I Remember It Well

Justin had the fireplace lit and was anticipating another pleasant evening in the loft with Brian. Seems that Brian had other plans though.

"Hey, Kiddo," Brian called from the bedroom. "Let's get dressed and go up to Gino's for dinner."

"I'd just as soon stay here," Justin called back, moving to comply with Brian's request. "But if you really want to go up to Gino's, we'll go. This must be some special occasion but I don't have any idea what it is."

"Actually, you probably do," Brian told the kid as Justin took a fancy sweater from the closet to complete his attire. "It's probably one of our anniversaries that you celebrate and I don't know about."

"Hmm," Justin grinned. "March 31. Yep, it's an anniversary all right. But I'm not about to tell you what it's an anniversary of. All you'd do is laugh at me. You're not the sentimental type, Kinney."

"Well, I'm taking you out to dinner, so I'm celebrating, right?" Brian reasoned, "And don't you want to tell me what I'm celebrating?"

"Not a chance," Justin maintained. "I'm not giving you anything extra for you to pick on me about. You'll just have to rely on criticizing how much spaghetti I eat."

"Well, I'm gonna celebrate an anniversary anyhow," Brian insisted. "I'm gonna pretend it's the anniversary of the night we went to Gino's…."

"The night you first had the guts to tell me you loved me," Justin interrupted with a smile. "A real night to remember and I do remember it. I remember it well."

"I'm not sure I remember it as well as you do," Brian replied. "Whatever you put in my drink that night was really powerful."

"Cut it out, BK," Justin ordered. "You know darn well I didn't put anything in your drink that night. You were in love with me and you told me you loved me because you wanted to. And you know what else? If you're celebrating that anniversary tonight - even though it's on the wrong date - you have to do it again."

"Are you sure you want to go to Gino's?" Brian asked with a big smile. "I think maybe I'd just as soon stay here.'

"Forget that, Bri," Justin smiled at him. "After I got all dressed up to go out, just like you told me to, we're going out. It'll probably be a lot of fun. We'll sit by the fireplace later."

As they were ascending Mt. Washington towards Gino's, Brian continued the discussion. "You know what, Baby," He said, "Maybe I don't have the exact date for the anniversary I'm celebrating, but I remember it was in the spring."

"September," Justin responded. "That was spring in Australia though so I guess you have a point."

"Well we're going just around the same time of day," Brian contended.

"It's almost eight o'clock, Bri," Justin corrected him. "We got to Gino's that night about six."

"Well the sun was setting in the west," Brian tried again.

"Gee whiz, Bri," Justin told him. "You do remember. The sun was setting in the west. I was afraid you'd forgotten the whole thing. But you do remember some things, I guess."

"And I'm sure you'll be getting spaghetti - and spaghetti - and spaghetti," Brian gibed. "Like the four servings you had that night."

"Three," Justin replied. "I was watching my intake numbers that night. Only three."

""Then you can only have three tonight," Brian told him. "We want it to be just the same. See how sentimental I can be. I'm going to order the same thing I had that night too. Do you remember what I had?"

"Brian," Justin responded. "That may be the only thing I don't remember. You always order something weird that I never heard of. Sometimes it isn't even on the menu but Gino gets it for you anyhow. Then when it comes, I still have no idea what it is - and I don't ask either because I'm not sure I'd want to know."

When they arrived at Gino's, the waiter seated them at their usual table, saving Brian the trouble of remembering which one it was. Justin wondered if he would have known otherwise.

Once they were seated, Brian leaned over toward the kid. "I love you, Kiddo," He said. "There I told you I loved you before we ordered - just like I did the last time."

"Brian," Justin said with just a trace of impatience showing in his voice. "You waited until we had eaten last time - so you're going to have to say it again later."

"Geez, if you aren't a real stickler for detail, Honey," Brian laughed - then reminded him: "And I gave you something that night too. I think it was tickets to that awful concert you wanted so much to go to."

"Yep," Justin replied, "You did give me something, but nope, not those concert tickets. I bought those concert tickets myself, and I really had to work on you to get you to go with me."

"Oh, yeah," Brian answered. "I remember that."

"Well, I'm glad you remember something anyhow," Justin remarked.

At this point the waiter came and they ordered. Justin thought Brian ordered what he had ordered on the night they were commemorating - but he couldn't be completely sure.

"You know what, Baby," Brian said after the waiter had taken their orders, "I think you're a little bit upset because I don't seem to remember what we did on that big night so long ago."

"Not really that long ago, Brian, but no, I'm not really upset," Justin countered, "Maybe just a little surprised but not upset. I'm used to you by now - and I still love you cause you're the greatest guy in the world. But maybe I did think you'd remember it a little better than you do.

"Do you know what today's date is?" Brian asked with a coy smile on his face.

"Yeah," Justin said. "My memory is still OK. It's March 31. What's going on, Brian?"

"And tomorrow is?" Brian continued.

"April 1," Justin responded quizzically with some concern in his voice. "Is something the matter, Bri?"

"April Fools' Day, Sweetheart," Brian pointed out. "Maybe I was just getting an early start. You're too hard to catch on the right day, and since I'm so bad at remembering dates, I thought I'd try tonight - just one day off schedule. Baby, I remember everything about that night - except maybe the date. After we eat, I'm going to take you for a walk along Grandview Avenue and we're going to sit on the same benches we sat on that night. I know which ones they are. And maybe I have some reservations for snow boarding in Vermont too - just like the last time - for when it snows up there too. I remember when it snows in Vermont."

It was a few hours later when the guys finally did settle themselves down in front of the fake fireplace.

"Brian," Justin opened the conversation. "That was a really great night. I loved it. You are crazy but I love your surprises. And I'm glad you remembered everything so well. That means a lot to me. I love you, Brian. Even if you did prove how sneaky you really can be. But I do not think you can officially count it as 'getting' me for April Fools' Day - since it was the wrong date and all."

"Well, I am counting it and I'm not going to try again tomorrow," Brian promised, "Tonight worked for me. And since you really had such a good time tonight, maybe you won't try to pull anything on me tomorrow either."

Justin moved over and kissed the guy he loved more than anything else in the world.

"Maybe," He told him.

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