Justin heaved a frustrated sigh, his head pounding to the beat of the music next door, making him wish he had something sharp to impale himself on just so he could end his misery. He really regretted letting his migraine medication prescription lapse on days like this; but given the fact that he was putting himself through school, art supplies seemed more important than meds he used, maybe, every few months.

Scrubbing his hand through his hair, he glared at the thin dorm room wall between him and his most obnoxious neighbor; a man that was at least four years older than him, but still didn’t seem to have a clue about life or what he wanted out of it. And seriously, if he had to listen to him whine one more time about how difficult his life was because his mother didn't get him everything he wanted, he might just commit homicide.

Fucker; at least he had a mother that cared.

Not that his mother didn’t; she was as supportive as she could be. But with his twelve-year-old sister to support because his father was a deadbeat asshole who took off with his secretary, she could only supply him with a few necessities. And Justin hated even taking those from her because he knew that she rarely had any money left over for herself.

Exhaling explosively, Just growled under his breath as yet another song queued, and more heavy bass filled the room, making his walls shake. Seriously, what the fuck was wrong with this guy? Did he think he was at fucking Babylon?

Trying to tune the blaring music out, Justin stared at his notes for his Art History class, but the words just blurred together. And had been since he’d started this venture in an effort to forget a certain sexy brunet. Biting his bottom lip, his mind slipped back to those last few minutes with Brian in the studio, where the beautiful man was so close he could smell his shampoo, soap and the remnants of his cologne. God he smelled so good.

And he bet he tasted even better.

Justin closed his eyes, shivering as he remembered the heat of Brian’s body so close to him, and the way his breath felt as it puffed against his skin. How he could almost feel the brunet’s lips on his, and how they brushed for what seemed like a split second, warm and full and so fucking addictive, Justin had nearly grabbed Brian and dragged him down to the cold, concrete floor with him.

He could just imagine the way those soft hands would feel on his skin, judging by those all too brief touches earlier. The way they’d slide down, divesting him of his clothing and cupping his ass as he ground that beautiful cock against his. Fuck. He bet it’d be amazing.

And then fucking Ethan had to ruin it all by dropping his case outside the door.

He’d been so close to tasting those lips, only to be cockblocked by his idiot roommate. And what the fuck he had even been doing there, he didn’t know, as the music studios were on the opposite side of the building; and he didn’t care. He only cared that the asshole was there and that he’d interfered in Justin getting exactly what he’d wanted since the first time he’d seen Brian.

Fucking Ethan. He’d been so close to shoving his foot up his ratty, flat ass; but then Justin figured he’d like it too much and refrained.

And then the sound of thumpa thumpa broke through his thoughts once again, ratcheting his headache up another notch. Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with this guy?

Snarling at the wall next to his bed, Justin tossed his book aside and got up, his stomach rolling as pain spiked behind his eyes at the sudden movement. Fuck that hurt. Pressing his fingers to his eyes, he rubbed, trying to ease the pressure behind them, but it did little good when the dickhead next door kept playing his fucking, stupid ass music at deafening decibels.

Don’t get him wrong; he enjoyed the thumpa thumpa as well. In the right place at the right time. Meaning in a fucking club and not in a dorm room at 9:30 p.m. on a Monday night.

Storming to his door, Justin ripped it open and marched over to the asshole’s door, ignoring his dorm mates hurriedly skittering out of his way. Banging on the door, in an effort to be heard, and not because he was imaging that it was the dickwad’s head; he waited, tapping his foot until he heard a faint scuffling.

“Listen asshole,” Justin began as soon as the door opened, not even bothering to see who it was in front of him. He was just that fucked off and he didn’t really care at this point. “I’ve asked you, politely I’ll remind you, to turn the fucking music down twice; and now, I’m done being nice. If you don’t turn your fucking music down, I will report you to the RA and let Ben hound...your...ass…”

Justin trailed off, and stared in confusion as a familiar face swam in front of him

“Taylor,” Brian said, arching a brow as he stared at him with faint amusement.

“Brian…” Justin said, a small frown on his face as he tried to figure out why he was standing there in asshole’s room. Because he knew that he didn’t live there or he would have noticed him a whole lot sooner. “What are you doing here? You...I know you don’t live here; do you?”

Justin looked at the brunet with a great deal of bewilderment, wondering if he’d just been missing him somehow.

“Nope,” Brian gleefully said, tossing a smirk over his shoulder at a shorter brunet that Justin had simply dubbed the asshole; or the moron, or the whiny bastard that didn’t appreciate what he had depending on his mood. “Sadly, I’m the asshole’s best friend; I just stopped by for a visit.”

“Brian!” the asshole whined; and God, hasn’t anyone ever told him that there was nothing attractive about a grown man sounding like a fucking six-year-old told to share his favorite toy.

“What?” Brian sniggered; Asshole just scowled at his obvious mirth. “Can’t deal with the truth? You know, it’s actually nice not being the asshole for once in this situation.”

“Whatever,” Justin cut in, ignoring the bitchy stare Asshole sent his way; he just wanted to be done with this before it could deteriorate into acidic banter between the two friends. “Just turn the music down or I go to Ben.”

“Why should I?” Asshole asked belligerently, making Justin want to walk up and pop him in the nose. But he figured the resulting whine fest would be much worse than the music so, again, he refrained. Brian just arched a brow and rolled his eyes.

“Because it’s nearly fucking ten at night and some of us have an exam first thing in the morning.” Justin spat between grit teeth; and then moaned and pressed his hand to his temple when pain spiked behind his eyes again.

“Mikey, turn the fucking music down,” Brian ordered, all levity gone from his expression as he peered down into Justin’s face. “You okay?”

“Just a headache,” Justin waved him off; but Brian wasn’t having any of it. He grabbed Justin by the neck and began rubbing the knotted muscles.

And Justin wanted to do nothing more than to rest his head against the brunet’s chest and let him work his magic until Justin was an incomprehensible puddle of goo. But music. Which was still pounding away in the room; and judging by the looks from people passing the open doorway, he wasn’t the only one fed up by it. So, Justin fixed a glare onto Asshole, (he refused to call him Mikey), and continued through clenched teeth.

“Which likely would have gone away by now, if someone had fucking listened and turned the music down the first time I asked him to.”

“Fuck you,” Asshole spat, glaring at Justin for all he was worth.

“Not in a million years, dickwad,” Justin said, looking the other man over with a snide smile; he supposed he was cute in a boy-next-door sort of way, but his attitude killed any shred of attractiveness he may have had. “I’d rather have my dick shrivel up and fall off.”

Brian snorted at the comment; but quickly sobered when he caught Asshole’s offended glare.

“Enough,” Brian commanded; and then he shook his head and it sounded like he muttered something that sounded like, ’surrounded by fucking drama princesses,’ but Justin couldn’t be sure. He glared at him nonetheless; which Brian blithely ignored.

“Mikey, don’t be a dick. Turn the fucking music down; it’s nearly curfew anyways,” he continued and glared at Asshole until he reluctantly did so; then he turned to Justin, his expression softening with sympathy. Not an emotion he wanted from him, but he’d take it right now. “As for you; let’s find you some Tylenol, Taylor.”

“Can’t,” Justin muttered, rubbing his hand over his eyes. “Allergic to it.”

Brian stared at him in complete bewilderment, “How the fuck is anyone…” But he trailed off when Justin just shrugged; it’s not like he had any say in what his body decided was poison and therefore must be attacked. “Okay, fine, what about Aspirin; will that work?” Justin nodded and then winced when that made his head hurt even worse. “Good; let’s go.”

“But Brian…” Asshole whined; and seriously, he was just seconds away from being mincemeat if he didn’t can it with the whining. There was only so much of it that Justin was willing to tolerate.

Brian was obviously immune to it, however, as he just waved Asshole off like this happened every day. And based on the petulant expression on his face, it likely did. God, how did Brian put up with it? If Daphne had even thought of whining as much as this man-child, he would have gone all tough love on her and told her to grow some fucking balls.

And then he’d die, because Daphne was vicious when she was fucked off. But he’d do it for the good of mankind, even if it meant poking the sleeping tiger.

“Later Mikey,” Brian called as he ushered Justin out the door; and Justin could feel Asshole’s malevolent glare stabbing him in the back of the neck; but fuck him. If he’d been decent and just turned the music down in the first place, his best friend would still be sitting in his room, listening to him whine. “I’ll see you at Ma’s for Sunday dinner.”

And with that Brian closed the door on Asshole’s bitching and steered Justin down the hall, his hand firmly planted on the nape of his neck.

“He’s your brother?” Justin asked incredulously, trying to parse his mind around the idea that this divine creature somehow got stuck with that for a sibling.

Brian snorted; okay, maybe not.

“Nope; we’ve been best friends since we were fourteen,” he said as he led him over to Ben’s door; and then pulled Justin against his chest when they stopped in front of it. “But his mother practically raised me, so I always call her Ma.”

Justin just made a muffled sound of acknowledgement and buried his face into Brian’s chest; and he really wished he could enjoy the way Brian’s breath hitched at the movement. But alas, headache from hell. Brian wrapped his arm around his shoulder and held him there for a moment before knocking on the door, which, thankfully, opened right away.

“Hey Ben, you have any Aspirin?” Brian greeted. Justin couldn’t help wondering how they knew each other; especially as he knew Ben was a literature major and Brian was in the business program. But the thought slipped away quickly. “Taylor here has a bitch of a headache and he can’t take Tylenol due to his allergies.”

“Uh, no,” Ben said, and Justin could feel his gaze on him, but he didn’t look up. “I have Motrin?”

“Justin?” Brian asked, obviously wondering if that was safe for him to take; instead of answering, he simply nodded and snuggled further into Brian’s chest.

What? He might be in pain, but he wasn’t above using it to his advantage.

“That would be great, Ben,” Brian said, answering for Justin as he smoothed his fingers along Justin’s neck.

At that point, Ben must have gone back into his room, as he could hear the rattle of a box, and then he came back and handed Brian what he could only assume were some pill packets. Justin lifted his head and, yup, that’s what they were. He turned to Ben with a weak smile.

“Thanks, Ben,” Justin said, and then nearly groaned when he detected a flash of interest in his eyes; once upon a time, he might have tapped that, but since Brian...well, no one compared.

Brian tightened his arm around him in a distinctly possessive manner, pulling Justin into his body as if to tell the other man, ‘hands fucking off; this one is mine.’ And was that a growl? It sounded like a growl. Whatever it was, it was kinda sexy and Ben backed off real fast and wished them a good evening before quickly shutting the door.

“Yeah, thanks, Bruckner,” Brian muttered to the closed door and then gently led Justin back down the hall to his room. “Let’s go get you settled, Picasso. And if Mikey is still blaring his music, I’ll beat his ass for you.”

Justin snorted, but allowed himself to be led away. They entered his still open doorway, and he cringed at the realization that he’d forgotten to close it. Luckily, nothing seemed amiss. Thank God. He didn’t need Ethan bitching at him right now if something were to turn up missing or damaged.

Leading him to his bed, Brian settled him down on it and then walked over to a mini-fridge that had definitely seen better days, and pulled out a bottle of water. He walked back over, opened the pill packets, and handed him four, along with the opened bottle of water. Justin hesitated instinctually, normally not one to take an open bottle or pills from someone he barely knew, but shook it off as he’d been watching Brian the entire time.

And even if he hadn’t, he was surprised to note that he trusted this man to keep him safe.

Justin took the pills and drank most of the water; then he handed the bottle to Brian, who capped it and set it on the nightstand. He watched as Brian crawled onto his bed, wondering what he was planning to do. An answer that came immediately as Brian leaned back against the headboard and gestured to Justin, who was still sitting on the edge of the bed.

“Come here,” Brian said softly; Justin sighed and crawled between Brian’s legs and then flipped around until his head was resting against Brian’s chest.

Without a word, Brian ran his hands soothingly over Justin’s neck and then began to gently, and methodically, knead Justin’s scalp, temples, and neck, massaging out any knots that had built up over the day. Justin sighed in contentment as the competent hands working on his tense muscles, and the meds he’d taken, finally started to do their job and the pain seemed to melt away slowly, but surely.

“God, that feels good,” Justin groaned a few minutes later as he tipped his head back, his body warm and pliant against the other man.

“Does it?” Brian asked against his ear, his touches gentling until they were more like caresses; and Justin bit his lip as those warm, slightly callused hands slid over his skin, teasing the sensitive areas behind his ears and at the nape of his neck.

“Yeah,” he murmured, stifling a gasp as Brian’s nose nuzzled his temple, and soft lips brushed over the shell of his ear, his hot breath puffing against it.

Justin stiffened for an entirely new reason now, his nerves zinging as a playful tongue flicked out and tasted the skin at the hollow behind his ear. Fuck, how was it possible for him to be so completely relaxed one second, and then in the next want to toss this man on his back and have his way with him.

Licking his lips, Justin arched and cocked his head to the side, to give Brian better access to his neck. Brian huffed softly, but obliged him, pressing soft kisses along his jaw, his hands running over his hair, cheeks, jaw and neck, anywhere he could find skin making Justin squirm and gasp, especially when one hand slid down the front of his shirt. God, he just wanted this man to touch him forever.

“Think you’re good to lie down now?” Brian asked, his voice husky as he gently raked his nails across Justin’s chest.

“Yeah,” Justin said breathlessly, groaning at the loss of those hands on his body, even if it were just for a moment.

“Good,” Brian whispered as he lowered Justin to the bed and stretched out along his side, his very interested cock pressing against Justin’s hip as he cradled his head in one hand and hovered over Justin.

Justin studied him silently, his eyes running over his face and halting at Brian’s lips for a moment before catching Brian’s eyes. God they were gorgeous; they looked almost green in this light, shot through with bronze and gold. They stared at each other for a few heartbeats before Brian slowly lowered his head, as if waiting to see if Justin would move or push him away.

Justin closed his eyes, and his breathing hitched when Brian pressed his lips to his brow, and then kissed each of his eyelids, and then his nose and then seemed to hover over his lips. His nerves crackled with anticipation as the moment drew out and he was just about to breakdown and crush his lips to Brian’s, when the other man spoke hesitantly.

“Justin...?”

He opened his eyes, and felt them nearly crossing as he tried to study Brian’s face since it was so close, but he did see enough to realize he was asking for permission. Likely because he didn’t want to take advantage due to Justin’s earlier incapacitation. 

“Yes, please…” Justin whispered, tilting his mouth a bit, and inhaling sharply when Brian’s lips lowered and just barely brushed against his.

Justin groaned and sunk his fingers into Brian’s hair, quivering in anticipation of what was to come, when the door slammed open. Cursing under his breath, Justin was so ready to kill his roommate for his inopportune arrival; especially when Brian huffed in displeasure and dropped his head to Justin’s shoulder in resignation.

“Fuck,” Justin quietly groused, tipping his head to the ceiling. “I fucking hate people.”

Brian chuckled at his obvious frustration; he lifted his head up, his eyes still blown with lust as he grinned at Justin, and whispered, “Tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow,” Justin reluctantly agreed, shooting a scathing look Ethan’s way. He didn’t know how he did it, but the little asshole always seemed to know when Justin was about to get lucky and showed his unwelcome face

“Later,” Brian whispered; he pressed his lips to Justin’s, and then scrambled up and walked out the door, blatantly ignoring a glaring Ethan.

“Later,” Justin whispered, touching his mouth as he sat up and watched Brian walk out the door.

Huffing, Justin fell back against his bed, still harder than a rock and viciously thought of all the ways he could eviscerate Ethan for his interruption. There was a reason that Justin usually went to his conquests’ places, rather than come back here. The fucker never seemed to understand the dorm code of do not enter when there was a tie on the door.

Granted, he hadn’t done that this time, but still; the slimy, little weasel could have left once he realized Justin was ‘busy.’.

“Well, didn’t you look cozy?” Ethan spat as he threw his bag on his bed and picked up his violin case.

And fuck if Justin was going to put up with his jealous, spiteful ass tonight.

“Fuck off, Ethan,” Justin sneered, turning his back to the whiny pain in his ass. “And do try to be quiet; I’m going to bed.”

“But I have to practice…” Ethan said, holding up his case

Although, why he thought he’d get away with it when it was after curfew, Justin didn’t know and didn’t care. He hadn’t put the kibosh on thumpa-thumpa man to just have his roommate fry his nerves with that caterwauling he called music. Truthfully, it sounded like a mix between cats yowling and nails scraping across a blackboard most of the time.

“Then use the fucking studios,” Justin said, flicking an impatient glare over his shoulder. “That’s what they are there for.”

“Whatever,” Ethan muttered; he gathered up his bag once more and stormed out of the room with it and his violin, slamming the door in his wake.

“Yeah, whatever.” Justin muttered, rolling his eyes at his roommate’s dramatics. He sighed, cupped his dick and gave it a rueful squeeze. “Fuck; at this rate, my dick is going to fall off due to blue balls before I can even do anything fun with it.”