Daphne lounged on Justin's bed on her stomach, her legs bent and crossed at the knees. She slowly rocked them as she watched in amusement while Justin frantically tossed things into his suitcase. "Geeze, Justin, you're only going to be gone four days. There's enough shit in there for a month."

He eyed his overflowing bag for a moment before giving her a sheepish grin. "I guess I'm a bit nervous."

"Well, I think it's cool that Brian's taking you to Vermont for the weekend. Make sure to pack enough condoms and lube." Daphne smirked at the flush that crept up his cheeks.

"Shit, Daphne, will you stop?" Justin threw a pair of rolled socks at her, laughing when she ducked and almost fell off the bed. "We're going to be skiing, not just fucking all weekend."

Daphne rolled her eyes upward. "Riigghhtt! Like the two of you can keep your hands off each other. I'll bet you never even see the slopes."

Justin plopped down on the bed beside her, his arms full of sweaters, a broad grin brightening his face. "God, I hope so."

Sitting up, Daphne giggled as she hugged him lightly then jumped to her feet. "What time is your flight in the morning?" she asked as she put on her coat and grabbed the rest of her things.

"Eleven," Justin replied, folding the sweaters and laying them on the bed. "Brian's stopping in at Ryder's for a little while then picking me up around nine."

"Well, have a great time!" Daphne opened the bedroom door then glanced over her shoulder. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do," she teased with a wicked grin, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

Justin laughed at her antics. "Get out of here, brat. I'll call you when I get in on Sunday."

"You'd better – I want to hear all the dirty little details!" A quick wave and a giggle later, and Daphne was gone.

Justin shook his head and lay back on his bed, a half-folded sweater clutched to his chest. He couldn't believe Brian had given him the trip for a Christmas present. It was everything he wanted; they were acting like a real couple and going on vacation together. His eyes slowly drooped as he drifted, dreaming about picket fences and romantic picnics in the park.

Several hours later, the shrill ring of the phone jolted him awake. Justin fumbled for the receiver. "'lo?" he asked sleepily. He forced his eyes to focus on the alarm clock on his bedside table – 9:12 p.m.

"Justin?" Brian's tinny voice asked. Justin could barely hear him over the background noise. "Did I wake you up?"

"No, 's okay." Justin sat up, shaking his head to clear it. "What's up?"

"Listen, Justin. I'm not going to be able to go to Vermont this weekend. Something's come up and I have to go out of town."

"But, Brian..." Justin began.

Brian cut him off. "I gotta go – they just called my flight. I'm sorry, Justin. I'll phone you tomorrow, okay?" The connection went dead.

Justin disbelievingly stared at the phone in his hand, anger and disappointment warring for the upper hand. He'd been looking forward to this trip for days, ever since Brian had handed him the tickets and info for the Bed and Breakfast at Christmas. With all of the shit he'd been through with Ethan and the attack, he wanted – no, he needed – to get away from Pittsburgh for a while.

And now, Brian cancelled the trip without even an attempt at an explanation. Fuck, it wasn't fair.

Justin glanced at his backpack with a contemplative expression on his face. The plane tickets and the room reservation information were already packed away in one of the zippered pockets. Brian was probably on his way to Miami or Los Angeles, someplace warm with a bunch of hot guys to fuck. Justin wasn't about to sit at home like some pathetic loser, waiting anxiously by the phone for his boyfriend to maybe remember to call him. If Brian could go out of town then so could he.

That decided, Justin quickly dialed the phone. "Hello, Chris? Whatcha doing this weekend?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Brian slid his cell phone into his jacket pocket with a low growl. He knew Justin was upset, both about the postponed trip and the fact Brian hadn't explained why they couldn't go to Vermont in the morning.

Hell, he was upset about it, but there wasn't anything he could do right now. When Marty had dangled the possibility of a partnership at him over dinner, Brian knew he had to take the chance.

Slinging his overnight bag onto his shoulder, Brian handed his ticket to the attendant and boarded the plane to Chicago.

He would have to make it up to Justin when he got back into town. Brian always did, anytime he'd ever disappointed Justin in the past.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

March 10, 1995

"But Brian, It's my birthday! I'm gonna be thirteen this year!"

Brian sighed, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. "I know that, Justin. It's just that I've got a paper due on Monday and I can't get away."

"I hate college," Justin huffed over the phone. "I'm not gonna go – it screws up everything!"

Laughing quietly at Justin's petulant tone, Brian said, "You're going to go, and you'll love it when you do."

"Maybe,' Justin agreed reluctantly. "It's just not fair you're gonna miss my party tomorrow."

Brian smiled softly as he said, "I'll come next weekend and spend both days with you. We'll do whatever you want to."

"You'll take me skating?"

"Mmm-hmm."

"Can we go see a movie?"

"Yes."

"Will you take me to the art museum too?"

"I don't see why not." Brian chuckled to himself. The brat was going to keep him busy.

"You can buy me that computer game I've been wanting and we can play it too." Justin's tone was innocent – too innocent.

Brian snorted. "You mean the game Jeremy and Robert think is too violent? Nice try, kiddo, but no go."

There was a long pause. "Damn. Uncle Jeremy got to you too."

"Uh huh," Brian said. "Look, Justin, I've got to go. I'll see you next weekend, okay?"

Justin said softly, "All right, Brian." He hesitated for a second then added, "I miss you."

"I miss you too, kiddo. Now, have fun at your party – from what I hear, you're going to make out like a bandit."

"And you'll be here next weekend?"

"I promise."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

December 30, 1999

Chris glanced over at Justin, concerned. "Hey, Justin, you need to stop moping, man."

"Fuck you," Justin growled as he downed his fourth beer.

"No thanks, but what about that guy over there. He's kind of hot." Chris pointed at the other bar, where a nice-looking redhead was giving Justin come-hither looks.

Justin grimaced and shook his head. "Not interested." He threw a twenty to pay for their last round on the bar and stood up. "I'm heading back to the room – you can do whatever you want."

"Well, if you're not going to go for it, I am," Chris said, clasping Justin on the shoulder firmly. "Are you gonna be all right?"

Shrugging, Justin slipped on his jacket. "I'll be fine. Just be quiet when you come in, okay?" When Chris nodded absently, already intent on the trick, Justin headed out.

When he stepped out of the bar, the falling snow hit Justin in the face and he shivered, slouching down into his coat as he walked the three blocks back to the Bed and Breakfast. He was regretting his impulsive decision to come to Vermont – Chris Hobbs was a good friend, but he wasn't Brian.

'This was all a big fucking mistake,' he thought miserably as he quietly let himself into the main lobby and went upstairs to their room. 'Fuck Brian for ditching me.'

Justin undressed as soon as he locked the door behind him, crawling under the warm sheets and curling up on his side. He stared unblinkingly at the clock radio, watching the minutes tick past. Slowly his anger faded, leaving him even unhappier than he'd been before. Brian hadn't ditched him to go fuck other guys – Justin knew that, deep down. Knew that it would take something more important than sex for Brian to break a promise to him.

Finally, as two thirty clicked over on the clock, Justin's eyes fluttered shut and he fell into an uneasy sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Brian knocked for a third time on the door. It was just past midnight, so he knew everybody would be home. If he and Justin hurried, they could still spend a couple of days in Vermont.

Finally, the door opened partway and Robert stuck his head out. "Brian, what the hell?"

"Hi, Robert. Sorry about waking you, but can I talk to Justin? I was thinking we could head to Vermont now."

"You'd better come in," Robert grunted, opening the door farther and motioning Brian inside. He'd obviously thrown on his robe in a hurry – one side hung lower and the tie was sliding open. "Do you want some coffee?" He turned and walked toward the kitchen, rubbing his hand through his tousled hair.

"Sure." Brian glanced curiously at the stairway as he followed Robert. "Should I go up and get Justin?"

"Umm, about that," Robert muttered, giving Brian an uneasy look as he placed coffee beans into the grinder and hit the on button. The machine roared for a short time, then Robert poured the grounds into the basket and added water before starting the coffee maker. He finally turned to face Brian head on. "Justin's not here – he's already in Vermont."

"Damn," Brian whispered, easing himself onto one of the barstools. "Was he really pissed at me?"

Robert shrugged and straightened his robe, retying the sash. "He was pretty upset, but I'm sure he'll get over it."

Brian scrubbed his hands over his face wearily. "I tried to call him several times today, to explain what happened. He never picked up his cell phone."

"That's because he left it here by accident." Robert pointed at the kitchen table, where the phone was sitting. "Jeremy and I tried to talk him out of going, but he was determined." The coffee was finally ready and Robert poured them both a cup, setting Brian's down on the counter in front of him. Robert sat down on another stool and cautiously took a sip of his coffee before asking, "What did happen, Brian?"

"Marty offered me a partnership in the agency if I got the Brown Athletics account."

Robert arched an eyebrow. "I'm assuming you got the account?"

Brian grinned at him. "What do you think?"

"That would be a yes." Robert smiled. "Congratulations, Brian. You've worked hard to get partner."

"Yeah," Brian said, frowning down at his coffee.

Robert studied him over the rim of his mug. "Justin will understand, you know, if you explain it to him."

"Maybe." Brian shrugged. "Then again, maybe it just shows this wasn't meant to happen, Justin and me getting together. Fuck if I know."

"Bullshit, Brian," Robert snapped, slamming his cup down onto the counter with a loud 'thunk'. "You love him and you know he loves you – has loved you for years. That's rare, and you should fight for it, for him."

Brian glanced up and met Robert's eyes. "I suck at relationships."

Robert glared at him. "Get over yourself, Brian." His gaze softened when he noted Brian's unhappiness. "You've seen Jeremy and me fight – hell, we can barely go a month without a good blow-up. The thing is, Brian, those don't matter – we always work through them, because we think what we have together is worth it. You need to decide if Justin is worth the fight."

Giving a reluctant grin, Brian murmured, "He is an annoying little shit, isn't he?"

"Yeah, but he's your annoying little shit, if you want him." Robert drained the last of his coffee and stood up. "I'm going to bed. Make sure you lock the front door on your way out."

Brian nodded. "Thanks, Robert," he said softly. Robert winked at him over his shoulder as he walked out of the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Justin woke up as the mattress shifted behind him. "Chris, you're sleeping on the couch, remember? I won the coin toss – I get the bed tonight."

"So that's who the snoring lump is out in the living room," Brian murmured in his ear as he spooned up behind Justin's sleep warm body. He slid one hand up Justin's smooth chest, pulling him tight up against him. "I wasn't sure."

"Brian?" Justin asked, confused. He twisted his head around to look in Brian's face. "What are you doing here?"

"Can we talk about it in the morning? I've been up all night, chasing after your ass, and I'm exhausted."

"You came after me?"

"I'm here, aren't I? Now, shut up and let me sleep." Brian closed his eyes and nuzzled his face into Justin's hair and relaxed for the first time in hours.

Justin squirmed until he was facing Brian. "You're really here!"

Brian opened one eye and smiled faintly. "I promised you, didn't I? Now be quiet, you little shit."

"All right," Justin said, wrapping his arms around Brian's trim waist and laying his head on his chest. After a few minutes, he muttered somewhat indignantly, "I'm not a little shit."

"Yes you are." Brian's tone was firm.