The next morning, Brian was lying awake in his bed. He had kicked Michael out the previous evening, wanting to be alone. Sleep had been fitful for him, the pain in his hand combined with thoughts of Justin keeping him awake. Although he was used to sleeping alone in his king-sized bed, he now found it too large without another warm body in it beside him, specifically the body of a pale blonde boy who drooled in his sleep.

Deeming the loft much too quiet sometime around dawn, Brian had turned his stereo back on. The Everly Brothers' "All I Have to Do Is Dream" was playing, and Brian was quietly singing along.

"I need you so that I could die, I love you so and that is why whenever I want you, all I have to do is dream, dream, dream, dream..."

He was interrupted when the house phone rang. He rolled over and saw an unfamiliar local number with "Cellular Call" as the name on the cordless phone's caller ID.

"Yeah?" he answered before he heard a click, signaling that the caller had hung up.

"Fucker," Brian grumbled as he sat the phone back on the night stand.

The song faded a minute later, and Solomon Burke's "Cry to Me" from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack followed.

"When your baby leaves you all alone and nobody calls you on the phone..."

Brian snorted at the irony before someone began knocking on his door. He glanced over at the clock and saw that it was a few minutes before ten.

He remained in bed, hoping that the person would go away. They knocked a second time, followed by a third.

"Shit," Brian said as he threw the duvet off. "Alright, I'm coming!"

He threw on a pair of old sweat pants and walked barefoot over to the door. After turning the lock and pulling it open, his breath caught in his throat when he found Justin on the other side, the boy's messenger bag slung over his shoulder and his duffel at his feet.

"Hey," Justin said.

"Hey," Brian answered back a few moments later after finding his voice. "What... what are you doing here?"

"I can leave, if..." Justin said, pointing his thumb towards the elevator behind him.

"No!" Brian said a little more frantic then he meant to. "I... I just meant that I wasn't expecting you... you know, since you were in the hospital just yesterday."

"They let me out this morning," Justin said. "I still don't feel quite like myself, but the doctor said there was no reason for them to keep me any longer."

Brian nodded. "Was that you that just called and hung up?"

"Yeah, I used my mom's cell to make sure you were awake before I got out of her car," Justin said, smiling guiltily. He then looked inside the loft over Brian's shoulder, partly to make sure no one else was in there with him. "Can I come in?"

"Of course," Brian said before picking up Justin's duffel and bringing it inside for him.

"Thanks. Mel and Linds brought my stuff to me yesterday evening. They think that Gus is going to start walking very soon," Justin said as he walked in. He pulled the door closed and took a seat on the couch.

"That's great," Brian said. Unsure of what he was supposed to do, Brian sat the duffel on the coffee table and took a seat at the other end of the couch.

The music had now changed over to "I Only Have Eyes for You" by the Flamingos.

"Wow, this is an old song," Justin said as he placed his messenger bag on the floor.

Brian nodded. "I've always enjoyed music from the fifties and sixties. That's one of the few good things that I can credit to my parents."

"So... how's your hand?" Justin asked as he eyed Brian's splint.

"It hurts like hell," Brian answered. "Did someone tell you what happened?"

"Michael told me yesterday that you punched a vending machine after it stole your pretzels."

"When did you talk to him?" Brian asked, replaying the events of the last few days in his head and wondering when Michael would have had the chance to talk to Justin.

"Yesterday after lunch. He came back to the hospital after he took you home."

Brian looked up at the ceiling as he suddenly recalled that it did take Michael much longer than it should have to pick up their food from the diner the previous afternoon. At the time, he was too stoned to notice how much time had actually passed. "Mikey..." he sighed, shaking his head.

"I'm glad he did though, because otherwise I wouldn't have come here... not that I have anywhere else to go, since I assume he's still staying at Deb's house."

"Remind me to thank him later," Brian said. "What did he say?"

Justin moved to the middle cushion to get closer to the brunette. "He made me realize that I may have been hasty in my decision to dump you before I heard your side of the story."

Brian had to bite his bottom lip to refrain from making a smartass remark about having to actually be in a relationship to be dumped, because he had to admit that what they had, as brief as it was, did constitute as a relationship.

"He also told me how worried you were about me before we found out what was wrong with me," Justin said. "Then he told me what it was really like to walk in Brian Kinney's shoes... at least from what he's seen over the years."

Brian sighed as he looked into the young man's blue eyes. "Justin... I just want you to know-"

Justin placed his fingertips over Brian's lips. "You don't have to say anything, Brian." He then ran his fingers through Brian's adorable bed-rumpled hair. "I think I know why you did what you did."

"You do?"

Justin nodded. "You've never been in a relationship before, and once you got to Babylon around all the alcohol, drugs, and men, you couldn't help yourself. Maybe some part of you even felt smothered by me, since I was suddenly thrust into your life and your bed. You've spent half of your life being the Stud of Liberty Avenue, partying and fucking whoever you wanted, and I imagine that it's hard to let that go."

Brian placed his good hand on the side of Justin's neck. "I really didn't mean to drink as much as I did that night, and I didn't intend to take drugs on top of it. Before you came around, I used to drink almost every day. Not always to get drunk, but to just to feel a buzz and relax at the end of the day. I've cut down my drinking a lot since I offered to give you my kidney, but once I got to Babylon and had that first drink-"

"The floodgates opened," Justin finished for him. "I get it. I thought about this all last night, and I realized that part of why I got so upset was my fault. I know that we never discussed the details of our relationship. You never said that we would be monogamous, but I just assumed that we would be, especially since I would be staying with you until Michael made other arrangements. I never wanted to imagine you actually being with anyone else, and when you brought that guy home and started doing to him what you've done to me- kissing him, licking him... fucking him- in what I thought of as ‘our' bed..."

"I was stupid," Brian said. "If I had ever stopped to think that I could be risking what I had with you, I wouldn't have even gone to Babylon that night. Shit, if I had known you were sick, there's no way I would have left your side."

"I should have told you that I wasn't feeling good, but I didn't want to hold you back from going out with your friends, and I didn't want you to worry about me."

Brian grabbed onto Justin's left hand with his. "None of this is your fault, Sunshine. Okay?"

Justin looked down at their clasped hands and nodded. "You really hurt me, Brian, whether you meant to or not."

"I know, and I'm sorry," Brian said as he leaned forward and rested his forehead against Justin's. "I'm so fucking sorry. You deserve so much better than me. I'm no good for you."

Tears sprang to Justin's eyes as he shook his head. "Don't say that. You don't know how good you are, Brian. You're a caring friend, a loving father, and what you did for me, giving me your kidney without me even asking... you're amazing. Sure, you have flaws, but who doesn't?"

The next song that began playing was "Save the Last Dance for Me" by the Drifters.

Justin pulled away from Brian and stood up. "Dance with me."

Brian stood up, and the two of them walked around to the other side of the coffee table. Brian raised his left hand and Justin placed his right hand into it. Brian rested his injured right hand against the small of Justin's back as Justin draped his left arm around Brian's shoulders, and the two of them began swaying to the music. Brian pulled the blonde closer after the second chorus.

"Baby, don't you know I love you so? Can't you feel it when we touch? I will never, never let you go, I love you, oh, so much..." Brian sang into Justin's ear.

Justin pulled back to look up into Brian's hazel eyes. "You do? Really?"

Brian nodded. "It took me losing you to realize it, but I love you, Sunshine. I didn't even think it was possible for me to love someone like I love you, but I do."

That earned him a big Sunshine smile before Justin planted a kiss on him. "I love you, too," Justin said against Brian's lips before kissing him again.

After the song ended, the stereo changed over to "Light My Fire" by the Doors and both men chuckled.

"You don't even have to try to light my fire," Brian said as he picked up the remote from the coffee table and turned off the stereo.

"Brian," Justin said. "If we're going to be together, I mean really be together, we need to set up some rules so this doesn't happen again."

"What kind of rules?" Brian asked.

Justin sighed. "As long as I'm staying here with you, I don't want you bringing other guys home. If you are going to fuck other guys when you're out, I don't want to know about it, and it would be courteous if you showered before coming into bed with me."

Brian nodded. "I think that's fair."

"But at the same time, I don't want you staying out all night," Justin said.

"I'm going back to work tomorrow, remember? Although I won't be able to do much more than bark orders at my minions until my hand heals, I won't be staying out too late on weeknights. And you're free to go out whenever you want without me, too. You won't be going back to work for another month, and the earliest you can start school is in January. You'll be able to drive again soon, too."

"Well, what about on the weekends?" Justin asked. "How about on Friday and Saturday nights, no matter where you are or what you're doing, you be home by two?"

"Four," Brian offered.

"Three," Justin countered.

Brian rolled in his lips. "Alright, three. That goes for the both of us."

"I don't want to be with anyone else but you," Justin said. "You're all I need."

Brian smirked a little. "That's up to you."

"Also, you never fuck anyone more than once. No names or numbers exchanged," Justin added.

Brian rolled his eyes. "I don't do repeats... besides you, of course."

"So then that shouldn't be a problem?" Justin asked.

Brian shook his head. "Anything else?"

Justin thought about it for a moment. "One more: you never kiss anyone on the mouth, other than me. Deal?"

Brian sealed the deal with a searing kiss.

"You want to come and help me take a shower?" Brian asked him a few moments later.

Justin gave him another smile. "I'd love to."

********************

Six months later...

"Yes!" Brian shouted as he came shortly after Justin did. He held onto the condom as he pulled out, then threw the rubber into the trashcan next to the bed before taking his blonde into his arms.

The boys were in a suite on the top floor of the Grand Hotel Kronenhof in Pontresina, Switzerland. They could see the lightly falling snow from their window, along with the snow-covered mountains in the distance. Keeping true to his pre-Christmas plans, Brian brought Justin to Europe with him after Justin's doctor happily cleared him to go. They had spent their days during the previous week skiing and their nights making love, and they would be flying to Rome the following day so Justin could see the museums and ancient architecture. After staying a week there, they would go to Milan so Brian could shop.

Shortly after getting back together, Justin had applied to PIFA with a glowing recommendation letter from Lindsay. He had been accepted a few months later, but hit a snag after Jennifer informed him that Craig refused to pay for his tuition. Upon learning this, Brian insisted that Justin allow him to pay for it. After thinking about it for a few days, Justin accepted his offer on the condition that he would pay Brian back in full within ten years. Justin had wanted it to be five, but after an incredible blow job, Justin agreed to ten, given that it may be a long time before he made any money on his art. He would begin his classes the following month.

"Oh, that was great," Justin panted as he wrapped his arms around his man.

"Mm-hmm," Brian said.

Justin pulled away to look at him curiously.

"What?" Brian asked.

Justin squinted at him. "You're thinking about something."

Brian smirked. "And how do you know that?"

"Well, for one thing you normally tell me how awesome it was after we make love."

Brian shrugged. "Maybe this time wasn't that awesome. In fact, I think you're losing your touch."

"Bullshit," Justin said as he playfully began tickling Brian's sides, which always made the older man giggle like a little girl. "Say that it was awesome!"

"Alright, alright! It was awesome!" Brian yelled.

"Thank you," Justin said. "And two, I can always tell when you're thinking something. You get this look on your face."

"What look?"

"I don't know... just this..." Justin tried to emulate the ‘look' he was referring to.

"So I look constipated when I'm thinking about something?" Brian asked.

Justin started tickling him again.

"Okay! I'm thinking about something," Brian admitted in an attempt to halt the tickle-fest.

"See? You can't get anything by me," Justin said smugly. "What are you thinking about?"

Brian sat up. "Well, I think I'm tired of wasting so much money every year on condoms."

Justin sat up next to him and looked at him with a puzzled expression. "Huh?"

"I did the math, and I figured that since we usually fuck two or three times a night, that would work out to about eighteen times a week. There are twelve condoms in a regular-sized box, which means we go through one and half boxes of condoms per week."

"Okay..."

"And a box of condoms costs about twelve dollars on average, so that's eighteen dollars per week, times fifty-two weeks in a year equals $936 dollars per year that I spend on condoms."

"Wow," Justin said, feeling like he was having a conversation with Annie the ex-math teacher from the dialysis clinic (who he now had lunch with a few times a month).

"Do you know what we could buy with an extra thousand dollars per year?" Brian asked.

Justin shrugged. "A shit load of lube?"

Brian smiled. "That's a great idea."

"Yeah, but..." Justin was about to comment on the fact that the condoms they used together weren't the only ones that Brian bought, but stopped. "Are you suggesting that... we start doing it bareback?"

Brian snuggled closer to him. "I haven't been with anyone but you since I had my last HIV test nearly three months ago. Actually, it's been about four months since I've even thought about fucking anyone but you."

"Really?" Justin asked, a touch of amazement in his voice.

"Yes," Brian confirmed. "Have you been with anyone else lately?"

Justin placed his hand on Brian's bare chest. "Brian, I told you I didn't want to be with anyone but you and I meant it. You're the only man I've ever been with, and the only man I want for the rest of my life."

Brian gave him a soft kiss. "Well, how about after we get home, I get tested just to make sure I'm clean, and then we start spending our condom money on more lube instead?"

Justin smiled. "Brian Kinney, that's the sweetest thing you've ever said to me."

~~The End~~