* Elbow Grease *

After that night at Babylon, it seemed that whatever had been keeping Brian and Justin from running into each other was broken. Now it seemed they were running into each other everywhere and neither one was sure what to do about it. Both men continued to act calm and unaffected on the outside, but on the inside both men were dealing with their individual demons.

It all began the day after Babylon. Justin walked into the girls' house to talk with Lindsey about his upcoming show and instead found Brian playing with Gus. Brian and Gus were so busy, that neither of them had heard him come in, and so Justin stood there, quietly watching them. Before him was the Brian that he had always known existed; gentle, loving, and happy. The image of Brian on the floor, surrounded by the bright colors of the Lego blocks that he and Gus were building with, made his palms itched to draw it. Then, just as he thought about quietly leaving, two pairs of hazel eyes looked up and caught his. Justin felt his heart flip and the butterflies start up in his stomach all over again. Just has they had years ago.

"Justin!" Gus called out scrambling to his feet and launching himself at him.

Justin laughed as he caught the excited boy. "Hey Gus, whatcha building?"

Gus squirmed out of Justin's arms and grabbing his hand, leading him over to where Brian was watching them. "We're building a castle! See!"

Justin looked down at Brian before joining them on the floor.

Brian's eyes were twinkling as he laughed at Gus' enthusiasm and Justin's slight but obvious discomfort at being in the room with him. "So Sunshine, what are you doing here?"

Justin didn't look at Brian, but concentrated on the blocks that were laying around him, handing them to Gus as he continued building. "I came by to talk to Lindsey about my show. I wanted to get her advice about a couple of things. What time do you expect them back?"

Brian shrugged and went back to building with Gus. "I'm not sure, probably in about another half an hour. So, how is your show going? You about ready for it?"

Justin shrugged. "I guess so, at least about as ready as I can be. I think I'm more nervous than anything."

Justin finally looked up and watched Brian before he looked up and caught his gaze. Brian smiled again. "I'm sure you have nothing to worry about. You have always been a wonderful artist and I know you'll do really well."

Justin smiled back. "I hope so. Thanks, I needed to hear that I guess."

Brian felt his smile start to falter. "No problem, I'm only telling you the truth."

Watching Justin play with Gus, Brian tried to calm his stomach and took a deep breath, opened his mouth and then closed it. He knew that he wanted to ask Justin out, but after their history, he wasn't sure how Justin would take it and was scared that he would turn him down.

Looking down at his watch, he noticed the time and knew that the girls would be home shortly. Feeling the need to get out and think, he stood. "Justin, listen, I need to go and the munchers will be home in a few minutes. Do you mind if I go on?"

Justin looked up confused at the sudden change in Brian and stood as well. "Uh, sure. Go ahead. I don't mind waiting for them to get home. Besides, I still want to talk to Lindsey about the show."

Brian got his coat and with a hug and a kiss to Gus, he walked to the door. "Thanks, Justin. I'll see you around."

Justin watched Brian walk out, his thoughts jumbled and his emotions mixed.

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The next day, Justin tried to put Brian out of his mind and concentrated on his work. He was actually surprised when his stomach informed him that it was lunch time. Making his way to the diner, he was relieved to not see Brian anywhere around. Walking up to the counter, he sat down to place his order. Debbie came over and chatted for a bit, but with the lunchtime rush, she couldn't do more but verify that he was going to be at the family gathering on Thursday.

Just about then, Justin heard a squeal, and laughed as Emmett came over and gave him a hug. "How are you baby! Where have you been keeping yourself hidden?"

"Hey Em. Oh, you know working, painting, drawing, that kind of thing." Justin smiled as he picked up his to-go order that was placed in front of him.

Emmett shook his head. "Justin, you need to get out more. You've been home for months now and I've only seen you a handful of times."

Justin sighed. "Em…you know that I…"

Emmett stopped Justin. "I know that you are getting over a relationship but that doesn't mean you have to become a recluse. I want you to meet me at Woody's tonight. I'm not going to take no for an answer." Emmett continued when Justin opened his mouth.

Emmett thought for a moment. "How about 10:30 or 11:00. We can have a few drinks, play a little pool, and just talk about nothing in particular. Just two friends, spending some time together."

Justin couldn't help but smile as he watched Emmett. "Ok, 11:00, that way I can have a little time to work on my art before I meet up with you."

Emmett clapped his hands together in excitement. "Oh goody! Just don't get caught up and forget about me."

Justin hugged Emmett and started to walk out the door saying over his shoulder. "As if I could forget about you Emmett. I'll see ya later."

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Justin looked at his blank computer screen and sighed. He was beginning to regret his impulsive decision to meet Emmett at Woody's. He knew there was a chance that he would run into Brian there, but hoped that he would stay true to form and be at Babylon instead.

Putting down his stylus, he got up and walked over to the window, starring out into the night. He just didn't understand what was wrong with him. He had grown up, had a loving, long term relationship, so why was he suddenly thinking of Brian again? He was over him, right? He still loved…No; he had to be honest with himself. The ache was gone, and while he could smile when he thought about Quinn, he knew that it was truly over.

Hell, in his last letter from Bruce and Aiden, they had informed him that Quinn was dating another student and it hadn't bothered him at all.

So what was going on with him? He thought he was over what most people would have called a school boy crush, even though he knew different. He and Brian were two different people now or at least he knew he was. Sighing, he looked at the clock, grabbed his keys, and left for Woody's.

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As soon as Justin walked into Woody's, he knew that luck wasn't with him. Brian was at the pool tables playing with the boys. He would have turned around and walked back out if Emmett hadn't spotted him ad yelled. "Hey Baby!"

Justin smiled, took a deep breath, and walked over only to be engulfed in Em's hug. "Glad you could make it."

Justin kept smiling. "Yeah, hi guys. I'm going to get a drink. I'll be right back."

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Brian watched Justin walk to the bar and tried to calm his rapidly beating heart. Giving himself a mental shake, he told himself that he was being silly. He was a grown man, and he needed to quit acting like some teenage girl.

"Brian…Brian!" Michael said, bringing Brian out of his thoughts. "It's your turn."

Brian shot Michael a quick scowl and then took his shot, purposefully missing. He then handed his cue to Ted. "I'm going to get another beer, anyone want anything?"

Everyone shook their heads and he walked over to the bar, joining Justin there. "Hey."

Brian and Justin stood there, neither one saying anything to the other as they waited for their drink orders, the nervous tension building between them.

Emmett finally came over and took over. "Oh for crying out loud you two, I don't know what your problems are, but we're all friends here, so let's have some fun."

Brian looked over at Justin as Emmett walked away. "Are we friends, Sunshine?"

Justin shrugged. "I don't know, but I'd like for us to be."

Brian nodded. "Me too. Come on, I'll bet you a beer that I can still beat you at pool."

Justin laughed as he felt the tension dissipate around them. "Oh you do, do you? Well, you're on."

The rest of the night passed quickly and Justin found himself having a good time. There were still moments of awkwardness and tension when someone would say something, or one of them would accidentally brush up against the other as they moved around the table, but the important thing was that they were all trying.

There were times that he found himself watching Brian when he shouldn't have, and once, Brian even caught him at it, causing him to blush. Justin was surprised however when instead of the sarcastic comment that he thought Brian would give, he just smiled kindly and continued on as if he hadn't caught Justin. After that, Justin told himself that it was only because he was glad they were friends again.

What Justin didn't know was that Brian was also watching him. While he had been kept up to date by the family, he wanted to see for himself the man that Justin had become. He wanted to know if the Sunshine he had fallen in love with was still there, or if he loved someone that no longer existed. When he caught Justin watching him, he knew that some of his sunshine was still there.

Little did either of them know, that while they were trying to be nonchalant in their observations of each other, they were anything but. Everyone who knew them and their history saw what was going on. Some shook their heads, others started placing bets, and those that knew them best grinned and wondered how long before one of them made a move.

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The rest of the week went on about the same. Brian or Justin would be out with the guys and the other would show up having also been invited. While the tension never really left, the awkwardness of being around each other slowly began to disappear. However, they both made a point of never really being alone together, and never danced with each other except in group form.

Sunday came and they both showed up at Deb's for the weekly gathering. To everyone around them, it seemed that they had finally gotten over their former relationships and were once again living life instead of just putting up with it. They were also glad to see them working hard at being friends. Off course everyone knew that they would eventually end up together, but their main concern was, if they did, would it last? And if it didn't, would they both survive.

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The night of Justin's opening was filled with nervous excitement. Justin walked around the room doing a final check before the doors opened. As he looked around, he was pleased with what he saw. Instead of going with the traditional opening of keeping the walls white so that nothing distracted from the art work, Justin had draped the walls with sheets of rich jewel tone material and placed a spot light on each piece of artwork where it was nestled among them. The colors of the material only enhanced the colors in his paintings.

Emmett walked up and put his arm around him. "The servers are ready. How about you?"

Justin took another look around. "I'm nervous but as ready as I'll ever be."

Looking toward the door, he nodded for them to be opened and the lights dimmed. "Thanks for catering this Em. I know how busy your schedule is."

"Anything for you baby. I'd have been upset if you hadn't. Now, go knock'em dead." Emmett said, giving him a little push toward the door, where some people were starting to come in.

Justin smiled at the first people that walked in and kissed them each on the cheek. "Hi Mom, Molly."

Jennifer smiled back at her son. "So, are you nervous?"

Justin laughed. "Yeah, does it show?"

"No, you look wonderful." Jennifer said. "You know I'm proud of you."

"Thanks Mom. Why don't you and Molly look around. Let me know what you think." Justin said, seeing more people walking in.

"Okay sweetheart. We'll try to stay out of your way. We know you've got to work." Jennifer said as she led Molly away farther into the gallery.

Justin was soon surrounded by many people clamoring over his work. When he could, he'd get away to talk to his friends and family, but he kept looking for that one person he wanted to see his work. Brian.

Finally, Justin worked his way out of the crowd and began to roam through his work, nodding here and there to people, but not stopping to talk. As he moved among his work, he'd stop and caress various vases and statues that he had done. He noticed sold signs on several pieces and moved on to look at the walls. He eyed each painting and drawing that had a sold sign, trying to figure out what they had that the ones he hadn't sold yet didn't.

Finally he stopped in front of one of his favorites. It was an oil rendering of his sketch of Quinn with the bonfire behind him, making him look like a pagan god at Beltane.

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Brian walked into the busy gallery and immediately started looking for Justin. Not wanting to reveal his hand to anyone yet, he made his way over to his friends to say hi before using the excuse of looking over the work to try and find Justin.

As he looked, he looked over the work spread out around the room and was pleased by what he saw. He had stopped to look over a particular statue, when he finally saw Justin standing in front of a large painting. Brian looked him over and couldn't stop his heart from picking up speed or the tightening of his cock at the sight he presented.

Justin was wearing dark blue slacks that showed off his ass nicely. His shirt was a pale shimmery blue with dark blue strips running vertically through it. The pale blue seemed to glow and Brian knew that it matched his eyes and would make them stand out.

Taking a deep breath, he walked over to him and felt his stomach drop when he saw who the painting was of.

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Justin suddenly felt a familiar presence behind him and a voice ask. "So, who is he?"

Brian of course knew who he was but wasn't about to let Justin know.

Justin looked over his shoulder at Brian and smiled one of his true sunshine smiles at him, glad that Brian had made it. "Hi Brian. That's …uhm…that's Quinn."

Brian shook his head in acknowledgement but searched Justin's face for any trace that he might still be in love with Quinn. Between the smile that Justin had sent him and the lack of sadness, Brian knew that he could go ahead with his plans.

Looking over his shoulder at the crowd, he smiled. "Looks like you have a success on you hands here Sunshine. Congratulations."

Justin continued to smile. He had been nervous about answering Brian's questions, and felt his heart speed up as Brian had searched his face. "Yeah, I guess I do. Thanks. Have you had a chance to look at everything?"

Brian smiled back. "No, but what I've seen, I've been impressed with. Then again, I always knew you were talented."

Justin couldn't keep the blush of pleasure from staining his cheeks. "Come on, I'll give you a personal tour of the rest."

Justin proceeded to lead Brian the rest of the way around the room. Brian was please to see a similar picture to the titled "Fire" but this one was titled "Blue" and the silhouette was obviously of himself with his head thrown back in pleasure. Brian also noticed that like "Fire" it was also sold.

Justin saw Brian looking at the painting he had done of him. "I…I almost didn't include this one."

Brian turned to look at Justin. "Why?"

Justin felt his breath catch and decided to be honest with his answer. "Sentimental reasons. That, and I knew that you'd recognize it, and I wasn't sure if you'd be happy about being on display."

Brian smiled. "Oh, I recognize it alright, but I'm glad you did, sentimental reasons aside and all."

Justin laughed and continued with his tour. Toward the end, he got pulled away and Brian finished the rest on his own.

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Jennifer, who had been watching the whole thing, left Molly with Debbie and walked over to Brian. "Hello Brian."

Brian glanced over at Jennifer then back at the painting in front of him. "Hello Mrs. Taylor."

Jennifer glanced to see if Justin was watching then said. "You still love him, don't you."

Brian looked at her in surprise. Whatever Jennifer was going to say, that certainly hadn't been what he was expecting. "I…yes, I do."

Jennifer nodded. Then I guess I need to thank you for letting him go when you did. He's done things that he wouldn't have if you hadn't."

Brian sighed. "Don't thank me. I did what I did because I thought he'd be happier with the fiddler. But he wasn't, was he. We both ended up being miserable for awhile, but in the long run, it did us both good. I needed to do some growing up of my own."

Jennifer nodded. "I understand."

Jennifer turned to leave but stopped and looked at Brian again. "Brian, whatever you decide to do, remember that even though he is a grown man, he's still my little boy, and I don't want to see him hurt."

Brian nodded, and Jennifer went back to collect Molly. It was getting late, and they needed to say goodbye to Justin before they left.

Justin had just reached the front of the gallery when Jennifer and Molly came up to say goodnight.

"I'm so proud of you honey! Your show is such a success." Jennifer said hugging Justin and placing a kiss on his cheek. "We're going to leave as it's getting late."

Justin smiled back at his Mom. "Thanks Mom. I'm glad you like it. Goodnight, Molly."

Molly smiled and hugged her brother before going to catch up with her mother.

When Jennifer left, it seemed to be the signal, and slowly the other guests began to leave. Justin stood at the door, smiling and collecting and passing out business cards. Finally, Justin looked around and noticed that the only people left were his staff, Emmett and Vic and their staff, and Brian.

First he went and said a few words to his staff, giving them some last minute instructions before they left. Then he walked over to Emmett and Vic and thanked them for all they had done for him.

"Think nothing of it baby, we're just glad we could help. We'll be out of your hair in just a few minutes." Emmett said as he looked around at his staff clearing away what was left of the food and drinks. "Now, instead of standing here talking to us, why don't you go see what Brian wants."

Emmett gave Justin a little turn and push in the right direction before turning to see Vic laughing at him. "What? You know as well as I do that they still love each other. Anyone with a brain can see that. They just need a push now and then."

Vic continued to laugh. "I agree. Now let's get this stuff out of here so that they can be alone. Whatever is going to happen doesn't need an audience."

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Justin walked over to where Brian was standing, and looked at the piece he was studying. He saw the sold sign and smiled. "Did you buy it?"

Brian smiled and shook his head. "No, I was just looking at it while waiting for you."

Just felt his heart speed up. "Waiting for me? Why?"

Brian took a deep breath to steady his nerves. Looking Justin in the face, he said. "Well, I know it's kind of short notice, but I thought maybe we could go out tomorrow night to celebrate the success of your show with dinner."

Justin felt his heart pound harder at what Brian had just said. However, he decided to play dumb for a moment and hope for clarification. "Oh, you mean get the gang together for one of our little celebration dinners?"

Brian closed his eyes and took a steadying breath before opening them again. "No, it wouldn't be the whole gang. It would just be you and me."

Justin studied Brian's face carefully, trying to see if he was serious. "Brian? Are you asking me out on a date?"

Brian continued to look Justin in the eye and with a slight smile, said. "Yes, I am. An honest to god date. You know the kind where I pick you up at your place, drive you to a restaurant, we eat, have conversation, that kind of date."

Justin continued to study Brian for a few moments. Then to Brian's relief, one of the most brilliant smiles he had ever seen came upon Justin's face. He had his answer and smiled back.

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