Rules of the Heart

Chapter 1

"Sweetie, you have to work in the morning," Emmett reminded his friend. "Let’s go and Teddy will give us a ride."

"Brian will take me home. He’ll be out in a minute," Michael insisted, casting a furtive glance toward Babylon’s backroom. "He’s just--"

"Giving that guy his number," Ted pointed out when he spotted Brian across the dance floor.

"He is not," Michael snapped.

"That’s right, Teddy," Emmett reluctantly agreed. "Brian would never break the rules. That’s the new guy that took over Anita’s business when she got arrested."

"Oh, well, that’s alright then," Ted replied shaking his head. "As long as he’s not breaking the rules."

Michael glared at his friend and stormed off to get his boyfriend.

"Teddy," Emmett sighed.

"What?" the other man asked. "Don’t tell me you’ve finally come around and realized they’re a match made in heaven."

Emmett rolled his eyes. "No, but it’s been six months and nothing we’ve said has stopped them from fucking. If Michael is okay with things the way they are, then maybe it’s time we just butt out."

"I was okay with Blake, but you didn’t butt out," Ted reminded him.

"And I was okay with ‘seeing the light’, but you didn’t butt out," Emmett sighed, conceding his friend’s point. "So what do we do now?"

"We wait until Michael comes back because he’s going to need a ride home. It’s Friday."

 

***
 

"Brian, I want to go home."

"I want to fuck," Brian retorted, pulling his arm free.

"Well, duh," Michael grinned, still clinging to Brian’s shirt. "Let’s go."

"It’s Friday, dear," Brian reminded him. "You have tea with the girls," he jerked his head at Emmett and Ted by the bar, "while I practice my hole-in-one."

"Brian, please," Michael begged. He didn’t want to listen to Ted and Emmett tell him what a mistake he was making all the way home again.

"It’s your rule," Brian cut him off. "Now you have to stick to it—and not me for one fucking night."

"You don’t obey the rules so why should I?" Michael suddenly shouted angrily. He had to go home alone while Brian was giving his number and address to every whore in the club? No fucking way.

Brian coolly raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"I saw you," Michael spat. "I know you’re--"

"Fuck you," Brian ground out, cutting him off. He didn’t have to hear the rest, it was the same argument every time. Giving his friend a glare that warned Michael not to follow, Brian turned on his heel and threaded his way back to the dance floor.

"Brian, wait!" Michael yelled after him. He hated when they fought worse than he hated Brian tricking. "I’m sorry, I didn’t mean--"

The other man swiftly whirled around, jerking Michael closer so they weren’t broadcasting their fight for every queen in the place. "You’re always sorry and you never mean it," he hissed in Michael’s ear. "Just like you never meant it when you said you didn’t want me to change. I thought you loved me just the way I am," Brian mocked coldly, "but yet, you keep shoving your fucking rules down my throat. Rules I have never once broken because you’re my best friend and I love you, Mikey. Now fuck off." He shoved his friend away before Michael could reply and pressed deeper into the mass of writhing bodies.

 

***
 

An hour later, Brian left the club hoping he’d have better luck finding a trick online than he’d had in the backroom. He was heading toward his car when he suddenly noticed the trick he was looking for standing under the streetlight next to the jeep.

"Hey," he called to the young blond. "Had a busy night?"

The teen eyed him warily and shrugged. "The usual."

"Where you headed?"

Another shrug. "No place special."

Brian smirked. "I can change that. Get in."