Brian smirked at Justin while the twink had lunch with his dad. The kid scowled at him and turned back to his father, it only made him grin more.

He had to admit he might have gone a little overboard with the trick from the other night. When Emmett had talked about Brian settling down, it bothered him. Maybe more than it should have, but that's neither here nor there. Justin needed to realize he was just staying at the loft for a little while.

"Babylon tonight?" Ted asked sliding into the booth opposite him.

"Maybe," Brian replied vaguely, he didn't want to admit that he liked going better when Justin went with him. But Justin hadn't wanted to be in the same room with him in the last twenty-four hours.

Brian looked back at Justin, who was doing everything to ignore him. Ted followed his eyes and understanding seemed to dawn on him. But he also knew better than to mention it.

"How's Lindsay?" Ted asked instead.

"Better. Mel's moved back into the house, and the bastard is in jail now. Mel had Lindsay file for divorce already, it should go through without any problem. The guy did try and kill her, there's no better way of saying you want out of a marriage."

The man was lucky he was locked up. If Brian ever saw him again, he'd kill him. Lindsay was better but was still scared of her shadow. Mel worked from home as much as she could now. Brian had told them that he would cover any extras, so Mel wouldn't have to take on new clients.

"I'm glad she's doing better," Ted said quietly.

The rest of lunch was quiet with the only talking done around them. Brian noticed Justin and Horvath leave not long before he did. The kid didn't meet his eyes before he walked out.

"Sunshine," Brian called when he walked into the loft.

Noise from the bedroom had him checking it out. Justin was standing in front of the full length mirror holding a shirt up in front of him. It was a nice shirt but not Justin's color at all, brown didn't do anything for him.

"What do you think?" Justin asked, not looking at him.

"Not your color." He walked over to the closet and pulled out another one of Justin's new shirts. This one was black, red and tight as hell. "Here."

Justin looked at the shirt and shook his head. "No, that's a club shirt. I need something for a first date."

Brian frowned. "I'm sorry, I must have misheard you. I thought you said you needed a shirt for a date."

"Yes, I've got a date tomorrow night." Justin threw the brown shirt onto the bed, it joining several other shirts.

"With who?" Brian asked, trying not to sound as aggravated as he felt.

"A cop that works with my dad."

"Seriously, a fucking cop. You want to go out with some fat, donut eating closet case."

"Vas isn't a closet case. My dad said that everyone in the department knows he's gay."

"Vas? What kind of name is that?"

"It's short for Vasili, it's Russian."

"Why are you pretending to be some hetero, going out on a date with this guy?" Brian felt the bitterness and jealousy building up.

"What, I don't deserve to have someone want me? Just me. Am I not good enough? Well, fuck you, Brian. I want someone who fucking wants me! Not someone who acts like they care one minute then fucks someone else just to hurt me."

"I didn't-

"The fuck you didn't. I saw your face, the whole thing was designed to hurt me. I get it, I'm nothing to you." Justin's voice was cracking and angry tears were escaping his eyes.

Brian stared at Justin in shock; he had never heard him curse so much before, not even when his frog was killed. He also had never seen him so close to looking like he would hyperventilate and pass out. Feelings weren't Brian's forte but he knew he couldn't leave Justin like this. So he did the only thing he could, he grabbed him and hugged him. For a moment Justin fought him by beating on his chest, but then he wrapped his arms around Brian and held on tight.

"I'm worth it," Justin sobbed into Brian's shoulder.

Brian let out a pained sigh. "I know you are, Sunshine."

That night the electricity between them was different. Instead of hot, fast and hard it was still sizzling but quieter, more caring. As Brian's hand ghosted over Justin's naked chest, and down his stomach he knew this was their last night together. He couldn't explain how he knew, he just did.

"Brian, please," Justin rasped.

Brian smiled sadly although Justin couldn't see him. He kissed Justin's taut stomach and licked his way down. Justin about came on the spot when Brian took him into his mouth. He closed his eyes and lost himself in that night together; knowing the memory would have to last.

Justin woke up, he reached for Brian but his hand just hit the empty side of the bed. Brian's side was cool, it was clear he had gotten up much earlier than Justin. There was no noise in the loft, none at all.

He stretched his legs out and then got out of bed. Going to the bathroom he quickly took care of business and showered. After toweling off, he dressed in some of his more comfortable clothes, a blue t-shirt and camo pants.

There wasn't a lot that he needed to do. He had his date at six. Until then he was free as a bird. He wished Brian had stayed, maybe they could have showered together. His mind drifted back to last night and he groaned. He couldn't believe he had yelled at Brian and confessed how much the man hurt him. More so, he couldn't believe after that he still went to bed with Brian. It had been different though, it felt like for the first time that Brian needed him, not his body or the release he gave him but just Justin. Only Justin.

The thought about canceling his date for tonight ran through his head. But it quickly fled, really it was just one date. It was something that he could say he got out of his system. Vas sounded really nice from what his dad had told him.

Deciding to make the best of the day, he set up his easel, it was a replacement for his old one. He grabbed his canvas and set it up. He sat up the paint colors on his palette. While working in his studio at school he had gotten used to being messy with his paint. Brian on the other hand couldn't stand for a drop of paint to touch anything he owned. It made Justin think more and more about getting a studio apartment. A place where he could just paint and not worry about messing anything up.

The phone ringing brought him out of his painting. It wasn't until then he realized most of the day was gone. The clock on the entertainment system read 5:15.

"Shit," he cursed. He ran to the phone that was still ringing.

"Hello," he answered breathlessly.

"Is this Justin?" a deep southern voice asked.

"Yes, who is this?"

"I'm Vas, your father gave me your number. I hope you're not upset about me calling you."

"No, no of course not. Are you calling to cancel?" He wouldn't have to get cleaned up and change then.

"No, I'm a little early; I'm sitting outside the diner, I just wanted to tell you whenever you're ready you can come over."

Justin inwardly groaned, now he didn't have any time. "Um, why don't you just come over here and get me. I need to clean up my paints and run through the shower. I should be ready by the time you get here."

He heard noise in the background. "Sure, no problem. Where am I headed?"

"6 Fuller, corner of Tremont."

"Great, I'll be there shortly."

"K, just call or ring the buzzer for Kinney."

Justin went to clean up the paints. Paint was layering his skin after painting all day. He really needed the shower.

He was quicker in the shower than he thought. He grabbed the clothes he had decided on last night. A fit navy blue dress shirt with black jeans. He had liked the outfit when he bought it, now he just hoped he looked decent.

Just as he was brushing his hair the door slid open and Brian came in. He looked mouthwatering in his business suit and slicked back hair. Before he could say anything the buzzer sound off.

"That's Vas."

"He's picking you up here?"

"He called and said he was running early. I just told him to come over. That's okay isn't it?"

Brian's eyes were hard. "Sure, invite the man up."

Justin could think of a million things he would rather do than invite Vas into the loft. But the challenge he saw in Brian's eyes had him doing just that.

After an agonizing minute someone knocked on the door. His worries about a blind date was all but gone now. They were replaced by worries that Brian would do something embarrassing to him.

Brian beat him to the door and slid it open.

Justin got his first look at Vas Ozerov, he was huge. His height was even with Brian but where Brian's muscles were sinewy, Vas's were bulky. His bulging muscled body was shoved into skin tight blue jeans and a white t-shirt that looked like it was painted on. Justin could see the edges of a tattoo peeking out from under the t-shirt on his left bicep. His black hair was cut short, he also had that sexy twelve o'clock shadow on his face. He was a very handsome man. He didn't make Justin's heart jump like Brian but when he saw Justin, his smile was very endearing. Maybe the date wouldn't be so bad.

For once in his life Brian felt like what it was to be Ted. The stud barely looked at him before his eyes locked on Justin. It was then he was all but forgotten about.

"Hey," the idiot said to Justin.

"Hi, are you ready to go?" Justin said shyly.

Brian bit his tongue so hard that he tasted blood. This wasn't supposed to happen. Some troll that Carl set up for his progeny was supposed to be the date, not some gorgeous stud that had a sexy ass accent.

"Yeah, your dad didn't do you justice. You beautiful," Dudley Do-Right said.

"He didn't tell me much about you either." Justin turned towards Brian. "I hope you and the guys have a great night tonight. Maybe if there's time we might go and dance the night away too." Justin smiled the hundred watt smile that he was famous for.

"Sure," he ground out, trying not to sound as pissed off as he felt. His feelings the night before that he had pushed away all day were back, Justin was leaving. Fuck, he'd only known the kid a couple months. How could he have gotten under his skin so fast?

He watched Justin and Dudley leave. After that he got into his club clothes. He was going to drink and fuck the night away; he didn't need some fucking blonde twink ruining his night. Fuck them both.