Justin arrived at the loft at eight on the button. No more being late for him. He pressed the buzzer and heard the door release almost immediately. He smiled as he ran up the stairs. Brian was waiting for him.

The loft door was open and Justin ran in once again finding himself pulled into strong arms that held him tight.

"You're very prompt tonight, Mr. Taylor," Brian whispered against Justin's ear sending little sparks of desire coursing through his body.

"Are you going to make it worth my while?"

"Absolutely." Brian shoved Justin towards the bedroom and they both forgot that the loft door was still wide open at the time. Justin probably wouldn't have cared anyway. He had his man and he knew Brian loved him. All was right with the world.

After they were through which actually took quite a while, Justin snuggled against Brian's chest playing with one of Brian's nipples.

"Do you need to do schoolwork?" Brian asked.

"I … no."

"Don't lie to me, Justin."

"Okay, I have a couple of hours of work," Justin grudgingly admitted. He'd rather just stay cuddled against Brian.

"It's not ten yet," Brian said looking at the clock. "If you get started right now you can be done by midnight."

"I guess," Justin replied deciding to suck on Brian's nipple and see what that got him.

"Stop that, little boy! Time for you to get your homework done."

"I'd rather do this," Justin said taking a little nip at the nipple.

"Aah! I'd rather have you do that too, but it isn't going to happen. Now, get up or I'll have to spank you."

"Promises, promises," Justin giggled. Brian glared at him and gave his butt a swat. "Okay, okay," Justin griped but he sat up and pulled his jeans on.

"Did you hear something?" Brian asked.

"No, why?"

"I thought I heard someone out in the…" Brian began getting up and moving to the steps. "Fuck! We left the door open."

"No!" Justin said joining Brian at the top of the steps. "If you didn't grab me every time I come across the threshold, we'd have time to close the door."

"Can't help myself and that's half the fun of it," Brian laughed tickling Justin.

Justin giggled and pushed his lover away. "I have work to do," he said haughtily moving to get his bag by the door. He had a fleeting sensation of a shadow moving down the stairs. He shivered and closed the loft door with a resounding bang.

Michael stood on the lower landing as he heard the loft door slam shut. Justin hadn't been kidding when he had said that he and Brian were together. Michael knew that Brian never joked around with his tricks like he had watched him do with Justin. He had seen them snuggled together in the bed when he had first walked in. He had been so stunned by the sight through the partially open partitions that he had been unable to announce his presence. After that he had watched them with something akin to fascination. He knew Brian would never treat a trick like he was treating Justin. And then Brian had asked about schoolwork and he had actually turned Justin down in order to get the kid to do his work. Michael shook his head. He was going to have to rethink this whole Brian/Justin thing. With a shake of his head he left the building.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

A few days later Justin had another phone call from his mother. She wanted to come for a visit and wanted to know what days would work best for him so that she didn't take him away from his studies. Reluctantly he gave her some days that he didn't have a lot of classes scheduled. He tried to imply that he was too busy to really entertain her, but she didn't seem to be buying any of that. She was coming and she wanted to see firsthand how he was doing.

She asked him to suggest a hotel that would be nearby his apartment or close to PIFA. He told her that there weren't really any hotels close to either of those things. She could tell he was trying to put her off.

"I guess I'll just go into my B and B network and find something as close as possible," she said finally.

Justin was about to tell her to go ahead when another thought stuck him. "Mom, why don't you stay here at the apartment with Daph?"

"With Daphne? But what about you?"

"I'll stay at Brian's."

"Oh honey, I don't know. It's really you I'm coming to see."

"I know but this way you won't have to pay for a hotel or B and B and we still spend plenty of time together." It also meant that he would have more time with Brian and wouldn't have his mother breathing down his neck every minute of every day.

"Shouldn't you check with Brian first?" she asked.

"He'll be fine with it. I'll ask him tonight and if there's a problem I'll let you know."

"Okay," Jennifer sighed. This was far from an ideal solution as far as she was concerned, but it seemed to be what Justin wanted.

Justin did his best to catch up with his studies before his mother arrived. He skipped a few shifts at the diner and Brian gave him a few nights off as Daphne liked to call it. He was doing pretty well when he had a call from Michael the day before his mother was to arrive.

"Justin, I was wondering if you have the next set of sketches done yet. I got a great idea for the next part."

Justin let out a long breath. He hadn't even thought about Rage. It was way down the list of things he needed to get done. "I'm sorry, Michael but I haven't even started."

Michael didn't like the sound of that. "Well, you thought you might be able to get them done in a week and that's just about up."

"I've had a lot of school work. I even cut back on my shifts at the diner. I'm really trying to get caught up."

Michael wanted to push for Justin to do the sketches but he didn't think that would get him anywhere. "When do you think you might have time to work on them?" he asked.

"I … I really don't know," Justin admitted running his hand through his hair. "Maybe you should look for somebody else to draw the comic for you."

"I don't want anybody else. You're the best, and we work really well together."

"Thank you, Michael, but I don't know how much time I'm going to have to work on Rage."

"I can wait. I want Rage to be the best and that's going to take the two of us."

"I appreciate your faith in me, Michael. I'll try to get something done soon."

"Great! I'll talk to you in a couple of days."

Justin hung up the phone wondering what had come over Michael. He had never been that nice to him before. And their conversation had been riddled with compliments. Justin shrugged and headed out to class.

Justin and Brian had agreed to spend the night apart. Justin still had some work he needed to catch up on and he wanted to have as much accomplished as he possibly could before his mother arrived. He knew that Jennifer would want a full report about his schoolwork and he didn't want to have to lie to her.

Brian decided it would be a good time to get together with Michael. He hadn't seen Michael for a couple of weeks, although he had a sneaking suspicion that that might not be entirely true. He decided to give Michael a call.

"Mikey, what are you doing tonight?"

"Nothing much, why?"

"Want to hit Babylon with me?"

"What about your boyfriend?" Michael asked making it sound as condescending as he could.

"What about him?"

Once again Michael was taken aback at Brian's nonchalant answer and his lack of denial that he and Justin were boyfriends. "I thought you might have to get his permission … or are you bringing him with you?"

"He has work to do tonight. Do you want to go or not?"

"Should I call Ted and Emmett?"

"Of course, what would a night at Babylon be without the Four Musketeers?" Brian smirked.

Michael laughed. He was looking forward to spending some time with his friends. They hadn't done that since Justin had come along. Michael couldn't help but wonder when he hung up the phone if Brian would be visiting the back room at Babylon. That would tell him a lot about this so called relationship with the blond. Some part of Michael wanted it all to be an illusion. He wanted Brian to visit the back room. He wanted things to go back to the way they had always been. But some part of him liked Justin, and liked the Brian and Justin he had secretly witnessed at the loft. He really did want Brian to be happy. He wanted all of them to be happy.

While Justin was slugging away at the library at PIFA, Brian was getting dressed for Babylon. He had no intention of going to the back room, but he had every intention of making a grand entrance and having every fag in Pittsburgh drooling with desire. The fact that they couldn't have him only made him feel better. He smiled into the mirror as he worked on his unruly hair.

Brian picked up Michael and they headed for Babylon. Several times in the Jeep Brian felt Michael's eyes studying him. He was pretty sure he knew what was causing this newfound interest.

"So, Mikey, did you get an eyeful?"

"Huh?"

"I said 'did you get an eyeful'."

Michael frowned and he suddenly felt a chill of fear creep over him. "What … what are you talking about?" he stammered. Playing dumb seemed like the best idea.

"Come on, Michael. You never could lie worth a damn. I know it was you in the loft the other night. Did you enjoy spying on Justin and me?"

"I … I wasn't spying," Michael said setting his jaw. He knew he was caught.

"What would you call it?"

"I came to see if you wanted to go out like tonight. The door was wide open and I could see you two through the partition. I couldn't believe my eyes. The way you were treating that kid!"

"That kid is Justin, and he's my boyfriend," Brian declared.

"I know," Michael pouted. "I … I've never seen you act like that before."

"Like what?" Brian frowned.

"You were laughing and then you turned him down for sex. You told him he had to study. And you were snuggling together on the bed." It all came out in an accusatory tone.

"I don't snuggle," Brian protested.

"Yes, you do. I saw it."

Brian sighed. "Fuck, Michael, it's none of your business."

"I know and I didn't mean to pry. By the time I came to my senses I could hardly tell you I had been watching."

"For quite a while by the sound of it."

"Yeah."

"So, did you learn anything?"

"What do you mean?"

"Did you learn that Justin and I are really together and you should leave him alone?"

"That's what you want me to do?"

Brian nodded. "That's what I want."

"I've been trying to be nice ever since," Michael said shyly. "I think Justin's very talented. Have you seen what he's done with Rage?"

"Is that the comic you're working on with him?"

"Yeah."

"No, he hasn't shown it to me."

"Get him to."

"Okay, but I didn't hear you say anything about liking Justin."

"He takes some getting used to."

"Really?"

"I'm trying, Brian, really I am."

"Good."

When Brian and Michael walked into Babylon, the atmosphere changed immediately. Most of the local fags had heard that Brian Kinney was now off the market. All looked curiously at him trying to see what had changed with the former stud of Liberty Avenue.

Brian smirked his way over to the bar where he saw Ted and Emmett waiting for them. "Theodore, Emmett," Brian said in acknowledgment.

"Bri," Ted responded. "I didn't expect to see you here anymore. Did the little woman let you out for the evening?"

"At least I have a little woman," Brian retorted and they all stared at him in stunned silence. Was this the new and improved Brian Kinney? Or was this some facsimile that had taken over the formerly relationship phobic Mr. Kinney?

Since no one knew how to answer Brian's statement and still keep his balls, Ted ordered a round of beers and things returned more or less to normal. The friends danced some and had some more drinks. They watched Brian get hit on by newcomers to the area and some old timers who were brash enough to try to test the fidelity of Brian to this new partner of his.

By the end of the evening Ted had counted seven offers for Brian to go to the back room. All had been turned down. There was one guy who had butted in between Michael and Brian when they were dancing. The guy had got on his knees and tried to suck Brian off on the dance floor. Brian had walked away much to the amazement of all and sundry.

"I've had it for tonight," Brian said just after midnight. "You want a ride home?" he asked Michael.

"I'll go with Ted and Emmett."

"Okay," Brian replied. He gave Michael a quick kiss and left.

"I can't believe he went the whole night without going into the back room," Emmett said watching Brian disappear out the door.

"More for the rest of us," Ted stated.

"I didn't notice you getting any of his rejects, sweetie," Emmett replied.

Ted scowled. "That little blond must really have tamed the wild cat."

"He has," Michael said and left it at that.

Brian came out the door of Babylon. He glanced up the street and noted a young kid standing under a streetlamp. The kid looked very promising … if it had been another time he would have gone over there and used one of his patented lines. But this was not another time and he was going home. He climbed into the Jeep without even a backward glance.

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