Justin usually doesn't go and actively work in his gallery on the weekends, but he needs to get his mind off of the surprise of the afternoon. He is actually pretty lucky they had stopped at that place for lunch, since the L train is only four blocks away and that means he doesn't have to transfer trains like he would have from Herald Square or his apartment. So he walks down to 14th street and catches the L. He gets off after a few stops and walks the two blocks to the Bedford Art Gallery. He walks inside and sees his intern, Lola (who seems to have changed her hair from a royal purple to a shade of lavender,) doing inventory and Max getting a few new pieces in for the show on New Year’s Eve.

“Hey Justin,” Lola calls out, without looking away from the laptop.

“Hey, Lola. Your hair looks good. What are you doing here so early? You usually don’t come in until 3 on Sundays.”

“Nothing else better to do. What about you? Couldn’t get Nathan away from his muse?”

“Calling Arm & Hammer Baking Soda anyone’s muse seems to be a bit odd, don’t you think?” Justin asks her in amusement.

“Well, you have to be pretty passionate to write a song about them. Or be getting paid a pretty decent sum of money.”

“Pretty sure it is the second one.” Justin laughs, “I talked to him last night and he was working on it. I will probably stop over later to see how he is doing.”

“Hey, at least his band has that gig next Saturday at The Dram Shop, right?”

“Yeah, I think he will feel better that he is getting work in what he actually wants to do.”

“Well, I’ll be there.”

Justin thanks her for it and goes back to his office. He closes the door and throws himself in the office chair. Brian. After all this time, he ran into Brian. What are the fucking odds of that? That he would run into Brian, just three days after the man moved to the city? He doesn't know how he feels about it. And he doesn't know how Brian had felt about it either. It had been weird, to say the least. Brian barely contributed to the conversation once they met up with Eric. In fact, Justin had spent most of the time talking to Eric instead of Brian himself.

He hadn’t been expecting to actually like Eric. He never knew much about him other than what some of the gang had told him in passing throughout the years when they talked on the phone. He did look him up on Facebook a few weeks after Lily would have been born out of curiosity. He even remembers what his profile picture looked like. It was a close up of Eric and his little family. Brian had Lily in his arms, eyes filled with love, and Eric was leaning over, smiling, and stroking his baby’s face. Justin remembers how heavy his heart had felt. He had known Brian had entered a serious relationship but it was then when it had hit him how much he had probably hurt Brian by going back on what he had previously said he had wanted. He could look at that picture and see how happy he was, how happy both of them were, and how much he must have wanted this. He had been happy for him but, even though over three years had passed since they had broken up at that point, there was a small part of him that had thought, “That could have been me.” That feeling might have faded but it was still there just slightly. But he was still happy for Brian. Brian and Eric move so well with each other and Justin can see how much Lily loves both of her dads.

“Just take your mind off of it. Think of Nathan.” Justin says to himself as he rubbed his temples.

Justin loves Nathan. A lot. Not like he had loved Brian, Justin had loved Brian when he was young and hormone ridden. Justin is nearing 32 and he is the older man in the relationship now. Nathan's wonderful. Right now, things are rough for him, which brings out some of his negative qualities, like getting too emotional about rejection and taking things very personally in a multitude of ways, whether getting upset about someone not caring for a song he wrote or seeing that goddamn Sarah Mclachlan commercial. But he is filled with life. He is a good listener and enthusiastically encourages Justin’s already established career, even if Nathan felt he hit a block with his own. 

Nathan, almost nine years his junior, is not like Brian on the surface. Some people do a double take when they found out he and Justin are together. He doesn't know why, exactly. They dress a little differently and, despite both being in a creative field, their interests differ when it comes to several things. And Nathan tends not to be the most grounded person when it comes to his emotions. He had no problem showing some of him, since he does have occasional queen outs over the fate of his career, afraid that he would write commercial jingles for the rest of his life when he wants his band to succeed. Yet, when Nathan enters truly dark moments, he would clam up and withdraw. Justin feels for him because the band is actually very good. And Justin thinks Nathan knows that. Nathan doesn't need the constant praise the Ethan "the genius" had needed either.

He had seen Nathan’s band perform a few times at small music festivals and bars, that’s how he met Nathan in the first place. But, if you put them in a genre, it would probably be punk rock in style with more of a glam rock sound. But the record labels are focused on EDM and indie folk music. So Nathan had been especially moody about that the last few months. Justin tries to remind him that he is lucky to get so many offers on the jingle thing, because it does pay pretty well but Nathan is adamant that it is rotting away any talent he might have.
Justin sighs as he thinks about his boyfriend. He should probably call him. Nathan was upset last night so Justin pulls out his cell and dials Nathan’s number.

“Hello?” Nathan answers.

“Hey, it’s me. I just wanted to see how you were doing.”

“Fine. Arm & Hammer will be pleased that I sacrificed any artistic integrity I have left for their consumerism.”

Well, at least he isn’t crying like last night.

“I am sure it sounds great and you will give them a completely new image.”

“Why the fuck do they need a jingle? Everyone already knows Arm & Hammer. Most people buy their fucking baking soda anyway! Why can’t they just stop shoving it down our throats?”

“Hey, Nathan? Nathan. How about you come over to the gallery and give me a hand with things? Get your mind off it. Just remember that you finished it and you are getting paid.”

“Yeah, yeah. Why are you over there? It’s Sunday.”

“I had nothing else better to do. Come on, I wanna see you.”

“Alright, I will be there in about a half hour. I have to shower first.”

“That’s fine. See you soon.”

Justin hangs up and goes out to help Max with some of the paintings that they are bringing in. He recognizes one of the paintings as Aisha’s. They had come across a twelve year old girl who lives in Brownsville. She puts his younger self to shame. She comes from a low income area and she and her three siblings are being raised by their grandmother. For the past year and a half, she has taken the train after school or in the morning on the summers and weekends to Central Park and paints there. She offers to do portraits, paints the scenery, paints something from her imagination. She has been just trying to bring in a little money back to her family to help out. He ended up finding her one day about six months ago and she had told him she did this because she was too young to get hired anywhere and didn’t want to do the things her older brother had done because he was dead now. That statement had startled him to say the least, so he had given her his contact information and had spoken with her grandmother. He sent her art supplies, canvases, some money for the work that she would do outside of school and checked on her progress every week. She has managed to make fourteen paintings. She is going to get one of the main rooms of the ground floor to herself and is sharing a show with three other people. If he had doubted his decision before, he no longer did when she had thrown herself at him and thanked him profusely with tears streaming down her face.

“So Justin, how has your weekend been going?” Max asks him as they each carried a painting out of the van.

“It’s been...going. How has yours been?”

“Alright. I don’t know if Lola told you, but she made a couple of big sales an hour or so before you came in.” Max says, his voice filled with pride.

“That’s awesome. I will give her the commission money from it.”

“Yeah, I just thought you should know that she is doing a good job.”

Max has been working for him since May, after he graduated college with a degree in Art History. He is a sweet guy, lanky with thick glasses. He is sort of awkward and nervous and babbles when he gets overwhelmed but he is very meticulous about the paintings and Justin genuinely likes the guy. Lola started her year long internship in September. It would take someone who is deaf and blind to not be able to realize that Max is head over heels when it comes to her.  He thought about asking Max why he hasn't asked her out yet, but he figures it isn't his place as their supervisor.

About half an hour passes before Nathan comes in. He seems to be in an okay mood as he comes over to Justin and kisses the living daylights out of him, then starts kissing his jaw.

“Missed you.” Nathan purred into his ear.

“You saw me two days ago.”

“Still missed you. Let’s go into your office.”

“Nathan, I want to help them with the paintings first.”

“Fine. After though, I want you to fuck me ov-”

“Nathan. Employee and intern in the next room.”

“Whatever. What do you need help with?”

“Just help me sort some paintings and decide on where to put what. We aren’t actually moving anything today but I want the paintings and sculptures we have to get designated places before Christmas.”

So he and Nathan get to work and decide where to put what. And Nathan puts up with Justin’s over-analyzing of what should go where for the best lighting and exposure like he usually does. After a few hours they get the majority of work completed. Nathan suggests Justin go with him grocery shopping so they can make dinner together. While that goes okay, making dinner happens much later since Nathan literally has his clothes off as soon as they go through the door and Justin is fucking him against the kitchen table soon after. Eventually, dinner does get made and they sit down to eat. Justin stays mostly quiet until Nathan speaks up.

“Why are you so weird today?”

Justin doesn't register the question.

“Justin.”

Justin looks away from his plate and at Nathan.

“Huh?”

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Oh. Nothing.”

“Liar. You have been quiet all day. You were more or less going through the motions while you were fucking me. What is wrong?”

“Don’t worry about it, Nathan. I’m just feeling weird. Probably coming down with a cold or something.”

“Is it something I did?”

“No.”

“I know that I have been sort of mopey and I whine about the commercial stuff, but that is just me venting. Tell me if I ever bother you with it.”

“You aren’t bothering me. It is nothing, I assure you.”

Justin gets up to wash his plate in the sink. He feels arms come around him and settle on his stomach, before lips press against his shoulder.

“Love you, Justin," Nathan mumbles into his shoulder, "More than I have ever loved anyone.”

Justin touches one of his hands, bringing it up to his mouth, then kisses it. If he didn’t speak, then he didn’t have to lie.