"Do you mind repeating that?" Daphne demanded into the phone. "Obviously, our close proximity has affected my hearing."

Justin did an eye roll that he knew his friend couldn't see. "I said - my roommate is Brian Kinney."

Her jaw dropping open, she smiled at the student that held the door open for her... Justin's words caused her to pick up her pace. "I don't get it. You got the letter that gave you information about your roommate. It wasn't Brian Kinney."

"I think I know that, Daph; after all, the letter did come to me." Justin glared in the direction of Brian's side of the room - his bed that hadn't been slept in gnawing at him fiercely. He knew he had to stop letting that get to him. From what he had already learned about his new roommate - that was going to be a regular occurrence. "I thought you were on the way?"

"Patience much?" she grumbled. "I'm on the way up the stairs now. You can tell me all about your hot roomie."

"Right. I'll pass on that." Justin walked to the door; opening it, he looked down the hallway to see her moving up the stairs. He laughed as she rolled her eyes at the whistles that came her way. That was her fault for wanting to meet him in his room. What else would these guys do when a girl entered the male dorms? Justin realized that could add to his popularity with the male members of the campus... but with Brian, he doubted that would be deemed as anything impressive. He gritted his teeth when he realized that once more he had placed Brian at the forefront of his thoughts. All night long he had told himself - Let it go, Justin. Let it go. It was time to make that a reality... no matter how he had to go about it.

He flipped his phone closed when she reached his floor, his hand waving her down to his room. "Damn, you're slow. My mom walked up those stairs faster than you."

"Whatever," she mumbled. "I didn't see a reason to rush."

"Get in here, brat." Justin grinned at her ever-present pigtails, shaking his head in disbelief. "You need to upgrade your look, Daph. We're not little kids anymore."

"What the hell crawled up your ass this morning? Damn, you're a grumpy little shit." She stepped into the room, walking into the center and looking around, arms crossing against her chest as she took everything in. "Well, this isn't fair. Your room is a lot bigger than mine."

"Now who's grumpy?" Justin taunted her. Shrugging he answered, "I thought they were all the same size, but maybe freshman dorms are smaller."

Daphne grunted. "Nice. Rub it in that you obviously got an upgrade."

"If you want to call it that..." Justin flopped down on his bed, completely at ease when Daphne did the same next to him.

She looked at him curiously. "What's he like?" Her face lit up enthusiastically. "Is he all jock-like, you know, like how he was at school? Or is he moody and serious? No! Don't tell me! I bet he goes out with a different girl every night." She scrunched up her nose. "Cheerleader types, I bet."

Wow, Justin thought to himself. His best friend also appeared to have a crush on Brian Kinney. He looked over to Brian's side of the room; it was so easy to visualize that moment he'd been on his bed. Nothing had happened, but it could have. Then, he thought back to the incident he had walked in on when he'd first arrived. Justin almost laughed aloud as he thought of how wrong Daphne had it regarding Brian's sexuality. He felt a bit guilty that he couldn't tell her the truth... but he'd promised Brian it was their secret, and he would hold to it. Bottom line, it wasn't his secret to tell. If and when the truth came out - it wouldn't be from him. "I haven't talked to him that much really."

"Really?" she responded in disappointment. "You arrived yesterday afternoon."

"Yeah. We met and talked yesterday. Then, he went out last night. I haven't seen him since."

"Hmmm. Well, he's probably spending as much time with his friends, or girlfriend, until he has to buckle down with school on Monday, not to mention football practice." Daphne was certain that had to be the answer. Nothing else made sense with a young, healthy stud like Brian Kinney.

Justin knew exactly what Brian had ‘buckled' down with for the night. In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if it had been multiple partners - all of the male sex. "I couldn't tell you," Justin grumbled. Sitting up on the bed, he looked back at her inquiringly. "What are you doing today? You want to go out and do something?" Justin knew he not only wanted to divert the subject away from Brian Kinney, but he wanted to get out of here too. With or without her, he planned on doing that.

"Uhhh, I can't. I need to look for a part-time job." She elbowed Justin in the ribs. "Not all of us have a free ride for everything. I'm trying to help my mom out."

"You got a good scholarship, though..."

"Duh. I wouldn't be here if not. Scholarship won't pay for it all... and I'll be here more years than you will." Daphne shuddered, thinking of how long it would take to complete her specialized education. "I know it will be worth it, but it costs so much."

Nodding, Justin clearly understood that. "Yeah. I tried to tell Dad that I would go to a smaller school, but he insisted I come to Pitt."

"He loves you a lot, Justin. You're really lucky to have him."

"I know." Justin sighed. "I just hope I don't disappoint him. I know he wants me to go into business... but I don't think that's what I want."

"Justin, we've talked about this before. I know that's what he wants, but the bottom line is this - he loves you. He only wants what's best for you." Daphne nearly shrieked when the door closed loudly behind them. She hadn't even heard it open.

A mocking smile was on Brian's face. "Awww, how sweet. Spoken like a fucking Hallmark card."

Glaring at his dickhead of a roommate, no matter how beautiful he was in the process, Justin blandly spoke, "Introductions aren't really in order, but I'll be polite. Daphne, this abrupt asshole is my roommate, Brian Kinney."

"Of course. I'd recognize him anywhere." Daphne smiled at him brightly, her eyes quickly taking in his disheveled appearance. "Rough night?"

Brian shrugged, running a hand through his ruffled hair. "It filled the void." Looking at their comfortable positions seated on the side of the bed, Brian arched a brow, before asking, "I didn't interrupt anything, did I?"

Justin rolled his eyes. Brian was just being facetious now. He knew nothing would be going on between him and a girl. "We were just catching up."

"Oh? You know each other?" Brian crossed his arms across his chest as he looked back and forth between them. He had no idea why he felt the need to rattle Justin so much, he just knew that he did. Perhaps it was the fact that every man he had fucked last night hadn't been the one that had made his need so great in the first place. "Don't tell me... high school sweethearts?"

Daphne began to giggle. "You're funny, Brian. Not even close." She wasn't about to be the one to tell Brian that his new roommate was gay; she figured when Justin was ready, he would tell him that himself.

Brian frowned as he looked at the two of them, his eyes narrowing on the girl. "I've seen you somewhere... but where?" As he looked at the two of them together, he felt it even more strongly - he had seen the two of them somewhere, but he had no idea of when or where. It was driving him out of his mind how he knew Justin. He had to figure it out. "Where are you from?"

Justin's eyes widened as he quickly determined that Daphne would soon solve Brian's mystery. He had no idea why he was trying to keep it secret, there was no way he could indefinitely... but he just didn't want Brian to know just yet. If he did, he might somehow realize the truth about Justin's former crush on him. He didn't want that... not now. Standing to his feet, he all but pulled Daphne to the door. "Uhhh, remember your errands and stuff, Daph. Better get them done. We can catch up later."

So surprised by Justin's sudden movement, she just looked at him in bewilderment. "Ohhh, right. Well, I guess so." She smiled at Brian, as Justin pushed her out the door. "Nice to meet you, Brian."

"You too, Daphne." He cast a pointed look at his roommate. "I'm sure we'll be seeing you around."

As she made the way down the stairs, Justin shouted out, "I'll call you later." Not waiting for her response, he stepped back inside the room, closing the door, all but ignoring his curious roommate.

"Okay, Blondie. What the fuck was that all about?" Brian demanded; there wasn't a doubt in his mind the boy was hiding something. He didn't like mysteries. This one would get resolved now.

"I don't have a clue what you're talking about." Justin moved about his room, leisurely unpacking more of his boxes that he hadn't touched when he'd arrived yesterday... doing all he could to keep his mind and attention off the man that was getting too close to the truth.

"Right. I just asked your little friend where she's from, and you hustled her out of here like the place was on fire. What gives? And don't tell me nothing. I know a cover-up when I see one."

Justin turned to face him. "Cover-up? That's a bit dramatic. I just knew she had things to do. She wasn't getting them done here."

"Uh-huh." Shaking his head, Brian moved toward the bathroom. "I'm taking a shower. This little chat is obviously going nowhere."

Glaring at the back of his agitating roommate, Justin snapped, "That's because it was a pointless one!" Justin's temper grew even hotter when Brian ignored his outburst. Damn, the man was so aggravating. Stomping over to his bedside table, Justin reached for his wallet and keys. He didn't plan on being Brian's little whipping boy when he came back out. Opening the door, he nearly barreled into a man that had his hand poised to knock. Gasping, he murmured, "Uhhh... sorry."

The blond on the other side of the door smiled at him. It was warm, inviting, and extremely appreciative. "No problem at all. You must be Brian's new roommate."

"Yeah. Lucky me," Justin grumbled.

"Off to a bad start already?" Uncertain of how much the new, and undeniably hot new freshman knew about Brian, he chose his words carefully. "It takes a while for him to, uhhh, get to know new people. Just give it time."

"Right, well, looks like I have plenty of that..." Justin already thought the next two years would be endless. There was nothing he'd like more than to be wrong about that. "I guess you're a friend of Brian's; well, he's in the shower now. He should be out in a few minutes."

Eyes moving up and down the blond, he answered, "Actually, Brian is my half-brother. Same father, different mother, you know? I was going to see if he wanted to get some lunch... but well, if you're not busy, I'd much rather take you."

Justin flushed as he met the interest in the blue eyes that held his own. This guy was hot. As different as they were, he could see how Brian could be his brother. They must not have lived together, though. He would have known about that in high school. "I guess I need to eat, right?" Justin laughed nervously. "Okay, let's do it."

"What's your name, handsome?" he asked, unable to believe how the day had suddenly gotten so much brighter.

"Justin. Justin Taylor." He stepped out into the hallway, closing the door behind him. "And you?"

His eyes moved up and down the beautiful blond. "I'm Brandon. And I am so pleased to meet you. In fact, I think I'll just have to visit my brother much more often now." Brandon followed Justin down the stairs. Oh yeah, he thought to himself. His dorm was only a few buildings away. There wasn't a doubt in his mind, he would be stopping by much more in the future. A whole lot more.

TBC