Chapter 8 - When I Fall In Love
The following morning found the lovers still entwined, but in a different position. Brian's front was pressed against Justin's back, his arms wrapped around Justin, and Justin's blond hair tickling his nose.
As Brian became more aware of their exact positions, he also realized the position of his cock, which was hardening very quickly against the crack of Justin's ass. Not being able to help himself, he pulled Justin back against him, moved his hips closer and used his arm on top of Justin to begin caressing him.
Feeling a cock at his ass and hands seemingly all over him, Justin was slowly waking up, in one of his favorite positions. Neither one of them had been able to hide waking from the other for a long time, so it was no surprise that sleepy rutting and gentle caresses became desperate grinding in no time. Too turned on and involved to stop and change positions, Justin reached down to stroke his own cock as Brian grabbed his hip and ground his own aching hard cock against the smooth skin of Justin's ass.
Justin turned his head just enough to let Brian know what he wanted. Picking up on that cue fast, Brian lifted his head up to meet Justin's lips in a frantic kiss, tongues matching the rhythm of their hips. Within minutes both men groaned into the other's mouth as they came simultaneously, Justin all over the bed and Brian all over Justin's ass and back. It was at this moment that they both missed not having a shower, although Brian had an idea that might help.
They cleaned each other up, and got up to dress for the day. It certainly wasn't warm out, but they seemed to sleep in a little bit longer and the sun had already begun to warm the inside of the tent. It was nice to be able to dress without feeling incredibly cold.
Justin was finally able to walk on his ankle without any problems, although Brian insisted that he keep it wrapped with at least one bandage, just to make sure. Brian wanted them to explore more of the area so Justin admitted that it was probably a good idea to keep his ankle stabilized while hiking. They had a simple breakfast, put everything in the tent that they didn't need, packed up the same supplies they had taken their previous hike and got started.
Brian asked Justin where he wanted to explore, but Justin could tell that Brian seemed to have an idea in mind, so he let him choose. Brian was all too happy to lead the way, although he controlled his excitement so Justin wouldn't be suspicious. He knew Justin let him choose because he had an idea of where to go, but Justin being the trusting person he is, and this is Brian he was talking about, he would follow him anywhere, anyway.
The men made their way in the opposite direction of their previous hike, following what appeared to be an unused path that ended in a long row of trees. As they approached the line of trees Justin was strangely reminded of a scene from Lord of the Rings, although this looked a lot less foreboding than Fangorn Forest, fortunately. He didn't know how long they'd been walking when Brian suggested they sit and have something to eat. This request was strange, coming from Brian, who then smirked at Justin when his stomach growled at the mere mention of food.
They truly did know each other if Brian knew that Justin would be getting hungry before Justin knew he was hungry. As they were sitting there Justin got out his sketch pad and was drawing one of the trees that apparently, at least to Justin, had some very interesting holes that Justin wanted to draw. And he got to drawing right after they both had a good laugh at that no pun intended joke.
There wasn't really a trail through the trees as they were so well spread out anyway. From the meadow it looked like there wouldn't be room to walk, but underneath the canopy of trees there was more than enough room to move around, walk where they wanted, and sunlight pouring through canopy. Justin didn't know how long they'd been walking, but he could see what looked like a field beyond the line of trees, and a small house.
Brian and Justin stepped out into the field, not much different than where they had come from, but this was clearly different to Justin. The moment he spotted a small house further away from where they were he suddenly remembered they were borrowing someone else's property and no matter what Brian said about no one being here, he didn't want to get in trouble. He was just about to turn around and ask to go back when Brian grabbed his hand and pulled him to continue walking.
"Brian, I don't think this is a good idea."
"And why is that Sunshine?"
"This house has to belong to someone and I don't think they'd appreciate us just wandering around."
"And remember I told you that no one was here? The owner knows we're here, it's okay."
"I just feel, I don't know, like I shouldn't be here. It's like an invasion of privacy."
"It's an invasion of privacy to look at the outside of a house?"
"Well how would you feel if some stranger was just wandering around your loft like they lived there?"
Brian just looked at him.
"Okay, that was a bad example."
"You said yourself you were curious as to what type of people owned a place like this, aren't you the least bit curious?"
"Well then you can introduce me after they get back."
"I didn't say we were going to break in and search through all their stuff."
"But what if we get caught?"
"When has that ever stopped us?" Brian asked, causing Justin to blush slightly at everything they had always done, and everything they had gotten caught for.
Justin reluctantly agreed to follow Brian as he led them by what was now apparent as the stables, no wonder it looked like a small house. They also passed a pool and pool house, that were large enough, and set-up in such a way that the house still wasn't that visible. He could see the house, obviously, but the pool house and pool must be set at such an angle that it was off to the side of the back of the house.
As they made their way around the side of the house, he felt Brian pull him against his chest and wrap a blindfold around Justin's eyes. Where the hell had Brian gotten that from, and why on Earth does he need it?
"Brian, what the hell are you doing?"
"Do you trust me?"
"You know I do."
"Do I?"
"Brian, what's going on? Why would I even need this blindfold? What are you up to?"
Brian pressed a kiss to Justin's cheek, "You can be such a drama princess, you know that?"
Justin chuckled at Brian, before adding, "It takes a drama queen to know a princess."
"Touché princess," Brian said.
They both just laughed as Brian led Justin to the front of the house, very pleased that his plan was working. For as much as he plans things, with Justin he knew things always change, and to be prepared. This wasn't the way he pictured this moment in his head, but then again, it didn't really matter how they got here so long as they were here together.
Justin had no idea what Brian was planning, why he would need to blindfold him, why he couldn't see some stranger's house, what, if anything, Brian could be planning that he hadn't mentioned. That would be just like Brian, to do something so grandiose, and keep it so secret, that Justin would be stunned when whatever surprise Brian planned was revealed.
Justin didn't know the look of the area they were in since he was asleep when they drove here, but he could just imagine what the front of the house and the neighborhood would look like. If the gigantic forested property behind the house said anything, he wasn't even sure there would be much of a neighborhood. Is it even called a neighborhood when you can't see your neighbors? He'd spent a decent amount of time growing up with who he thought were wealthy people in large houses that were the yuppie's version of pick-up trucks. The bigger, more expensive, and extravagant, the better to show off and out do everyone else, and probably to overcompensate for either having a small cock or crappy sex life.
Brian walked Justin along the side of the house, and out to the front, exactly where he had been the first time he had seen it. It was summer and the trees were green and full, there was a light breeze rustling through them, branches swaying, even the ivy covering part of the front of the house seemed to be waving and greeting them. There was a reason he picked this place, he knew the moment he stepped out of the car that this was it, this was the place. He didn't know how Justin felt, or what he remembered, but he needed to know.
Positioning Justin facing the forested lawn in front of the house, he asked him if he was ready and pulled off the blindfold.
"Brian, this is beautiful, I've never seen trees like this. I wonder what kind they are…" Justin looked around at everything as he continued to talk. The trees, the bushes, the grass, and the driveway they were standing in. Nervous and anxious to see the house that belonged on this incredible property he turned to look, and froze.
Brian knew the moment it clicked, the second everything fell into place. He could see the hamster wheel spin out of control as every thought fell into place. From the original plan, to finding the location, to setting everything up; the speech about knowing the owner and not minding them being here, but not giving any detail away.
Justin was speechless, he didn't even, this was… Brian kept… this was… he didn't even realize there were tears in his eyes until he noticed Brian standing in front of him and gently wiping his tears away. He hadn't even seen Brian move.
"Brian…"
It was a whisper, a prayer, a hope, a dream, love and devotion, incredulity and pure delight. The last time he had seen this house, nothing was real, he didn't know what was going on with him and Brian and even though he'd agreed to marry him then, it didn't work out, and he'd completely forgotten about this place. Who is he kidding though, how could anyone really forget their fiancé, for a day, and love of their life buying them a mansion. It was like something out of a fairytale. Maybe that's why it was so easy to walk away, he was waiting for the other shoe to drop, for the carriage to turn back into a pumpkin and get trampled like it always had happened before.
This time though…
Brian took Justin into his arms and kissed away his tears, and kissed his perfect lips, pleased and amused when Justin barely responded, he was still so blown away.
When Justin had finally recovered enough to speak, he didn't know what to say. He had automatically wrapped his arms around Brian and couldn't decide whether to stare at the amazing property before him, or the incredible man that offered the property and kept it, even after everything they had been through, and were still going through.
"All this time… you… you kept it?"
"I told you, I bought it for my prince."
Justin could only sniffle and smile in response, but he knew the response.
"You're fucking unbelievable."
Brian pulled his lips into his mouth, like he always did when he was happy, and shy; Justin loved that playful look, it was sweet and hot and so Brian.
"It's true, I am."
Justin could only laugh before kissing Brian once more, this time being a very willing participant. Before it became too urgent, they pulled away, but didn't part.
Brian reached up one hand to cup Justin's cheek, caressing it with his thumb.
"I know I don't say it often, but I do love you," which earned him an almost Sunshine smile from his beautiful partner, "and I meant it when I said that I would give you anything, say anything, do anything, to make you happy."
Justin was in tears again, unable to stop them from sliding down his cheek. He remembered that day, those moments they shared in this house, his fantasy come true, even if just for a couple of hours. He never thought he'd be able to come back here, with Brian at his side, and remembering and saying the same things. The fact that Brian kept this house, and remembered his speech that day meant more to Justin than any declarations or gifts ever could.
There was nothing good enough, strong enough, or appropriate enough to say, so Justin spoke the language they speak the best, no matter how many problems they had. He leaned up to kiss Brian, pouring every emotion and thank you and all the love and devotion and passion he was feeling right now.
After several minutes of equally communicating what the other was thinking, they separated, Brian taking Justin by the hand, and asking, "You want to see what I've done with the place?"
"God yes I want to see it… you've done things with it?"
"If you'll remember the last visit here," he said with a smirk, knowing full well neither of them will ever forget that day, "the only furniture here was covered in sheets and dust and only then just a couple rooms came with furniture."
Brian led Justin inside, where they dropped all their hiking supplies in the foyer, and Brian continued the tour. The study and kitchen were first, then the dining room and living room. All the rooms were gorgeous, hard wood flooring, brilliant deep rich colors on the walls, each room with a different color giving it a completely different feeling. The wood accents and window frames the same dark wood that matched the flooring and pulled every room together. It felt luxurious and expensive and Justin couldn't imagine living here, when it suddenly hit.
This was his home, his house, this belonged to them. That didn't sink in the last time. He stopped walking when that thought hit him, and he was standing in the same room that Brian had originally proposed to him in, Brian had proposed to him… they were going to get married… but he moved to New York, lived in New York, they saw each other as often as possible, but this… this was… this was Brian's way of saying it's all still here, that wasn't a dream, it was a promise for whenever he was ready. He didn't know he was ready, he didn't think he was ready, at the time, he had commitments in New York, he had to make something of himself, prove that he could be successful… and he'd done that. He was doing it.
God, he was ready, so ready for Brian to be his life. He didn't even realize how badly, how desperately he wanted it until he couldn't have it. Being apart from Brian, living in different states, it was killing him. He loved painting and his art and being in galleries and talking with his agent, but he didn't know how long he had to continue doing that, didn't know where he would go when he was finished, if he'd be finished. But now this… his amazing partner, this house, right now, this moment, told him everything and anything he'd wanted and wasn't ready for or didn't know he wanted, it was his, all he had to do was grab it.
Brian stood by and watched the emotions, thoughts and fears play out on Justin's face. He knew what Justin was thinking and going through, it's exactly what Brian had already been through. It took their first conversation after Justin moving for Brian to realize that Justin hadn't left him, but it didn't stop the feelings and worries that had plagued his mind for months afterwards. He had come to this house a few times, not only for some of the remodeling and decorating, but to think and contemplate, to drink and forget, not that forgetting about your lover is easy to do in the house you bought for him and he turned down.
He had a few lonely quiet nights spent reflecting and pondering, never a good idea when alcohol is the only company he had, but eventually he came to terms with everything. He knew he would tell Justin about this house one day, and that they would have the life that Brian had originally envisioned. He just didn't think he would be telling Justin so soon. But then this camping thing came up and the timing couldn't have been better. He might not be ready to pick up and move out here tomorrow, but he knew for Justin, he would ready, and tomorrow if Justin wanted it. Although he knew that wouldn't happen right away, but he wanted to make sure that Justin knew.
Justin was still marveling over everything that Brian had done, not only with this week spent together, but staying together while living apart, keeping this house, showing Justin that he truly was offering Justin whatever he wanted, the furniture that had to be picked out by Brian. Then it dawned on him that there was furniture, not just covered and unnoticeable, but uncovered beautiful furniture that matched both the traditional feel of the room and the modern sleek tastes that Brian had.
Clean lines and deep colors, burgundy, mahogany, ebony, emerald green, navy blue, and dark violets. Even the piano that had originally been in here was clean and in the corner of the room, like it was waiting to be played. The fireplace still looked beautiful and extravagant, and the marble and brick had been cleaned. Suddenly he had a vision, a dream, an almost memory like idea… the two of them, him and Brian, living here, sitting on the sofa, in front of the fire, just being together. Or an entertainment system on the other side of the room, where they could watch Brian's movies while wrapped in each other's arms like they do at the loft so often.
He could imagine swimming in the summer, maybe having Gus come visit, there were more than enough rooms for visitors. He felt Brian come up behind him and wrap his arms around him, his arms automatically falling on Brian's. It made him jump a little at first, so lost in his dreams.
"You see it too, don't you?"
"See what?"
"Us… here… you see it too."
"How did you know what I was thinking about?"
"Because I saw it, too."
"When? It wasn't when you first found this place, was it?" He asked slightly disappointed that maybe he was missing out on what could have been.
"No, not then, later."
Brian led Justin over to the sofa and they sat down, with Justin laying on Brian, but facing him.
"I admit that I came out here a few times after you left for New York. After that first time you went back after convincing me I was an idiot for not keeping in contact with you," they both chuckle at that, at least the idiot part, that wasn't a funny situation, "I decided after that crappy night I wanted to fix this place up, so it was ready for us, when we were ready for it."
"I still can't believe you did all this, that you kept it, that you saw us in it."
"It might have been over the top when I first bought it, and maybe we weren't ready then, but once I realized we might be ready one day, I just couldn't get rid of it."
As much as Justin would love to ask more about Brian's motivations and ideas and how he felt when he was here, or even how he felt deciding to remodel and design, there was one thing he really wanted to do. He was also very comfortable, and could easily imagine this as any other day they spent together, at home, even though he was still coming to terms with this mansion being their home.
"Can we see the rest of the house?"
"I thought you'd never ask."
Justin leaned down to kiss Brian before they both stood. They went out the back door to the largest deck Justin had seen, which stepped down to a path that led to the pool, with the pool house visible beyond the pool. No wonder he couldn't really make out the house, he could just make out the pool house.
"This is so incredible Brian, this property is huge, this house is gigantic, it seems like it belongs in Architecture Digest. It's hard to believe this is ours."
Brian was thrilled that Justin thought so much of the house, he was loathe to admit it, even to himself, but he had fallen in love with the property when he saw it, and he knew Justin would love it. No matter what Justin was expecting, or how large and overwhelming the house could be, he could easily see this place as theirs. He was also secretly thrilled that Justin had just called it theirs, it was the first time he had done that.
"Good thing about a big house like this is when I'm being an asshole or you're being a twat neither of us has to leave, because we wouldn't know where the other went anyway."
"I'd like to say that would never happen, but a drama queen and drama princess in the same house could lead to some major fights."
"And then we'll both be here for the hot make-up sex."
Justin just laughed as he followed Brian across the deck opposite the pool to a solid windowed wall. Justin was, once again, speechless, it could easily be an atrium. It had a high ceiling, solid glass walls, there was even a pond in the middle, and for being summer and a little warm outside it was really cool inside. Speaking of…
"You'd think with it being summer and no one being here it wouldn't be so comfortable here."
Brian pulled his lips in, looking a bit shy. Justin looked at him in awe, once again, as Brian admitted to having the insulation improved, any window needing it replaced with double-pane windows and completely upgraded to not be hot in the hottest summer or be cold in the coldest winter. Although for being an older house, the architect definitely knew what they were doing and the house didn't need a whole lot of work to be that energy efficient. He also admitted to planning this week so thoroughly that a cleaning crew had been through to make sure it was ready and the a/c was set on auto so it would be ready for them.
When Brian told Justin that he imagined the atrium being used as Justin's studio, Justin couldn't hold back his tears, or the embrace he had to give to Brian. He still couldn't believe that Brian did all this, just for him. It really was a palace, with everything he could possibly want, and for the first time since ever, that he could remember, he didn't feel like he was in someone else's house, or worrying about relying on someone else. Maybe they really had needed their time away from each other, pursuing their own dreams and careers to come together later as true equals, in every sense.
Brian said he hadn't done anything with the upstairs, but there was one more room he had to show Justin downstairs before they did anything else.
"I didn't use some of the furniture this place came with, although I didn't get rid of any of it, because it's still in great condition, but there's one piece of furniture in here that I had to keep, and I believe you'll agree with me when you see it."
Justin had no idea what room this could be, but the fact that it had double doors was impressive and it must be a huge room.
The moment Brian opened the doors Justin knew what room this was. This was the master bedroom, and what a bedroom it was. There was a sitting area in front a huge bay window that overlooked the grounds at the front of the house, a door that probably led to the bathroom, he didn't see another door that might have been the closet. At the side of the room, though, with two large nightstands on either side was a massive bed. It was absolutely gorgeous. It was a four-post bed, complete with canopy, a headboard and footboard that looked like it had a hand carved design that matched the forest out back. There was an iron rail at the top of both the head and foot board, and it had a sumptuous looking navy blue comforter with white accents on the edges.
"Don't worry the mattress is brand new."
He couldn't help but chuckle at that, "is the canopy new, too?"
"And the bedding, of course."
"Of course."
"So…"
"What?"
Brian just smirked at him, slowly trailing his eyes over Justin, up and down and then moved to stare at the bed, and then back to Justin.
Justin just smiled back at him, nodded and then sat down on the bench at the end of the bed to remove his shoes. Brian joined him to do the same thing, both of them looking forward to using a bed, Brian maybe more so, he'd been anxious to christen this bed since he found it and replaced the mattress.
However, before they could do anything, Justin surprised Brian by standing up to finish undressing, walked around the side of the bed, and jumped. Launched himself on to the bed and hopped up and down. Brian could only laugh at Justin's antics. He could be so strong-willed, stubborn, hot, sexy, witty and outspoken, and then he does something like this and Brian is reminded, once again, of why he fell in love with Justin. A kid at heart with an amazing personality, an attitude and intelligence that equaled Brian's and a body that could make Brian quiver and desperate.
For the next several hours, they explored each other's bodies in their sea of a bed, utilizing both the canopy's ties and the iron railing, and enjoyed a luxurious extensive shower in a shower that Brian had obviously remodeled to replicate the loft's bathroom. The added exception being the whirlpool bathtub, which they also explored thoroughly after relaxing in the hot water and bubbles. Two more rounds of sex in their alter-like bed and the men were sound asleep in each other's arms.
