Leaning back on the sofa, Brian cradled the phone to his shoulder with one hand while the other picked at the bowl of red grapes on his lap.

“Come on, Brian… pretty please?”

“Justin.”

“Pleaseeee?”

“Fine, but I’ll never use it.”

“YES!”

Brian laughed at how enthusiastic Justin sounded at the thought of making him his own Facebook profile.

“You’re going to have to fill it all in because I most certainly will not.”

“That’s just because you don’t know how.” Justin teased.

Brian’s tongue snaked into his cheek at the sound of Justin’s laughter. “You little twat.”

Justin ignored him as he started work on Brian’s profile.

Brian could hear Justin typing away. “What are you writing?

“I’m just filling in your date of birth and work information.”

Brian scoffed. “You don’t know my date of birth.”

“May 10th.”

“Alright, but you don’t know what year I was born.”

“1981.”

“Wrong. 1986.”

Justin was laughing so loudly that Brian had to move the phone away from his ear.

“Brian, you know it’s in your file at work, right?”

“It was worth a try,” he laughed in return. Maybe having Justin create this whole Facebook thing wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

“Alright, what high school did you go to?”

“Leave that part blank.”

“But what if someone from your high school wants to get in contact with you?”

He sighed. “Just leave it blank.”

“Brian…”

“Honestly, Justin. I have no desire whatsoever to talk to anyone from my high school other than Mikey. So, just leave it blank, okay?”

“Okay. Sorry.”

Brian felt like an ass. He wasn’t sure why he was being so difficult about this, most people from his high school probably already knew what he was doing. Kinnetik was a big fucking deal and they were constantly being featured in both the local and national press. You would have to be living under a rock to not have heard of Brian Kinney - or his multi-million dollar business.

“What about college? You went to Carnegie Mellon, right?”

Brian had started watching television and nodded his head in response, forgetting for a brief moment that he was speaking to Justin over the phone.

“Mmhmm. That’s right.”

“Okay. That’s all I need for now,” Justin told him as he continued to type away loudly on his keyboard.

“Did you put a picture up?” Brian asked curiously.

“Yup.”

“One from the Kinnetik site?”

“No. One from my phone.”

“You have a picture of me?”

He could practically feel the embarrassment radiating off of Justin through the phone line.

“Yes…”

Brian wasn’t going to ask, but he couldn’t help himself. “When did you take it?”

Justin was silent for a moment before answering. “Remember when we went to that diner with Gus? I took it then. I couldn’t help myself… you looked really good.”

“I always look good,” Brian teased.

Justin laughed. “You really do.”

Brian tuned out the rest of the conversation and started watching Planet Earth as Justin prattled on about the fantastic profile he had created on Brian’s behalf.

“Afternoon, Kathy,” Brian greeted as he walked into the PT waiting room a few days later, ready for his two o’clock appointment with Justin.

Kathy looked up from her celebrity-filled magazine and smiled warmly at the gorgeous man in front of her. “Well, hi there, handsome. How are you this fine afternoon?”

“Not bad,” he smiled back. He was definitely starting to find the rather outspoken receptionist a lot less annoying than he’d originally thought.

“Well, isn’t that just fan-dabby-dozy,” she replied cheerily. “Justin is almost done with his last patient, so he’ll be with you in a moment. Why don’t you take a seat?”

Brian turned to find a chair.

“Or,” Kathy winked, “you could always stand here and keep me entertained. You don't even have to say anything. I just like smelling you.”

Brian shivered internally and pointed to the chair he was just about to sit down on. “I’ll . . . uh . . . I’ll just sit here and wait for Justin.”

“Well, okay then. At least you’re giving me something pretty to look at,” she beamed.

He was wrong, she was just as annoying as he’d originally thought. Maybe even more so - and fucking weird.

It wasn’t long before the treatment room door opened and he could hear Justin apologizing to his patient. “Sorry. My printer is broken, so I’ll have to go next door and print these exercises off for you. It’ll only take a minute. I’ll be right back.”

Brian watched as Justin jogged out of the treatment room and closed the door, before hurrying into the office next door. Brian found he couldn’t take his eyes off of the younger blond. God, he looked hot in scrubs. They’d not seen each other since their hot and heavy make out session the other night, so Brian was looking forward to a little Justin time - even if their time together would involve some pretty painful leg stretches. He could think of far more enjoyable ways to spend their time together, but he’d take whatever he could get.

Brian’s eyes were still focused in the direction of Justin’s treatment room when the door to the room opened again and out walked his biggest fucking nightmare. The one man he had hoped he’d never have to see again. The man that had tortured his sleep and been the subject of so many of his teenage nightmares… hell, if he was being honest with himself, some of his adult nightmares too. The man looked no different - older and slightly fatter, but he still had that same cold, hard expression on his face.

For a brief moment, Brian thought he could leave before the man noticed him, but he wasn’t fast enough. He turned around and recognized Brian instantly. The man smirked at the look of fear that was clearly written all over Brian’s face.

Fuck.

Brian shut his eyes tightly. He could feel his palms beginning to sweat and noticed his breathing getting heavier.

He had to get out of there. Now.

Brian felt his body tense up as heavy footsteps made their way quickly towards him.

“Kinney?” The man sneered. “What a surprise.”

Brian’s eyes snapped open and for the first time in twenty years, he found himself looking into the face of evil.

He stood quickly, the need to get away was suddenly overwhelming. “Kathy, I, uh – I’m suddenly not feeling great.” He explained as he began walking out of the waiting room. “Can you let Justin know?”

Brian was out of the waiting room before she could even respond, only getting a glimpse of the man’s scrutinizing stare as he walked jaggedly out into the hall; he didn't stop moving until he was more than a block away from the hospital. Only then did he finally feel comfortable enough to look back and make sure the Coach wasn't following him.

Fuck. Fuck. FUCK.

His leg throbbed. He was panting heavily due to not having gone to the gym in god knows how long. His vision was blurry and he suddenly realized that it was because his eyes were watering.

Fuck.

Brian swiped at his eyes hastily and started to limp even farther down the street. Why did he have to take a fucking cab to the hospital this afternoon?

He felt his phone vibrating in his pocket, it was probably Justin calling, but his hands were still shaking and he didn’t have the energy to deal with any of this. He wasn’t sure that he could even tell Justin what had happened. There was no way he’d be able to get the words out - even if he wanted to.

By the time Brian eventually got home, he had three missed calls, two text messages and one voicemail from Justin. He’d check them later. All he wanted to do right then was have a hot shower and try to wash away all memory of what had just occurred.

After his shower, Brian put on his dark blue robe and made himself comfortable on the sofa - making sure that the drink cart was within arm’s reach.

He grappled for the open bottle of JB and took a rather generous swig before deciding he better text Justin back.

Sorry about earlier. Wasn’t feeling great.

It didn’t take long for his phone to beep with a response.

Do you need anything? X

Did he need anything? Yeah, he needed to get the face of that fucker out of his head and for his heart to go back to a normal rhythm.

No. I’m good.

As expected, Justin answered him quickly.

If you’re sure. But I’m here if you need anything xx

Brian put his phone down and took another swig from the bottle. There was no way in hell he’d get any sleep that night without the help of his good old friend, Jim Beam - throw in some of those strong pain pills he sometimes still took for his leg - yeah, he would definitely be sleeping tonight.

When Brian awoke the next morning his body was sore from falling asleep on the sofa and his mouth tasted like something had crawled inside it and died. He groaned, remembering what it was that had caused him to indulge in a cocktail of drink and drugs, and made him pass out before it was even dark outside.

From the corner of his eye, he could see his phone flashing, indicating he had a new message.

Just checking you're okay??? J xxx

You're probably asleep. But I hope you're feeling better. Xxx

It's 3 AM and I just woke up to pee. So I thought I would check up on you. Hopefully you're sleeping xx

He couldn't help but smile. It was a nice feeling knowing that Justin was worried about him. It had been a long time since he’d felt that with somebody.

Sorry about yesterday. I passed out as soon as I got home and only just woke up. Feeling a bit better. Thanks. B

He waited for a reply but Justin was probably still asleep as it had only just gone 6am.

Scrunching his nose up at the smell of stale alcohol that seemed to be oozing from his pores, Brian decided that a shower was most definitely needed. He groaned loudly as he got up - he’d not been in pain like this for a couple of weeks and regretted running on his injured leg yesterday, but he’d had to get away from him as fast as he could. What else could Brian have done? He just hoped he’d not fucked his leg up too much. Justin would kill him.

Once Brian was showered and dressed for work, he thought about calling Justin’s office and leaving a message requesting an appointment for later that day, but as soon as he’d started dialing he knew he wouldn’t be able to go through with it. Not today. He wasn’t ready to go back… What if HE was there again?

What a fucking pussy.

The day passed pretty uneventfully. Brian had a couple of meetings with the art department discussing some changes on one of their current campaigns and then a skype meeting with a potential client who was based in Portland. He’d received a couple more texts from Justin throughout the day, each one sounding more and more concerned than the last and with each text received, Brian found it harder and harder to concentrate on the work in front of him.

He knew he should reply, that Justin was just worried, but he didn't know what to say.

“Kathy, I’m done for the day,” Justin explained as he slung his messenger bag over his shoulder and made his way past the reception desk.

“Alright, petal. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Justin nodded and pulled his coat up so that it covered his mouth. It was freezing outside and he wanted nothing more than to get home and veg out. Brian hadn’t replied to any of his texts and Justin was starting to freak out. He tried to think back to what he could have said to piss Brian off. It couldn’t have been what he’d said on Facebook… could it? That had just been a joke… he knew they weren’t in an actual relationship or were they? But nothing else was springing to mind.

As soon as he got home, he checked his phone again… just in case Brian had texted him back while he was driving and had missed it. He hadn't.

He couldn't decide if he was more worried or pissed by Brian's silence. Things were so good between them - or so he thought. Maybe he was more invested in them than Brian was. Well, if he wasn’t pissed off before, he was now. Why did things with Brian have to be so fucking complicated? He threw his phone down on the sofa, giving the chair a little kick at the same time.

“URGH.”

He thought briefly about calling Daphne and inviting her over to get wasted, but he’d done that the last time he and Brian had problems - and he didn’t want to give her the wrong idea about the two of them… not until he knew for sure what was going on himself.

So, he decided to get drunk alone.

Brian groaned as he looked at the clock on his computer - 5:54am. It was way too early to call Justin, he’d still be asleep… and even if he was awake, would he even accept Brian’s call? He’d been a complete and utter shit to Justin the past couple of days, but he couldn’t help it. Seeing him again had really thrown him. Brian always thought that if he was ever unlucky enough to come face to face with that monster again - that it wouldn’t affect him. That he’d feel nothing. But seeing him the other day had awakened all of these feelings he’d thought he’d left behind and that scared the shit out of him.

He wasn’t quite sure yet what he was going to say to Justin, but he knew he couldn’t tell him the truth. It’s not that he didn’t want to… which, okay, was sort of a lie... but he couldn't tell Justin about any of this. And it wasn’t because he didn't trust Justin, he did, which was a surprise in itself… it’s just there were things he couldn’t talk about, pure and simple.

6:02, yep, it was still too early to call. So he’d give Justin another hour of sleep before making his move - and in person.

Brian went back to looking at his computer and decided the best thing he could do to pass the time was print off some of the things he’d found online that he thought Justin might like. Unfortunately, that didn’t take as long as he thought, and by the time he was done printing off directions and things to see it was only 6:11.

“Fuck it,” he mumbled, as he got up from his desk and gave a little stretch. He grabbed his phone, wallet, and keys and headed for the door, turning back briefly for the dozens of printouts he’d only just printed off.

It didn’t take him long to drive to Justin’s, the streets were practically deserted at 6:20 on a Saturday morning.

Brian laughed quietly to himself as he stood outside Justin’s front door. If anyone could see him now, they’d probably call the police to report a suspicious looking man lurking around outside.

He raised his hand to the door, knocking loudly before pressing his ear to the door in the hope of hearing Justin making his way downstairs. It was silent. So he brought his face up to the small glass window next to the door and tried to get a look inside.

Yeah, this will help you not look suspicious.

Brian knocked again, even louder this time - and that’s when he heard him, stomping down the stairs and mumbling - probably bitching at whoever was knocking at his door at shit o’clock on a Saturday morning.

God, why was he feeling so nervous? He hadn’t really prepared himself for if Justin didn’t want to see him. And who could blame him if he didn’t?

The door suddenly swung open and a disheveled looking Justin stood staring at him.

“Hi,” Brian greeted him softly.

Justin said nothing and just stood, rooted to the spot.

“Can I, uh…” Brian cleared his throat. “Can I come in?”

Justin opened the door fully and made his way towards the living room, all without saying a word.

“Justin, I...”

“You what, Brian? It’s…” he looked at the non-existent watch on his wrist. “It’s fucking early. I’m tired. I haven’t been asleep long. What do you want?”

“Oh, uh, did you... did you go out last night?”

He had no right to ask that, but the thought of Justin going out dancing and drinking without him made him feel… he wasn’t quite sure exactly, but he knew he didn’t like it.

Justin laughed bitterly. “No, I didn’t go out last night. If you must know, I’ve had trouble sleeping.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, ‘Oh!’ You’ve been ignoring me for the last couple of days, Brian. What did you expect?”

Brian couldn’t stop himself from walking towards Justin and placing his hands on his cheeks. “Listen, are you listening?”

Justin’s body seemed to relax the moment Brian’s hands made contact, but his face told a different story. He was still just as pissed off, if not more so.

Brian knew he had to apologize to Justin, but despite how much he’d grown over the last couple of years, saying sorry was still something he found difficult to do. However, he knew that without saying it he could lose Justin forever. And that was not an option.

“I’m sorry, okay? Work was… insanely busy.”

“Mhmm, so let me get this straight. You were working for two days straight and couldn't find three seconds in your busy ass day to text me back with ‘talk later?’ Yeah, right."

Brian rubbed tiredly at his eyes. He knew he deserved that.

“Look, I know you’re sorry, okay?” Justin mumbled as he brought his head forward to rest on Brian’s chest. “But, don’t ever fucking do that again, Brian. I thought… I thought maybe I’d done something or said something to piss you off.”

Brian pulled Justin away from his chest and kissed him gently on the lips. “It wasn’t you,” he told Justin quietly.

“Okay,” Justin said softly - and Brian wasn’t sure if he really believed it.

“It wasn’t you, okay?”

Justin nodded. “But the next time you decide to go incommunicado on me, just pick up the fucking phone and at least let me know you’re alright.”

“There won't be a next time.”

“Brian…” Justin wound his arms around his waist and tugged their bodies closely together.

“I mean it, Justin. I was an asshole. I… you don’t deserve that.”

“You’re right,” he smiled. “I don’t. So don't pull this kind of shit again. I mean it, Brian. If you can't tell me what really got you upset, that's fine. I won't push you. But don't lie to me. Okay?’

Brian chewed nervously on his bottom lip. “Okay.”

After a minute or two of silence, Justin pulled himself away from Brian and grinned up at him. “Aww, did you really show up at my house at 6.30am on a Saturday just to say you’re sorry? That’s so sweet,” he teased.

“I’m not sweet, I’m salty,” Brian laughed as he pinched Justin’s side playfully. “And no. I didn’t just come over here to apologize. I mean, I did come over here for that…”

Brian caught himself nervously swaying from foot to foot. He stopped himself but not before the young blond noticed and directed a saucy grin up at him. Justin was enjoying this way too much.

“So, I was wondering if, maybe, you wanted to go out somewhere today. I feel like taking a road trip,” Brian offered, haltingly, mentally kicking himself for sounding so hesitant and shy.

“A road trip? Justin asked excitedly as he rushed up the stairs to start getting ready. “Where to?”

“I was thinking maybe DC,” he called up. “Or we could just get in the car and see where we end up?”

Justin came down the stairs moments later, his duffle bag thrown over his shoulder and a pillow under his arm.

“You thinking of taking a nap?” Brian smirked.

Justin shook his head as he stuffed his feet into his sneakers. “No. It’s for you.”

“I don’t know about you, but I don’t sleep and drive.”

“Haha, very funny. It’s to support your leg while I'm driving.”

Brian crossed his arms. “I don’t think so.”

“You only started driving again recently, Brian. No way should you be making a five-hour drive.”

“Four-hour drive.”

“Huh?”

“You said five hours, DC is only four hours away. I drive fast. In fact, I bet we can get there in three and a half since we’re getting started early.”

“Whatever, I still don’t think you should be driving it.”

“My leg feels fine. And anyway, I didn’t invite my physical therapist on a road trip with me.”

“I see, so who did you invite?” Justin asked as he desperately tried to hide his smirk.

Brian exhaled loudly and smiled. “Clearly the person I am ‘In a relationship with’.”

Justin blushed at Brian’s reference to the ‘relationship status’ he’d put up on Brian’s Facebook profile. “I was kinda hoping you wouldn’t see that I added that part,” Justin confessed. “You said you wouldn’t ever use it, but apparently you did go online at least long enough to check out what I’d added . . .

“I only went on to see what picture you put up,” Brian admitted sheepishly.

That made Justin laugh.

“In case it was a bad picture.”

Justin raised his eyebrows, “Oh, please. Like you could ever take a bad picture.”

“That is true.”

Suddenly Justin stopped smiling. “I can it down if you want.”

“No, I like it. It makes me look… ruggedly handsome,” Brian grinned.

Justin rolled his eyes. “I didn’t mean that… I meant about you...us, being ‘in a relationship’.”

“Do you want to take it down?”

“No,” Justin sighed softly, “But I will if you want me to. I shouldn’t have assumed.”

Walking towards Justin, Brian took the blond’s duffle bag from him. “I think we can safely say you assumed right this time,” Brian told him, giving the happy PT a chaste kiss on the lips before heading out to the car and throwing Justin’s bag in the back then settling himself in the driver's seat.

Justin climbed happily into the passenger seat. “Can we stop for breakfast?”

“We haven’t even left town yet and you already want to stop for food?” Brian laughed and squeezed Justin’s leg to know let him know he was only kidding.

“I’ll need fueling up if I’m in charge of looking for fun things to see along the way.”

“And who said you were?”

“You’re driving, that means I get to be in charge of entertainment and navigation,” Justin explained as if that was the most obvious thing in the world. “Those are the rules.”

“Uh huh... There are rules?”

Justin nodded as he plugged his iPhone into charge and began looking up places they could stop along the way.

“So, do you have anywhere specific in mind for breakfast?” Brian asked as he pulled out of Justin’s road. “You seem to know the official road trip handbook off by heart,” he teased.

Justin smacked his arm lightly. “I do not.”

“Where are we going for breakfast then?”

“The Waffle House… it’s the essential road trip breakfast.”

Brian wrinkled his nose. “I really don’t think that it is.”

Justin pretended to be offended. “I think you’ll find you are wrong. They serve the finest waffles in all the land.”

“I think you’ll find that is pretty damn unlikely,” Brian snorted as he typed in the address of the nearest Waffle House into his car’s inbuilt navigation system. “And that’s a pretty bold statement to make, in all the land?”

Justin nodded eagerly. “Because it’s true.”

“I’ll let you know what I think… if I don’t get food poisoning before we get back on the road, that is.”

Justin scoffed.

“So, there’s an essential road trip breakfast? Are there any other essentials I need to know about before we get on the highway, oh wise one?”

“Oh, you have so much to learn, My dear Padawan.”

“Are you seriously getting an egg white omelet at The Waffle House?”

Brian laughed at the almost comical look of disgust on Justin’s face.

“And don’t forget the black coffee,” grinned Brian as he held his mug in the air and clinked his cup against Justin’s glass of chocolate milk. “Cheers.”

Justin grinned as their glasses met and then took a gulp of his drink.

“Nice mustache,” Brian teased, as he leaned over the table and licked the milk off of Justin’s top lip. “You look hot when you blush.”

Justin’s hands flew up to cover his burning face, which only made Brian tease him more, although he interspersed his teasing with plenty of kisses to lessen the impact.

They were in the middle of some pretty intense tonsil hockey when the waitress grinned and placed their food down loudly on the table in front of them. “Here you go, boys. One egg white omelet with mushrooms, spinach, and avocado and one ‘All Star’ Special with extra hash browns. Is there anything else I can get you?”

Justin looked at the multiple plates of food in front of him and considered her question seriously before answering. “No, I think we’re good. Thank you.”

Brian laughed as he sipped his mediocre coffee. “Are you sure she can’t get you anything else?” He mocked playfully as Justin dug into his breakfast with gusto. “There is no way you’re going to finish all of that.”

Justin swallowed the mouthful he was eating. “Wanna bet?”

Justin leaned back heavily, resting his head on the back of the booth as he groaned loudly.

“Eat too much, did ya?” Brian smirked.

“Nope, I’ll be good in a minute,” Justin groaned again.

If you keep making that noise, I won't be able to contr…”

“Won’t be able to what?” Justin grinned, knowing full well what Brian was just about to say.

Before Justin could continue, the young blond let out an enormous burp. “Ooh, excuse me,” he muttered, his cheeks turning a delicious shade of pink.

Brian snickered. “I take it back. I believe I will be able to control myself just fine.”

Justin teasingly kicked Brian under the table before sitting up. “Shut up.”

“Are you ready to go?”

Justin licked his lips and exhaled loudly. “Yep. But don’t you want to hear about some of the things I have found to entertain us on our way to DC?”

“I can think of something we could do on the way to DC that would be very entertaining… but I don’t know if my leg is quite up to car sex just yet.”

It was out of Brian’s mouth before he could take it back.

“I’m sorry that was…”

“No, you’re not,” Justin threw his head back and laughed.

“You’re right,” Brian cracked a smile - he seemed to be doing that a lot lately. “I’m not sorry at all.”

“So, uh, I was thinking maybe we could take a small detour to Shepardstown, West Virginia for a bit before going to DC? It’s not far out of the way and it says here on their website that there is a world food fair on at the moment.”

“More food?”

“Hey, it’s at least three hours away. I’ll be ready for lunch by then.”

“Of course you will.” Brian rolled his eyes teasingly. “Also, isn’t it a little cold out for a festival?”

“I’ll be there to keep you warm, big guy.” Justin winked playfully.

Brian took the phone from Justin. “Alright, let’s go.”

“Are you sure? We can head straight to DC if you’d prefer.”

“No, no. You offering to drape yourself over me like a human blanket is enough to convince me that this is what we should do.”

Justin scrunched up his nose. “That isn’t quite what I said.”

“It’s what I heard,” Brian replied mischievously.

They hadn’t been in the car long when Justin asked if he could plug his phone into the cigarette lighter.

“Can we listen to some music?”

“Sure, I think I have a couple of CDs in the glove box.”

“It’s okay. I have a bunch of playlists on my phone.”

Shut Up and Drive by Rihanna started to play through the car’s speakers.

“What the fuck is this?”

“Shut Up and Drive.”

“Huh?”

“It’s the name of the song,” Justin laughed at the confused expression on Brian’s face.

“What else you got?”

“Mustang Sally?”

“No.”

“Hit the Road Jack?”

“No.”

“The Long and Winding Road?”

“No... and what sort of playlist is this anyway?”

“The 50 best road trip songs of all time.”

Brian smirked. “According to who?”

“TimeOut magazine.”

“TimeOut Magazine?” Brian looked at him sideways and if it had been physically possible for him to roll his eyes sideways he would have.

“They’re a British-based magazine. It’s what Londoners turn to, to find out what’s hot and what’s not,” Justin announced, sounding like he was reading the statement right off the website somewhere.

“I know who they are,” Brian scoffed. “In case, YOU didn’t know, they crossed the pond and have publications in a bunch of different cities, including good ole’ Pittsburgh. I just didn’t realize they were significant enough to claim they know the top 50 road trip songs. And I can tell you now, this playlist is not hot,” Brian laughed as he pulled a cigarette out with his teeth and lit it. “You must have something more... appropriate on there?”

“Something more appropriate than a road trip playlist?” Justin teased as he scrolled through his phone until he found something he thought Brian might enjoy. “Ooh, how about this?”

Under the Bridge by The Red Hot Chili Peppers began to play.

“Is this more to your liking, sir?” Justin asked playfully.

Brian nodded his head and began to hum along to the song with the cigarette still clutched between his lips.

Brian could feel Justin’s eyes burning into him. “What?”

“I shouldn’t find you so hot when you smoke, but you look like a young Humphrey Bogart,” Justin told him as he stole the cigarette from him and took a puff.

“Humphrey Bogart?” Brian asked, his mouth agape in shock. “Justin, there are so many hotter actors you could have compared me to. Like Brando or James Dean.”

Justin chuckled. “You think you’re as hot as Brando?”

Brian reached across and flicked Justin’s ear. “Don’t be a brat. And I don’t think I’m as hot as Brando, I’m hotter.”

They both laughed. Justin turned up the volume on the music and started to croon along with the singer. Brian shook his head and concentrated on the road.

It was just coming up to noon by the time they arrived in Shepardstown, West Virginia. Brian parked the car and cracked his knuckles loudly.

Justin raised his eyebrows in disgust. “That’s gross.”

Brian brought his hand closer to Justin’s ear and clicked his fingers loudly, loving the look of repulsion on his face.

“This place looks huge,” Brian acknowledged as he looked out the window at the fair in front of him. “Especially for such a small town.”

Justin nodded in agreement. “Yeah, they hold it here every year and it gets bigger and bigger each time. It’s insane.”

They got out the car and Justin shivered as the cool air hit him.

“You cold?”

“No,” Justin lied as he zipped his jacket up to the top and shoved his hands into his pockets.

“Come here,” Brian smiled as he held his arm out for Justin to curl into. “And you were supposed to be keeping me warm.”

Justin snaked his arm around Brian’s waist and slid his warm hand under his jacket. “I’ll make it up to you,” he grinned.

“So, where to first?” Brian asked as he squeezed Justin tightly against him and handed the blond the leaflet that he was given just seconds earlier.

Justin studied it carefully. “Wow, they have a whole baked goods section.”

“We’re not starting off with cakes.” Brian laughed at the pout on Justin’s face. “How about something that resembles lunch?”

“They have a baked potato stall.”

“No, a baked potato is a baked potato. There is nothing special about them.”

Justin gasped jokingly. “Don’t let the people of Mike’s Baked Potato Company hear you say that.”

Brian ran his finger along his mouth in a zipping motion. “I promise they won’t hear it from me.”

Justin took another look at the list of places they could try. “Hmm, what about Istanbul Lahmacun, it says here that they offer ‘mouth watering Turkish street food’”.

Brian nodded and let Justin lead the way.

“Oh my, God, Brian, you have to try this,” Justin closed his eyes and let out a cock stirring moan. “Do you like lamb?” He asked as he lifted the flatbread from his sample platter to Brian’s mouth. “This is so good.”

Brian took a bite and let his tongue graze Justin’s fingers lightly before he pulled his mouth away. “Mmm.” Justin was right, it was delicious, but the too quick taste of Justin’s skin appealed to him even more.

“Now try one of these,” Justin said as he popped an olive into Brian’s mouth and watched with glassy eyes as Brian sucked his finger into his mouth.

“What are you doing?” Justin asked breathlessly.

“Tasting the goods,” Brian smirked. “Is that okay?”

Justin bit his lip and nodded as he fed Brian another olive, this time he consciously letting a couple of his fingers linger by Brian’s mouth and his breath hitched as Brian nibbled the tips of his fingers.

“I didn’t realize how much I liked Turkish food,” Brian whispered seductively into Justin’s ear.

Justin shivered, but this time Brian was sure it wasn’t from the cold.

Just as Brian leaned in for a kiss, he heard someone tutting disapprovingly behind him.

He turned around and the little old man behind the counter of Istanbul Lahmacun was shaking his head at the two of them.

“What?” Brian asked gruffly. It was 2015, for fuck’s sake. He could inappropriately kiss, grope, and lick the man he was in a relationship with as much as he damn well pleased.

“Just leave it, Brian,” Justin muttered sadly as he tried to get Brian to turn back around and face him.

*“Onlara bak,” the old man muttered as he shook his head and pointed his finger angrily at them. **“ÖpüÅŸüyorlar.”

“Baba!!!” A young girl of about fifteen was now standing next to the old man, her cheeks bright red and a look of pure embarrassment on her face. “I’m so sorry,” she apologized. “He didn’t mean anything.”

“What’s wrong, Emre?” A much younger, much more attractive man now appeared next to them and patted the older man on the back softly.

“They were kissing. With tongue,” Emre growled, “Inappropriate. Gives us bad name.”

“...Us?” Brian finally answered, confused.

The younger man rolled his eyes, “Forgive my fiancé. He’s very old fashioned and lived through some rough times. He can be a bit chaste.”

The younger man tilted Emre’s head upwards and met him for a soft kiss.

“Now, is that so inappropriate?” Emre’s fiance joked softly.

“This is precious!” Justin whispered with a coo, “I don’t want to interrupt it.”

“I do,” Brian grumbled, “I’m hungry.”

Justin smirked, “I told you to eat more than that egg white omelet.”

“Here, here,” Emre insisted, piling way too much food on a styrofoam plate, “You hungry? You eat. Ten dollars.”

Brian shook his head as he reached into his jeans and pulled out his wallet handing over the money for the food he knew he wouldn’t be able to finish.

Justin grabbed the plate from Emre. “Thank you. Your sun dried tomatoes are delicious. And, oh my god, your hummus! How do you-”

“Justin,” Brian prompted, pulling at the younger man’s hand, “There’s a table and a band and I want to eat.”

“Have a nice day!” Emre’s fiancé waved, putting an arm around Emre’s waist, “Here, take our card. We have restaurants in Pittsburgh and Martinsburg. Come back and see us!”

“But no kissing with tongue,” Emre warned, “That is for home.”

“Oh my god, we live in Pittsburgh!” Justin exclaimed.

“And that’s the restaurant we’re at the most!” Emre’s fiancé exclaimed back, “My name is Rami, by the way.”

“I’m Justin, and this is my...Brian,” Justin introduced.

“My Brian, hello,” Emre greeted, with a hint of humor in his eyes.

“Hi,” Brian sighed impatiently, before turning to Justin, “Justin…”

“Alright, alright,” Justin laughed, seeing Brian staring at the food, “We’re going to go eat, but maybe we’ll see you again, especially if all of this food ends up tasting as great as it looks.”

“It will,” Emre told him confidently. “I cook. It’s the best.”

They’d found themselves a table at the far corner of the fair where Justin had demolished a good portion of the food that Emre had forced upon them. They were now sitting comfortably enjoying the live music, which consisted of a rather good looking, twenty-something-year-old guy playing Jason Mraz covers on his guitar.

“Mmm, this is nice,” Justin sighed as he leaned heavily against Brian. “Did you have enough to eat?”

Brian sneaked his hand under the table and squeezed Justin’s knee affectionately. “I did. The important question is, will that last you until dinner?”

“Shut up,” Justin laughed as he rubbed his face against Brian’s arm.

“You know,” Brian sighed, stretching in his seat, “You may have a fast enough metabolism to eat your weight in a single meal, but I don’t. We should try to work off the calories.”

Justin raised his eyebrows and bit his lip, “...And what should this calorie burning activity be?”

Brian opened his mouth to reply with something undoubtedly smart and witty, but surprised himself. “Wanna dance?”

After Justin got over the shock of the question and realized it was genuine, he started to smile.

“Really?” Justin asked almost shyly.

Brian stood up and pulled Justin into his arms and they began to sway softly to the music. After a few minutes of Justin resting his head on Brian’s chest, he looked up and stood on his toes and kissed Brian. What had started off as a gentle kiss had quickly turned into something much more.

While they were lost in each other’s arms, it had started to snow - lightly at first, just like their kiss, but it wasn’t long before it intensified and began to settle heavily around them.

“How ridiculously romantic,” Brian laughed as he tightened his grip around Justin’s waist.

Justin looked up to the sky and tiny white snowflakes coated his eyelashes. He looked like a fucking angel. It took all the willpower that Brian had within him not to ravish him right then.

“We should probably head back to the car,” Brian said reluctantly. “It’s really starting to come down.”

Justin nodded his head sadly, “DC or Pittsburgh?”

“It’s probably best if we head back to Pittsburgh,” Brian answered, a little disappointed himself, “Maybe we can do DC next weekend. Or somewhere else. Columbus, New York, Saint Louis, New Orleans-”

“So we’re taking a plane for those last two, right?” Justin laughed as they started to walk.

“I made the drive to Saint Louis before,” Brian shrugged, “It’s supposed to be a nine-hour drive but I made it in eight.”

“And you just stayed for a day?” Justin asked him disbelievingly.

“No,” Brian snorted, “I slept in my car. And then it broke down so I got stuck there for like a week, the summer before my senior year. Debbie spent all that week working doubles so that she could buy me a plane ticket. Had to leave my piece of shit car behind.

“You were by yourself?” Justin asked, almost slipping from the heavy falling snow, “Careful, it’s slick.”

Brian rolled his eyes at the warning, “Yeah. I got...My dad and I had a fight. It was bad. Mikey was visiting his Uncle Vic in Vermont or wherever Vic was at the time and I just took off and drove without anywhere in mind.”

“And you ended up in Saint Louis?” Justin questioned, a little shocked, “Damn. What did you and your dad fight about?”

Brian’s expression darkened a little before he cleared his throat and muttered, “I don’t remember. It was a long time ago.”

By the time they reached the car, the snow had started to heavily blanket the ground. And while some people might find the sight of fresh snow to be a beautiful thing; Brian disagreed. The thick ice that had coated the ground earlier was now being covered over by powdery white shit. The fresh dusting of powder only made it more deceptively dangerous because it concealed the underlying ice.

“Be careful,” Justin warned again as Brian almost lost his footing getting into the car.

Brian eased himself into the driver's seat and clutched at his knee, hissing out in pain. “Shit-fuck.”

“If you’ve gone and damaged your fucking leg again, I’ll kill you…” Justin warned, and as harsh as his words were, his hands told a different story as they pressed gently around Brian’s denim covered knee feeling for any immediate swelling. “You didn’t hear it pop, did you?”

Brian scrunched up his face in disgust. “No.”

“Then I think you’re okay,” Justin assured him, his hands now massaged Brian’s tender knee. “We should probably try and put some ice on it as soon as we can, though.”

“Justin, we’re out in the middle of fucking nowhere, where am I going to get some ice?”

Justin opened the passenger door and scooped up a handful of snow. “We could wrap this in something,” he told Brian seriously.

“No, fucking way.”

Justin crossed his arms over his chest and huffed out a breath. “Then don’t come to me when your knee starts to hurt,”

“I won’t. I’ll go and see Jessica,” Brian replied playfully.

Justin laughed as he started to scroll through his phone. “She’s probably already scared of you.”

Brian nodded.

“Shit! There’s no way we’re getting home in this,” Justin muttered.

“I told you, my knee is fine.”

“I’m not talking about your knee. I’m talking about the weather.”

Brian scoffed. “It’s just a little snow. We’ll be fine.”

“Brian, have you even looked outside in the last ten minutes? It’s coming down like crazy. And, here, look at this,” he said, handing Brian his phone. “They’ve closed a ton of the smaller roads we would use to get home and the highway is a fucking disaster.”

“What about the roads to DC?” Brian asked.

Justin took his phone back. “Shit. They look even worse. There’s already been one fatality and they’ve had to close part of the highway down while they try and land the air ambulance.”

Brian slammed his hands against the steering wheel. “Damn it.”

“I’m going to start looking for places to stay.”

Brian looked at him and raised his eyebrows.

“I don’t think we have a choice, Brian. There is no way we’re getting anywhere tonight. They’re expecting 2-3 feet of snow in just 12 hours. The Weather Channel are saying it’s the biggest storm the East Coast will have seen in over ***97 years.”

“Okay, well, let’s start looking for somewhere to stay.”

Justin was quiet as he searched Google for accommodation in Shepardstown. “Ooh,” he turned his head to look out the back window. “See that huge building over there? That’s apparently a hotel. Let me give them a call.”

“Yeah, good luck with that. I’m sure everyone’s had the same idea.”

Justin wasn’t listening and had already started talking to the hotel operator. “Hi, I know this is extremely short notice, but do you happen to have any rooms available tonight? You do? Wow, we called you just in time then,” he laughed and reached for his wallet, only for Brian to swat his hand away.

“I’ll get it.” he mouthed.

Justin shook his head as he continued to talk. “That’s fine, we don’t mind what room you have left… oh, The Presidential Suite...and how much would that be?” Justin’s face fell as he listened to the extortionate price just given to him. “I, urm…”

Brian waved his credit card in Justin’s face. “It’s fine, Justin. I told you I’d pay for it,” he whispered and grinned triumphantly as Justin snatched the card out of his hand.

Justin covered the mouthpiece with his hand. “I’m paying you back,” he promised as he pulled Brian in for a quick kiss. “Yes, I’m still here. We’ll take it.”

The Bavarian Inn was only a five-minute drive away, but with the continuing snow and black ice, it took them about fifteen minutes to get there.

“Wow, this place is gorgeous,” Justin breathed dreamily as they parked the car. “It reminds me of this beautiful inn I used to stay at in Germany with my parents when I was younger.”

“Allo, my name is Louis. Welcome to the Bavarian Inn,” an extremely bored (yet vaguely attractive) French man greeted them at the front desk. “I am the ‘otel’s concierge, so if you ‘ave any questions, please don’t ‘esitate to ask me.”

Brian tilted his head, “This place is German. What’s with the French accent?”

Justin cleared his throat pointedly as Louis started to suppress a glare, “I think we’re okay.”

Louis let out a hmph! but kept his professional demeanor, “Then ‘ere are your key cards. The elevator to your suite is to your right. Please ‘ave a wonderful evening, gentlemen.”

Justin reached for Brian’s hand as they made their way to the elevator.

“Your leg feeling okay?” His voice laced with concern at the way Brian was leaning heavily against the wall.

“I’m probably just a little tired from the drive,” Brian lied.

Justin squeezed his hand as he glared at him.

“Yeah, it’s a little sore,” he finally admitted.

“Well, it’s a good job you have a personal massage therapist on call, isn’t it?” He grinned cheekily as the doors opened onto their private floor.

“Ready?” Brian asked as he stepped forward to unlock their door.

Justin bounced excitedly on the balls of his feet and nodded.

“Brian, this place… this place is a-mazing,” Justin gasped as he walked around the room animatedly. Opening the curtains he gasped. “Look at the view.”

“I am,” Brian grinned as he watched Justin press his face up to the window and look out over the snow-covered grounds. “Urgh,” he groaned as he sat on the bed. The ache in his knee intensified.

Justin walked over and knelt on the floor next to Brian’s leg, running his hand over the still-healing knee. “Hmm,” he frowned.

“What? What is it?”

“Would you like my professional opinion on what I think you should do?” Justin asked seriously as he stood up.

“Don’t be a twat,” Brian grumbled.

Brian watched as Justin made his way towards the bathroom, his hips swayed playfully in his skinny jeans as he put on a show. His eyes widened and he bit his lip when Justin slipped them off, removed his boxers and shirt, then turned his head.

“I mean, you could stop being a twat,” Justin smirked, before giving Brian a full frontal view in all of his naked glory, “Now, follow me.”

It only took a second for Brian to stop drooling before following Justin into the bathroom.