Kindred Love

Out In The Open

Justin awoke the next morning to a ray of sunshine beaming directly in his face through the window of Brian's bedroom. He groaned as he brought his arm up over his face to shield the light from his eyes. He sat up in his air mattress on the floor, and groggily rubbed his eyes. He looked at the clock and frowned when he saw how long he had slept in. It was already after noon. Just as he had predicted he would, he had had trouble sleeping the night before.

"Shit," Justin mumbled. He immediately looked over to Brian's bed, which was vacant. He dragged himself out of his bed and quickly got dressed and made his way down the stairs in search of the rest of the household. It was deathly quiet in the house, which was unusual. With the exception of Vic, no one in this family was ever quiet in whatever they did.

He walked into the kitchen, and his heart skipped a beat when he saw Brian at the kitchen table, eating a sandwich and flipping through a magazine.

"Hey," Justin called out softly.

Brian looked up from his magazine a little startled. "Hey, yourself. You're finally up," he said. "Want me to make you a sandwich?"

Justin shook his head. "No, thanks." He looked around noting that it seemed there was no one else home. "Where is everyone?" he asked.

"Mikey and Josh went to the mall with Emmett. Aunt Deb's at work, and Uncle Vic went to the doctor for his check-up."

"Oh."

Brian looked at Justin and saw how tense he looked. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"Well, you were quiet last night after the party. You headed straight for the shower when we got home, and when I came up to talk to you, you were already asleep."

"I was tired," Justin said.

It wasn't really a lie. He was tired. Too bad he couldn't sleep because of everything he had on his mind. He had heard Brian come into the room and had pretended to be asleep. He just couldn't deal with everything right then. He needed to try to go to sleep and have a chance to collect his thoughts. His mother always told him that when you had a problem things were much clearer in the morning. In this case, though, she was wrong.

"Justin, tell me what's wrong. You're my best friend. I know you. I know when something is bothering you," Brian said.

Justin remained silent. Brian was pretty sure he knew what was wrong with him, and guessed he would have to be the one to bring it up.

"Are you upset because of last night... because of the kiss?" Brian asked.

Justin's eyes met his, and he sighed. "I'm not upset. I'm just... well, I'm embarrassed, worried, and... confused," Justin admitted.

Brian nodded. "I think we should talk about it," Brian said.

"Okay," Justin nodded and took a seat at the table next to Brian, but had trouble looking his best friend in the eye. This was it. They were going to get it all out in the open. He was going to be honest. He was tired of keeping his emotions all bottled up. Maybe if he just told the truth about how he felt he could move on.

"So... why did you kiss me?" Brian asked.

"Well, I..." Justin started, but then he stopped and decided to use another approach. He couldn't just blurt out 'Because I'm in love with you, and it seemed like a good idea at the time.'

"You and I have been close friends for a long time. We've, you know, been there for each other. I care about you." That was a start, Justin thought.

"I care about you too, Jus. More than anyone else," Brian said softly. Justin smiled at him. He liked that he meant so much to Brian, and hearing him say it out loud warmed his heart.

"I have had... feelings for you for a while. For a long time I didn't know what they meant. I just thought that because we were so close, that it was just normal. But after I figured out that I was gay, I knew it was more than friendship feelings that I had for you." Justin tried to keep his composure. He was terrified about what Brian thought of him and his admission.

"So that kiss wasn't just something that happened because you were high?" Brian asked. Justin looked at him this time and shook his head.

"Well, I probably wouldn't have done it if I weren't high, I don't think, but I just wasn't thinking. I wanted to, so I just did it," Justin said. Brian had a thoughtful expression on his face, and Justin wondered what was going on in his mind.

"I'm sorry, Brian."

Brian frowned at the blond. "Justin, sorry's bullshit, remember? You don't have to apologize to me. You just acted on your feelings. I can't blame you for that."

"You mean you're not mad?" Justin asked searching the hazel eyes for the truth.

"No, of course not. It's just... well, you and me, we're friends..." Brian said.

"I know. And besides the fact that you could probably never feel for me what I do for you, there is the long distance thing. I know it's stupid," Justin said, feeling embarrassed.

"It's not that stupid, Justin. I kissed you back, remember?" Brian pointed out. Justin smiled at the memory, and blushed.

"Yeah, I remember." He would always remember.

"Justin, listen. I can't say what the future will hold, but I know I always want you in my life - no matter what. Who knows what will happen. Right now, though... the timing is just not right. I mean, like you said, you're in Philly, and I'm here, in the Pitts. You're younger than me, and need to have more experiences and live your life. I don't want to hold you back from anything." Justin looked at Brian, not sure what he was getting at.

"Brian, what are you saying?" Justin asked.

Brian sighed. "I'm saying, that I don't know what will happen, but who knows, maybe later on in life, something will come out of this. Maybe what we have will develop into something more. For now though, I really just need you to continue being my best friend."

Justin beamed widely at Brian. Was Brian saying that there was a chance they could be together in the future? That was more than what he expected from Brian. He was so relieved that Brian wasn't upset with him and didn't freak out about the kiss. He reached out for Brian and they hugged tightly.

"I can do that," Justin whispered. "Always," he added. They finally pulled away and smiled at each other. They both felt incredibly better.

"I do have a question for you, though," Brian said.

"What's that?" Justin asked, still smiling at the brunette.

"Where did you learn to kiss like that?"

Justin blushed. "From Rachel Dixon."

Brian raised his eyebrows at Justin. "You kissed a girl?"

Justin nodded. "Yeah, at my birthday party. Rachel kind of has this big crush on me. She came up with the idea of playing truth or dare in our hot tub with Daphne and a couple of other guys. She dared me to kiss her, so I did."

Brian shook his head in amazement. "Wow. What do you know, you ended up learning how to kiss from a girl! How was it?" he asked.

"Well, it helped to have a visual. I just uh... I imagined I was kissing you, and it turned into a make-out session," Justin admitted, and covered his face with embarrassment. He couldn't believe he was telling Brian all of this.

"I bet she was impressed," Brian smirked.

"That's putting it mildly. By Monday she was telling everyone at school that I was her boyfriend. It was hard to get rid of her after that. In fact, she still corners me whenever she sees me. Talk about a nightmare," Justin said, rolling his eyes. Brian started laughing.

"Well, that sucks. Sorry to hear that."

Justin just shrugged. "So, the kiss... it wasn't bad, was it?" Justin asked shyly.

"It was..." Brian's mind flashed back once again to the kiss they shared the night before, and felt his pulse raise. "...nice," he finished.

"Can I ask you something Brian?"

"Anything."

"Last night, I saw Todd drag you away from the bonfire. Did you and he... you know...?" Justin asked.

Brian shook his head. "No. He wanted to, but I uh... I wasn't in the mood," Brian answered. 'At least not for him,' Brian thought, and smiled to himself when he saw the look of relief on Justin's face.

"So, what about that Cameron guy? Are you interested in him?" Brian asked.

Justin shrugged. "He's nice and everything, and he's into art, so that's good."

"Do you think he's cute?" Brian asked.

"Yeah, I guess," Justin answered. 'He in no way compares to you, though,' he thought.

They dropped the subject, and just hung out together, just the two of them, the rest of that day. The kiss they shared the night before and what they had talked about that afternoon was not mentioned again. There was a lot left unsaid that day.

Brian had been able to keep calm during that discussion, but what Justin didn't know, was how incredibly difficult it really had been for him. When Justin confessed his feelings for him, it was like something had awakened in his mind, body and soul. His heart was pounding in his ears, and the tips of his fingers were tingling.

He had heard Justin tossing and turning the night before, and it was because he was wide awake too. His mind kept replaying their kiss over and over, like a movie being rewound. His cock had been so hard all night, and he wanted so badly to relieve himself, but didn't want to risk waking up the blond.

There was a part of Brian that wanted to shout out that he felt the same way for Justin, but logically, he knew that it wouldn't work... at least not right then, which was why he left a promise for a future between them open. Justin seemed to be more than fine with that. The only problem was, each day that Justin spent with him, the harder it was to ignore his feelings for his friend, and pretend that everything was fine. There were times when Justin would give him a certain look, or he would just laugh or smile, and Brian just wanted to reach over and kiss him. Instead, he went to sleep with a hard-on most every night.

As the end of Justin's visit neared, Brian was counting down the days. Not because he was tired of his friend or didn't want him around, but because the stress was really getting to him. He knew he could recover after Justin left, because then the he wouldn't be with him all the time. He wouldn't be sleeping in the same bedroom. He wouldn't be smiling at him with that beautiful ray of sunshine of his, melting his heart.

Brian was actually looking forward to starting his sophomore year of high school so he could busy himself with his school work and soccer, just as he had last year. Besides, he would be turning 15 in a few months, and his Aunt Debbie had promised him a job at the diner, which he fully intended to take her up on. He needed to occupy his mind so that he wouldn't keep thinking of Justin.

It had been Emmett's idea to have a farewell party for Justin, the night before he was to go back to Philadelphia. All of Brian's family and friends had grown close with Justin during his visit, and were sad to see him go.

It was a full house that night. Even Cameron had shown up to say goodbye. He and Justin had hung out a few times during his visit. He really liked the blond and was determined to see that Justin got a proper goodbye kiss from him at the end of the night.

Debbie, of course made a huge dinner, and Uncle Vic made Chocolate Chocolate Chip cake for desert, which was both Brian and Justin's favorite. After they ate, they all gathered in the living room because most of the guests had gotten Justin some presents to remember them by.

The first gift he opened was from Michael. It was a Captain Astro T-shirt, along with the newest issue of the comic. Justin had become interested in the comic too, and had read all of Michael's issues. This was the most recent issue released that he hadn't yet read.

"Thanks, Michael," Justin smiled and hugged the boy. "I'm going to keep up with the comic and we can email each other and talk about story lines that we would like to happen with Captain Astro, just like we have been," Justin told him. Michael beamed at him and nodded. He was so glad he had finally met someone who was into the comic almost as much as he was.

Justin enjoyed all of his gifts. A loud new shirt from Torso, was from Emmett. Ted got him a huge hard cover book on historical art, which was filled with beautiful pictures and essays. Josh got got him the movie Yellow Submarine on DVD because he had mentioned that his copy was on video had accidentally been eaten by his old VCR. Todd gave him a dance music CD which had all the latest hip songs. Cameron made Justin a watercolor painting.

Debbie gave Justin a bunch of her secret recipes. He had on more than a few occasions asked Debbie if he could help her cook dinner. It was something he liked to do with his mom that he really enjoyed doing.

Vic gave Justin a large journal with blank pages. That way he could use it for whatever he wanted, whether it be writing or sketching or both.

Justin was truly touched by all of his new friends' thoughtful gifts. He was really going to miss them all, and Pittsburgh.

He had one last gift to open, which was from Brian. He anxiously unwrapped it and almost cried when he saw what it was. It was a photo album Brian had put together, full of pictures of he and Justin, back in Philly. Some of photos had his parents and Molly in them, and there also were recent ones of all of them hanging out that summer. Justin smiled as he flipped through the book, feeling tears in his eyes. This gift of memories meant so much to him. He couldn't have asked for a better gift.

"Thank you, so much, Brian. I love it," Justin said, jumping out of his seat and hugging Brian, almost knocking him over. Brian laughed and hugged his friend tightly.

"I'm going to miss you," Justin whispered in Brian's ear. Those words were enough to make Brian teary-eyed himself. He would miss Justin too. More than he would ever know.

It started getting late, and soon the guests started leaving. Emmett of course was a blubbering mess.

"Don't forget to email me, and call me whenever you want. You have my cell number," Emmett told Justin, giving him one last hug.

"I will, I promise," Justin told him, as he waved at Emmett and Ted as they left. He had made sure to get everyone's email addresses so he could stay in touch. He hoped that they would all keep it up. He really liked all his new friends.

"Uh, Justin, can I talk to you alone for a minute?" Cameron asked. He was the last of the guests in the house.

"Sure," Justin replied, and they stepped outside on the back porch. Cameron looked at Justin nervously and smiled.

"So, this is it. You're leaving tomorrow," Cameron said softly. Justin nodded.

"Yeah. Back to reality, I guess," Justin laughed lightly.

"Well, there was one last thing I wanted to give you before you left," he said, taking Justin's hand in his. Justin looked down at their hands and it dawned on him what Cameron was trying to do.

"What is that?" Justin almost whispered.

"This..." Cameron said, leaning into Justin's face. Justin's eyes were open, and he stood there frozen, nervously awaiting the kiss he knew he was about to receive, when suddenly the back door flew open, startling the two boys and making them jump away from each other. Justin was surprised to see Brian standing there staring at them oddly.

"Uh, Justin, Aunt Deb is looking for you. She said you should probably get to packing so you can get a decent amount of sleep before your early flight," Brian said.

"Oh, o-okay. Um, I guess you better go now," Justin told Cameron, stumbling over his words a bit. "I'll walk you to the door." Cameron nodded, disappointment evident in his face. As Justin lead them back into the house, Cameron caught a glare from Brian, as he followed. He looked back at him in confusion, and then suddenly he understood why Brian was looking at him like that. He recognized that look. 'He must have feelings for Justin,' Cameron thought.

He continued to follow Justin through the house. Brian walked inside, closing the door to the back porch behind him, and kept an eye on Justin and Cameron, as he saw them walk to the front door.

"Thanks for coming, Cameron. I'm glad we got to know each other this summer," Justin smiled.

"Me too. Don't forget to keep in touch, okay?"

"You too," Justin replied and gave him a shy smile. Cameron leaned in, and Justin sucked in his breath nervously, and was surprised when Cameron ended up kissing his cheek instead of his lips. He looked up and smiled, relieved and disappointed at the same time. He liked Cameron, but he loved Brian, and really, he was the only one he wanted to receive a kiss from.

"I hope he'll make you happy some day," Cameron whispered in Justin's ear as he hugged him. Justin pulled away from the other boy and looked up at him confused. Cameron then looked over at Brian, who had been watching them up until then but had just looked away quickly. Justin looked at Brian too, and smiled.

"Me too," Justin answered, his voice full of hope.

Cameron smiled at the blond sadly, knowing he didn't stand a chance competing with Brian. Justin obviously felt something for the brunette as well. He would just continue to write and call the blond and hope that they could at least be friends.

Justin watched Cameron leave, and let out a sigh. What a long day it had been. He really needed to start packing and get to bed. He was exhausted. He walked over to Debbie who was cleaning up the mess from the party.

"You need some help, Deb?" Justin asked.

"Oh, no, honey. You go ahead and start packing and get some sleep. Michael and Brian already volunteered to help me clean up, so it'll get done fairly quickly. Don't you even worry about it," Debbie told him, hugging him into her bosom. "I'll see you bright and early, Sunshine," she told him, ruffling his hair with her hands.

"Okay," he said. He said goodnight to everyone, and then started gathering up all of his gifts and carried them up to Brian's bedroom. He didn't know how he was going to make it all fit in his suitcase.

An hour later most of his things were packed. He left his toiletries and clothes for tomorrow out for the morning. He stripped to his boxers, then set up his air mattress as he did every night. Only this would be the last time. He finally switched off the light and climbed into his air mattress on the floor. He was a bit wound up, overwhelmed from the whole day. He hoped he would be able to get to sleep soon. He closed his eyes, and tried to relax.

Justin didn't know how long he had been laying there, trying to get some sleep. His mind wouldn't shut off. He kept thinking of the summer, and everything he had done in Pittsburgh. He thought of Cameron, and the kiss he almost gave him tonight. And of course, he thought of Brian. That was nothing new. He thought of Brian every night. Eventually, his mind seemed to rest, and he felt himself drift off to sleep.

Justin woke up when he heard Brian come into the room. He had always been a light sleeper. He kept his eyes closed as he heard Brian stumble around the room in the dark, trying to be quiet so as not to wake the blond. Even though Justin's eyes were closed, he thought he could feel Brian's eyes on him. He heard the brunette sigh and then climb into his own bed. Justin hoped that he would be able to fall back asleep.

Some time passed, and Justin lay there restlessly, his mind betraying him by bringing his thoughts back to his farewell party today. He remembered Brian's gift. He thought of all the pictures he looked at. An album full of good memories to last him a lifetime. Tomorrow he was going back. He remembered the last time he had to say goodbye to Brian, and instantly, his eyes started to sting and fill up with tears. He buried his head into his pillow, trying to stifle his whimpering cry.

"Justin?" Brian called out. Justin didn't answer. He immediately tried to calm himself down, hoping his crying would stop. It was just so hard once he got started.

"Justin? What's wrong?" Brian called out again, sitting up in his bed and looking down at the lithe figure on the floor.

"It's nothing, I'm fine," Justin managed to choke out.

Knowing better, Brian got out of his bed and crawled over to where his friend was curled up and leaned over him, resting his hand on Justin's arm.

"Are you okay?" Brian asked softly. Justin nodded as he sniffled, but still did not look at Brian. "Hey," Brian said, rubbing little circles on Justin's back. Unfortunately, he noticed that when he did that Justin started to cry harder. On impulse, Brian put his arms around Justin and lifted him up, leading him to his own bed. Justin didn't fight him on it. He crawled into Brian's bed and turned on his side, while Brian climbed in behind him and pulled the covers over them.

"Come here," Brian whispered, and put his arm protectively around Justin, holding him, and Justin snuggled back into him, loving the feel of his warm body so close to his. Justin continued to cry softly.

"Shhh," Brian soothed, lightly stroking Justin's arm.

"God. Why do I always make such a fool of myself around you?" Justin mumbled, burying his face in his dampening pillow. "I must seem so weak to you."

Brian turned the blond so that he was on his back and tilted his chin towards him so that he could look in his eyes. He wiped the excess tears from Justin's flushed cheeks, and smoothed away some of his sweat-matted hair from his forehead.

"Justin, that's not true at all. You're one of the strongest people I know... and you're not a fool," Brian told him, looking directly into his eyes so he knew he was speaking the truth. "Are you going to tell me why you're crying?" Brian asked.

Justin sniffled again and then finally nodded. "I was thinking about the last time we had to say goodbye to each other, and how bad it felt. I was so scared I was losing you. Now, it feels like I'm losing you all over again," Justin hiccuped.

"Justin," Brian smiled at the blond. "Sunshine, you think I'm that easy to get rid of? You didn't lose me before, and you won't lose me now. Not ever," Brian said.

Justin shook his head. "You don't know that. You could meet the man of your dreams one day and forget all about me," Justin frowned.

"Don't you remember what I said before? I told you that no matter what happens I always want you in my life. I always mean what I say, you know that. You and I could both end up with other people, but that doesn't mean that we won't be friends. You mean too much to me to just let go."

Justin stared deep into the hazel orbs and knew that Brian meant every word he said. He smiled at him.

"There's that smile I love so much," Brian whispered, and brought his hand to Justin's mouth, tracing his lower lip with this thumb lightly, making the blond's smile grow even bigger. He then cupped Justin's cheek with the same hand. Justin brought his hand up to cover Brian's, and leaned into his palm, closing his eyes as he felt Brian's soft skin against his face. He was surprised at how soft Brian's hands were.

Brian looked at Justin's content expression as he closed his eyes and held his hand to his face. The blond was so beautiful. His pulse raised from the contact, feeling Justin's silky, porcelain skin, and he couldn't think of anything else but how much he wanted to kiss him.

"Justin," Brian whispered.

Justin opened his eyes, his cock stirring at the tone Brian used when calling his name. He had never heard him say it like that. He watched as Brian leaned close into his face, and when he felt the brunet brush his lips against his so softly, he heard himself moan and opened his mouth, allowing Brian all the access he wished inside of his hot cavern. Brian happily took the offer, and slipped his tongue inside Justin's mouth, moving it slowly and sensually against his.

They kissed and kissed, not noticing how long it kept lasting, only aware of the fact that they seemed to not be able to get enough. Brian ran his fingers through Justin's hair, making the blond moan from the ticklish feeling spreading throughout his scalp.

'He likes that. Good to know,' Brian thought to himself. He continued to make mental notes every time Justin made a sensual noise when he touched or kissed or licked him in a certain place on his neck or face.

They were both painfully hard, but Brian made sure to keep things above the waist, not wanting to rush the blond into anything he wasn't ready for. After making out a while longer, Justin pulled away from Brian. The brunet looked at Justin questioningly.

"Do you want to stop?" Brian asked, concerned that he had pushed the blond too far.

Justin just smiled at him, easing his fears and then shook his head. "No way. I uh... can we go a little further?" Justin asked almost shyly. Brian smiled and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you sure you're ready for that?" he asked.

Justin nodded. "I want us to touch each other... I want you to be the first person to ever touch me," Justin whispered.

Brian smiled and kissed Justin again softly, and then slid his hand down the blond's chest and continued to slowly drag it until he reached his boxers. Once he felt the little button to the opening, he opened it and reached inside the cloth to grab Justin's cock.

As soon as he felt Brian touch his cock for the first time, he gasped, and briefly worried that he would ejaculate right then and there. He moaned as he felt Brian drag his mouth away from his and start to kiss and suck his neck in the places that he had earlier been to that had sent tingles throughout his whole body. He was so lost in the sensation of Brian's mouth on his neck and his hand stroking his cock up and down, that he almost forgot about Brian's straining cock.

Justin reached down Brian's chest just as he had done to him, and took out Brian's hard, thick cock. Brian let out a moan a lot louder than he intended, but he didn't care, and it seemed Justin didn't either; in fact, it seemed to encourage the blond.

"Oh, Justin," Brian moaned softly, diving for the blond's mouth again.

"I like it when you say my name like that," Justin whispered in between kisses.

"I think I know what you'll like even more than that," Brian said with a husky breath. Justin looked at him expectantly and waited. Brian removed Justin's hand away from his cock and climbed up onto his body. He licked that erogenous zone on Justin's neck that he got a big reaction from earlier, and then trailed his tongue down to his chest, seeking out Justin's right hard nipple and sucked on it softly.

"Ah," Justin sighed. He never even knew that his nipples were that sensitive or that it would feel so good for them to be sucked. Brian gave Justin a wicked grin, and blew on the hard nub, then flicked his tongue over it again. Justin moaned again, not sure how much more he could take. He was so turned on and he had been hard for so long.

Brian trailed his tongue down further until he reached Justin's belly button, and dipped his tongue in, making the blond giggle.

"That tickles."

Brian smiled at him. "Justin... do you want me to stop?" he asked, his tongue peeking out between his lips. His mouth watered, craving the hard twitching cock just a little further down from where his face was.

"No. Keep going," Justin pleaded, and before he knew it, he felt Brian's hot wet mouth engulfing his length, causing him to cry out. "Oh. My. God. Brian - I've never felt anything like it," Justin panted.

Brian released his member from his mouth. "It gets better," Brian said, and then took Justin cock as far into his mouth as he could, and swallowed around it, while playing with Justin's testicles at the same time. It was too much for Justin to take, and he erupted into Brian's mouth, screaming his pleasure into his pillow so he wouldn't wake up everyone in the house - hell, everyone in the whole neighborhood!

Brian swallowed every single drop, loving the sweet and salty taste of Justin. He climbed his way up Justin's body and leaned into his ear.

"Do you want to have a taste?" he asked huskily. Justin hesitated, but then nodded. He never even thought about tasting himself before. Brian kissed him passionately, allowing Justin to taste himself. They kissed for a long time, before finally pulling away.

"Wow," Justin sighed with a very happy and content face. Brian smiled at the blond and nodded his head. It was then that Justin remembered that Brian had not yet got off, and his cock still stood at attention and was waiting for him. Brian saw the look Justin was giving his cock.

"You don't have to do what I just did, Justin. If you want to touch me again, I really enjoyed what you were doing earlier with your hand," Brian said. Justin nodded, and didn't waste any time grabbing Brian's cock and going to town, just the way he did with himself when he masturbated. Brian's breath staggered as he felt Justin fist his dick like no one ever had. Before long he came hard in Justin's hand. Justin brought his own hand up to his mouth and started licking Brian's cum from his hands.

"Naughty boy. I've corrupted you already," Brian joked, still out of breath from his orgasm.

"It's kind of fun being naughty," he giggled, and leaned in to return the favor, as he kissed Brian and let him taste himself on his tongue. They continued to make out for a while, until finally Brian pulled away.

"Hey, we should get to sleep so you won't be miserable when it's time for you to get up," Brian said. Justin groaned.

"I don't want to. I just want to kiss you and hold you all night long. Fuck sleep. I can do that on the plane or when I get home," Justin told him. Brian laughed, and lightly ran his fingers through Justin's hair the way he liked it. Justin smiled and sighed as he closed his eyes and lay his head on Brian's chest.

"That feels... good," Justin whispered sleepily. Brian continued with the task until he heard Justin's breathing even.

"Goodnight, Sunshine," Brian whispered and kissed the blond's temple. He allowed himself to drift off to sleep, holding Justin in his arms. They both slept soundly with smiles on their faces.