He bit the corner of Justin�s mouth, grazed Justin�s tongue with his teeth, tried to crawl inside Justin�s mouth and devour him. One hand came to the back of Justin�s head to hold him still, and the other crushed Justin�s good wrist against the counter. Don�t move. Don�t think. Don�t think. The rage was gone, but what the fuck was left? Desperation? Justin reached up with his right hand and gripped the hair at the nape of Brian�s neck, twisted slightly and yanked until Brian finally gasped in pain and broke free from Justin�s mouth. Don�t think. Don�t move. Justin�s lips were bruised dark red, and he was panting for breath. His eyes were dilated, the black nearly eclipsing the pale blue irises. Fuck. He looked battered and torn and - horrifyingly beautiful. �Justin,� said Brian, �Oh, Christ.� Spots crept into the corners of Brian�s eyes, and all of a sudden Justin looked concerned. Fuck that. Justin shouldn�t be the one concerned. �Brian,� said Justin. �Brian - I think �� He blinked up at him, wrinkling his nose like he was still some innocent tyke. �You�re freaking out. Brian, breathe, okay?� �Fuck,� said Brian, and discovered with a flash of horror that he was still holding Justin�s wrist pinned to the counter. He let go of Justin like his skin was on fire, and backed away until he hit the kitchen island. Fuck. Why did he need so much fucking furniture? It was all around him. Nowhere to go. He closed his eyes and breathed in. And then Justin�s hands were on his face, stroking softly underneath his eyes and smoothing his hair back from his forehead. �I�m sorry,� said Justin. �Don�t be,� Brian said tiredly. �No. Don�t be.� �But I shouldn�t have said that. About you... paying for it. I know you don�t -� �Shhh,� said Brian, and he felt his mind starting to sink into something dark and warm and fuzzy around the edges. He was so exhausted. �Shh. Not right now.� He faintly felt Justin�s lips on his cheek, and thought about how swollen they must be, about how he did that. He did it. �You fucker,� Justin laughed quietly. �You�re falling asleep. You get me so hard I can�t see straight,� he said, pressing against Brian�s hip to illustrate his point, �And now you�re falling asleep.� Brian tried to smile and failed. �Guess so, Sunshine.� Justin murmured something Brian couldn�t make out, and hugged him for a minute. Brian let go. Let himself drift, and rested his cheek against Justin�s neck, his eyelashes brushing against warm flesh. * When Brian woke, it was morning. Justin was already up and sitting over by the kitchen counter. He was dressed in a pair of Brian�s jeans with the legs rolled up and was reading the newspaper. �Hey,� Justin said softly, seeing Brian stir. �Good morning.� Brian blinked the last remnants of sleep from his mind. Memories of the previous night hit him hard. Shit. He�d fucked up. He�d fucked up bad. When Justin didn�t receive a response to his greeting, he glanced at Brian over the top of his newspaper. �You�re up,� Brian said. Justin blinked at him and ignored the obviousness of the statement. �So�s Stockwell,� he said instead. �He�s doing incredibly well in the polls, you should be proud.� Brian rolled over and groaned, burying his face in the sheets. They smelled strongly of sex and the faint odor of latex. �I don�t understand you,� said Justin. �You went through all that shit, to give up now. That�s useless. I mean, you can still bring down Stockwell, or do something. So why not?� �If you have any fucking bright ideas,� said Brian. �Feel free to share them.� �Hmm,� said Justin. He hopped off his stool, came over to the bed, and sat next to Brian�s sprawled form. He bopped him lightly in the head with the rolled up newspaper. �That was my bright idea. That you shouldn�t give up.� �I�ve already... you�re being deliberately obtuse,� Brian said accusingly. His voice was muffled by the blanket. Justin snorted. �Ooh, big-word hangover man. I�m so impressed by your verbosity. Also, I got 1500 on my SATs. Answer the question. Why not?� Brian shrugged and turned his head to look at Justin. �Rikert�s dead.� �Yeah, so?� said Justin. �He was a slimebucket.� �So, it�s over.� Justin just looked at him for a minute. Brian squinted at him. �What?� Justin looked pensive. �Brian.� He paused. �It�s not over, you know? I mean, sure, maybe Jason�s murderer is dead, but...� �I�m not going to do anything, Justin. I keep telling you that, and yet you�re surprised when I say it again.� Brian�s voice came out exasperated. �I know,� said Justin. �And I know I haven�t known you very long. It just seems so out of character for you.� Brian sighed. �And what�s in character for me?� he said. Justin sighed almost inaudibly and stroked Brian�s hair off his forehead. �I think... that it�s in character for you to care,� he said quietly. �To stay true to what you believe in, and make things happen. And to be a better man than Stockwell.� �You�re right,� said Brian, �You really haven�t known me very long.� Justin shrugged. �I just see it in you, I guess. Besides, you didn�t have to do any of the things you�ve done for me, like letting me stay here. Why would you, unless -� �Unless I believed in you?� Brian said in a gently mocking tone. �That�s not what I meant,� said Justin, a flush coming to his cheeks. Brian stared at him. After a moment, he reached up and drew Justin in for a kiss. �Mmm,� said Justin when they broke apart. �I needed that. Your breath stinks, though.� �It�s your cum that I�ve been gargling all night,� said Brian, and Justin made a face at him. �Well,� said Justin, �I gotta go.� Brian stiffened, but spoke casually. �Where to?� �I just need to check on some stuff. I�ll be back later.� There was an odd tone to Justin�s voice. �If this is about last night �� �No.� Justin said quickly. �No, it�s not about that. I just think... I still don�t want to be mooching off of you and taking up your space.� Brian smiled faintly. �Mooching?� Justin hit him with the newspaper again. �Shut up!� He turned serious. �So, I�m gonna give you some alone time. I�ll be okay. You won�t have to worry about me.� He dragged his fingers through Brian�s hair, a gentle, repetitive motion that almost made Brian shiver. Everything was okay. Which was why Justin was leaving, when Brian had finally decided that Justin was welcome to stay. Brian shut his eyes again, ignoring the sharp pains shooting through his brain. Sometimes it seemed like he had a permanent hangover. �Let me give you enough money for lunch, then.� �No,� said Justin. �I have enough cash for that. But if you want to give me some change for the bus, that�d be cool.� Brian said nothing, just rested his forehead against Justin�s knee, watching the patterns play themselves out across his closed eyelids. * Justin shut the door to Brian�s loft, took a breath, and slowly walked down the stairs, counting the steps as he went. He wasn�t coming back. It wasn�t anything Brian had done. Sure, they�d both freaked out a bit last night, said things they probably wished they could take back, but fuck, Justin could handle that. If anything, it showed that Brian really did care what happened to him. And that was the problem. Justin couldn�t let Brian get involved. Brian would try to pay for him, feed him... and Justin wouldn�t be a burden on anyone. No. He just wouldn�t. When he�d left home, it was with the full understanding that from then on, he, and only he, was responsible for his life. That was the deal. And why the fuck his parents were choosing now to come looking for him, he didn�t know. What Justin did know was that if he had stayed any longer with Brian, he would�ve ended up falling for him hard. He would have forgotten that his arrangement with Brian was temporary, and been caught by surprise when Brian decided he was no longer a charity organization. Justin didn�t want pity. He didn�t want someone else trying to rescue him. And nothing else mattered. He wouldn�t let it matter. Justin emerged into the cold daylight outside Brian�s building. He felt suddenly queasy, suddenly knowing that if he took another step, everything would change back to the way it used to be. Before he followed Hunter to that Corvette, and found someone he�d forgotten he�d been looking for. He hesitated only a beat, then set off down the sidewalk, heading back towards the warehouses. * The thing about not having a job, thought Brian, is that you have absolutely nothing to do in the middle of the day. He tried watching some pay-per-view on the liquid television, but they were all movies he�d seen recently and completely hated. He went over to his computer, clicked on a couple of folders, and stared at them for a minute. Then shook his head, closed the files, and went back to pacing. He thought about dropping in on Debbie at the diner, then remembered how well his last conversation with her had gone, and he�d rather eat rusty nails than her goddamn lemon bars anyway. He considered visiting Michael, realized that Hunter would probably be there, and decided there was really only one scrawny teenage hustler he wanted anywhere near his dick, thank you very much. Brian wondered if Justin would rip him a new asshole if he searched him out and demanded he spend the day at the loft. Justin seemed like a good cure for boredom. Then he wondered when exactly Justin had become part of his plan making. Fuck that, he could contain himself until Justin came back later. That left one option. Brian zipped on his coat, slipped out the door, and went to Woody�s. He spotted a hunky guy leaning in the corner, watching another guy play pool. Tall, spiked bleached hair, muscles like ropes. �Wanna fuck?� said Brian impatiently, and the guy blinked at him for a moment....
Mojaunicorn