March 10

Brian walked down the street, heading back to Kinnetik after lunch at the diner, only half-listening to the two idiots beside him debate which Twilight character was hotter – Edward or Jacob. He'd rolled his eyes and just stared at Emmett and Ted blandly when they'd asked his opinion, because did he look like a fucking 'tween girl? Like he gave a shit about either of the, frankly, annoyingly whiny characters.

The only reason he even knew what they were talking about was because Jenny's best friend, Maddie, was a fan, and had spent many an hour extolling the virtues of Edward when she'd spent a couple of days at Britin with Jenny this past summer. Jenny, thankfully, had a good head on her shoulders, and just rolled her eyes along with Brian, and sighed in annoyance whenever the topic came up.

Personally, Brian couldn't understand why people were still talking about what he'd heard were mediocre books at best, followed by even worse movies. After all, whenever your lead is embarrassed at having been a part of the project, you know something's wrong. Not that it seemed to matter to the twits at his side. They just kept right on debating it, with Emmet very decidedly for Jacob and Ted for Edward.

It was ridiculous; and he was ashamed to even be see with them, let alone admit that he considered them to be his friends.

Rolling his eyes again, Brian scanned the street, looking at the passersby and then froze, halting in his tracks when they landed on a familiar face. Ted and Emmett jostled into him, forcing him to move to the edge of the sidewalk, but that was all good with him as it meant he was able to get a better look at the man across the street.

"Is that?" Brian muttered to himself, finally catching the attention of his lunch companions, and forcing them to come to a halt beside him.

"Is that what?" Emmett asked, frowning at Brian's, likely, stunned expression; and then he turned, craning his head to see around someone walking in the street, and tried to figure out what Brian was looking at. "What are you staring at?"

"You see that guy over there?" Brian asked, walking a little way down the sidewalk, following the blond man when he too started to walk down the street.

"Yeah, wow, he could double for Baby on a good day," Emmett said, his voice filled with hushed awe as he followed Brian.

"So you're seeing it too?" Brian asked, looking over his shoulder at his companions; he was fairly certain that this was 'Blaine,' but he didn't want to bother the man if it wasn't.

"How could you miss it?" Ted said; he too seemed blown away by the similarities and that just cemented Brian's belief that this was the man they were looking for. "If I hadn't gotten a good look at the front of him, and realized that he wasn't pregnant, I would swear that was Justin. Hell, he could easily pass for him at a distance with the right clothes."

"Wait here, I need to speak to him," Brian said, holding his hand up as he crossed the street, quickening his pace so that he was almost jogging after the man, as he didn't want to lose him. "Blaine…Blaine Swanson!"

He called it out a few of times before getting a reaction, cementing his belief that it wasn't the man's true name; but he could immediately tell when the man realized Brian was talking to him as he seemed to freeze, and then he turned around slowly, his eyes widening as they landed on Brian. The color drained from his face, and then, he shook his head once, and then shook it again, and turned on his heel and ran through the gathered lunch crowd, quickly making his way down the street

"Shit!" Brian cursed under his breath, and then picked up his pace and gave chase, running as fast as he dared on the slick sidewalks in his dress shoes; but 'Blaine' not only had a head start, he also had better shoes and the crowd on his side as they meandered and wove in front of Brian, making him scream in frustration. "Get the fuck out of my way, you fucking assholes!"

People startled and then, realizing he was trying to get around them, finally started moving to the edges of the sidewalk, allowing Brian to pass. But it was of no use in the end; by the time he'd broken free of the crowd, 'Blaine' was long gone, taking with him any chance of Brian finding out more of that asshole that was stalking his husband.

"Fuck!" Brian cursed again, throwing his hands up in the air and then letting them fall to squeeze the side of his head in mounting frustration. He glared at the passersby that had stop to stare at him, sending them all scurrying back down the walk. Good, because right now, he so wasn't in the mood to deal with them. "Fucking assholes!"

Brian turned back to where he'd last seen Blaine, and looked up and down the street, frantically searching for a distinctive shade of blond hair; but as he'd already suspected, 'Blaine' wasn't anywhere to be seen. And then he mumbled self-deprecatingly to himself. "Well, of course, he isn't; what did you expect, Taylor-Kinney? That he'd greet you with open arms? He made the tip anonymously for a reason."

He huffed and then pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to get his breathing and temper under control as Emmett and Ted finally made their way up to him. Taking one last look around, he set off to meet the two of them, beyond irritated that he'd lost the trail of someone that could finally pin that asshole down.

"Brian," Emmett wheezed, and then took another deep breath as they continued walking down the street back towards his offices. "Jesus, you can move when you want to."

"What the hell was that about?" Ted asked; and he looked winded too. Although, considering that he'd been on paternity leave and spending all his time dealing with Luc, Blake and trying to find time to sleep, Brian couldn't fault him on it. Some things were just more important than the gym.

"Nothing," Brian bit out, not really wanting to get into it; not that he expected the peace to last for long given the two gossip queens at his side. Even now he could see them eyeing each other. "Don't worry about it." And amazingly, they didn't say anything at first, letting Brian stew. He couldn't believe he had been that close. If only… "Fuck! If only those assholes hadn't gotten in my way, I would have had him."

"And this is a good thing?" Emmett asked; and, oh goody, the interrogation begins; Brian ignored the blatant digging for information. But again, Emmett and gossip? Like a fucking terrier with a bone. "You knew his name; that was surprising."

"I know him," Brian shrugged; he knew eventually he'd fill them in; if for no other reason than they could also keep an eye out for 'Blaine' and contact him if they run into him.

"Know him, or have had him?" Ted smirked, snickering when Brian glared at him; he really missed the days when Ted had been afraid of his temper.

Ted's newfound confidence after he started working at Kinnetik had been both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because he could take over a client meeting without even thinking about it and easily win over an account. But it was a curse because it meant that more often than not, he no longer feared Brian's wrath and would just roll his eyes at Brian's demands and walk out of his office without hesitation.

"Does it matter?" Brian asked, still hedging on giving them information, even though he knows that he can trust them to keep his confidence.

"Well, considering you were actually chasing your Justin clone down the street in front of everyone," Emmett said, arching a brow at him. "Something you would never do by the way; I'd say that yes, it very much matters. What is it with cute, little blonds with bubble butts that prompt you to chase them?"

And Brian couldn't help but smile a bit at that; because he knew that, while Emmett didn't actually believe that Brian was chasing the blond for nefarious reasons, he was making sure to watch out for Justin's interests. That was why, while he sighed at the idea of saying anything, he would do it anyways.

"I've been with him before," Brian admitted reluctantly, ignoring the 'well, duh' look that crossed both Emmett's and Ted's face. "A few times actually." And that bit garnered more of a reaction. "After Justin and I broke…ended things during the Rage-Party."

"Ohhhh," Emmett drew the word out and stared at Brian in surprise. Ted seemed equally astounded by the news. Brian pinched the bridge of his nose.

"And if either of you mention that to anyone, I will fucking end you," his hissed, glaring at them both, because like hell did he want that getting out; or worse, getting back to Justin. While Justin was well aware that Brian had been tricking up a storm back then, he'd never known about the hustler.

And honestly, Brian still wasn't sure why he'd never told him. Although, back then it was likely because he was trying to save face; and then as time had passed, he'd actually forgotten all about 'Blaine. And while he wasn't planning to keep it from Justin, he wanted to make sure the news came from him, not his friends, or worse, a stranger.

"My lips are sealed, Big Bad," Emmett said, miming a zipping motion over his lips; Brian arched a brow at Ted, who nodded his agreement as Emmett continued. "I didn't hear a thing."

"So, you wanted to what?" Ted asked, looking a bit confused as to why that would matter. And it didn't accept for in the fact that it meant that someone had used 'Blaine' as a substitute for Justin just as he'd done. "Make sure that he kept his mouth shut?"

"He may have information on the stalker," Brian admitted quietly, looking around to make certain no one was nearby to hear him; he certainly did not want to pull a Mikey and broadcast that news to the entire Avenue. Both Emmett and Ted sobered immediately at that news. "The detective working the case got a tip from someone that mentioned… that time."

"Shit," Ted cursed under his breath; he swiped a hand over his face as they walked through Kinnetik's doors, and made a beeline for Brian's office.

"Exactly," Brian stated softly, nodding at the random person walking through the halls. "They're trying to track him down to see if he could give them a sketch or additional information on the person. So, when I saw him…I don't know what I was thinking; I should have just called the detective. That would have been the smarter thing to do. Now, he's probably going to know that we're looking for him and… Fuck!"

"Well, maybe this will prompt him to get back in touch with the detective?" Emmett said in a hopeful voice, but his expression belied his tone. And maybe it would; but that wasn't really what was on Brian's mind at the moment. No, what he was thinking about was - what if the stalker had been around to see his little performance on the street?

"That's not the biggest problem," Brian huffed, throwing himself into his chair. "I should have…we know this asshole is watching us; what if he saw that? I could have just tipped him off without even thinking of the repercussions…"

"Hey," Emmett said, cutting him off with a no nonsense frown. "Don't think that way. You don't know that; and thinking that way will just drive you mad in the end."

They all stared at each other in silence, not sure what to say. And then Emmett grimaced, and looked ill about something.

"So, the stalker has been seeing…" Emmett began, testing the words out on his tongue.

"Fucking," Brian corrected him, cutting that thought short. Because from what he understood, it had only been a one time event; he could be wrong however. After all, it should have been a one time only event for him as well and it…hadn't been. Brian shuddered; he hated having anything in common with this asshole. "He fucked this guy, pretending that he was fucking Justin; you can say it."

"Well, that's not creepy at all," Emmett muttered, and then looked apologetic as he obviously was remembering what Brian had confessed to earlier. Brian just shrugged.

"Tell me about it," Brian muttered, looking at his phone; he'd tried messaging Justin again, hoping that unlike earlier today, his husband would answer him. But after nearly a minute of silence, Brian huffed. "And of course, the fucking twat isn't picking up his phone today."

Brian briefly considered calling Justin; but he knew that if Justin wasn't answering his texts, then his phone was likely shut off. And calling the house phone was pointless as Anna was usually doing the grocery shopping at this time. She couldn't answer it, and Justin wouldn't hear it if he was in his studio.

"Then go home," Ted said, shrugging when Brian looked at him incredulously.

"I can't," Brian huffed, looking at the growing pile of shit on his desk, and knowing that he had another three hours or more work to go, just to get through this. That didn't include the meeting he needed to have with Murph, and the conference call he had scheduled for ColdFusion Gelato. "I have a ton of shit…"

"That can be taken care of by me or Cynthia," Ted interrupted, one brow arched; and there it was again; his independence and confidence asserting itself as he all but ordered Brian to go home. He would have never had the balls to do that before. "So go home, and reassure yourself that Justin is fine."

And truthfully, Brian was almost willing to listen at this point, as he knew that he'd have trouble concentrating until he talked to the twat that wouldn't answer his fucking phone.

"It's your first day back…" Brian protested one last time, but it was weak at best; evident by the way Ted just smirked at his halfhearted excuse.

"Job security," Ted quipped, his eyes dancing with laughter as Brian flipped him off. "You can't fire me if you need me."

Brian rolled his eyes, but did grab the stack of files on his desk and began sorting through them, putting the ones that could be handled later, when he was at home, in his briefcase and handing off the ones that needed to immediate attention to Ted. He signed a couple of necessary purchase orders, and then he closed his briefcase and left before anyone had the chance to stop him.

… … … … …

Brian pulled up into the garage at Britin and then sat there for a minute after the mechanical door closed. He was surprised that Justin hadn't come out to investigate what was going on, but then decided that he was likely holed up in the studio or the nursery with his iPod buds in his ears, playing music at decibels that would drown out an elephant stampede, let alone the garage door.

He opened the door to the car, grabbed his briefcase and climbed out the car, closing the door and locking it with the fob. He walked swiftly over to the door, opened it and entered the house, the tension from earlier sliding away almost instantaneously. Setting his overcoat and briefcase aside, Brian cocked his head and followed the strains of soft music to the living room and then smiled to find Justin curled up on the couch, with an obscene number of pillows supporting his back.

Brian smiled as he watched Justin slowly and gently massaging stretch mark oil into his skin, his eyes closed as he hummed along with the music pouring out of his iPod speakers. He watched him for a moment, as Justin sang and talked quietly to Sunbeam; and it was so fucking adorable that Brian couldn't resist joining him.

Quietly walking over towards Justin, Brian took off his suit jacket and set it aside, and then unbuttoned the cuffs of his shirt and rolled them up. He dipped down and kissed the smile that told him that Justin had been aware of his presence from the beginning. Smiling in return, Brian pulled back and met Justin's eyes as they slowly slid open.

"You're beautiful, you know that?" Brian said, nuzzling his nose against Justin's, whose smile broadened until it was damn near blinding.

"You're home early," Justin murmured, pressing a soft kiss to his jaw, and then biting him playfully on the chin. "What's the occasion?"

"I just needed to see you," Brian shrugged, knowing his answer hadn't really reassured Justin, but he really didn't want to get into it right now. "Scoot forward; let me do that."

Justin just sent him a look that said they would be talking about it later, and then moved forward enough space to allow Brian to slide in behind him. Brian kicked off his shoes and then climbed onto the coach, positioning his legs on either side of Justin's hips. Justin scooted back and leaned up against Brian's chest, humming happily when Brian slicked up his hands with oil and took over his massage.

"Mmmm…that feels so good," Justin sighed, tipping his head back against Brian's shoulder. Brian smiled and kissed just under Justin's jaw. "I love when you do that."

Brian continued to massage his stomach, running through the various exercises that the masseuse taught him, interspersing it with kisses along Justin's neck and jaw, and caresses over his chest and arms, until Justin was warm and pliant against him. Pressing a kiss to the lobe of Justin's ear, Brian finished the massage up before sliding hands down toward the waistband of Justin's track pants.

"Me too," Brian confessed softly, sliding his hands down into Justin's pants, drawing a low moan from his lips as Brian palmed his cock with one hand and rolled his balls in the other. "But I always love anything that gives me free access to your body."

"I don't think that this was part of the massage techniques they taught you," Justin teased, his voice going breathy as Brian continued to slide his fingers along and over Justin's bare cock and balls, the lingering oil on his hands easing the way.

"I'm improvising," Brian smirked, slipping his fingers past Justin's balls to tease along the perineum, his dick already hardening at the thought of Justin riding him just like this.

"I do so love when you get creative," Justin purred, groaning as Brian pushed his track pants down far enough that he could kick them off, leaving him completely bare from the waist down; and soon to be totally nude as soon as Brian got his shirt off.

"Well, then," Brian said, shoving his dark thoughts from earlier away as his hands roamed over his husband's body. "I should get started on that then.

And Brian did just that, playing his husband's body like a fine instrument, enjoying every sigh, cry and gasp that spilled over his lips. He'd tell Justin about the hustler later. Right now, he just wanted feel Justin's body against his and know that nothing could take this man from him.