Disclaimer: I don't own Queer as Folk or the characters, which is a pity because they're really pretty.

Chapter 1

It had been a bad day. No, scratch that, it had been a really fucking bad day.

Brian Kinney sighed as he took a long drink of his beer. It had been such a horrible day that he couldn't just brush it off. He had to dwell on it, it was such a fucking horrible day.

First, at work (Brian groaned at the thought of it) there had been that new account. (The account that got away, Brian thought sadly). They had been trying to sell some kind of sex enhancement drug and were looking for a new angle to try to sell it. Unfortunately, after spending four hours with them, Brian was convinced that the new angle they were searching for did not exist. He'd spent hours trying to find the right thing, but every time, there would be something off. Something that wasn't just right. Something that blatantly screamed "I'M IMPERFECT!" to the clients.

Brian rolled his eyes just thinking about them. He'd thrown some of his best ideas at them and they had turned down every single one. All of them. On a lot of them, they didn't even look twice and had just dismissed them offhand.

One of the problems (which would haunt Brian until his dying day) on one of his ads was so simple as:

"The color," the haughty woman said, glaring at his ad.

"What about it?" Brian asked, internally rolling his eyes.

The woman shrugged. "I don't like it. It doesn't...stand out enough. I don't think the customers will respond well too it." She turned around and looked at Brian. "I don't want our ad to simply be another ad that will get lost in the crowd, Mr. Kinney."

Brian smiled at her and nodded slightly. This woman was positively crazy and fucking driving him crazy. "I understand your concern, but our polls have shown that people respond more often to blue than any other color."

The woman shook her head imperiously and retorted, "Well, that's today. What about tomorrow, or next week? Sure, people might respond well today, but what if it's only for today? I want you to be ahead of the curve."

Brian closed his eyes for a moment to control himself and nodded before looking back up at her. "What color would you like to use in your ad then?"

The woman shook her head. "Oh, there's no use to changing the color, Mr. Kinney. I don't like this ad anyways. I was just pointing out a slight problem your ads all seem to have. They're correct for today. They will sell our product today. But tomorrow, that's my concern."

"Well, the trends will always change, but we predict them as best we can," Brian said, a fake smile on his face.

The woman glared at him and then the ad, and then back at him. "Well, I'm afraid your predictions aren't quite up to our standards." She paused for a moment and then asked, "Do you have any more options for us to see?"

Yes, it had been a long, bad day.

Brian took another drink from his beer and sighed slightly as his best friend, Michael Novotny walked up and sat down.

"Bad day?" he asked as he ordered a drink.

Brian shrugged and took a sip of his drink. "One of the worst," he said, watching as a man with a great ass walked by. He'd had him before though, so he returned his attention to Michael.

Michael was sipping his own drink and glancing around at the men who were at Woody's. Brian shook his head slightly. He needed someone new, someone that he hadn't fucked before. And he wasn't going to find that here, apparently.

"Let's go to Babylon," Brian suggested, pulling on his jacket as two of his other friends, Emmet and Ted, walked up.

"Oh yay!" squealed Emmet, clapping his hands together, having only heard the word 'Babylon' and being excited to dance.

"Oh yay," Ted repeated, sounding downright dismal. Another chance to be rejected by hot men, he thought sadly.

Brian looked at both of them for a moment before shaking his head and walking to the door without looking behind him. He knew that Michael would follow him- that was a given. And judging from Emmet's excitement, he'd also follow, and anywhere that Emmet went, Ted was sure to go.

So the group of friends began the walk over to Babylon, talking and joking around. Brian purposefully excluded himself from their conversation, leading the group to Babylon. He was hoping that his bad day could be easily remedied by a quick fuck with a hot ass.

But it had been such a bad day that he wasn't counting on it.

But then again, even on a bad day, Brian Kinney was still Brian Kinney.

Brian smiled slightly at that thought. Yes, it might have been a bad day, but it was probably going to be a good night.

Or at least that's what he thought before he got there. His mood diminished drastically when he learned that, not only were most of the men far below his standard, but he'd already had most of them.

Brian shook his head slightly as he stood at the bar, unable to believe his rotten luck. He knew that, when Babylon failed to cheer him up, there was only one course of action left to take:

Go home and hope that tomorrow would be better.

Which wasn't really too much of a competition, seeing as today fucking sucked.

So Brian danced a little, drank a little, and eventually tired of the club.

"Hey, Mikey," he said, leaning over to his friend who was sitting at the bar, watching as Emmet was dancing with some man. Ted sat next to Michael, also watching Emmet dancing and checking out men as they walked by. Brian rolled his eyes at his pathetic friends, but bit back a snide comment.

"What's up?" Michael asked, tearing his eyes away from a man with a hot ass.

"I think I'm calling it a night." Brian started to walk away, waving at his two friends. "I'll see you later."

Michael nodded and waved farewell, slightly worried for Brian. "Do you want me to drive you home?" Michael called after him, after thinking about it for a moment.

Ted looked at him, a slight glare on his face. If Michael left, they all left. Even Emmet looked over for a moment, realizing that something was happening. He walked over to Michael and Ted, looking interested. Brian had hesitated and then shrugged. "If you want," he said and continued to make his way out of the club.

Ted and Emmet looked at Michael questioningly before Michael also shrugged and made his way out of the club as well, following Brian as usual. Ted and Emmet followed Michael as well, each wondering why Michael always allowed Brian to have his way.

But the sight that greeted them was not one that filled any of them with great delight. Brian was talking to a young boy who was leaning against a lamppost. Michael had his arms crossed and was stomping his feet angrily.

"So how much?" Brian asked, trying to sound seductive. He'd seen this boy around before, hustling.

"Depends on what you're looking for," the boy smoothly replied, checking Brian out. He seemed to approve of his newest client.

Brian smiled insolently. "A good fuck."

The boy smirked slightly and said, "Ah, my specialty. $100. With a condom."

Brian shrugged, and without another word walked away to his car, gesturing for the boy to follow him. He smiled slightly at his great find. Sure, he was a hustler, but he was a hustler with a great ass.

So maybe it wasn't such a bad day after all.