[Reviews - 3] starstarstarstarstarPrinter ePub eBook
Summary: “I’m sorry,” Brian repeated, his tone serious and deliberate. “For a lot of things over the last two days. I… I didn’t know what to do with what happened before I left Pittsburgh, and I wasn’t ready to talk.” He paused, sighing. “And I don’t know how to lie to you. I haven’t for a long time, and you know that. So sometimes, it’s easier to piss you off, so you’ll leave me alone until I find enough of my remaining ball to face you -- as irrational as I know that sounds.”

“Or,” Justin said, a small smile playing on his lips, “you could say, ‘Hey Justin, I’ve got something on my mind that I’m not ready to talk about, and I need a little space.’” He gave his husband a meaningful look before continuing. “Brian, I know what you’re doing when you do it now… But what I don’t understand is why, almost two decades into our relationship, you still think the solution to anything is to push me away -- if for no reason other than it won’t fucking work.”

***

Brian gets some unexpected and difficult news and turns to his usual coping strategies. Justin knows better.
Rated: M
Categories: QAF US Characters: Brian Kinney, Daphne Chanders, Joan Kinney, Justin Taylor
Tags: 10k+ Word Count, Cancer, Established Relationship, Family, M/M, One-Shot, Post-series, Real Life Issues, Tearjerker, Vulnerable Brian
Genres: Angst, Canon, Could be Canon, Drama, Hurt/Comfort
Pairings: Brian/Justin
Challenges: None
Series: Until At Last You Know
Chapters: 1 Completed: Yes
Word count: 11295 Read: 1374
ePub Downloads: 17 Published: Jan 03, 2020 Updated: Jan 03, 2020
Story Notes:
For TrueIllusion (aka the BEST co-author EVERRRRRR)

Written for 2019 QAF Gift Exchange using the prompt: Fic fluff/schmoop, angst, canon-compliant, hurt/comfort, sexy fun times Post-series Brian/Justin, brought into the present day, with an overall hurt/comfort or angst theme (though fluff blended in is fine too). Other specifications: No anti anybody, please.

Title from "I'm Not Running" by Vertical Horizon

(For those of you who know, TrueIllusion and I co-write together a LOT. So it was quite an exercise in not only not being able to get her feedback as I wrote this, but NOT TELLING HER AT ALL. OMG. But, it's appropriate, because we MET through the Gift Exchange last year, when I wrote "The Grief That Does Not Speak" for her request. So yay, full-circle, and yay TrueIllusion! I Heart You!)

1. Every Storm Makes Us Stronger by PrettyTheWorld [Reviews - 3] starstarstarstarstar (11295 words)