I Will Remember You

Chapter 8

~ The Cruise, Day Five ~

At Sea

Brian was awake, watching the sunrise through the porthole in his cabin. Michael was sound asleep in his bunk, snoring softly. The third occupant of the room was sprawled on the couch, covers in disarray.

Shaking his head at himself, Brian walked over to the couch and sat on the floor next to it, watching its occupant sleep. He wondered what had possessed him to bring the kid here last night. Certainly not for the obvious reason, since he still hadn't touched the brat, literally.

A pair of blue eyes opened and stared, puzzled, into Brian's hazel ones, blinking a couple of times as if not sure where he was or why Brian was sitting there watching him. Blue eyes. Blue like Justin's.

Brian winced as he wondered why this kid kept getting to him. The plain and simple truth was that Tee reminded him of Justin. In some obvious ways, but also in little things. The age, of course. They probably weren't more than a few months different. The eyes, not just the color, but the shape and the way they crinkled when he laughed. The way his ass filled out his pants. Even the clothes he wore. The way he took a challenge and didn't back down. The way he teased Michael. The intelligence, the humor, the cockiness.

Brian wondered, was he trying to fill that void with a Justin replica? Or was it that the same things that had attracted him to Justin were now attracting him to Tee? Did it even matter? In a few days, they would be heading to opposite ends of the East Coast. Not a foundation for any sort of relationship. Not that he did relationships.

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Tee wondered why Brian was sitting next to the couch staring at him so solemnly. Noting that the room was just beginning to lighten due to the sunlight coming through the portal, Tee commented, "You're up awfully early."

Hearing Tee's voice, Brian snapped out of his reverie. "There will be plenty of time to sleep when I'm dead. No sense wasting what time I have now."

Tee propped himself up on one elbow, "So instead, you're wasting time watching me sleep?"

Brian smiled slightly, then changed the subject. "Decided how to handle your cabin mate situation yet?"

Sighing, Tee flopped back down dramatically and groaned. "No…every time I think about it I start to feel sick. I just keep thinking there's something wrong with this picture."

"Perhaps it's just your perception." Brian suggested.

Tee closed his eyes, unable to keep from replaying the shower scene over again. "It's all my fault, you know. My cousin asked if it would bother me." Tee sighed melodramatically again. "I thought he was just trying to get me to admit that gay men *could* be friends."

Having heard the highlights of the conversation that lead to this already, Brian kept his thoughts on the subject to himself.

"I don't think I really wanted to be proven right *that way* though." Tee admitted. "I'd take it back, if I could. If it'd just make it not so real."

Suddenly, Tee eyes flew open and he sat straight up on the couch, an incredulous look on his face. "That asshole! He knew how I'd feel about this. He knew exactly what he was doing." With a clinched jaw, Tee began searching for his clothes.

Not sure what to make of the sudden change in Tee's demeanor, Brian sat on the couch and watched the younger man get dressed.

Having gotten himself together, Tee shot Brian a devilish grin. "Paybacks are hell and I think a certain cousin of mine is way past due." And then Tee was out the door, leaving a slightly bemused Brian behind.

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Justin and Tris had already started on breakfast when Rick joined them. "Morning, boys. And may I add, congratulations. I'm very happy for you." Rick grinned at the two as he sat down.

The two boys exchanged confused looks. Finally Justin asked, "Uhhh, what are we being congratulated on exactly?"

Rick looked up as if surprised that they had to ask, "Why, on you two getting together, of course. Tee told me all about it last night."

Justin's eyes got bigger as he absorbed this information. Tris spoke up before Jus could say anything else though. "Tee told you that we were together? Did he seem ok with it?" He felt Justin kick him under the table.

Rick nodded solemnly, "I think after we talked it over a bit that he was ok. It must have been something of a shock, I suppose. I'm sure it will be to the rest of the family as well, but I think Mom will be pleased. She'll love the idea of you boys finally settling down a bit."

Tris said hesitantly, "Oh, I don't think we need to say anything to the family…especially Grandmother."

"Ohhh?" Rick looked a bit concerned. "Maybe I should have asked first, guys, but I've already told Mom. This morning when I sent our daily email update. And you know how that is, once she knows, the whole family knows."

Tris began to turn pale. Justin's mouth dropped open. This was not part of the plan. Justin opened his mouth to say something, but Tris reached over and grabbed his hand, giving him a slight warning shake of his head. "Well, I guess we'll just have to deal with that when the time comes." Tris said, a slightly sick look on his face.

Rick, seeing the interaction between the boys, cautiously asked, "You guys are together, right? If this was just a casual fuck… Well, things like that can lead to all kinds of hard feelings. Especially with someone that you have to see on a regular basis. Tell me that you both know better than that." Rick sounded rather stern on the last part.

Justin clinched his jaw as Tris quickly shook his head negative, "Oh no, it was nothing like that."

Rick breathed a sigh of relief, "Glad to hear it." He glanced down at his watch. "Sorry guys, got to run. Have an appointment at the spa. See you later."

As soon as Rick was out of earshot, Justin turned on Tristin in anger. "Why didn't you just tell him the truth, Tris? Now everyone's going to think we're a couple."

Tris took a deep breath. When he'd come up with this idea, he'd never anticipated this development. "Jus, think about it a minute. If we come out with the truth now, Grandmother will skin us both alive and hang us out to dry. She'd never understand that it was just suppose to be a joke."

Justin groaned in frustration, "Tris, you had better come up with something to tell them. I didn't have a problem with playing a trick on Tee. He deserved it for saying that there was no way we could just be friends. But I have no intention of pretending to be your boyfriend for the benefit of the family. How about if we just *pretend* to break up?"

"No, that would just make it worse." Tris said. "Then everyone in the family would end up taking sides and we'd end up getting caught in the middle." He groaned. "They'd probably even send us to couples counseling or something."

Justin thought Tris was being a real drama queen, "Well, you'd better think of something. You keep this up for very long and they'll have us getting married."

Tris tried to placate the irate Justin, "Don't worry. I'll take care of it. I promise."

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After leaving Brian's, Tee had waited outside the restaurant for Uncle Rick. Pulling him aside, he'd quickly explained what had happened the night before and asked for his Uncle's help. After Tee explained his idea, Rick was only too glad to give his nephew a hand.

From across the room, half hidden behind a flowering plant, Tee watched as Rick proceeded with his part of the plan. Then he watched the ensuing argument between Justin and Tris with delight. 'Oh yeah, boys.' Tee thought to himself, 'Paybacks are hell.'

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Brian listened with amusement as Tee described what he had done to his cabin mates with his Uncle Rick's help. Not that Rick had *really* said anything to the family, but what the two assholes (as Tee called them) didn't know, would only further his purpose. Brian had even offered a few suggestions on how to make them squirm just a bit more. Now, Tee could just sit back and watch the show.

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Later that day, Tee found Justin lounging by the pool (in the shade, of course). "Hey, Jus. You lose your boyfriend already?" Tee smirked.

Justin narrowed his eyes at Tee, "He went to get a drink." Justin noticed that Tee seemed to be taking this much better than he would have expected considering his initial reaction. "You seem to have recovered from last night's surprise."

Tee smiled, "Well, I'll admit that was the last thing I expected to see when I opened the door. But, that's ok. As long as you guys are happy, that's all that should matter, right?" Tee maintained an innocent look on his face.

After living with Tee for the past seven months, Justin could tell he was holding something back. And he seemed entirely too chipper. "So, how long did it take you to figure it out?" Justin decided to take the direct approach.

Unable to contain it any longer, Tee began laughing. "I guess I'm not too convincing, huh?"

Justin slowly grinned back, "Not to me anyway. I'll have to admit, getting Uncle Rick to help was a stroke of genius. We never suspected him."

"Well, that's a relief. Would hate to think that I'm losing my touch." Tee replied. Then, with a sly look, added. "That doesn't mean that we need to tell Tris though, does it?"

With a speculative look, Justin asked. "Just what do you have in mind now?"

After Tee explained, Justin couldn't help but laugh. "That should be considered cruel and unusual punishment, Tee."

"So you'll do it?" Tee asked with a grin.

Justin thought for all of three seconds. "Yeah, sounds like fun."

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A little bit later, Justin found Tris attempting to pick up a trick. Pulling Tris aside, Justin hissed, "What do you think you're doing?"

Tris looked surprised, "I was going to let this guy suck me off. Why?"

Justin snorted in aggravation, "Listen, you're the one who insisted that we keep up this charade. You start taking off with tricks and Tee and Uncle Rick will know something is up." Justin paused to let that sink in. "Not that it bothers me any. I'd just as soon get this over with. But at least give me a heads up first."

A pained looked crossed Tris' face. He wasn't ready to admit to anything, but he could see Justin's point. With a sad, disappointed look in the trick's direction, Tris sighed, "Ok, you're right. No tricks until we figure a way out of this mess."

As Tris walked away, Justin allowed himself a small smile. Tee was so evil sometimes.

For the rest of the afternoon, every time Tris turned around, one of his cabin mates was in the area preventing him from even attempting a quick trick. By the time he finally decided to turn in that evening, he was becoming quite frustrated with the whole business.

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In addition to the several nightclubs on the ships, there was also a huge deck party going on that evening, which was where most of the younger set had gone. Brian was therefore rather surprised when Tee showed up at the quieter club he and Michael had chosen.

Joining them at the bar, Tee ordered a drink and began updating Brian on how the payback was going. He especially wanted Brian to know how well his suggestion had worked out. Michael decided that he really didn't want to know what was going on. He started getting a headache every time this kid came around.

As Brian seemed to be in solemn mood tonight, Tee decided to join the group on the dance floor. After a while, he noticed that Rick had shown up and had Michael on the floor as well.

'Hmmm, Michael isn't much of a dancer.' Tee though to himself. 'But, he seems to be enjoying himself for a change.'

Brian stayed by the bar, watching the others dance, not really feeling in the mood for it himself. He noticed that almost every eye in the place was centered on a certain dark hair twink and he doubted that there was a soft cock in the room. The kid could certainly move and didn't mind showing what he had. Again, so much like someone else.

That kid had been on Brian's mind most of the day. Why was he wasting time on some teenage brat who he couldn't even fuck because of some bet? The worst part was, he wasn't even sure he wanted to win that wager any more. Not because he didn't want the kid. A man would have to be dead not to want a piece of that ass. No, it was because once the bet was over, that would be the end. He'd have no reason to keep the boy around anymore. And he wanted the kid to stay around, even if it was only for a couple of more days.

Brian sighed to himself. What had happened to the old Brian Kinney? The 'no apologies, no regrets' Brian? The 'in and out, maximum of pleasure, minimum of pain' Brian? This is what happens when you break your own rules. One gets through the walls you put up, and then the next one finds his way in even easier.

Maybe it was time to rethink who and what Brian Kinney was all about.

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