Better Friends and Lovers: Interludes

Believing in yourself

This story is dedicated to Germansoulmate, Freuliche Geburtstag!)

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Setting: Babylon, in Pittsburgh, late August, 2007, after the main events in “Better Friends and Lovers”
 
The music in the club was pulsing, the beat so strong Johnny knew he’d be feeling it for hours after he got home.  He thought Babylon would seem tame after the clubs in New York, but somehow it was as exciting as ever.  It managed to stay on top year after year, still drawing the hottest men in the city—like its owner.  Brian Kinney.  He looked up at the catwalk to confirm the resident god of gay Pittsburgh was at his post, surveying his domain like some sort of jungle cat, a predator eyeing the possible prey for something worthy of his efforts. Johnny twisted his shapely mouth; Uncle Danny must still be up in New York if the golden couple weren’t together on a Friday night at the club.  He told Johnny he was going to try to catch a later flight when the younger man left the apartment they both were using for the summer, well, Danny’s apartment that he was allowing his nephew to use.  He must not have made it after all, since Brian was alone.  
 
“Yo, Baby O’Keefe, looking good!  What are you doing here in the Pitts?  The big city run out of men for you? Or are you slumming?” Gabe, the senior Babylon dancer greeted him with a friendly swat to his ass.
 
Johnny forced his face into a more charming expression.  This happened to be a reasonably good impression of his uncle’s dimpled smile, which he’d seen enough times in the past year to make him gag.    
 
“Damn boy, you look more like Danny all the time.  Fuck, it’s like looking at his twin.  He’d better hope Brian never stumbles across you in a dark room.”
 
“Or backroom,” another man chimed in, causing a general laugh. 
 
“You want a drink, kid?  I’ll get you one,” Gabe offered, knowing that Johnny would be unable to get anything but a beer or two from the bartenders here no matter how good his fake ID.  Even if Brian would relax the underage rules for family, Danny would be sure to read the riot act to any bartenders serving hard liquor to any of his underage family members, and they all listened to him.  Everyone listened to fucking St. Daniel, Johnny thought resentfully, even as he sent another smile Gabe’s way and nodded his acceptance of a drink.  A real drink.  He was nineteen, for fuck’s sake, almost twenty, and he didn’t need his uncle’s permission to drink!  His own father didn’t care.  Why should his damn uncle? 
 
It was bad enough that Danny interfered down here, but really, that was par for the course as an O’Keefe.  The city was full of interfering aunts, uncles and cousins.  Danny had always been one of his favorites.  What was worse about the past year, Johnny had found, was that his entire first year of college in the big city of New York had been haunted by the shadow of his oh so perfect uncle.  He felt like he didn’t have a single instructor who hadn’t been disappointed that he didn’t measure up to the talent, the beauty, the grace, the fucking perfection, of Danny O’Keefe.
 
“Do you think you could, Johnny?”  The brooding teenager’s attention was brought back to the group he’d joined, somewhat by default and inattention, as Gabe handed him a large cold frozen drink and another man pulled him tight against his warm chest. 
 
“Could I what?” he asked, pitching his voice low and sexy...yeah, like his uncle’s.  He wasn’t so stupid as to reject a trick that worked, just because he was annoyed at the man who first taught him the trick.  Voices had power, Danny had said, and he was right, Johnny thought, as he watched the eyes of the men surrounding him glaze a bit with the timbre of his “fuck me” voice.  He shrugged off the man holding him with a smile and leaned against the side bar, keeping his eyes on the men as he surveyed the group.  He loved the power he had over men.  He loved women too, but there was just something about big strong men being under his sway that was so much more captivating and exciting.
 
“What is it you fine men want to know about my...abilities?”  Johnny lifted an eyebrow teasingly. 
 
Gabe laughed, shaking his head.  “I swear, you O’Keefe’s must learn it in the cradle.  Cock-teasing, 101.”
 
Johnny held back an irritated frown.  “Who says I’m teasing, big guy?  You feel you can handle me?”  He looked at the large man challengingly.  “I’ll take you to the backroom right now.”  The others started teasing Gabe and asking how he got to be so lucky.  Johnny smirked and took another deep drink from his glass.
 
The older man raised his hands placatingly.  “Whoa, peace, youngun!  I’m sure you’re a winner in a backroom but I don’t need your uncle or that dad of yours kicking my ass once you’re through with it.”  Gabe grinned suddenly.  “Not that the thought of it won’t keep these old bones going through my last shift tonight...damn, to be an honorable man!” 
 
Once the laughter and joking died down again, Trevor, one of the newer cage dancers, nudged Johnny to get his attention and handed him a second drink.  “Actually, the question wasn’t about any of these mere mortals, O’Keefe.  We all know you could have your pick of any of them.  Who could compare to a New York City kid like you?”
 
Johnny smiled around his second mixed drink.  He knew enough to stop at two.  These were strong drinks and he had spent enough time around bars growing up to know his limits. He also wasn’t stupid; this guy was clearly flattering him.  Still, it was nice to hear after the year he’d had of being compared, unfavorably, to his formerly favorite uncle.  A summer spent modeling hadn’t been much better, when Danny was known to be one of the top male models in high fashion.  Since Danny had been out of commission due to his accident, a lot of the work Johnny had gotten had been people who wanted Danny but couldn’t have him.  This just added to his grudge against the man, who thought he was doing his nephew a favor by throwing work his way, never knowing how mortifying it was to hear that his body wasn't as toned, his face not quite as sculpted, or his eyes not quite as perfectly emerald. Fuck Danny.

“So, you actually expect me to believe that no one can compare to me?  Yeah, right...no one except...my uncle?  Perhaps you’ve seen him?  Danny O’Keefe?  Tall, dark, handsome and...”
 
“Past his prime?”  Trevor grinned as the others all quieted in sudden shock.  “Yeah, I’ve seen the guy once or twice.  Oh, don’t look so fucking squeamish, you Nellies, like I just farted in church or something.  The guy is gorgeous, no two ways around it.  He’s almost as hot as the twink here, but let’s face it, he limps, he’s got shadows under his eyes, hell, he’s almost thirty.  Admit it; he’s looking beat these days.  He’s on that downhill slope, while princess here is an ascendant star.  Meanwhile, Kinney, Kinney made some fucking pact with the devil because he just stays the same no matter what.”
 
“Seems to me the last time someone predicted Danny was over the hill and heading down, he won King of Babylon,” Tony, one of the bartenders pointed out defensively.  He looked at Johnny, clearly expecting the boy to stand up for his uncle. 
 
Johnny felt the now familiar burn of resentment, but he knew his role, and was too good an actor not to say his lines convincingly—even if he wasn’t the actor his uncle was, the voice inside him whispered.  That voice he wasn’t ever able to shut up, the one that told him he would never measure up, and made him forget how much he used to love his youngest uncle, who was more like the best of big brothers rather than an uncle to him.
 
“Seriously, Danny get old?  Hasn’t happened and never will!” Johnny let his dimples deepen to full wattage.  “He had a bad accident, sure, and he’s been working double-time to get back into shape for the fall fashion shows, but you can bet he’ll be out on the runways in the tiniest bikini Dolce and Gabbana has to offer in a few weeks for all the fashionistas to drool over.  The rest of us will just be props.”
 
“Bet you could wear that tiny bikini and look better in it...especially with a flawless, unscarred body...and I bet you could make Kinney forget which O’Keefe was which if you wanted to, couldn’t you?  Damn, when you try to, your voice and smile are dead ringers...you just don’t choose to sound like him, do you?”  Trevor gave Johnny a shrewd look, as though they shared a secret. 
 
Setting down his empty glass, Johnny couldn’t help thinking that this new guy was pretty canny.  Damn straight he was a good actor, a lot better actor than he got credit for being.  Not only that, he was a great dancer too.  But what did he hear from the instructors at Juilliard?  How wonderful David Luke the choreographer was, how brilliant Danny O’Keefe was in the Stephan Lane film last year, and which of them had known him in various stage productions.  You’d have thought he’d gone to Juilliard after all, instead of turning down his admission there in order to go to Penn State. 
 
Of course, it was his family connection that had helped him get permission to participate in the two disciplines, dance and drama, something that was rarely allowed.  But, he’d naively thought his auditions had secured him the opportunity.  That belief was knocked out the first month last year, when both of his advisors had bluntly told him they were expecting him to work “like Danny” and be a natural in everything.  Johnny knew he wasn’t a natural.  He was good, very good, but he had to work damn hard as a dancer and actor.  It didn’t come to him naturally.  The same with singing.  He could pitch his voice low but he sure as hell didn’t have the range singing that his uncle did.  For most people, he would be an incredibly gifted, talented young man. 
 
But for Johnny O’Keefe, it was not enough, because he was beginning to feel like everywhere he went, he fell short of the mark set by his perfect uncle.  He’d thought avoiding Penn State where all of his uncles, including his father, had been legends, would solve the problem,  He soon learned to his dismay that even in a city as big as New York, Danny O’Keefe was famous among the same circles he’d hoped to impress. 
 
Thus, the soft, flattering words of Trevor Kane fell on fertile ground as he led young Johnny away from the others, and convinced him to have a third drink.  Johnny probably would have turned down the drink, but Tony made the mistake of questioning whether the young man was sure he wanted it. 
 
Green eyes flashed.  “I really think I’m old enough to decide how many drinks I can handle, Tony.” Johnny bit off his words curtly, but as the young bartender looked hurt, he quickly changed his expression back to a coaxing smile.  “Listen to me!  I sound like a teenager sneaking out to a bar for the first time.  You know we O’Keefes all grew up in the family pubs, Tony, and know how to hold our liquor.  Besides, I’m not as young as you think I am, but it’s sweet of you to be concerned.”  Johnny leaned closer and kissed the man warmly, his hand curled around his neck possessively.     
 
Tony was definitely short of breath by the time Johnny pulled back, his smile still in place.  Perhaps John’s boy was older than he’d thought he was, though he could have sworn the kid was the same age as Hunter.  Damn, the kid was hot, though. Almost like having the Dark Angel himself kiss you, the bartender thought as he went back on duty. 
 
“So, a few of the guys and I were thinking, you’re so hot, I bet Kinney himself wouldn’t be able to resist you, would he?”  Trevor gave Johnny a slow, appreciative once-over.  The young O’Keefe smirked, even as a thrill went through him at the thought.  Brian was forbidden territory, but he was beautiful territory.  There was just something so dangerous and darkly sexy about him.  He couldn’t stop his gaze from drifting up to the catwalk again.  Brian had his long, elegant neck tipped back as he drained his glass...Jim Beam no doubt.  He handed it to a passing waiter and resumed his stance at the rail, muscled arms stretched out, tight black knit jersey hugging his pecs and abs, his black Levi 501s fitting his long legs like a second skin.  Johnny swallowed as he imagined that long lean body pressed against him.  
 
“Kinney’s been standing like that a lot of nights, turning down most guys, acting like his usual arrogant self, deigning to accept a blowjob once in a blue moon as though he’s the one doing a favor by letting someone suck his cock.  You know how he acts.” 
 
Johnny nodded, half in a daze, but he managed to maintain an impassive expression.  In actuality, he thought that anyone Brian accepted sexual favors from probably did think he was doing them a favor.  It was pretty much that way for him in certain circles; having a face and body like this had its privileges, but to his mind, there was no face and body quite like that of Brian Kinney, the man who happened to be his uncle’s lover. 
 
“And all of this is my concern...how?” Johnny asked coolly, keeping his voice in its lower register with some effort.  Damn, what was in those drinks?  Belatedly, he realized that he really didn’t know this guy Trevor all that well, not well enough to accept two drinks from him.  Still, none of the bartenders at Babylon would let someone mess with his drinks and it would take bigger balls than this guy had to fuck with an O’Keefe.   
 
Trevor ran a finger over Johnny’s hard bicep.   “A bunch of us have a bet going that you could get to Kinney...fuck him even...if you wanted to, that is.” 
 
Johnny stilled.   His mind rejected the thought at first.  Screamed no, loudly in fact.  But then as those teasing fingers caressed his arm, he looked up at the catwalk again.  Danny was delayed up in New York. 
 
“Now why would I want to do something like that?”  Johnny pulled off a good facsimile of a careless grin, stalling for time. 
 
“For bragging rights, just to see if you can...for a thousand dollars?”  Trevor smirked back at him.  “No one will know except a few of us guys, you, and Kinney of course. Fags' honor, none of us would go carrying tales to Danny, he’s a good guy.  And it isn’t like the two of them don’t fuck around.  They have an open relationship right?”

“Sure,” Johnny agreed, thinking that his uncle might see a difference between an anonymous blowjob and his nephew fucking his partner, but suddenly, all the indignities of the past twelve months seemed to be balanced on a scale and this one act could set the two sides even.  He’d no longer feel so weighed down by this crushing press of inadequacy. Forgetting everything else that belonged on the scale, all the times his uncle had taught him dance steps, or ran lines with him to get him ready for plays, or helped him with auditions, or was just there for him when his father wasn’t.  Suddenly it seemed like Danny was all that stood between him and being a man in his own right.  Between him and success. 
 
Johnny set his glass down on the bar behind him and flashed his new friend the famous O’Keefe double dimpled smile.  
 
“You’re on.”

 

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Brian didn’t know why he bothered coming out to the club tonight.  The men were fucking pathetic and there wasn’t a hot one in the place.  Fuck Danny and his damn commitment to those Italian designers...those Italian designers who paid him a fucking fortune, Brian amended mentally, with a rueful smile that had a passing twink put an extra swish to his already swaying ass.  It was a wasted effort.  Brian was a couple hundred miles away in his mind, thinking over the afternoon’s conversation with his lover. 
 
“I’ll try to catch a late flight.  I have to go over the numbers for the fashion show again.  The women can’t quite handle walking to the ones they wanted and so we’re back to the ones I wanted in the first place that suit the clothes.”  Danny’s voice sounded tired. 
 
“Imagine that, models who can’t handle walking and wearing clothes at the same time?  Tell me again, what is it that models are supposed to be able to do if it isn’t that?” Brian knew he was being a jerk, but hearing the fatigue in Danny’s voice and knowing he couldn’t help made him bitchy instead.  Figured.  If you can’t help, make the problem worse, Kinney.  He took a deep breath and softened his voice.  “You want me to fly up there?  I can be there in a couple of hours, take you out for a late dinner.”
 
Danny’s warm chuckle was ample reward for his effort.  “That would be great if we didn’t have to be in a meeting in your office on Monday morning.  I also promised Briana I would see her tomorrow and if you come up here I will not want to leave our bed all weekend.  Let me finish up here and I’ll catch the earliest flight I can.  I’ll try to catch up with you at Babylon, but if I don’t see you there, I’ll have the bed warm by the time you get home.  Deal?”
 
“Deal...but I still want the in bed all weekend part thrown in, minus whatever time you owe Briana.”
 
“Tough negotiator, Kinney, but if that’s what it will take....” Danny sighed heavily.  He dropped his voice down as his tone became serious. “I miss you, you know.”
 
Brian’s throat tightened slightly.  “Then come home now.  Me breadwinner, you pretty little boyfriend,” he said mockingly, hiding his feelings, as usual, but knowing that Danny would know how he felt anyway.
 
“I don’t feel so pretty, Bri.  I look like crap.  This will be my tenth year and it may well be my last.  I kind of wanted to go out on top, but I don’t know.  Maybe I’m kidding myself.  Maybe I should step down and let Johnny have it. I’d rather hand the baton off to him than have one of these vultures wrest it away from my poor, aged body.  At least, that’s what I tell myself....”  His beautifully resonant voice trailed off. 
 
Brian had realized it wasn’t the time for joking after all.  Danny wasn’t coming home for a short couple of day's visit before the big fall fashion just because of a promise to visit Briana.  She could have been taken to see him.  And Monday’s meeting was one that had been set up because he was coming to town, not the other way around.  Danny was coming home because he needed reassurance.  The big city vultures were circling, and Brian’s boy needed him to build him back up.  There were just too many people ready to knock you down in that city; Brian knew it well.
 
“You’re not stepping down from anywhere, green eyes.  You’re still on your way up, so cut the bullshit.  No batons are being handed off and there are no aging bodies in this relationship...fuck, you’re never happy unless you’ve got me saying that ‘r’ word, are you?”  He heard the light laugh and continued in the same vein.  “You need a good fucking and some sleep and you’ll be kicking ass on that runway in the skimpiest bikini that Dolce and Gabbana ever designed...I hope it’s at least big enough to cover your cock.  Maybe they should spell out Gabbana instead of sticking to initials?  Just to be sure they use enough material, you know?  I mean, they do know after ten years just how big it is, don’t they?”
 
This time it was a full laugh on the other side of the phone line.  “I think after all this time they’ve seen my cock as many times as you have.   I will admit, it’s a good thing those bikinis are made of stretchy material.  Also, I will interrupt my pity party to brag that all the swimming I’ve been doing has helped me tone up more in my upper body so I’m more balanced.  They needed all new measurements for me this year and I look better in a lot of the clothes.  Broader shoulders look better in the suits.  But, I’m not happy about the scar on my knee, especially with all the shorts they’re showing.  Nor am I sure I can go without the knee brace the whole time, Bri.  Dom said to wear it but it looks like hell.  Oh...okay...give me a sec, ....listen, I have to go.  Love you, and I’ll see you soon.  Bye.”
 
Brian’s mind kept reviewing that conversation from earlier in the day as he finished off his drink.  Danny must have been stuck in New York even longer than he’d thought.  He wished he weren’t such a perfectionist about everything, although Brian was just as bad when it came to his work.  He was just more practical and could recognize that Danny would be a lot better off if he wore his brace during the whole show rather than wait until his knee started to hurt and then put it on.  That was just asking for his limp to start, which was the last thing he wanted.  His graceful, confident walk was part of his trademark as a model.  The trick would be to make his brace look as stylish as Danny did, Brian thought, and he knew just the man to do it.   He retreated to a dark corner of the upper bar to send an email on his Blackberry.  Moving back to a darker part of the catwalk, he debated heading home when a familiar voice whispered in his ear.
 
“Hey, stud, you waiting for someone special or will anyone do?”
 
Brian relaxed back against a slender, but hard body as two muscular arms wrapped around his waist and caressed his stomach. 
 
“Actually, I was waiting for someone special, but you just might be someone who will do.”
 
Brian turned and just caught a glimpse of sparkling green eyes and black wavy hair before the face burrowed into his neck, and a hot mouth nuzzled the soft skin under his ear.  He arched his neck to make room, angling his body against the wall slightly. 
 
“Danny, I thought you weren’t going to make it,” he murmured as talented fingers dipped into his jeans, the top button already unfastened, as always.  As fingers brushed teasingly against his pubic hair, his breath quickened.  Danny wasn’t going to bring him off right here on the catwalk, was he?  He hardened painfully in his still zipped jeans at the thought. 
 
“I want to fuck you, Bri, so much...” the deep voice whispered seductively in his ear as a warm tongue dipped inside.  As the first hand slowly lowered his zipper, moving achingly slowly over his hard cock, the other hand teased over his stomach lightly.  “Do you want me to fuck you...right here, Bri, right now?  Tell me you want me like I want you.”  Those hands felt so good and that voice.  Brian was about to answer, fuck yeah, where’s the lube, when it hit him. 
 
They were the wrong hands.  The wrong voice.  The wrong fucking man.
 
He froze.  Then he slowly covered the right hand that was on his bare throbbing cock and moved it away slowly, before pushing himself back inside his jeans and zipping back up.  He managed to keep an iron clasp on the wrist of the man’s hand, although by now he had a pretty good idea who it was, dark corner or not. 
 
“I would suggest we take this upstairs to the lounge to discuss in private what just happened, but something tells me going somewhere in private with you right now isn’t a good idea, Johnny.”
 
He turned finally and looked his lover’s nephew in the eye, finding that he felt torn between taking a swing at the kid and throwing him down and fucking his brains out.  He was still feeling amazingly turned on by the kid’s little seduction number.  It didn’t help calm him down that in this light, Johnny O’Keefe was a dead ringer for Danny, especially since Danny’s hair hadn’t grown out yet.  Brian stared at him closely.  Admittedly he only glanced at him before turning around, but he’d called him Danny.  He was sure he had. Didn’t he?
 
“We’re not going to discuss this here, Johnny, too many ears.  Come on.”
 
The kid had the nerve to shrug and give him a smile.  Brian’s hand itched to slap him. 
 
“There’s nothing to discuss. I offered, you started to say yes and then had second thoughts.  No hard feelings.  Nice cock.”  The brat started to walk away when Brian grabbed him by the shoulder and swung him around.
 
“Not so fast.  Either you come with me to the diner to chat or we have this discussion with your dad tomorrow.  Which will it be?”
 
A flicker of fear appeared in those green eyes for a second, and looking at him now, Brian wondered how he ever mistook that face for Danny’s.  Danny’s eyes never shifted away from him as these did, trying to come up with an excuse for his actions, a way to blame someone else for something he did.  Finally, Johnny looked up. 
 
“I think I’ll pass. Feel free to tell my dad I came up and made a pass at you and you had your cock in my hand....nice story for the breakfast table I’m thinking.  Or maybe you should save it for the racquetball court?  Nah, he might break his racquet over your head....I am a good bit younger than you, after all.  Almost twenty years, I think.  Not that I don’t think you’re hot, but you know how my dad’s temper is.”  He smirked at Brian, turning and walking away.
 
He congratulated himself on the fact that none of his inner turmoil showed on his face.  And to think his drama coaches didn’t think he was every bit as good an actor as his uncle.  Let Uncle Danny try pulling off a scene like that one without puking his guts out, Johnny thought, as he rushed into the men’s room a few minutes later and did exactly that.
 
 

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Brian let himself into the townhouse, thankful to see that all the rooms were dark.  Only the cats greeted him as he locked the door and kicked off his shoes in the living room.  Briana was with Mary Pat, and Emmett was at a cooking convention in Philadelphia.  It was just past one.  He checked the machine to see if there were any messages from Danny.  Nothing.  He wasn’t sure if he was disappointed or relieved at this point.  He wished he knew if Danny were still coming home that night. 
 
He headed into their bedroom and almost jumped when he saw the green eyes gleaming at him in the dark.  How the fuck did Danny manage to do that?  He must be part cat, Brian had long ago decided.
 
“I don’t look that scary, do I?”  As Brian’s eyes adjusted to the dark, he could see Danny’s lips lifting in a smile and a slender dark eyebrow lifting.  “Get those clothes off and get into bed.  Now, damn it!”
 
Brian smiled half-heartedly at Danny’s pretense of ordering him around.  He tossed his shirt to the floor and crawled into the bed, allowing Danny to make short work of his jeans, noting as his left handed lover quickly used that hand to unbutton and unzipper the jeans before yanking them off.  He pulled Danny into his arms and held him against his chest, his face pressed against his hair for a few moments.  Danny brought his arms up around Brian’s neck and pressed in as close as he could, but waited patiently for Brian’s strange mood to pass, giving his silent support, knowing, as he always seemed to, that Brian needed some time to gather his thoughts before talking but that they needed to talk. 
 
Finally, Brian lifted his head away and brushed his hand against his cheek.  He wasn’t quite sure why he was so fucking upset, whether because he’d almost done something really stupid, that would have been against his and Danny’s unspoken, unexpressed but understood rules, or whether because someone, hell, one of the kids they trusted, tried tricking him in such a stupidly nasty way and had almost gotten away with it, or whether someone that Danny loved had tried to do something so fucking malicious to them for no good reason.  Any way you looked at it, it sucked, but it would hurt Danny the most. 
 
“What is it, Bri, just tell me.  You’re getting me really worried.  Is Ben okay? Hunter?”
 
Brian looked up, startled.  Damn, trust Danny to put life in perspective again.  He tried to smile.  “No, kiddo, nothing like that.  All of our happy homo family is well and thriving.  Something happened at the club tonight that I have to tell you about and it’s going to upset you.  It’s upset me.”
 
Danny looked up at him closely then sighed before turning to close his eyes.  “Who’d you fuck?” he asked quietly, still lying with his head on Brian’s chest, his arms wrapped loosely around his neck. 
 
Brian wove his fingers through the dark hair and thought about how different he’d become.  The old Brian probably wouldn’t have thought twice about an aborted hand job, although in all fairness, he’d been halfway to agreeing to letting Johnny fuck him right there on the cat walk.  But that was only because he thought it was Danny. Sex with Danny in such a public place was still one of his number one fantasies. 
 
“I didn’t fuck anyone, but in some ways, you might prefer that I did,” Brian began.
 
Danny huffed out a laugh against the taller man’s chest.  “I strongly doubt that...but go on, sorry for interrupting.  And keep up with the hair stroking, you get points with that you know.”
 
Brian smiled.  “I know.  Anyway, there I was, lonely me, thinking about you.”  A snort interrupted him this time and Brian tugged lightly on a dark curl to stop the commentary.  He was glad that Danny was in a fairly good mood so far.  It was lightening his own mood.  He half suspected Danny was doing it on purpose to cheer him up.  “Anyway, I had pretty much given up on you coming when suddenly, there you were, wrapping your arms around me, kissing my neck, and promising all sorts of delightfully decadent behavior right there in a dark section of the catwalk.”
 
Danny sat up slightly, leaning on his elbow.  “I was, was I?  I become intrigued by this story.  Especially the part where there is decadence on the catwalk.”
 
“I thought you might,” Brian said drily.  
 
“I’m sure you did,” he rejoined.
 
“Indeed I did.  So much so that I confess that I wasn’t thinking my clearest.  I saw green eyes, black hair, I called this person Danny as he went for my cock...”
 
Green eyes were flashing at this point.  “So this person did indeed go for your cock?  As in his hand touched your cock?”
 
Brian nodded.
 
“I am so going to kill my fucking nephew.”  Danny was up and out of bed looking for his pants.
 
Brian leaned over and grabbed his lover, pulling him back into their bed.
 
“Come on, who knows where he is right now and I want you here with me.  I’m not done ‘confessing’ anyway.  Aren’t you pissed at me?  I actually thought that brat was you, Danny.  How could I make a mistake like that?”  Troubled hazel eyes looked into green ones, but to Brian’s surprise, amusement was replacing the anger that had filled them mere seconds earlier.  He shook his head as Danny leaned forward with a grin and kissed his frowning mouth. 
 
“I don’t think I will ever understand you completely,” Brian complained, although relieved that he was apparently not in the doghouse over this incident even if he didn’t quite get why he wasn’t.  “How you can go from furious to fine in under a minute....”  He was silenced by the hard body of his lover, his real lover, moving over him and those full lips descending on his for several long minutes of deep kissing. 
 
They were both breathless when Danny lifted his head and smiled.  “Do we still need to talk about this or can we proceed to the good stuff, Bri?  I know you wouldn’t fool around with my nephew.  I also know how much he looks like me, and I can easily understand that in a bar, with a lot of noise, in a darker area, especially if you’d had a few drinks...and I won’t even ask if you had anything else...” Danny gave him a mock stern look.  Brian’s occasional indulgence in recreational drugs when he was away was one of their areas of disagreement.  “But Johnny is the only one who could pull that off and he would know that you thought he was me and it would be up to him to make damn sure you knew it was him if there was any doubt, much less let you call him Danny and let it pass without correction.  So he was deliberately setting you up, which either means he’s after you, or he’s got a grudge against me, and either way, you are in the clear to my way of thinking.  No one comes after my man, much less my baby nephew, and if he thinks he has a grudge against me, he can deal with me, and not go dragging you into it.  So, can we fuck now?”  Suddenly Danny’s eyes narrowed.  “You were on the catwalk and he had his hand on your cock...out in public and you actually thought it was me?  There was a little bit of wish fulfillment going on there, wasn’t there?  What exactly was he offering to do?  Jerk you off out in the open?”
 
Brian groaned inwardly.  He should have restarted the action before Danny’s mind went down that track.  He tried caressing the smooth ass that was resting so temptingly under his hands, pressing Danny’s body down so that their groins rubbed together.  He bit his lip. God, he’d missed this.  He closed his eyes and lost himself in the sensations washing over him.  Big mistake. 
 
Arms like steel clamped around him and rolled him over to that he was on top, looking down into flinty green eyes.  Sea change, again, Brian sighed, as he propped his elbows on either side of the muscular chest and prepared to tell the rest of his confession. 
 
“No, he didn’t ‘just’ offer to jerk me off.  As I started to tell you, and remember, I was feeling really guilty about this and don’t know where my head was, I was standing there missing you like crazy and thinking about you, when he came up to me from behind and wrapped his arms around me.  He started whispering in my ear and kissing my neck, and yeah, the voice sounded just like you and talked like you do to me, the same intonations and everything.”
 
Danny nodded.  He could see that. Johnny should be able to duplicate that; he’d been around the two of them enough.  He let Brian continue.  He really shouldn’t have stopped him before, he realized, as he found he had to know all the details.  As soon as he started to make love to Brian he discovered he had to know exactly what had happened between his lover and his nephew when Brian had thought the younger man was him.  The very idea made Danny cold.   
 
“I only caught a glimpse of his face and I had no reason to think it wasn’t you so I admit, I didn’t examine him closely.  It looked like you, sounded like you, felt like your body.  Thinking back now, sure, he was slightly thinner and maybe a little taller, but you used to wear those higher boots all the time so I’m not used to you wearing the lower heels like you do now.  Anyway, he kept up the dirty talk, speaking right into my ear, as you do, and you know what that does to me, while his hands kept busy....”
 
“Be more specific,” Danny ordered.  “What was he saying and what were his hands doing?”
 
Brian tried to shift off of Danny’s body at this point but he was held in place.  Danny’s expression softened a fraction.  “I’m not really mad at you, Bri.  I just need to get this...lanced.  I am beginning to get the picture, I think.  Johnny had you edged over into a corner, like the two of us might even do, but then he took the groping a bit further than I generally would, which, I’m betting, knowing you, made you crazy wild.”  Brian smiled sheepishly. “Then, his hand got on your cock, but it didn’t stop there?  What exactly was he whispering in your ear? Fuck me...but he slipped up and said Uncle Brian instead of Brian, and while that may be a turn-on for some men, we both know that isn’t your kink...at least not any more....”
 
Danny grinned wickedly.  Brian would have smacked him but his position didn’t really lend itself to it.  Danny would have caught his hand the second he picked it up and he really needed both arms for support anyway or he’d collapse onto that hard chest, which wouldn’t be such a bad thing.  Danny had a firm grip around his waist and was looking at him expectantly, waiting to see what he was going to do.  Brian lowered himself down with a sigh onto his lover’s shoulder; only Danny could make being on top such a vulnerable position, he thought.
 
“No, being the daddy or uncle isn’t my thing, and I was only turned on because I thought it was you...offering to fuck me right there on the catwalk.”
 
There was a sharp inhalation, then, “Well, that really must have seemed like a dream come true.  What stopped this little dream sequence?”
 
“He started to stroke me with his right hand, and he said again something about how much he wanted to fuck me, and his voice seemed to go higher.”
 
“Ahh, wrong hand, and wrong pitch.  Good thing you didn’t lose all your faculties with an offer like that on the table.”  Danny’s words were teasing but his deep voice was tense.
 
Brian brushed his lips against the shadowed jaw that he could see was being clenched tight.  “I don’t want sex in public with just anyone, Danny.  I’ve had that, remember?  And sure, I have fantasies about having it with you, but that is what fantasies are about, something you think about when you jerk off.  If you did all of them you’d have nothing to dream about doing when you masturbated, would you?”
 
The jaw unclenched as Danny snorted.  “I get by thinking about all the things we have done, thank you very much.”
 
“Really?  I’ll have to try that,” Brian said, opening his eyes wide and looking innocent.  Danny slapped his ass.  “You’re incorrigible.”
 
“Forgive me?”
 
“For what?”  Danny spread his legs more so that Brian could fit his long legs in the space between Danny’s and lifted Brian up so he could adjust him more comfortably on top of his chest.  “For not being able to tell O’Keefe’s apart in the dark?”  Brian winced but was relieved to see that Danny seemed to be amused again.
 
“I just hope Jamie never learns of this.  I will have to do something to Johnny.  What the hell was the brat’s problem?  But just tell me, are you really sure that part of you wasn’t wishing I was young and...God, this is hard to say, but not so fucked up?”
 
Danny was looking at Brian steadily, no trace of the amusement from a mere second ago in his eyes now.  Brian’s head hurt from the mood swings but he knew his man well enough to recognize that this last one was pure bravado.  Danny was hurting and all of the insecurity he’d expressed earlier was back in full force.  Only now was Brian noticing the shadows under the green eyes he loved so much and how sharp the cheekbones looked in his thinner face.  He wasn’t eating again, that was clear. 
 
“Danny, you aren’t fucked up and I don’t want anyone else but you.  It’s ridiculous to even suggest, especially when you look decades younger than me.  You have a scar on your knee, hell, so do a lot of soccer players and dancers.  As soon as your knee gets stronger, the plastic surgeon will revise it.  You’re lucky to be alive, and I’m alive because you saved me.  I’m supposed to be the shallow one in this relationship and even I wouldn’t place my life or yours below a small thing like that!  Most men, most gay men, would kill to have your looks.”
 
Danny gave a faint smile. “Most gay men won’t have their twenty year old selves walking around the city as a reminder of how they used to look when they get near thirty.  And most gay men don’t have lovers who are the most beautiful man in the world...not that I’m complaining, mind you.  I kind of like it, but it does require a certain level of maintenance.”
 
Brian grinned, genuinely amused for the first time in days.  “You really think that, don’t you?  You are so perfect; it amazes me everyday that you’re still with me.  Like somehow, in my fucked up life, with all the shit that happened to me, you’re the payoff for all the bad things I went through, and no matter what else happens, I can never say life wasn’t good, because of the time I’ve had with you...though I’m going to be greedy and hang on for as much as I can get.”
 
Danny smiled, not his deep, double dimpled, knock ‘em dead smile, but his slow, sweet smile, the one he rarely gave to anyone anymore except Brian.  The smile that never failed to take Brian's breath away. 
 
“You’re never going to be rid of me, mo gra.”  
 
He reached down with his left hand and slowly stroked his lover to hardness as they kissed eagerly.  He pulled a lubed condom from under the pillow and expertly opened it.  He slid it on the hard cock positioned above his entry without breaking away from his fierce exploration of his lover’s mouth. 
 
“Fuck me,” he murmured, pushing his hips up suggestively. 
 
Brian moaned in pleasure as he sank into the familiar heat, pausing a second to allow Danny to adjust, but Danny started thrusting first, his powerful body moving beneath him, sending jolts of pure ecstasy through his body.  No one could ever duplicate this feeling or make him feel like this man could, Brian thought, his eyes meeting Danny’s as they clasped hands on either side of his head. 
 
Danny gave him a delighted grin as he gasped, “Really want to do this in front of an audience?”
 
Brian tilted his head back and laughed.  “Nah....you’d probably make me wear make-up and a costume,” he panted.
 
“Damn straight, not to mention I’d get to direct, ...now faster...and harder....oh fuck...”
 
Danny closed his eyes as his orgasm began, wrapping his good leg around Brian’s waist to pull him tighter against him.  It was enough to send Brian spinning over the edge as he moved as hard and fast as he could, loving the look of Danny as he came undone. 
 
Afterward, he held Danny close until the younger man fell deeply asleep, the shadows fading as he rested in his lover’s arms. 
 
The next morning, Brian checked his email and was pleased to see a reply to the message he’d sent before the trouble happened at Babylon the night before.  Giancarlo Rizzuteri was sure he could solve the problem of Danny’s knee brace and would be glad to drop everything and rush to Danny’s aid.
 

*****************************
 

(Setting: New York City; September’s Fashion Week)

Danny surveyed the stage one last time before heading back to check his wardrobe. He’d already done all the sound checks with his musical assistant and the assistant choreographer. Time for the final dress rehearsal. In a few hours, the press would be arriving, and then all the celebrity guests. He felt the usual rush of adrenalin. He gave Dom and Steph a cocky grin when they gave him pleased nods. They were looking happy and excited, so all was well. He’d suggested he step down as lead model this year, pass it on to one of the younger men, but they’d protested loudly...in Italian of course, and he’d let himself be convinced to do it one more year.

Dom had been especially insistent.

“I don’t care if you do the show on crutches. You’re our Dark Angel and you fly for us...no one else. No one else makes our clothes look the way they are intended to look, Angel. Michelangelo had his David to inspire him, we have our Daniel.”

Prior to the incident a few weeks ago, when Danny had let fatigue sap him of his energy, he’d considered renewing the argument and suggesting his look-alike nephew Johnny as the perfect heir to his modeling throne. Not anymore. Johnny had wisely left Pittsburgh before Danny could find him that weekend and had been careful to avoid being alone around him whenever they’d had fittings or rehearsals. Smart boy.

Danny acted as though he didn’t know anything about what had happened, and waited for guilt to make Johnny confess to him. It was the only thing that would make him forgive the boy; a full confession, explanation and apology. The longer he waited, the colder Danny felt toward the boy he’d loved like the little brother he never had. In the meantime, he maintained his usual friendly demeanor, although careful to be somewhat distant in front of the other models, which Johnny attributed to professionalism. Johnny relaxed, thinking Brian must have kept quiet about the whole episode. Johnny even managed to convince himself that he was blameless in the whole matter, and that it was partially Danny’s fault...somehow. The fact that Danny and Brian seemed as close as ever annoyed him and his resentment of his perfect uncle returned in full measure.

Johnny looked at the clothes he was to wear in the show and grimaced. In each case, he had been given outfits that were not as flattering to his coloring as what Danny was wearing—to his mind. That was the trouble with looking so much like the signature model. Johnny got the more flamboyant, trendy styles that Danny rejected. Sure, they were more suitable for a nineteen year old than a twenty-nine year old, and in his heart of hearts he loved some of them and loved that he got to keep them, but the really classy clothes, the ones that would become iconic, were being worn by the Dark Angel, an icon in his own right. And, the smallest bikini and the most gorgeous tuxedo, kind of the wedding dress item of the men’s line, were being worn by Danny, by order of Steph and Dom themselves. It sucked. A few of the other models bitched, but for the most part it was good natured. The few who were jealous had enough sense to keep their mouths shut for the most part, although there were one or two exceptions, but Danny knew how to handle them with his sharp wit. Of course he did, Johnny thought viciously, he was perfect.

As they got ready for the dress rehearsal, one of the bitchier queens was mouthing off now. Johnny was jarred out of his brooding by the sound of his own loathed nickname among the models being tossed around.

“All I’m saying is, you’d think with his perfectionism, his Highness would let the Baby Angel wear the bikini and pass on that...he could wear the surfer one and let those admittedly fabulous abs of his show again and still wear the best tuxedo and show he is numero uno without making everyone want to puke over that nasty scar on his knee.”

“What do you say, Baby Angel? You got the balls to fill that bikini?” One of the other men grinned at Johnny as he pulled on a pair of shorts. The casual wear came first.

“I think Johnny has the balls to try pretty much anything,” a deep voice drawled. “But it isn’t his decision, nor does the decision fall to any of you faggots, so get your skinny asses in gear, literally, because you need to be lined up to strut your stuff in about four minutes and I see about three of you ready to go and no one has his second outfit lined up to change into, much less his third. What the fuck are you? Amateurs?”

Danny stood in the doorway of the dressing room, fully dressed in his first outfit, knee brace covering his scar, Johnny noticed. His own face flushed with embarrassment. How long had Danny been standing there? Of course he looked perfectly calm despite what he’d heard. Johnny also realized, as he looked at the cold green eyes that glanced over him, that his uncle was fully aware of what had happened at Babylon with Brian. He felt sick to his stomach as he wondered what Danny was going to do, knowing that the O’Keefe mantra was that paybacks were a bitch. Danny clearly didn’t blame Brian. Johnny had been avoiding the couple but the family grapevine reported that they were as close as ever. That meant that there was only one person Danny was going to seek payback from.

Johnny closed his eyes but he couldn’t shut out the cold deep voice that whispered in his ear.

“Take your place and act like the man you pretend to be and don’t you dare embarrass me. You think you can take my place, little boy, prove it now and get out there and pretend everything is fine no matter what. Or I will kick your ass in front of every one of these people. Don’t think I won’t.”
 

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

After a flawless dress rehearsal...well, almost flawless, Danny retreated to his private dressing room, avoiding his pale faced nephew. He looked at his ugly red scar. The brace was uncomfortable and clashed with some of the outfits but he needed it in order to stay on his feet the length of the show. If he took it off for the bathing suit and shorts that were cut above the knee, then the ugly scar showed, which, as the blunt queen pointed out, was not for the weak of stomach. In truth, it wasn’t that ugly, but it wasn’t all that great either. The surgeons hadn’t been concerned about looks when they were working on his knee and had done a great job in giving function back. He really shouldn’t complain.

The door to his room opened. Without turning around, he growled, “What part of no interruptions wasn’t clear?”

“The part that said, except for the love of my life and the man who makes me expensive custom jewelry worth a king’s ransom...that was the second part, wasn’t it?”

“Bri!” Danny turned around with a grin. “And Gian! A twofer. I will make an exception to undiluted grumpiness. But that means you only get diluted grumpiness. I have to get ready for tonight and try to imagine myself young and beautiful...it gets harder all the time.”

Giancarlo looked as starstruck as ever. Brian just rolled his eyes. “Yeah, with your looks it must take, what? Thirty...seconds? That’s why Gian here has come up with something to help...with the permission of your kind patrons, Mr. D and G, that is.”

Giancarlo offered a plainly wrapped box topped with a black velvet bow. With a perplexed smile, Danny accepted it. Lifting the lid, he peeked inside. Confused at first, he lifted the item up and stared for a moment, then burst into bright laughter.

Sparkling green eyes looked over at the two men, who looked at him pleased to see that their surprise had achieved the desired effect.

“Try it on, but I’m sure it will fit. Your orthopedist had a hand in its design as well.”

“It’s gorgeous. And you say Dom and Steph don’t mind my wearing this? They don’t think it will detract from the clothes?”

Brian smirked. “You kidding. I’m in the process of working out a joint deal with them and Rizzuteri. They think it is brilliant. With their penchant for putting their initials on everything, a cooperative arrangement with a company like Gian’s is, as you love to say, a win-win deal. And Kinnetik will handle the advertising. So it is a win-win-win.”

“You like it, Danny?” Gian asked anxiously?

Danny stood up after putting the gift on and gave his friend and lover hugs.

“It’s perfect.”
 

*****************************
 

The Dolce and Gabbana fall fashion show was a smash hit with the usual celebrity crowds, the press reported. The highlight of the event was when the Dark Angel, making his tenth anniversary appearance, walked the catwalk in the line’s premier men’s bikini, a tiny black thong number, accessorized by a black diamond encrusted knee brace. The diamonds were placed in a unique pattern, custom designed by Giancarlo Rizzuteri, a press release advised, to symbolize angel’s wings, with the D and G of Dolce and Gabbana joined with it inside the wings. The principals of Dolce and Gabbana announced their commitment to the Dark Angel as their lead model for the next ten years if he would stay with them.

“Some things, and people, only get better, with time,” the gentlemen pronounced. “As with a great tuxedo, we believe the same is true with a wonderful person such as Daniel O’Keefe. He is a classic, and nothing beats a classic.”
 

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

 

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