Justin's POV.

"Brian?" I adjusted myself in the seat, my knees almost touching my chest. I deeply hated how little room planes gave you. If I had taken the offered money from Brian I could've gotten a better seat but a part of me was still too stubborn for that. My phone was lodged between my shoulder and ear as I leaned down and began rummaging through my bag. Finally I found what I was looking for - my old ratty sketchbook - and pulled it out. Fours hours on a plane could only be occupied with drawing, drawing, and more drawing.

In my mind, at least.

"Are you about to take off?" I heard Brian reply finally.

Six months. It had been exactly six months since I'd left Pittsburgh and now I was finally, for the first time, going back to visit Brian for the holidays. When suggesting the idea I had expected Brian to feign disinterest, but then I was happily reminded that Brian had changed a lot from the person he was when I first met him.

"You're visiting for two weeks? Shit." Then he'd paused. "I'm glad."

Was he still an asshole? Of course.

Did he still have problems with showing his emotions? Fuck yes.

But he tried more now, and that was all I ever truly wanted.

"Ah," I heard the speakers turn on and suddenly the flight attendant was saying something with a loud voice that drowned out Brian completely, "I'll call you when I land," I said against the phone, smiling softly, "love ya."

Now was that pushing it? Yes.

I could imagine Brian lifting his eyebrow, his lips quirking at my sappy words. "Be safe, sunshine," was all he said before the call ended with a click. Smiling, I slipped my phone back in my bag.

I was still smiling when I spotted out of the corner of the eye a person sitting down next to me. I had kind of been hoping the seat next to me wouldn't be occupied, but I knew that had been wishful thinking. A young man much like myself with a tired face and a briefcase sat, sighing. I smiled a little wider when I realized he looked a hell of a lot like Brian or maybe that's just because I was missing Brian so much.

"Hey," I greeted.

The man glanced at me briefly. "Hello."

"I'm Justin," I introduced myself properly now, even extending a hand.

The man looked at me like I was crazy, and I really didn't understand why, but then again after spending the last six years with a man like Brian I finally understood some people just couldn't be explained. It didn't mean they weren't worth getting to know, though. "Weston," the man replied after a minute, shaking my hand firmly. His hand was calloused and big.

I felt a little more relaxed after that. Turning my eyes on my sketchbook I got absorbed in drawing. I messily drew the different people on the plane he could see; a young mother with her child, an aging old man. I almost started drawing Weston when I decided that might be viewed as odd.

Deciding against that, though, I started drawing from memory.

Daphne first. I hadn't seen her in as long as Brian but Daphne, unlike Brian, sent me dozens of photos of her and other parts of her life. In the last photo she had sent him her hair had grown quite a bit and she'd gained just a few pounds. Of course I didn't tell her that even if I did think she looked better that way.

After her, I started on a new page and right away I began drawing Brian. Unlike with Daphne, I used my imagination on how much Brian could've possibly changed in six months. Last I saw him he had stopped chopping his hair off so often, which I liked, so I made a point of keeping his hair long and his eyes just as bright but with a few added wrinkles.

I smiled when I was finished, running my fingertips over the page. Just a few hours and I would know if my drawing was accurate or not.

"Who's that?"

I blinked, startled by the inquiry. I looked over and saw that Weston was staring at my sketchbook curiously, and despite having been critiqued by the best of the best in New York I suddenly felt totally embarrassed at a stranger seeing my art.

I sprawled his hand out over the page, shrugging. "My friend."

Sure, boyfriend would've been a better term but I had learned as a teenager that throwing out your sexuality could get you in a lot of trouble. When I was young I had a hard time accepting that (because who should have to hide who they are?) but now I understood my safety came before anything else.

"Doesn't look like a friend," Weston replied.

I chewed on my lip. "What do you mean?"

When I saw Weston smiling, a genuine little smile, I knew I shouldn't be worried or afraid. He gestured at the page. "The way you draw him, it shows how much he means to you."

I relaxed, feeling the weight off my shoulders. "Really?"

"Yeah," Weston laughed, and I decided he really did look like Brian. "I have a boyfriend, too, you know." I perked up, unable to keep my curiosity from showing on my face. "What's his name?"

I glanced back at the drawing, grinning big now. "Brian. You?"

"Andy," he answered. "Think you can draw him by description?"

"Of course," I replied, adjusting the pencil in my hand. I actually felt a little excited knowing I wouldn't be annoyingly bored for the next two hours. "Okay, go."

Brian's POV.

"Justin is on his way?" Debbie asked as she served us, the excitement written clear across her face at the news she'd heard. She placed a plate down in front of Ted, Michael then Emmett and lastly me where she lingered.

I rolled my eyes, taking a piece of bacon off my plate. "Yup."

"How long until sunshine gets here then?" she pried, still staring.

I sighed, taking a bite out of the bacon. Some people never changed. Glancing at my watch, I shrugged. "Two hours now, I think."

"You think?" Emmett gawked. "Shouldn't you be counting down the minutes?" He clasped his hands together, a starry-eyed look on his face. "Your princess is coming back after six months you've gotta be excited." He paused when I lifted an eyebrow. "Yes, even you."

"Uh-huh," I said, looking unimpressed, "sorry but I'm not - "

"Some love-struck lesbian, we get it," Emmett finished for me knowingly.

I grinned at that.

But truthfully I was almost sick with excitement at the idea of seeing Justin again. He had been sent one or two photos of him during the six months, and as much as I would never admit it out loud Justin was looking as gorgeous as ever. This time he'd kept his long hair, letting it grow even more as it now cascaded his shoulders, and his eyes were just as big and blue as the first day I met him but now more confident and calculating.

Really, I could hardly keep myself from jumping off the walls but as if I was going to let my friends - or Justin himself - know that. I finished my piece of bacon and started on the next. I would, however, happily show Justin how much I had missed him when he got here and we got back to the loft.

Justin's POV.

"So," I put the finishing details on my drawing before leaning back and letting Weston get a look, "what do you think?"

I knew the answer the man was going to give just by the expression on his face. "Wow! It looks just like him."

I admittedly had a hard time drawing with no reference (what artist didn't?) but I even thought I did a pretty good job. Weston had explained his lover as small - "smaller than you" - with brown hair and brown eyes and a dazzling smile. Really, I could've gotten a more detailed description and probably did a better job but it wasn't like I was drawing professionally or being paid for it, so in the end I just went with what I had gotten naturally from the other man.

"Do you want it?" I asked after a second. "I would love if you showed it to him."

Weston smiled and it seemed like the initial tiredness he'd felt upon boarding the plane was dissolving. "You sure?"

"Of course," I said as I gently ripped the page out of my sketchbook and handed it over. "I hope I get a good review."

Laughing, Weston opened his briefcase and slipped the page inside. "If you want I can give you my number, you can check in."

With any other man I would've probably said no, not wanting to give him the wrong idea, but Weston was taken himself and quite frankly he didn't seem like he was interested in me in that way at all. If I wasn't happily with Brian I might've just been insulted. "I would like that." Smiling, I opened my sketchbook and handed Weston the pencil.

Weston got three numbers down before he was interrupted as the plane abruptly shifted in the air. He tried writing more but the shaking just made the numbers intangible and he stopped. I glanced out the window, eyebrows furrowing. It seemed like we were landing but it was way too early for that. I turned his eyes away from the window and began searching for the flight attendant. I knew if I was with Brian he would've shushed me, told me it was no big deal and I was worried for nothing.

I finally saw her and by the expression on her face I knew something was wrong.