Brian struggled to open the door as he balanced a suitcase in one hand and a bouquet of flowers in the other. He stumbled through the garage door and then kicked it shut behind him with a loud bang. “Justin?” He called out loudly once he was inside. He set the flowers on the island in the kitchen and carried his bag to the base of the stairs.

When he didn’t immediately hear an answer he frowned a bit and glanced into the nearby living room. “Sunshine?!” He called again, this time louder. There was still no reply.

He flipped on a few lights and walked down the hallway to Justin’s studio. He opened the door just a bit to poke his head inside but didn’t see Justin working. He turned back and frowned deeper. The car was in the garage, so he knew Justin was home.

He walked back to the stairs and picked up his bag as he went up them. He made his way to the master bedroom and paused when he saw the stairs to the attic had been lowered. “Justin!!” He shouted, but there was still nothing.

He craned his neck up to the attic but it was pitch black. Shaking his head, he went to their bedroom. He opened up the door slowly and felt relieved when he saw Justin in the bathroom, staring into his reflection. “Hey!  I was calling you, why didn’t you answer?”  He asked, but received no answer from his husband.

“Justin?” He asked as he tossed his bag on the bed and walked into the bathroom.  He held onto Justin from behind and looked into his reflect as well.  “What’re you staring at?”  He asked, admittedly a little disappointed about Justin’s lack of welcome.  “Look I came back as soon as I could, Sunshine.”

“I know.” Justin suddenly said and turned slowly to hold him back.  “I didn’t hear you calling me.  Sorry.”  He said softly and Brian shrugged it off.

“It’s alright. I was just worried, that’s all.”  He admitted and placed his hands on either side of Justin’s face to give him a deep, penetrating kiss.  “I missed you.”  He murmured against Justin’s lips and smiled when Justin sighed contently.

“I missed you too. But you’re back now.”  Justin whispered and kissed him again.  “How did it go?”

“Great. I got him to stay.  My record is intact.”  Brian said confidently and then backed away a bit so he could look at Justin better.  “Come on, I’m starving.”  He said and grabbed Justin’s hand to begin walking him downstairs.

“I got back as soon as I could, I wanted to surprise you.” Brian said as he and Justin walked downstairs to the kitchen. “And then I-.” He paused as he rounded into the kitchen and saw that the flowers he had bought were on the floor. He furrowed his brow in confusion and bent over to pick them up. ‘Odd. I know I put them on the counter.’ He thought and then turned and held them out to Justin as he walked in as well. “I stopped for these.” He finished and smiled when he saw Justin’s face light up.

“Really?” Justin asked and then greedily reached out and took them. Brian watched as Justin closed his eyes and took a long breath to take in the scent of the flowers. He smiled, glad to know that he’d been the one to make Justin so happy. “You know, Bri…I think marriage suits you.”  He claimed as he got a vase to put the flowers in which he swiftly filled with water.

Brian let out a soft laugh and rolled his eyes. “Yeah well don’t get used to it.” He cautioned before moving to the fridge to tug it open. He grabbed a beer from inside and then handed it to Justin before getting his own. “How have you been entertaining yourself while I’ve been gone?” He asked curiously and watched Justin give a shrug as he continued to gaze adoringly at the flowers.

“Working in the attic, mostly. Found a few cool things up there.” Justin said as he took the beer and then took a long drink from it.

There was a shatter and both men jerked to the counter. The vase was gone. Brian walked around the island and looked down to see that the vase had fallen onto the ground. The water was pooling around and he was careful not to get too close so he didn’t step on glass. “Shit. That was weird…” He murmured slowly.

“I must have bumped it. Sorry.” Justin said swiftly as he came over with towels to start mopping up the water. He also grabbed the damp flowers and set them on the island once more.

“But you were already over by the fridge.” Brian pointed out slowly and Justin shrugged.

“Well it couldn’t have fallen over by itself.” Justin responded and Brian nodded in agreement.

“Obviously…” He murmured, but something didn’t feel right. He walked over to the pantry and pulled out the broom to begin sweeping up the glass.

That wasn’t the first weird thing Brian noticed the next week. It seemed like he was misplacing things all the time. He was nearly an hour late for work because one morning his keys weren’t in his coat where he always left them. Another night he wasted two hours that he was supposed to read over some new contracts because he thought he’d left them on his desk but found them instead on the living room coffee table.

Not only were these instances strange, but they baffled him because he couldn’t explain them. He was finding things in places he would never put them. He never worked in the living room – that was his and Justin’s space for relaxing and he refused to bring work there. He also always kept his keys in his coat pocket so they were right there when he left in the morning.

He noticed that his clothes seemed to be rearranged in the closet almost every day. He was meticulous when it came to his designer suits. He had them arranged by color and season but when he would enter his closet each morning they were seemingly haphazard. He had accused Justin of messing up his things but his husband had adamantly denied it and after a small fight Brian had believed him. Though it still didn’t explain why his things were going all over the place.

The strangest thing of all seemed to be Justin.

Brian wasn’t able to put his finger on it, but Justin was different somehow. His eyes seemed more distant; Justin had looked at him with open adoration since the night they met and that look had never faded – until now. Not only that, but he acted different. It was as if Brian couldn’t predict him anymore.

He knew there was going to be a learning curve. Justin had been in New York for over a year and they needed time to get used to each other again. He didn’t think it was going to be this bad though. Justin didn’t laugh at old inside jokes. He didn’t talk about the same things. He didn’t even seem to enjoy cooking anymore.

Brian wasn’t going to actually ask that Justin cook for the both of them – that’d hardly be a fair expectation just because Justin worked from home.  But he had always enjoyed Justin’s cooking and worried that he was going to have to live off of take-out for the rest of his life.

At the end of the day, Justin was just different enough to be strange, but not too much to be out of character. It was some kind of awkward limbo where he didn’t know how to act around his own husband and he hated it.

Justin was locked away in his studio one night a little over a week after he got back from his trip and he was looking over some concepts that he hadn’t had time to finish in the office. Around eight he decided to take a break and he walked downstairs and knocked on the studio door. He never entered without permission, especially not when Justin was working.

There was no answer, however, so he knocked louder. “Justin?”

“I’m working!” Was all he got in reply.

Brian frowned a little but turned to leave him in peace. He walked into the living room to watch some TV but came to an abrupt halt when he saw the files he was just working on upstairs in his office laying the table. He scanned the room and then approached it slowly. He lifted up the files and looked at them carefully to make sure they were the same, and when he found that they were he slammed them back down on the table and frowned deeply.

Then, the lights in the room switched off. He jumped and blinked at the sudden darkness. “What the-?” They flickered back on and with them the TV.

Brian slowly turned to face it and gasped when he saw The Yellow Submarine playing; he’d seen the movie hundreds of times and recognized it instantly. Carefully he reached out for the remote from the side table and tried flicking through the channels, but it stayed the same. He flicked through them faster and faster, but it didn’t change.

He closed his eyes and shook his head swiftly, trying to clear his thoughts. When he opened his eyes again saw the TV was now on a news station. He let the remote fall to the floor as he pressed his hand to his forehead and laughed at himself. Slowly he sat on the couch and looked over at the TV for a long moment.

“Brian…”

He jumped as he felt a breath on the back of his neck. He spun around and gasped.

There was nothing there.

After he let out a long breath he laughed at himself. “Get a hold of yourself, Kinney.”  He murmured and leaned back against the soft couch.  He closed his eyes and breathed slowly in and out of his nose.

He blocked out the noise of the television and just relaxed. He felt his body get heavier and heavier as he began falling asleep.

Suddenly he was in the attic. It was dark and he had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Everything looked hazy – as if it was covered in fog. However, he could still see clearly. He stepped forward and through the darkness and the fog made out a familiar figure.

Justin was standing in the back corner of the attic, staring into a mirror intently. He tried to call out to him, but he found he had no voice. When he tried to step closer, he found he could no longer move. He was trapped, forced to watch whatever happened next.

Justin reached a hand up to the mirror, but hesitated. His fingers hovered over the glass and he continued to stare hard at his reflection. After a moment, he took his hand away and shook his head.

Brian watched in shock as his reflection in the mirror frowned at him, his face distorting even as Justin’s remained the same. He could see the panic begin to build in his husband and he stumbled backwards – no. He flew backwards.

Something pushed him.

Brian tried to move, he tried to break free of the invisible bonds but he couldn’t! No matter how hard he struggled he was forced to remain still. He watched Justin struggle and fight, it seemed as if Justin was having trouble breathing. Then, a strange, almost inhuman, disembodied voice, echoed in the attic.

“You’re mine!”

“Brian! Brian, help me!  Brian!”

He gasped and shot up, immediately running back to the studio. He tried to open the door but found it locked.  He jerked at it and pounded on the door.  “Justin!  Open up!”  He demanded as he continued to try and force his way in.  He heard nothing on the other side so continued calling out for his husband and then began to try and shoulder his way into the studio.

He ignored the pain and leaned back for one more go but as soon as he tried to ram his way in the door opened up and he nearly toppled Justin to the floor before he was able to stop himself. “Shit, Sunshine!  Are you ok?”  He demanded as he took Justin in his hands began looking him over.

“Yeah I’m fine.” Justin seemed a little perturbed by the attention and stiffened before shuffling out of the room and closing the door behind him.  “What the fuck were you banging on the door for?”

“Then why did you call for me?” Brian demanded and ignored Justin’s question.  Now he was angry that Justin had played some kind of trick on him.

“I didn’t. I’ve been painting for hours.”  Justin explained and looked up at Brian intently.  “Are you ok?”  He asked and pressed a hand to his forehead.  Brian pushed it away with a frown.

“I heard you screaming. You were calling for help.”  Brian insisted and then saw a flash of something cross Justin’s eyes.  It was gone so fast he couldn’t figure out what it was and almost thought he’d imagined it.

“You must have been dreaming.” Justin said as he patted his cheek.  “Though it’s sweet you’d come race to my rescue.”  Justin added with a smile and then leaned up to press a kiss against his lips.  “I’m all done.  I was going to go shower.  Want to join me?”  Justin winked playfully and then grabbed Brian’s hand and began walking him up the stairs.

Brian followed him with a smile as he began to calm down. Justin was right, he had probably been dreaming.

That night, Brian woke because he was cold.

He rolled onto his side and grabbed for the blankets, finding that he must have kicked them off at one point in the night. He pulled them back up and then, because he needed a bit of reassurance after his earlier scare, he glanced over to check on Justin.  He was on the other side of the bed and sleeping peacefully.

So, Brian adjusted until he was comfortable again and tried to go back to sleep.

Except something tore the blankets off of him.

His eyes snapped open and he looked around, but in the dark room it was impossible to see anything. He shook his head slowly and drew the blankets back up.  Before he could even lay back down they were thrown off of him again.

His heart skipped a beat.

“What the fuck?” He asked aloud and turned back to Justin once more, but he was still sound asleep.

Brian ran a hand through his hair and grabbed the blankets and laid down as he pulled them up. Once again, they were jerked away. He stood up then and looked around the room. Something was going on.  He didn’t know what, or why, but he was going to get to the bottom of it.

When the door to the bedroom opened by itself he blinked several times and took a shaky breath. “Holy shit…”  He whispered in shock.

He slowly stepped forward and looked back at Justin once or twice as he walked away. He didn’t believe in supernatural events, but there was something definitely happening here and he wasn’t sure if leaving Justin alone was the best idea.  On the other hand…he didn’t feel threatened by anything.  He’d always heard that people could feel whether a spirit was malicious or not, and he didn’t feel as if he was about to be attacked.  So, he continued on.

He turned back to the door and continued to stare at it as he waited for something else to happen. The light flicked on in the hallway and he covered his mouth quickly.  He then calmed himself down and walked out to the hallway.  To his right, deeper in the house, a door opened.  He walked towards it, but then the next door opened, and the next all the way to the end of the hallway. 

He followed the pathway being shown to him until he reached the end of the hallway. Then he heard a soft thunk over his head and looked up.  He stepped aside just as the steps to the attic lowered for him.  The light turned on up there as well and Brian shook his head in disbelief.  “I have to be dreaming…”  He murmured, but started up the steps anyways.

When he got to the top of the steps he surveyed the attic. Much of it was cleared away, save for the back half of it, so he was able to see a lot of the space.  There didn’t seem to be any signs for him to follow, until three boxes that were stacked up on each other toppled onto the floor.  Brian walked towards them and reached out to move them aside when something suddenly grabbed his arm.

He cried out and spun around, pushing away from whatever grabbed him.

“Shit Brian! What was that for?”  Justin asked in annoyance as he rubbed his head.

“Shit…” Brian muttered and then moved to kneel by him.  He felt his head a bit and examined it.  “Are you alright?  Did you hit your head?”  He asked swiftly and with concern.

“No, I’m ok. What are you doing up here?  It’s the middle of the night.”  He asked slowly and accepted Brian’s hand to help him stand up.

“I just…” Brian paused and glanced back to the boxes – they were stacked on top of each other again.  He furrowed his brow and slowly shook his head.  “I must have been sleep walking.”  He said slowly and then put his arm around Justin’s shoulder and walked him back down the rickety attic stairs.

“Well come back to bed. I’ve almost got everything up here cleared out.  Then we can do whatever we want with it.”  Justin chatted as they walked back to the room.  “But don’t worry about that.  I can take care of everything up there.  You just relax.”

“Yeah. Ok.  Thanks.”  Brian murmured as he laid back on the bed and pulled the blankets up once more.  Justin rolled over and laid his head on his shoulder, so he held his husband close and went back to sleep.

“God not again…Justin!  Have you seen my keys?!”  He called down the hallway towards the studio.  Justin had gotten an early start that morning, even beating Brian out of bed.  He’d put on his coat and prepared to leave for work but found that his keys weren’t in his pocket – again.

“Check the kitchen counter!” Came the hollered reply.

Brian sighed and set his briefcase down by the door and walked into the kitchen. Sure enough, the keys were on the counter.  He shook his head and tried to remember putting them there, but he couldn’t.  Getting frustrated, he reached out for the keys but just as he was about to grab them they flew off the counter.

He straightened and scowled. “Listen here, I’m getting tired of this shit.  I don’t care who you are or what you want.  Leave me the fuck alone.”

He felt silly talking to himself, but no matter how many times he told himself ghosts didn’t exist, he couldn’t explain what was happening any other way. ‘Maybe I should talk to Justin.’ He thought, wondering if he might think he was crazy.  But there was a chance Justin had experienced something too.  Maybe he wasn’t crazy…

He walked to the other side of the counter and picked his keys up from the floor. He then turned to leave the kitchen, but the kitchen door slammed shut.  He tried the handle, but it was locked – which was strange seeing as it didn’t have a lock.  He pushed and pushed against the door and finally it gave way.

He fell into the hallway and stalked immediately back to the front door to leave for work, but stopped when he saw that his briefcase was open and all of his files were strewn over the floor. The most unnerving bit, however, was that they were moved in a way that said ‘HELP ME’.

Brian slowly backed up before spinning around and stalking down to the studio. He knocked on the door loudly.  “Justin!  Come here!”  He demanded, determined to find out if Justin had any idea what was going on.  He didn’t care how crazy he sounded.

A few seconds later the door opened and Justin appeared with a confused look on his face. Brian grabbed his wrist and began tugging him down the hall.  “Brian, what’s going on?”  He asked fearfully.

“Look at this.”   Brian ordered and pointed to the floor when they got back to the front door.  He searched Justin’s face for a reaction, but his husband seemed confused more than anything.  He looked down at the floor then and saw that all the papers were gone.  “No…I…”  He blinked and then knelt and opened up his briefcase to see all of his files neatly in there, just where he left them.  “These were spread all over the floor.”  He explained slowly, but Justin continued to give him that confused, and slightly worried, look.

“Justin I swear!” He insisted and stood back up, holding the files in Justin’s face.  “Are you doing this to fuck with me?”  He asked angrily and Justin took a step back defensively.

“Doing what?” He asked slowly.

“Moving my things around. Fucking with the TV.  Throwing these on the floor.” 

“Brian I was in the studio all morning…” Justin reminded and Brian paused and sighed, knowing that he had been.

“You’re right. I’m sorry it’s just…some weird shit has been happening and I don’t understand it.”  Brian admitted and Justin stepped closer to him and put a soft hand on his arm.

“Weird things are happening to you too?” Justin asked slowly and Brian dipped his head a bit.

“What do you mean?”

“Before you came back I…I mean most of it felt like a dream but things seemed to move around and I didn’t feel like I was alone. But then you came back and it all stopped.” Justin explained softly and bit the inside of his bottom lip. “I thought it was just all in my head – that I was lonely or something. But now…Maybe you shouldn’t go into work today.” Justin suggested and then pressed his body right up against him.  “Stay here and we can relax today. We could both use the break.”  He added.

It felt wrong. It felt different than he remembered. He didn’t understand why. Brian felt like he was being lied to. Justin just didn’t feel right.

“No, I have to go in to drop off those contracts.” He said and then bent and kissed Justin softly.  “I am sorry.”  He repeated, and smiled when Justin waved it off.  “Call me if you need anything.”  He said and Justin nodded and then kissed him once more before he left.