A/N: Brian has a very large desk, and he was concentrating very hard on work before Justin arrived.

Brian kept seeing that look of betrayal on the boy's face over and over in his mind. Shock, horror, disbelief, pain. He drummed a finger on his leg and told himself that he was better off alone. That this 'experiment' with monogamy had been an utter failure. He kicked himself for thinking any other result could have occurred. Sunshine, that is, Justin had done what everyone else eventually did where he was concerned: assumed the worst about him. He'd thought that in the two and a half months they'd been together, the boy had come to know him better than anyone; he'd thought they were connected, and from that first day, that first moment. But as it turned out, the boy was just a fabulous lay, nothing more, and the love the boy professed was bullshit. He hadn't even asked Brian for an explanation. Still, Brian hated to think of the boy alone, who knows where, hurting. Fuck it. Justin was a man. He could take care of himself.

Lindsay's plan couldn't have gone better. Justin had walked into Brian's office with lunch for the two of them, something he'd made, and smiled. Then, he'd caught a glimpse of the naked man under Brian's desk, ass in the air, body undulating, and his head nowhere to be seen. He'd looked up at Brian in shock, eyes wide, and Brian, the dumbass, had shot the boy an annoyed looked and snapped, "What?"

The boy had turned and run out in tears. Then, Cynthia had come in, just back from lunch, and asked what was with the naked guy. Brian had looked so deliciously confused. When he'd seen the man, he'd been livid and kicked the guy out, after punching him, but he hadn't gone after the boy. His pride, as Lindsay had predicted, would not let him give chase. Brian would probably sit there blaming the boy for having no faith, eventually getting pissed enough to go to Babylon. That was the coup de grâce. Even if the boy eventually discovered the deception, Brian's actual escapades afterward would doubtless make reconciliation impossible. It wouldn't be long before the boy was begging for Lindsay's help.

Justin was in the parking garage sobbing. How could he? If Brian had wanted to start tricking again, why hadn't he just said so? He was the one who'd suggested monogamy in the first place. Maybe he'd never stopped tricking. Justin shook his head. No. That couldn't be. Plus, what would have been the point? Brian knew Justin hadn't been fucking anyone else. Lying so that he could keep tricking while Justin remained monogamous would have been stupid. And lowdown. Justin knew Brian was a good man. He'd given Justin so much before he even really knew him. And he'd been so caring and sweet after they'd learned he was pregnant. That thought had Justin crying even harder.

Then what had happened?

What was worse…Brian hadn't even had the courtesy to look guilt-ridden. He was so nonchalant about it, as though saying, "What? So what if some random guy's sucking my cock? What's the big deal? Sit down and give me my lunch." Didn't the man love him? He'd kept telling himself that the man did, that he just had difficulty with the words, but maybe he didn't. Maybe he never would.

Should Justin have said something? Confronted Brian? Or pushed the guy away and given the man a proper blowjob? That's what he'd really wanted to do. To remind Brian that no one could please him the way he could. But a little voice in the back of his head had told him to retain what he could of his dignity. Pushing away a whore to suck his babydaddy's cock, show the man who really had skills, was about as low class as you could get.

Justin sniffled and shook his head. They'd been having an insane amount of sex every day, and Brian wouldn't lie to him. Then why? Why had he done it? Could Lindsay have been right? Was it simply impossible for Brian to be monogamous?

"Where's Justin?" Cynthia asked.

Brian just frowned.

"Brian? Where is he? He said he was going home for a while to make you a special lunch. He even took a half day. But he should have been back by now. Should I call him? Make sure he's okay?"

Brian pinched the bridge of his nose and growled, "No."

Cynthia placed a hand on her hip and hissed, "Brian. What did you do?"

Brian laughed. "What did I do? I didn't do anything! You should ask what was done to me! I was framed and doubted. I'm an innocent victim."

Cynthia pursed her lips and nodded. "Uh huh. So...what? Justin saw the naked man under the desk, assumed his vision was working correctly, and ran out. Then, you didn't bother to set him straight…"

Brian turned his chair so that he was facing away from her. "Hey, I didn't know he was there until after."

Cynthia was losing patience. She snapped, "And now that you know…what are you doing about it?"

Brian said nothing.

Cynthia nodded and sighed. "Of course."

"You are dating a beautiful, talented young man who is madly in love with you and also happens to be carrying your child, and you're going to let pride wreck all that? Though…I'll give you some credit. Three months ago, you would have run off to the baths or the gym straight away, proving that whatever the person had said about you was true. Have you asked yourself why you haven't?"

Brian swiveled back around and fixed her with an icy glare. He hissed, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Even now, you are hoping that he doesn't really think the worst of you. You don't want him to. Because you love him."

Brian clenched his fists and snapped, "Don't project! Just because you are hopelessly in love with the little twat doesn't mean that I am!"

Cynthia smiled. But there was no kindness in it. She tilted her head and responded evenly, "Okay. Your pregnant, and very hormonal, boyfriend sees a naked man under your desk, apparently sucking you off. I know that's exactly what I thought when I saw the guy. You let him leave and didn't chase after him to explain. What the hell is he supposed to think? Better yet, let's ponder what he'll do. He won't go to the loft. Daphne's still in class. He'll probably go somewhere to think…sit on a bench looking sad…and gorgeous, cause he's always gorgeous."

Brian had to give her that one. The boy was beautiful, in every situation. Even when he'd just rolled out of bed.

"…Chances are, he'll be in the park or a museum…But you aren't worried, right?"

Brian looked at his assistant sharply.

"…No one there would be looking to score with a beautiful vulnerable artist, right?"

Just the thought had Brian's entire body tense.

"…And even if someone did hit on him, he'd surely turn him down, right? Or would he? He does think that you lied and cheated…and, worse yet, after doing all that, that you couldn't care less."

Cynthia smiled and returned to her desk. The look on his face told her she'd gotten through.

Brian groaned inwardly. She was right. He'd acted like a twat, and, now, he had to find Justin before some pretentious artist or musician seduced him with romantic drivel. Justin was a romantic, after all, and, what would seem more attractive right now than a sensitive, expressive artist who wanted to (shudder) make love and (shudder) cuddle afterward? Fuck that! Justin's ass was Brian's and Brian's alone. He intended to make sure it stayed that way. On his way out the door, he barked, "Find out who hired that guy."

Cynthia smiled and responded, "I'm already on it."

Suddenly, he stopped. Glancing back, he said, "Thanks," smiled, and hurried to the elevator.

A/N: One reader asserted that it wouldn't be possible for a man to crawl halfway under Brian's desk (and undulate) without him (or someone else) being aware of it. However, when the 'deception' occurs, it's lunch time (as illustrated by the fact that Justin had come for lunch and shortly thereafter Cynthia returns from lunch). So the agency is empty or nearly so when it happens, excepting Brian because he always works through lunch (and Justin always joins him). This detail was in the first chapter. In addition, as I mentioned in the notes for this chapter, Brian has a very large desk, and he was deeply engrossed in work until Justin came in (Cynthia returned moments after Justin left). I envision Brian's desk as having basically a 'tunnel' (drawers on both sides, but a large open space in the middle, open in the front and back). It seemed perfectly plausible to me that a man could disrobe and crawl into Brian's office and halfway under Brian's desk with Brian being none the wiser. All in all, the man would have been there 5-10 minutes. If this seems unbelievable to you all, I apologize. I hope it doesn't wreck the story for you. I wanted Justin to believe that Brian had cheated on him without Brian actually cheating on him, and, when I wrote this, I had a head cold, so I was a little loopy.

Justin had been walking for a while; he wasn't even sure how long. He didn't really feel like doing anything or going anywhere. All he wanted was Brian, but remembering the scene he'd walked in on earlier made him nauseous.

He looked up when he heard quacking. He was across the road from a pond surrounded by ducks. Justin smiled. Maybe this would cheer him up. He walked across the street, found a huge rock that looked good for sitting, and plopped down. He saw many brown ducks; their feathers were a mixture of brown, tan, and grey, but mostly brown. He saw some ducks with grey, brown, and blue feathers and green heads. Justin remembered reading that male and female mallard ducks had completely different coloring. He saw one of the brightly colored ones chasing a brown one. "Ahh," Justin thought. "The brown ones must be female."

The female stopped running near the edge of the pond, and the male spread his wings and dipped his beak behind his right wing. The female paused to watch the display and, then, started swimming. The male followed. He swam so that he was facing her. She allowed it, and they started bobbing their heads. Then, he swam behind her and flew up on her back. Justin's eyes widened in shock. The male grasped the female's neck feathers in his beak, stomped on her back, and lifted his tail up. "Holy Shit!" Justin thought. "Ducks have cocks?" Justin's eyes nearly bugged out of his head when he saw the female move her tail to the right and the male plunge his bloated, white five-inch spiral-shaped cock inside her. He laughed and rubbed his head. He had no clue why, but, somehow, heterosexual duck sex reminded him of Brian. "Maybe it's just the idea of sex or mating. But I'm sure the fact that it does would give Brian a giggle."

Justin sighed. Brian. He wondered what the man was doing now.

Brian was, in fact, wondering the same thing about Justin. Justin had only been gone an hour. Brian had checked the bus schedule. He shook his head and chuckled. He'd never even seen a bus schedule before Justin had plowed into him that day on the street and into his life. The 10 bus, which would take Justin to Liberty Avenue, had only come by once in the last hour, right at the beginning. Justin would have been hard pressed to catch it. He called the bus terminal to find out how many buses serviced the stop across from the agency. Turns out, two buses stopped there besides the 10, but one only in the morning, and one that went to a nearby suburb. He doubted Justin would have taken that one. Then, Brian called the cab company Justin sometimes used. It took ten minutes, but he managed to sweet talk the current call taker into asking around to make sure no one had called for a pickup here or anywhere nearby. Brian had decided that Justin must be on foot, so he had been driving up and down the road looking for him. So far, he'd had no luck.

Justin heard some splashing. He looked in the direction of the noise. A female was flicking water at a male. She kept doing it, over and over, but he didn't seem to notice. After a while, she swam in front of him and lifted up her head and tail at the same time, but he still showed no interest in her. He just swam around, as though she were an inanimate obstacle, like a tree trunk. Lindsay duck continued to chase Brian duck. He wondered if there was a Justin duck, but, then, laughed at himself. It was true that 19% of all mallard pairings involved homosexual duck sex, but the probability that Brian duck was gay was still pretty small. Justin's eyes widened, and he laughed out loud, a hearty deep belly laugh. Brian duck was mounting another male. To Justin, Justin duck seemed to be the prettiest of all the males, but he could hardly be objective. However, Brian duck seemed to agree (about Justin duck's charms). Lindsay duck was not pleased. She actually pecked Justin duck.

Justin's eyes lost focus as he contemplated what he'd seen. He knew Brian was a good man. If he simply couldn't be monogamous, as Lindsay had asserted, he would still have felt bad about Justin walking in on a guy sucking him off. Perhaps, things were not as they appeared. Brian had looked deeply engrossed in work when Justin had walked in. And the office was deserted at lunch time. Very often, Justin and Brian were the only ones on Brian's floor. Could the man have snuck in, at Lindsay's request? It was possible though not very likely. Course, after all that she'd said at dinner, he wondered, "Was that her way of pecking me?" Brian had said that she was probably in love with him. Maybe she felt that having Brian's baby was the closest she'd ever get to having Brian. In that case, what wouldn't she do to Justin? He had, after all, managed to get everything she wanted and without even trying. The man had simply barreled into the boy, and one thing had led to another. Fate and a broken condom. The thought must make her crazy.

Justin hopped off the rock and took off running. He had to see Brian right away. He knew the man wasn't the type to cheat on him. It was hard to dismiss what he'd seen with his own eyes, but he was so stunned that he hadn't really seen all.

Brian had seen the pond and thought, after what Cynthia had said, that that was the most likely place for the boy to be. He was walking toward it when the blond ran into him.

Brian exclaimed, "Justin! I was just looking for you."

Justin smiled brightly. "You were?"

He laughed. "I was going back to Ryder to find you. I just saw…the ducks…and I know, I know, that what I saw must have been some kind of set up. Lindsay's way of pecking me because I stole her preferred mate."

Cynthia was right. Justin had just been shocked. He did really know who he was, that he would never break a promise. Brian was puzzled by all this duck business though. He'd have to ask Justin about it later. Right now, Brian needed to show the boy in the only way he could how he felt. Brian grabbed the boy's cheeks and kissed him passionately. Soon all his thoughts disappeared as his senses were inflamed by the feel of the boy's body against his, his scent, his talented tongue…

Justin pulled away and took Brian by the hand, leading him to the pond and his rock. Brian duck, Justin duck, and Lindsay duck were still all together. Brian duck and Justin duck had finished coupling, but Lindsay duck was continuing to peck Justin duck. Justin smiled brightly when Brian duck pecked Lindsay duck. Lindsay duck ran off.

Brian had been eyeing Justin strangely the whole time.

He chuckled and asked, "Why are we here looking at ducks?"

Justin looked back at Brian and blushed a little.

He shook his head and replied, "Of course, you weren't here before…Do you see those two grey, blue, and brown ducks with the green heads?"

Brian answered warily, "Yes…"

Justin continued, "Well, they were just having some gay duck sex."

Brian's eyes widened. "Really?"

Justin nodded and laughed. "But apparently, that brown duck that just got pecked and ran away didn't like that so much. She was trying to get the attention of one of the males, but he just went over to the other male and mounted him."

Brian made a face that indicated he was impressed. "A gay duck that knows what it wants. You have to respect that."

"Well, while they were fucking, the female duck was pecking the duck her 'crush' had chosen over her. That's how I knew that what I saw couldn't have been real."

Brian laughed at that. Loudly. "I cannot wait to hear how one connects to the other."

Justin said, "Well, Lindsay duck, that's what I call the brown duck that was so angry Brian duck ignored her…"

Brian interrupted, "Brian duck?"

Justin just smiled.

Brian asked a little impatiently, "Well, which one is he?"

"He's the bigger one, with the wider iridescent blue patch on his wings."

Again, Brian nodded, making his 'I'm impressed' face.

Brian laughed. "So I take it that the cute smaller one is Justin duck."

Justin blushed a little and replied, "Yeah."

Then, after he realized what Brian had said, he asked, "You think he's the cutest male here?"

"Well, he's not quite as attractive as Brian duck, but he's the best looking of the rest of the males and WAY better looking than any of those drab females."

Justin beamed. He said, "I fucking love you" and, then, kissed Brian passionately.

Brian chuckled, "So how did that remind you of me and the guy pretending to suck me off?"

Justin blushed a little. "Well, it didn't remind me of that, but it did remind me of Lindsay. Lindsay duck was furious that Brian duck chose Justin duck, but he can't even get pregnant. Lindsay must be even more furious with me, wanting to strike out at me much more because I can and am pregnant with your child."

"Ahh…"

"So I figured that if I had a hard time believing you'd do that and, what's more, that you'd do that and not feel bad when I walked in, then maybe it wasn't what it appeared to be."

Brian giggled. "You are such a dork! Good thing you're hot. So…do you still have the lunch you made?"

Confused, Justin replied, "Yes" a little hesitantly.

Brian explained, "I'm fucking starving. Why don't we sit down and eat?"

Justin flashed Brian a million-watt smile and walked over to a grassy area with few rocks and sat down. Brian joined him. Justin handed him a turkey sandwich on thick-sliced homemade sourdough bread, a bottle of water, a fork, and a small container (he'd brought one for each) of fruit salad (cantaloupe, strawberries, raspberries, red seedless grapes, bananas, and watermelon). Justin had the same, except that he had a roast beef sandwich with Swiss cheese and mustard. After Brian had eaten half of his sandwich, he gestured for Justin to lay with his head on Brian's lap and started sharing his fruit salad with the boy, giving the boy two for every one bite he took, after all, "Little Sunshine needed fruit, too."

Justin was so happy he felt like bursting.