Help

It was cold and snowy outside but warm in the loft as the guys settled themselves in front of their fake fireplace. The flames weren't real but the heat was, and Brian and Justin seemed quite contented as they sat gazing at the fire. Brian was reluctant to break the spell but he had a message to impart to the kid and also some advice.

"I was talking to Mikey today, Baby," he began, "And he asked me to tell you that he was counting on you to help him get a Valentine's Day gift for Ben. I don't know why he can't pick out his own present for Ben."

"It won't be a problem, Bri," Justin answered. "I always help Mikey when he's picking out a gift. I don't mind."

"Too bad you weren't there when he picked out that crazy thing he gave Mel and Linz for their wedding," Brian remembered with a grin. "Or were you there to help him pick it out, in which case it was a really neat gift?"

"No, I wasn't with him and there's no call for sarcasm either, but that's what I mean, Brian," Justin laughed. "We all have our strong points and picking out gifts is not one of Mikey's."

"Well it just seems to me that too many of the guys depend on you for too much," Brian returned to the subject. "I wouldn't be surprised if you were helping Ben pick out something for Mikey too."

Justin's lack of response told Brian that he was right. "You are, aren't you?" he asked the kid. "Are you also helping Hunter and Malcolm pick out their gifts, and who else, Emmett, Ted…?"

"Brian," Justin interjected. "I don't know what's going on with you. You never minded me helping people pick stuff out. It's way more work at Christmas when Abelard and his army show up. You're just a little bit upset, and I'm not sure why. Don't you want me to help out our friends when they ask? Maybe you want to tell me what's really bothering you?"

"OK, you win. I'm having trouble figuring out what to get you," Brian admitted. "And I'm the only one in the whole world who can't get you to pick out the perfect thing. Do you want to help me get your gift? That way you'd be sure to get what you want."

"Wrong, Kinney," Justin smiled, running his fingers through the big guy's hair. "What makes all your gifts to me so special is that you picked them out. I don't care what you give me. What counts is that it came from you. That makes it the best gift I'll get. And that makes it better than anything I could ever pick for myself."

"You just don't want to help me," Brian pretended to pout. "Maybe I won't get you anything at all for Valentine's Day. It would serve you right."

"Nothing from you is better than anything from anybody else," Justin tried to soothe the savage beast. "I've got you. I don't need anything else."

"Maybe, I'll get you what you always give me," Brian challenged. "A five-pound box of your own favorite candy - which you then eat four and a half pounds of."

"Brian," Justin sounded exasperated. "You eat candy so slowly that it would go bad before you ever finished it. I know you'll only eat a half-pound of that candy, but I can't just give you a half-pound of candy for Valentine's Day. You'd go around telling everybody: 'Guess what Justin gave me for Valentine's Day. A half-pound of candy.' Oh no. I'm not giving you that opportunity, even if I have to eat most of the candy myself. I just have to make the sacrifice. And anyhow, I always give you something else too, not just the candy."

"Yeah, you do," Brian had to admit. "Usually a sweater or a shirt in a color flattering to you so that you can borrow it later when you want to affect the 'baggy' look."

"You're telling me that some colors don't flatter me?" Justin wanted to know.

"I can't imagine any color brave enough not to flatter you," Brian laughed at him. "But I'm no fashion expert so I don't know for sure. Emmett would know."

"Let's not ask Emmett," Justin concluded. "I could find out more than I want to know."

The conversation petered out at this point and the guys just sat. Contentment returned to the loft - for a while.

"Sweetheart," Brian broke the silence. "It's not that I don't want you to help our friends out, but I am serious about what I was saying before you decided to start one of our little arguments. You are busy at school and I take up a lot of your time too. I just wish those guys wouldn't depend on you so much."

"It's OK, Brian," Justin reassured him. "I love my work at school, and I love spending time with you, but I can still fit helping these guys out into my schedule. I really can. If it got in the way of the time I spend with you I wouldn't do it. I bet you know that."

"OK, if you're sure …." Brian gave in grudgingly.

"And Malcolm and me have already got Abelard's Valentine's Day stuff taken care of," Justin added. "We did it by phone since he can't get here before Valentine's Day. So there really isn't much more to do. It will all work out, believe me."

"And so everybody will have a great gift to give their significant other, thanks to you" Brian mused. "Everybody but me. I'll be the one giving you the dumbest gift. It isn't fair."

"You know what, Bri," Justin declared. "I am going to help you with my Valentine's Day gift after all. I want you to plan what we do on Valentine's Day all by yourself. Then you can surprise me. It'll be the best Valentine's Day gift that anybody ever got."

"And what if you don't like what I plan? What then, Justin Taylor?" Brian wanted to know.

"Gee whiz, Brian Kinney," Justin assured him. "If we're together on Valentine's Day, I'll love it, whatever it is you plan. Being with you is the important thing."

"You know, Baby," Brian proposed, "I think the Monster Truck Pull is at the Mellon Arena on the fourteenth."

"Sounds great to me if that's what you pick for us to do," Justin responded. "I'll have a great time."

"And it sounds to me like you don't want to argue any more tonight either," Brian concluded. He squeezed the kid and added: "I guess you know I love you."

"Yeah," Justin said. "I guess I do. And that's the very best Valentine's Day present of all - the only thing I really need. You're already giving me the very best Valentine's Day present in the whole world. And I get it every day too."

That declaration seemed to please Brian and the guys just happily cuddled for a while. Everything seemed to be finally settled. Seemed to be, that is.

"And so what are you going to give me then, " Brian asked the kid. "Seeing as I'm giving you the very best Valentine's Day present in the whole world?"

Justin snuggled himself romantically into Brian's waiting arms. "Well," he thought out loud, "What about a ten pound box of candy?"

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