Bloodletting



 

Jesus, he needed to piss. He took a drag of his cigarette and cautiously opened the next door. It was another bedroom, this time with four men engaged in various sexual activities. He paused a moment to watch a redheaded teen deep throat the largest cock he’d ever laid eyes on. What a fucking party. He tried the door across the hall, praying it was the bathroom, and cursed when it stuck halfway. He peered inside and saw another bed. How many fucking beds does one bloke need? He was about to go back downstairs when he heard a low anguished moan. Then a body slumped over, lying prone in the doorway.

Shite.
 

***
 

When Brian saw Gary Sapherstein’s name on his caller id he almost put his fist through the roof. What the fuck was Justin doing there?? Brian knew what his sleazy party’s were like, and he refused to think about what Justin had gotten himself into.

As soon as Michael pulled over at the gas station, Brian thrust the phone at him. “Keep talking to him,” he ordered as he shoved Ted out. “Get in the back.”

Sprinting into the station he terrorized the teenage attendant and quickly received the requested phonebook. He muttered a string of obscenities under his breath as he searched for Sap’s address. There was a fucking God! The unlucky bastard was actually listed, and Brian tore the page out before running back to the jeep.

He slammed the door shut and snatched the phone back. “Justin?”

Michael shook his head. “It went dead a minute ago.”

“Fuck!” Brian smashed the phone against the dashboard. “Drive!”

 

***
 

Justin tried to reach the phone again but it moved away from him. “Bri…”

The man put the receiver to his ear. “Hello? Hello?” He hung the phone up and placed it back on the bureau. He kneeled next to the young man and tried to see his face. The kid was a real mess, but no serious damage. “Who you trying to call, luv?”

“Bri…Brian…” a hand reached for the phone again.

“Okay, luv, let’s try your friend. Can you tell me his number?” He only got a groan in response. “Did you talk to him already? Can I just call him back?”

The blonde mumbled something he couldn’t understand. Bloody fantastic. He figured he’d try anyway and hit the redial button. The line rang several times before voicemail picked up. He listened to the outgoing message, momentarily grateful he got a Brian, but then hung up. What kind of message would he leave? He mentally noted the bloke’s name and decided to tend to the kid first. Maybe he could bring him around enough to get a hand.

He lifted the boy up and wrinkled his nose. The kid had obviously been sick all over himself. Lovely. He tried to move him to the bed, but his patient came round enough to put up a fight. “Easy, luv, I’m just moving you to the bed. Gotta get you off this floor before someone runs ya down.”

“No…leave…” Justin struggled to get away.

“Whoa, I’m not going to hurt ya now. Just take it easy. Let’s get you cleaned up, then I’ll help you find your Brian,” he soothed.

“Bri…”

“That’s right, come on now.” He led Justin to the bed and noticed a bathroom across the room. He laughed with relief. “That’s lucky for both of us,” he muttered.

The stranger left Justin on the bed and went to the bathroom. He relieved himself and wet a towel with cool water. When he returned Justin was trying to stagger to the door.

“Hey, you’re in no shape to be wandering about. Come sit and we’ll get you cleaned up.” He held the towel out to the boy who struggled to focus on him, then finally accepted it.

Confused, Justin held the cold rag to his face. Felt good. Then he felt hands gently take it and run it over his face and neck.

“That’s better,” the man said. Justin nodded slightly. Still smelled funny. “Let’s get that shirt off you, you got awfully sick, luv.” Justin pulled away again but the man calmed him down and started to remove his clothes.

 

***
 

Brian led the way into the house. The three friends looked around for a moment and gawked at the half-naked men in various couplings, oblivious to their surroundings. Everyone was sucking or fucking, completely wasted or just plain unconscious. “Mikey, you check this floor.” He pointed to the stairs leading to the basement. “Ted, downstairs. I’ll go up.”

Brian sprinted up the stairs, deftly avoiding the few hands that grabbed at him or bodies sprawled out beneath him. He started with the first door he saw.

 

***
 

Justin took the glass of water gratefully and sipped it slowly. The man named Derek ducked back into the bathroom and returned a moment later with another damp towel. He knelt down and tried to clean the front of the boy’s pants.

 

***
 

Brian’s nerves were completely frazzled as he tried the third door. He flung it open and saw Justin sprawled on the bed, with a man kneeling between his legs. “Sit up, luv, drink some more,” he insisted before lowering his head to the teen’s groin again.

“Get the fuck off!” Brian bellowed as he charged across the room and grabbed the man by the hair, throwing him to the ground. The man struggled to get up and Brian punched him hard, sending him reeling over the bed.

Brian reached over and grabbed him by the collar as Michael and Ted burst into the room and pulled him back. “Stop it!”

During the fight Justin had rolled off the bed and crawled into the corner. Brian saw him and crouched to pick him up. “Justin, come here,” he coaxed. The teen looked like hell with damp matted hair, flaming red cheeks, a long scratch along his jaw, and dilated and bloodshot eyes.

Brian’s presence finally registered and Justin reached for him, clinging tightly as Brian’s arms wrapped around him.

Derek looked on, gingerly touching his bleeding lip. “You must be Brian,” he said wryly. “Justin’s been very anxious to find you.”

“What the fuck were you doing?” Brian growled over the blonde head nestled under his chin.

Derek held up his hands defensively. “I just found him a little while ago. He got pretty sick so I cleaned him up and gave him some water.”

“Didn’t…hurt me,” Justin mumbled. “Home, Bri…”

“Okay, baby, let's go.”

“Where’s his shirt?” Michael asked.

Derek shook his head. “You don’t want it,” he said as he pulled his sweater over his head. “Here, take this.” He still had a t-shirt underneath so he didn’t mind.

Brian slipped the sweater over Justin’s head and led him to the door. Michael followed as they headed downstairs. “Uh, thanks,” Ted offered lamely. “Sorry about your face.”

Derek smiled carefully around his bruised lip. “No harm, mate. Would’ve done the same.”

 

***
 

Brian watched as Justin finally stirred. The teen stretched like a cat across the big bed, and suddenly recoiled, clutching his head. “Oooh, God,” he groaned. He forced one eye open slowly and quickly shut it again, rejecting the bright light streaming through the blinds. A moment later, both eyes shot open and blinked at Brian. He was at the loft. Shit.

“Afternoon, Sunshine,” Brian said as he handed him another glass of water.

Justin took it gratefully and gulped the contents. His mouth was dry as cotton and his throat burned. He felt the cool water slide through his chest to his rumbling stomach. A moment later he belched and collapsed back onto the bed. “Why am I here?” he asked hoarsely. The words reverberated in his skull and he rubbed hard on his temples.

“You needed help,” Brian hinted, waiting for the teen to piece the evening together.

Help. Justin closed his eyes and tried to remember. He called Brian for help. The party. He got sick. Someone touching him. Gross. Brian was yelling. Michael? Then the loft. Shower. Kissing. Kissing? Oh, God. Talking. Talking to Brian. Oh, fuck. Brian knew about the job. He agreed to let Brian loan him the money. No! Could he take that back?

“No,” Brian interrupted. Justin gaped at him. How’d he do that? “I didn’t fuck you.”

Oh, Christ. Good. Good. Why not? Fuck! Ethan! “Ethan.”

Brian rolled his lips together. “I think he called earlier, check your phone for a message.”

Justin nodded, but didn’t move. “Brian, I can’t--”

“Oh, yes you can,” Brian cut him off. “We negotiated a contract last night. There’s no getting out of it. I already talked to Mel to have her draw up the papers, and Ted will make arrangements for the necessary transfers.”

Brian had been furious the night before when Justin finally came around enough to tell him what happened. But he wasn’t seriously harmed, and if he learned his lesson it was worth the price of a new cell phone. Call Cynthia and have her take care of it, he reminded himself. Besides, it got Justin to take the damn money, and that was all that mattered. Brian didn’t feel the least bit guilty about coercing him into the loan while he was still out of it. Hell, the kid still put up a respectable fight.

“Jesus, what did I do?” Justin muttered.

“You were your own man,” Brian replied, pulling the teen into his arms. He didn’t mean to touch him, but he looked so vulnerable. And he felt so good, his warm, naked body pressed against the length of Brian’s. Brian’s cock stirred and he stifled a groan. Brian may have promised not to fuck him earlier because he wouldn’t take advantage of his muddled condition, but now that the teen was fully aware of his surroundings all bets were off. Brian dipped his head, nuzzling the warm flesh between the crook of the boy’s neck and Justin sighed. He loved that sound.

Justin melted as Brian nibbled along his neck and licked the sensitive spot behind his ear. The older man’s hand cupped his cheek and turned his face. As Brian’s lips moved closer to his own, Justin’s hand flew up between them. “No.”

Brian pulled away slightly and looked into his eyes. The hazel orbs were dark and mesmerizing, but Justin kept seeing another set of brown eyes staring at him. “No,” he repeated. “I won’t cheat on Ethan.”

Brian let him go and rolled away. “Then go home and fuck your fiddler,” he hissed, “he should enjoy that nice fat hard-on you have for me.” He turned and cupped the teen’s crotch. “Bet he’s never felt that before, or do you imagine it’s me fucking you when you’re with him so you can get it up?”

Justin flushed red with anger and pulled away. “You are such a conceited asshole!”

Brian looked at him sharply. “Why so surprised, Sunshine? I told you I wouldn’t change,” he said flatly.

“Bullshit!” the teen shouted.

Brian propped himself up on one elbow and arched an eyebrow coolly. “What’s bullshit? I’ve never lied to you. You’re the lying sack of shit, Sonny Boy.” Brian had no idea where that came from, all he knew was being rejected again felt like ripping open a scab and something dark and festering was flooding out of the wound.

Justin recoiled as if he’d been slapped. “Me? I never--”

“Bullshit!” Brian echoed as he poked the teen in the chest. “You said you wanted things the way they were, you even set the fucking rules. You lied, and when you couldn’t handle it, you left.”

Justin swatted his hand away. “What the fuck are you talking about? I didn’t leave because you wouldn’t change.”

“No? You told everyone it was the tricking. You couldn’t handle it.”

Justin shook his head. “What was I supposed to say? I left because I saw you fucking Michael?”

“No difference. He was just a trick.”

“The fuck he was! You used him. He was just another pawn in the elaborate ruse of Brian Kinney, King of Cowards!” Justin felt a small glow of satisfaction at Brian’s gaping mouth. Served him right, the fucker.

“You don’t know shit,” the older man growled as he swung his legs over the bed and sat with his back to the teen. “You’ve overstayed your welcome, Sunshine. Get the fuck out.”

Justin gladly got up to gather his clothes, but then walked around to face Brian. “If I don’t know shit, it doesn’t say much for you, Brian. That means all those life lessons you tried to teach me were shit. Just like I always suspected actually. But I was paying attention and I caught on to you. I’ve always been on to you, and you fucking know it.”

Justin suddenly felt relieved, like a burr under his skin was finally getting scratched, and he clawed at it. “What is it they say about the student surpassing the master? Oh, I’ve left you in the dust, old man. You will always be a coward, but I’m not. I know no one ever thought I’d leave you. That I’d always be your little stalker. But I’m through with you, Brian. Do you hear me? I don’t want you anymore! I have a man who loves me. Who isn’t afraid to tell me he loves me.”

Brian barked a harsh laugh. “Your dreamy eyed schoolboy?”

Justin ignored him. “And you’ll always be alone,” he taunted in the man’s face.

Brian shoved him away. “I’m never alone. I have everything I want,” he lied, although he thought he sounded pretty convincing.

“Cock,” Justin elaborated. “All you want is cock. That’s not everything.”

Brian’s eyes narrowed to dangerous slits and Justin took a step back. “Yes, it is. And you know it. Don’t even try to deny it, baby.” He stood and circled the teen like a vulture. “You love cock. You love it down your throat, you love it up your ass, you love to ride it, and after you cum you love to go to sleep with it still inside you.” He was now breathing against the boy’s ear and was rewarded with a shiver the teen couldn’t hide.

“Yes,” Justin agreed, angrily trying to compose himself. “And Ethan gives me all I need. I love his cock. It’s size, and smell, and taste. It’s perfect.”

Brian snorted. “That’s what you call love? Then I love you, baby,” he taunted as he stroked the teen’s shaft.

Justin pushed him away again, willing himself not to cry at the cruel teasing. “No," he stated strongly, "love is wanting that particular person morning, noon, and night. When seeing them first thing in the morning, and last before you close your eyes is what you live for. Sound familiar?”

“Bullshit.” But it didn’t sound as convincing to either of them.

“You know what love is, Brian, and you love me just as much as I love you. That’s what changed. You couldn’t deny it anymore. But you’re too afraid to admit it, and you fucking sabotaged us on purpose because you were scared.”

“No,” Brian denied, but it had no emphasis. He sat on the bed, defeated. He didn’t know what he had hoped would come from the bloodletting, but he didn’t feel any better. The flow was drying up into another hard, ugly scab and it felt raw. “No, nothing changed,” he denied again.

“You fucked Michael because you couldn’t deal, Brian. He loved you, I loved you, hell, everyone loves you and demands too much. You had to show us you couldn’t be controlled, or needed, or depended on, right?” Justin kneeled between his legs and looked him in the eye. “Because you’re Brian Kinney.”

Brian didn’t answer and couldn’t look at him. He unconsciously hung his head and closed his eyes, willing this aberration away. Brian desperately wanted to be alone again. Then he felt Justin lean forward and cradle his head, stroking his hair. Blindly, he reached out and hung on as tight as he could.