I Will Remember You

Chapter 25

~ Learning to Listen ~

Sat., Dec. 21

Emmett was sitting alone at their usual booth in the diner when Brian, Justin and Tee walked in for lunch. Brian slid into the booth across from Emmett, sitting sideways in the booth with one leg across the back of the seat. Justin slid in next, feeling Brian's arms wrap around him and pull him back against the taller man's chest. Tee slid in next to Emmett, wincing slightly as he sat down.

Noticing Tee's discomfort, Em asked concerned, "Are you ok, baby?"

Seeing the smirks on the faces of the couple across from him, Tee glared back, then turned to Em. "I'm fine. Just a little sore is all."

Justin started to snicker. Tee scowled.

"What happened, sweetheart?" Em asked, curious. He could see something was up.

"Yes, Tee. What did happen?" Brian asked innocently.

"Leave me alone…" Tee said grumpily.

Tee was saved from any further harassment by the arrival of Ben and Michael who slipped into the booth behind Brian and Justin. Michael threw a puzzled look at Brian, obviously wondering why he was sitting with Justin practically in his lap when he had spent the night with the kid across the table from him. Judging by the smirks that Brian and Justin had on their faces and the glares they were getting from Tee, the dark-haired twink wasn't too happy about the way things were turning out.

Before Michael could come up with a way to ask what was on his mind (without ticking Brian off), Emmett started talking. "So, baby, do we get to see your pictures in the show at the GLC tonight?"

Justin smiled, a little nervous about the art show. "Yeah, I've got a few in. Hopefully, it'll bring them in a little money."

Tee perked up. He hadn't heard about the art show before. "Hey, that's great, Jus. Any that I'd recognize?" He had always been a strong supporter of his brother's artistic abilities.

Justin shrugged. "Mostly just recent stuff. But I did put up the two I painted last Christmas." He knew Tee wouldn't be happy about the last part.

Stunned, Tee just stared at Justin for a moment. "You can't be serious!" He finally managed to say. "You can't sell those paintings, Jus. They mean too much."

Not meeting his brother's eye, Justin sighed. "You're the one who told me to stop living in the past. So that's what I'm doing."

Brian watched the interaction between the two young men, wondering what it was about the paintings that they weren't saying. Although he tended to avoid the GLC like the plague, perhaps he would have to make an exception this evening.

Tee was about to pursue the subject further when Justin suddenly announced. "Little sister alert."

The next thing the men knew, four giggling girls were standing by their table, Molly in the forefront. "Hey guys!" She said pleasantly.

"Good day, Ladies." Brian said gallantly, causing the girls to giggle even more. "And what brings you to this lovely establishment on such a fine afternoon?"

Molly shrugged and grinned. "We were getting hungry and decided to get some lunch." Justin and Tee exchanged glances, knowing Molly was probably behind the quartet's decision to come here.

"Aren't you going to introduce us?" One of the giggling foursome asked.

"Of course!" Molly beamed. "You all know my brother Justin and that's his boyfriend, Brian." The girls giggled some more at that, noticing how Justin was leaning back into Brian's arms. Justin wondered how Brian took to being referred to as his 'boyfriend', but he didn't seem to be put out by it.

Brian sighed inwardly as the young girl introduced him as her brother's boyfriend. While he wasn't upset by the title, he wondered how Justin felt about that. While they seemed to be getting along much better today, Brian still wasn't sure about their relationship (there was that word again.)

Molly continued with her introductions. "That's Michael and Ben. Michael has a comic book store and Ben's a professor."

"And this is my friend, Emmett. He makes the best tiramisu." Molly went on amid more giggling.

Emmett grinned gleefully, "Why thank you sweetheart."

Deb walked over as Molly was making introductions. "What do we have here?" Deb asked, indicating the girls.

"Hey, Debbie." Molly greeted. "These are my friends, Mary, Carol and Jenny." She pointed out each of the girls as she said their names. "We were just going to get some lunch."

"Molly." Jenny whispered. "You left someone out." Jenny was looking pointedly at Tee, obviously smitten even though Molly had warned her that the men here would all be gay.

"Oh, I was getting there." Molly laughed. "This is my other brother, Tee. The one from Arizona." She added.

The girls giggled some more and then seated themselves in an adjoining booth. Justin grinned across the table. "I think the red-head has a crush on you, Tee. She's kind of cute, don't you think?"

Tee just glowered. The last thing he needed was some teen-age girl coming on to him. Glancing around the table, Tee noticed several sets of perplexed eyes looking at him and Justin. "What?" He asked, a little unnerved by the attention.

Debbie was the first to recover. Looking at Justin, she asked. "What was that all about? Why is Molly introducing Tee as her brother?"

Hearing Deb's rather loud question, Molly turned around and leaned against the booth behind Tee. "Because he is, that's why."

Justin was turning a bit red under the scrutiny. "Didn't I ever mention that?" he asked hesitantly. He looked back at Brian who was watching the two 'brothers' thoughtfully.

"I believe you may have failed to impart that particular bit of information." Brian responded mildly.

"Baby, I don't remember you ever mentioning a brother before." Emmett said, puzzled, looking from one young man to the other.

Molly, leaning over their booth, gave a most unladylike snort. "We found out the summer before last. Not that dad ever wanted us to know that Tee's his son too. I found out by accident and… well… the rest is history." She finished up smugly.

Deb exchanged glances with the other men at the table. The one thing she could always count on around here was that life was never boring.

"Well, Bright Eyes, welcome to the family." Deb said cheerfully.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Walking through the doors to the GLC that evening, Brian wondered, not for the first time, what he was doing here. He'd always hated this place and everything that it stood for. If it weren't for the fact that Justin had his work on display, he'd have never even considered crossing the threshold.

Wandering through the mired of paintings being displayed, Brian eventually found himself standing in front of two large portraits hanging side by side. He remembered the scene well. He and Justin standing next to the jeep, still riding the high from the dance they'd shared at the prom. He'd reached out and rapped his hand around the white scarf hanging around Justin's neck, pulling him close for a kiss.

And here they were, captured for all eternity. Brian swallowed hard as he realized just how much emotion he'd shown that night. How much Justin had not only seen, but also remembered, despite what had happened next.

"They look like they're in love, don't they?" A soft voice spoke from just behind him.

Without turning, Brian asked, "This is the memory you had? The one you asked me about?"

Justin stepped forward until they were standing side by side. "Yes. Maybe the dance was a real memory, but the rest… It really was just a dream, wasn't it?" He wanted for Brian to dispute that but knew in his heart that the older man wouldn't.

Brian couldn't answer. He felt exposed by that painting. As if everything he'd tried so hard to keep inside was suddenly put on display for everyone to see. "Why are you getting rid of them?"

Shrugging, Justin said simply. "It's not real. They're not real." Taking a deep breath, he tried to explain. "I can't keep believing in fairy tales." Turning slightly, he looked at Brian. "I have to accept the world the way it is… not the way I dreamed it could be."

Brian heard the sadness in his lover's voice and cursed himself for his inability to take it away. He continued to stand there as Justin walked off. Staring at the paintings, he said softly to himself. 'It was real… They were real.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Sun., Dec. 22~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Justin toyed with his food, not particularly hungry. Tee had asked him to meet at a little coffeehouse for lunch, but now that they were here, he'd hardly been able to do more than drink the coffee he'd ordered.

"I was kind of surprised when you didn't come back to the condo last night." Tee said, watching his brother move his sandwich around the plate. "Something happen between you and Brian?"

Justin shook his head. "It was late when I left the GLC. I decided just to go on home. That's all." He'd been a bit disheartened after his talk with Brian the night before and just wanted to sleep it off. Apparently, that hadn't worked.

"The paintings were sold last night. They went for a good price too." Tee said, wondering if Justin was regretting having sold them now.

"Good. Glad they're gone." Justin replied. He felt like a piece of him had been lost. So much of his desires had been wrapped up in the dream that those paintings represented. It was a difficult thing to let go of.

Tee sighed. He knew why this was so hard for Justin and he didn't think it necessary, but it hadn't been his call to make. If he'd had the money, he would have bought the paintings himself and kept them until Justin came to his senses. He knew his brother would one day regret the loss, if he wasn't already.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Mon., Dec. 23~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Brian sat on the couch in the condo staring at the two paintings he'd bought at the GLC art show Saturday. It amazed him that Justin had not only seen the feelings expressed in the painting, but that it had been one of the few things he remembered afterwards.

Taking a swig of beer, Brian studied the paintings, memorizing each detail. Hung properly, it would look as though the two men were looking into each others eyes. Where Brian's arm ended in his portrait, you could just see his hand wrapped around the white scarf in the portrait of Justin.

Brian felt a twinge thinking of the scarf, now no longer white. Rising to his feet, Brian walked up to the bedroom and rummaged through the bottom drawer of his dresser. Pulling out a small box, he opened it and held its contents in his hand, trembling slightly.

Returning downstairs, he looked from the white scarf in the portrait to the blood stained one he now carried. The happiness of the men in the paintings had been tainted just as this scarf was. Could they ever recapture the purity of what was represented in those painting?

He could see the uncertainty in Justin's eyes every time they were together and knew his 'emotional aloofness' was the main reason for it. He knew that he could never bring himself to resort to the trite, traditional things that he'd seen his father use repeatedly on his mother without any meaning behind them other than a regret for having been caught out again.

And all those supposedly romantic words that everyone used so frequently until they were meaningless. He couldn't bring himself to say those things, knowing that how he felt meant so much more than that. How could he get Justin to see that he was still the man in that painting?

Well, it was Christmas. Maybe a present could say what he couldn't find the words for. Something uniquely Brian and Justin…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Tues., Dec. 24~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Justin returned to Emmett's after work, his friend was waiting on the couch for him, excited about something. Gesturing to the living room, Emmett smiled expectantly. "Someone left you a present."

In the center of the floor was a leather suitcase with a red bow on the top of it. It was one of the large wheeled variety and looked rather expensive.

"Read the card." Emmett practically squealed with excitement.

The card was just a folded piece of stock paper. Puzzled, Justin read it out loud. "Since you may be asked to travel some for work, you will need something decent to carry around. Kinnetic doesn't want to discourage potential clients by showing up with luggage held together by duct tape and rope."

Justin almost smiled as he remembered Brian's comments about the bag that he had carried to Speedway. "Open them up." Emmett encouraged. "There may be more inside." Actually, Emmett knew there was more. He just wasn't sure what.

With a sigh at Brian's typical behavior in providing such an impersonal gift, Justin opened the bag up. Inside were two more wheeled bags of gradually smaller sizes.

There was another note on the third bag. "The wheels on this luggage have been modified to initially roll only in the direction of the bearer's home." Huh? What did that mean? Glancing at Emmett, he saw the older man was just as puzzled as he was.

Inside the third bag there was a carry-on bag and a toiletry bag. Picking up the latter, Justin could tell there was something inside it as well, and opened it, spilling the contents onto the couch between him and Emmett. There were small sizes of his favorite soap, shampoo, lotion and other travel size necessities. Emmett picked up another small note and passed it to Justin.

Once again, Justin read aloud. "I like the way this stuff smells. It's like waking up with a Pina Colada…. BK" Justin laughed at that sentiment. Did Brian just admit that he liked waking up together?

"Open the envelope." Emmett encouraged. He was wondering what else Brian might have included.

Inside the envelope were nametags to put on the pieces of luggage, already filled out. Glancing at them, Justin saw his name but the address was Brian's. Looking back at the note about the wheels only rolling home, Justin started to smile. Showing the name tags to Emmett, Justin mused. "I think someone just asked me to move in with him."

Emmett clapped, delighted. "Is there anything else? How about in the pockets?" Em knew there was something else, but he wasn't sure where it was.

Rolling his eyes at his friend's enthusiasm, Justin started searching through the luggage. In the smaller bag, he found a long flat box. Pulling it out, Justin removed the top. Inside was something wrapped in tissue paper with another note on top. Opening the card, he read. "Believe in your dreams. BK"

Feeling his heart miss a few beats, Justin pulled back the tissue to reveal what was underneath. Emmett, staring at what was inside the box, couldn't understand the slow smile that spread across Justin's face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Skipping down the steps and out the front door, Justin pulled up short when he saw the black jeep parked in front of Emmett's apartment, a certain tall brunet leaning against the side. Walking slowly, he approached the older man, stopping a few feet away. "Where you headin'?" Justin asked.

Brian watched Justin approach, his face inscrutable. "No place special." He replied.

Pulling Brian's final gift from his pocket, Justin draped the white silk scarf around his own neck and took a few steps forward. "I can change that." He said softly.

Reaching out, Brian wrapped the scarf around his hand and pulled the boy in for a gentle, but thorough kiss. Pulling back just a little, Justin searched his lover's face, 'listening' to what Brian was telling him.

The crimson lips that kissed him so hungrily, 'I need you.'

The hard body pressed against his, 'I want you.'

The arms that held him so tight, 'I'll never let you go.'

The soft hazel eyes gazing into his, 'I love you.'

"Take me home, Brian." He whispered into his dream man's ear.

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