The first night with the latest addition to the loft went strangely without event. Only when they were both ready for sleep did the kitten, which Justin had named (despite Brian’s protests) Nathan, make his presence annoyingly known. Justin was re-arranging himself in the sweaty, musky sheets when Nathan decided that it was time to play with his feet. Startled, Justin let out a yelp and kicked his foot up, causing the kitten to dart away. Brian rolled his eyes and the two of them attempted to get some sleep. Needless to say, it didn’t happen for either one of them. All night one of them was shooing the kitten out of the bed, or yelling at him to stop scratching.

Justin did his best to make Brian as comfortable as possible.

As soon as he woke up he changed the litter box and provided Nathan with fresh food and water. He even had the coffee going before Brain ever opened his eyes. Of course, that wasn’t to say that the moments passed by without event. Coming home after a fitful day of looking into potential clients and meeting with contractors and the loan office, Brian was relieved yet somewhat started to find the loft strangely silent.

"Justin?" he called out.

A few moments later his partner appeared from behind the fogged glass surrounding the bedroom. The look on the youth’s face immediately told Brain that something was wrong.

"Justin?" he questioned.

The blonde visibly swallowed and took and tentative step towards him.

"There was a small accident."

Instantly, Brian’s mind flashed to the one thing that could be causing Justin this much distress.

"Does it involve my new Prada shoes?"

"It may," the blonde admitted softly.

As Brian stalked back towards the closet, Justin took the opportunity to grab Nathan who was at his feet and exit the loft. He needed to give Brian some time to calm down.

"Let’s go," he whispered in the kitten’s ear.

Walking down the street with Nathan in his arms Justin passed one of "Kitten Found" signs he’d put up as part of the deal he’d made with Brian. So far, no one had called to claim him. It made him happy yet nervous at the same time. If no one came for him, Nathan was his, but the way things were going he was beginning to doubt that Brian would fall in love with Nathan and let him stay as he had planned in his head. As if sensing the young man’s worry, the kitten turned in Justin’s arms and rubbed the side of his face repeatedly against his neck. The vibrations from Nathan’s throat felt comforting against Justin’s chilly skin and he hugged him close again.

Justin walked around the block until a street vendor began to cast him a questioning stare and he turned and headed back towards the Loft. Taking in a breath, Justin slid the door back and was immediately confronted with Brain’s voice.

"Justin?"

Brian emerged from the bedroom just as Justin lowered Nathan down to the hard wood.

"Where’d you go?" Brian asked ignoring the kitten which ran by his feet.

"Out," he frankly answered. "I figured you could use some time."

Brian didn’t say anything as he took a large stride towards him.

"Are you pissed?" Justin questioned.

Looking directly into his wide, blue eyes Brian answered.

"Extremely," he responded rather serenely. "Money’s not good right now to say the very least and I just lost a pair of fucking expensive shoes."

"I’m sorry," Justin immediately said in a gentle voice.

"I know. I also know that you know I’ll get over it."

Justin smiled.

"Yeah, I would hope so."

Taking a step towards him, Brian continued to stare him down.

"I also know that you think the best way to get me to that point would be to take my mind off it with other things."

"Are you implying I would be wrong in thinking this way?"

Slowly closing the distance between them, Brian gently took hold of Justin’s face and pulled him against his body. Justin grinned into his mouth before pulling away.

"You hungry?" he whispered against his lips.

"You have to ask?" Brian answered, his hands finding the waistband of Justin’s jeans.

"I meant for dinner," Justin said as he stopped Brian’s wandering by encasing the older man’s wrist in his fingers.

Brian only shook his head and, wrapping an arm around Justin’s back, slowly pulled him towards the bedroom. Their bodies still pressed close together, Justin followed his lead and eventually collapsed underneath him on the large, soft bed. Brian’s hands were everywhere and Justin slid a warm hand under Brian’s shirt to caresses the skin of his back. After a few moments, the blonde had both hands exploring under his partner’s work clothes and eventually got such a grip around the fabric that he was able to pull it off.

Free of his shirt, Brian soon reduced Justin to the same state before he lowered his weight back down on top of him. Justin closed his eyes as the air left his lungs in a languid moan and he felt his lips form Brian’s name in a soft whisper as his strong hands worked their way to the buttons of his jeans. The blonde lifted his hips to assist as the denim was drawn away from his legs. Justin leaned back onto the comforting sheets as Brian ran his tongue around his navel before kissing his way back up to his lips. Opening his eyes as he felt Brian move away, Justin was rewarded at the sight of him removing the remainder of his clothes before he moved back to him.

Joining their mouths again, Brian slipped his tongue inside and felt Justin’s move against his. Slowly pulling Justin’s underwear down, Brian’s soon followed and the two men tossed the garments to the floor. The dark haired man again pulled away, but only to move to Justin’s right side, coaxing him onto his stomach. Feeling Brian cover him Justin reached back and pulled his left hand to him, entwining their fingers. As he heard Brian reach for a condom he opened his eyes when he noticed that Brian had stopped moving.

"Brian?" he questioned, looking back over his shoulder.

"The fuckin’ cat is staring."

Justin paused for a moment, as if what he had said didn’t register.

"What?"

"The cat," Brian immediately repeated.

Justin looked to his left and saw that what apparently disturbed Brian so much was indeed sitting at the edge of the bed staring at the two of them.

"Brian," Justin began, rolling over to face him. "We fuck in front of complete strangers all the time."

"I know . . . but . . fuck! I don’t know, it’s weird."

Justin rolled his eyes and leaned up to kiss Brian along his jaw line.

"Ignore him," he softly insisted. "Come on."

As Justin continued to place haphazard kisses on his skin, Brian gradually relaxed again and began to return his lover’s affections.

It was short-lived however.

"Jesus Christ! It’s going to drive me fuckin’ crazy!" Brain yelled. "Do something with him!"

Releasing a dramatic sigh, Justin moved from underneath him, picked Nathan up and (with a murmured apology to the animal) closed him in the bathroom. Upon returning to bed, he paused and took a long stare at Brian.

"Rest easy," he assured him. "The pussy is gone. It won’t scare you anymore."

Giving him a sarcastic grin, Brian grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him back into bed.

A few hours later, they were interrupted by a knock at the door – rather, Brian was interrupted from his finance planning by a knock at the door. Justin was so engrossed with a sketch that he seemed deaf. Brian smiled at him and rose to answer the calling. His smile grew wider when he beheld who was on the other side.

"Dadda!" Gus screamed as he hugged Brian’s knees tightly.

"Hey Sonny-Boy," he said as he bent down to pick his son up.

The familiar sound of the toddler’s voice had caught Justin’s attention and he had emerged from the bedroom.

"Hey Momma," Brian said to Lindsay. "What brings you here?"

"Well, I was out with Gus and – hey Justin," she said upon seeing him.

"Hey!" he answered excitedly as he went to greet Gus who was resting against his father’s hip.

"Anyway," Lindsay continued. "Gus and I were out for a walk and I came across this."

In her right hand the tall woman held up one of the "Kitten Found" signs that Brian had forced Justin to make and place all over town.

"Now, I said to myself, ‘that’s his address and phone number, but this just can’t be’," she said. "You? Harboring an animal?"

"Not for much longer," Brian said quickly as he lowered Gus down to the floor.

"Lindsay smiled despite herself. "Well . . let me see him. I’m sure Gus would love him."

"I’m sure he would too," Brian agreed. "Which is why he shouldn’t see him. The thing’s going to be gone - "

"Kitty!"

Brian turned around to find exactly what he had been preaching against. Gus was on all fours trying to pet Nathan who was regarding him with extreme curiosity.

"Damn it, Justin!"

"I didn’t do anything!" he defended. "Gus saw him before I did."

Lindsay laughed slightly and kneeled next to her son.

"Oh, Brian," she began. "He’s so cute!"

"Shut up, Lindsay," he scowled.

"Ohh, we’d better go Gus. Dadda’s in a bad mood."

"No!" The toddler immediately protested. "I wanna stay with Kitty!"

"Well, since you’re both such huge fans Lindsay, why don’t you take him with you?" Brian questioned in a sly voice.

"No can do, Bri," she said. "Mel’s allergic to cats."

"Why don’t you stay awhile?" Justin suggested. "Eat with us. Then Gus can play with Nathan a little more."

"That sounds great," Lindsay smiled. "You OK with that Brian?"

"Why the hell not?" he shrugged as he dropped into a nearby chair.

Justin smiled and moved to join Lindsay, Gus and Nathan on the floor.

After dinner, Justin returned to his work on the bed after seeing their company off. Brain cleaned the kitchen and then slowly moved into the bedroom and took a seat directly behind Justin. Brian slowly stretched his legs out so that his partner was trapped between his knees and blew warm air on his neck.

"Oh, Brian, please . . . not now," he pleaded in a gentle tone as he reached back to lightly stoke Brian’s cheek. "I’m so close to getting this right."

Not even bothering to push it further, Brian kissed the back of his ear and moved off the bed.

"I’m going to Babylon," he announced. "Come by, if you get done soon."

Justin looked up into his eyes.

"OK."

Of course, Justin knew that he wouldn’t go; and so did Brian. The older man was in the mood to play and he was going to find an opponent. Despite the fact that Justin still hated knowing that Brian was with other people, he appreciated that he was no longer so flamboyant about it. At times, Justin could almost forget.

"Later," Brian called as he walked out the door.

"Later," Justin heard himself respond.

As the door slid shut, Nathan hopped into Justin’s lap and rubbed himself against his face, causing the young man to laugh out loud. Justin brought the kitten up to his face and kissed him once, smelling the cat food fresh on his breath, and then returned to his drawing.

Justin was awakened by the sound of paper rustling.

Opening his eyes, he saw Brian fresh out of the shower, moving his things off the bed. Sitting up, Justin ran a hand through his hair. When had he fallen asleep?

"Hey," he said to Brian. "When did you get in?"

"About a half hour ago," he responded.

Glancing at the clock, Justin realized that it was 2:32 in the morning.

"I didn’t mean to fall asleep," he said, mostly to himself.

Brian smiled warmly at him, watching as he moved off the mattress and into the bathroom.

"Justin," Brian called out.

The blonde turned to face him.

"I’m serious . . . he’s gone tomorrow."

Justin gave a slight nod and closed the bathroom door behind him.