he stopped in his tracks.

Every light in the loft was turned off; several candles spread throughout the room provided the only light. Soft, romantic music played in the background. Justin noticed that the living room furniture had been pushed to one side and in the middle of the rug was a blanket, on which was set up a candlelight picnic dinner. Justin walked over and noticed that there was cheese and crackers and wine and something that looked like pâté. He smiled softly to himself.

"Hey," Brian said softly as he came down the steps from the bedroom.

"Hey," Justin said, his voice thick with emotion. He looked at Brian for a moment. The older man was dressed in a loose fitting red silk shirt that brought out the red in his hair. The shirt was untucked over black slacks and he was barefoot. He smiled as he walked over and took Justin's jacket, draping it over one of the bar stools. Justin set down his bag and removed his shoes before finding a place on the floor. Soon Brian was sitting across from him, pouring the wine.

"I thought you didn't eat fat and carbs after seven," Justin said with a smirk.

"I thought just this once I'd make an exception," Brian said with a smile. He spread some of the pâté onto a cracker and reached out. Justin smiled and leaned in, lightly sucking on Brian's fingers after taking the cracker into his mouth. They'd been sitting on the floor, feeding each other when Justin's curiosity finally got the best of him.

"Brian.......what's going on? You've been doing this romantic stuff all day long......is everything okay?" he asked. 

Brian smiled. "Everything's perfect."

"My doctor didn't call? I'm not dying?" Justin asked.  Brian laughed.

"No, you're not dying."

"Are you dying?"

Brian laughed again. "No. I just......felt like being romantic."

"Okay, who are you and what the fuck have you done with Brian Kinney?" Justin asked, only half joking.

Brian sighed, then moved so he was sitting next to Justin. He took Justin's hand in his left hand, the other hand going to Justin's cheek. "Justin........I know you had a really for shit day yesterday and I was an asshole to you when you got home. I could have handled it better and I'm sorry. So.........I've been doing all this in an attempt to apologize as well as to make you feel better. I wanted you to have a good day today and.......well........I wanted to show you how much you really mean to me." Brain looked Justin in the eye and smiled slightly. Justin's eyes sparkled with unshed tears for the second time that day.

Justin leaned in and kissed Brian since he was unable to find his voice. His arms went up around the older man's neck, pulling him closer into a deeper kiss. By the time the kiss broke, both men were panting slightly.

"I love you, Justin," Brian said as he looked Justin in the eye. It was not lost on Justin that it was the first time Brian had ever uttered those three words to him. Justin got up and took Brian's hand, leading him into the bedroom.

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