Justin has to stay in L.A. longer than he thought he would. Brian greets the news with silence. What’s up? Is Brian pissed? “Why the fuck would I be pissed?” Brian asks. “I told you before you went out there that the only reason I’d be pissed is because you didn’t go.” Okay. That sounds like Brian. “I miss you,” Justin says. More silence and then: “you take care of yourself, you hear? Do the best work you can. And have the best time you can. That’s all that matters.” That also sounds like Brian. Justin hangs up feeling lonely.
Brian is balls-deep in some guy’s ass when Justin comes home. Justin watches with a mixture of excitement and jealousy. He knows Brian still has five minutes in him if he wants, but as soon as he notices Justin’s there, he comes. He’s ready for the trick to leave. After Brian showers, they order Chinese and hang-out, but they don’t have sex. Justin knows why. Brian wants to be at the top of his game when they do. He wants to make sure he shows Justin what he’s been missing. He wants to give Justin the fuck of a lifetime.
God, no one else could make Justin feel like this. No one else could know his body so well. No one could know the meaning of every sound he makes, every facial expression. Brian fucks him as though fucking is an Olympic sport and he’s going for the gold. He makes Justin come quickly, giving him that sweet shock of release, and then he makes him come again, taking longer this time. Justin is shaking all over when he comes a third time, clawing at Brian’s back with a cry. Later, he tickles Brian until he says it was great.
There were lots of galleries in L.A. Justin was surprised to find that the ones that interested him the most specialized in contemporary paintings. He started wondering if he should take a class. It would’ve been hard to find the time considering all the work “Rage” required, but it would’ve been interesting to see if he possessed any talent as a painter. When he returned to Pittsburgh, he felt lost, but then he remembered wanting to learn how to paint. It was with that idea in mind that he turned down Brian’s offer to be head of Kinnetik’s art department.
The newly reopened Babylon is an embarrassing, money-sucking fiasco. Brian seems like a deer in headlights watching $8,000 go down the drain every night. Justin has enough distance from the situation to look at it creatively. Brian has the supply; now he just needs the demand. Traditional advertising isn’t working. It’s time to think outside the box. Justin tells him about an unremarkable club in L.A. that was super popular because it looked like The Place To Be for all the beautiful people. Brian gets it. He pulls Justin close and asks him how he ever got along without him.
The security guard refers to Justin deferentially as Mr. Taylor and directs him to Brian’s new VIP lounge where Brian has a “special treat” waiting for him. The treat might be “special” (the guys are definitely hot), but it’s not a surprise. Justin is reminded of Brian’s birthday gift of the hustler. The pattern is getting old. A “special treat” would be staying in for the evening. The only surprise is that Brian hasn’t figured that out yet. He’s thirty-four-years-old. When is he going to grow out of Babylon? Justin is starting to fear that the answer is “never.”
Brian is disgusted by the whole Michael-Lindsay-Mel situation. That’s what happens when fags start acting like breeders. Gay marriages will end in gay divorces and gay families will end in messy three-way custody battles. He tells Justin that other couples will end up hating each other, but they won’t because they’re not pretending to be something they aren’t. Justin is struck by Brian’s use of the word “couple” to describe their relationship. How sad is that? Ben and Michael haven’t been together as long as he and Brian have, but they’re married. Brian can barely acknowledge he has a partner.
Brian’s syphilis is gone, and he’s horny as hell. He wants Justin to be the one with whom he’ll end his brief flirtation with celibacy. How sweet. Justin couldn’t be less interested. Thinking about Brian’s sore-covered dick is not exactly a turn-on. When he declines the invitation, Brian doesn’t say anything. He just leaves for Babylon. Justin sits on the couch, staring into space. Brian has been an asshole lately. His whole “Stepford fags” shtick is getting old. He’s alienating people with his extreme attitude about what it means to be queer, which apparently involves being blasé about venereal disease.
Justin has been thinking about his future, and he’s starting to realize it can’t include Brian. He doesn’t want to live like this anymore. Brian is at Babylon every night. As far as Justin can tell, this is how it’s going to be for the foreseeable future. He’s tired of it, and he’s getting tired of Brian, too. They’re going nowhere. He tells Brian this. Brian looks shaken. Apparently, he hadn’t seen this coming, which is a sad statement in and of itself. Brian asks him to let him know where he’ll be staying. Justin doesn’t reply before he leaves.
Brian is drunker than Justin has seen him in years, and he’s angrier than he’s been since the bashing. He storms into Michael and Ben’s home and yells insults in Michael’s face. He’s in full on rage mode, accusing Michael of having poisoned Justin’s mind against him – against their so-called queer lifestyle and infecting him with a desire for weddings and families and a cozy house in the suburbs. Justin is shocked. Brian is borderline out of control, but thankfully he leaves on his own without Justin and Ben having to get involved. Justin prays he gets home safely.
Justin hears Brian calling his name through the smoke and spitting electrical fires. How can that be? Brian is on a plane to Australia. It must be his imagination, but then suddenly Brian’s there, pulling him close, shaking with adrenaline, demanding to know if Justin is hurt. Later, Brian pulls him into his arms again. “I was so fucking scared,” he says after telling Justin he’d tried and failed to reach him on his cell phone. “I kept saying ‘please don’t let anything happen to him.’” Justin looks at him. He’s never seen Brian so caught up in raw emotion.
Predictably, Brian mocks Justin’s studio. Justin ignores him. It’s almost a relief to know that Brian is back to his old self . . . or is he? Later, after Brian leaves, Justin feels bad about having laughed at his marriage proposal. Brian had looked so hurt, so surprised. Clearly, he’d been sure Justin would be ecstatic and throw himself into his arms. But Brian didn’t really mean it. He’s exhausted and traumatized. Once he’s slept and gotten something to eat, he’ll come back to his senses. Brian doesn’t really want to get married. There is simply no fucking way.
Brian is selling Babylon. He’s selling the loft. He’s gone and bought a manor in the country (Brian hates the country even more than he hates the suburbs) with stables and a pool! He really does mean that he wants to get married. He says he’ll be anything in the world to make Justin happy, no matter what it is. If changing his views and his values and his plans for his future will make Justin happy, then Brian will do it. He will be anything Justin wants him to be. Justin is his prince and he’s trusting in love.
“By the way, bridezilla” Emmett says. “Golden gardenias are pretty expensive.” When he tells Justin the price, Justin immediately decides they’re not worth it. Whole African villages could be fed for a year on that amount of money, and Justin does have a sense of shame. Brian had told Emmett that if Justin wanted something, then he was going to get it. It was tempting to go completely crazy, but Justin knows he should hold back. Brian didn’t tell him how much the house cost, but he can guess. Why start out their married life over their heads in debt?
Lindsay tells Justin that he’s got an amazing future as a painter. A respected art critic says that all he needs to do is come to New York City to make a name for himself. He starts fantasizing about what it would be like to be famous or even semi-famous. But he’s not going to New York. He’s marrying Brian and moving to West Virginia. But word of his potential makes its way to Brian’s ear. He won’t marry Justin after all. He wants Justin to follow his dreams to New York. Justin never knew a broken heart could soar.
Brian says it doesn’t matter how often they see each other – or even if they never see each other again. He will always love Justin, regardless what their futures hold. They make love all night. After he comes for the last time, Brian buries his face in Justin’s hair. On the plane the next morning, Justin realizes Brian won’t come to visit. He won’t call or even email. Brian is setting him free. If Justin returns, it’ll be because he wants to, not because he has to. He looks out the window and smiles. “I love you, too,” he whispers.