It's Got To Be Love

The loft was lit only by the flames of the fake fireplace. The two residents were sprawled happily and comfortably on the floor facing the fire. A scene of genuine domestic bliss. Exactly what would be expected – for a while anyway.

“You know what, Sunshine,” Brian finally broke the pristine silence. “I want this Valentine’s Day to be absolutely perfect. So do you have any ideas how I can make sure it will be? You always have ideas.”

“Guess you could plan to pick on me all day,” Justin suggested impishly. “That ought to make your day perfect. What about that?”

“OK, Twink,” Brian came back at him. “Quit trying to be like me. I’m serious. We’ve had some pretty good Valentine’s Days already but I want this one to be perfect so….”

“Something up, Kinney?” Justin wondered. “This is not like you at all. I bet you’re planning to go away without me after Valentine’s Day – or you’re gonna do something else I won’t like - and you’re just trying to soften me up for some major disappointment.”

“So now I guess I’m not allowed to get romantic, Sweetheart,” Brian complained. “You’re always telling me I’m not romantic enough and then when I try to be romantic, I get rebuffed.”

“Gee whiz, Brian,” Justin replied in kind, “The last thing in the world I would want to do is rebuff you when you want to be romantic – so I guess I’ll just play along for now – till the other shoe falls.”

“The first shoe hasn’t even fallen yet, Baby,” Brian laughed at him. “Oh you of little faith. Nope. I just want the day to be perfect for you and, if it is, that will make it perfect for me. So what would you like to do? And don’t say you just want to sit and watch the fireplace either. We do that a lot anyways. I want Valentine’s Day to be special. Last year we flew to Paris and that was special – but that was also partly on business. Wanna go away for the holiday this year? You can pick the place. Whatever you want.”

“You’re really acting serious, BK,” Justin told him. “You know, I might just get a little bit peeved if you’re setting me up. Yeah, I just might. You know how sensitive I can be.”

“Oh yeah, I do know, but I guess I picked the wrong night to bring up this subject, Kiddo,” Brian decided. “You aren’t about to be any help. I can see that. OK, so I quit.”

“Darn it, BK,” Justin responded. “If you really want to talk about Valentine’s Day, we can talk about it. It’s just that…. If you want to go away for the fourteenth, that’ll be great with me – but it might be just as well to do something right here in town. Cynthia told me you guys are pretty busy at Kinnetics now and….”

“Spying again?” Brian mused with a smile. “Good thing I wasn’t trying to surprise you…. Maybe we should just go out to dinner someplace special. And maybe we could take Brandon and Jason with us?”

“See what I mean, Kinney,” Justin scowled. “Just when I get convinced you’re serious, you come up with a crazy idea like that….”

“Thought you liked Brandon and Jason,” Brian teased him. “It was only a suggestion….”

”Well I hope it wasn’t a very serious suggestion, Brian,” Justin informed him. “Since I’m not in love with either Brandon or Jason and we are talking about Valentine’s Day after all.”

“And…?” Brian coaxed. “As you are often wont to say: ‘And….?”

“OK, Mr. Kinney, so what if I am in love with you,” Justin gave up, “Or at least I am when you’re not picking on me – like you are now.”

Brian decided then to try some non-verbal means to convince the kid of his sincerity. It was a good decision. It took some time - but it accomplished its purpose. Justin seemed to be convinced all right.

“You know what, Bri,” Justin later resumed the discussion. “You can skip the flowers this year. All they do is sit around and die.”

“Now there’s a morbid thought, Baby,” Brian grinned. “But you’re right. That’s what they do – so unless I see some flowers I can’t resist, we’ll skip them. I’m not promising to skip the flowers but I’ll think about it…. I guess you won’t want any candy either.”

“Well, it might be a good idea to have some candy around the loft just in case we get some company,” Justin proposed. “And the candy won’t just sit around and die either.”

“My guess is that it won’t even sit around alive for very long either, Sweetheart,” Brian had to laugh. “I bet your favorite mix from Dotty’s Candyland would work.”

“Yeah,” Justin agreed. “It would. Probably the five-pound box would be best too. We might be getting a lot of company so it would be good to have around.”

“Yeah, we might be getting a lot of company, Baby,” Brian was still laughing. “But if any of those visitors want any of that candy, they better get here by the fifteenth at the latest.”

“You are something else, Brian Kinney,” Justin had to laugh too, “You have to be picking on me even when you’re trying to be romantic….”

”Trying?” Brian echoed. “Just trying….?”

“Trying and succeeding too, Honey,” Justin corrected himself. “When you decide to be romantic, you always succeed.”

‘OK, Baby,” Brian relaxed. “It might be better if we do stay in town this year. We are pretty busy at Kinnetics right now – but if you wanted to go away somewhere, that’s what we’d do… You’re more important to me than any more business for Kinnetics.”

“You know what, Kinney,” Justin smiled coyly. “You really can be romantic when you want to be – and I remember when you didn’t used to be able to say anything romantic at all…. You’ve really changed.”

“It’s the need to survive, Sweetheart,” Brian explained with a laugh. “Romance is a survival skill when dealing with you….”

At this point, Justin initiated a pause in the conversation to provide an opportunity for Brian to practice his survival skills – not that the action was in any regard a one-way street.

“OK,” Brian eventually, and maybe reluctantly, returned to the discussion. “We have to decide where to have our Valentine’s Day dinner,” Brian suggested. “If we go to a restaurant, it has to be someplace where we won’t meet anybody we know. I think it ought to be just the two of us.”

”No Brandon and Jason?” Justin gibed.

“No Brandon or Jason – or Mikey and Ben – or Tom and Ethan – or anybody else either,” Brian assured him. “In fact, maybe we could order dinner from one of the exclusive restaurants and have them deliver it here – and then we could lock the door and pretend we aren’t home. That way we’ll be sure it’s just the two of us.”

“Gee whiz,” Justin marveled. “Brian Kinney sure can be really romantic when he wants to be. I always know that he can - but it’s still a surprise when he wants to ….”

The conversation seemed to just die out at this point with Brian holding Justin tightly and Justin resting his head on Brian’s shoulder. A perfect ending to the discussion – if it had actually been the ending.

“Hey, Bri,” Justin suggested breaking the silence one last time. “Say something really romantic.”

“Well,” Brian tried to comply, “Maybe the ten-pound box of candy would be better.”

Justin moved over and kissed the guy next to him. “You know what, Bri,” he whispered in his ear. “That’s the most romantic thing you’ve said all night.”

 

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