Justin stared off into space dreamily, his chin propped in his hand, which in turn was propped on one of the very comfy pillows in his and Daph's favorite coffee shop. His lips still tingled from last night. He was completely ignoring Daphne, but he couldn't help it. He kept replaying that far too brief kiss and Brian's parting words in his mind, setting his heart and stomach fluttering anew.

It was a good thing that today had been a free period of sorts in his Life Painting class. The instructor had told them to feel free to work on anything they hadn't finished in a previous class, or even work on something of their own, as long as it involved the human form. He would've never been able to concentrate in class with everything on his mind.

No guesses needed on who he chose as his subject.

Justin still couldn't get the image of Brian standing in his studio in nothing but a pair of black briefs, his muscles rippling as he subtly moved to stay comfortable. Justin had wanted to throw his pad down then and there and lick a hot path up those glorious abs, up to his nipples and then suck them into little peaks as he watched the pleasure filter over Brian's face.

Licking his lips, he squirmed in his seat, and leaned forward to take a long drag off his cookies and cream milkshake, his cheeks hollowing in an effort to suck the thick liquid through the straw. God, that was so good. Dipping his spoon into the whipped cream, he slowly slid it into his mouth, his eyes closing in pleasure as the taste of fresh cream burst over his tongue.

Pulling the spoon out of his mouth, Justin opened his eyes and licked the spoon thoroughly to make sure he'd gotten every last drop, coloring when he noticed Daphne watching him with a dazed look on her face. Dropping the spoon to the table, Justin looked away, slightly embarrassed as he realized how that must have looked to anyone watching him; Daph had chided him more than once on his unintentionally seductive food habits.

"So, have you kissed him yet?" Daphne asked, demurely sipping from her frozen caramel coffee drink, her eyes gleaming with mischief.

"No…yes…not really?" Justin cocked his head to the side and tried to figure out how to explain it; they had kissed in a way, but not in the way Daphne was meaning.

"So what is it?" Daphne prodded, nudging Justin's leg with her foot.

They were both sitting on their favorite loveseat, the one they commandeered at the same time every Tuesday, shoes off and feet up for their weekly bitch and gossip fest. It had become so routine, that everyone left the loveseat open at this time and if anyone was sitting on it, they were quickly informed by the regulars that they needed to move. It was kind of embarrassing actually, as he and Daphne had never expected preferential treatment.

"We haven't kissed in the way you mean," Justin said, swirling his straw in his milkshake to loosen it up a bit; He pressed his finger to the top of the straw and drew it out, letting the milkshake dribble into his mouth before putting it back in. Licking his lips clean, he continued. "I think we would have last night, but fucking Ethan showed up just before we were going to. Again. Why the fuck did I agree to room with him?"

"I have no fucking idea," Daphne said, rolling her eyes at the familiar complaint. "I tried to warn you that you'd end up regretting it, but you wouldn't listen to me. You just kept on and on about how he seemed nice and rooming with a fellow artist would be much better than dealing with that archaeology student that kept bringing weird shit into your room."

"He was nice," Justin said, just a shade petulantly.

And Ethan had been at first. Justin had been painting in his studio, completely wrapped up in what he was doing, when his friend and studio mate Eric had walked in with Ethan, looking for one of his sketch pads. Ethan had been charming and funny and Justin had liked him immediately, even agreeing to be his roommate this year when he asked several months later. Boy, had that been a mistake.

"Yeah, until he tried climbing into your bed one night," Daphne snorted, rolling her eyes as she took another sip of her coffee. "Please tell me you didn't believe that 'I was drunk and confused' bullshit. Because that boy has had a hard-on for you since before you got a room together."

"Why didn't you tell me then?" Justin asked, a bit annoyed that Daphne hadn't warned him of his stalker-in-training.

"I thought it was obvious with the way he was practically drooling on your ass," Daphne scoffed, giving Justin an 'are you kidding me' look.

"I…I didn't notice," Justin said, flushing as he realized he must have been pretty damned oblivious not to have picked up on the other man's interest; unless Ethan had been careful not to show it much until it was too late to change room assignments.

He doubted it though, as it was a complaint he'd gotten often from potential suitors.

"You never do," Daphne muttered, scowling into her drink. "It's one of your most endearing, as well as one of your most frustrating, traits."

"I'm sorry, Daph," Justin said, still feeling bad that he had never picked up on her crush.

Not that there was a whole lot that he could have done to ease her mind about it. You know, being gay and all; but he would have, at the very least, been a bit more discreet about his conquests out of deference to her feelings.

"Meh." Daphne shrugged and dismissed his concerns with a wave of her hand. "I'm over it. I decided crushing on a gay boy was far too much heartbreak in the making and made you my best friend instead."

"That makes sense," Justin said dryly, his tone implying anything but logical thinking.

"It does," Daphne insisted, a smirk on her face. "By getting to you early, I have firmly established myself as your first and most faithful fag hag."

"And what a wonderful fag hag you are," Justin granted and bumped his fist to hers when she held it out; she truly was his best friend.

"Exactly," Daphne said imperiously, and then flashed a sly grin. "Which is why you are going to tell me everything that happened last night. I need the deets as I am a poor, lonely girl with nobody to love and therefore must live vicariously through your love life."

"I find it faintly disturbing that at any time you might just be imagining my sex life while getting off," Justin said, shuddering at the mere thought of Daphne doing anything to pleasure herself; girl parts, ick.

"What?" Daphne asked, arching a brow as Justin just shook his head incredulously. "I can appreciate two beautiful men kissing and all that other stuff. Dish!"

Justin rolled his eyes, but knew there was no way of him getting out of it. Daphne was annoyingly persistent, even going as far as to record messages onto a tape recorder just in case her voice ever went out. Which it hadn't yet, as Justin usually caved before it had gotten to that point. But still, she was prepared in the event that Justin tried to out stubborn her one day. Better to just give her what she wanted.

It was less of a headache that way.

"Well it started when Asshole next door was blasting his music while I was trying to study," Justin sighed, rolling his eyes as Daphne squealed and snuggled back into one of the overstuffed couch arms like a child waiting for a bedtime story.

"Why didn't you go to the library?" She asked, confused as to why he was in his room; she'd heard plenty of horror stories of Asshole being…well, an asshole. Plus there was the whole Ethan thing. So, she knew Justin usually avoided his room like the plague.

"Because it was nearly closing time and I had a headache from hell," Justin explained; Daphne grimaced, casting a commiserating glance his way.

"Ah," Daphne said, and then made an imperious gesture with her hand. "Proceed."

"Yes,  my liege," Justin intoned gravely, snickering when she shoved him with her foot. "So, I went next door, banged on it to tell Asshole to knock it the fuck off before I got Ben and guess who answered the door?"

"Brian?" Daphne asked, her eyes lighting up with unholy glee. Justin just shook his head and wondered why he was cursed with far too many interfering females in his life.

"Got it in one," Justin nodded, taking a long suck of his milkshake, his brow furrowing and cheeks hollowing as he determinedly sucked a piece of cookie up the straw.

Daphne rolled her eyes at his antics, but waited for him to finish as she knew it did no good to point out that it would be easier if he just scooped the damned piece of cookie up with his spoon. But Justin only did that as a last resort. He set the shake aside and took another scoop of whipped cream, once again enjoying the taste, until Daphne huffed and shoved him with her foot once more.

"So, after a bit of an argument with Asshole, who turns out to be his best friend," Justin paused when Daphne groaned at that tidbit. "Yeah seriously; I almost said hell no and ran the other way; but…" Justin paused again, a small smile on his face. "But then he realized that I was in pain and went all man in charge, ordering Asshole to turn the fucking music down and ushered me off to Ben for some meds, which I wish I had thought about before then; and then he marched me back to my room and took care of me, and I was just fucking lost at that point."

"Ooooo," Daphne squealed in glee, a dreamy smile on her face. "The protective type. I so love it when they get all commanding and protective like that. Seriously, you have all the fucking luck; except for when it comes to dorm mates. You suck at that."

Justin rolled his eyes, but couldn't help silently agreeing with Daphne's assessment; between Asshole Neighbor, Creepy Skull Guy and Stalker-in-Training, he really did have shit luck when it came to dorm mates.

"So after he makes me take the meds and drink some water, he climbs into my bed," Justin paused again when Daphne made an excited squeak. "Not like that. Well, not at first. Anyways, so, he starts giving me this killer neck and head massage, and oh my God, his hands are to die for; seriously, I want them all over my body."

"Lucky bitch," Daphne muttered, a disgruntled moue on her face.

"I will drink to that," Justin snickered, toasting her with his milkshake. Daphne flipped him off. "And then we were laying there and he kissed my eyes and nose and cheeks and we were just about to kiss for real when that asshole Ethan barged in. I swear, it's like he has some sort of alert system in place that tells him when I'm getting lucky."

"Maybe he does," Daphne said with a shrug. Justin stared at her incredulously, but Daphne just looked concerned. "No, seriously, Jus; it's not like there is much privacy in the dorms, so maybe he has someone alert him that you have someone in the room."

"That's just creepy," Justin said, the idea making him shudder. He'd been mostly joking with the stalker-in-training label, but the way Daphne made it sound, it was more like it was a reality than just a macabre internal joke.

"It's Ethan," Daphne said with a pointed look.

"I don't even want to think about that right now or I'll never be able to sleep at night," Justin shuddered again and vowed to booby trap his bed if that little prick even thought of coming anywhere near him again. "Anyways, so, he bursts in, which kills the mood pretty fast and Brian leaves, but not before he does kiss me softly on the lips and promises to see me today."

"Oooohhhhhh…" Daphne stared at him dreamily. "So, how was it?"

"Amazing," Justin grinned, flashing that wide smile that Daphne swore lit up the room; he closed his eyes and thought back to last night. "His lips are so soft, yet firm at the same time, and so warm; and God, he smells amazing – like vanilla and sandalwood and apples. And when our lips touched, it was like electricity shot down my spine."

"I reiterate, lucky bitch," Daphne grumbled, disgruntled once again that her love life was barren at the moment. "So, you're going to see him tonight?"

"Yeah, we need to work on the…" Justin said, trailing off when he was suddenly hit over the head with a cushion. Huffing, Justin looked up with an annoyed frown, only to meet his cousin Cynthia's flashing blue eyes. He flinched, knowing that whatever had pissed her off wouldn't be good for him as she tended to hold a grudge.

"Why didn't you tell me that dickhead kicked you out?" Cynthia demanded, her hands pressed firmly on her hips.

Oh fuck; how the hell had she found out about that? He'd made certain that no one in his family knew the exact details of him moving into the dorms. He'd fended most of the questions off by saying he just wanted to try the dorm experience; and then, when no one said anything after over a year, he thought he was safe.

"Because your cousin is an idiot who didn't want to cause friction in the family for his mother and his sister's sake?" Daphne asked rhetorically, a vicious smile on her face. She'd never agreed with how Justin had handled the whole Craig incident and felt Craig needed to be strung up by his balls. "Hey, Cyn; how have you been?

"I was doing much better until I heard through the rumor mill that that asshole had the nerve to kick my favorite cousin to the curb," Cynthia spat, her arms crossed over her chest. She tapped her foot and stared at Justin heatedly. "And then realized that said cousin hadn't mentioned a thing during all those times we talked."

"I just didn't want to upset you," Justin explained weakly, knowing that there was no excuse that he could give that would win Cynthia over; she'd always hated Craig and his airs, pretending that he was WASP when he'd only married one. There was no way she'd cut him any slack. "I didn't want you storming over to the house and.."

"Kicking him in the balls like he so rightly deserves?" Cynthia huffed.

"Yeah, that," Justin said wryly. "Not that I care about him, but you know that Mom wouldn't have heard the end of it and Molly…"

"Would be fine," Cynthia stated, her eyes blazing. Justin cringed and made himself as small as possible on the couch; he knew Cyn was right. "Because Grandfather would have made it fine and well you know it. So, what was the real reason? And the words 'I was too embarrassed to let anyone know of my predicament' better not come out of your mouth or I will smack you upside the head. You know damn well that you are the favorite and everyone would have rallied around you if they knew."

Justin smiled sheepishly knowing she'd hit the nail on the head.

"You are an idiot," Cynthia huffed, shoving Justin's legs off the couch and sitting down. "You're lucky I love you or else I would seriously kick your ass."

"I'm sorry, Cyn," Justin said in a meek voice; and he was sorry he'd held the information back from her. "I just didn't want to cause problems for Mom and Molly."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about it," Cynthia said, looking like the cat that'd caught the canary; which made Daphne sit up with curiosity.

"Oh, God, what did you do?" Justin asked, almost dreading the answer; he knew how vindictive Cynthia could be when someone hurt one of her loved ones. And since she couldn't stand Craig in the first place, he could only imagine the mischief she'd wrought.

"Well, I had lunch with Grandfather the other day," Cynthia said with a smirk, pausing when Justin groaned and buried his face into a pillow. "Oh, get over it; someone needed to do something. Be glad it was me and not my Mother. You know what she's like."

"Oh dear God in heaven," Justin sat up straight as a poker, a horrified look on his face. If any one thought that Cynthia could hold a grudge, they'd never met his aunt. She took it to the fucking grave. Once you fucked up, there was no second chance with her. She would find a way to end you. "Aunt Muriel knows?"

"Oh, does she ever," Cynthia snickered. "I'd really hate to be in Craig's shoes right now. Anyways, I had lunch with Grandfather and may have accidentally let it slip what Craig did and why; and then I may have said that I found it interesting that he had the nerve to throw stones for so-called immoral behavior when he was fucking his secretary, and half of Pittsburgh to boot, behind Aunt Jen's back."

"Oh fuck," Justin whispered, very much in awe, and a bit terrified, of his cousin's vengeance. Jesus, she doesn't pull punches.

"Yeah, it's safe to say that Craig will be far too busy trying to consolidate his wealth and scrambling to make ends meet once Grandfather calls that note he signed due." Cynthia nonchalantly studied her nails as if she hadn't just bankrupted his father with a single action. "You have to love those little fidelity clauses our family loves to throw in."

"But Mom…" Justin trailed off, worried that his mother would get caught up in the backlash; he'd never wanted his mother to get hurt, even if he wasn't speaking to her at the moment for staying with his asshole father in the beginning. And then protecting him when the asshole ran off with his secretary because she was too embarrassed to face her family.

"Is finally divorcing the asshole as she should have done years ago," Cynthia said with an implacable smile. "Honey, you should know by now that we take care of our own."

"I know, I just…" Justin trailed off again, his throat constricting and his eyes misting; he'd spent much of the past year worried his family would react like Craig did when they found out. Knowing that he had their support no matter what…he didn't have the words to express just how much that meant to him.

"Got a bit lost and hurt and forgot for awhile," Cynthia said softly, drawing him into her arms. "I know; but we will always stand by you; you are the one we love, not Craig."

"Thanks, Cyn," Justin murmured, his voice thick with unshed tears as he pulled away and laid back against the couch. Cynthia stood, allowing him to put his feet back up, and grabbed a nearby arm chair to sit in.

"By the way," Cynthia said, making herself comfortable. "You've been summoned for lunch this weekend; and don't even think you can get out of it by using school as an excuse as you have done recently. Grandmother isn't taking no for an answer."

"Oh shit," Justin groaned, dropping an arm over his face; he was in so much trouble if his Grandmother was sending Cynthia with the summons.

"Yeah, I'd grovel if I were you," Cynthia snickered, picking at a piece of lint on her sweater. "Be sure to bring her a box of her favorite chocolates and flowers because she is not happy."

"I am so dead," Justin muttered, his life flashing before his eyes; if it had been his Grandfather, he could have talked his way out of his absence, but his Grandmother was another matter entirely. She ruled the family with an iron fist and you just did not cross her if you wanted to still be breathing the next morning.

"Although, if you brought your new beau with you, that might just distract her enough to keep her from skinning you alive," Cynthia said with a sly smile; letting on that she'd overheard all the important parts of his and Daphne's conversation. "You know, like that guy you were just raving about… So, tell me little cousin, who is this man with the wondrous lips?"

"Oh, God; someone shoot me now," Justin groaned again, burying his face into the pillow Cynthia had used to beat him over the head with; if Cyn knew then it meant that his Grandmother would know by this weekend and he'd never get any peace.

Cynthia must have decided she was done torturing him for the moment, however; as she struck up a conversation with Daphne and allowed him to wallow in his upcoming doom. Justin sighed and sat up, deciding that since he couldn't do anything about the lunch with his grandparents, other than grovel as Cyn pointed out, he was going to enjoy the rest of his milkshake if it was the last thing he did.

Justin grabbed his shake and took a long swallow, once again hollowing out his cheeks as sucked down about a quarter of it all in one breath. He licked his lips and then side of the glass as a small amount had sloshed over the side when he grabbed. Closing his eyes, he hummed with pleasure and then grabbed his spoon, deciding to eat it that way so that he could savor it a little longer.

Sucking the spoon into his mouth, he slurped down the cream and then pulled the spoon out with an audible pop; he licked up the sides, where the cream and shake had dripped down and then sucked one finger in at a time to clean them of any residual sweetness. Dipping his spoon again, Justin happily lapped at the end, sucking more of the cream into his mouth, and accidentally smearing over his lips.

Sighing in contentment, Justin licked his lips, digging his tongue into the corner of his mouth to get that last little stubborn bit that clung to them. And then he tipped the glass back, taking the cherry in to his mouth, only slightly disappointed that there was no stem. He dug his spoon into the glass to gather the remains of his shake and then set the cup aside, blatantly ignoring his cousin and Daphne.

"Does he even realize what he's doing?" Cynthia asked in a funny voice.

"Nope," Daphne huffed in an annoyed tone. "It's rather sickening isn't it?"

Justin just huffed, but didn't bother to say anything; he was far too intent on enjoying the last bits of his shake. Sucking the spoon into his mouth, he was cleaning it of any residual stickiness when something heavy fell on him knocking the breath out of him and sending the spoon flying across the room.

Justin sucked in several deep, labored breaths as the person, the very male person, on top of him wriggled and squirmed, inadvertently waking up a certain body part. Justin looked up in a daze, trying to tell the guy to stop moving and then froze when a vaguely familiar face stared back at him in mortified surprise.

But he couldn't place where he'd seen him before.

The man managed to find purchase and sit up, but not before Justin felt his very firm erection digging into this hip, and, if the man's fiery cheeks were anything to go by, his accident-prone friend had felt his own waking up and taking interest. Justin huffed, still dazed and out of breath, and grabbed the man's hips so he would stop wiggling around in his lap and making it worse. Especially as the embarrassed man was too busy apologizing to notice what he was doing to Justin's very attentive dick.

"Sorry," the man cried, running his hands all over Justin, and really, that wasn't at all helpful to Justin's little problem. "Sorry. Oh my God, I'm so sorry. I should have been watching where I was going and I tripped over a bag and Oh my God…are you okay? I didn't injure you did I? Do you hurt anywhere? Oh God, you aren't saying anything…I…"

Justin tried to tell the other man that he was fine, but as he was still wheezing from having all the air squeezed out of his lungs, all he could do was hold up his hands in a placating gesture. But then it wasn't a problem as someone swooped down and practically yanked the other man out of Justin's lap.

"Let's go, Theodore," an implacable voice demanded, dragging the stammering man away. But Justin was too busy trying to get air back into his lungs to even notice his savior, or thank him for rescuing him.

When Justin finally got his breathing under control once more, he looked up to find Daphne and Cynthia watching him with identical amused smirks. Justin huffed and stood, looking down to find that he'd spilled a bit of shake on his shirt. Shaking his head, he gathered his things and thought of the vilest things he could, like a naked Asshole Neighbor demanding he fuck him in his whiny voice, until his dick finally calmed.

"So, you should stick around," Daphne said to Cynthia a knowing smile on her face. "You can stay with me. Things are about to get interesting around here."

"I can't imagine any place I'd rather be," Cynthia grinned, casting a funny expression Justin's way.

Justin just huffed and slung his bag over his shoulder, not even wanting to know what that was all about. "I have to go change; I'll see you guys later."