Landing at the Paris airport, Brian rented a car and hurried to the hotel where he knew Justin was staying. He regretted not responding to Justin's soft kiss, but what he'd been doing—well, it was that important.
When he got there, he got the room number and hurried upstairs. When he found it, he knocked softly.
"Who is it?" came a muffled—post-crying—response.
"It's your Brian," Brian called, trying not to break down himself.
He heard footsteps approaching and stepped back. In his arms he cradled a bouquet of one dozen roses he'd picked up from a local florist.
The door opened, and there stood Justin. His clothes were unkempt, his hair a disheveled mess, but at that moment, he was a welcome sight to Brian.
"Brian—" Justin couldn't believe it. "What—what are you doing here?"
"I was about to ask you the same thing, Sunshine," Brian smiled, handing over the roses.
Justin looked up at him, and he couldn't believe what he'd heard. "Am I—am I really still—"
"Yes, Justin," Brian replied, as tears rolled down his face. "Come here."
All Justin could do was fall into Brian's arms and sob. "I—I love you so much, Brian—I—"
"Shh…" Brian whispered, holding him closer than ever as he just kissed the tears away. "I—I guess I owe you an apology. I knew you'd kissed me," he continued, "but I couldn't—I couldn't stop. What you saw—well," he laughed softly, "to tell you the truth, I was planning our honeymoon."
"You—you were planning our honeymoon?" Now Justin felt bad—for assuming the worst. "But why—why couldn't you just say so—instead of scaring me half to death?"
"I'm sorry," Brian said, holding him closer. "You are so, so important to me, Justin—everything I've done since Babylon has been an effort to make you happy—and I thought it would be a nice surprise."
"But—where would we go?" Justin wondered.
Brian just grinned and whispered in Justin's ear, "Why, Sunshine, I was planning on bringing you here."
Now Justin just took Brian in his arms and cried. "What would I do without you?" He sighed happily as Brian leaned in and kissed a stray tear away. "I—I don't deserve you."
"No," Brian laughed, "I'm the one who doesn't deserve you. I know you love me, Justin—and when I can't stop what I'm doing to welcome my prince home, well, it just makes me wonder what kind of husband I'm going to be."
"Surely you're not suggesting—" Justin was afraid to ask.
"No," Brian laughed again, "we'll still go through with the wedding—I just realized I'd be nothing without my Sunshine—my prince—and when you left, I just had to come, too—to see if I couldn't bring back that Sunshine smile I love so much to the Sunshine I love so much."
For the rest of the week, Brian and Justin did a lot of making up—lovemaking, romantic dinners for two—both in and out of the hotel—and intermittent kisses in between. By the time they were ready to go home, they were both renewed—with energy and with hope—that their relationship hadn't really suffered at all!