LGA - PIT April 1

Justin awoke feeling safe and secure wrapped tightly in Brian’s arms.  Still a bit shook up from the previous night’s events, the warm embrace of Brian did a lot to sooth his nerves.  Justin looked around the room, trying to spy the clock to see what time it was.

Brian watched Justin look around the room.  He had been awake for a while.  He was a bit tense and still disturbed by the happenings of the last twenty four hours.  He wondered if he should loosen his grip on Justin, but he wasn’t sure he was ready to.  God! he wanted to rip Connor James’ balls off.  He wondered if he could trust Brett to keep Connor at bay today.  Maybe he should spend the day at the studio offices with Justin.  He didn’t really have appointments and could do paperwork and phone calls anywhere.  He rubbed his chin against Justin’s hair.

Justin shifted and turned to face Brian.  He was a bit surprised that Brian was awake and alert.

“You okay?”  Brian asked as Justin’s midnight blue eyes met his.

Justin nodded.  “Hold me?”

Brian tightened his hold.  Mine.  The word echoed in his mind taking him back to the previous night.  Had Justin really said he loved him?  Shit! They really couldn’t get into this now.  Here.  In New York.  Brian felt off balance.  Maybe tonight when they were back home, where he was on home turf.  Somehow it seemed appropriate that it was April Fools Day.

“Do you want me to come to the studio with you today?”  Brian asked voicing aloud his earlier thoughts.

Justin shook his head.  “It’s not necessary.  I’m pretty sure Brett’s not going to let Connor within a mile of me.  Regardless, I can’t hide behind you.  I have to be able to stand up to him on my own.”

Brian nodded.  He wasn’t sure he liked it, but he saw Justin’s reasoning. “Do you want to see about getting an earlier flight back?”

Again, Justin shook his head.  “No, I want to keep things as normal as possible.  If I allow what happened last night to dictate my movements, then I’m not in charge of what’s going on in my life.  I have to keep to the norm and work my way through this.”  Justin hugged Brian close.  “Just knowing that you are here for me and willing to stand by me gives me strength.  I’ll be okay.  And tonight we’ll fly back to Pittsburgh.  Only four more weeks of this.”

Justin never ceased to surprise and impress Brian.  Brian took pride in Justin’s ability to stand up for himself.  Justin’s resilience and courage was amazing.  He had an innate optimism and trust in other people, in how things would work out.  Even when shit like last night happened, Justin was able to put his faith in a jaded misanthrope like himself and somehow come up with something good.  Justin could love.  Justin could love him.  Could Brian meet the challenge and reciprocate?

Brian tried to take stock of the feelings that Justin stirred in him.  Brian wasn’t very impressed with what he was able to come up with.  Justin made him feel possessive.  He didn’t want to share Justin with anyone else.  He wanted to keep Justin his secret.  He wanted to keep his feelings for Justin a secret.  He wanted to own Justin body and soul. Brian was entirely selfish. He wanted Justin’s attention to the exclusion of all else.  Brian wondered if his actions the previous night were truly for the protection of Justin or his acting out jealously and spite.

As if sensing that Brian needed to quiet his fears, Justin hugged Brian once again.  “You’re so good to me, so good for me.”

Brian lay his demons aside for the time being.  At least someone had faith in him.

~~~~~~

“You’re all set Mr. Taylor.”  Harrison handed Justin his ticket for the flight home.  “Mr. Kinney called ahead and asked me to let you know that he’d be late.  Something about an unscheduled appointment.  He said he’d see you on the plane, if he didn’t make it here before boarding.”

Justin nodded and moved into the lounge.  He wondered what unexpected meeting Brian had encountered.

Amazingly, Justin’s day had gone well.  As he fully expected, Connor had not shown his face.  Around 10am Brett stopped by.  They kept their conversation low so others wouldn’t hear.

“You okay?”  Brett asked.

Justin shrugged, “I’m okay.”

“I’m sorry.  I had no idea that Connor would act that way.  I didn’t realize that you were in a relationship - otherwise I wouldn’t have pressed the issue of going to dinner and out.”

“It’s not a big deal.  I’ll feel more comfortable refusing the invitation next time.”

“Do you want to finish your contract?”  Justin could see that Brett was on tenderhooks.

Justin smiled a genuine smile at Brett.  He was trying to make things right.  “I don’t see any reason not to.”

“Well, the shooting schedule is such that Connor should be wrapped by the end of the week.  You shouldn’t encounter him.  I’ve already warned him to stay away from this area of the studio.”

“Thanks.  That will make things easier for me.”

Brett nodded.

“You know,” Justin started, “I really like working on projects with you Brett.  I hope that if you have a need in the future you will keep me in mind.  However, I do have to tell you that I plan to avoid taking jobs that would put me in a position that I’d be in contact with Connor.”

“After last night’s incident, I’m inclined to feel the same way.”

Brett held out his hand to Justin, and Justin shook it.  They understood each other.  The rest of the day passed quickly.

~~~~~~

Justin looked up from his seat.  Brian stood over him, pushing his overnight case into the the luggage bin above his head.

Justin smiled.  “I’m glad to see you, I was worried you weren’t going to make the flight.”

Brian had been worried of the same thing.  Ted had called him late in the day with an emergency on a new account.  It had been luck that Brian hadn’t already left for the airport.  After putting out the fire, he had crawled through traffic but had managed to get to the airport and through security in time for the last call on the flight.

Brian sat and belted in.  He clasped Justin’s hand and leaned back in his seat as the plane pulled back from the gate.

~~~~~~

Brian and Justin made it out to the Jeep in record time.  They both were happy to be back in the Pitts. 

“West Virginia?”  Brian asked as he headed toward the car park exit.

“Actually,”  Justin started, “what would you think about spending the night at my place?”

Brian considered it.  After a miserable night alone at the loft on Sunday,  spending the night with Justin, even if it was at Daphne’s, was better than spending the night without him.  “Will Daphne be home?”

“I guess.”  Justin responded a bit confused.  Then he remembered, he hadn’t told Brian about the certificate of occupancy coming through.  “I guess I forgot to tell you - Julio got the CO signed off on yesterday.  When I suggested my place, I meant the service station.  They delivered all my furniture today - Mom oversaw the deliveries - including the bed.”

Brian gunned the engine and headed toward the corner of Liberty and Tremont.

~~~~~~

On the way into town they decided that it would probably be helpful for Justin to pick up the Element at Daphne’s, and Brian wanted a change of clothes from the loft.  They split up agreeing to meet up at the service station.

Brian let himself into the loft.  He looked around. Somehow it seemed more stark and cold than usual. He quickly crossed to the bedroom and opening his Tumi roll on emptied the contents.  Divesting himself of his medium weight wool Armani suit, he changed into jeans.  He thought about a shower, but was anxious to get back to Justin.  Brian figured that they could christen Justin’s shower together.

Brian gathered together his clothes for the following day - his favorite brown Hugo Boss suit, shirt, tie, socks, Gucci loafers, he debated on the underwear, and finally threw a pair of Calvin Klein boxer briefs into the bottom of his garment bag.  He retrieved his shaving kit adding it in with the socks and underwear.  Zipping up the garment bag, he shrugged into his favorite leather jacket.  With the garment bag over his shoulder and his Armani overcoat folded over his arm, he reset the alarm and headed out from the loft to the service station.

Brian decided to walk the few blocks rather than drive.  It gave him a chance to clear his head, and get some badly needed exercise.  One of the drawbacks of the New York trips was the impact it was having on his normal workout schedule.  Of course of late, Justin had been helping him on his cardio.

Brian strolled the last block up Tremont to the service station.  He had been grateful for the shorter trip into the city from the airport. He hadn’t really been looking forward to driving to West Virginia.  It had been an emotionally exhausting trip and he could stand for a bit of low stress rest and relaxation.  He smiled as his steps took him closer to the corner of Tremont and Liberty; he could really use a blow job to take the edge off, and he knew just the talented blond who could make it happen.

~~~~~~

Justin had arrived at the service station a short while earlier.  He was looking forward to being there with Brian, but he was grateful to have a few minutes alone to admire his new home. 

Finally, it was his! Oh, he had liked spending time with his best friend Daphne; and he absolutely loved spending time with Brian.  But their homes still made him feel like a guest - a very welcome guest, but a guest nonetheless.  Here it was all his - in particular his studio.  He had his own space to paint - to express himself, to create.  It had been nearly a year since he really had good space that was his own.  His own place where, if he wanted to, he could lock himself away.  He’d been in and out of the service station over the past month, getting it ready, getting his studio set up, filling up the kitchen, storing his clothes and stuff; but tonight would his first night he’d get to stay here.  Justin smiled, and Brian would be staying here with him.

Brian let himself in through the door on the bay entrance.  Muted lighting and candles lit a path into the living area.  “Hey Justin,“ Brian called out, “you should really should lock your door, you never know what lowlife might walk through it.”  Brian looked around for Justin.  He smiled when he felt arms wrap around his waist and a warm body rub against his back.

“Now that you’re here I plan to bolt the door and set the alarm.  Can’t have you escaping.”

Brian turned around to face Justin.  His arms full of garment bag and briefcase, his hands weren’t free.  Justin smiled at Brian’s dilemma.

“Aha, I’ve got you now!  I can have my way with you and you can’t do anything about it!”

Brian was about to point out to Justin that he easily could drop the bag and briefcase on the floor, but before the words could leave his mouth or his arms could do the action, Justin pulled Brian’s head to his and captured his mouth in an earth-shattering kiss.  Pulling on Brian’s arm, Justin dragged him into the bedroom. 

Brian stopped in the doorway and looked at Justin.  “It’s all bed!”  Brian laughed in amazement.  Indeed the small bedroom that had once been the service station office was a fairly stark room dominated by a tall queen sized bed.

Justin grinned at Brian. 

Still holding the garment bag and briefcase, Brian frowned.  “Where can I put my stuff?”

Justin crossed a very short distance to the wall to reveal that the illuminated opaque glass panelling that ran along the side of the room and bed headboard wall actually held closets.

“Julio has a cousin who works building boats.  In his spare time he customizes RVs for folks. He knows how to create a lot of storage in small places.”  Taking Brian’s garment bag from him, Justin opened a panel and hung the bag in the closet.  Justin showed Brian the tri-level storage.  The bottom foot consisted of deep drawers, above that was was a standard closet with hanging bar, and above that was additional overhead storage.  Since the panels ran the length of the room and along the wall where the bed’s headboard, it actually was a significant amount of storage space.

“This is a really good use of space,”  Brian commented, handing over the Armani overcoat and leather jacket to Justin to hang.

Justin smiled and nodded.  “Yeah, I was really pleased with it all. The padded headboard panels flip up for more storage, and the reading lights are recessed.  There’re  drawers built into the lower portion of the bed frame, and the end of the bed frame has a kick panel where I can store shoes.”

Brian smiled, “A place for everything...”  He raised an eyebrow. “Where do you store your condoms and lube?”

Justin grinned and displayed a previously overlooked recessed area near the headboard.  He grabbed a condom and showed it to Brian.  Brian plucked it out of Justin’s hand and pulled Justin toward the bathroom door. “I was thinking that I’d like a shower after my long day and trip.  I don’t suppose you’d be interested in joining me?”

Justin smiled as he let himself be tugged into the bathroom.  “We’ll have to make it quick - I ordered Thai, they said it’d be forty five minutes...”

~~~~~~

Jennifer noticed Justin’s Element outside the service station as she headed down Liberty Avenue from the Gay and Lesbian center.  She had attended the monthly PFLAG meeting and was headed home when she saw the lights on in the service station.  Justin must be back from New York - she’d stop by and say hi.  She wanted to make sure he got an update on the day’s deliveries.

Jennifer pulled her Accord along side Justin’s Element;  she shook her head, it really was an ugly vehicle.  She hopped out and crossed to the door.  She took out her key and was about to unlock the door when a delivery car pulled up.  She greeted the delivery man, taking the packages from him.  Unlocking the door and disarming the alarm, she crossed to the kitchen to unpack the food.

Justin, dressed in a terry robe, came out of the bed muttering something about delivery times.

“Hello sweetheart.”

“Mom!”  Justin was surprised to see his mother.  He crossed to the kitchen and hugged her.  “What are you doing here?”

“I was on my way home from PFLAG when I saw the lights and your car.  I thought I’d welcome you to your new home.”  Jennifer hugged Justin back, and ran a hand through his damp hair before kissing him on the cheek.  She returned to unpacking the boxes of Thai food.  “My goodness Justin, there must be enough here to feed an army.  You must be really hungry after your trip.”

Just then Brian emerged from the bedroom clad only in boxer briefs.  He was rubbing his hair with a towel.  “Christ Sunshine, when’s the food getting here?  I’m starving.  Now I know why I feed you before we fu... Jennifer, what a pleasure, will you be joining us for dinner?”  Justin turned, grinned, and mouthed “nice save” to Brian.  Justin had to hand it to Brian, he hadn’t missed a beat.  Comfortably, the older man came to stand behind Justin.  He wrapped his arms around the blond and rested his chin on Justin’s shoulder.

Flustered, Jennifer avoided looking at Brian and turned her attention to the food on the counter.  “Brian.  Uh, no.  I had dinner.  I was just passing by and saw Justin’s car and the lights.  I didn’t know he had company.  I’ll be leaving.”

“Don’t leave.”  Justin and Brian both said it at the same time - then looked at one another.

“I’m going to grab some jeans and a shirt.  I’ll be back in a sec.”  Brian left for the bedroom, knowing that a few more clothes would go a long way in making Jennifer more comfortable.

“I really should be leaving...”

“Mom.”  Justin reached out for his mother’s hand.  “Please stay.”

“But you and Brian...”

“...are going to sit down and eat dinner.  Stay, you can update me on furniture deliveries and anything else I need to know about.  Besides, I’d like you to get to know Brian a bit better.”

Jennifer smiled at her son and lifted her hand to his cheek.  “I’d like that.”

Jennifer was amazed at how much she enjoyed chatting over dinner.  Brian was relaxed, and that went a long way in making her more relaxed.  She was moved by how solicitous Brian was with her son.  Though often a man of terse words, Brian’s actions where Justin was concerned were thoughtful and caring.  They seemed to be in constant physical contact with one another whether it was a touch or a rub of an arm. 

Jennifer had seen her son with other boyfriends, this wasn’t the same.  It wasn’t a cloying public display of affection that embarrassed her to be in the same room, rather it was a quiet, unobtrusive tenderness that made her comfortable. 

Jennifer could see the confidence in Justin.  Brian was good for Justin.  And if Brian would allow it, Jennifer knew Justin would be good for Brian, too.