Two Months, Five Days by Suz Disclaimer - Showtime/CowLip own them. No infringement intended. Dude! It's a fic! :D This is a sequel to Type 1 and Please Be Aware, which were both written last year. I actually started working on this the day after Please Be Aware was posted, and then...it didn't go anywhere *g*. I've been poking and prodding at it occasionally ever since, and it's finally finished! This doesn't end on a cliffhanger, but there will probably be a sequel at some point. I make no promises about when that'll actually be written, though ;D And can I just say how FRUSTRATING it is when you want to write something but you're not inspired by anything? Graaar. Brian/Justin, humour, schmoop, AU season four. Rated R for language and sexual situations. Many thanks to my nel for going over it :) Feedback would be terrific! * It was Emmett who noticed first. He didn't say anything about it - he'd learned not to, by now - but Brian knew Emmett had figured it out because he kept giving Brian these *looks*. In the gym. The diner. Woody's. But most of all, in Babylon, where Brian hadn't been near the back room without Justin in weeks. He'd just sit or stand there, idly playing with something - a straw, a tooth picked cherry, the Stairmaster - and smile. Smugly. Brian complained about it to Justin who, predictably, brushed it off. "You're queening out because Emmett keeps looking at you? Guys look at you all the time. How is this a new development?" For someone who was actually getting him to be monogamous, Brian thought Justin could at least *try* not to be such a little shit. "I am not queening out. And he's not just looking at me - he's *looking* at me. He knows." Glancing up from flicking through The Nation, Justin gave Brian an indecipherable expression. "You did realise that they'd figure it out at some point, right?" Not exactly. * Vic was next. Brian had no clue how he figured it out - he never came to Babylon at all anymore - but then, Vic was Vic. He'd always seen things no one else had, and at a 'family' dinner when Brian went outside for a smoke, Vic followed him. They didn't say anything for the entire four and a half minutes Brian was outside, but when he turned to go back inside, Brian glanced at Vic - and winced. He was smiling. * Then there was Ted. He'd been spending more time with Brian than anyone lately - Justin included - as they worked at getting Kinnetik set up. Again, like Emmett and Vic he knew better than to actually say anything, but whenever Brian quietly passed on the opportunity to fuck a new client, Ted would press his lips together and look away. Brian let him get away with it, because it wasn't like the guy was getting much joy from anywhere else right now. Brian was all about helping the needy and pathetic, and Theodore was both. * When Mikey found out, Brian knew it'd be all over Liberty by the end of the day. "So," Michael said one afternoon in the diner, "you haven't been at Babylon much lately, and when you are there you're only with Justin. Is everything okay? You don't have crabs again, do you?" Sometimes having a best friend who knew your entire life history was a bad thing. "Just haven't felt like clubbing much lately, that's all." Sometimes having a best friend who knew you so well was also a bad thing. "Oh my God!" His glass of water thunked down on the table. "You're only fucking Justin!" Debbie pounced from somewhere - which was frankly a scary proposition - demanding to know if it was true. Brian told her to fuck off, of course, but she took that as a confession and kissed the side of his face. He tried to swat her away like some huge, annoying fly, but she rallied on about how this was such a huge step, and he'd grown so much emotionally, and by the time she told him that lunch was on the house and how proud she was, the entire fucking diner was listening in. "Are you fucking him without a condom?" Mikey demanded. "Not yet," Brian retorted, still pissed off. Michael glared. Brian glared back. Michael didn't let up. "I can't believe you didn't even discuss this with me before-" "I didn't discuss it with you because it's none of your fucking business," Brian argued, standing up and throwing a twenty on the table. He was through with this. Unfortunately, Mikey scrambled after him, catching his arm just as they stepped outside the diner. "Brian-" "I *get* it, okay," Brian spun around suddenly, surprising his friend. "You and Ben can't ever fuck raw." They paused, staring at each other. "It's fucking shitty that that choice has been taken away from you, but that's not. My. Problem." Mikey's eyes were huge and hurt, and Brian felt about three feet tall. Fuck. "Look," he tried again, sighing. "He's allergic to latex. The other condoms are worth shit. What else can I fucking do?" Finally letting go of Brian's arm, Mikey stepped back and seemed to consider his words. "You can't risk it," he nodded, tone understanding. "You can't risk him. And you can't leave him, either." Jesus. Swallowing his discomfort, Brian could at least leave this conversation. Giving Mikey a kiss, assuring him everything was fine, he turned and walked away. The fags of Liberty Avenue could find a different form of entertainment for a while. * Brian found his own form of entertainment when he walked into the loft. Justin was home. He'd been off doing Justin things with Daphne, but now he had to live up to his end of the bargain of this monogamy deal - sex absolutely anytime one of them wanted it. Admittedly, this wasn't much of a change from their previous arrangement. "Thank fuck you're here," Brian told him, sliding the door shut behind him. Springing up from his seat on the sofa, Justin frowned and started walking towards him. "Something wrong?" "Not anymore," he heaved a sigh of relief as he unbuttoned his jeans. "Suck my dick." Pausing mid-stride, Justin frowned harder and folded his arms across his chest. Great. That usually meant he *wasn't* about to suck Brian's dick, despite their agreement. "You know, Brian," he began in a tone of voice that made Brian button his jeans back up, "I don't actually expect romance." Which was just as well, or this monogamy thing was never going to work. "But...?" "Could you try *not* treating me like a battery-operated sex toy?" Okay. Okay, there may have been some truth to that. He may have to review the way he was dealing with things. But until then... He bit his lip and shrugged. "Okay?" Justin sighed and rolled his eyes. But he did suck Brian's dick. And later Brian did think about the way he was dealing with things. While he wasn't about to turn into a complete lesbian, he supposed he could be less of an asshole. Slightly. After all, it wasn't as if Justin had purposefully made himself allergic to latex. He'd even been against the idea of monogamy initially. His musings were interrupted by the phone and, speaking of lesbians, Linds was on the other end of the line. "Brian," she began in an awe-struck voice, and he knew exactly what was coming, "is it true?" He knew exactly what to say, too. "It's none of your fucking business." Which she apparently took as confirmation. "Wow, Brian, I..." she paused, probably composing herself. "I'm very happy for both of you." "Right. Like I said, it's none of your-" "Fucking business, I know," she finished, sounding amused. "Don't worry, I promise not to get too sentimental." Brian absently started looking around for his cigarettes. "Too late." She laughed. "Well, then how about this? I promise Mel won't get too sentimental." For once in his life, Brian was actually glad that Melanie was so...*Melanie*. "In shock, is she?" "You could say that," she still sounded amused. "Actually, to be honest she's refusing to believe it's true." That didn't come as any surprise whatsoever. "I'm having a hard enough time believing it myself," he confessed, watching Justin dance around in the kitchen with his iPod in one hand and a spatula in the other. Brian made a mental note to get the grease stains removed from the ceiling again. "I have to admit I was shocked at first," she agreed, "but when I thought about it...it made sense," Linds paused before continuing softly, "I always knew you'd do anything for him." Justin flipped something grease-laden as he bopped his head up and down. Brian groaned at her words softly. "Sentimental twat on line one, Mr Kinney," he mocked, pausing when she laughed. He knew she'd laugh. "So much for you keeping your word." "I decided the truth was more important," she rebuked teasingly. "Isn't that one of your credos? Always tell the truth, no matter how much it hurts?" Pursing his lips, Brian watched Justin slide whatever monstrosity he'd made himself on to a plate. He used to have a lot of credos. "Gotta go, Linds." Ending the call without waiting for a response, he let the hand holding the phone fall away from his ear. Brian stayed that way, sprawled out on the bed, where Justin found him there ten minutes later. There was no sign of his iPod or the snack he'd made himself. Which had not smelt really, really good. At all. "Sooo..." Justin began, sliding next to Brian on the bed. "Everyone knows, huh?" He really shouldn't have been surprised. "Yeah." "Did you tell Michael?" "He figured it out." Nodding slowly, Justin pressed his lips together, resting his head on his hand. "How'd he take it?" Even though they'd never actually talked about what they thought Mikey's reaction would be... "Exactly the way you expected him to, I imagine. But I told him - while it's shitty that he doesn't have the choice to fuck without condoms with Ben, I'm not about to feel guilty that *I* have that choice." Justin eyed him. "Uh huh." Brian ignored him until, ...
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