After an accident that nearly kills him, Brian has a long road to recovery. While he knew deep down that it would be a rough road, he wasn't prepared for something like this.

Huge thanks to Annie_Eliza for my spiffy new banner :)

Brian and Justin's relationship after the bashing.

Justin has grown up in a very different household than seen in canon. He is living on the streets when he is found by the Liberty Diner gang and is rescued - malnourished, exhausted and ill - and taken home by Brian. Can Justin be brought out of this hell he's been resigned to by his hateful father? Can Brian find the one thing that will make Justin whole again?

This story is based on a prior fic - 'Smolder' - by LovelessSouls.  All credit for the haunting story premise goes to the original author, as well as my thanks for letting me repost the first two chapters of that story.

Brian Kinney, the son of a hotel mogul, is living a double life. Married to spoiled socialite Lindsay, Brian enjoys spending his evenings in South Beach gay bars cruising for younger men. One night, the closeted business man meets recently-out Justin Taylor. Little does Brian know, his life will never be the same again.

Summary: Brian Kinney’s new advertising business, Kinnetik, has taken off and he’s busier than he has ever been.  So busy, in fact, that his nightly forays to the bars and clubs on Liberty Avenue have become few and far between.  When he sees a beautiful, blond young man at a local hustler bar, Kinney decides it’ll be easier to take the ‘professional’ home tonight instead of wasting time with tricks at the club.  But Brian Kinney has no idea what he’s gotten himself into with this particular young man and the deal that starts out as Simply Sexual turns into so much more.

)))))))New and simply GORGEOUS banner thanks to Marny, the Banner Goddess(((((((((

)))))))))))))That has to be one of the hottest banners I've EVER seen!(((((((((((((

Ad Man Brian Kinney becomes enamored of a young blond twink he meets at the youth’s Prom.  When tragedy strikes the young man and Kinney tries to help, a series of misunderstandings, accompanied by the betrayal of a parent, lead to Kinney becoming responsible for the boy’s well being.  Is Brian man enough to tell the young man he cares so much about, of his unintentional deceit, knowing that it might drive the boy away for good?

++++++++++++ Huge Thanks for my beautiful Banner to Marny - The Banner Goddess +++++++++++

Brian Kinney is a successful 33-year-old advertising executive from Pittsburgh, who is spending a week in Manhattan in hopes of landing the most important client of his career. Justin Taylor is a 21-year-old struggling artist living in Chelsea who hopes to make it big. What happens when the sexy ad man meets the beautiful blonde Picasso?