The air that morning was cool and crisp with the imminent rain which hovered over the gathered clad in black. The velvet voice of the priest swayed in the gentle breeze and tickled their ears as the mourners listened to the clergyman review the life of Craig Taylor. Brian’s hazel eyes moved over to the slender blond who stood next to his mother with his head slightly bowed. He looked painfully young to be burying anyone. Brian looked back as the final words were spoken, the last prayer offered, and the mahogany box slowly lowered into the ground. Beside Justin, Jennifer wiped her eyes with a tissue and clasped her small daughter’s hand to the other side of her. As the guests began to filter back, Brain was surprised when Justin immediately backed away and moved towards him. Completely unable to even guess at what Justin was going to say, Brian remained still and waited for him.

"Will you come with me?" He asked in a soft and pleading voice.

Brian blinked once as if astonished that Justin believed he was capable of denying him.

"Where?" He responded.

"Anywhere," the teenager answered as he exhaled slowly.

Nodding once the older man cast a quick look passed Justin to his mother to find that her eyes were already locked on him. After a moment the woman game him a little, sad smile.

"Okay," he whispered.

Justin sniffed and walked to his side, placing his hands deep in his pockets, as the two men began a languid, aimless stroll. Leaving the jeep they decided to follow the sidewalk outside the cemetery, which eventually lead them to a quiet section of the city, fairly un-crowded by pedestrians. They talked back and forth about art, advertising, school and accounts. Occasionally Brian would manage to slip a little joke in that caused Justin to smile and even laugh a few times. When the first few drops began to fall, the pair turned and headed back to get the jeep. As their pace quickened, Brian felt Justin clasp his hand within his own; whether or not it was in order to keep up or something else he didn’t know.

He didn’t care.

As they climbed up into the seats, no sooner than they had closed the doors than the sky fell upon them. After he started the ignition, Brian turned to Justin who was silently staring past the rain and back into the cemetery.

"Where am I taking you?" he asked him.

Justin leaned back in his seat and turned to face him.

"My place is, like, 10 minutes up the road."

"You don’t wanna go back to your mom’s tonight?" he questioned with a furrowed brow.

Shaking his head the young man looked back out into the rain as Brian backed out and drove him home.

"So, have you talked to him lately?"

Justin turned back towards him but Brian kept his eyes on the road.

"He called a few weeks ago," he explained. "But not since then; calls from Italy are expensive."

"Italy?" Brian questioned.

"Yeah," Justin answered. "He got a full scholarship to study abroad there and he left just after – after we broke up. I think it was actually one of the reasons we split."

Brian continued to stare at the yellow lines in the middle of the cement but as he listened to him he nevertheless began to feel uncomfortable and regretted that he had brought it up.

"I didn’t want him to go but I couldn’t go with him."

Ethan had wanted Justin to go to Italy with him?

"It’s here."

Brian snapped out of his musings and turned to the left, parking the jeep at the curb.

"You wanna come up?"

The older man’s mind was screaming at him to drive away. With every passing second he could feel the old tension between them mounting. It was becoming harder and harder to keep his mind off of him. To keep his lips off of him. On the other hand, he reminded himself of the huge loss that Justin had suffered and that it was probably not in the boy’s best interest to be left alone, at least, not yet.

Turning the engine off, Brian got out of the vehicle and jogged into the building with Justin, eager to get out of the rain. Walking behind him he took in the surroundings which he had only previously seen from the outside. When Justin had first moved out of Ethan’s apartment and moved into his first independent lodging, he had received a call from him telling him where it was and the phone number in case he ever needed or wanted to reach him. Needless to say he had never called and had never been inside the aging building. They walked up to the third floor on darkened steps and the older man followed silently behind the blond until he stopped before a door with the number "17" hanging in faded brass on the wood.

"This is it," Justin said with a little touch of pride in his voice as he slipped his key into the lock.

With a smooth movement Justin opened the door and moved aside for Brian to enter. The room was small, but not nearly as bad as Brian had envisioned when Justin had first told him that he was living alone. From what he could tell it consisted of one large central room and a small bathroom off to the left. He had a table in the little kitchen to the right. Everywhere he looked were the boy’s books, sketchpads, photos and pencils. He smiled. So very Justin.

"I know it’s not what you’re used to," Justin began as he closed and locked the door.

"No," Brian interrupted as the younger man moved towards him. "It’s good. It’s you."

Justin smiled and slipped off his black jacket, hanging it over the back of a chair.

"How does mommy feel about you living out here all alone?"

The youth shrugged and took another step towards him.

"I think she’s happy I’ve finally grown up," he explained. "She calls every other day but I think she’s all right. Now, I don’t know how she’s gonna feel about it . . . if she’s gonna want me closer after . . . everything that’s happened."

Brian watched with concern as Justin’s eyes glazed over again and he sighed loudly.

"So does the independent man have anything to drink?" he asked trying to lighten the mood as he opened the small refrigerator door.

"Afraid not," Justin answered. "Still not old enough to buy anything good."

When Brian closed the appliance door he was somewhat startled to find Justin standing directly before him.

"Thank you," he whispered. "For coming to the funeral, for coming here . . . for everything."

Brian nodded once and held his breath as Justin slipped his arms around his back and pulled his body against his again. Brian slowly enfolded him in his embrace and rested his cheek against the softness of his vibrant hair. After a moment he felt the small fingers on his back increase in pressure before beginning to slide upwards. Feeling his body stiffen slightly, Brian gently pulled away but soon felt Justin’s hand clasp the curve of his neck and pull his lips against his own. At the first touch of the familiar silkiness Brian pulled back but not out of Justin’s delicate yet determined hold. Justin opened his eyes and looked with hesitation into Brian’s as the older man stood still against him. After what seemed to be an eternity, Brian leaned back in and took Justin’s upper lip between the both of his. The blond moved his arms up to slide around his neck and leaned the weight of his body against him as their kiss deepened. Brian tightened his hold on him as Justin slowly pulled him backwards towards his small bed.

How many times since they had parted had he thought about this? About him? About the feel of his hair, his lips, his body pressed up against him as it used to be on a daily basis? Brian snaked his fingers down to the buttons of Justin’s dress shirt and suddenly stopped.

"What’s wrong?" Justin breathed against him when he noticed that Brian had stopped moving and stood still before him as he had when they’d first kissed that evening.

Brian’s own voice echoed in his head.

"Justin. . . " he began, but paused when he looked into the young man’s confused and helpless expression.

"What?" Justin questioned. "What is it?"

Brian just shook his head slowly a couple of times and slid his hands down and off Justin’s body.

"Justin, I’m sorry," he managed to whisper. "I never should have – this was a bad idea."

"Why?" he questioned in the broken voice of a child.

"You don’t want this," he gently insisted.

"Yes, I do," Justin urged as his fingers moved to undo the black knot in Brian’s tie.

Michael’s voice.

"Justin," Brian said in a clear but still gentle tone. "You have to trust me, you don’t want this. I’m sorry to let it get this far, but I’m stopping it now."

Justin’s vision blurred and he took a small step away from him.

"Oh God," he softly whined before he began to choke on his emotion again.

"No, no, don’t," Brian whispered as he came towards him again with arms outstretched. Justin folded his hands to his chest and allowed Brian to pull him against his own, fully enfolding him. Running his hands slowly up and down his body, Brian gradually felt the tenseness of his skin relax as Justin sighed into him.

"Will you still stay with me a while?" he asked, his voice muffled by Brian’s chest.

"Yeah," he mummered against his hair, surprised by the tears in his own eyes.

The two men toed their shoes off and fell back together onto the bed. Brian settled down and slipped his arm around Justin’s back as the youth curled his body around him and rested his cheek on his chest. Justin slowly took in a large, calming breath and tried to relax as he felt Brian settle beneath him.

"How long do you think it’s going to rain?" he asked softly.

Brian closed his eyes and listened to the rhythm of the drops striking Justin’s window to his left.

"I don’t know," he responded. "Try and get some sleep."

Snuggling deeper into the soft fabric of Brian’s shirt, Justin closed his eyes and languidly felt himself slip away.

The high-pitched ring of his cell phone pulled Brian back from his pleasant sleep. Following the noise he spied his jacket where it had fallen to the floor earlier and pondered upon the best way to reach it without disturbing the youth curled against his body. Brian carefully pulled his arm away from Justin’s back and slid off the firm mattress, feeling Justin unconsciously follow him and eventually settle sideways on the bed. Blinking to clear his eyes, Brian padded over to his jacket and reached inside the pocket, pulling out his phone and bringing it to his ear.

"What," he asked in an annoyed voice.

"Where the hell are you? I’ve been calling your place all day."

"Mikey," Brian began. "Now isn’t a good time."

"Brian, where are you? Are you with Justin? Just tell me where you are."

"Look Mikey, I’ve got to go," Brian began to conclude. "I’ll talk to you soon."

"Brian, wait, just - "

Not waiting for his friend to finish, Brian slid his phone closed and picked his jacket up, putting the mobile back in the pocket, and holding it limp in his hands. He didn’t know why he had been so impatient with his friend, he just didn’t feel like explaining himself.

"What did he want?"

Brian turned around to see Justin sitting up in the middle of the bed. His hair was slightly mussed from his sleep and his clothes were wrinkled.

"Are you leaving?" Justin asked with tired eyes.

"I probably should," Brian said. "Are you going to be all right?"

Running a hand through his hair Justin moved to rise off the bed.

"Yeah, I’ll be OK," he said quietly as he moved off the bed and towards Brian.

"If you need anything . . ." Brian began but trailed off.

"I know," Justin smiled. "Thank you."

As the taller man slowly slipped his jacket on Justin moved and opened the door for him. Brian moved over the threshold and stopped, turning back to him. Quickly, as if to act before he could change his mind, Brian leaned in and kissed the young man’s upturned lips. He was surprised when he tried to pull away after a while and was physically unable to do so. After a long moment, Justin slowly pulled back and softly smiled.

"Later," he whispered.

"Later," Brian grinned back.

The blond watched Brian turn and slowly disappeared down the dark stairs. As he re-closed the door, Justin felt a distant flutter in his chest that did not vanish even with the click of the latch.