Chapter 31 - Admitting You Need Someone.

Justin entered the loft after a long shift at the Diner to find his Baby-Daddy sweating away on the exercise bike.

"Hey, you! If you keep that up you'll work off all the nice baby fat I've been working so hard to pack on you!" Justin harped, trying to lure Brian off the bike with a little strip tease.

"I wish, Sunshine," Brian wasn't taking the bait - he just kept on pedaling. "I've already gained two pounds this week and I look like I swallowed a cantaloupe. I need to stay in shape even if I am going to look like a whale soon. At least I'll be a sexy, strong whale."

"I love your little cantaloupe. And you're already sexy and strong. Now, come take a shower with me and then I'll heat up the lasagne Debbie sent home with me for dinner," Justin tried waggling his ass from the bedroom steps as an incentive to tempt Brian off the bike.

"No more carbs! You're killing me here, Sunshine," Brian groaned but slowed his pedaling nonetheless.

The sound of the shower coming on reached Brian's ears and his bicycling slowed even more. "Brian," Justin called enticingly. "I'll let you wash my back . . . side."

"At least it's exercise," Brian grumbled as he hopped off the bike and eagerly jogged up the steps towards the shower.

Freshly showered - Justin was squeaky clean inside and out - and stuffed full of the dreaded carb-laden lasagne, Brian lolled on the couch in well-fed lassitude while Justin worked on arranging his portfolio. Tomorrow was his big interview with the Art Director at Ryder's. If Justin could nail this interview and land some good paying free-lance work, then things would be much easier come fall. It was step one in 'The Plan', aka Brian's Big Business Blueprint, or 'B4'.

Brian didn't seem as nervous about B4 as Justin was. All Brian's usual confidence was intact and fully operational. He'd already got Cynthia and one of the junior exec's started on the necessary research. He and Justin had spent several evenings brainstorming concept ideas and the artist had already drawn up some basic sketches. Brian even had Stitch roped into helping with B4. He was sure the idea was brilliant, he just needed to sell it successfully, but that was his forte.

"I'm bored, Sunshine," Brian suddenly declared, standing up and stretching so that his cantaloupe belly showed just a bit. "You've gone through that damn portfolio at least a dozen times. It's got to be perfect by now. Come on, let's go out. I want to dance."

Justin scrunched up his face and shook his head. "Not tonight. I want to be well rested for my interview tomorrow, Brian."

"Well, you stay in then and shuffle your pictures around, but I'm going out. I haven't been to Babylon in at least a week. People are going to start thinking I've died or something if I don't make an appearance soon," Brian stated decisively as he headed to the closet to change.

"Do you promise to be a good boy, so I don't have to worry about you," Justin hollered up the stairs. "By the way, tonight's bartenders are Matt, Rocky and Chris - and they've all been briefed so don't think you can sneak a beer even if I'm not there!"

"I'll be good, Mother," Brian said in a mock innocent voice with his best fake smile as he came back down the stairs pulling on a loose-fitting sleeveless silk shirt that had been specially made for him by Stitch.

Brian looked certifiably edible, Justin thought, quickly rethinking his decision to stay home. Fuck, how could the man look even sexier at five months pregnant? That thing about pregnancy making you glow must be true, if Brian was any example. Justin worried that he'd be too tempting to the Babylon crowd and almost changed his mind.

"Stop worrying, Dear," Brian teased in falsetto as he pocketed his wallet, keys and a few condoms. "I'm a big boy and I CAN handle going out by myself for one night. Don't wait up!"

Justin sighed and went back to weeding out his portfolio.

As Brian walked through the chain draped entrance to his favorite club, he wondered when the last time was that he'd been here without Justin. What with their big secret, B4 and the media dogging their almost every step, Brian and Justin had been spending a LOT of time together. It felt weird to go somewhere without him. Brian did not want to acknowledge that feeling. It almost felt like he might have somehow become part of a 'couple'.

It was definitely a good decision to come tonight without his blond ball and chain. Time to reassert his inner Brian Kinney. He might have been forced into a 'relationship' against his will - he didn't think he could call what he and Justin had now anything else, especially since they were about to have a fucking baby together - but that didn't mean he had to act all hetero or coupley. He was still Brian Fucking Kinney! It was high time to remind everyone, himself included, of that fact!

Brian walked up to the bar and Matt handed him a bottle of non-alcoholic beer before he even tried to order. Fucking Twink - He must have called ahead or something. Fine, Brian would drink the piss water. He didn't actually want to do anything that might hurt the baby, but it was just the principle of the thing. He should be trusted enough to order his own fucking drinks. Another reason why it was a good thing he'd left Justin home.

Brian sipped his 'beer' and leaned back against the bar in the same casual slouch he'd always assumed when on the prowl. It felt good to be back in familiar surroundings. This was where he felt at home. At least this hadn't changed.

Then the Stud looked down at his body and noticed that his position emphasized the unusual protrusion under his shirt. He looked . . .  fat. "Shit!" He quickly stood up and straightened his shirt tails so he didn't look so chubby. No more slouching, he reminded himself.

Fine. He hadn't come here tonight to lean against the bar all night anyway. He'd come to dance, so that's what he'd do. Brian swallowed the rest of this drink and then moved out onto the dance floor, letting his body fall into the familiar thumpa-thumpa beat.

Near the center of the dance floor he spotted a suitable target: tall, lean, dark curly hair and bright green eyes peeking out from under long eyelashes. Mmmmm! Just what Brian needed. He moved towards the toothsome treat with a lecherous hungry smile. The Treat batted his lovely lashes and looked up at Brian invitingly with a sultry, knowing smile. Brian quietly growled in appreciation.

The Stud moved into place, claiming the Treat as his own territory with a proprietary hand on the slender, supple waist. Treat peeked at Brian from under his lashes again and danced his body closer. The Treat did a little shimmy motion that caused his groin to brush against the front of Brian's slacks. Brian highly approved of that particular dance move. His cock really liked it too and it stood up to take notice. Treat ran his hands down The Stud's well-muscled bare arms, jumping from there to the strong lean hips and beyond.

Brian leaned his head back as he swayed to the music and smiled at the beauty of life. The Treat swayed along with him and pressed closer. Brian leaned in and nibbled at the Treat's long neck, the curly dark hair tickling a little against Brian's nose and causing him to smile even more. It felt like a long time since he'd tricked. Brian was definitely looking forward to tricking with this Treat tonight.

Treat laughed a pleasant low rumble and lifted his hand to caress Brian's strong shoulders and chest. The Treat's nimble, slender fingers trailed down Brian's front, brushing over his sensitive nipples and inciting a little gasp from the aroused Stud. The fingers drifted over to lightly tickle along Brian's side and then traced along the waistband of Brian's slacks. Treat started to slide his fingers upwards under the hem of The Stud's long-tailed shirt, eager to run his palms all over what he expected to be a taut well-muscled set of abs.

Which is when Brian's fantasy suddenly crashed to a halt. He seized the wandering digits and yanked the tricky Treat's hand back mere centimeters away from the discovery of Brian's big secret. Treat looked startled and confused. He tried to reach up again but The Stud batted his hands away and muttered a weak 'Fuck off'.

Brian spun around and marched straight through the exit, not looking back.

"That was quick," Justin commented as Brian yanked the loft door open and stomped inside, slamming the door closed behind him.

"Fuck you!" Brian screamed at the unwary artist and thudded off to the shower in a huff.

"O-Kay," Justin said to himself, looking back at his work. "I guess I don't need to ask if you had a good time."

Justin waited more than an hour before he felt brave enough to head to bed. He wanted to make sure that Brian had plenty of time to cool off, or fall asleep, whichever came first. He cautiously peeked around the glass partition to see what option he'd be getting himself into before venturing forward. His Stud was lying there happily wheezing away with the little adhesive strip secured in its place on his nose. 'Oh! He's so cute when he's asleep', Justin thought.

Justin crawled into bed and snuggled up to his cute little cuddle-bunny (Heaven forbid that Brian somehow overhear that thought!). He figured that he'd hear about whatever happened at Babylon tomorrow - it must not have been too bad or Matt would have called him. He slipped in his ear plugs, just in case, and quickly drifted off to sleep. . .

. . . Only to be awakened a couple of hours later by a piercing wail that defied even the foam ear plugs and his bedmate clutching at his arm in a total panic.

"Owww! Owwwwwww! Fucking SHIT! OOOWWWWW! Justin! Fucking help! Shit, shit, shit!"

"Brian! Fuck, what's the matter! Are you okay? Is it the baby? Brian, tell me what's wrong!" Justin was wide awake in seconds and disposed to panic immediately if he couldn't discover what was wrong with his partner in the next ten seconds.

"My-my-my leg. It's . . . pain! I can't move it! Oooooowwwww! Fuck, fuck, fuck! Help me!

Brian had managed to struggle upward in bed to an almost seated position. His hands were both grappling around his left thigh. Justin flipped on the overhead lights and could clearly see the muscles spasming. It was like the muscles were seizing tightly, locked up and unable to move while a strong current of electricity was zapped through the nerves.

"I can't move my fucking leg!" Brian was still yelling.

Justin had absolutely no idea what to do. When Brian said that he couldn't move his leg, it scared him. The muscles looked so rigid. He reached over and started to rub the trembling thigh - the muscle under his fingers seemed warm to the touch and solid. All he could think to do was to massage the affected muscles and hope he was doing the right thing.

At first it seemed that his touch hurt Brian as much as whatever was happening to his leg. But, little by little he could feel the muscles relaxing. Justin tried to manually unbend the leg, and he could do it, but barely, the muscles still seemed locked. He tried flexing the leg more, lifting the leg and bending the knee while still massaging. It was still rigid but moved a little. Working very patiently, alternately straightening and flexing the leg while massaging the tight muscles, seemed to help and Brian quieted. It took more than ten minutes of stretching and flexing the leg while massaging the muscles before Brian finally sighed in relief, again able to move his own leg.

"What the fuck was that?" Brian asked, still a little panicky.

"Leg cramp," Justin answered matter-of-factly. "I read about them in one of the baby books. I had no fucking idea they'd be that bad, though. Or that scary."

"Is that going to happen again," Brian looked like he was on the verge of tears just thinking about suffering through another cramp.

"I don't know. I'll call Chiefy in the morning and find out what we can do," Justin promised, pulling Brian back so the man could rest against his chest.

"That fucking scared the shit out of me, Justin," Brian commented as he snuggled more comfortably into Justin's strong embrace.

"Me too," Justin admitted with a big sigh.

"I'm not going to be able to do this. There's no fucking way. That was just a fucking leg cramp and I thought I was dying. What the fuck am I going to do when the baby . . ."

"Shhh, Brian. It'll be okay. You'll be fine. You can do this and I'll help," Justin tried to comfort the frightened man, although he was almost as scared himself.

"Thank you, Justin," Brian said humbly. "Thank you for being here and taking care of me and sharing all this. I couldn't do this without you. I . . . I couldn't do this alone. Thank you for . . . for caring."

"You don't have to thank me, Brian. That's what love is," Justin replied, kissing Brian's temple. "This is what love feels like."

It took a long time for both men to finally get back to sleep. Justin was worried about Brian's leg cramps and all the other scary stuff still to come. Brian was busy contemplating Justin's enigmatic words.

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