Domestic Bliss

Fresh Starts

Justin carried his book and a glass of iced tea out to the patio and started to shove the chaise out into the sun. It wasn't very sunny, but he decided he wanted some rays. He wouldn't stay long enough to get burnt, but he was depressed and maybe the pale sunlight would refresh his body. The front leg of the chaise caught on something and stopped its forward movement rather abruptly. Justin felt his book slide out of his hand and the tea sloshed all over his arm and down onto the book at his feet.

"Fuck!" he said loudly. This was just another miserable event in the fucked up last few weeks, culminating with him being fired from his graphics job.

"Justin, is that you?" a voice said from the other side of the hedge.

"Yeah, it's me, Gwen."

"Are you all right? I heard you call out."

"If you don't count inherent clumsiness, I guess I'm fine."

Gwen walked around the hedge and surveyed the sodden book and Justin trying to shake the iced tea off his arm and hand. "Let me get you a towel," she said heading for the kitchen.

"Next to the sink," Justin called after her.

Gwen returned with a towel that she had found and helped Justin clean himself and his poor wet book. They sopped up the spot of tea that had landed on the chaise cushion as well. When they were done, Justin let out a long sigh.

"Is something wrong, Justin?" Gwen asked. "It's not like you to get so upset about some spilled milk … or tea as the case may be."

"It's not just the tea. The last week has been the shits. Pardon my French."

"Want to talk about it?"

Justin looked at her thoughtfully. It might do him good to talk to someone about what was bothering him. "Would you like some iced tea? I have a pitcher in the fridge," he offered.

She nodded and he went inside to get it. While he was gone she pushed Justin's chaise into the sun and pulled the other one up beside it. "I thought we could sit in the sun for a bit," she said when he returned with the glasses of tea.

"Thanks, that's what I was trying to do when I made such a mess."

"It wasn't much of a mess. You should see some of mine."

Justin chuckled and so did she. It felt good to do that.

"Thanks for making me laugh. I needed it."

"What's wrong? Speaking of which, why are you home on a workday."

"It's not a workday for me," Justin said letting his words hang in the air. She looked at him funny. "I got fired."

"Fired? No!"

"Yep, a few days ago."

"Were they downsizing?"

"I wish. They called me incompetent and sent me packing."

"I can't believe that, Justin. I'm so sorry."

"That's just the beginning of the saga," Justin said shaking his head.

"What do you mean?"

Justin sighed. He wasn't sure how much he wanted to tell Gwen, or anybody, for that matter. "Let's just say that there was some unpleasant behind the scenes activities."

Gwen's eyebrows went up. "You mean they terminated you unjustly?"

"Kind of."

"Then sue!"

"Sue?" Justin had never even thought about anything like that, but he had to admit that the idea of making Trip Bedford pay financially for what he had done would be very satisfying. Gwen watched his reaction. Justin decided that it might be better just to let this go and not explain any further.

"It's something to think about," she said gently.

"Yeah, but I don't know…"

"Well, on a more pleasant note, I think you should do something to get you out of the house."

"I should, should I?" Justin laughed. Gwen was making him feel better.

"Definitely. I have two tickets to the Pittsburgh Philharmonic for Friday night. What do you say?"

"You want me to come with you?"

"I believe that's what I said. Marc really doesn't like classical music, but I usually force him to come with me. But … this Friday he's playing in a golf tournament, and they have this big dinner afterwards. So how about it?"

"It sounds like a nice night out. I'll go if you let me take you to dinner first."

"I thought you just lost your job," Gwen laughed.

"I didn't say we'd go to Pappaganos," Justin chided her. "I think I can afford a passable restaurant though."

"Deal," Gwen said holding out her hand for Justin to shake.

"Oh, I need to run it by Brian, but I don't see that it should be a problem."

"Good, then I guess I should go start the chicken I was going to have for dinner." Gwen stood up and carried her empty iced tea glass towards the kitchen. "I'll leave this on the counter."

"Thanks for everything, Gwen. I do feel better."

"My pleasure, sweetie," she said as she disappeared around the hedge.

-----

"God damn fucking, Vance," Brian muttered loud enough for anyone in the house to hear. He slammed the front door behind him and dropped his metal briefcase with a loud clang on the hardwood floor.

"And a hearty welcome home to you, partner," Justin said daring to stick his head out of the kitchen.

Brian muttered something unintelligible and headed upstairs to change his clothes.

Justin debated if he should follow, but decided that he would do better waiting for Brian to come back down. Over the years he had learned that pressing Brian made him clam up. He would explain what was wrong when he was ready. Justin went back into the kitchen to work on dinner.

After about twenty minutes there was still no sign of Brian. Justin turned dinner off and stuck what he could in the oven. Reluctantly he made his way upstairs. Surprisingly there was no sign of Brian in the bedroom or the bathroom. He checked Gus' room only to find it empty. With a frown he walked back into the bedroom and over to the doorway to his studio, the little room with the big window, just off their bedroom.

In front of the window stood Brian. He wore his old worn jeans that fit in all the right places and a T-shirt that showed all the ripples of his chest.

"Brian?" Justin said softly.

Brian didn't turn around or acknowledge his presence, but Justin knew he was aware that he was there. He waited.

After several minutes Justin needed to break the silence. "What are you looking at, Brian?"

There was continued silence. Finally Brian said barely above a whisper, "A squirrel."

Justin frowned. It wasn't like Brian to notice nature, and even less like him to comment on it. "A squirrel?" Justin's mind was racing. Something was very wrong.

"They have such cute tails when the bounce across the lawn. They're fluffy and perky."

"Brian, are you sick?" Justin was really worried now. Cute and perky and fluffy! Not in Brian Kinney's vocabulary.

"No, not sick."

Justin let out a long breath. "Then what's going on?"

"Have you ever noticed how industrious the squirrels are? They work and work building their stores for the long winter ahead. They never question what they're doing."

"Brian…?"

"Fucking Vance told me today that my contract runs out in a few months and he will have to re-evaluate taking me back on, and whether my salary will be the same."

"Is he fucking insane? You bring in more business than any three other ad execs he's got, and at least double what he does himself."

"I know," Brian said with a little grin. It was nice to hear Justin defend him, and the kid knew what he was talking about.

"Tell him to go fuck himself," Justin declared.

Finally Brian turned and looked at Justin. There was something in his eyes, something that Justin couldn't quite pinpoint.

"I've been thinking about doing just that."

"Wha … what are you saying?"

"I think it's time that I left Vangard and that fucking hypocrite Vance behind."

"But what will you do? Is there another ad agency interested?"

"Probably, but that's not what I want." The little smile on Brian's face began to expand and it lit up the small room almost like people had told Justin that his smile did. Justin stared at his partner not knowing what to say. He felt happy for Brian because the man so obviously was pleased about this idea. But … there was a small gnawing cramp deep in his stomach. He knew it was fear.

Justin swallowed hard and then had to speak. "Brian, do you think this is the right time to be contemplating going out on your own?" He tried to keep his voice even and not let his emotions show.

"I think it's the perfect time, Sunshine."

"But … I don't have a job and starting a new business is pretty iffy…"

"No faith in me?"

"Of course I have faith in you, Brian. But … it's not long ago that we got this house. And I know you paid more for it than you wanted to. How are you going to finance a new business?"

"That's what I was thinking about while I was watching the squirrel," Brian said looking out the window again.

"And what did the squirrel tell you?"

"He told me that hard work and perseverance is what I need."

"You certainly have that," Justin said venturing to step inside the room. As soon as he made the first step, Brian's arms opened up to enfold him. "Are you sure?" Justin whispered into Brian's chest.

"Fuck no!" Justin looked up into Brian's eyes. "But I want to do this. If I don't do it soon, I never will. And I don't want to be stuck at Vangard for the rest of my life."

Justin drew in a deep breath. "Then let's go eat dinner before it's ruined … and we can talk about how we're going to pull this off."

Brian slung his arm over Justin's shoulder and kissed his cheek. "How we're going to pull this off," he repeated against Justin's ear as they headed back downstairs.

-----

Dinner was almost over. They had actually done a lot more talking than eating. Brian was just full of ideas about what he wanted his new company to be like. Justin had some ideas about how he could help. He was already thinking about possible names for Brian's new company. He had some ideas of what the new offices should look like too. He wanted them to reflect Brian but also be warm and inviting.

Then a thought occurred to Justin. "Can Vance stop you from starting a business?" Justin asked.

"What do you mean … stop me?" Brian asked with a frown.

"Aren't there rules about not starting a competing business, or stuff like that?"

"Where did you hear about that?"

"At Hartford we had to sign something about not freelancing for other graphic companies that were in competition with Hartford."

"I don't see how that could apply to me. If Vance is letting my contract run out, then any stipulations in it should also run out."

"Maybe you should get Mel to look it over for you. Just in case," Justin suggested.

"That might not be a bad idea," Brian said thoughtfully.

"You know," Brian said staring into Justin's eyes, "I think I need to go to bed."

"Why? Too much excitement for one day?" Justin asked innocently.

"No, not enough."

"Huh? OH! Right," Justin mumbled finally getting the point.

"Think you might join me? We could both find some excitement," Brian said with a waggle of his eyebrows.

Justin giggled. He sounded like a teenager and that was the way he felt at the moment. Even if he had lost his job and had to face Trip Bedford, he suddenly felt good about things. It was nice to see Brian so energized by the idea of starting his own company. Maybe this was the beginning of good things for both of them.

"I should clean up this mess," Justin said waving his hand at the kitchen.

"Why? It'll still be there in the morning."

"You mean if I let you take me to bed, we won't be getting up again until tomorrow."

Brian nodded. "Precisely."

"Then I better get a snack," Justin chuckled as he stood up.

Brian grabbed him and pulled him onto his lap. "I'll feed you a high protein snack at midnight. How's that?"

"Sounds like a win/win situation to me," Justin laughed. He leaned in and kissed Brian allowing his lips and tongue and breath to tell Brian how happy he was at that moment. It felt good to work on something together, to act like a couple, and help each other.

"Let's go," Brian said as he stood Justin on his feet and they made their way upstairs.

They slowly undressed each other, feeling no need to hurry. Brian tugged Justin's hand as he led his lover to the walk-through shower. He started the water and pulled Justin into a long, slow kiss that had them both hard before it finished.

"You have the most ambidextrous tongue," Justin cooed when Brian's mouth released his.

"How can a tongue be ambidextrous?"

"I don't know, but yours is."

"You're so … juvenile," Brian laughed.

"Hey, don't insult me."

"I meant it in only the very best way."

"Okay then." Justin launched himself at Brian leaping up to wrap his legs around Brian's hips. He felt their hard ons collide and let out a little gasp. "I love you," he whispered before Brian could capture his mouth once again. Finally when neither of them could stand to be separate any longer, Brian set Justin down and turned him around.

Soapy fingers probed and opened. Hard cocks leaked and ached. Needy mouths kissed and caressed. Hungry hands squeezed and kneaded. And then they were locked together as only they knew how. Brian drove into his lover filling him and finding that warm, safe harbor for his desires and his love.

As Brian pounded into Justin the younger man knew that this was the start of something special. They both had big changes in store for them. Justin would have to find another job and Brian would open his own business. Nothing stayed the same forever, but that was what made life so exciting.

"Brian," Justin moaned as Brian hit his sweet spot.

"I know, Sunshine. I know," Brian whispered against Justin's ear. "I love you too."

And then they were coming, quivering and shaking as their orgasms shot through them, locking them together for those exquisite moments before the laws of gravity made them separate.

Justin turned and leaned against the wall of the shower feeling the warm water rinse over him. He pulled Brian against his body and felt Brian's weight lean on him. This was the way it was supposed to be. These were the feelings that they had been missing since the whole Trip Bedford fiasco. It was a fresh start in that department too.

"Take me to our bed, Brian. I want to make love to you all night long." Justin's voice was husky with emotion.

Brian pulled back a little bit and looked into Justin's eyes. He could see the emotion there, and knew that it mirrored his own feelings. "We can do this together. We can do anything as long as we're together."

"I know," Justin said with a small smile which was obliterated when Brian's lips covered his own in another scorching kiss.

Brian led them out of the shower where they dried each other off softly and gently, touching and feeling and reacquainting themselves with all the lovely places on their bodies that made them feel alive. They kissed and caressed their way back to their bed where they made love long and slow.

When they were finished Justin lay cradled in Brian's arms. "I feel great," Justin whispered as Brian held him close.

"Me too," Brian whispered. "I used to hate this part. I never knew what to say, never wanted to say anything. And yet, when we were having problems this is what I missed the most. You used to roll away and fall asleep."

"I'm sorry," Justin said softly.

"Don't be sorry. That was how you coped. I was the one who screwed up … big time."

"But it's over and we're okay."

"Thank the gods."

"I have quite a bit to be thankful for, and hopefully … much more to come in the future. I see nothing but good things ahead for us."

"What … are you psychic now?" Brian teased.

"I've always been psychic where you're concerned."

"You think so, huh?" Brian asked.

"Yep," Justin smirked.

"Then what am I thinking right now?"

"Hm, let's see. You're thinking what a great fuck I am and how you love to hear me laugh and how attractive my ass is and how much you want it again. How'd I do?" Justin asked batting his baby blues.

"Hrmph," Brian reacted. "I always think about your ass. There's nothing psychic about that!"

Justin giggled. "Okay, let me try again." Justin stared into Brian's eyes and looked thoughtful. "You're thinking about your new business. I have to say I'm insulted. After fantastic sex, you think about that instead of me." Justin pretend pouted.

"I just told you that I always think about your ass and the incredible things I can do with it and to it." Brian smirked at his partner. "However, my brain is capable of multi-tasking."

"No shit!" Justin chuckled. "I guess that goes right along with your ambidextrous tongue."

"Twat," Brian laughed kissing Justin's forehead. "What else am I thinking?"

"Hm, you're thinking that you need a good name for your company, and what accounts you might try to win in order to get started."

Brian raised an eyebrow. "Not bad, Svengali."

"See, I told you I'm onto you."

"Don't get too cocky."

"You love my cock too."

"Not as much as you love mine," Brian said tongue in cheek.

"Well, I'll give you that one."

"So, anything else I'm thinking about?"

Justin stared into Brian's eyes and held his breath. "Um … were you by any chance wondering if maybe I would help you with the art work in your new ad company?" Justin waited breathlessly to hear what Brian would say. This would be the ultimate if he and Brian could work together and take the advertising world by storm.

"Wrong!" Brian said emphatically.

"Oh," Justin said his heart sinking. Obviously Brian wasn't thinking along the same lines he was. Brian probably wanted the top graphic artist in Pittsburgh, not some newbie who had just been fired.

Brian watched the emotions flit across Justin's face. He decided he had to put him out of his misery. "I don't want you to help me with the art work…" Brian paused.

"Okay, I get the point. I don't measure up to your exalted standards. You don't have to rub it in." Justin crossed his arms on his chest and glared at the opposite wall.

"If you'll let me finish…"

"Go right ahead. I already know what you're going to say. I'm not experienced enough. You want the best for your new company, just like you're the best at what you do. I'm just some kid who got fired from my job."

"Are you done?" Brian asked when Justin stopped to take a breath. Justin shrugged and pouted some more. "You're right that you don't have the amount of experience that I would like for my art department, but you have something better."

Justin looked up. "I do?"

"You are the most creative and imaginative artist I know."

"I am?" Justin's smile obliterated the pout.

"You are. And that's why I don't want you to help with the art work."

"Oh," Justin said as a light dawned. "You think I should be painting or creating real art, not doing ads."

"Hey, watch it. Ads can be real art in the hands of a master."

"I guess," Justin admitted even though he didn't really believe that. "I suppose I could work on some paintings while I look for a new job. Being an artist doesn't really pay until you're well known."

"I know that, but I really think your psychic powers have failed you this time," Brian smirked.

"How so?"

"I gave you as many clues as I could."

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"I don't want you to help with the art work at my new company, I want you to be the art department at least until I get on my feet."

"Are you kidding?" Justin asked eyeing Brian warily. Did he really mean it?

"Would I kid you about something this important?" Brian asked innocently.

"That's exactly what you've been doing for the last five minutes … if what you just said is true."

"It's true," Brian said with a little smile. "I was yanking your chain. You nailed it in your third psychic guess."

"You mean it?" Justin asked his face ablaze with a dazzling smile.

"I mean every word … that is, if you want to do it."

"Oh, I want to do it," Justin said rolling on top of Brian. "I can see us working together, making our fortunes, turning the advertising world on its ear."

"Are these more psychic predictions?" Brian laughed as Justin tried to tickle him.

"Uh huh," Justin smiled as Brian's hands roamed over his ass kneading and squeezing. "I see your attention has turned back to the really important stuff," Justin noted with a smirk of his own.

"I told you I was always thinking about your ass. But I'm also multi-tasking."

"Deciding on my new title?" Justin chuckled.

Brian gave him a look and made the sign of the cross to ward off evil. "You're spooky sometimes."

"So what will it be?"

"Let's see, Chief ASSistant to the CEO?"

"It will not! I'm not anybody's assistant," Justin said defiantly. "Not even yours."

Brian raised the eyebrow again. "Okay, then what about Head of Hard and Deep Operations?"

"You are so bad! I want a good title," Justin declared rubbing his abdomen against Brian's and feeling their cocks come back to life.

"Then Head of the Art Department! How's that?"

"Hey, I like it," Justin grinned.

"Of course, you will be the complete art department, but we can still call you the head."

"You're not just saying that so you can fuck me, are you, big guy?"

"Most certainly," Brian smirked.

"Asshole!" Justin griped as he gave Brian's nipple a none too gentle tweak.

"Ow! I may have to demote you," Brian threatened with a mock glare. But Justin felt Brian's dick get even harder and knew that he would never be demoted in any way, shape or form.

"Why don't you fuck me instead?" Justin said latching his mouth onto Brian's wounded nipple.

"Anything to keep the employee happy!"

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