Heart Goes On
Pairing: Justin/Michael
Warning: Not a very happy fic at first. Will be happier later.
Reviews will motivate me to continue.
ooOoo
One
Justin
The world felt darker, colder. Justin stood in the loft's kitchen, drumming his fingers against the counter, surprised by how quiet and still it was.
The silence felt wrong. How could anything in his world ever be right again?
The kitchen might have been just the same, but the whole place felt empty now. He was really gone.
Justin hadn't wanted to believe it when Michael had called him.
"Justin, I'm sorry."
Michael had sounded distraught. Justin had known something was wrong immediately.
"Michael?"
"Justin... he's gone."
Michael hadn't even needed to clarify. The brokeness in his voice said it all. Justin's world had immediately shattered. Brian was gone. Dead.
How it had happened couldn't have been guessed at by any of them. It was all so sudden, and that was the horribleness of it. Brian Kinney taken out in a blaze of glory.
He and Michael had been clubbing at Babylon. Some guy had been hitting on Brian all night, but he kept shrugging off his advances. Finally he had enough and told Michael he wanted to go.
Brian and Justin had been on the rocks in the weeks leading up to that night. The older man still hadn't been ready for the commitment Justin wanted. Finally Justin had angrily told him to forget it, and to go sleep around with all of Liberty Avenue if he wanted.
That's how it had ended between them. Justin angry, ignoring Brian, sleeping on the couch. He'd hardly looked at the older man when he came home at night.
Apparently he and Michael had left Babylon that night. Michael said Brian had been joking and laughing just like his old self, when suddenly a gunshot rang out.
Brian Kinney had fallen to the pavement after laughing at his last joke. It turned out to be the man who had stalked him all night. The police later identified him.
It was all so cruel, so sudden. Justin had never apologized for his harsh words. He'd never spoken, never told Brian goodbye that evening. Now he never would.
Brian had loved him after all. He'd maken sure he'd be taken care of. Justin got the loft and most of his savings. He didn't want to run Kinnetic, so he sold out and got that too.
Things had changed. Michael had shown up later that night. They'd ran into one another's arms, broken and sobbing for the man they'd both lost.
It had been a few weeks since the funeral. Justin still thought about Brian all the time, especially at times like this, when the loft was quiet.
He needed someone to detract from the emptiness and lonliness. Over the past weeks that someone had been Michael. Michael understood what he was feeling, maybe more than any of the others did.
Justin unlocked his iphone with his finger. He kept the older man on speed dial these days. He hadn't really talked to anyone else. Deb kept pestering him to come have dinner with her, but he kept putting her off.
He listened to the ringing. Please pick up...
