A/N: Thanks to everyone who is reading, following and commenting on this story :)

Your encouragement and support means a lot.

It wasn't a very big gallery, and the show encompassed a wide variety of creative work, not all of which Brian would have called art. A lot of the work was of an abstract nature. Each artist had several paintings, as well as photographs or drawings or sculptures and even cartoons.

In Brian's opinion, Justin's work was far superior to the three other artists. He had several paintings that Brian immediately thought would do very well for Vanguard's office.

It wasn't too crowded, but clearly they had some loyal patrons who had turned up for the show. Brian easily spotted those who had turned up for the free wine.

After making inquiries, and confirming the items that he wanted to purchase, Brian made his way over to Justin, who was walking purposefully.

Even in the purple shirt he had borrowed from Jerome, Justin looked amazing. He looked young, bohemian and mature all at the same time. Instinctively, Brian wanted to reach out and touch him, and had to consciously stop himself. He spoke to Justin instead.

"Sunshine. A minute with the artist?"

If Justin was fazed by the use of Debbie's old nickname, he didn't show it.

"Brian. This is a surprise."

"I wouldn't have missed this for the world. You've done some very good work. Congratulations."

"Thank you."

Nothing else was forthcoming from Justin, and Brian felt himself getting irritated. Wasn't he going to at least ask about Debbie, if nothing else?

"You could have called, Justin. A phone call to let us know that you were ok. An email. Something."

"Brian, as I recall, I left you a message. And I sent a note with the…uh…money order. What more did you want?

"That's it? A message on my answering machine? I expected a little more than that from you." Brian tried hard to keep his voice cool.

"Why?" Justin, on the other hand, was clearly having no such trouble. His voice was cool and normal, and he was looking at Brian as if they were discussing the weather. "It's not like you really cared about me, Brian; I was only temporary…until you figured out what to do with me."

Brian narrowed his eyes, and Justin gave him a cold smile.

"I'm not as old as you, so my memory works just fine. That's what you told Michael; I heard you. Besides, you wanted me gone, and I left. I was with you only through a 'series of unfortunate circumstances'; again, your words, not mine. I would think that you would have been thrilled to never hear from me again."

Brian wasn't quite sure how to respond to that, so he tried another approach. "And Deb? She loved you like her own son. You don't think she deserved more?"

"Well, in the universe I inhabit, I'm pretty sure Debbie doesn't have any problems with me. Because when I last spoke to her, oh, about an hour ago, she said that she loves me, and is proud of me." Justin grinned at Brian's shocked expression, and looked downright angelic. "Do you think she was lying to me Brian?"

Little fucker. Justin had been in touch with Debbie the whole time. Brian didn't know with whom he was more mad at; Justin or Debbie, or himself, for not having realized this sooner. As if Justin would have disappeared for 5 years and not called Debbie once. He was such a colossal fool for not figuring this out earlier. He remembered thinking that Debbie had acquired some taste seeing odd new ornaments and trinkets at her place; she hadn't acquired any taste after all – Justin had sent them. Made them, and then sent them.

Justin was back to grinning. "Who do you think posted that money order to you? Not that you would have noticed, but it was from a bank in Pittsburgh."

It was a good thing Jerome interrupted them, because Brian was very close to throttling Justin with his bare hands.

"Ah. Coffee Guy. You made it. Here, Justin, that wretched agent is looking for you. You know, the one who looks dehydrated all the time?"

"Lucy?"

"That's the one."

Justin smiled at Brian. "In case I don't see you again, thanks for coming. And I'll be sure to give your regards to Deb next time I speak to her." With that, he went in search of Lucy.

Jerome looked at Brian. "That Debbie is quite strange. She's eccentric. I like her. But she really needs a better wig. I think she could even look sophisticated, with better hair."

"You've met Debbie?" Brian was downright incredulous now. Maybe it was Debbie that he should be throttling.

"Hmmm. When we went down to Pittsburgh last summer. Ah. I forgot. You didn't know, did you?"

"Jerome. Good evening."

Brian turned to find a tall, well-built man speaking to Jerome. He looked to be about forty, or at the very best in his late thirties. He had light brown hair, which he wore close, and a well-maintained goatee. His clothes screamed money and style. Brian saw distinct possibilities for the evening.

"Well, hello Old Man." Jerome did not look particularly pleased.

"I have a name, Jerome."

"Yes, but you're also old. Instead of remembering your name, I can store more useful information in my brain and refer to you by a generic description. Serves the same purpose."

The man sighed, and Brian almost felt sorry for him. Jerome certainly was a handful.

"Where's Justin?"

"Somewhere about, I'm not sure where. But how remiss of me. Introductions introductions!"

Brian saw the other man's face tighten almost imperceptibly at the sight of Brian, even before Jerome said his name.

"Brian, this is Howard Spencer. Howard – there, I used your name – this is Brian. Kinney. One of Justin's…ah…friends from Pittsburgh. Wasn't it nice of him to come all this way to show his support?"

Howard smiled stiffly and extended his hand. "Pleased to meet you, Brian."

"Likewise." Brian gave Howard a practiced smile. Whatever the other man was, he certainly didn't seem pleased to meet Brian at all.

Brian didn't know why, but he decided to hang around at the gallery. Howard Spencer, whoever he was, made an effort to be friendly to Brian, whatever his initial reaction had been. Brian wondered who the man was, and what his connection to Justin was. He was pretty sure that the man Jerome had referred to as 'sugar daddy' was Howard.

When Howard found out that Brian was in Toronto because of Vanguard and not Justin's show, he shot daggers at Jerome, who looked like the cat that swallowed the canary.

"Will you be in Toronto for long, Brian?"

"About a month. But I'll probably be travelling here frequently after that. I might even be based here permanently."

"I see. I hope you're enjoying Toronto so far; is it your first time here?"

"As a matter of fact, yes it is. I'm –"

"I'm sorry; will you excuse me?"

Brian watched as Howard suddenly made a beeline towards Justin; who had materialized several feet away. When Howard kissed Justin – when Justin let him – Brian felt his insides turn. It might have been 5 years, but the possessiveness Brian had always felt when it came to Justin started bubbling to the surface. He found it difficult to tear his eyes away from Justin – and Howard. But he somehow managed.

"So. Were those photographs at the shop your work, Jerome?"

"Yup. He paints, I shoot. I design the shirts, he paints them. I paint too, but it's more his forte than mine. We both come up with the designs for the other items, though we don't make them ourselves. Well, not all of them anyway. Some of the stuff – like the plates and all - are collaborations between Justin and my mom. She's an artist as well."

"Oh…I liked your work, though I didn't get a chance to look at it too much."

"Of course you didn't. You were too busy staring at yourself on canvas."

Brian looked at Jerome. He always thought of himself as being blunt, but Jerome surpassed him by miles. "It was somewhatunexpected. How long have you two been running the shop?"

"Almost a year. But we were making the same stuff and selling them before that …just sold them to different shops and to my mom's clients. We finally figured that it was high time we started making some money for ourselves, instead of other people."

"Is that how you and Justin met? Through your mother?"

"Nope. We worked together."

Brian's eyes went to Justin, who seemed to be having a rather uncomfortable conversation with Howard. Jerome was watching the same scene, and Brian didn't miss the glint in his eye.

"How about we go join them, Brian?"

Jerome was off, and after a second's thought, Brian followed him, even though he hadn't gotten all the answers he wanted.

"So, what did Lucy say? Did you sell anything?"

Justin smiled a regular, sunshine smile at Jerome. "Yes! I sold everything! Can you believe it? That shirt totally paid off."

"You did well, Sunshine."

Jerome raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. Howard frowned.

Justin smiled. "Thanks Brian. Not exactly the GLC, but it'll do."

A dull buzzing started growing louder, and Howard pulled out his phone and frowned at it. "Excuse me for a minute." He kissed Justin lightly on his forehead before leaving.

"That's quite an age gap there…" Brian knew it was the wrong thing to say even before he said it, but he just couldn't help himself.

Justin sighed. "You really haven't changed, have you? Believe it or not Brian, some men are actually happy to have the picture of youth standing by their side. Age, and age gaps, is not as big a deal to most people as it was for you."

"Yes, I'm sure your boyfriend has absolutely no problem with having a man twenty years his junior beside him. What a paragon of virtue he must be," Brian drawled.

"For your information, not everyone -" Justin started, but Jerome cut him off.

"Howard isn't Justin's boyfriend." Jerome earned a glare for his trouble.

Brian was surprised. Howard had certainly acted otherwise. "Oh?"

Justin's sigh was accompanied with an eye roll. "Oh. Howard and I are good friends...with benefits, you could say."

"Friends with benefits? You?" The night was full of surprises it seemed. "I distinctly remember you as having some very romantic notions about relationships and -"

Justin's laugh interrupted Brian. "First off, I don't think anything in your memory regarding me is distinct, after all these years. Second of all, the person you remember was a seventeen year old kid who was obsessed with all things Brian Kinney, and had his head stuffed with all kinds of crazy romantic ideas. I've grown up. Certainly not obsessed with you anymore - or anybody else, for that matter. I know what I want, and friends with benefits suits me just fine." Justin turned to Jerome, signalling an end to that particular topic.

"Jerome, Howard wants to take us out for dinner to celebrate. You game? We can leave around nine thirty."

"Sure, why not? I was kinda expecting it. I have to call Eddie now, but I'll be free after that." Then to Brian's immense surprise, Jerome spoke to Justin in fluent French, and then waved at him before leaving. Clearly words that weren't meant for Brian's ears.

"He's French?"

"His Dad's from Montréal. His Mom's from Haiti."

"And when did you learn French?"

"I always knew French…I'm cultured like that." Justin smiled impishly. "I guess private school was good for something…being around Jerome really helped me improve though."

Brian was amazed by how different Justin was, and yet, how he still seemed like the seventeen year old kid Brian had known.

"Toronto is a long way from home Sunshine…how'd you end up here?"

"Brian, Toronto is my home now."

He should have expected it, but Brian was still surprised to hear that. "Justin, your friends, your family…everyone's in Pittsburgh."

Justin laughed. "Are you crazy? I never had any friends in Pittsburgh…just Daphne. And my family hates me. Well, not Mom…but…I never had anything in Pittsburgh. I have a life here."

Brian couldn't quite argue with that. "So, you didn't tell me, how did you –"

"Justin."

Howard interrupted them, much to Brian's annoyance. I suppose dinner at nine thirty is just not enough, he thought.

"Justin, there's someone here I'd like you to meet. Could you excuse us Brian?"

I'll be damned before I show how much he's getting to me, Brian thought. He shrugged, and smiled leisurely.

"Go on right ahead. I have to be going anyway. Pleasure meeting you, Howard. I'll see you later, Sunshine." He leaned in, kissing a very surprised Justin just enough to taste the Merlot.

Brian didn't bother looking at Howard's face, but he could feel the other man's eyes burning into him as he walked out.