Beyond Reason

Chapter 1

It was a crowded night at Babylon, even for a Saturday. There were a couple of conventions in town, the weather was good and Stockwell was about to be put behind bars. The place was packed and there was a line to get in.

The boys, except for Ted who was afraid of temptation were standing at the bar down by the dance floor. Brian was pretending to scan the crowd, Justin was standing with his arm around the taller man's waist and Emmett was sending out vibes announcing his availability to anyone who was paying attention. The music was loud, the bodies were crammed together, it was almost one thirty in the morning and though he wouldn't admit it, Brian was ready to pack it in, go home, fuck and go to sleep.

The week had been brutal.

There had been pitch meetings, two or three a day, all week. Every night had been a late one preparing; every morning had been early getting ready. He was beat.

"Oh, I love this song-don't you love this song?"

"It fills the void."

"Brian…"

He had to or he'd never live it down, not that he gave a shit. "One dance, then it's time for you to be in bed, little boy."

"And little boy's big boy wants to go to bed, too."

They made their way through the crowd to a spot near the middle of the floor. The others knew to make room for them and they expected nothing less. It was their due when you thought about it. The king and his consort, as it were. They were standing with their arms around one another, there was no real room to actually dance so they were just swaying, grinding against each other, kissing, groping, ignoring the men who watched them.

The others either envied them or disliked them, depending on their points of view. There weren't too many who actually knew either of them, their opinions were based mostly on gossip and rumor. 'Kinney's an asshole, a real prick.' 'That twink would fuck anything for a free ride-he's a fucking old digger.' 'They're both hung like Seabiscuit.' 'Kinney can make a corpse come.' 'The kid gives the best blowjobs on the East Coast.' 'Kinney's broke.' 'Kinney's loaded.' 'Taylor likes girls.' 'Couple of arrogant jackasses.'

Not too many of the men liked either Brian or Justin.

Brian felt an extra pair of hands start on his back and grab his ass. Damnit, he just wasn't in the mood for this, not right now. Breaking his kiss with Justin, he half turned his head. "Fuck off."

A voice in his ear and not Justin's, "We could have some fun, him too, if you want."

"Not interested. Fuck off."

"No reason to be so hasty…"

Justin didn't bother to look up from where he had been licking Brian's throat. "He said fuck off."

"C'mon, a little fun…"

Enough was enough for Brian tonight. He just wasn't in the mood for this jackass. "Why the fuck would I do you when I have him?" He still hadn't even bothered to look at the guy. Whoever he was, he wasn't what Brian wanted tonight. "Come on, time to go home." He stared off the floor. "Fucking loser."

Sighing, annoyed that the stranger had cut the dance short, Justin let Brian take his hand and lead him over to the stairs. Out on the street Justin couldn't help it, "I hate it when some asshole can't take no for an answer. I mean, God, he was pathetic."

"He just wanted the best, you can't hardly blame him for that."

"Like you'd ever do some stranger in a back room." He actually managed to keep a straight face.

"The nerve."

"Insulting."

"Hurtful."

"Didn't I just tell you it was your bedtime?"

"Always telling me what to do…" They were in the car, half way home. "Never letting me decide anything for myself."

Brian parked the car. "I know, always pushing you one way, pulling you another. Never letting you get any rest."

"So much of my life sucks." They were walking up the stairs, arms around one another.

"The part that doesn't blow." Brian unlocked the sliding door. "Time to put you to bed, young man."

"Always telling me what to do…"

"And sometimes I have to spank you."

"Think I need spanking tonight?"

They were on the bed, the orange lights on. "I think you may, yes…"

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Standing at the largest of the six bars in Babylon, the man Brian had rejected was talking to one of his friends.

"Did you see that guy? I mean, who the fuck does he think he is?"

"Yeah, right."

"What?"

"You shitting me? You don't know whom you hit on? Buy yourself a clue, dude. That was Brian Kinney and his Twink."

"And he's who-God?"

"Yeah, well. Pretty much. He gets whomever he wants and lately he's just wanted his arm candy. Most of the time, anyway."

"What makes him so hot shit?"

"You saw him, man, you got eyes. And after you get past that he's rich, has this killer place he lives in and he's the one who made those ads that stopped Stockwell from being mayor. He sold almost everything he owned to pay for them." The friend leaned back on his elbows, scanning the crowd. "He walks on fucking water around here."

"He sold everything-so he's broke?"

"I dunno. I heard now he owns some new hot shit company or something that's making him a ton of money."

"So he's one of those fuckers who's shit don't stink. Yeah, sure."

"You wanna dance?"

"Not right now." He took a slug from his beer. "What about the blond?"

"Kinney's twink? The heir apparent? Smart, pretty, snotty-just like his boyfriend."

"Couple of shit heads." He finished off the bottle. "I hate shit heads like that."

"Yeah, well get used to it. Some people are just born with the road paved in front of them."

"Riding for a fall-assholes like that are always riding for a fall."

"Yeah, whatever."

"Fucking arrogant sons of bitches."

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A couple of days later Brian and Justin were talking at the Liberty Diner counter. Justin was near the end of his shift and they were going out to get some dinner that wasn't fried.

"Brian? As soon as I finish this order I'll just get my jacket, OK?

Brian sat chatting with Deb to wait the few minutes it would take. A man, not the same one who had been at Babylon the other night, sat beside Brian, nudging against his thigh.

Shit.

He moved his leg a couple of inches away.

The man pressed back against him.

"I'm not interested." Debbie seemed slightly amused by the obvious attempt.

The man smiled and leaned his shoulder against Brian's.

"I said I'm not interested."

"You could be."

Brian gave the man a nonchalant but thorough once over. "In you? Not a snowball's chance in hell, asshole. Fuck off and learn what soap's for-you smell, asshole." It was loud enough for everyone in the place to hear and look over. A few of the customers laughed.

Humiliated, the man left.

Debbie just stared at Brian. "How do you get away with that shit? Anyone else would have had his lights punched out for that."

"But Deb, as you should know by now-I'm not 'anyone'."

Justin joined them, jacket on. "Yeah, well one of these days you're gonna piss off the wrong person.

Brian rolled his eyes. "Come on, princess. Time to keep your strength up for the long cold night."

Out on the sidewalk the man watched them go past, Kinney not even bothering to glance in his direction, his attention on the pretty blond beside him.

The man felt invisible. And angry.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Brian, you need to be more careful."

"I'm always careful." He reached for the bowl of condoms, taking one out and drawing a line down Justin's face to his chin, his throat, down his chest and into his groin with the foil wrapper.

"I don't mean that kind of careful. That guy at Babylon the other night and that other guy at the diner you blew off-you really piss people off sometimes."

"Like I give a shit."

Justin pushed Brian slightly off of him, making him listen to what he had to say.

Damnit.

"Well maybe you should. What if one of them got really mad at you?"

"And what if I get hit by lightning tomorrow?" He was concentrating on Justin's left tit. The one that didn't have the ring through it.

"I'm serious."

"So am I." Fuck-this was not how he'd planned on spending the next hour or so. "People get pissed at people all the time. It doesn't mean anything and they get over it as soon as they get their next blowjob."

Brian was starting on Justin's left tit again with his hand making its way down to tickle the fine hairs just below his belly button. "Stop doing that. I want to talk about this."

"About what? My people skills?"

"Your people skills are fine it's just that you don't always use them to their full potential-and you know what they say about catching flies with vinegar."

Brian was getting seriously annoyed. "And you're Mr. Popularity? I think I can come up with a few who'd be happy to see you walk in front of a car."

"This isn't about me, asshole. This is about you being careful and not…"

"The name Ethan Gold ring a bell? I suspect he's not in your cheering section. What about the frat boy you banged at Daphne's party then kissed off in front of all of Liberty Avenue the next day? Chris Hobbs?" Brian pulled a cigarette out of the pack by the side of the bed, lit it and settled against the pillows.

"That's not the same and I didn't…"

"The fuck you didn't. You piss off as many people as I do on any given day." OK, he knew that wasn't quite really true, but the kid wasn't a saint all the time.

"And I haven't had my loft broken into or my car vandalized, either."

"You really want to get into this with me? The loft was broken into because your fairy brain forgot to set the damn alarm and the jeep was vandalized because Mikey left the fucking thing parked by some homophobic prick kids."

"And …" He stopped. This wouldn't accomplish anything other than to make Brian dig his heels in and then it would take another Johnstown Flood to budge him. "Look, I just want you to be careful, that's all."

The atmosphere changed with just that. They were both calm again. He stubbed out the cigarette. "Come here." His arm went around Justin's shoulders again, they were kissing again. "I'm always careful, you know that."

The lovemaking was slow, smooth. They took the time to feel one another, feel themselves and savor being who and where they were.

Afterwards, seemingly minutes later, when they had finished and fallen into a deep sleep they were forced awake by the incessant banging on the door. Hoping it would stop if they ignored it, they both tried to bury their heads under the pillows but it didn't work.

Vaguely Brian could hear Michael shouting at him to get his ass awake and to open the goddamned door.

Shit. Damnit.

He pried his eyes opened. It was light in the loft. Morning. Seven fucking AM on a Sunday. Shit. He walked naked over to the slider. "What the fuck do you want?"

"You may want to wake up your boyfriend, asshole. PIFA's main building burned to the ground last night and the cops think it's arson."

"That sucks, but I think he outgrew his fireman's hat when he was five."

"Carl called my mom. He said they got a letter-the cops got a letter. In fact they're going to be over here pretty soon to talk to him about it."

"Because…?"

"It says that the fire is Justin's fault."

Brian just looked at him like he'd lost his mind. "When did the building burn down?"

"Last night. Late last night."

"We were at Babylon then we were fucking. He has an iron hard alibi."

Michael shook his head. "I didn't say he did it himself. They got a letter that said it was Justin's fault."

Exasperated, as he often was talking with Mikey, Brian said, "Because…?"

"Because the asshole who set the fire says he wanted to stop 'that faggot Justin Taylor from winning every damn award they had and because he's fucking his way to his degree'."

"That's crap."

"Yeah, well, the cops want to ask Justin a bunch of questions about it."

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