Eric stormed through the door when he came home, even going as far as slamming it shut behind him. He was absolutely pissed. All he saw was red and he knew if he didn't blow off some steam right now he'd explode. Completely going up in his anger, the blond didn't even acknowledge Brian in the kitchen.

"A welcome home to you too, darling." Brian said jokingly, slightly hoping it wouldn't offend his boyfriend too much. Fortunately, he'd seen Eric this angry only a handful of times, but he had a feeling he could add today to that list. Brian slowly cracked an egg as he kept his eyes on the blond, watching every move while predicting the next one. Something told him dinner could wait though, so he turned off the stove and slowly moved towards Eric.

Eric didn't answer him, instead the blond made a bee-line for their couch and plopped down on it. He grabbed the nearest pillow, shoved his face in it and started screaming. Despite his muffled voice, Brian recognized the sign and had a bad feeling. It looked like his poor Eric was having one of those days again. Brian just hoped he could do something about it. Eric had a habit of shutting people out when he went through bad days, even though he promised Brian that he'd work on it. This clearly wasn't the right moment to, rightfully, remind him of it though.

The blond was great at hiding it, but despite his great acting skills, Brian could see right through him. Over the past few weeks he noticed how his boyfriend seemed to grow more and more with the day. Eric snapped more quickly at him when things went wrong, even though it wasn't his fault. His answers sounded more rude and cut off than before, and Brian had had enough of waiting around for the other shoe to drop. But finally, it seemed like it had.

"Are you okay, honey?" Brian tried a gentle approach, softening his voice so he wouldn't possibly scare Eric, who still had his face covered by the pillow.

"Does it look like I am?" A sarcastic comment was shot back, exactly like the brunet had expected this conversation to go. Eric tended to use humor to cope with his personal problems, but also had a silver tongue when it came down to it.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Brian knew he shouldn't push Eric to talk about his feelings, most of the time it only ended with the blond shutting him out even more. But he was sick of waiting for Eric to come to him instead, because that clearly wasn't happening anytime soon. He needed to get this out of Eric's system, and this was the perfect situation. Brian was afraid of whatever scene Eric would cause if he didn't.

"No."

"Is there anything I can do?" Brian pried again, but his efforts weren't paying off at all.

"No. Just leave me alone. Thank you." This was the moment the brunet should have given up, but he had spent too much time around Eric that he knew if he kept pushing, the other man would finally give up and spill the beans. Brian just needed to come up with the perfect way to let his boyfriend think he was, but he knew just the thing.

"If that's what you want, I'll leave you be, love." Brian got up and pretended to leave and continue working on dinner again. He heard a frustrated sigh leave the blond, who was starting to catch upon his plan. As much as Eric hated to admit it, Brian knew him better than anyone, and always knew just how to make him crack. "As you might have caught upon now, I won't leave until you tell me what's wrong. If it takes forever, so be it. I'll lay down next to you and hold you in my arms so we can cuddle. It's your choice whether you want to face me or not. "

And with that, Brian moved to lay down next to his still angry boyfriend, practically shoving him away in order not to fall off. Their couch could, sadly, barely fit two people, but if they would just hold each other tight they could make it work. Eric's first move was to face away from Brian, choosing not to look at him at all and keep ignoring him. He had to admit he was a little annoyed though, with Brian laying next in his eye field he couldn't stare daggers into the couch anymore. Eric never asked for Brian to join him, so why would he want to face his boyfriend? He could function perfectly well without him by his side, thank you very much. This wasn't about those annoying colleagues he had to deal with the past few weeks at all. No, that'd just be childish, and Eric wasn't childish! He was just pretty satisfied to see them leave today, and prayed they'd never come back into his office ever.

Except the blond forgot one little detail in his almost waterproof plan. Brian knew him through and through, he'd never be able to lie to him without the brunet sensing it. Eric also might need Brian to make him feel better at times.

Yeah, so much for staying pissed at every single living orgasm.

Even though Eric couldn't form any words to explain how he was feeling, Brian understood him. He'd be there to catch him, no matter at what cost. So after a very long internal dialogue, Eric turned around and buried his face deep into the brunet's green shirt. With his eyes closed he couldn't see the smile that slowly grew on Brian's lips, but Eric knew exactly what face his boyfriend was making now. It was a mix of smugness, knowing he was right all along, (despite Eric not wanting to admit it at all), and softness, wanting to love the blond until he learned how to love himself again. Eric had no idea how he ever thought he'd be better off without Brian, as his own lips slowly formed a smile as well.

"You feeling any better now?" Brian's fingers softly caressed through Eric's dirty blond hair, just now noticing how greasy it actually was. It looked like his boyfriend had neglected his own health again, but he couldn't blame him for it. Brian had a habit of it as well whenever his depression settled in worse than before again. "God, you need a shower, sweetheart."

"Are you saying I smell bad?" Blue eyes stared up at him from the spot on his chest and Brian was relieved to see a small sparkle back in them. They weren't dull and grey no longer, shining blue had taken over their place.

"Your hair is getting greasy, E. I'm surprised you haven't noticed yet."

Eric laid his head down on his boyfriend's comfortable chest again, his voice sounding defeated as he spoke up. "I guess I was too caught up in things to take care of myself."

"Come on then, dinner can wait a little longer. I want you to feel happy and healthy before we continue things." Much sooner than the man would have liked to, Brian got up and pulled Eric with him.

"Where are we going? I was just getting comfortable, B." Eric pouted, but the said man could only laugh as he placed a kiss on his cheek.

"We're taking a proper shower. I'll even wash your hair for you if you'd let me. " The brunet shot a wink his way, suddenly his blushing mess of a boyfriend was up and moving.

"Wait, does that mean I'm allowed to wash your body?" Eric's eyes widened as he mulled over that detail, and his hunger grew. But it was rather for something else than the dinner Brian previously had started on.

"Maybeeeee." Brian smiled as he drew his answer out, but knew he couldn't deny his boyfriend of that sensation anymore.

"I'll take that as a yes." Eric moved in front of him, and placed a kiss on his lips before he bolted to their bathroom. "Race you!"

Brian laughed and scolded him for getting a head start, but secretly felt satisfied to see he'd gotten a smile back on his boyfriend's face. Their clothes were quickly discarded, and Eric had no time to worry about whatever stupid happened at work anymore. Despite the fact Brian knew it'd take just a bit longer for Eric to feel completely like himself again, he was determined to finish his mission of cheering his boyfriend up.