Brian discovers where Justin is as jealousy rears its ugly head. Will they work things out? Or will Justin turn and walk away?

Twenty Minutes Earlier

Brian's eyes burned from staring out into the waves; the sun reflecting off the water made it hard to see the faces of the surfers and bathers out in the water, but he had to keep looking. He was convinced the car he had seen up in the parking lot had to be Justin's. It was just too much of a coincidence not to be his.

He had looked in the men's restroom, out in the ocean itself, and all over the beach to no avail; no Justin. He knew from looking at a map of the park posted on a bulletin board by the parking lot, however, that this park encompassed several hundred miles of coastline, as well as contained numerous walking trails and even a few caves. Was it possible that Justin had wandered off to do some sketching and/or just to be alone? That would be like him, he felt. That must be it. He glanced up at the parking lot to determine that the car was still, indeed, parked there, so he knew he had to be here somewhere. He was NOT ready to give up hope; not by a long shot.

He finally decided to walk back up toward the car and try the first walking trail closest to it; that seemed the most logical step. Retracing his steps, then, he ascended the winding, sloping trail as fast as he could toward an impressive patch of towering boulders that jutted out into the water.

Justin could be hidden among them anywhere; he was resolved, though, that he would not leave this place until he had found him.

"Will you quit squirming?" Liam groused as I tried fervently to not move and keep from blinking; it was difficult, though, when it felt like someone had a pin stuck in my eye. He grasped me by the shoulder with one hand as he leaned in so he was within inches of my face as he stared into my eyes.

"I will if you stop giggling like a fucking schoolgirl," I retorted. Liam seemed to think the entire episode was hysterical, apparently. He had already made some sort of remark that he felt like the hero in a cheesy Harlequin novel, about to swoop in to rescue the fair damsel in distress. I, however, was in too much discomfort at the moment to see any humor in it.

"Okay, okay," Liam responded, but he still couldn't quite wipe the grin off his face. "Now hold still and whatever you do, don't blink!" he quietly demanded as he leaned in so his face with within an inch or two of mine. I couldn't help thinking that if his girlfriend could only see him now...

I didn't have time to react - nor did Liam - as a muscular hand suddenly squeezed his upper arm in a vise-like grip and pulled him to his feet before I watched him promptly receive a punch in the face; he cried out as he fell to the ground, barely managing to scrabble around on the rocky surface to keep from plunging into the ocean waves several feet below. "What the hell?!" he roared at the other man who stood there looming over him like some tiger defending his cub.

My eyes threatened to bulge out of their sockets and my heart lurched as I watched Brian hit Liam and knock him to the ground. Our eyes locked onto each other's like two heat-seeking missiles as I cried out, "Brian! What the fuck?" I was too concerned at the moment about my friend - and what Brian had done to him, however, to even acknowledge how he had wound up here at the same place I was; or what it meant. "Why did you do that?"

Forgetting my discomfort momentarily, I scooted over to Liam and placed my hands on either side of his face to make him look at me. "Are you okay?" I asked in concern.

Liam glared up at Brian as he rubbed his face and told me sarcastically, "Yeah. Just peachy. You know this asshole?"

I glanced up at Brian, noticing his nostrils flaring like some barely-controlled bull as he stared at the two of us, his fists curled into balls by his side. His eyes were dark and a vein was bulging out on the side of his neck, but he still hadn't spoken a work to either me OR Liam. It was obvious, though, that he was highly agitated about something. Why was he so angry?

"Yeah, I know him," I told Liam as I studied the red-looking welt quickly appearing on his left cheek; it looked like he would have a doozy of a bruise by tomorrow. "He normally has better manners than this, though. Can you stand up? You really need some ice on that."

"Spoken like a true lifeguard," Brian retorted as I glared up at him.

"Shut up, Brian!" I growled as I returned my attention back to my friend.

"Justin, what about your..."

"Don't worry about it," I told Liam tersely as I helped him to stand; I noticed that Liam made a marked attempt to stay as far away from Brian as possible; I couldn't say that I blamed him. I shook my head at Brian in disgust as I told Liam, "There's some ice left in the picnic basket out at the car, I think. Why don't you go use some of that before it swells up anymore?"

He nodded but continued to stare warily over at his attacker. "I'm not sure you should be left alone with him," he told me.

"That makes two of us," I told him with a dry snort as Brian continued to silently stare at us. "But it'll be okay," I assured him. "I can handle him." I think. "Go ahead; I'll catch up with you." I handed him the keys to the car as he took one more look at Brian before turning to go. I noticed him glancing back over at us a couple of times, apparently to make sure Brian wasn't planning on pushing ME off the rock, before, somewhat reassured, he finally turned and disappeared between a couple of other large boulders. It was only then that I decided to let our intruder have it.

"Brian, answer me! Why did you just DO that? What in the world got into you? You had no right! And what the fuck are you are doing here, anyway?"

I noticed the hard set of Brian's jaw as he told me, "I see you didn't waste any time forgetting me, did you?"

My mouth dropped open in total confusion. "What the hell are you TALKING about? And by the way, if I recall correctly, you're the one who ran out on ME." I swallowed hard, finding it amazing that even now I could feel a hard lump in my throat merely over seeing Brian again - and how he had abruptly walked out of my world and now back into it.

Brian crossed his arms over his chest defiantly as he responded, "I did NOT 'run out on you.' I told you; I had to go back to work. I had no choice." He walked closer to me as his face changed into some type of expression I couldn't quite decipher and he gently grasped my upper arm, almost as if he were afraid I would rush off; it felt like his touch was burning clear through to my skin - and also my wounded heart. His voice was softer as he called out my name, almost like a whisper on a breeze. "Justin..."

"Don't 'Justin' me!" I replied as I pulled my arm away, still angry. "I want to know why you did what you just did!"

Brian turned his gaze away from me; if I didn't know better, I would have sworn that he was uncomfortable as he finally replied, "I...I saw the two of you kissing and..."

"What?!" I cried in disbelief. "You most certainly did NOT!"

Brian bestowed a thinly veiled expression on me as he replied, "Justin, don't try to deny it. I saw what I saw."

My mouth hung open. "Well, I don't know what you saw, but you did not see THAT! Do you really think I could have forgotten you so easily?" I bit my lip, realizing I had revealed a little too much, before I suddenly gasped as the pain in my eye flared up; whatever was stuck in it was still obviously there. "Fuck!" I placed my fingers against the side of my head, afraid to rub it again for fear I would make it worse.

"What is it?" Brian asked immediately as he rushed over to me and grasped my upper arms in concern, his previous jealously all but forgotten. "Justin?"

"My eye," I breathed out painfully. "There's...There's something in my left eye."

Brian gripped my chin with his right hand with surprising tenderness as he lifted my head to gaze intently at me. "Let me see," he demanded softly. "Hold still."

I did as he asked, my heart fluttering in my chest, as Brian stared intently into my eyes. God, I had missed him so much! I swallowed, my eyes teary from the pain, as he leaned in to gently pull my eyelash up so he could see my eyeball better. "Looks like you have a sand particle in your eye," he reported. "There's a little black speck in the corner."

"A sand particle? Well, it hurts like a motherfucker," I told him.

"They can," he replied. He seemed to take a couple seconds to think about how to resolve my problem before he instructed me, "Stay there." I watched, my eye burning and gritty now, as he walked over and picked up one of the unopened water bottles Liam and I had brought with us. Twisting the cap off, he walked back over to me. "Hold your hands out. You're going to have to try and wash it out somehow. You definitely don't want to rub it."

"Yeah, I already found that out," I told him dryly. I bit my lower lip, all my previous feelings flooding back to me. I wasn't sure I could handle any more drama with this particular person and expose my vulnerable heart to him once more. "Brian..."

"Just do it, okay?" he pleaded with me with barely-controlled patience. He paused for a second before he added more softly, "Let me take care of YOU for a change. Give it a try."

I finally nodded as I cupped my hands and he poured some of the water into them. I leaned my head down and splashed the water as much into my eye as I could.

"Now blink rapidly several times," he told me.

I did as he instructed until, at last, I couldn't feel the object there anymore. I sighed in blessed relief as Brian softly ordered me, "Close your eye for a second. Is it gone?"

I nodded, my pulse quickening as he once again cradled my chin in his hand and gently wiped my eye with some soft material, probably part of his shirt.

Before I could open my eyes back up, however, my heart threatened to burst out of my chest as I felt his familiar, soft lips on mine, tentative and whisper-light, and his hands sliding around my waist to pull me closer.

"Justin..." he whispered against my mouth as I melted into his embrace as if we had never parted. I opened my mouth as his tongue slid in to deepen the kiss and my own arms wound around his back.

I lost myself in that kiss, in the feelings that coursed through me, until I realized we still had a lot of unfinished business remaining and I pulled my hands back around to place them against his chest and give him a push to separate us. Brian, however, would not let go of me completely as he kept a hold on the small of my back. "Wait just a minute, you asshole!" I growled. "You...you can't just kiss me and expect to erase what you did to Liam - or to me!"

Brian had the decency to look ashamed as he replied softly, "I...I think I realize now what was going on before with you two." He paused. "At least I hope so. Am I right?"

I huffed in irritation, wanting desperately to remain furious with him, but finding it extremely hard as he stared at me with those luminous, green-and-gold flecked eyes and gazed at me the way that he was presently doing, as if I were the only person that existed. "Liam is straight as they come," I told him, my lips pressed tightly together. "He has a girlfriend, Brian. He's my roommate at college, and he was trying to help me with my eye. That's all; end of story, period. So you owe him a big apology." I shook my head. "I don't know why I'm even bothering to explain this to you! After all, you're not a part of my life anymore."

"Don't say that, Justin."

I snorted in ridicule. "Why not? You left me in bed back at the resort and ran back off to your real life." I hurriedly wiped the beginning of some tears away from my eyes. "So why don't you go back there now and leave me the fuck alone?"

I tried to brush past Brian, but he reached out to grip my arm to prevent me from leaving. "Let GO of me!" I roared in annoyance.

Brian reached to grasp my other arm as he wound his arms behind my back and plastered his chest against mine.

"Stop it! You can't just manhandle me and expect me to forget what you did!" I watched as Brian's head dipped lower toward mine as my eyes grew large in realization, and my determination and righteous indignation began to quickly falter. "You...you can't just...I...I'm not going to let you..."

"Justin..." he whispered in a heartfelt, pain-filled voice. "Justin, fuck, I've missed you..."

"Brian," I breathed out his name then, not sure if it was an objection or a prayer as his lips came closer and closer toward mine like an avoidable train wreck about to happen. I felt myself growing dizzy - and hard as a rock - as he angled his head, his intention crystal clear as his breath washed over my skin and I inhaled his masculine, intriguing scent. It instantly brought back waves of memories; good memories of him and me back on that beach, making love and falling IN love. I tried one, last, feeble attempt to prevent what I knew was going to happen anyway as I almost begged now. "No...You can't just walk back into my life and..."

The rest of my statement was promptly drowned out as his lips began to ravage mine again, and I lost all conscious, rational thought. My own hands betrayed me as they wound around his neck to pull him closer still, our bodies touching from head to toe. We stood there on that wind-driven rock, kissing like we were two men who had been stranded for weeks in the desert and were just now being given water to drink to quench our thirsts.

Finally, we were forced to break off our kiss just to regain some air, but Brian continued to nuzzle the size of my neck with his lips and make me lose all sense of concentration. I still had so many unanswered questions, though, that I had to have answers to before I allowed my heart to be stolen away again. Perhaps it had never been returned to me all along, though.

"Brian...Brian, you can't..."

"Shhh," he softly scolded me as pulled back and cradled my head in his heads to force me to stare into his eyes. He knew I could never resist the look that he was giving me. Where did my righteous indignation go? "Are you please going to try and let me explain?" he asked me. "Hmm?"

I swallowed hard, my lips feeling thoroughly bruised and decimated, as I dumbly nodded; it was the only reaction I could manage at the moment, since intelligent speech seemed to have left me. I was quickly realizing that I had been a fool to think I could have ever forgotten about him.

"But Liam..."

"Fuck Liam," he told me before he added wryly, "Well, you know what I mean." I managed a slight smile of amusement over that statement before he sighed. "I'll apologize to your little doctor-in-training later. Come on; let's find somewhere more private to talk - and a little less life-threatening."

"Wait!" I told him as he grabbed my wrist with the intention of taking me somewhere else.

He huffed in impatience. "What now?"

I flipped open my cellphone and quickly dialed Liam's number; after a couple of rings, I heard him pick it up.

"You okay?" he asked me on the other end; I could hear a note of concern in his voice.

I glanced over at Brian, who still had a hold on my wrist as I told him, "Yeah, I'm fine. Brian managed to help me get that sand particle out of my eye."

"Well, I'm glad he's good for something." There was a slight pause as he asked, "He's that guy you were telling me about before?"

I turned my back away from Brian to try and get some privacy before I told him simply, "Yeah."

I heard my friend sigh on the other end. "Be careful, Justin. I know you still care about him, but..."

"I know, I know," I interrupted him. I let out a deep breath between my lips as I whispered, "I have to hear him out, though, Liam. I hope you understand."

"Yeah, I do, Justin. I know you still care about him; it was written all over your face. Just watch it. Sure you don't want me to come back and referee?"

I chuckled slightly. "Might be a good idea, but no. Actually, I was just going to tell you to go ahead and take my car back to the dorm. I'm sure he will give me a ride."

"Yeah, I'm sure he'd love that," Liam replied as I promptly blushed. "You sure that's what you want to do?"

I nodded, even though I knew he couldn't see me, before I looked back over at Brian, who hadn't moved from his spot. He was staring intently at me as if he were afraid I would jump off, just to get away from him. "Yeah, I'll be fine."

"Call me later, then," Liam requested. "I want to make sure you're in one piece."

"Okay. And thanks."

"See you."

I slowly closed my phone as Brian reached his hand out toward me; I actually thought I could see some vulnerability on his face as if he didn't know what I would do. Was there really any doubt, though? I hesitated for just a moment before I finally twined his fingers with mine, wondering if I knew what I was doing. But my heart wouldn't allow me to just leave. I had to hear him out.