They arrived in Jake's apartment about a half hour after leaving the gig. There was only one bathroom, so Justin let Jake take his shower first.  Looking around the apartment, he was somewhat surprised at how much it had changed.  Even though he'd lived there for over two years, he hadn't done a lot with the space and had just the bare minimum of furniture and personal effects.  Jake, on the other hand, had been in New York for almost 5 years and had obviously made it his home. He had a large bulletin board filled with ticket stubs, some from plays he's been in and others ones he'd attended.  Pictures of his family and friends were dispersed around the small living space. A magnet on the fridge held a picture of a young child who Justin thought was his nephew. The space was definitely more a home than it had been when he lived there.

He had a full set of dishes and matching silverware, something Justin never bothered with, although Justin did have a full set of cookware.  Jake had framed art work on the wall and some throw pillows on the couch as well.  He had an overstuffed chair next to the small couch and even though the living room was pretty small, it didn't feel crowded to Justin. 

The bedroom was still small, but it had a double bed instead of the king that Brian had insisted that he have in the room.  With the double bed, there was room for a small dresser and there was a small valet tray on it where Jake kept his cell and his wallet and keys.  Overall the apartment felt lived in.  No wonder it had only taken half a day for Brian and him to pack up his stuff.  He realized that maybe in his mind he had never really moved here, but had just seen New York as a temporary situation. 

He heard the water go off and walked to the bedroom to strip and waited for Jake to exit the bathroom.  The small bathroom was cramped compared to what he'd been used to at Britin. In the few short weeks that he had moved back to Britin, he'd gotten used to the huge walk in shower that he and Brian shared and all the room on top of the vanity for Brian's toiletries. Laughing at his thoughts, he realized how much he had come to accept life back in Pittsburgh with Brian and wondered briefly why he ever thought moving to New York was a good idea.  But then he remembered that without moving to New York, he wouldn't have met Jake and probably wouldn't have been able to move back to Britin since he wouldn't have a show in a couple of weeks.  It was all a circular argument and no one would ever know the answer. 

It made his mind a little dizzy thinking of the possibilities and he shook his head in wonderment at why these thoughts came to his mind.  He turned on the shower and stepped inside to wash away the day's events.  As he soaped his torso, his hand made it down to clean his cock and balls and thoughts of Brian came roaring to the forefront of his mind.  He'd been really busy today and had enjoyed his visit with Jake and Carol, but now with the thought of sleeping on the couch coming to mind, he felt a tight tug and emptiness in his chest.  He hurriedly finished his shower and got dressed.

"I got us some beers and ordered a pizza.  We didn't get anything to eat for dinner and I thought I heard the Taylor beast from the bathroom." Jake pointed to the brown bottles sitting on the low coffee table in the small apartment

Justin's stomach growled loudly at the mention of pizza and both men laughed. 

"Brian's always teasing me about my appetite and how I'm going to bankrupt him with the cost of all the food I consume. Said by the man who watches every ounce of food that passes his lips."

"Brian is definitely an enigma, but hey who am I to question your man.  He is very protective of you and obviously will drop anything to come to your rescue.  You should have seen him when he called me to tell me about your accident."

Justin sat down on the couch and grabbed the beer waiting for him.  He popped the top and took a long draw and waited for Jake to talk.

"He was a whirlwind, a man on a mission and a control freak to say the least.  He took one look at the apartment and said you were a slob and then he gave me $50.00 to clean it and told me to take care of your stuff.  He was all business and no time to chat.  He came in, looked around and told me what to do.  He didn't even give me time to ask about you or when you were coming back.  He did call me though, once a week and filled me in on your recovery.  He is a man of his word."

Justin nodded his head in agreement at Jake's explanation.  He could picture Brian doing just what Jake described. He could feel the warmth come to his cheeks as Jake was describing Brian.  Talk of Brian's generosity as well as his goal minded actions made him miss him even more.  He hoped that Jake would forget his agreement to talk about what spooked him earlier in the evening so he could go call Brian.  He'd have to figure out a way to have some privacy as he doubted that Jake would want to watch him have phone sex with Brian.

"He's always been a man of his word.  If he tells you he will do something, he always does."  Justin smiled at his explanation and continued.  "He's never promised to do something and gone back on his word. Well, there was one time that he told me he would go on vacation with me for my spring break but then he had to work."  Justin winced at that memory.  "I was such an immature ass.  I went by myself and then sat in the cottage all by myself and cried for two days.  Now, I listen when he talks and realize that it's not all about me.  We have a partnership and I tell him what's going on in my life."

The knock on the door, startled both men for a moment and then Jake realized it was the pizza delivery guy.  Taking out some money from his wallet, he opened the door and gave the man the money and a generous tip. The smell from the pepperoni wafted through the apartment and Justin took two plates down from the cabinet and placed them on the table.  Justin picked up a slice and bit into the tasty pie. 

"Oh.  Middle Village.  They do have great pizzas.  There truly is nothing like a New York Pizza either."

"First you rave about the delis.  Now you rave about the Pizzas.  I keep telling you man that you should just move back.  You two bought an apartment.  What's holding you back?"

"There is a lot of stuff, Jake.  For right now, we'll be staying in Pittsburgh.  But like I said, I'll be coming here at least once a month so we can hang together."

"Okay.  And you told me you would be here for my opening.  I'm holding you to it."

"Sure." Justin took another bite of his pie, savoring the unique mix of tomato sauce, cheese and spices. 

They finished their pizzas and Justin's phone rang.  Looking at the display, he saw it was Brian and pushed the button to answer.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"You're early.  I didn't expect you for another few hours.  Everything okay?"  Justin asked when he realized it was just shortly after 10:00.  Since they were in the same time zone, the early hour of the call had him wondering.

"Yes.  I'm good.  I had dinner with a new client tonight and he was very pretentious.  I was hoping to relieve my boredom with some hot phone sex.  I need to get my beauty rest so I can have energy to keep up with Gus."

"So I'm supposed to be your sleeping pill.  Not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing.  It sounds like I put you to sleep.  Sure you want to keep me as your paint boy?" he teased, loving the exasperated sigh coming from the other end of the phone.

"Justinnnnn. "

He laughed and nodded to Jake while pointing to the phone.

"Thanks for the pizza, but I think I'll turn in and talk to Brian for a while."  He smiled a mischievous smile as he eyed the bedroom.

"You can use the bedroom for a while.  Have some privacy.  I need to grab a pack of cigarettes. Clean up after yourself too.  I don't mind sharing my place with you but sleeping in the wet spot when you didn't even sleep with me is just too much.  I expect to find you all tucked in on the couch when I return," Jake teased.

"Brian, Jake has given me my leave to join you; although he warned that we should be quick.  He's only going down to buy some cigarettes.  Think you work your magic quickly?"  Justin teased as he spoke with soft tones.

"I think that can be arranged.  Besides phone sex is never as good as the real thing.  I'll hold you to making up for it when you return."

"Oh, I like the sound of that.  Now hold on while I get ready."  Justin didn't finish his thought, but instead walked into the bedroom and closed the door behind him.  He undressed quickly, grabbed his bottle of lube from his toiletry kit and a small towel that he'd stashed inside as well.  Lying on the bed, he stroked himself to hardness very fast and propped himself on the pillows.

"So are you naked?"

The next morning dawned early and Justin was slightly stiff from sleeping on the couch, but he knew a quick stretch and some food would go a long way to making his body less sore.  Throwing on some clothes he grabbed his phone and wallet and let himself out of the apartment and walked to the bakery around the corner and ordered some coffee and 4 Danishes.  Grabbing the treats, he returned to the apartment where he found Jake dressed and sitting at the small table looking at his phone.

"I brought breakfast."  Justin waved the bag in front of Jake.  "And coffee.  I even remembered the sugar and cream that you rave about."  He placed the bag on the table and sat at the small table with his friend.  Taking the food out of the bag, he placed two Danishes on a napkin and moved the napkin toward Jake.  "Two for you and two for me."  He did the same for the other Danishes in the bag.  Throwing the bag away, he took a sip of his coffee and a bite out of his Danish and sighed.

"I've never known you to wax so poetic about food. Every meal we eat, you are drooling over as if you've not eaten in a week. Doesn't Brian feed you?" he teased.

"Oh, he does.  It's just that I'm so busy at home; I don't take the time to eat a lot.  I have to get a lot of pieces completed before the show and I'm kind of on a time crunch."  Justin licked his lips from the pastry and enjoyed the lemon filling.

"Okay.  So what time do you have to be at your appointed rounds today?"  Jake asked as he finished his first Danish.

"11:00. the gallery opens at 10:00 and I have to give them time to get the day started."

"Okay.  I have to work this afternoon, but you're welcome to play some more Halo."

"You've got an afternoon gig?"  Justin asked the surprise showing on his face.

"Work on the play.  I have rehearsal."

"Oh and tonight I have to go back to Bretano's to attend a show.  You know pretend to be the up and coming artist. Guess I'll see you when I get back."

"Probably not.  I have another gig tonight."

"Ok.  And tomorrow I'm supposed to be at Carol's again to do the meet and greet with some critics."

"Shit. Well, next time we'll have more time.  I promise." Justin got up to give his friend a hug. "Thanks for letting me crash." Justin looked at the clock on the microwave and saw that it was already 9:45.  "I better be going.  It's going to take at least an hour to get there by subway and I don't want to be late."  He pats his pocket and verifies he has his cell and wallet.

"You'll be great.  I'll talk to you later if I get a break, otherwise, I'll try to be quiet when I get in after my gig."

"Bye."  Justin walked out of the apartment and walked toward the subway.

Justin had a fairly long subway ride to the gallery and his mind turned to the gig the night before.  While he'd been spared having to explain his sudden lack of responsiveness to Jake's questions, the reality of the situation was still there.  He felt a chill run through his body when he thought he might run into the man, but after looking around he saw that he was not in the audience.  While the man had been gracious when Justin had said no to his request to go out, Justin still saw him in the audience at several more gigs.  He had not approached him again but only smiled at him as Justin danced.  Many men smiled at Justin and that didn't seem to make the situation any better.  Brian's refusal to let him dance anymore was more than a reprieve and he was somewhat thankful that Brian had been so adamant that he quit.  He toyed with telling Brian the truth but saw no reason to do so now.  As he tried to convince himself, he was no longer dancing and the man would be hard put to find him.  Why get Brian worked up for something that was not ever going to bother him again?

The morning at the gallery went smoothly and he enjoyed some solitary time with the Xbox at Jake's apartment.  He thought about Gus and Brian enjoying their day together but wondered if Brian was able to stay away from the high-end furniture he wanted to buy for Gus.  Without his presence, he hated to think what would be delivered to Britin upon his return.

"Hey," he said as he called the familiar number, wanting to hear Brian's voice but also feeling the need to be sure that Brian was remembering their conversation.

"Hey, yourself.  Done with your "duties" for the day?"

"No.  I have to go back to the gallery tonight for a show. Right now, I'm getting ready to play "Halo".  Are you with Gus?"  He opened the box and took out the game as he flipped it over in his hand.

"Hi Justin," Gus says as Brian hands him the phone.

"Hey, buddy.  Are you and daddy having fun?"

"We're shopping for a bed for me.  He told me I could have any bed I want.  I'm buying a race car bed.  It will be so cool.  I sleep in the car and I can pretend to be racing as they do on TV.  Isn't that awesome?"

"A race car.  Wish someone had bought me a race car to sleep in. That would have been fun.  What else are you and daddy doing?"

"We went to his work for a little while this morning.  Miss Cynthia let me shred some papers.  It was fun.  Then Uncle Ted let me help him make coffee and I brought daddy a big mug just the way you taught me with lots of sugar and cream."

"I bet that was fun." Justin laughed at his enthusiasm.  Only a child would find shredding paper and making coffee fun.  "What else did you do?"

"Then we went to Uncle Mikey's store and daddy bought me a new comic book.  There was this one with a picture on the front that looked like daddy, but he wouldn't buy it for me."  Gus paused as he thought for a few moments. "Will you buy it for me, Justin?"

Shaking his head when he realized that Gus saw the latest issue of Rage, he said, "Sorry, buddy.  I'm not going to buy it either.  Maybe when you get older I'll buy you that comic."

"That's what daddy said.  Grown-ups."  He handed the phone to Brian, having finished his talk with Justin.

"I guess you told him you wouldn't buy him the comic either,"  Brian said as he looked at the obvious disappointment on his son's face.

"I thought Michael had those out of sight of little eyes?"  Justin frowned when he thought of some of the graphics in the latest comic.  Gus would have been asking questions for days if he'd seen those.  A little shiver came over him at that thought.

"He does.  But the latest issue just came in and he was putting them away when we walked in.  Mornings are slow for the shop since most of the patrons are in school or work.  He does a lot of stocking and inventory in the mornings."

"Okay.  So a race car bed. I'm proud of you, Brian.  But where did you find a place that sells race car beds?"  Justin sat on the couch and used the remote to turn on the TV so he could play his game.  He muted the sound so he didn't hear the annoying commercials in the background. 

"Online.  I overheard one of my staff talking about a race car bed and I did some research last night.  They sell them at Target and the Big Q but I was not buying one there.  I found a few sites and Gus and I happily spent the remainder of the morning surfing the web looking for a racecar bed." Brian placed a glass of chocolate milk in front of Gus.

"I do believe that the retail world would go into shock if Brian Kinney stepped inside a Big Q and bought a race car bed. I would have loved to see everyone's face, but alas you have spared the world the shock of their lifetime."

"We didn't get to "talk" last night.  You seemed to be in too much of a hurry to finish before Jake came back.  How is the trip going?"

"Brian.  You know he was only going to be gone a short while," Justin said as he reminded Brian of the reason for the short session.  "I promise to make it up to you when I get back tomorrow."

"The trip?" Brian said, reminding him of the original question.

"Fine.  I've really enjoyed hanging with Jake and Bretano's is a wonderful space.  I can't wait to see my pieces hanging there."

"Gus is getting antsy.  He keeps opening drawers in the living room.  I vaguely remember him saying something about some candy you hid for him.  I better go.  Hate for him to find other things we've stashed in the drawers."

"Later."

"Later."

Justin entertained himself the remainder of the afternoon and shared the second evening of phone sex with Brian.  Tonight's call was longer than the night before as he didn't expect Jake to be home until at least 2:00.  He finished the call and went immediately to sleep on the couch.  As promised Jake was quiet when he came in and Justin barely stirred.

The next morning, he rose before Jake and left a short note thanking him for the visit on the kitchen table, and quietly grabbed his small bag as he made his way to the subway and to Carol's office.  He'd planned on taking the bus directly to the airport after his interviews so he had to bring his bag with him. It was a hassle traveling like that but he'd traveled with his suitcase many a time and today he was happy since he'd be going home to Brian.  As he frequently reminded himself, this was not some weekend trip or an extended visit, but he was going home and this made him very happy. 

The first critic came in and sat down across from Justin.  He was a balding man in his mid 40's but was impeccably dressed and smiled brightly.

"Carol tells me you have been painting for only a short time.  How did you know you wanted to be an artist?"

"I've always liked art.  My mom and I used to go to the Carnegie Museum of Art when I was young.  I used to take art classes there and I remember many Saturdays spent just eyeing the beautiful pieces."

"So you started young."

"Yes."

"Did you have a favorite piece?"

"Well, I always loved the paintings.  I remember being fascinated by how old they were and yet they still touched my soul."

"You paint?"

"Yes and I sketch."

And the interview continued for about 20 minutes.  Justin silently thanked Carol as he realized she had kept her word and invited open critics that just wanted background information on the newest artist to be seen in New York.  He hoped their interviews would prove helpful in preparing the public for his show.  The second interview was similar to the first, but the critic was a woman.  He decided that he liked her better than the man, but that was probably because they spent a good deal of time talking about pizza before the interview started.  Maybe he'd been wrong and this wasn't going to be so bad.  He had one more interview and then he was free to go to the airport and take the 2:00 flight to Pittsburgh. 

He was seated at the small white table with a glass of water.  He'd just returned from the bathroom and had grabbed a granola bar as he waited for the last critic to come to see him.  The man walked into the room and was looking down as he finished reading a text on his phone.  The minute he looked at Justin, he knew this would not be a run of the mill interview.  For in front of him was the dancer from Dancing Beauty entertainment.   His day was definitely starting out well, while Justin's day had taken a turn for the worst.

TBC