A/N: Sorry I didn't move the plot along in the last few chapters...I kind of wanted the boys to bond more, and I desperately needed to write some fluff...Next week, more exciting things will happen.

Raf asks, his voice nearly a whisper, "Why didn't you ever tell me?"

Gabe shakes his head (still looking down) and shrugs. Raf sits up and pulls on Gabe's hand. He's smiling so brightly. "Come here."

Gabe manages to avoid Raf's eyes as he crawls into his lap, straddling him and burying his face in his neck. Raf just holds Gabe for a couple of minutes. Then Gabe moves to sit sideways on Raf's lap. We're all pretty high at this point, so we just watch. I don't think any of us realize how long it's been until Raf asks, "So Brian, how did you and Taylor meet?"

Brian kisses my neck softly (brushing his lips against the part of my neck just below my hairline and then placing a lingering open-mouthed kiss there) and takes my hand, threading our fingers together. He rubs my leg with the other. I fucking love being high with Brian; in all incarnations, pot makes him more physically expressive. That's one of the reasons I know Brian loves me back in the present. When Brian-Fucking-Kinney spends hours just touching your body, how can you not know what you mean to him? I'm so absorbed in my memories (of our future) that I reply, "On a street corner" just as Brian replies, "At a slumber party."

I close my eyes tight, inwardly kicking myself.

Nevan laughs, a long warm laugh. "Which is it?"

I look back at Brian and shake my head. "I'm sorry; I was just thinking that our first meeting story wasn't very romantic…" I silently will him: Please believe me; please believe me.

But, turns out, I'm worried about nothing. Brian chuckles. "You think meeting on a street corner is more romantic than meeting at a slumber party?"

I shrug and smile weakly.

"It doesn't really matter where two people meet. What makes it romantic is what they say to each other."

I smile. "That's true…"

Brian holds my hand tighter and teases (I assume he's teasing; amusement is bubbling up through his voice), "Should I tell them what you said to me?"

I look back at him again. "Do you remember?"

"It was only a few days ago. I'm not that much of a stoner."

Nevan interjects merrily, "I am!"

That makes everyone but me and Brian laugh. We're still looking at each other. I feel like we're playing chicken. I swallow hard. Then I (try to) tease, "If you do…I'd have to tell them what you said to me."

Brian tilts his head in acknowledgment.

"You sooo don't want me to tell them!" I shake my head in incredulity, though my voice is light, playful.

Brian smiles his Mona Lisa half-smile, daring me. Maybe he just wants to see whether I really remember.

My face is a furious red at this point. I'm actually kind of embarrassed by what I said to Brian (and embarrassed on Brian's behalf about what he said to me). Older Brian would rather shave his head (or donate a kidney) than make such an admission. Until now, I didn't realize how much I picked up from him. Mel called me a 'disciple of Brian,' and I guess she was right (at least partially). But I'm still me. So I take another hit off the joint, which is so tiny now I can barely hold it, and I say, "After you."

"Taylor said…"

I turn back to Raf, Gabe, Nevan, and Dan, but, after a quick look around, I hide my face behind my hand. Brian squeezes me tighter, and, then, against my skin (the warm puffs of his breath sending delicious shivers down my spine), he repeats (slowly), "Taylor said, 'You are the most beautiful person I've ever seen, and, as long as I live, I know that I'll never see anyone as beautiful as you. I want you more than I've ever wanted anyone, and I know that that won't change. Whomever I may be with over the years, I'll never desire anyone the way I desire you.'"

Now my face is buried in both my hands, and my face is scarlet (it has to be; it, and the rest of my body, feels like it's on fire). I peek at Raf, Gabe, Dan, and Nevan through the space between two fingers.

Raf says, "Awww!!!" and Gabe smiles. But Nevan and Dan start giggling. Fuckers. I'm so glad my humiliation is a bonding moment for them. Through giggles (he's giggling so hard he can barely speak), Nevan says, "That's…so…lame!"

Brian nudges my back. In an excited voice, he urges, "Do me now."

I remove my head from my hands and look back at him. First, I grin and waggle my eyebrows. "Do you?"

Brian sighs, but he smiles, too. "What are you, twelve? You know what I mean."

I ask, my voice solemn now, "Are you sure you want me to?"

Brian looks at me with that half-amused, half-I-don't-give-a-fuck expression older Brian does so well, though his eyes sparkle. He really wants me to do this. I turn to face Raf, Gabe, Dan, and Nevan, who are now looking at me expectantly, and, in a whisper, I say, "Brian said, 'When I saw you, when you smiled at me, I thought that maybe this was what it was like to fall in love.'" My voice breaks a little on 'fall in love.' Then to Brian, I say, "I'm not telling them the rest. That's nobody's business but ours."

This time, Nevan and Dan don't laugh, Raf doesn't "Awww," and Gabe doesn't smile. They all just stare. Finally, after an unbearably long, long moment of silence, Gabe (oddly) speaks, putting into words what I can see in everyone's eyes. "Wow…"

Brian just kisses my neck and holds my hand tighter.

I glance at Dan and Nevan expectantly, opening my mouth to speak, but I freeze when I see the expressions on their faces. Dan looks startled, and paler than usual, and Nevan shakes his head frantically, his eyes wide with…is that fear?

TBC…