Brian kept him arms tightly around me, holding me from behind as we stared at the glorious view of Paris at twilight.

I had several pictures to help me paint this whenever I would get my hands on a brush and some oil paints.

Brian's hot breath against my ear made me shiver. I tilted my head to meet his eyes.

I shouldn’t have been surprised to find him watching me.

“Let me guess. I’m more interesting than the view.”

“You are.” He spun me around, stroking my cheek. “You’re beautiful, Justin.”

I bit on the inside of my cheek, as I blushed horribly. I couldn’t duck my head to hide, like I usually did when someone complimented me.

“So are you, Brian,” he said, teasingly, trying to mock my voice.

I laughed nervously, pressing my forehead against his shoulder. “I’m sure you know by now that I don’t know how to take compliments.”

“You should get used to it, because I plan on reminding you of how hot you are for the rest of your life.”

I took a step back, forgetting my fear of heights. “What?”

Brian took one of my hands, his face wary. “That is if you’d put up with me for that long.”

I blinked, shaking my head. “Whoa! What about…I mean…you think…you want this after you retire?”

“There won’t be a moment I don’t want you, Justin.”

My mind was spinning at his confession.

“I doubt we’ll be able to hide this for much longer, and if the thought of being part of the madness that is to come when people find out I’m gay doesn’t scare you…” Brian twined our fingers, smiling boyishly. “I have a proposition.”

“I’m here to stay for as long as you’ll have me,” I admitted.

Brian smiled brightly. “I bought a small house in Silver Spring. It’s close and there’s a long street that leads there from the White House.”

“Holy shit!” I covered my mouth, because I couldn’t believe how invested he had become in our relationship.

I kept waiting for him to wake up and realize he was in another league and wouldn’t want anything to do with me, but he just proved to me how much he cared for me.

“What about my friends?” I mumbled, aware I was possibly kicking the opportunity of a lifetime. “My whole life is in Pittsburgh.”

“There are several art galleries in Washington DC. I know the owner of a select one if you’re interested. You’re free to visit your friends, but I’ll be selfish and keep you close.”

“There are roughly four hours’ drive from Pittsburgh to DC. With the way your guys drive…”

“You’re afraid,” Brian said softly. “That’s why you’re stalling and finding excuses.”

I wrapped my arms around myself, turning to look at the landscape. “This whole relationship scared me from moment one, Brian. There is so much that could go wrong…”

“And I keep stepping all over my rules to prove to you that I’m one hundred percent into this relationship. Hell, if someone asked me last year whether I saw myself in a relationship, I’d have laughed in their face.” 

“I want everything you said,” I said softly, turning to face him. “I know—I knew from the moment we first fucked that this was going to be difficult, but I had no idea how hard I’d fall for you. That’s what is scaring me.”

Brian smiled, wrapping his arms around. “You’re so blind. Can’t you see that I fell too? I wouldn't have done so many reckless things if I wasn’t in love with you.”

I grinned into his neck, embracing him. “Yes,” I said loudly.

“Yes, what?” He pulled away a little to frown at me.

“Yes, I’ll move in the house you bought. Yes, I’m ready to face the show when America finds out their President likes dick.”

He laughed heartily. “You had me worried there for a second.”

“You, worried?” I teased.

“It happens.” He shrugged. “Let’s head back down. Our time is almost up and we don’t want to run into anyone.”

#

During the ride back to the hotel, Brian showed me pictures of the house. It had three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, a pretty spacious family room, a dining room, and a garage able to host two cars. It was more than I ever dreamed of having.

“I might turn one of the rooms into my studio,” I thought aloud.

“That won’t be necessary. Unless you really want to paint at home. I can talk to my friend and find you a studio downtown.”

I chewed on my lips as a large smile spread across my face. “I’m moving to DC.”

“You are.” Brian kissed me wetly. “Just wait until we get in our hotel room. I’ll show you how happy you made me.”

Ben cleared his throat from behind the wheel. I separated from Brian with a pout. He caught my eyes in the rearview mirror.

“Sorry, Justin. Change of plans. I’m dropping you off on the way. You’ll return to the hotel with Matt.”

“What the hell?” Brian snapped, taking my hand.

“You don’t want to be seen just yet, do you? Besides, Mr. Schmidt called while you were in the Eiffel Tower. He’s waiting for you in the lobby for a short meeting with Mr. Armand.”

“Fuck.” Brian pulled his phone out, scrolling through his contacts then pressing it to his ear. “Theodore,” he sneered. “What the hell don’t you get that this is my free day?”

I looked out the window, tuning out Brian arguing with the Vice President.

When the car stopped near the sidewalk, I spotted Matt at a table on the patio of a cafe place.

I chastely kissed Brian's lips, before slipping out and hurrying to Matt. I heard the Caddy pulling back into traffic just as I momentarily became blinded by several flashes from cameras pointed at me.

I tugged the cowl of my hoodie over my head, running inside the cafe and straight to the bathroom. Matt could come save me from there, because I wasn’t going anywhere any time soon.

I locked myself in one of the two stalls, keeping my nose in the hem of the hoodie. Brian had lent me his hoodie when mine got too dirty to wear. I wasn’t complaining about wearing something of his, especially at the moment. His cologne was imprinted in the fabric.

There was a commotion outside the toilet door, then there was a knock on my stall’s metal door. “You okay?”

Relief flooded me when I heard Matt’s voice. “Is it safe?” I whispered.

“Want me to lie?”

My shoulders slumped in defeat as I came out of the stall. Matt bumped my chin, winking.

“Thanks for making my job a hell lot more interesting.”

I scoffed, keeping the cowl over my head with one hand.

“Stay behind me,” he said seriously, cracking the door open to check if anyone was in the hallway. “Crap.” He closed it tightly, pressing a finger to his ear piece. “I’m trapped with Warhol in the bathroom of Cafe La Vie en Rose.” A few seconds passed. “Negative. No windows.”

I chewed on my thumb. I had the urge to scream at the top of my lungs in anger. Why did it matter to those people if I got out of the President of America’s car? He had several of such cars around the city so enemies wouldn’t know which one he was in.

“That’s a bad idea, Boyd.”

I looked at Matt when he mentioned Drew’s name. His free hand was on the gun, which slightly terrified me.

As much as I loved action movies, this was my life.

Matt turned to me. “Drew will rescue us in about fifteen minutes.”

“Are we in danger?” I finally found my voice.

“No.”

“Then why are you…” I gestured to his gun.

“It's instinct.” He didn’t drop the hand, as he pressed his finger to the ear piece again. “He’s safe, Mr. President. I have it under control.” Matt caught my eyes, smiling. “Of course, sir. I will.”

“I hate this,” I mumbled, leaning against the wall.

“I didn't have so much action since Iraq.”

I glared at him for enjoying the situation too much.

The fire alarm of the building blaring loudly made me jump out of my skin. I was deep in thought about the possibilities of hiding our relationship.

The first instinct was to bolt for the door, but then I remembered who was on the other side. While I was contemplating whether or not I was ready die here, I noticed Matt wasn’t even surprised about the alarm blaring.

Drew.

Drew was here to save me.

“I don’t hear a word you’re saying,” Matt muttered in his sleeve. “We’re coming out.” He grabbed my wrist in a vice grip. “Keep the cowl on.”

Then we were running outside, mingling with the scared patrons. Once in the street, Matt sprinted to the corner of the street, then pulled me in an alley. A small French car was stopped there.

I dove for the backseat, while Matt got in the front.

“We have to thank Mr. Kinney for bringing such entertainment in our lives,” Matt said, amused.

Drew barked a loud laugh. “What’s next, Justin?”

“Why would I tell you my next grand move?” I managed to say, though the whole thing had left me more shaken than I wanted.

While we drove to the hotel, I Googled Brian's name. I choked on my spit when the first picture I saw was of my freaked face staring into a camera outside the cafe.

“Justin,” Drew called my name, worried.

I gasped for breath, unable to explain.

“I think he has a panic attack,” Matt commented.

The car stopped, then strong arms pulled me out of the car, keeping my head down. I was vaguely aware we were in the hotel lobby.

“You need to pull out of this. Brian will kill both of us,” Drew begged. “What happened?”

“This,” Matt’s flat voice said as the elevator doors closed. He was holding my phone.

At the presidential suite, Brian was outside the doors. I fell into his arm, finally allowing the events to catch up with me as I bawled. I wasn’t used to such adrenaline rush and the news of being discovered terrified me.

I was vaguely aware of Brian firing instructions to Drew and Matt, then we went into the suite. We lay on the bed spooning for what felt like hours. I appreciated that Brian didn’t say anything. All I needed was for him to hold me tight.

There was a knock on our door a while later, and he pulled away after dropping a kiss to my head.

“We thought of a cover story,” a deep voice said.

“I’m afraid to ask,” Brian muttered.

“You were never in that car. Justin is your photographer, like we first discussed. One of the cars from your motorcade dropped him at the cafe while you returned to the hotel through a different route.”

“That’s why your ideas scare me, Will.”

“Is it that bad?”

“It’s that good,” Brian said, slightly amused. “Go tell it to Blake. Tell him you have the green light from me to say whatever lie you can come up with to keep the truth hidden for a little while longer.”

When Brian returned to the bedroom, I was sitting up in the bed.

“So what’s the plan?” I asked.

“I bet you heard my conversation with Will.”

“I mean…the plan about you coming out,” I whispered.

“I’ll talk with Blake during our plane ride to Berlin. You can join us.”

“I think it’s better if you say something yourself…If people find out from the media…it’s gonna be…”

Brian nodded. “If we can keep this hidden until we reach home, I’ll set a press meeting on the lawn where they can take pictures of us. If it’s alright with you.”

“We established that we’re in too deep for something so small to scare us.”

“You just had a panic attack, Justin!”

“I was scared of what the world would say about you!”

“You’re a twat,” he muttered, sitting on the edge of the bed. “I think our plans for the evening involved this bed in other ways than what we used it so far.”

“Playing coy, Mr. President?” I teased.

“I’ll show you coy.” He pushed me on my back, divesting me of my clothes.