Net Friends

Chapter 1

Justin closed his sketchbook with a sigh. It just wasn't working tonight. Everything he drew looked like shit. Brian was out with Michael and the guys, probably at Woody's. He wished now that he had gone, but he really hadn't felt like it. He also knew that Brian needed some time with his friends.

Since Brian had lost his job they had far too much time together. Brian was freelancing and working from home while he shopped his resume around. Justin had managed to make the necessary apologies and get back into PIFA. He had done that without compromising all of his principles. He frowned thinking about the apology he had sent to Gardner Vance and the carefully worded almost apology that had gone to Stockwell. That still grated on him. Brian had told him to do it and had even helped him write it. There was an implied apology without actually saying it. The disciplinary board at PIFA had accepted it and sent it on to Stockwell. Nothing further had been heard from the chief of police who was now embroiled in the scandal about his former partner and Dumpster Boy. Justin wondered how soon Stockwell would be forced to resign. It served him right.

Justin stood up and stretched. He went to his computer and decided to surf the net a bit. He looked at some of his favorite sites, stopping at Art Nouveau, a site for young artists to chat, share ideas and talk about their work. He read some of the messages on the discussion board.

His favorite artist happened to be on line. His handle was Pablo's Pet because he admired Picasso. Each person on the site chose a name that had to do with an artist they admired. Justin's nickname was Freudian Slip because he admired the work of Lucien Freud. Justin typed in a request and IM'd Pet.

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Pet: Hey dude, haven't talked to you in a bit. What R U working on these days?

Slip: Just work for school. My muse has departed for points unknown.

Pet: Too bad.

Slip: Yeah, it is and I'm stuck here all by myself.

Pet: Can I help?

Slip: Not really, but you can talk to me.

Pet: What do you want to talk about?

Slip: I don't know. I'm just feeling restless.

Pet: Where's the boyfriend?

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Justin chuckled. Pet always called Brian "the boyfriend" ever since Justin had told him about the man he lived with.

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Slip: Out with friends.

Pet: And he left you all alone? Is he stupid or what?

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Justin chuckled again. Brian would not like being referred to as stupid, but sometimes he was, especially in matters of the heart. Pet always marveled that Justin would stay with someone who treated him the way Brian did. Pet seemed to understand Justin in a way that Brian never did.

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Pet: U still there?

Slip: Sorry … I was thinking.

Pet: About what?

Slip: About how you say the sweetest things.

Pet: I do? I only speak the truth.

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Justin laughed. Pet always made him feel better.

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Slip: You always know how to cheer me up.

Pet: That's my mission in life.

Slip: And quite a mission it is! (Laughing)

Pet: I'm not kidding. You deserve the best.

Slip: How would you know that? You've never met me.

Pet: I get a real feel for you over the net. You're sweet.

Slip: Thanks, so R U.

Pet: We should meet sometime. We're kindred spirits.

Slip: I'd like that. I feel like I know you already.

Pet: You do.

Slip: I have to go. My boyfriend will be back soon.

Pet: Hot date?

Slip: He doesn't do dates.

Pet: Is he crazy or what?

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Justin laughed out loud.

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Slip: You thought he was stupid a few minutes ago.

Pet: Crazy, stupid! I don't think he deserves you.

Slip: Neither do I sometimes. Anyway, gotta go.

Pet: If you ever want to talk just let me know. I'm always here for you.

Slip: Thanks. I'll keep that in mind.

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Justin logged off. He liked talking to Pet. He always made Justin feel great about himself, especially when Brian didn't.

Justin decided to climb into bed and read for awhile. He hoped Brian would be home soon. They could fuck and maybe he'd feel better. He hated it when he felt restless and unsatisfied. It was sort of like this before he found Ethan. Shit! Where did that come from? He pushed the thought out of his head and picked up his book to read.

The book was "Wuthering Heights", supposedly the greatest love story, timeless. The language was impossible, some sort of dialect. Justin had no idea why anyone would want to be with the oaf Heathcliff. Maybe he was better when he was with Cathy, but early in the story he just seemed surly and uncommunicative, a bit like someone else he knew.

He put the book on the nightstand and slid down in the bed. His hand gravitated to a certain spot and he began stroking himself. He was getting close when he heard the loft door slide back. He stopped and sat up.

"Brian?" he called.

"Were you expecting someone else?" Brian said making his way up the steps.

"No," Justin giggled.

Brian sat on the edge of the bed and kissed Justin. He tasted like cigarettes and bourbon with a scent that was uniquely Brian.

"Someone started without me," Brian singsonged, his hand having found Justin's erection.

"I missed you," Justin said huskily.

"We can take care of that."

"Can we?"

"Uh huh."

Brian's hand continued to stroke through the sheet. Justin slumped back against the pillow allowing the sensations to sweep through him. He moaned softly and licked his lips.

"Want me to finish you off this way?"

"Blowjob," Justin gasped.

Brian threw back the covers and his bare hand grasped Justin's purple cock. The boy arched up and almost came. He emitted a long moan.

"Easy," Brian whispered kissing him and keeping his hand still, but wrapped firmly around Justin's throbbing dick. "I'm going to make you feel so good."

Brian slid down and his soft, warm mouth engulfed Justin's cock. He held it there allowing the heat and saliva and air to surround it. He heard Justin sigh. Softly at first he slid his lips up and down the shaft. He held the mushroom head in his mouth running his tongue through the slit. Justin arched again and cried out. Brian slid his mouth down burying his nose in Justin's pubic hair. He sniffed and then opened his mouth to blow out a breath. Justin grabbed his hair. Brian began to work up and down more firmly and rapidly. He could feel Justin's cock swell even more. His hand cupped Justin's balls and rolled them around.

Justin felt like the world was spinning out of control. Brian could do things to his body that no one else could. He felt Brian grasp his sac and squeeze and he cried out. He was so close. Brian licked along the throbbing vein on his dick and then sucked it from top to bottom. Justin grabbed Brian's hair again and pulled. Brian swallowed around his cock and Justin exploded. He felt the warm fluid shoot out from his slit and knew Brian was capturing it all in his soft mouth. He felt Brian suck the last of it out of him and he let out a long breath, finally able to breathe again.

Brian lay down beside him and pulled him close. "I'm going to fuck your brains out as soon as you recover."

Justin managed a little huff of laughter. This was one of the amazing things about Brian. He could be sweet and sensitive one minute and then rough and hard the next. Justin loved it both ways. In fact, he loved it any way he could get it from Brian. If only every other part of their relationship was as easy as sex. Justin sighed again as he felt Brian's hand start to stroke him back to erection. He was ready for another go. This one would be very different from the blowjob, and that was just fine.

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Justin awoke and glanced at the clock. It was five in the morning, still dark and he was alone. Where was Brian? He sat up and saw a light at Brian's computer desk. The man was sitting there, maybe working.

"Brian?" Justin said getting up and wrapping the sheet around him.

"Go back to sleep," Brian said bluntly.

"Is something wrong?" Justin asked as he came down the steps.

"I couldn't sleep. I thought I'd do a little work."

"I missed you."

Brian sighed. "Go back to bed."

"What's going on?" Justin asked trying to understand why Brian was being so distant when they had been so close only a short time ago.

"Nothing's going on. Go to sleep," Brian insisted.

"But…"

"Just stop. I'm fine. Go to bed."

Justin knew there wasn't much chance of getting anywhere with Brian when he was in this frame of mind. He pulled the sheet tighter and made his way up to the bedroom. He wished Brian would talk to him instead of treating him like a little kid and sending him to bed.

He wondered if Brian was worried about finances. They had been economizing as best they could. Brian was bringing in money but nowhere near what he made at Vangard. Justin hoped somebody would hire Brian to a better job soon. He knew that Brian hated having to count pennies. It went against everything he had worked his whole life for.

Justin wanted to help and he brought in some money from his job at the diner, but things were still tight. He wanted to talk to Brian about where they were going but Brian always cut him off. He wanted to be included in things, and not just the good things. He wondered if Brian would ever treat him as an equal. Probably not until he became an equal in earning power, and when would that day ever come? He sighed and curled up under the covers. He hoped he could get an hour or two more of sleep. He didn't want to think about this stuff anymore.

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Justin walked down the hallway to his next class. As he rounded the corner he bumped into someone and heard some books hit the floor.

"Sorry," he said as he turned to see who it was. He was about to bend over to help pick up the books when the tone of voice stopped him.

"Fucking idiot, don't you ever watch where you're going?" a rather handsome young man demanded, apparently not at all pleased about having Justin crash into him.

"I said I was sorry," Justin said turning away and deciding to get out of there in a hurry.

"Fucking faggot!" he heard called to him as he walked away.

Shit! He had thought he'd got away from all that crap when he left St. James. He felt a tear on his cheek and quickly wiped it away. Jesus, why was he letting that asshole upset him so much. He passed the computer lab and hesitated. He should go to his class on "Wuthering Heights" but he had read very little of the novel finding it boring, incomprehensible and totally uninteresting. He made a quick decision and went into the lab finding a vacant computer. He logged on and went to Art Nouveau. He hoped Picasso's Pet would be on line. He needed to talk to someone.

Luck was with him and he initiated an IM session.

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Slip: I'm so glad you're here.

Pet: I told you I'm always here for you. What's wrong?

Slip: How do you know something's wrong?

Pet: U don't usually start out that way unless there is.

Slip: Really? U can tell by my first words?

Pet: Yep. So what's going on?

Slip: I'm at school and somebody just called me a faggot because I ran into him accidentally.

Pet: That's the shits.

Slip: Yeah, I thought that wouldn't happen here at a fine arts college.

Pet: I wouldn't have thought so either, but you never know where homophobic assholes will turn up.

Slip: No, U don't. Have U ever had that happen to you?

Pet: Yeah, I'm at a regular university taking art. It happens a lot with the jocks.

Slip: Remember that well … from my high school days.

Pet: Not much fun is it?

Slip: U got that right.

Pet: I try to remember how ignorant they are and then plot my revenge.

Slip: U plan revenge against them?

Pet: Yep, and it calms me right down when I work out the perfect punishment for them.

Slip: But U never carry it out, do you?

Pet: Once or twice.

Slip: NO!!!!!!!!!

Pet: Just kidding.

Slip: What kind of punishments do U devise?

Pet: Hmm, let me see? Once this guy asked me out and then left me sitting in a restaurant for a couple of hours. Just never showed up. No phone call. Nothing. I was pissed and embarrassed.

Slip: So what was the revenge?

Pet: I sent him some chocolates.

Slip: Chocolates? That doesn't sound like much of a revenge.

Pet: There was a little more to it.

Slip: Like what?

Pet: They were injected with something.

Slip: What?

Pet: Fill it in with the worst thing you can think of.

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Justin didn't know what that might be but he immediately thought of poison.

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Slip: You're kidding, right?

Pet: Maybe.

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Justin didn't like the way this was going. He never thought about this side of Pet. He always seemed so nice and kind.

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Pet: Are U there?

Slip: Yeah. What actually did you put in the chocolates?

Pet: Nothing. I told U that it was devised in my head.

Slip: So U never actually did any of this?

Pet: Of course not. Sounds like I had U going there for a minute, but I would have used poison if I was really going to do this.

Slip: But U wouldn't really do it, would U?

Pet: Of course not. I'm a nice guy.

Slip: Right! I should have known better than to think…

Pet: It's a joke.

Slip: Sure.

Pet: So do U feel better? Did I take your mind off what happened?

Slip: Yeah.

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Justin grinned to himself. Pet was a riot. For a minute he had actually thought that Pet might have done what he said, but he should have known better.

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Pet: Glad I could cheer U up.

Slip: How come you're always here when I need you?

Pet: I'm talented.

Slip: That's for sure. Gotta go, another class. Talk to U later.

Pet: Bye.

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Justin logged off. He wondered how Pet had so much time to spend on the computer. Justin sure didn't. He was always on line when Justin went looking for him. Justin didn't know how Pet did it but at the moment he was glad that Pet had been there for him.