Brian walked into his bathroom and let his eyes fall on the beads of water on the glass of the shower enclosure. He took in the red washcloth that had now been wrung out and hung to dry on the towel rack and he took in the single footprint that Justin had missed when he dried the rest of them from the slate floor. Brian could smell the faint scent of his own moisturizer and he turned to look at the hand blown glass bottle on the shelf across the room. Now he knew that even after weeks apart and an unbridgeable gap between them, Justin still hadn't been able to resist his habit of putting that moisturizer on when he saw it.

Turning away from the sight of the bottle, which like so many other things in the loft had seemed so innocuous before, Brian pushed a loud breath out of his nose in a vain attempt at purging himself of the smell and the history. He crossed the room to the shower and turned the water up before standing back and unbuttoning his pants. Brian was well aware that it wasn't that Justin at nineteen thought he had use for a French anti-aging serum. He remembered exactly what Justin had let slip the last time he'd accused him of wasting the expensive cream. Try as Brian did to ignore this memory, it didn't disappear and the smell seemed to get stronger than it had any right to be.

Eyes fixed on the tile work on the wall across the room; Brian remembered Justin's confession to a more sentimental reason for wanting to use the cream. This thought and the smell continued to crowd Brian's senses as he forced himself to concentrate on pushing his pants over his hips and stepping under the spray.

The reality was that tonight Justin had wanted to smell this smell for old time's sake because he hadn't been able to find a trace of it on Brian's skin earlier. He'd let a single drop of cream land on his fingers before looking at it and then washing it away down the sink. He had no way of knowing that Brian would even take notice of the slight smell and he had know way of knowing that Brian had given up this particular vanity because of its association with a detail that his sanity demanded he forget.

Brian let the water beat over his face and then the crown of his head before soaping his cock and balls. He didn't want to think about the fact somebody who could be so desperate to have some scent of his around when he wasn't, could also be the same person to rip him to shreds. He closed his eyes to the water and to the light and concentrated on the sounds around his head. Thoughts of the closeness and constancy he'd just finished living were fast approaching and Brian banished those as well. He'd let Justin into a place he never had any right seeing much less setting up camp in and the strongest part of Brian was running on sheer will as he tried to evict him.

"Brian, I'm gonna leave." Justin spoke up from somewhere behind him and Brian's eyes jerked open at the intrusion. The reflective beads of water on the marble in front of his eyes were the only witnesses to the turmoil and the flashed fire that they revealed.

"Why?" Nothing but calm in his voice but Brian felt as though he might burst out of his own skin.

"We're fucking with ourselves by doing this and I don't want to play anymore." Justin reached up to his face to rub his eyes in order to avoid looking at Brian's body through the glass.

"Like I said, we've finished fucking and now we're just gonna go to sleep." Brian stared hard at the wall and kept his back to Justin. He hoped that his words had managed to sound like his cool sarcastic self because he was already too busy not thinking about why it was now so important that Justin stay.

"Why are you doing this to me? To punish me? To make me sorry? To show me that you still don't feel shit while I'm barely keeping it together?" Justin pushed his fingers through his hair roughly before releasing a heavy sigh. "Well like I did before, I fucking give up. You win. You played better than me and once again you showed me that you were right when you said this wouldn't work." Justin turned in the doorway to walk away and Brian turned to watch him through the glass.

"Stay."

A glance over his shoulder, Justin shook his head 'no'. "What for?" He'd sounded more dejected than Brian gave him credit for.

"We don't need to talk everything to death Justin."

"Talk everything to death?" Justin huffed a bitter laugh. "This plant didn't die because you talked to it too much."

Pausing to listen before speaking, Brian still didn't react. "You need a place to stay tonight, so just stay." He flipped off the water and pushed the door to the enclosure open. Brian had made no attempt get out, instead just standing there and waiting for Justin's next move. Blinking the water out of his eyes, he watched as Justin turned away and walked back into the bedroom.

Not wanting to give chase and almost sure that he had no intention of begging, Brian made footprints of his own as he walked to the face basin and turned up the water. Now he couldn't hear what Justin was doing outside this room and he wouldn't have to hear the door to the loft closing him in if he didn't want to. Brian grabbed for his toothbrush and ran it under the stream of water before flattening his palms against the counter. He couldn't even rely on something as automatic or repetitive as brushing his teeth and he realized that he was listening for some sign that Justin hadn't left.

No sounds could be heard in the other room and Brian found himself measuring and re-measuring the time in his mind. Did he stay standing by the shower for a second or a minute after Justin left the room? Had he been running his hand and his toothbrush under the water long enough for his fingers to prune or did that happen from the shower? He wasn't sure of whether he'd already drowned out the sound of Justin's departure or whether that sound was still to come.

Suddenly thoughts of Justin leaving brought on one irrational thought after the other. Brian couldn't shake the image of Justin standing before him after 'earning' his promotion from Sapperstein and telling him that "he could take care of himself" and Brian couldn't shake the sudden desperation to make sure that Justin had at least the twenty he'd laid out to reimburse him for the taxi fare. The fragrance from the cream was stronger here by the sink and Brian would be able to tell himself that this was why he'd dropped his toothbrush unused and gone out into his bedroom.

The funny thing was and always is that if a person plays it cool enough, at least some of the time they can manage to fool even the people who should know them best. They can play things so close to their chest that even they think they're in control and no one else has a chance of calling their bluff. He could walk into this room and as nonchalantly as possible check on his son, grab a pair of sweats from his dresser and all the while tell himself that his ears weren't straining to hear even breathing coming from the rest of the loft. He could tell himself that he actually felt the heat on his back and neck from Justin's eyes watching him and that the sensation wasn't the blush that something bordering on panic had managed to break out on his skin.

Slinging the gray sweatpants over his shoulder and rubbing a hand against his towel-clad thigh, Brian made several slow steps to the doorway of the room. He hadn't let his eyes stray any higher than what would have been eye-level for Gus and he sort of wished he hadn't turned on all these lights after all. Having to move through this empty space to turn them all off wasn't an adventure Brian was looking forward to.

"How are we going to do this?"

Brian lifted his eyes to find the skin of Justin's shoulders first and then to see the light playing off the highlights and lowlights in his hair. Brian had managed to roll his lips into his mouth quickly enough to stifle the short stab of air that threatened to escape his throat. What was this feeling that had suddenly overwhelmed him and why in hell should he feel like a man who'd just escaped an axe-wielding executioner with his head still his own?

"Well...we're gonna pull back the duvet, get in and then go to sleep for the next two or three hours before Gus wakes up." Brian's voice was steady and his movements were even as he closed the gap between himself and where Justin sat in the chair overlooking their 'bed'.

Moments earlier, Justin had undressed to his underwear before collapsing first on to the arm of the chair and then giving in all the way and sitting down. Now elbows planted against his thighs and his head resting in his hands, Justin lifted his eyes to find Brian's face. "No. I mean this. This, 'we couldn't survive a relationship but we're still fucking', none-thing that we're doing."

Suddenly serious, Brian took in the expression on Justin's face. "Guess we just won't make a habit of it." He tossed his towel aside and kept his eyes firmly on Justin's as he stepped into the sweatpants. Gesturing toward the fact that he wasn't planning on sleeping naked he'd added, "See it's not all like old times."

The half-smile that Brian offered didn't reach his eyes and after watching Justin close his eyes and then look away, Brian turned away as well. It was time to throw some darkness on this situation and allow some of this rawness to go back into hiding.

Moving around from place to place to turn out lights, Brian could hear Justin pulling the door to the refrigerator open and then he could hear him walking back to the living area. He'd waited until he was sure that Justin had his fill of water and was bedded down before turning off the last light and moving back toward that general vicinity himself. The shape of Justin's body under the covers was familiar and Brian realized that it was this image that kept him from sleeping in his bed.

Following his own instructions to Justin on 'how they would do this', he pulled back the duvet, knelt down and got in. Justin didn't move from where he lay and Brian tried to make light of the fact that the other man hadn't opted to turn his back to where he knew Brian would be. Ignoring Justin's eyes, Brian settled back against his pillow and that same heat that was either born of panic or proximity, flashed over his skin. Blinking slowly and never more aware of another human body than at this moment, Brian took in the drawn out shadows the windowpanes and heavy curtains were throwing on the ceiling of the loft. He took in the changing shapes in the same way that Justin had sometimes just sat and stared at something. He realized then that he'd spent the last two minutes thinking about the very presence he was trying to ignore.

Turning his head ever so slightly, Brian found Justin's eyes in the dim light and just looked at him. Suddenly another irrational thought floated through his mind and he felt like they were characters in a cartoon and that all that was visible of them were their eyes glowing in the dark. Knowing Justin's appreciation for animation, he'd almost thought to break the ice of this moment by asking Justin to close his eyes to turn out those lights. Deciding against saying anything, silence instead of comedy filled the moment as Brian turned slowly on to his side to face Justin.

They'd done this a lot toward the end but this was the first time that both sets of eyes glowed in the direction of the other. Usually it would happen that both would lie like spoons, staring at some spot across the room, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the other was doing the same.

Minutes later, Brian swallowed a little and Justin made a move to place a hand on his shoulder. Whether to welcome him or ward him off, Brian wasn't sure so he stayed put. They were in uncharted territory and there was a lot to be said for knowing where you wanted to be but not being at all sure of how to get yourself there.

Feeling Justin's fingers tracing over his shoulder and barely touching his throat, Brian kept his eyes firmly fixed on the set that was watching him.

"Tomorrow I'm gonna go to Ethan's and pack. Right now he doesn't want me there so I won't force him to live with me like that...I'm gonna stay with Debbie or maybe Daph, wherever I can find a place...and figure out some stuff...for myself." The younger man was quiet for a minute or two before continuing. "I don't want to talk to you for a little while, okay?" Justin looked away from Brian's face and then back again. "It's 'cause I don't know how to deal with all that's happened and I don't think this is the healthiest way." Justin plaintively searched the man's face for some reaction and found nothing.

Brian was quiet for a long while and his jaw clenched and relaxed before he finally spoke up. He'd been thinking about how easy it had been to lose sight of his plan tonight and to lose control. "Enough with the speeches. Rollover." Noting the narrowing of Justin's eyes, Brian added. "We're not gonna fuck."

He'd waited for Justin to roll on to his back and then turn on to his other side before moving in closer to his body and pulling the duvet over both their shoulders. His face in Justin's hair, Brian closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He passed a hand between Justin's arm and hip and slung his own arm around Justin's waist. In spite of the fact that his lips were now grazing over the back of Justin's neck and the fact that he'd been holding so tight to this body, Brian still let his next few words escape his throat before settling in to the most comfort he'd ever felt sleeping a floor.

"You shouldn't be here when I wake up."

For the next three hours or so, Brian would be able to sleep. The ultimate drug to ease his way. Whether or not he would respect Justin's wishes...he would cross that bridge when he came to it.

The soft knocking on the door was the first to pierce his nothingness and then came the light. Whoever it was that was on the other side of the door was doing their best to wake him without kicking up too much Sunday morning noise in the process. Brian squinted at the clock on his desk as he sat up with the cracking accompaniment of his own back. It was just after nine and according to this record, he'd slept a lot longer than three hours. Eyes sweeping immediately to the bedroom, he'd suddenly remembered that this knocking wasn't his anticipated wake- up call.

From what Brian could see, Gus wasn't in the bed and the man flung back the covers and stood up quickly. Still grimacing from the light, it had taken the sound of Gus dropping the remote off the table in front of the television to catch Brian's attention.

"Shit. Gus what're you doing?" Brian walked toward the toddler, taking in the boy's state of undress and the fact that one of the batteries from the remote was now just an inch short of falling into the heating vent of the floor.

Gus it seemed, had gotten himself up and remedied his own wet diaper by discarding the whole thing in the middle of Brian's bed. He'd kept himself busy by pulling out every sheet of facial tissue from the box on the low shelf in the bathroom and then by pouring all the water from Justin's half-empty water bottle on to Brian's expensive hard wood floor.

The knocking persisted and just shy of sliding on the almost invisible puddle and killing himself, Brian turned his attention toward the door and called out angrily. "Who the fuck is it?"

"Keep your damned voice down and don't wake Gus." Melanie called back and Brian grimaced before plucking Gus up off the floor and walking toward the door.

"Maybe the annoying knocking was what woke him up?" Brian offered his words as he slid the door open to reveal the two travel weary women in the hallway.

"Why is he naked?" Lindsay stepped forward and pulled Gus from Brian's hold. She'd been manic about Gus wearing a hat in the slightest draught and only with great insistence from Melanie had given up her obsession that he wear socks at all times to prevent his catching cold. "And why is this place such a wreck?" Lindsay took in the destruction in the loft as she brushed passed Brian.

The man turned to discover that another of Gus' morning pursuits had been to pull out clumps of grass and dirt from the two garden trays that Brian kept on the shelf in front of the bedroom. He'd turned to take note of the dirt under Gus' fingernails and his attention went immediately to the once pristine furniture that littered the space.

"He's a fucking two-year old Brian. If you don't watch him he gets into things." Mel reached down to pick up one of the tissues that Gus had freed from the bathroom and strewn around the loft before she moved to stand behind a Lindsay, who was still surveying the damage.

"What were you doing while he did all this?" Lindsay had turned a little so that Melanie could reach Gus' hands to wipe them off. She'd been watching as Brian brushed at little patches of dirt on his sofa but she didn't notice when he turned his attention to covering the now yellowish spot on one of the seat cushions.

Brian hadn't offered any response to their statements. He was looking around to make sure that only Gus' presence was visible in the mess of the loft. Justin had obviously done as he'd asked by leaving early and besides the now empty water bottle on the floor, there wasn't anything out of place that he could attribute to Justin. The stain on the sofa was the only glowing reminder of how his plans for the previous evening had been derailed by his own lack of control.

"I'm the one who's gonna have to pick up the tab for the damage so why do you care?" Brian ran a hand through his hair as he dropped himself into an armchair.

"I care because I don't understand how one minute you can be so careful with him and the next you can totally forget to pick him up or drug yourself into stupidity while he wrecks the place around you. Jesus Brian, how drunk did you have to be to sleep through all of this?" Lindsay gestured toward the empty bottle of Beam she'd spotted on the windowsill and waited for Brian to respond to her outrage.

She'd had no idea how true her words had been on so many levels. It was true that Brian had no idea how he could be so careful with 'him' one minute and then let himself go so far as to give in to the potential havoc that one slip up could cause.

"Not drunk, just tired and...caught off guard." Brian got up from his spot in the chair and grabbed at one of Gus' now clean hands. "Isn't that right Sonny Boy?" He hadn't stayed in close proximity to the little family picture of Lindsay, Melanie and his son, instead moving off to the kitchen to start some coffee. "You ladies are back early and without calling first. Did you come by for breakfast?" Brian teased as he pulled the beans from the cupboard.

"We came back because even after all this time we don't get a very good night's sleep knowing Gus is in your care." Melanie bit out and Lindsay tried to shush her. It was one thing for Lindsay to lay into Brian, but she still couldn't sit back and watch anyone else do it to him instead.

"We decided to stay only for the bris yesterday Brian and I told you we'd be back today...I just didn't think that coming straight from the airport to give you a chance to rescue part of your weekend, we'd end up seeing this." Lindsay's eyes swept around the place again and this time, a very small detail stuck out where it should have blurred in with the rest of the chaos. The makeshift bed on the floor had been attributed to Gus making a mess of the sheets in the bedroom, the two pillows could be explained by Gus and Brian sleeping in the living room, but Lindsay couldn't account for the familiar pullover that she'd so often returned to Debbie's or the diner when her sitter forgot it after a shift. Not calling any attention to this fact, Lindsay turned to Mel and handed her their son. "Why don't you get his stuff together and dress him then we can get out of here. I wanna have a word with Brian." Realizing that Melanie preferred her own methods as opposed to Lindsay's reasoning or trying to understand Brian, Lindsay held her gaze firmly on the other woman's face until she moved away. Melanie and Brian had made strides over the last little while, but it was happenings like this that kept them less than best buds.

"Remind me to kiss you later for getting rid of her." Brian drawled as he set the coffeepot in place.

"Shut the fuck up asshole." Melanie called over her shoulder.

"Such a fine example for my impressionable young son." Brian met Mel's venom with a sneer as the woman turned to look back at him.

"You know you could try a little harder not to goad her for something that you did wrong." Lindsay made a point of walking around the coffee table in order to make her way toward the kitchen and toward Brian. "We didn't call on the off chance that we might wake Gus." Brian had rolled his eyes at both of her comments and Lindsay waited until she was out of earshot of Melanie before continuing in a whisper. "So did you start drinking before or after Justin left last night? I'm assuming you brought both he and Gus back here yesterday."

Brian looked up at her a little too quickly and Lindsay thought she saw something in his eyes.

"Who says he left last night?" Brian offered her a more steady look before turning away and pulling the door to the refrigerator open.

"Judging by the keys on the table, I wouldn't have guessed it was that kind of visit...But, I guess with you, it's always that kind of visit."

"So the plan is for you and your wife to get Gus packed and then get of here so that I can enjoy some peace and quiet, right?" Brian pulled a box of milk from the fridge and shut it behind him as he came back to stand across from Lindsay.

Ignoring him. Lindsay continued her inquisition. "So was this the first time that you two have been together since, or...?" She watched as the man poured out most of the milk into a bowl in front of him.

"Since when do I answer questions like that from you or anyone else?" Opting to have some cereal with his milk, Brian dropped a handful into the bowl and eyed Lindsay with a half smile.

"Since you didn't have to tell me that he stayed here last night, but you did."

Brian huffed a very small laugh before finding Lindsay's face again. "Well before your imagination runs wild with romance and sentiment, I fucked him to within an inch of his life right there on the couch. It's a wonder we didn't wake Gus and it's a wonder the neighbors didn't call the cops. He didn't have anyplace to sleep last night since lover boy turfed him and I let him crash on my floor."

Brian had conveniently failed to mention the fact that he'd been the one to feel more dead than alive when he and Justin were done, he'd failed to mention that he'd all but begged Justin to stay the night and he'd failed to mention that they had both spent the night on the floor, him curled around Justin in his sleep in a way he couldn't let himself live when awake.

"Just a fuck, huh?" Lindsay leaned against the counter and stole a flake from Brian's bowl. She made a mental note to talk to Justin about the root of his problems with Ethan. "So will you two be 'just a fucking' very often from now on?" The woman smiled as Brian offered her the finger and part of her was relieved to at least have this part of the man back. She'd been one of those not so blind few who'd watched him retreat into an even more emotionless state and now seeing him eating, and cursing and smiling was almost enough to erase the thoughts of child endangerment that had leapt to mind when she'd seen the state of the loft.

Brian turned his back to her as Justin's goodnight speech rang through his ears and having now come to this bridge, Brian couldn't quite put his finger on what it was he was feeling. "Why don't you 'just a fuck' off?" He'd turned to drop another handful of flakes into the bowl before turning back to put the container atop the refrigerator.

"Seems like I've heard you say something like that about him before." Lindsay spoke up. Melanie had come down the steps just then and the blonde woman turned her attention away from Brian without noticing how suddenly serious the man had become. "Come for dinner tomorrow Brian. We can talk some more." Lindsay gathered Gus into her arms and followed Melanie to the door.

"That's not a reason for me to say yes. It's a reason for me to say no." Brian watched the little group's departure and threw his most angelic smile at Melanie as she pulled the door shut behind them. He'd half-heartedly turned his attention back to preparing his breakfast and ended up dropping the bowl on the counter when he realized that the getting of the food was more for show than for sustenance.

Eyes now turned in the direction of living room, Brian couldn't not see all the things that had happened there the night before. He couldn't not see that Justin had been serious when he said that he wanted Brian to stay away and despite asking Justin to be gone by morning, he couldn't not see that he had no intention of allowing Justin to step away so easily.

Now he spotted the pullover on the back of the sofa and how the keys on the coffee table glinted and seemed to glow in the light streaming through the window. Brian found himself traveling in slow motion as he crossed the room to look at where he'd slept the night before. Reaching for the pullover and a pack of cigarettes from the desk, Brian pushed back the duvet on Justin's side and got in. He'd laid the shirt over the pillow as he lay down. Whatever urge had demanded that he strip this loft of everything that Justin owned or touched was silenced as Brian leaned his head back against the fabric and closed his eyes. Feeling the lump in the fabric under his head, Brian reached up to pull the little packets from the space of Justin's pocket.

Prepared for what was to come and vowing to keep a tight grip on his self-control, Brian turned the condoms over in his fingers.

He slipped a cigarette between his lips and pulled the lighter from the box as he soaked up the smell from Justin's shirt. Opening his eyes again and taking a deep drag from the now lit cigarette, Brian discarded the lighter and the condoms as he laid his hand across his bare chest. The look of the stretched out shadows on the ceiling last night and the look of Justin's eyes came back to him and Brian gritted his teeth and waited for the emotion to pass.

As far as he was concerned, neither of them had suffered enough for their transgressions and as the tendrils of smoke filled the air around him, Brian reached a conscious realization of why he'd wanted Justin to stay the night. No more avoidance and no more letting it all go away in time. Justin didn't get to ask for a time out when things got too hot and Brian figured that even if self destruction was what it took, he'd finish what he'd intended when he first called Justin to the loft the night before.

Despite the personal cost and despite the part of him that had wanted to let Justin go and find something better or easier, there was another part that knew there was a lot more bloodletting to be had before he didn't feel this anymore.

Justin knocked hard on the door and waited for Ethan to answer. He couldn't hear Ethan playing and he was pretty sure that he could hear Ethan on the phone inside. It didn't occur to Justin right away that the fact that Ethan didn't have a landline or a cell meant that he could only have been using his forgotten cell phone.

"I think he's at the door so why don't you fucking tell him yourself."

Justin could hear Ethan's footfalls coming closer to the door and he could hear the anger in the other man's voice. It was just about this time that it occurred to him that Ethan was using his phone and that the only person he could be talking to was the one person Justin was willing the Fates to have stay away from him.

The door flew open just then and Ethan practically pelted Justin with the small phone before grabbing the door and slamming it shut. "He says you forgot your anorak at his place."

Justin grabbed for the phone as it bounced off his chest and landed on the floor. Having just managed to save the thing from falling down the stairs, Justin brought it to his ear and listened to Brian's breathing. "Why did you do that Brian?"

There was no answer as Brian hung up.

Justin stood in the hallway for a few minutes and took in the measured silence. He'd run a hand over his face before knocking on the door again.

"Get the fuck out of here." Ethan yelled through the door and Justin was treated to two doors in the hallway around him opening to reveal angry neighbors.

"I need to get my stuff and then I won't bother you any more." He could hear Ethan coming back towards him and he waited for the man to open the door again.

"You certainly don't waste a fucking minute, do you? Leave here in the middle of the night and by ten o'clock the next morning you're well-fucked and shacked up with your boyfriend again." Ethan spat his words bitterly as he stood aside in the doorway. He watched as Justin pulled his portfolio and his duffel bag out of the corner before going into the bathroom to get some more of his things. "You fucking deserve each other and you fucking deserve every piece of shit thing he does to you." Ethan stood beside the still open door and yelled toward Justin in the other room. He'd greeted his neighbors with a few more choice comments when they stuck their heads out again.

Having seen Justin come back into the room, Ethan kicked the door shut and came to stand in front of the man who was silently stuffing his bag with clothes. Ethan could see Justin's arms and hands and given that there was no pullover to hide the marks, he'd had more than enough ammunition to set off his anger again.

"Look at your skin. Look at what you let him do to you." He reached down to grab at Justin's face and pull him to stand up. "Look at your fucking face...and your neck...Jesus Christ Justin, did he force you or what?" The man had taken in the bruising around Justin's mouth and the clear as day handprint on the side of Justin's neck.

Still silent, Justin pulled away.

"Again you and Brian could be twins. Apparently nothing comes by my choice, it has to be that somebody else wanted it and that I just went along for the ride. You wanted me out of here so I'm going. At least this fits into the little theory you have about me not thinking for myself so you should be happy." Justin had tears in his eyes as he pulled the zipper on the bag roughly and pulled it up on his shoulder.

Still laying flat on his back in the middle of a mess Brian dropped the phone on to the floor next to him. He'd been fiddling with the antenna on the thing while he waited for the events set off by his last two phone calls to play out.

In a shithole of an apartment across town, Justin was getting his head torn off by the type of lover that he'd claimed to want: the kind of man who was quick to profess his emotions and display his 'love' and his 'passion'. Judging by the heat Brian had managed to stoke out of Ethan with just a couple of well-placed words, Brian figured Justin would have to seriously revise his ideas about the levels of emotional stability he would want in a lover. Not that he could fault Ethan for his anger and not that he had any greater claim to stability, Brian figured Ethan had a lot to learn about not applying the shit you said when your dick was being crushed in tight heat, to the rest of your life.

A minute or two later, Brian heard the knock on the iron door behind him and he called out for the man to come in. He smiled a little since he was glad for not having had to let the trick into the entry door downstairs. Brian didn't get up or turn around to greet his guest, instead inching his hips up to slide his sweats down before kicking them off his feet.

Reaching his hand over to the pillow next to him, Brian retrieved another cigarette and lit it as the trick from the diner closed the door and walked around the coffee table to stand by his feet.

Brian's face was emotionless and his body glorious as the other man took in the view. He'd let his eyes trail over Brian's chest and arms before settling on the tightness of his stomach and the thin line of hair that ran there. Brian had pulled one leg up and bent his knee and the trick took in the length and thickness that he'd wanted to confirm for himself.

"I'd ask if you got robbed but I figure 'no' since they left a lot of good shit behind." The dark haired man turned to look around the place a little before once again settling his eyes on the naked body laid out in front of him. Brian's skin was a little flushed and the man thought he could make out hickeys on Brian's neck and a bite mark on his shoulder.

"You here to case the place or to fuck?" Brian took a deep drag from the filter before blowing smoke in the man's direction. He watched as his guest dropped off his jacket, peeled off his tight shirt and undid his belt buckle. A well-defined torso and arms came into view and Brian tapped the ashes from his cigarette into an empty glass that he'd left on the floor much earlier.

More seconds later and more skin revealed, Brian reached down to stroke at his cock while the other man knelt down on the floor between his legs. He'd fed the trick's mouth inch by inch before closing his eyes and taking another drag from the cigarette. He could feel strong hands on his hips and Brian let his hand drop to the man's shoulder to pull him closer. He'd opened his eyes to the ceiling again as lips touched down in his pubic hair and his cock pushed down the man's throat. Well past the point of gagging, the trick squeezed at Brian with his lips before bathing over his skin with his tongue.

Listening as the man moaned and grunted around his length, an image flashed behind Brian's eyelids and he could see Justin standing in front of him raging about wanting more. He could see Justin laid out in front of him and begging for more and he could feel his skin getting warmer as the mouth on his cock went to work. Having decided that despite all that was said, Justin did owe him something, Brian decided to collect. He closed a hand in the man's hair and pushed himself deeper, finally exhaling the thick smoke that he'd trapped in his lungs.

His blood still heating, Brian leaned over to drop the rest of his cigarette into the glass by his head before reaching down with both hands to pull the man off his cock. Within an instant, he'd pulled this man up his body to his face before getting on top of him and pushing a thigh between his legs. Writhing against each other, Brian pushed his hard on against the muscle beneath him and locked his fingers into the man's hair.

Teeth grazed over tongue as Brian kissed this stranger with every bit of anger, desperation and resigned vengeance as had been nourished in the hour since he'd laid his head to rest on the pullover that now lay somewhere under their bodies.

~To be continued~