Better Friends and Lovers

Chapter 1

(Setting: Liberty Diner; POV: Daphne)

"So, you're just going, after all the things you've been saying for all of these years?" I looked across the table at my "best" friend, arms crossed in front of my chest, trying to keep my face as expressionless as Brian Kinney at his best. Or worst, depending on one's perspective. Right now, my perspective was firmly in the infamous Kinney's camp. I laughed to myself, wouldn't he be surprised, although not as much as my clueless pal. Brian always was one step ahead of most people.

"I can't believe that you, of all people, are going to give me grief about this, Daph. Whatever happened to "Miss I'm Never Going to Tie Myself Down?" Don't you remember, that's what you said to win Brian over, the first time you met him?"

Justin gave me his patented "Sunshine" smile, confident that I would be on his side, especially after reminding me of my long-standing crush on his partner. After all, wasn't that what "best friends" were for, standing by you no matter what kind of an ass you were being? He didn't wait to hear me explain; no big surprise there, it's been a long time since a conversation with Justin has been much more than a monologue, with me throwing in a line here or there to give him a transition. If I were on a TV show with him, I'd be surprised if I'd even appear in the credits that scroll by at the end. I wonder if I'd even get a last name? My mind started to wander, as it often did these days when Justin got going. I was able to tune back in when one of my "cues" came up. Practice does make perfect, after all.

"Besides, Brian agrees it will be good for me to go to New York; good for us and our relationship if we do the long distance thing for awhile. It's not like it's so far that we won't see a lot of each other anyway. Who knows, maybe Brian will open up a branch office of Kinnetik or something. He wants me to be the best homosexual I can be, and right now, that means me being in New York City and focusing on my career."

I decide to take a shot at giving my point of view one more time; my mama didn't raise no wimp. "So, let me get this straight, pardon the expression." He grinned at the joke.

"When you walked out on Brian just a few weeks ago because he wasn't as mature as you, didn't want the same things as you, didn't want a commitment like you, wasn't ready to have kids for fuck's sake like you were at age twenty-two, even though he was almost thirty-four; and now that he realizes that he is ready for a commitment, monogamy, the house in the country, the whole nine yards, you now think that your career is more important? Speaking of things said to Brian! What happened to ‘Mr. I Want to Settle Down and Raise Kids with the Man I've Known I Wanted to Spend the Rest of My Life with Since I was 17?' It couldn't be that now that you got him, the thrill of the chase is gone and you don't want him anymore and you're moving on to newer, younger men, is it? Just as he always thought you would?"

There, I said it. Without even taking a breath; maintained eye contact the whole time and everything. If your best friend won't call you on your bullshit, who will?

Justin laughed. "That's such bullshit, Daphne! I can't believe you'd even say such a thing! Thank God Brian doesn't think that! Fuck, how could you even joke about such a thing, it isn't funny! Everyone knows I've loved Brian, like forever; you more than anyone, you ass." He reached over and punched me playfully. He launched back into how hard it was to find a place in New York but he was really lucky that I had that cousin who was interested in subletting. Plus, he was doubly lucky that Brian had a friend who knew about a studio that he could share for a really cheap price.

"Yeah, you are one lucky shit."

Clueless, that was Justin. I wondered how much that studio was setting Brian back. I know he was bankrolling my so-called "cousin," who just happened to be a big hefty bouncer from a club in SoHo, perfectly capable of keeping an eye on his new little roomie. Classes would be starting up for me again soon at medical school, not that Justin asked about them. I was pretty nervous starting back. First semester had been so tough I barely squeaked by. My mom was a doctor and I was looking forward to following in her footsteps, but it was scary too. She was pretty awesome and I didn't want to disappoint her. I would have liked to talk about it with my best friend. It had been a while since Justin had asked me about my life, though, and the chances of derailing this conversation from New York were pretty slim. I sighed and put back on my "Best Friend" face.

****************************************************************************

(Four months later. Kinnetik's Office/POV Cynthia)

"So that covers the schedule for the week, oh, and just one more thing, on your personal calendar, Daphne Chanders's birthday is coming up on Saturday. You used to send roses and champagne to her dorm, then to that apartment, but she's in medical school now. I'm not sure we have her new address. Do you know it or should I contact Justin?"

I glanced over at Brian, well into my "Cynthia, the ever efficient" mode. He was staring out the window, seemingly lost in thought. He turned back, the afternoon sun catching the highlights in his hair. God, he was gorgeous, I thought, for about the ten thousandth time. The slight air of melancholy that had been hitting him about this time of day for the past couple of months only added to his attractiveness; the rest of the time no one would ever know he wasn't completely happy about his long-distance "relationship." No one was better than Brian Kinney at keeping a game face on. The business of re-opening of Babylon had helped keep him busy, although I suspected he did that more for his friends and to satisfy their image of what he should want than out of any interest he had in partying. Whatever urges he had were more than satisfied in his trips to New York, but he seemed compelled to live up, or down, to everyone's expectations, including Justin's. Lately, the trips to New York had been growing less frequent as Justin became busier with his growing career. I knew, as I handled the scheduling.

Which made me even happier that Brian didn't feel that he always had to keep the mask on with me anymore. Lindsay had always been another one with whom he let the mask down but Lindsay was far away now, so I was doing my best to fill the void. He had certainly never let me down, which was more than I could say for any other man in my life, starting with dear old dad, and ending with my latest boyfriend. The latter's drunken refusal to use a condom one night had left me in the emergency room hysterically begging the ER doctor to provide me with a damn morning after pill. The doctor on duty was a Roman Catholic who felt it was a little too close to "abortion" for his sensibilities to prescribe the needed medication until my dear boss, who drove me to the hospital after finding me crying in his morning coffee, offered to perform a vasectomy on the doctor, free of charge, until he wrote out the prescription. It was Brian's calm demeanor that made him so convincing, that and the fact that he had one hand on the man's collar as he pushed him against his own examining table, and the other firmly planted on said genitalia at the time. He released the man only after he gasped out that he believed he would be able to write the prescription after all.

Back in the 'Vette, Brian held me and told me I could cry for exactly thirty minutes over yet another bastard letting me down, but that it really wasn't worth one more minute of tears than that. And you know what? When I stopped in under twenty, he gave me a fantastic kiss, told me he was proud of me, and then kept me laughing for the next several hours over shots at Woody's by telling me hilarious stories about his lurid sex life. Laughing so hard, I totally forgot about the cramps from the damn morning after pill. And he refused to let me call out sick the next day either, insisting he needed me here, with my game face on.

So, yes, I would do anything for Brian Kinney, and to my surprise, more and more, he has been letting me in under that barbed wire he keeps around his heart; true, it has only been a little bit in, but hey, that is more than he ever has in all the prior years I knew him.

"She is attending Pitt's Medical School so she is still at the same apartment. You can send them there. Kind of a shame, she got accepted at several pretty prestigious schools. Stupid shit, " Brian frowned, "I'm pretty sure she chose Pitt mainly to be back where Justin was. But Daphne isn't one to whine, and besides, she never should have picked her school based on stupid assed sentiment, she should have gone to the best damn school she could." He lazed back in his office chair, legs up on the desk, and flipped through a few papers on the next morning's meetings.

"Guess her birthday is going to be a little lonely, though," I commented.

"Why? She's in her second semester; she should've made friends by now. She always made friends easily." Brian shot a look at me; he doesn't like showing concern so he looked annoyed instead.

"Medical students don't 'do' friends, Brian. I dated a few in my time." Brian rolled his eyes. With reason; there are few professions I haven't dated in my time. Substitute the verb "date" with "fuck", and the same could be said for him. We were alike in that respect, another reason we get along so well.

"Think advertising people, but with scalpels, Bri." He laughed. Then, unfolding his long body from the chair he had been lounging in, he stood up, looking galvanized. "Maybe some handsome princes should just surprise their favorite fag hag with a fabulous dinner and dancing."

"Get the blond wonder on the phone. He's been there four months. New York should be able to spare him for a weekend." Brian started pacing.

"Yes, SIR." I gave him a mock salute and he tossed a pen at me. Missed me by an inch; after this many years, his aim is pretty good, but so's my ducking.

It took a few minutes to track Justin down at the Gallery; he wasn't answering his cell phone. The receptionist said he was busy and not taking calls. I convinced her that he'd want to take this call. I haven't been Brian Kinney's assistant for over ten years without becoming pretty persuasive myself. I could see through the open door that Brian was grinning as I buzzed the call through to him. I couldn't distinguish the words, just the tones, which were typically low and sexy, as he launched into his pitch. Until:

"Jesus, Justin, we're talking about your best friend here! She's stuck in the Pitts for medical school instead of fucking California or Boston....well, as I recall, that was because she wanted to be near her best friend, so it seems to me the least that best friend would want to do would be to....no, I am not telling you how to be a best friend, ... no, I know I am far from the poster child for sensitive male behavior...you're right, I don't "do" birthdays, but you do do them.....Christ how many times are you going to throw that hustler in my face, isn't there a statute of limitations on birthday fuck-ups?.... Fine, you're busy, you have to be at this other artist's show to get your face seen, I can understand that... no, I am sure, no make that I know Daphne will understand, ....I didn't mean anything by that....no, it isn't a big deal.....yeah, I know you would cancel....no, I don't want you to cancel.....yeah, next week would be just as good....I didn't mean it like anything .....Justin, I am fine with you being in New York, I wanted you to go... no, this isn't some lame excuse to get you to come home, if I wanted to see you, I would just fucking fly to New York again.... yeah maybe I will,....look I have another call coming in, Cynthia is jumping up and down like she's having hot flashes or something....yeah she is about to kill me for saying that... later....yeah, me too....what, I have to say it again...." Brian sighed mockingly and then whispered into the phone.

I moved away from the door, where I have been shamelessly eavesdropping, but not in time.

"You may as well come back and join me; you heard every word anyway. I should have just used the fucking speaker phone and made it easier for you." He was standing at the window now, hands in the pockets of his tan Armani, back to me.

"Cancel that last order, Boss?" I asked, tentatively.

"Fuck no. Book Ms. Chanders the luxury suite at the Omni, no, make it the Westin, for the whole weekend, she'll get a kick out of the complimentary bathrobe and fancy decor. Hey, don't they have a spa right on the premises?" As I nodded, Brian continued. "Schedule her a weekend of pampering, do your usual sleuthing to make sure it won't fuck up her school work in any way, and Cyn, schedule yourself in there too, that girly shit isn't any fun without someone to gossip with, at least that's what Emmett tells me, whether I want to hear it or not."

We looked at each other then, and, after a moment, burst out laughing together. "Go ahead, I know what you're thinking, and do it, book Emmett a treatment too. May as well make it a three room suite, and have a full blown sleep-over."

I looked at him speculatively, but he held up a hand, and cocked an eyebrow at me, warning, "but stop right there, no way in hell am I going." I grinned back.

"Don't tell me you're not participating in Daphne's dream weekend? Or are you going up to New York and having a dream weekend of your own?"

"Oh, I'm participating in Daphne's, all right. Someone has to play handsome prince, and if you were Central Casting, who would you call?" He smirked at me.

Who said Brian Kinney didn't do birthdays?

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