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Author's Chapter Notes:

Brian rings in 2015 with his friends and family.

“Brian! Which shirt?”

 

Brian follows Eric’s voice to the bedroom and sees his partner in just a towel going through his drawer. He comes up behind him and takes the towel off.

 

“Neither. Get on the bed.”

 

Eric scrambles for his towel and puts it back on.

 

“Lily is up and we have to drop her off soon! She is not going to end her year by walking in on her dads fucking. Now which shirt?”

 

Brian lets out a put-upon sigh, then looks at the two shirts Eric is holding up.

 

“The black one. It goes well with your hair and brings out your eyes.”

 

“Aw, pumpkin…” Eric tells him as he plants a sloppy kiss on his cheek.

 

“Call me pumpkin again and see what happens.”

 

“Pump-kin.” Eric enunciates before Brian tosses him on the bed.

 

Brian pins Eric’s arms above his head and starts sucking at his neck. He grinds his hard-on against him and Eric lets out a moan.

 

“Brian, we can’t. Lily is out in the living room and she-”

 

“If she hears anything, we’ll just tell her that we were exercising. I’ll be quick, I promise. I just need to be inside of you.”

 

Eric looks at him and sees something desperate in Brian’s eyes. Things with Brian have been good. Hell, they’ve been good for years. They had fought over how Brian acted at Christmas but they patched that up. However, the last couple of days Brian had been a little needy and he isn’t sure why. He knows that Brian has problems with abandonment so maybe their argument had caused him to become insecure. As far as he knew, things were okay outside of their relationship besides some work stress. So the fight that Eric had already put behind him was the only thing he could really think of. That and the party they were about to go to. Brian might feel nervous about facing Justin and worried that he’ll fuck up again. And, as much as Eric doesn’t want that to be the case, he doesn’t want Brian to feel that way. So Eric finds his legs spreading and Brian lowers his pants and boxer briefs just low enough to let his dick spring free.

 

“Alright, alright. Just be quiet. And put a condom on, okay? I just took a shower.”

 

Brian sighs and reaches over to the nightstand and searches around for a condom. It’s honestly shocking how much Brian loves the connection and feeling they get when they have sex without anything between them. Don’t get him wrong, Eric loved it too. And while he thought it was a huge step in a relationship, he knew Brian was a huge advocate for safe sex and never even considered doing it until he was in his mid-thirties. It was smart of him due to his old lifestyle but he used to be so repulsed by the idea. Eric hadn’t needed it by any means. However, it had been something he imagined doing with a committed partner one day. When Eric asked about it, Brian hesitantly told him it was because of something that had happened with his gym teacher when he was 14 years old and stupid. Despite that setting off alarms in his head and going into instant concern for his partner, Eric knew not to push the subject. He knew Brian didn’t want to talk about it but since Brian was seeing a therapist at the time, he did ask him to bring it up with Dr. Tessler and Brian had when Eric wasn’t asked to come along. But Brian had opened up a little about it with Eric eventually and, even though he had been relatively vague about it, it had been an emotional night for both of them.

 

However, Eric knows that he wasn’t the first man to consensually have sex raw with Brian. He knew that Brian had only consented to that one other time before him and that was with Justin when they were engaged. It was probably another reason Brian had been hesitant to open himself up like that to someone again. But on an eventful night about almost three years ago, they were about to make love and Brian had looked down at him and told him he was ready then asked if they could skip the condom this time. They talked about it after and made sure the other knew they had to be open if one of them ever slipped up. But they had been fucking without them ever since, no matter who was topping who. Unless they wanted a quick clean fuck like tonight, they had just become accustomed to going without.

 

Brian slips the condom on and enters Eric and Eric stifles his groan at the intrusion. He turns his head a little and takes his eyes off Brian when the pleasure builds but Brian starts stroking his cheek and asks him to look at him. Eric does and they don’t break eye contact until after they come.

 

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“You okay?”

 

Brian hears Eric’s voice from across the room and turns his head to look at him. Eric is pulling on the black shirt and after he gets it over his head he gives Brian a look of scrutiny and concern.

 

“Great. Never better.”

 

“Okay. You would tell me if something was wrong? If you were upset or worried about something?”

 

“Jesus, Eric. You know I would. I would tell you first if something was wrong. What have I done to make you think something was wrong?”

 

Eric shrugs and looks away.

 

“I don’t know. You’ve just seemed a little shaky the last couple days. Like you need reassurance.”

 

“What is that supposed to mean?”

 

“Nothing. I just want you to know that I love you and that I’m over the fight we had so you don’t have to worry about that if you have been.”

 

“I know you’re over it. I’m fine, Eric.”

 

Eric nods and doesn’t say anything else and now Brian has one more thing to feel bad about so he goes over to him.

 

“I love you too. Everything’s fine. Just stress,” he tells him as he kisses his forehead. Eric nods and brings Brian in for a kiss.

 

“I’m going to get Lily’s overnight bag packed,” Eric tells him. As soon as he leaves the room, Brian sits down on the bed.

 

He feels so fucking guilty.

 

It’s a relatively new emotion for him. One that he really only started experiencing when he started entering relationships. And of course this time around it involved the only two people he had ever been in love with.

 

Eric was the most understanding and patient man. He really was and Brian loved that he was so innately good. He balanced Brian out and kept him a little more in line when it came to his brash side. But he knew that if Eric found out that Brian had not one, but two late night phone conversations with Justin that he didn’t bother to tell him about, he would be pissed. He wouldn’t leave Brian just for that but it would take longer than a few days for Eric to get over the betrayal of him calling his ex-fiancé late at night without even mentioning it to him.

 

It wasn’t as though he and Justin had phone sex or even talked about yearning for each other’s presence or some shit like that. The first time they had talked it had been because Brian was concerned over Justin’s situation with his dad. It had been a spur of the moment thing that had been driven by a need to comfort Justin in some small way and take the sourness of their last encounter off of both of their minds. He wouldn’t have felt that bad about one phone call. But two? He didn’t really have an excuse for the second one.

 

And it wasn’t like they brought up their past in the second one either. Justin had texted him earlier in the day yesterday. Nothing personal, just a link regarding a classic film festival at Anjelica Theatre that he thought Brian would be interested in taking Eric to that was happening in the middle of February. Justin knew his taste in movies well enough to know that Brian would be interested in going to something like that. The two of them had ended on a better note with the first phone call so it hadn’t been weird that Justin texted the link to him.

 

But it probably had been a bit weird that Brian called him later that night after Eric had fallen asleep. They hadn’t talked about anything that had happened between them or hashed anything out. They talked about movies they’d seen, books they’d read, their current partners, and Lily and Gus. Fuck, Brian even ended up telling him how Eric proposed. Which probably wasn’t the most thoughtful thing to tell your ex and while Justin wasn’t jumping for joy over the engagement, he did sincerely congratulate Brian since Brian hadn’t given him the chance to do that at Christmas. Justin had even laughed a little at the imagery of Brian having his hand held by a kneeling Eric. Brian’s still sure that Eric did that to fuck with him a little bit. He asked him about it once but Eric just batted his eyelashes and said, “I did it that way to show my love for you, Brian, and nothing more.” Yeah, right. Eric was a big romantic at heart but only a few people knew what a sarcastic shit he could be. It was one of the many things about him that turned Brian on, to be honest.

 

In return, Brian had listened to Justin talk about his current epic sized painting that he was working on and about Nathan, Jennifer, Molly, and some of his other friends in the area. Eventually the conversation led to Brian going into proud dad mode and telling a few stories about Lily and Gus. And that had been pretty much it. The phone call was a little over an hour. Brian went to bed feeling happy. And when he turned over to put an arm around his current lover, he immediately felt guilty.

 

So Brian swore to himself that there would be no more late night phone calls to Justin. Eric trusted him and was okay with them forming a friendship with Justin. How many partners would be okay with that? He didn’t want Eric to feel threatened by Justin either. He had no reason to and Brian would make sure with everything that he had that it would stay that way.

 

“Hey, I have Lily’s stuff together. She just needs to get her coat and boots on. You ready?” Eric says to him as he popped his head in.

 

“Yeah, I’m coming.”

 

Brian goes out into the living room where Lily is on the floor reading a Dr. Seuss book.

 

“Alright, Silly Lily! Time to get your coat on,” Eric says.

 

“No. Not going,” Lily informs them as she turned a page in her book.

 

Great.

 

“Lily, don’t you want to play with Tiana? You like Tiana,” Eric says as he bends down to reason with her.

 

“No. She’s old.”

 

“She’s seven,” Brian replies as he held back a laugh.

 

“Yep,” Lily sasses him, as if he just proved her point. Fucking three year olds.

 

“Lily, you have to go. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.”

 

“But Gus is going to the party! JR is going! Everybody’s going! I wanna go with you!” she pouts as she gets up to stomp her feet.

 

“Aunt Cynthia isn’t going. Ted and Blake aren’t going,” Brian points out but Lily calls him on his crap.

 

“That is BECAUSE they aren’t in New York! Aunt Cynthia went back home! Those other two never came up here in the first place!”

 

“Hey, be nice. Ted and Blake sent you a lot of presents for Christmas and called you to say hi. They wanted to be here but had to go to see Blake’s family,” Brian tells her sternly and Lily looks like she feels a little bad but is still defiant.

 

“Baby, you think Tiana’s old? There are going to be so many old people at the party we’re going to,” Eric tells her seriously then leans in to loudly whisper, “They’ll all be Daddy’s age.”

 

Brian glares at Eric but Eric just looks up at him and smirks. Lily stays silent and looks like she is thinking, then looks at her dads.

 

“If I go, can I get a pet?”

 

Brian would be proud of his kid for her bargaining methods if this subject hadn’t been brought up several times before in the last two months.

 

“No.”

 

“But I can play with a pet! I can play with a fishy or a turtle or a lizard or hamster or a parrot or a kitty or a doggie or a snake-”

 

“Lily, we can’t get one right now. We’re about to move. We have to get the house ready and Daddy and I have to work a lot since we are in a new city. But once things settle down, we’ll talk about it again and start out with something easy so you can learn how to take care of it. That okay?”

 

Lily just looks away and puts her coat on. When Eric tries to help her, she takes a few steps back and quietly says, “I can do it myself.” It takes a lot longer that way, but she manages to zip it up eventually.

 

“Come on, Lily. You’ll have fun, I promise,” Brian tells her as he holds out his hand. Since she is in a foul mood, she ignores it so Brian reaches down to take it. She glares at the ground as she walks out of the apartment with them.

 

They decided to just take the subway since they had no idea how parking would be down where Justin’s gallery was. Brian had his assistant set up in a nice apartment in Sunset Park so they would have to turn around and make a transfer after they dropped Lily off but it wasn’t too much of a hassle. Lily likes the trains anyway and she does cheer up a little when they got on and Brian and Eric start talking to her about what Malia has planned for her and Tiana.

 

“We’re watching movies and Tiana’s mommy is making dinner for me and Tiana?”

 

“Yep. And if you and Tiana are good, she’ll let the two of you stay up to watch the ball drop.”

 

“What’s that?”

 

“It’s a tradition they do in Times Square,” Eric informs her.

 

“SO SHE’S TAKING US?!” Lily squeals as both Brian and Eric shush her.

 

“Absolutely not. People stand out there for days just to get a decent spot. You’d get trampled anyway,” Brian tells her.

 

“Nuh uh. We watch it from her window then?”

 

“No sweetie. You wouldn’t be able to see it from there. It’s on TV,” Eric says.

 

“Oh. Okay,” Lily answers, not that impressed anymore.

 

“This stop is: 25th Street. This is the train to Bay Ridge, 95th Street. The next stop is: 36th Street. Please be careful as you exit the train.”

 

“This is our stop,” Brian tells Eric as he picks Lily back up.

 

They got off the train and walked the two blocks to Malia’s apartment building. They rang the bell to Apartment 4A and Malia’s voice came on the line.

 

“Who is it?” Malia calls out.

 

“The one who comes bearing money and a child,” Brian dryly responds as he adjusts Lily on his hip.

 

“Oh, it’s you. You can come up, I guess.”

 

The door buzzes and Eric opens it. They walk up the four flights of stairs and knock on the door. Within a couple of seconds, Malia opens it.

 

“Hey, girl! I haven’t seen you in weeks! Your daddy had to keep me busy by opening a new office and dragging me along with him. Give me a hug.”

 

Brian lets her down and Lily runs over to hug Malia. Malia has been his assistant for a little over two years now. After having a couple of assistants who didn’t work out, he called Malia in after seeing her resume. She is a Chicago native who isn’t afraid to speak her mind and is as tough as nails. Malia has spunk, to say the least. She is a 32 year old single mother who was widowed a year after Tiana was born. A few days after he hired her, he had been in a bad mood about a design messed up by someone in the art department. So he had been a dick to everyone that day, including her. Brian remembered her coming into his office and more or less laying down the law on how she expected to be treated and the lengths she would go to in order to be the best assistant she could be in return. Like Cynthia, she wasn’t afraid to call out Brian on his bullshit and has become a real friend to him despite both of them having dominant personalities. She is smart, funny, and has good ideas when it came to some of their campaigns. He let her sit in on meetings and give her input. He knew that within a couple of years, he would probably have to offer her a higher position because she had potential. He respected her a lot and on top of that, she offered to watch Lily when Eric and Brian had to be somewhere.

 

“Here’s her bag. I packed a couple of juice boxes, a couple of books she likes read to her before bed, one of her favorite stuffed animals, her pajamas, and two sets of clothes. I know she’s just staying tonight but you never know what messes that kids will get into. I know you have Brian’s number, but do you have mine too in case-”

 

“Yes, Eric. I have your number. We’ve known each other for a couple of years now, remember? I’ll take Tiana and Lily with me tomorrow to the office and hand your daughter over to your man. You’ll come pick her up later and you’ll all be reunited once again. I will call you if any type of emergency happens up until that point so stop being such a helicopter parent and go have fun! Do whatever it is that the two of you do while the three of us have a ladies’ night and watch The Princess and the Frog.”

 

“Yeah, Papa. Ladies’ night!” Lily confirms, nodding her head vigorously.

 

“You’re right. Sorry. You’d think I’ve never left her with you before, huh? Must be living in a new place.”

 

Eric squats down and holds his arms out.

 

“Can I have a hug and a kiss before we go?”

 

Lily wraps her arms around Eric’s neck and gives him a kiss on the cheek.

 

“Happy New Year, baby.”

 

“Not a baby,” Lily mumbles into his neck.

 

Eric lets go and stands up then Brian bends down to kiss Lily’s head and holds her little body against his.

 

“Happy New Year, kid. Be sure to eat all the sugar you can find in the house so you and Tiana can stay up until midnight and drive Malia insane. Banging on pots and pans is a nice tradition.”

 

“Kay, Daddy.”

 

“Kinney, get out of my house! And stop corrupting your little angel.”

 

“But it’s fun,” Brian tells her with a grin as Eric takes his arm and pulls him away.

 

“Have a nice night, Malia. Bye, Tiana! Happy New Year!” Eric tells them as he and Brian go out the door.

 

Since they had to go to Sunset Park first, they do not take the L like Justin suggested that they should. Brian and Eric get on the N so that they can go to Fulton and transfer to the G. When they get off at Bedford, the walk is only a couple of blocks farther than it would have been if they had taken the L. It gives Brian and Eric a chance to explore an area of Brooklyn they hadn’t really seen. It was sort of neat and industrial. It was definitely a place that would appeal to artists and musicians but, even more so, hipsters. He hoped Justin didn’t lead a secret life as a hipster.

 

“That the place up there?” Eric asks him as they hear music and see a small crowd.

 

Brian shrugs and pulls out his phone to look at a picture of the gallery.

 

“Looks like it.”

 

Eric nods and starts walking, but Brian pulls him back.

 

“You sure you are okay with going? If you want to turn around and go out like we planned before or go back to Malia’s and spend it with the girls then that’s fine. I’ll understand.”

 

Eric raises an eyebrow.

 

“Brian, I told you I didn’t want to back out. It’s fine. Our friends are in there. Although Malia was right when she called me a helicopter parent tonight. This is the first time neither of us have had her since we moved. It’s been a while since I went into over worried mother mode.”

 

“You were pretty clingy.”

 

“She was just in such a bad mood tonight before we left the apartment. What if she’s lonely? She doesn’t have any playmates here besides Tiana and they get along great but they are in different stages emotionally due to their age gap so there will be times when they don’t want to do the same things. On top of that, she is missing Cynthia already. Gus, JR, and everybody else will be going back soon and I know that it’s not like she had them on a regular basis in Chicago but that’s the only home she remembers so she was comfortable there but now she’s in a new place-”

 

Brian turns Eric to face him and puts his hands on his shoulders.

 

“Eric, she’ll be fine. She’s a tough kid. Overly dramatic and way too friendly for her own good but she gets that from you and you turned out fine. Emmett and Drew are getting Duncan soon and he’s the same age as her. The four of us will probably be foisting our kids onto each other so they can play together. It will all be ridiculously domestic. But she should be with us tonight. Let’s just go back to Malia’s, stay there, and-”

 

“Brian, it’s fine. Gus is here, remember? He’s leaving the day after tomorrow so let’s spend time with him and you can pal around with Michael.”

 

Brian notices that Eric doesn’t bring up Justin. Eric already made a point in telling him to play nice with him and Nathan and if that hadn’t convinced him enough, talking to Justin on the phone and finding out about how much of a dick he really had been to Nathan on Christmas had.

 

“Alright. Let’s go inside.”

 

Brian and Eric cross the street and make their way to the entrance. They go in and there is a nice turnout. The gallery looks nice and Brian is impressed by the size of it. Justin has done well. All he knows about the event is that there are five up and coming artists being featured plus a couple of Justin’s paintings. They have a bar set up, a small stage and mood lights installed, and servers with hors d'oeuvres and champagne.

 

“Everyone else should be here. Let’s look around,” Eric suggests as he takes Brian’s hand and they walk into the next room.

 

They initially start to look for their friends and family but get distracted by the paintings in this room. They are vibrant, intense, and emotional. He knows it isn’t Justin’s work but this artist is good and Brian is already walking over to put a silent bid on a piece that he has his eye on.

 

“She’s good, isn’t she?” Lindsay says as she comes up beside him.

 

Brian turns his head and sees her standing there. He nods and turns back to the bidder so he can write the name of the piece, the artist’s name, and $20,000 on the bid line. He knows it’s high but the gallery will get ten percent, a charity of the artist’s choice (which was a food and clothing pantry in Brownsville) will get twenty, and whoever this woman is deserves the rest so she can have some money available to her for any future pieces.

 

“I know she’s new but I’m surprised that I’ve never heard of her,” Brian says as he walks with her.

 

“This is the first time her work has officially been displayed. Justin told me he found her painting in the park and that she did it to help support her grandmother and her siblings. She’s twelve years old.”

 

“You’re lying.”

 

“I was shocked too. She’s incredibly talented, especially for her age. I really think this might help her situation more.”

 

Brian nods and makes a note to bid on something else of hers if there isn’t anything else that catches his eye.

 

“Where’s Gus?”

 

“He’s with Nathan,” she tells him and when he gives her a baffled expression she elaborates, “He volunteered to help him and his band set up for their set.”

 

Brian huffs, then looks away.

 

“I just talked to Nathan. He’s really nice, Brian. He is young and a bit aloof, but he has a good heart. He sort of reminds me of you a little.”

 

Brian ignores that statement and says, “I’m going to go find Eric. I’ll see you in a bit, Linds.”

 

Brian walks around trying to find Eric. He doesn’t find him but he does find Gus. Gus is on the left side of the platform carrying a microphone stand and talking to Nathan. Knowing Gus, he is probably questioning him on everything from his guitar to what music he likes to his jacket to what his other hobbies are but Nathan doesn’t seem to be annoyed by him or anything. Gus looks over and sees Brian and waves in his direction. Nathan looks over and quickly looks away. Seems like Brian intimidated him more than he thought. He starts to feel good about that until he reminds himself of what Justin had told him and then feels guilty. He had prepared himself to apologize or at least strike up a more appropriate conversation with him but like hell he’s doing that in front of his son. It may set a good example but Brian was still a prideful man.

 

So he walks around some more and finds his partner on the second floor. Talking to Justin. Damn it.

 

Maybe it’s a good thing. He doesn’t think Justin would say something like, “Oh by the way, your soon-to-be husband has made a couple of late night phone calls to me. Don’t worry. He waited until you were in bed asleep to make them.” Justin wasn’t vindictive. Brian was more vindictive than Justin and Eric combined and he wouldn’t fuck up someone’s relationship like that.

 

Eric may apologize for Brian’s behavior but it was more likely that he would just say something along the lines of, “Hey, Justin! This is a great event and I really appreciate you inviting Brian and me. It means a lot. Both Brian and I have already put in bids for paintings. They’re all fantastic!” Brian knew that as much as Eric would want to smooth things over and make sure Justin wasn’t uncomfortable, he would stand by Brian first.

 

There was one way to find out.

 

Brian walked over and flicked Eric’s ear, smiled at Eric’s amused expression, and turned his head to Justin.

 

“Everything looks great, Justin.”

 

Justin gave him one of his signature Sunshine Smiles but also looked hesitant to take the compliment.

 

“You really think so? Emmett has really helped a lot so the compliment should go to him. I’ve thrown several gallery showings but nothing with this many people and never with entertainment and on top of that it’s New Year’s-”

 

“Justin. You did good. How did you find the artists? Lindsay told me about Aisha Morrison but what about the others?”

 

“Well, it’s the first show for Edward Jones too. He’s actually in his sixties and has been a street painter for a long time. He is a teacher at a middle school in Queens. His work is really good but it is his technique that sold his work to tourists. He mainly uses spray paints and can do a whole detailed landscape in under ten minutes. It’s fascinating to watch. Liam Phillips is my age. He owns a restaurant on Bedford so my staff and I go there a lot for dinner and drinks. He’s become one of my closest friends. I noticed the work he had hanging around the restaurant and when I asked him who the artist was, he told me that he did the paintings himself. He was tight on money when he first opened so he decorated the place by putting up some of his own work. He mainly works with oil paints and watercolors. He’s had a couple of showings here before and his work sells pretty well. Valentina Amador is originally from Spain but moved here as a teenager. She’s a student at the New York Art Institute and she interned here last summer. Her specialty is sculpting. She works with glass frequently and has some amazing glass sculptures upstairs. She even has some woodwork. Some furniture, some decorative pieces. And Zeek Collins is the fifth artist. He’s in his late twenties and I met him at a small showing in Dumbo about six months back. He does a lot of mixed media work. His art is very textured and he uses anything from paint to fabric to polymer clay to digital designs, anything really, in order to make his work three dimensional. His section is upstairs with Valentina’s.”

 

That led into Eric diving into a discussion with Justin about his preferences when it came to his own art. Brian must have a thing for art geeks. Justin and Eric both had very different jobs, but both of them were visionary geniuses and excelled in their careers early in their lives. They both built beautiful things with their hands and put their heart and soul into every project that they did. To be truthful, the two of them had a lot in common besides Brian and Brian isn’t surprised that they actually get along really well despite the circumstances. They all spoke for a while and Justin was very interested in the synagogue in Bensonhurst and told Eric that if he was interested or open to it, he knew a few younger artists interested in the architectural field who would love to come observe the process. And Eric, with his giving and overcaring heart, said he would love to be of help to any younger people interested in the field. Their discussion went on to the point where Brian started to feel a little left out. It wasn’t that Brian wasn’t artistic. He loved art, was knowledgeable in it, loved men who were artists, and was even a visionary himself. He needed to be one since he had to create a certain kind of art for his own career. But a national ad campaign for a tennis shoe was different than a painting or an intricately designed building so he couldn’t add much of his own experience to the conversation. But eventually, all conversations end. Eric ended up wanting to go upstairs to look at what they didn’t get to see yet and Justin needed to go and make the rounds before Nathan’s band played. So they parted and as Eric turned to go upstairs, Brian and Justin made eye contact and Brian forced himself to look away.

 

He followed his partner upstairs and immediately, Eric became enamored with Valentina’s work. She had built a beautiful bookshelf that Brian knew Eric was going to go and bid a ridiculous amount on just to make sure he was the one who would get it. Some of the work that Zeek Collins did was great as well. There was a very cool piece that they decided to bid on for Lily. The actual picture, while detailed and beautifully and realistically done, wasn’t unique. It was of a young girl sitting at a table and she was pouring water into a glass. But it was textured, layered, and fascinating to look at. Brian could tell that Collins used thin cuts of wood for the table and shaved glass for the pitcher and cup. The piece must have been battery operated because the clock on the wall in the picture was moving with the correct time and there was water moving from the pitcher into the glass. It was very unique.

 

After they went back downstairs and made their bids those two pieces, they went into the main room and found the rest of their family.

 

“Hey, boys!” Emmet called out as he waved.

 

“Hey, Emmett. You are finally standing still long enough for us to actually talk to you now,” Eric laughed as he gave Emmett a hug.

 

“Oh, it’s been busy. Justin doesn’t really have a kitchen here so I brought my food truck that I keep in the city in order for all of the hors d'oeuvres to stay at the right temperature. So I’ve been in and out and bossing my servers around. But it’s been a great night. I didn’t even have to get anyone other than the piano player for entertainment. Justin has Nathan’s band playing. It will be a wonderful contrast from what you usually hear at events like this since they are a rock band rather than some girl with an acoustic guitar quietly singing on stage.”

 

“Do you know if they are any good?” Brian asked him.

 

“Actually, they are very good. Drew and I went to go see them once at a festival that Justin invited us to last year. I know dubstep and club music is in but I’m surprised they aren’t that well known yet. Nathan has a fantastic voice and he’s a great guitar and piano player.”

 

Brian expected as much. Even though Nathan was Justin’s boyfriend, he didn’t see Justin giving him the gig just because of that.

 

Brian found out for himself at 10 pm when Justin came up on stage and introduced The Accidental Natives. Nathan and his band came up and Justin gave Nathan a kiss before Nathan went to stand in front of the center mic. Nathan gave a little introduction for each of the band members and he was surprisingly charismatic and personable. When they started playing their first song, as much as Brian didn’t want to be, he was very impressed. Nathan was fucking good and the rest of the band was as well. His singing voice was clear and strong. The same could be said for the other singer, Petra, on the songs where she sang lead. Nathan also had these great guitar solos. They did have a signature sound but their songs varied. A few of the songs were fast, loud, and catchy but there were also ones that were slower, softer, and hypnotic. They were the kind of songs that make you want to take E in order to really experience it. Brian ended up standing there for the whole set just to listen to them.

 

As they finished their last song and received a loud applause, Eric turned to Brian and said, “They’re really good, aren’t they?”

 

“Yeah, they are,” Brian says as he nods.

 

He keeps his eye on Nathan. He sees Justin come up to Nathan to tell him how great he was and he waits it out as Justin talks to the rest of the band and gives Nathan a ‘see you later’ kiss. Once Justin goes to talk to Michael and Nathan is unoccupied, Brian walks over to speak to him. He taps Nathan on the shoulder to get his attention. As soon as Nathan turns around and sees him, all of that charisma that he held on stage drains away.

 

“You want something?” Nathan asks a little harshly as he tries to maintain eye contact with Brian.

 

“Yeah, I do. I wanted to tell you what a great job you did. You’re a fantastic musician and performer. Justin made a good choice by having you play here.”

 

Nathan blinks like he didn’t expect that. He loses his scowl but his posture is still tense.

 

“Oh! Thank you. We’ve been playing together for almost four years now but have gotten more serious about it in the last two. I really do appreciate Justin asking us to play tonight but I sort of had a leg up with him-”

 

Brian ignores the sexual innuendo he could make but still interrupts him.

 

“Justin didn’t ask you to play because you’re his boyfriend. If you sucked, he would have made an excuse about needing another type of musician to set a different tone for the night. He asked you to play because he knows real talent when he sees it.”

 

Nathan looks like he is thinking about what Brian just said and it must bring some comfort to him because he posture relaxes and he gives Brian a hesitant smile.

 

“And I know real talent when I see it too. I’m doing an elaborate ad campaign for a Broadway rock musical and it needs a new band. The director casted some dumbass instrument wielding so-called band called-”

 

“Is it Strep Negative? I saw on the local news that they had gotten arrested for cocaine distribution and that they were supposed to be in a Broadway show this spring. I’ve met them a few times at different festivals and gigs. They are pretty good, but they’re fucking idiots.”

 

“They are. They’ve already cost me almost a quarter million. We’ve had to take down all of the flyers that have their names or faces on them. We had to postpone the bus performances which means the permits with the city that were approved for those days, at a pretty high price I might add, are now useless. The show is postponed for another month. If the right band isn’t found soon, the director will have to throw in the towel and I don’t get paid my percentage of the ticket sales.”

 

“That sucks, but what does it have to do with me?”

 

Brian raises an eyebrow. Does he seriously have to ask?

 

Nathan raises an eyebrow back. Apparently he does.

 

“Would you like to take my card so you and your band can come in next week to meet the director?” Brian enunciates so the fucker gets his point, “I think once he hears you, he will say yes immediately. I get that you all want to play your own music, but the sound of the music in the show is similar and you could catch onto it quickly. The show is going to be a hit. The director has had a lot of high profile shows on and off Broadway. But more importantly, I am advertising for it. Every campaign I take on succeeds and everyone that is a part of it succeeds as well.”

 

“How humble of you.”

 

“Being humble doesn’t get you anywhere. You wouldn’t become so charismatic and sure of yourself once you go on stage if that were the case. What I am telling you is the truth. The members of Strep Negative were supposed to form a musical collaboration with the star of the show, develop a cult following, have some of their original music appear on the Featured Artists page on iTunes and Spotify, get bigger and better gigs on the side, perform at the Tony and Grammy awards, and eventually start touring and doing bigger and better things as a band. It was supposed to be the beginning of their rise to fame story. But now it won’t be. And that’s a good thing because Strep Negative has nothing on The Accidental Natives. Now do you want to take my card before I take back my offer?”

 

Nathan stares at him and reaches out to take Brian’s business card.

 

“I’ll talk to Petra, Sebastian, and Nadia. I’m sure they’ll want to do it but I’ll figure out what times we can offer to meet. You aren’t fucking with me, right?”

 

“No, Nathan. I’m not fucking with you. Give me a call and we’ll all meet. Happy New Year.”

 

“Yeah, you too. And…thank you.”

 

Brian shrugs, smirks, and walks away. He’s glad now that Nathan’s band is as good as it is. It gave him the chance to extend the nice gesture out as a peace offering without having to apologize and it eases his mind with this particular campaign as well.

 

Brian walks across the room where Eric is standing with Michael, Ben, JR, and Gus.

 

“Isn’t it great? Only an hour left until the new year!” Michael exclaims like the dweeb that he is. Going by JR’s expression, she feels the same way Brian does.

 

“You’re in a cheerful mood,” Eric says to him with a smile.

 

“Things just seem to be going well for everyone. Hunter’s here with us for the holidays, my best friend is finally living out his dream by opening an office in New York, Emmett and Drew are adopting a little boy, and just a few minutes ago, Justin came up to me and said he would work on Rage with me again. Things are going great and I’m excited for what’s to come.”

 

“You’re working on Rage again?” Brian blurts out.

 

“Yeah! I didn’t want to mention it unless Justin said yes. I didn’t want to work on it without him. But we got an offer from Red Giant. They want to republish the existing books and want us to write a reboot for the series. It’s a good deal. We will maintain creative control of the comics but they will spread it to a larger market and manufacture merchandise. We’ll also be able to okay or deny any adaptation offers.”

 

Brian doesn’t know what to think about this at all. He glances at Eric from the corner of his eye and he seems happy for Michael but also a bit confused so Brian tries to clarify some things.

 

“So once again, Rage, Zephyr, and JT will be out and about, saving the world many fags at a time?”

 

“Isn’t it great?” Michael exclaims.

 

“So you said reboot. Where and when will the series take place?” Eric asks.

 

“Justin and I haven’t really talked about it. But I was thinking maybe a little into the future since the last issue ended with Rage and JT adopting their son-” that’s when Michael breaks off and sees the possible conflict.

 

“Or maybe it can take place in an alternate dimension. That actually might be a better idea. It’ll give the comic a new look but retain the characters and their personalities, yet give us the option of adding new heroes and villains.”

 

There’s an awkward silence for several seconds. Even the kids pick up on it. Gus is staring way too hard at one of Justin’s paintings and JR is looking down at her shoes. Even though Eric is probably happy for Michael to have an offer like this, he looks a bit uncomfortable with the idea going by his blank expression. Brian doesn’t know what his face is doing but he clears his throat and puts an arm around Michael’s shoulders.

 

“Let me know if I can help with getting the word out. I’m sure the new issue will be great.”

 

Michael gives him a relieved smile and gives him a hug. He and JR go off to find Lindsay and Melanie and Gus stays with them. Brian looks at Eric and takes his hand. Eric looks at him with an expression that says, “Don’t worry, I’m cool with it.” And he might be. Brian hopes he is. Michael and Ben could use the extra money, especially since they have been talking about having a kid. They had JR and Hunter but they only had Hunter for a few years before he went off to college and then to LA and JR lived with Linds and Mel during the week. Five years ago, Brian would have been wary of Michael’s wish to be a full-time dad. Yeah, he loved Gus. He loved that kid so fucking much. If something happened to his mothers, he would raise him in a heartbeat. Despite how he used to be, he would have stepped up even when Gus was young if he had needed it. But he didn’t know how rewarding it would be to raise a kid until he had Lily. He wanted to pull his hair out sometimes but he would never regret that step into Stepfordville. He wanted Michael and Ben to be able to experience that as well. But they needed money to be able to do that. They weren’t poor. The comic store was doing surprisingly well for this day and age and Ben got paid okay. But kids were fucking expensive. Not just raising them but actually having one as well. They might not get approved easily for adoption due to Ben’s HIV status. It was unfair and it sucked, but when it came to babies, the birth parents and agencies were picky. Getting a surrogate and a donor were costly. Lindsay and Melanie weren’t exactly at the prime age to do either anymore. He had been happy for Emmett when he and Drew announced they were adopting a kid but he had been a little worried about Michael’s feelings. So fuck, if Rage would help Michael and Ben get a kid then he had to be okay with it, even if Michael decided to keep Rage and JT together.

 

He and Eric didn’t bring up the subject after Michael left. Emmett and Drew approached them and they started talking about Duncan. Emmett and Drew went to see him earlier in the day and showed them a few pictures on their phones. When Eric brought up having regular play dates for Duncan and Lily, Emmett pulled a Lily by squealing out his excitement. Brian briefly thought he would take his Lily impression even further by twirling out his happiness but Drew had put a hand on his shoulder to subtly calm him down so they didn’t get to see that.

 

“Only half an hour,” Eric whispers in his ear as Emmett and Drew walk away.

 

“So sentimental. Just like Michael.”

 

“Says the man who hid mistletoe in the couch.”

 

“I did that for some action.”

 

“Like you need anything to get me to kiss you.”

 

Eric kisses him and Brian gives him a sweet smile. After a few minutes pass, Brian looks around and sees that someone is missing.

 

“Where’s Gus?”

 

Eric looks around as well but doesn’t spot him.

 

“I don’t know. Maybe he went to go look around.”

 

“Or went to go look at anything other than his dad sucking face.”

 

“It could have been that too,” Eric laughs.

 

“I don’t see him with the others so I’m going to go look for him. I want to ring in the New Year with Gus at our side.”

 

“Who’s the sentimental one now?”

 

Brian smirks at his partner and goes up the stairs to see If Gus is on one of the other floors. He doesn’t see him on the second so he checks the third, which is pretty much empty at this point of the night. He goes into the third floor bathroom to check to see if Gus is in there but he finds Justin instead. So Brian damns the skip a urinal rule like he always does and unzips his pants next to Justin.

 

“Uh…hey, Brian.”

 

“Hey. So do you always climb two flights of stairs to take a piss when you’re here?”

 

Justin huffs out a laugh as he zips up his pants and flushes the urinal.

 

“No. I came up here for some peace and quiet. My head was starting to hurt from all of the people and the stress. I just happened to have a full bladder at the time. Doesn’t explain why you’re up here when everyone else is downstairs.”

 

Brian zips up as well, flushes, and goes over to the sink to wash his hands.

 

“I was looking for Gus. He was with Eric and me but wandered off. I was hoping to find him before midnight.”

 

“I saw him on the second floor on my way up here. You may have missed him after he went back down or something.”

 

“Hmmm. I probably should head back down and see if I can find him then.”

 

“Yeah. See you down there.”

 

Brian turns to leave the restroom but stops when he hears his name.

 

“Brian?”

 

Brian turns around and walks back over to Justin.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“I just…I wanted to thank you for making that offer to Nathan. He may not have appeared overly excited about it in front of you but that’s because you’re…well, you. But he is excited. He and the rest of his band are so happy about the chance you gave them. I’m pretty sure Petra wants to kiss you because of it. So thank you.”

 

Brian hides a smile and shrugs.

 

“He’s fucking good. It’s hard for me to admit it, but the kid is talented. Does he write most of the music?”

 

“He and Petra switch off. Nadia and Sebastian have written a couple of songs but she and Nathan are sort of the creative geniuses behind the band. They do have a small following but if they get this, it will really be a boost for their careers.”

 

“It’s not that big of a deal, Justin. The play needs a band so I won’t lose any more money. They happened to catch my eye and it’ll help me out if they get it.”

 

Justin stares at him for a few seconds, then puts his hands on his arms.

 

“You think you have everyone fooled. We have avoided each other for a long time, but I still know you better than most people. You’re a good man, Brian Kinney. Whether you want people to know it or not.”

 

Brian swallows the small lump that forms in his throat and leans in before he can stop himself. Their faces are a few inches apart and Brian can see Justin’s eyes dilate and feels the air from Justin’s breaths. He can’t fucking help it. Even though all this time has passed, being this close to Justin still turns him on. It makes his head get foggy and his heart beat quickly. But he’s not fucking stupid.

 

So he fights through the fog and he kisses Justin on the cheek instead. He lets his cheek rest against his for a few seconds and Justin must not mind because he doesn’t move an inch. As Brian revels in the feeling of just touching Justin, he feels the gnawing guilt hit his stomach yet again because the man who he loves and made a life with is downstairs waiting for him.

 

So Brian whispers, “Happy New Year, Justin” into Justin’s ear then backs away from his ex-lover. He sees Justin give him a sad but accepting smile before Brian turns around and heads downstairs.

 

The clock strikes twelve and 2015 hits. Brian is surrounded by his friends and family and he is really and truly happy. He gives his fiancé a long and loving kiss. He knows this will be a great year for him. He’s getting married to the father of their incredible little girl and he has finally made it in New York. After they break the kiss, Brian presses his forehead against Eric’s then wraps his arms around his lover and they just hold each other. As Brian looks over Eric’s shoulder and sees Justin hugging Nathan, he feels happy for him. And as Justin’s eyes meet his and they stare at each other across the room, he pushes down the longing and tries to give Justin a smile.

Chapter End Notes:

End of Act I (in a sense.) Hope you enjoyed it!

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