Justin took a deep breath and headed back into the living room. His eyes widened when he saw Brian digging through his desk drawer.

"What are you doing?"

"Lookin…"

"For what?"

"Pills…"

"Are you in pain?"

"No. But iss-sn't it better to be proactive?" He smiled one of his ubersexy smiles (well Justin thought they were ubersexy) … slow and lazy … and then slipped two pills into his mouth. Then he hopped back toward the couch. But Brian was sweating, and his eyes were hazy, like he couldn't focus. Justin noted that Brian was hopping a zigzag and seemed out of breath. Justin cursed, "Fuck, Brian …"

"Nosso fast, there, Sunshine … I do the fucking …" He even pounded his chest for good measure, which threw him off balance. Justin caught Brian and steadied him. He laughed as slid his arm around Brian's waist and tossed Brian's arm over his shoulder. "You're supposed to use the crutches. Doctor's orders."

"Fuck the crutches … well … not really. The top part's gotta be five … five or six inches WIDE. Ouch. An tha' other part's too small …"

Justin shook his head. "Brian, do you really think I'm planning to fuck myself with one of your crutches?"

Brian swung his head to the side and looked at Justin. Genuinely astonished, he asked, "No?"

"No."

"Oh. Well, tha's good. One side's too big … th'other too small." Brian grinned. His eyes twinkling. "But me, I'm jus right …" Brian giggled as Justin guided Brian back onto the couch. "Jus right … even gos your name on it …" Once Brian was lying flat again, he grabbed Justin's hands (Justin was still leaning over, having just deposited Brian) and tried to pull Justin on top of him. Justin growled softly in frustration and stepped back. But Brian was still hanging on. Justin had to peel each of Brian's fingers off of his hands, and, when he had, Brian sighed and crossed his arms, muttering, "No fun. No fun t'all." Then he looked up at the ceiling. "Fuck. Missed my pointment with the lectrician."

Justin sat back on the chair, the chair Brian now despised (the chair Brian had decided he would toss when he could see straight again), and inquired, "Electrician? What did you need one for?"

Brian pointed up at the ceiling. "To 'stall another track thingy."

Justin followed the line of Brian's arm, which was pointing in basically the right direction (it was wobbling a bit).

Brian sighed. "Paid him extra, too … oh well."

"Why do you need another one?"

Brian huffed a breath through his nose like a dragon (he wouldn't mind breathing fire just now) and frowned. He let his arm fall. "Too dark!"

"Brian, you have plenty of light in here."

Brian shook his head side to side, all the way right and then all the way left (Brian looked a little like a five-year-old, Justin noted. He smiled at the thought).

Then Brian declared, "Nope. Too dark. No Sunshine at all."

Justin stiffened. "What?"

Brian answered on an exhale, very softly, "No Sunshine," and looked ahead of him, though his eyes had lost focus. He wasn't looking at anything Justin could see.

Justin laughed nervously. "Brian … it's really bright in here during the day, and, at night, well, of course there's no sun."

Out of the blue, Brian returned his eyes to Justin and exclaimed, "Ha! Splain why it's here now then." Brian grinned impishly.

"Ummm … " Justin looked over his shoulder and then back at Brian. "You see sunshine now?"

Brian nodded firmly twice. "Can't you? Iss right there." He pointed in Justin's direction. Justin wasn't sure whether Brian was pointing at him or at the window behind him. Brian's gaze seemed to be focused at a point a little above Justin's head.

Brian lowered his head so that he was looking right at Justin now, narrowed his eyes, and crossed his arms. "So how was tha date?"

As if on cue, Justin's cell phone rang. Justin dug it out of his pocket. He sighed. It was Joe. Justin bit his lower lip and looked between Brian and the phone a couple of times. If he sent the call to voice mail, Joe might just keep trying. If he turned the phone off, his mom or Daphne might call, particularly his mom (Molly was always getting herself hurt), and he'd miss it. He decided to answer, if only to stop Joe from calling again.

Justin half-said, half-whispered to Brian, as if Joe could hear him, though he hadn't yet answered, "One second." Then he stood, walked into the kitchen, and hit the send button. In the same half-talking, half-whispering voice, he said, "Hey. What's up? This isn't really a good time.

Brian grimaced. It had to be the snuggler. Otherwise, Justin would talk normal. Brian kicked at his crutches, which were leaning against the coffee table. One slipped and fell onto the floor.

"Look, Joe. I …"

Yup. Brian grimaced again, but then, when an idea came to him, he smiled. He kicked at the crutch that was still leaning against the table. Only harder this time. Brian kicked it so hard in fact that he sent it careening across the floor and into a pillar, taking one of the coffee cups down with it.

Justin jumped when he heard the crash. He turned around.

"I gotta go. Talk to you later." He hit end and ran, actually ran, back to the couch. Justin was frantic. "What happened? Are you okay?"

Brian put his best pretend hurt face on and shook his head. He lifted his good leg and said, "Burns."

Some coffee had indeed spilled on him, but it was warm, not hot. But Justin didn't know that. A fact that sent him scrambling into the kitchen for a bowl of water, ice, and a wash cloth.

As soon as Justin wasn't looking, Brian grinned. A shit-eating grin.

TBC…