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The End Done Right
by Vamphile
Chapter Seven
Brian came home to find catalogs strewn across the coffee table. Post it notes marked a few pages. He went upstairs and quickly changed into jeans and a black t-shirt and made his way downstairs to find out what it was Justin thought they should buy now.
When he looked more closely at the catalogs he laughed. They were for clothes, Justin was telling him, in his own passive aggressive way, that he was NOT going clothes shopping. Brian knocked on the studio door.
When Justin opened it he looked tired, he was covered in paint, and the entire room smelled like chemicals sweat and stale cigarettes. Brian wasn’t sure he’d ever seen Justin looking so fucking cute.
He kissed him lightly on the nose, and then held up the catalogs with a menacing look in his eye. “We’re going shopping, I’m not ordering your clothes through the fucking mail.”
“Why not, look, they’ve got everything I need in the lands end catalog.”
“Lands end, I thought I raised you better than that”
“Brian, everything I own ends up covered in paint, or in a heap on the floor, I’m pretty sure your head would explode if I did that to things with labels like, Armani, or Prada, or…” he exhaled slowly as he leaned in closer to Brian as if these words were the most erotic ever, “Dolce and Gabana”
Brian leaned in, breathing in the air Justin was exhaling, “I’ll fucking kill you if you get paint on your new Prada shoes, but it doesn’t mean I’m not buying you a pair.”
Justin was almost finished with the third canvas, he kissed Brian more deeply and said, “Fine, you’re the sugar daddy, you win, as soon as this canvas is done, I’ll let you dress me up like a little toy.”
Brian wanted to balk at the image, but in truth, he found it sexy so he just smiled. “Time for a dinner break?”
Justin frowned, “not right now, I’ve got to keep working, grab something without me, I’ll try not to make it too late of a night”
“I owe you something for this morning, Brian whispered, biting at Justin's earlobe in a way that made Justin all too aware of what he meant.”
“And I plan on collecting. I just need to get a little more done before this layer dries.”
Brian shrugged, your loss if you don’t make it up to bed in time.”
“Trust me, I don’t plan on losing anything, except maybe this hard on” and with that he moved Brian's hand lower so that he could feel how much the mere thought of him, just his presence so close, affected him”
Brian smiled, and backed away from the studio door, he popped in a movie and turned on his computer.
It was a full 24 hours before Justin emerged from his studio. He was tired, exhausted actually. He had showered to avoid dragging paint through the house and was wearing only a robe when he tiptoed past the den to the bedroom, it was only 7 pm and he knew Brian was working, he’d heard him come home, he was vaguely aware that Brian had stopped to say good morning to him about 12 hours ago, but he had been so involved in what he was doing he had barely noticed.
“STOP.” He heard Brian's command. He turned around and smiled, his wet hair still spiky and uncombed.
“Hi”
“What’s up?”
“Nothing, just hit a good stopping place, thought I’d take a nap”
“mmm hmm, how bout some dinner first.”
“Brian I’m too tired to cook anything.”
“I figured, I brought home a pizza.”
Justin was torn, pizza vs. sleep…they both sounded too good to pass up
“I’ll reheat it when I wake up, I swear Brian, I’m about to fall over”
Brian looked at Justin and realized he wasn’t exaggerating, the circles beneath his eyes were darker, and deeper, and suddenly he saw him sway on his feet.
“Jesus Justin, have you eaten anything today?”
“Sure, I had a high protein breakfast.”
Brian looked at him oddly, “That was yesterday.”
“Was it? Wow, I really lost track of time.”
Justin was trying to back away, he honestly felt like he was about to fall over, he needed to rest, but he was dying to finish the work he was doing.
Brian approached him slowly, trying not to be worried, hell, at Justin's age, a couple of sleepless nights were harmless, he was working hard to convince himself of this when Justin's knees buckled.
Brian moved fast and cat like, catching him before he hit the floor, “Justin, …Hey, Justin” more panicked now “Justin!”
Justin looked up, Brian's face was directly above his, his hazel eyes dark with…what, worry? Anger? Something.”
He reached up and ran a hand through Brian's hair “told you I was tired.”
“You’re more than tired, you’re worn out”
Justin tried to wriggle out of Brian's embrace, “That’s why I’m going to bed, I just need some sleep.”
“and some food” Brian added
“Yeah, when I wake up, I’ll eat, I promise” and with that he kissed Brian's nose and turned to walk away. Brian pulled him back by the sleeve of his robe, and lifted him up “Why don’t you just let me put you to bed.”
“This is silly.” Justin said, settling his head against Brian's shoulder and wrapping his arms around his neck.
“So I’m silly, I’ve been called worse.”
Brian tucked Justin in the same way he would with Gus, well, maybe not EXACTLY the same, but with care, and a tenderness Brian rarely showed in the bedroom, and Justin was asleep almost before his head hit the pillow.
Brian piled enough pillows against the headboard to make himself more comfortable and just sat, watching Justin sleep, and trying to recreate the timeline of the past couple of weeks. When was the last time he’d seen Justin sleep for more than a couple of hours at a clip, or eat really anything at all?
When he was sure Justin was dead to the world he crept out of bed and down to the studio, as he had hoped, Justin had been to tired to remember to lock it.
The place was a mess, but he had figured that, it was littered with full ashtrays, “Christ the kid smokes more than I do these days.” he thought to himself. The rest of the debris was from paint, brushes, paint thinner, about a hundred empty water bottles but no food wrappers, no half eaten sandwiches, no plates, nothing to imply that he ever ate in here at all. Brian stood back and looked at the canvas prominently displayed on the easel, it took his breath away.
It could be considered abstract, if you didn’t know what it was, but the pattern was all to familiar to Brian, each deep wrinkle, each brownish red blotch, it was a ten foot replica of that fucking scarf. There was silk, painted painstakingly, the texture and pattern seeming to come off the canvas in 3 D and the fringe, dirty, with… Brian moved closer, a bloody fingerprint, HIS bloody fingerprint, pale but there. This is what Justin was working on? This is what Justin has been practically possessed by? He wasn’t sure if it was a healthy purging of a bad memory, or a sick obsession, all he knew was that as ugly as the memory was, as ugly as the actual object was, Justin had made it a powerful piece of art. Some may never understand it to be anything other than an abstract expression of texture and movement but Brian knew it to be much more than that.
He backed out of the studio slowly and locked the door behind him.
Justin woke up three hours later and climbed out of bed.
“what the fuck are you doing?”
“I got some sleep, I’m going back to work.”
“You said you’d eat something.”
“I will, but not ‘til I...”
“You will, now.”
“Brian, I’m not hungry”
“Bullshit, I’ve never known you not to be hungry”
Justin's stomach tensed, his whole body tensed, he needed to be back in the studio, he knew he was being obsessive, recognized it, but couldn’t help it, he was drawn to finishing this, if he could finish this then… what? He didn’t know what came next he just knew it had to be finished.
“I just need to finish this” he said it out loud but in almost a whisper
“Who’s stopping you?”
“You are.”
“No, I’m stopping you from making yourself sick, ending up in the hospital, not from finishing your work. I promise, it will be there in the morning, but until then, you’re not leaving this bed.”
“Fuck you” Justin half laughed with a smile on his face, “You can’t keep me here.”
Brian raised his eyebrows and glanced at their headboard, “I’ll tie you to the bed if I need to, but you’re going to get some sleep.”
Justin looked at Brian, he wasn’t kidding, and he was only half flirting, mostly he was demanding.
Justin tried again, heading towards the bedroom door, “Brian, I’ll sleep, and I’ll eat, I promise, I just need to…”
Brian was in front of him blocking the door before he knew it “finish this canvas?” Brian finished the sentence for him.
“I thought you hated it when couples finish each others sentences.”
“You know what I hate more?”
“What?” Justin smiled and wrinkled his nose, trying all of his best tricks to get Brian to give in.
“taking care of a sick kid, so why don’t you just be a good little boy and lay back down in bed.” Brian's tone was mocking, but his eyes were serious and his body language said that he was clearly not in a teasing mood.
Justin weighed his options. He could fight, then he’d never get to the studio, Brian let him win some fights, but only the ones he was willing to, and Justin knew Brian well enough to know that in the end, he’d never win a power struggle with the older man. The pretty blonde sighed. “fine, I’ll go back to bed, but…”
“Uh uh, no negotiating, you’re going back to bed.”
Justin took off his pants and crawled back into bed.
“Do you want me to reheat some of that pizza for you? Brian asked
“Really not hungry” Justin said, and Brian lay back in bed as well. Justin curled up around him, using him like a body pillow and resting his head on Brian's shoulder. “You know this means you’re gonna wake up with drool on your shoulder again” Justin said.
Brian smiled, “I’m looking forward to it.”
Justin smiled too, and was soon back asleep, trying not to let his mind race about what he had left to finish in the studio.
Brian sighed and lit a cigarette, smoking and thinking while the younger man curled around him further, he wasn’t sure how worried he should be, but in the small hours of the morning, he allowed himself to worry deeply, about Justin, about Gus and his arm, about Lindsay and how she didn’t sound okay lately, and about this stupid new account and why he couldn’t come up with a sexy way to sell a chain restaurant. He finally started to doze around two am. At three he felt Justin stir, and then felt more than saw him slowly extricate himself from Brian and sneak out of bed. Brian opened his eyes and simply stated “Back. In. Bed. Now.”
Justin knew that tone and sighed, his plan hadn’t worked; he crawled back in bed and was asleep within minutes. When Brian was sure he was really asleep he let himself sleep again, a plan formulating.
Brian awoke at seven am. Justin was still sleeping. Brian breathed a deep sigh of relief that the obsessed little artist hadn’t snuck back down to the studio Throwing on a pair of jeans and shoes Brian grabbed his phone and made a few calls.
By the time he returned to the bedroom Justin was in the shower, and Brian smiled. He quickly lost the shoes and jeans and went to join him. Justin turned around and flashed him his patented sunshine grin. “I’m sorry about last night.”
“Don’t be sorry, just start taking care of yourself sunshine, you’re no good to me dead.”
“Brian, it was hardly a near death experience, he said as he massaged Brian's scalp while shampooing his hair.”
“yeah, I guess not” Brian said, lets just say we all have our drama queen moments and forget about it.
“Deal” Justin said as he leaned in and kissed Brian. “Now, if I recall, you owe me something.” Brian smiled, a wicked grin and pushed the boy against the glass, kissing the spot between Justin's shoulder blades that made chills run down his entire body. “his fucking shoulder blades” Brian thought, “who has an erogenous zone between their shoulder blades?” Justin did, and he moaned as he felt Brian's hot wet mouth move lower. Brian's hands were moving up Justin’s thighs and his mouth was moving down his back, it was as if Brian's entire body was closing in on Justin's dick and Justin was having trouble thinking about anything, and so he stopped thinking.
Brian loved the taste of Justin, clean, but spicy, the kid was honestly like a drug to him, he could never get enough, he stopped his movements as his hands lightly grazed Justin's hard and practically weeping dick, and then moved lower again so his hands were flat against the top of his thighs, so close to where Justin wanted them to be, and yet, so far, he continued his descent until he hit the small of Justin's back, and then stopped there, kissing and nuzzling the small spot until Justin was moaning, practically begging “Brian” it was almost a whine. Brian waited a moment and then moved his mouth lower, running his tongue gently along the crack of that perfect ass. Justin pushed back, trying to get more, but Brian wouldn’t let him. He tried to spread his legs wider but with Brian's hands still firmly on his thighs there was nothing for it. All he could do was let the sensations wash over him, just like the hot water was. Finally Brian moved his hands to pull apart Justin's beautiful ass cheeks, his tongue flicking at Justin's puckered hole, Justin moaned again as water ran down his back and Brian's hot mouth mixed with the feel of the hot water became almost more than he could bear.
Then Brian's tongue was inside him, flitting in and out, and Justin was concentrating on holding still, he wanted to push back, to impale himself on Brian's tongue, but he knew from experience that if he moved too much Brian, in an expert effort to prolong the exquisite pain of being on the precipice of orgasm would stop. So he held still, as Brian took full advantage of Justin's compliance.
When Justin was sure he could take no more, he moaned Brian's name, and Brian, hearing it, pulled back a little and turned Justin around. Justin's hands were flat against the glass of the shower wall, his face turned to the side. The hot water was now falling directly on his throbbing cock, and Brian slid his tongue out and applied a small amount of pressure to his slit, licking the precum and hot water from it. Justin was beyond thought now. He was begging. “Brian PLEASE” Brian looked up at him. “please what? What do you want me to do?”
“Suck me, Fuck me, I don’t care just please let me come” Brian laughed, pleased that he had cleared the kids head for a few moments, pleased that Justin was still so sensitive to his touch, pleased that Justin was his.
He took Justin into his mouth, slowly, agonizingly slowly. Justin tried to thrust forward but Brian put his hand flat against Justin's belly in warning, and Justin restrained himself. Brian's tongue swirled around the head of Justin's engorged member, hitting the sensitive spot just below the head, and then as he took him fully in his mouth he let his tongue trace the vein that ran down the bottom of his beautiful cock. He opened his throat, and removed his hand from Justin's belly, giving him the permission he was looking for Justin began fucking Brian's mouth. Brian loved to feel the passion, the need, and as he grazed his hand against Justin's balls, he felt Justin shoot into his throat, and he swallowed. He continued to hold Justin in his mouth, as Justin's breathing slowly returned to normal. Brian finally stood up, kissing Justin, just as Justin had done to him a few days ago, letting him taste himself on his lovers tongue.
Justin leaned his head against Brian. “you know…we never get clean the first time we shower in the mornings” Brian laughed
“yeah, but we get off, and that’s far more important”
this time Justin laughed, and the two of them actually went about the business of showering for the sake of cleanliness.
When they both emerged, dry and clean Justin went to put on a pair of paint-splattered pants, and Brian just shook his head.
“Not today sunshine, today we’re going shopping”
“Brian, you said if I slept I could work more in the studio”
“And you can, but first, we need to outfit you in a manner that suits the lord of the manor.”
“I thought you were the lord of the manor”
“Yeah well, then you’re the prince, whatever, no one even remotely connected with the manor can dress like a chimney sweep all the time, c’mon.”
“where are we going?”
“I told you… shopping”
“then why the duffle bag?”
Brian smiled, “It’s a surprise.”
And with that, he threw Justin a pair of khaki pants that weren’t too paint encrusted and leant him one of his very own shirts.
They had been driving for almost forty minutes when Justin started to really wonder where they were going, they weren’t heading into the city, and the malls around the house were just as good as ones in other suburban areas.
“Where are you taking me?”
“We’re going to the nearest place to find the most fabulous clothes ever.”
“It’s seeming kind of far.”
“We’ll be there in not time sunshine”
“Brian” Justin was anxious to get back to the house, back to the studio, he was starting to feel anxious about this sudden sojourn “this is taking forever, which is why I said we should order anything I need.”
“We are not buying you an entire wardrobe of the worlds ugliest clothes from Land’s end.”
“So where are we going?”
Brian gave him a patented grin and said, “Straight to hell, but first, we’re going to heaven.”
“You’re a dork.”
“No, but I’m dating one.”
“Does he have a hotter ass than I do?”
Brian just looked at him, “No one has a hotter ass that you do, except maybe me.”
“well that is true” Justin nodded sagely
“You know” Brian said, “We need a word”
“Erm, have you seen the dictionary, there’s tons of them in there.”
Brian shot Justin a nasty look.
“No, a word for us, what we are, cause we keep dancing around the stupid words that breeders, and quasi breeder wannabes have coined…I mean think about our options,”
“Partner” Justin said
“Only if we’re in business together.”
“Loverrrrsss” Justin drew the word out showing his distaste for the term.
“That’s just nobody’s business but ours.”
“Spousal equivalent?” Justin said
“Right, like we’re trying but we’ll never be real, I think not”
“Husband?” Brian just looked at him, “getting married will NEVER work for us.”
Justin nodded his agreement. There was a time when he would have been hurt by those words but he knew them to be true now, and that meant that every moment they were together was because of love, and desire, and caring and not a legal obligation. He considered other options to define their relationship. “Special friend?” Brian and Justin rolled their eyes in unison.
How about “Us?”
Brian looked at him…”what?”
”We are ‘Us’. We are ‘We” as far as our relationship, fuck it, people ask ‘who’s that’ I’ll say ‘that’s Brian’ that’s all they need to know.”
And when they ask, “Is he your boyfriend?”
“I’ll smile and let them wonder.”
“So you don’t think we need so possessive relationship description?”
Justin sighed; he so very much wanted to be back in the studio, not having this conversation.
“Brian, it’s never worked, trying to use conventional terms of any kind to define our relationship to others, and once we try, we end up feeling defined and claustrophobic, or not close enough and it’s bullshit.”
“Brian,” Justin started over “let me ask you a question.” Brian grunted in acknowledgement
“Do you give a fuck what anyone else thinks about us being together?”
“No, you know I don’t”
“So fine, we’re “Us’, you’re Brian, I’m Justin and leave it at that. I’m tired of trying to be anything other than what we are, two people who love each other more than either is willing to admit.”
Brian looked at him, “You think I love you that much”
“I know you do.” Justin was wearing his teasing smile, it was his safest bet when he got this close to the truth of their relationship. Keeping it light was the key, he knew that now.
“So we’re Us, we’re We, and if anyone asks if I have a boyfriend I say, no, but I have a Justin”
Justin laughed, “Works for me.”
Excellent, I’m so glad that’s decided, and look we’re here.”
“We’re at the airport.”
“Wow, that college education really paid off.”
“Why are we at the airport?”
Brian grabbed their bag, locked his car and they headed to the gate, his e-tickets had been arranged by Cynthia, so had the hotel room. It was time Justin learned the glory that was Barney’s in New York.
Brian didn’t say another word but interlaced his hand with Justin's and together they walked to the gate.
When they arrived Justin saw the departure and return information and looked at him oddly, “We’re going to New York for clothes?”
Brian leaned in and kissed Justin, ignoring the few odd looks from other passengers. “Next stop, Barney’s.”
Justin swallowed hard, said nothing and got on the plane.
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