Ethan stroked the bow across his violin and emitted a screechy sound into the hall.
"Is it supposed to sound like that?" Justin hissed in Daphne's ear.
"Will you shut up, he's doing an amazing job."
"I hate violin music."
"You never said that the other day?"
"Yeah, well I only found out ten minutes ago."
At that point a woman in the row in front turned around and told them to shut the hell up. Justin sighed loudly and slumped back into his chair. The room had been done up to look like a concert hall, it was all red carpets and mahogany wood with intricate designs on gold trimming. It was regal and impressive, as though the Queen of Britain might have lived there. But it was also cold and boring and Justin was struggling not to yawn. He kept smiling and acting interested because he was aware of the fact Ethan kept staring at him, making sure he was enjoying himself but all Justin could think of was Brian. He wanted to sneak out and go to Babylon and meet up with the man who'd so effortlessly taken over every moment of his life. Brian Kinney was like an incurable disease that flooded his every fibre and the only way to ease the pain was to be with him, to feel him, to taste him.
Justin shivered with desire and Daphne elbowed him in the ribs.
"You moaned," she giggled. "Thinking about a certain beautiful lecturer, were you?"
"No," Justin blushed.
"Well pay attention it's really important to Ethan that you enjoy yourself."
"It is?"
"Of course it is. If you weren't so blinded by your obsession with Brian you'd see that Ethan really likes you."
"He does?" Justin looked up as the olive-skinned violinist bobbed and ducked his curly head in time to the music. He was good looking, Justin supposed, but he'd never really thought of him as anything more than Daphne's flatmate, a friend at best.
--
"So, did you like it?" Ethan smiled. He was sweating a little, his white shirt sticking to his body and Justin's eyes roamed over him, sizing him up. It wasn't a bad body; for a violinist.
"You were amazing!" Daphne beamed, throwing herself at Ethan and almost choking him with her hug.
"Thanks Daph," he smiled as she stepped away. And suddenly, they were both looking at Justin, waiting for his verdict.
"It was … fabulous," lied Justin with a smile. "I never knew you were so talented."
Ethan grinned so widely Justin thought it must have hurt his cheeks. "Well, people are saying I'm the next Midori with the looks of Justin Timberlake."
"You're better looking than Timberlake," Justin said immediately, forgetting what Daphne had just told him and forgetting the possible implication of his comment. All he'd meant was he'd never really found Timberlake that good looking, he hadn't meant to fill Ethan with false hope of a relationship but even before he'd finished the sentence he could see the hope flooding Ethan's eyes. Shit.
Daphne suggested they go to the union to celebrate. Ethan sat very close to Justin and Justin wished he wouldn't. He kept trying to shuffle away subtly. He even suggested he should leave a few times only for the suggestion to be met with an angry glare from Daphne and a hiss of,
"don't you dare!"
His body stayed in the union all night with his friends but his mind had wandered to Brian.
--
Brian looked out over the pulsating, gyrating bodies as they grinded and moved on the dance floor. He'd been inadvertently watching the door all night, waiting for the blonde hair of his personal stalker to bound in but the kid never arrived, it was just generic muscle-bound hunks, followed by skinny little twinks and the odd bear.
"Hey," Michael said, resting a hand on his friend's shoulder. "You searching for talent?"
"Mmm, something like that," Brian nodded, pointing a finger into the crowd at a blonde twink that had caught his eye. "What do you think of him?"
"Aren't you a little old for him?"
Brian turned to glare at his friend, who immediately fumbled his words,
"I mean he's quite young."
Brian's eyes narrowed even more.
"You don't usually go for blondes," Michael tried and Brian's face visibly relaxed as he looked back into the crowd.
"I'll make an exception," he smiled and walked away from his friend and down the stairs towards his prey.
--
It was almost one o'clock in the afternoon and Justin's stomach was starting to rumble painfully. He clutched at his belly with one hand and considered going to the kitchen of his flat but he could hear Jim and Chris sat in there making some jokes about something that probably wasn't funny in the slightest. There was only one thing to do, go out for lunch.
Justin took a trip to Liberty Avenue. He liked it there. He felt at home, surrounded by people who actually accepted him, who wouldn't give a shit if he started making out with some guy right there on the streets. Eventually, he found a brightly coloured café called the Liberty Diner. He went in. It was tacky as hell and full of horny queers, eyeing him up. He sat down at one of the tables and was immediately assaulted by the smell of cheep, flowery perfume and lots of colour.
"Hi honey, haven't seen you around here before" came the gravely voice of the boisterous redhead, "what can I get you?"
"Erm," Justin grabbed the menu and looked for something suitable. "What's the pink plate special?"
"An excellent choice, that's what it is," the redhead beamed, scribbling down the order, "pink plate special coming right up."
"Debbie, you really shouldn't force that shit down the new people's throats, I thought the idea was that they come back, not throw up." Justin recognised that voice and that superior tone; Brian. He beamed when he saw his lecturer sipping coffee at the bar. "Afternoon Taylor," Brian smirked after being told to 'shut the fuck up' by Debbie.
"Hey," Justin grinned back.
"Wow, honey," laughed Debbie, "a smile like that should come with a warning - it's brighter than sunshine."
Justin just grinned again and Debbie pretended to shield her eyes before going to place the order on the roundabout.
"Ignore Debbie," Brian smirked, raising his voice a little so it would reach the redhead. "She hasn't realised that dressing like Bobo the clown doesn't make her funny."
"I heard that … asshole."
Brian just rolled his eyes, took another sip of his coffee and returned to flicking through his copy of OUT. Justin watched him for a second. It was ridiculous, this man even made reading a newspaper hot. Brian didn't take his eyes off the paper but it didn't matter. He knew Justin was watching him.
"What?"
Justin jumped. "I, er, nothing," he sighed, watching his own hands as he began to twiddle his thumbs. His thumbs rotated slowly at first, then faster and faster until they were just a blur of anxious energy. He allowed himself to steal a look at Brian. God he was beautiful. Justin took a deep breath and pushed himself to his feet, he walked carefully to his lecturer and placed a hand tentatively on his knee.
Brian looked down at the hand, then at Justin, then back to his paper as though this kind of thing happened all the time.
"I haven't got anything to do this afternoon," Justin whispered, acting more confident than he was feeling as he allowed his hand to creep higher up Brian's thigh.
"It's alright for students, isn't it?" Brian said as though he were making polite conversation and not as though there was a hand working it's way to his cock.
"I was thinking I might do some kind of … exercise."
"The college gym's very good."
"I can't afford it."
"Go jogging."
"I need a training buddy."
"I'm assuming you've made some friends by now."
"I don't think they'd be interested in the kind of exercise I have planned," Justin couldn't believe the words that were leaving his lips. This wasn't him. He felt like he was watching someone else, someone confident trying to seduce Brian. His hand squeezed gently as it reached it's target and Brian took a sharp intake of breath.
Brian didn't know what was happening. God he wanted this kid. He wanted him so bad but he couldn't break his rules again. He only had one, don't fuck the same trick twice. It only led to complications, relationships, talk of love and commitment but he wanted Justin. He wanted him on the floor, over the sofa, in the shower, in his bed, on his stomach, on his back. He shook his head to free himself of the beautiful images that were flashing through his head. He had to be strong. It was wrong, it was illegal and it was complicated. And anyway, Justin could only be about eighteen. He was too young … far too young. So Brian took a deep breath, calmly removed Justin's hand and said,
"I don't think this is appropriate student lecturer relations."
"It's a Saturday," Justin pointed out as a last ditch effort to nail his man. "It's a day off, you're not my lecturer on the weekend."
Brian couldn't argue with that logic and smirked, "my place, five minutes," he whispered. Justin beamed back and ran off. The door was just shutting when Debbie arrived with his food.
"Where's Sunshine gone?" she demanded to Brian, who just grinned widely.
"Something came up," he smirked, getting to his feet and leaving the money by his coffee. "See you later Deb," he grinned and left the diner smugly. Well, it's easy to be smug when you're about to go home and fuck a boy as beautiful as Justin Taylor.
--
Justin was doing his homework at Brian's computer, when Brian stepped out of the shower.
"Can you help me with this?" he asked.
"No."
"But you're my personal tutor, you have to help when I ask."
"It's a Saturday and as you so … brilliantly pointed out, it's my day off," Brian smirked, leaning over Justin's work to get a cigarette and dripping water all over his books.
"Careful!"
"I'm sure your professor will understand," Brian smirked, lighting up and taking a long drag. He exhaled slowly and pointed at Justin's work, "that's not right," he said calmly. "And if you paid more attention in class, you'd know that we can't use wikipedia for research."
"Well as long as the professor doesn't find out, it'll be okay, won't it?"
"Hmm," Brian hummed, in his ear. Justin smiled, he could feel the damp hair pressing against his cheek, he could feel Brian soft-as-silk skin pressing against his neck and then the smell of soap and shampoo mixed with tobacco as Brian breathed the smoke out heavily. "You know, I don't remember telling you could use my computer."
"I figured it would be okay, I haven't got one at the flat and I can't use the college ones until Monday."
"So?"
"So I've got to hand this assignment in first thing Monday morning."
"Can't you ask your lecturer for an extension?"
"Nah, he's a real asshole," Justin smirked.
"Watch it, or I'll have to spank you."
"Is that a promise?" Justin asked, raising an eyebrow flirtatiously and Brian knew he was gonna need another shower.
They'd barely got going when there was a knock at the door. And then another knock at the door, and another and it got louder and more rapid until Brian lost his rhythm and had to stop.
"Wait here," he groaned, "I'll be back when I've told this asshole to fuck off."
Brian grabbed a shirt from the foot of the bed and covered himself up a bit before sliding open his door.
"Hey! I've just bought Captain Astro 24, the one where Captain Astro finds Astro Dog and … why aren't you wearing any clothes?"
Brian just raised an eyebrow and leant against the door heavily, "okay. I won't answer that question and … you can just take a guess."
"It's the middle of the afternoon!?"
"Afternoon delight," Brian shrugged with a self-satisfied smirk.
"Haven't you got anything better to do?"
"Honestly, no."
"You should get a hobby," Michael said pushing his way through the door and into the flat.
"I have a hobby," Brian said, grabbing Michael's shirt collar and dragging him back towards the door. "And if you fuck off, I'll get back to it."
"I mean a real hobby."
"Collecting colouring books of superheroes, in plastic cases," he lifted issue 24 between finger and thumb as though it would give him a disease, "because they're too precious to be … breathed on or … touched by natural finger oils or some shit is not a hobby. It's an obsession … and a waste of money."
"It's not a waste of money."
"How much was this?" Brian asked slamming the magazine into Michael's chest so he staggered backwards towards the door.
"Erm…." he blushed.
"Exactly, my hobby is free, fun and fabulous."
"Briaaaaaan," came the bored whine from the bedroom. "Hurry up!"
Michael's eyes widened in complete disbelief. "No fucking way," he said, pushing past Brian and marching into the room.
Brian heard a little yelp of protest from Justin and Michael shout something about using Brian to get ahead in college. He heard Justin complain and he heard Michael shouting back and then it was just a noise of arguing and Brian slumped against the wall, head in hand and breathed out slowly. He'd never asked for any of this. He just wanted an easy life, a couple of friends, a steady job and the ability to fuck whoever he wanted whenever he wanted.
Suddenly, the noise from the bedroom stopped and Brian heard the words he'd hoped he'd never hear "I love him," though he couldn't work out which one of his adoring fans had said it. He just pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed heavily as Michael rounded the corner and marched over to him.
"I hope you know what you're doing," he growled before walking out the door.
"Erm, Michael," Brian called after him.
"Huh?"
"You forgot your, er, magazine," he said, holding the comic. Michael just scowled and snatched it from Brian's hands, storming down the stairs.
Brian just shook his head and turned around to see Justin stood butt naked in the middle of the room.
"You're friend's an asshole."
"Watch your mouth," warned Brian sternly. "And it's not his fault. He's just jealous."
"Of what?"
"He loves me," Brian shrugged. "He can't help it, most people do." He allowed his eyes to wander slowly up and down Justin's body. "Wanna finish?"
"You're still up for it?"
Brian dropped the shirt that was covering him, looked down and then beamed at the younger man.
"I'm still up," he confirmed.
"You're unbelievable." Justin shook his head, sauntering slowly towards the older man and running a finger down his chest.
"I know."
"No, I mean, nothing puts you off getting your dick sucked."
"Nope. I could be about to crash in a plane, about to get shot or face to face with a man-eating crocidile, I'd make 'em blow me first." He placed his hand on top of Justin's head and pushed him gently to his knees.
"You're insatiable."
"I've always said I wanna come before I go."
Justin looked up and saw Brian smiling down at him as he placed his hand gently at the side of Justin's face.
--
Brian had taken Justin to Babylon that night. He'd explained a million and one times that it was not a date, it had simply been about convenience. They'd both been going the same way and it would have been a waste of money for Justin to get a cab. The fact they'd ended up dancing together had been an accident and when Justin had introduced himself to Brian's other friends, Emmett and Ted, it had just been going through the motions. Brian was going to push the kid away as soon as a better offer came along. He didn't want to kiss him, he was just making other people jealous. They didn't go to the backroom together. Brian went alone because he had wanted to see what the guys were like tonight and Justin had followed him. He'd only ended up fucking Justin because he felt like he should give the kid a good final goodbye. It wasn't as though he'd be taking him home again.
Justin had only gone back to the loft with him because he hadn't been able to get back to his halls that late on a Sunday. He'd only stayed in Brian's bed because Brian hadn't wanted Justin jerking off on his Italian motor furniture. And well, Brian's a hot-blooded gay man, he couldn't have a hot, young twink in his bed and not fuck him.
What kind of stud would he be?
Justin turned up at his lecture Monday morning ten minutes late. Brian was taking in everyone's assignments in order and ticking their names off the register as he got to them. He'd just taken in Tina Zade's, when Justin stumbled through the door, hair blown everywhere, shoes untied and looking a complete mess.
"You're late Taylor," he said sternly as Justin walked cockily into the room and slipped into his seat.
"Sorry, I guess I was just … busy."
"Well, I hope whatever you were up to was worth losing marks on your assignment."
"Huh?"
"I told you last week, you'd lose marks if you didn't hand in the assignment when I called your name on the register. So ... where is it?"
"Where's what?"
"Your assignment."
"You're fucking kidding me!" Justin said, his face dropping in horror.
"Yes Taylor," Brian scorned, "I'm kidding you, everyone else in this class had to get there work handed in today but you can hand it in whenever you want because you're in someway special. Well, that might be what mummy and daddy tell you Taylor but here you're just the same as everyone else."
"But I told you the other day I was having trouble with it," Justin said slowly, pushing out each syllable very deliberately.
"And I told you to request an extended deadline," Brian countered in the same tone.
"I thought that was implied!"
"Did you go through the proper channels? Did I receive a formal request for a deadline extension?"
Justin dug his toe into the floor, bitterly aware that the attention of the whole class was on him. "No," he shook his head sheepishly.
"No," Brian repeated. "Now I'm sorry Taylor but I'm going to have to fail you on this assignment."
"But sir …."
"But nothing," Brian cut in. "If you want to discuss it you can see me after the lecture. You've already wasted enough of your classmate's time."
Justin just scowled and slumped back in his chair. He couldn't believe it. How had Brian expected him to finish assignment when he'd spent virtually the entire weekend with him? He refused to listen to a word Brian said in some kind of second rate protest. He just crossed his arms and sat like a petulant child.
When the end of the lecture came around, Justin didn't move. He didn't even acknowledge Daphne when she said she'd wait for him outside the room. He just glared at Brian arms folding, face frowning. He waited until the door had closed behind the last person, then he leapt to his feet and ran to stand in front of Brian's desk.
"What the fuck!?" he demanded.
"Sit down Taylor," Brian sighed, gesturing to the other chair at his desk. Justin sat down angrily and continued to scowl. "What exactly do you want to discuss?"
"You! You completely embarrassed me in front of the whole class. You knew I didn't do that assignment. I was with you!"
"That's hardly an excuse, I'm sure other people in the class like going out on the weekend."
"I tried to do it but you stopped me."
"I didn't stop you, I offered you an alternative way to spend your time, I certainly didn't tell you, you didn't have to hand it in."
"But, but…"
"Outside this room," Brian interrupted sternly, "what we do is our own business, it's my private life and I can do what I want. Inside this room, I am your lecturer and you are my student and if you don't get your assignments in, I have to mark you down."
"I was at your fucking apartment!"
"So leave my fucking apartment and do your work," Brian replied calmly. "Get it in by the end of the week with a legitimate reason for it being late and you won't lose too many marks."
"You're an asshole!"
"And you are, primarily, a student."
"Fuck you Brian!" Justin shouted and stormed out of the room. He pushed past Daphne but she followed him trying to find out what had happened. He refused to tell her. He felt like an idiot. He'd been sacrificing his education for that man, he thought they'd had an agreement. Turned out Brian Kinney really was an asshole.
He was still seething when they met Ethan at the café for lunch.
"What's up with him?"
"He forgot to hand in an assignment."
"The lecturer's an asshole!" Justin snapped. "He as good as told me it didn't matter and now he's saying he's gonna mark my grades down."
"Forget about it," Ethan suggested, touching Justin's arm gently. "It's not worth it."
Justin looked up, he saw that look in Ethan's eyes. It was a look of longing and need but also something else … something more powerful that Justin had never seen before.
"D'you wanna go somewhere?" Justin asked slowly. "Boys night out, just the two of us."
"Where?"
"I don't know. Babylon? Woody's?"
"Justin," Daphne said, "do you think that's a good idea?"
"I think it's a very good idea," Justin said, not taking his eyes off Ethan. "What do you think?"
"Sound good," Ethan grinned back.
--
Justin took Ethan to Woody's first. He'd heard Brian and his friends talking about it as there local. He figured if he hung around there long enough he'd bump into someone. Ethan was quiet when they got to the pub. He looked a bit out of his comfort zone, as though he'd rather be at home with his violin but he kept smiling at Justin. Justin smiled back encouragingly and they talked about everything and nothing until Justin saw Brian walk through the door. He had his arm around Michael's shoulders and was squeezing Ted's arm and saying something about him being older than the crypt keeper. Ted slapped his hand away just as Michael looked up and spotted Justin.
Justin saw him groan and peal away from Brian's embrace and mutter something. Brian, Emmett and Ted immediately looked in his direction and Justin launched himself at Ethan, kissing him furiously. When he pulled away, Brian was at the bar buying a drink and Ethan was beaming up at him, leaning in to kiss his jaw and whispering things like,
"let's get out of here. We can go to my flat, it's closer than yours."
Justin's heart sank. Brian didn't seem to give a shit. He hadn't even flinched when Justin had kissed Ethan. It was clear now that Justin had meant nothing so he agreed to go with Ethan and made sure he pushed his elbow in Brian's back as they left hand in hand.
Brian didn't need to be prodded in the back to notice Justin leaving with that guy. He'd been watching the whole thing. He felt irrationally angered by Justin's immaturity and his arrogance in believing that Brian would just let him do what he wanted when it came to college work. He'd only drawn some guidelines as to how he should act. He hadn't intended to push him away indefinitely. Though perhaps this would be best all round. He knew what he'd been doing with Justin was wrong and risky and probably not worth it. And he'd been trying to get rid of the kid since he'd met him. He downed another pint.
"Another," he gasped as the barman took his empty glass and filled it up. "Thanks," he said, downing it again and demanding a refill.
After all … he was celebrating, no more stalkers.
Please Review??
Thanks for reading this far ... you're all legends! =D
xx