You’re a Good Man

It had been cold in Pittsburgh all through December. The guys had enjoyed the heat from their fireplace - not as much as their just being together though. They had settled down on the floor late in the afternoon. Brian had his arm around the kid who was resting his head on Brian's shoulder as the fake fire blazed away.

"The Christmas decorating is almost over, Bri," Justin said. "What do you think of them so far?"

"You know I have to say I like them, Baby," Brian responded, "But I really do like them. Gus and his pals will go crazy for them. You're great at decorating and I'm glad you have Malcolm to help you. I'm not much good at that stuff."

"Well, you're good at a lot of stuff," Justin smiled at him. "So I have decided that we are just going to sit here all evening doing stuff that you're good at. You're usually the boss around here but I have taken over for tonight and that's that."

"I don't even have veto power, I guess," Brian grinned back.

"Nope," Justin confirmed his intent. "We are not getting up off this floor the whole evening. I think you'll enjoy yourself though, Bri, so stop acting like you won't."

"Oh no, Baby," Brian said. "I know I'll enjoy myself. I was just worried about you and Mikey."

"What the hell are you talking about, Brian?" Justin was surprised. "What has Mikey got to do with any of this anyhow?"

"He'll be here in about an hour," Brian confessed. "Me and Mikey were going out to get our Charlie Brown Christmas trees tonight. We were on the phone today and he said he hadn't talked to you about it yet and he had a couple of busy evenings coming up, so I told him we could go tonight. You don't even need to come if you're too tired. You'd be welcome to come along though, Baby. We weren't planning to leave you out. But since you have decided we can't go, we'll just have to ask Mikey to sit here with us. We can't just send him home."

"You had the guts to even presume that you could pick an ugly tree without me, Brian Kinney?" Justin seemed aghast. "You wouldn't know a really ugly tree if you tripped over it. It takes an artist's eye to see true ugliness, so I'll have to go. But I am shocked at you - that you'd think you could get a real Charlie Brown tree without me. You're a bad man, Brian Kinney."

"Which means that when we get back we can't sit back down here and do the stuff I'm good at?" Brian figured.

"Not at all," Justin replied. "It doesn't mean that at all. I don't see how you can manage to get things so mixed up, Sweetheart."

"Sometimes I do get things mixed up," Brian admitted. "Actually a lot more things since you moved in."

"Well Mikey won't be here for a while," Justin leered, and a period of silence ensued.

Mikey showed up on schedule and after a brief but thorough ear beating from Justin, the three set out on their Christmas quest.

It was a good three hours later when Brian and Justin returned to the loft - without any sign of Mikey or of the Charlie Brown tree either. Justin pulled Brian down in front of the fireplace, which was still blazing away. They had not even removed their coats.

"I absolutely love you, Brian Kinney," Justin told his smiling companion. "You are the greatest guy in the world. There are a lot of great guys in this world but you are the best. I love you."

"Well then you've changed your mind from earlier this evening," Brian laughed. "I think I remember you saying I was a bad man."

"You know I didn't mean it, Bri," Justin argued. "I knew you were up to something. You would never be so dumb as to try to pick out a Charlie Brown tree without me. So I knew you had to be up to something."

"Cut it out, Twink," Brian kept laughing. "You didn't have a clue."

"No. I didn't," Justin confessed, "But I should have. You are not a bad man, Brian Kinney. I did know that."

"So you were surprised?" Brian concluded.

"A dinner for me with all of our friends there," Justin replied. "Planned by you. Yeah, I was surprised. I wouldn't have thought of that in a million years. I wouldn't have even planned something like that for myself."

"You've been running yourself ragged helping everybody get ready for Christmas," Brian reasoned, "And you're always helping everybody else. So everybody thought it was a good idea and we just took over the private room at the diner. It wasn't all that much."

"Oh yes it was - for me." Justin insisted. "And you know what the high spot of the evening was?"

"I think so," Brian supposed, "But let's change the subject, OK?"

It did not seem that Justin heard him. "The high spot of the evening was when you stood up and told everybody - all our friends - that you loved me and that you always would. Everybody was so surprised."

"Well I don't see why they should have been surprised," Brian said. "They all know I love you."

"That is not what they were surprised at, Brian," Justin laughed. "They were surprised that you said it. It was so not Brian Kinney."

"I guess they don't know Brian Kinney," Brian figured.

"Maybe not," Justin said, "But I do, and I love him. You know what, though, Brian, I think you're going to have a really hard time topping this with my Christmas present."

"Maybe this was your Christmas present, Baby," Brian suggested. "What do you get for the guy who has everything?"

"I do love you, Kinney," Justin repeated. "You are not only the greatest guy in the world but you are also the funniest."

"The problem is that I don't have you to help me pick out a gift for you," Brian gibed. "How can I expect to get you something you deserve without your help since you're the world's best Christmas shopper?"

"You could ask Cynthia to help you," Justin suggested. "I think she might know exactly what I want."

"Wouldn't be surprised, " Brian agreed. "That's a good idea." And silence fell on the loft for a good while.

Finally, Brian resumed the conversation. "I guess you're just a little mad because you didn't get your way tonight - not completely anyway," he told the kid. "You said we were going to do just stuff I do well and that's not what happened."

"Wrong, Kinney," Justin came back at him. "Everything we did tonight is stuff you do well. The party most of all. The best thing you do is make me happy and that's all that happened tonight - and we didn't get our Charlie Brown tree either, and that's not something you're good at - but you're getting better and better at that too. So Mikey and I decided we'd do that tomorrow. You don't have to come but you're very welcome."

"I'll only come if you specifically ask me," Brian decided. "Do you want me to come?"

"Of course I want you to come, Honey" Justin told him while reaching over to kiss him. "You're a good man, Brian Kinney."

Return to Fireside Chats