A/N: Hope everyone had a good Christmas! Alas, no B/J action in this chapter - have to set up the scene for upcoming chapters with the boys; get ready for a little shock in this one, but don't despair - it's just temporary (wink, wink...)...
Sunday Morning – Justin's Apartment
Justin groaned as he stiffly walked out of his bedroom toward the shower; the five games of tennis with Nico had evidently caught up with him, because his back and legs felt like he had run the New York marathon yesterday. He ruefully decided that perhaps his friend had been right – he was more athletic than him. Either that or he was woefully out of shape. In either case, as he entered the bathroom and quickly discarded his clothing, he resolved to start going back to the YMCA soon in an attempt to get himself toned up.
As he indulged in standing under the hot streaming water and allowed the heat to loosen the tension in his muscles, he closed his eyes and found his mind once more drifting to a particular, sexy brunet. Even when he wasn't trying to, he couldn't help thoughts of Brian from permeating his daydreams. Anyone would be crazy not to see how damned attractive the man was; the man's fiancé, Chagall, certainly seemed to think so. And he had to admit, when Brian was close by and he could almost feel his body heat pouring off him in waves of sensuality, vivid thoughts of what the other man's long, fingered hands and skillful touch could do to him was uppermost in his mind.
But just as quickly, he silently berated himself once more for even thinking in that direction; his budget – and paying his bills – depended greatly on him successfully completing this wedding. If he did well, it would mean the difference between continuing to pursue his art career on the sidelines while he ran his business, or just caving in altogether and giving up. He was not willing to go that; he simply HAD to find a way to avoid any personal, private entanglements with a certain Mr. Kinney. If he could only hold out for a few more months, until after the man and Chagall were finally wed, he knew things would be less complicated and the temptation would pretty much be removed by then.
Besides, a man who looked like Brian did, and was as successful as he was, could have his pick of any man he chose; any other man would willingly allow himself to be used as a one-time fuck just to know what talents the man possessed. But not him; he may not be the richest man materially in the world, but what he lacked in money he made up for in dignity. He had no intention of getting personally involved with a male barracuda that was adept at digesting unsuspecting, willing prey and spitting them out after they had served his purpose. No, he needed someone who would treat him as an equal and want to be with him all the time – someone like his best friend and confidant, Nico.
He frowned as he began to shampoo his hair, deep in thought. He figured he knew his best friend better than anyone; but during the past few days, it seemed like Nico had been almost acting like he was walking on eggshells around him. It was as if he had something on his mind but was hesitant to tell him what it was. They had never kept anything from each other before; from the first moment they had met, they had shared an instant, easy-going bond that allowed them to tell each other anything. But that was before Brian Kinney had entered the picture. Now, Justin for some reason didn't feel quite right about revealing to his friend just how strong his feelings were for this other man, and it seemed like Nico was holding back on something as well.
He sighed; when did his life get so complicated? Thinking he'd better get out and go seek his friend, he reluctantly turned off the now-lukewarm water and quickly dried himself off; he wrapped his lower body in a towel before walking back to the bedroom to change into his outfit for the day: a pair of worn but clean jeans, a long-sleeved, navy-blue tee-shirt, and his slightly scruffy sneakers.
He looked himself over quickly in the mirror, smoothing his untamed hair down as best he could before walking out to search for his friend. This time, no sounds of bacon frying could be heard. His apartment was noticeably quiet as he glanced up at the clock over the stove; it was just a little after 9:00 as he walked into the combination kitchen and living room to check for Nico, but there was no sign at the moment of his friend.
Frowning, he was about to locate his phone to try and call Nico when he heard footsteps trudging up the stairs and turned just in time to see his friend entering the apartment from below.
Nico smiled warmly at Justin as he noticed him from the steps and held up a white, plain paper bag. "You have impeccable timing, Mr. Taylor," he told his friend. "Want to guess what I'm holding?"
Justin grinned, relieved to see his friend in good spirits and acting like his old self. "Uh…. $50,000 in cash from the bank you just robbed?"
Nico twisted his mouth in amusement. "Don't you wish! Almost as good, though – fresh, still-warm chocolate-chip croissants from that bakery down the street you're always yammering about to me on the phone."
Justin's eyes lit up. "No way - not the Epicurean Gourmet Bakery!" He had been sort of a motor mouth to Nico on the phone lately as he gushed to him about that particular bakery; ever since Justin had discovered the small but busy bakery two blocks away, and had had the chance to sample their made-daily croissants, particularly the chocolate-chip ones, he had been in food heaven. The gooey, flaky pastries were expensive as hell, but unbelievably incredible and oh-so-tasty. He was amazed that Nico had not only remembered him talking about them and the name of the bakery, but he had actually walked down there to retrieve some and bring them back for breakfast. "I take back everything I thought about you yesterday," he quipped, smiling as Nico walked over to him and held out the bag to him for inspection.
As Justin's face lit up with his trademark smile, and he peeked inside the bag to retrieve one of the buttery pastries, Nico watched him with a mixture of affection and admiration. Justin's hair was still wet from his shower, and he had donned a blue shirt that served to highlight the lighter shade of his eyes. As Nico studied his friend, he was continually amazed by how beautiful he was, inside and out.
He had arisen early, his thoughts in too much of a jumble to really sleep well the previous night. He knew he would have to return to Chicago late this afternoon, but before he did, he had the most important task of all ahead of him – how to approach his best friend with the idea of wanting him to be so much more. He needed to figure out how to tell Justin that he was hopelessly in love with him and wanted to spend the rest of his life with him. His heart skipped a beat just at the thought of what Justin might say, but he knew today was the day. He couldn't wait any longer, especially with Brian Kinney breathing down his back. Justin may not realize it yet, but he had no doubt that the longer Kinney was around his friend, the more likely that sexy brunet could wear him down and persuade him that they belonged together, even if Justin was only a plaything to the arrogant, cocky, engaged man. Perhaps that was the right way to approach his crucial task – not only make sure that Justin realized how much he meant to him, but also make sure Justin was aware that any attention the other man would pay him would only be fleeting at best until he got what he wanted.
"As well you should, Mr. Taylor," Nico told him at last. "I had at least a dozen vagrants following me on the way back here, but not to fear; to preserve your eating pleasure, I was prepared to sacrifice my Starbucks cappuccino for you." Justin noticed the almost-empty cardboard coffee mug in his friend's other hand.
Justin chuckled as they walked over to the small kitchen table together to sit down opposite each other. He pulled out one of the croissants with his fingers and placed it down on a nearby napkin as he licked his lips appreciatively. "Mmmm...Greater love hath no friend but to protect a friend's food passion with his coffee," he quipped, grinning. "That's defnitely the sign of a true friend."
Instead of laughing as he normally would, Nico was unexpectedly solemn as he stared back at Justin and said, "I am your true friend, Justin, and I always will be." As Justin gazed at him, frowning at his friend's sudden seriousness, Nico quickly moved to lighten the mood before his friend asked what was wrong. "And don't you ever forget that, Taylor – OR the fact that I am a superior tennis player, at least compared to you."
Justin snorted as he pulled off an abundant piece of the croissant and popped it into his mouth. As he sighed a little in pleasure at the sweet layers that almost melted in his mouth, he quipped, "Had to bring that up again, didn't you? I shouldn't admit this, but do you have any idea how fucking sore I was this morning when I got out of bed?"
Nico grinned. "Probably about as sore as I was," he admitted, before both men laughed. "Now how about handing over one of those 14-carat-gold croissants as a peace offering? I had to drag my sore ass all the way over to that bakery and all the way back, remember."
Justin grinned as he spun the bag around so it was facing his friend. "I don't know – You're rapidly wearing out your welcome when I have to start hoarding my food, but I guess in your case I'll make an exception. Just one, though," he warned the other man, his eyes twinkling.
Nico plucked one of the pastries out of the bag before Justin promptly snatched the sack away from him and pulled it closer to his side of the table, evoking another chuckle of amusement from his friend. Thinking how great it was to be able to share time with each other again, the two enjoyed several more minutes of good-natured bantering while they continued to enjoy their decadent breakfast.
Fifteen minutes later, after cleaning up what little remained of their feast, Justin rubbed his hands together to remove any errant crumbs and asked, "So what would you like to do on your last day here? I guess both of us will have our backs to the grindstone once more by tomorrow." He once again thought about the one particular wedding that was troubling him the most and would no doubt take up most of his time, but he quickly pushed that thought aside, determined to concentrate on his friend instead as he smiled back at him expectantly.
Nico couldn't help returning the amazing smile, replying, "I'm flexible – you have anything in particular in mind?" Truthfully, he didn't really care what they did as long as he could have Justin to himself. The butterflies were circling rapidly inside his stomach again over the thought of what he was planning to do later; he could feel the cold metal of the ring pressed against the inside of his shirt and he wondered anxiously how Justin would react to his proposal. He knew what he wanted him to say, but he was trying hard not to get his hopes up too much yet.
"No, not really," Justin told him. "Let me run downstairs and get the paper by the door – they usually have some suggestions in the Life Section." As Nico nodded, he turned to jog down the steps to retrieve the rather cumbersome Sunday edition of the Pittsburgh Beacon; he had decided to subscribe to the Sunday edition for scouring the leisure and local news sections, particularly, for any possible leads on new business. He had found that by reading the reviews of local restaurants and banquet facilities, as well as recaps of major social events, he had gleaned a wealth of information about which trends were popular in the city and he had used them on a number of occasions to his advantage to secure new clients.
As he walked back up the steps and spread the paper out on the table, he extracted the Life and Local News sections from the paper and handed Nico the rest. As his friend entertained himself silently with skimming over yesterday's sports results, only stopping briefly to comment on how much his beloved Cubs were faring so poorly in the standings, Justin sat back down and opened up the Life section of the paper first.
He held the paper up, his eyes quickly scanning the parts of the section until his heart stopped at the large, color photograph prominently displayed at the top of Page 3. There, once more, was a photo of Brian with that man. The two were wearing expensive-looking tuxedos, Chagall looking meticulously groomed wearing a black tux with a gray shirt open at the collar, while Brian was looking even more sexier than normal and even more dangerous, opting to be clad entirely in all black as he stood staring into the camera, his eyes dark and foreboding in their directness and intensity.
Under the photograph, showing the two standing much too close together in Justin's opinion with their hands around each other's waists, was a caption that read Restaurateur Honored at Awards Banquet. Justin held his breath and furrowed his brow as he began to read about Chagall being honored last night as Pittsburgh's Entrepreneur of the Year by the Pittsburgh Restaurant Association. The man was extensively quoted throughout the piece as the article detailed his successful rise from the single owner of a rather modest establishment to his position today as the CEO of a major restaurant conglomerate. Justin shook his head in disgust as he placed the paper down flat on the table and continued reading the rest of the article. His eyes narrowed and he bit his lip as he read about Chagall mentioning his upcoming nuptials to his soulmate, Brian. As he read the effusive, flowery comments being quoted from Chagall about how Brian was such a supportive inspiration to him, Justin thought he would puke in disgust as he huffed out a small sigh of disappointment as well as bafflement over how someone like Brian could possibly be attracted to that pompous, conceited blowhard. Apparently, though, for some odd reason that he could not quite fathom, he was, though; after all, he was engaged to him. It was time, then, that he just get used to the idea and get on with the job he had been assigned. The quicker he got the two men's wedding and reception scheduled and the sooner it was over, the quicker he could move on with his own life. He just wish he really thought it would be that easy...
From his vantage point at the other side of the table, Nico quietly lowered his paper at the exasperated sound Justin had made and studied his friend surreptitiously. He knew his friend well enough to know by his expression that he wasn't happy about something, but he was almost afraid to ask him what it was. "Something wrong?" he asked softly at last.
Justin glanced up from what he was reading and felt his face flush. "No," he said a little too quickly. "There's nothing wrong," he assured his friend, even though he could feel the heat on his face; he suddenly felt like he had been caught doing something wrong. Nico continued to stare at him, his brows raised in a silent question, until Justin finally sighed and confessed, "I just read an article about the two men whose wedding I'm planning."
Nico's own heart skipped a beat at that statement; just when he was hoping to divert Justin's focus from the other man's attention, somehow Kinney had managed to insert his name into the conversation once again; why did that not surprise him, though? He forced his voice to sound nonchalant before asking, "You mean Kinney and Chagall?"
Justin nodded, swallowing a hard lump in his throat as he turned the paper around for his friend to see. "Yeah. There's an article in here about some dinner they attended last night at a swanky hotel downtown. Chagall was awarded some hoity-toity award for being the best restaurant owner of the year or something like that." He was silent for a few seconds before adding flatly, "I don't like the man; he's too conceited and arrogant for his own good. What Brian sees in him is totally beyond me." He shook his head again in perplexity; he would never comprehend this pairing if he lived to be a hundred years old.
Nico studied the large, prominent photograph of the two men together, worried about the tone in his friend's voice; if he didn't know better, he might think Justin sounded jealous of the other man and he didn't want to even consider that possibility. In addition, he would never tell Justin this, but to him, even though both men were smiling for the photographer and they each had their arms around each other's waist, Kinney didn't look happy at all, at least not for someone who was supposed to be engaged to the love of his life and about to be married soon. The truth was in the eyes; the eyes of a man in love should be shining with the intensity of his emotions, they should be sparkling with happiness. This man, as extremely attractive as Nico grudgingly had to admit, didn't have that look. After all, he himself should know; he had been trying hard for the last few days now not to reveal that same exact look to his friend who he had fallen in love with. Today, however, he was hoping things would be different.
As unfair as it might be, then, to protect his own heart, he voiced an entirely different opinion out loud. He knew it was probably unfair, but he was so in love with this man he couldn't help himself. "Well, he's probably just extremely confident; sometimes people come across as being arrogant or conceited when they're merely just assertive or self-assured." He glanced back down at the pair in question before adding, "They do make an attractive couple, though, don't you think?"
Justin frowned as he studied the two men upside down. "I suppose," he finally conceded grudgingly. "But they just don't seem to gel together – it's more like mixing oil with water." Next to Brian's elegance and grace, this other man merely seemed like a pale comparision to him.
"Oh, I don't know," Nico told him. "How well do you really know either man? I mean, outside of your contact with them to plan their wedding and the reception."
Justin averted his eyes slightly, unable to look at Nico directly for fear his feelings about Brian would give him away. He wasn't about to tell his friend about his close encounter of ANOTHER kind with the dangerously sexy Mr. Kinney on board Chagall's yacht when he had just barely made it out of there by the seat of his pants. "Not very well, I guess, now that you mention it."
Nico nodded. "Well, there you have it. Justin, people can be a lot different in public than they are privately. Who knows what they're like alone? There must be something between them; after all, they ARE getting married soon. They're both successful businessmen and both handsome; they're both in an industry where they need to be able to persuade other people to do business with them and make a profit. And Kinney's advertising acumen no doubt comes in handy with the other man's profession. I think they're a good fit, actually."
"You do?" Justin asked him as he continued to dubiously eye the color photograph of the two men. Maybe Nico was right; he really didn't know either one of them all that well, although he certainly couldn't have mistaken Brian's intentions the other night. That particular truth, however, merely served at the moment to simply cement his suspicion that to him, he was just a brief challenge to pursue and once he had him, he would merely be tossed aside to make room for the next plaything. He and Nico had known each other for quite some time now, and he had grown to trust his judgement. His friend was normally quite adept at reading another person's true intentions. If Nico, then, honestly felt the two belonged together, perhaps sadly he was right. He just wished his heart could be convinced of that.
Nico's own heart lurched a bit at the sad tone in his friend's voice; it wasn't an uninterested, curious-acquaintance-sort-of tone, it was the tone of someone who sounded unhappy with that plausibility. Partially disturbed both at Kinney's manipulation of his friend's heart, as well as his worry that Justin might actually be falling for the older man's charms, he vowed to nip that particular problem in the bud later today. He simply had to convince his friend that he had his best intentions at heart and that he was the best choice for him, not this cleverly-conniving, dangerously intriguing man.
Truly believing that, and sincerely wanting to see Justin happy, he responded firmly, "Yes, I do. Kinney's used to running around with the bluebloods; he and this Chagall seem perfect for each other to me." As Justin peered back at him, looking more resigned to that fact rather than convinced, he finally saw his friend nod before he asked, "So did you decide what you're going to do to entertain me today, Mr. Taylor? Or are you too incapacitated now to move after the workout I gave you yesterday?" He smiled as he finally observed Justin snort in response and throw the nearest object he had at his disposal toward his head – his wallet.
But Nico was too fast for him; he deftly caught the leather billfold in his hand and curled his fingers around it. "Now that's more like it – so you're offering to pay for everything today, too?"
Justin rose from the table in protest as he laughed in mock incredulity. "No fucking way, Alvarez! You conned me out of enough money yesterday with that prime rib!" He rushed around the side of the table, intending to grab his wallet back, but Nico simply laughed and dodged him by running around to the opposite side. As he moved away, he quickly opened up Justin's wallet to observe a few bills tucked inside. "I really did clean you out yesterday, didn't I?" he retorted gleefully as he noticed only singles inside. "You're a regular Donald Trump here – what is it? Five, six bucks? That won't even buy me a hot dog on the street, Taylor!" he chided, continuing to dodge his persistent friend.
Justin glared at him as the two parried for position around the table. "Well, what do you expect? You fucking cleaned me out, you vulture!" he quipped, continuing to slowly advance around the table as Nico grinned in mischief.
The friend held up the now-plucked bills in his hand. "Ooh…..I'm going to the Bahamas with this!" he joked, throwing the now-unimportant wallet down on the kitchen table and waving the treasure around up in the air. "Beachfront property, here I come!" he announced, laughing as Justin gave him a ha, ha sort of look.
"Well, I wouldn't want you to spend it all in one place – hand it over, fucker!" he growled at Nico, who simply laughed at his expression and continued to parry for position, back and forth, across from Justin.
Justin may not have been the greatest tennis player, but he was better at playing tag; as the two jockeyed side to side across from each other with the table their only protection, Justin finally tricked the other man into becoming complacent as, with one wrong guess on his friend's part, he quickly zigged when Nico zagged and tackled the other man to the floor, hearing a distinctive rush of air and an "oomph!" come out of his friend's lungs as the two of them fell to the floor together in a heap, Justin lying on top of the other man's body as he quickly and triumphantly snatched the bills out of his friend's grasp.
As he laughed victoriously at his achievement, the two wrestled around on the floor for several seconds longer, continuing their jockeying for supremacy until they found their roles reversed and Justin found himself on the bottom now with his hands pinned above his head.
Both men's chests were heaving from the exertion as Nico cried out jokingly, "Okay, okay…..if the money means that much to you, you can keep the damn $1.50!" He smiled radiantly down at the man he was holding onto before the reality of their situation caused him to quickly sober; this particular scenario, while he hadn't exactly pictured them on their floor, was nevertheless too close to one of his own private fantasies as he felt the warm, soft body of his friend lying beneath him and felt the slender hands grasped in his. As Justin smiled back at him, unaware of exactly the effect he was having on the other man, Nico's smile faded at the reality of their situation; he cleared his throat and quickly rolled off him before his true feelings – as well as the arousal that was threatening to appear – became too apparent.
He stood up before standing to gaze down at the tousled, blond-haired, blue-eyed vision still lying on the floor, gazing up at him thoughtfully. For a brief second, Nico was tempted to blurt out what he was feeling and get it over with. But this wasn't the romantic setting he had envisioned when he proposed to this special man; Justin deserved much more than an impromptu, albeit sincere, expression of his feelings and his desire for their future together while they were sitting on a hard, cold wooden floor.
"Okay, Taylor, quit stalling and being so stingy with your money," he said instead. "Let's get a move on. Why don't we just play it by ear and see what comes along? We can stand to work off those dozen croissants you inhaled earlier, anyway."
Justin stared at the other man for a few seconds, trying to decide what Nico wasn't saying – he could tell his friend had something besides food on his mind, but he also knew better than to question him; as was his style, his friend would no doubt tell him when the time was right. "Very funny," he said instead as he held out his hand for help.
Nico hesitated for just a second before reaching his hand down to clasp Justin's hand and help pull him up. His body instantly tingled from the sensation as he detached himself from the soft, pale hand of his friend as soon as it was okay to do so and smiled back at the blond a little awkwardly. "Got your keys?" he asked Justin, trying desperately to change the subject for now.
Justin gazed back questioningly at his friend for a second, wondering what was going on, before smiling a little in assurance and saying, "Yeah – in my pocket. Ready for a little exploring?"
Nico nodded. "Lead the way, Mr. Taylor."
Two hours later after a walk that had taken them several blocks around the perimeter of Justin's apartment, they ironically found themselves at a nearby city park, eating a hotdog procured from one of the several food vendors that habitually set themselves up seemingly on every city block around town in the warmer months.
As they sat companionably on a grassy bank perched next to a rather large lake that was currently teeming with Canadian geese, Nico grinned. "I knew you were a cheapskate at heart, Taylor – is this what you call a gourmet meal? A hot dog and a Coke?"
Justin, who was sitting cross-legged next to his friend, pretended to be insulted. Placing his hand over his heart, he stated sarcastically, "I beg your pardon, Oh King, but the royal hunters hadn't gotten back from their expedition with the pheasants yet!" He threw his now wadded-up hot dog wrapper at the other man, who laughed in return as he ducked for cover briefly.
"Well, at least that explains it," Nico told his friend, trying hard to swallow the nervous lump that had appeared in his throat now that the afternoon was rapidly waning. His time with Justin was quickly running out, maybe in more ways than one. He had to go back to Chicago tonight, and he was afraid that if he chickened out now and didn't tell Justin what was in his heart, while he was away from Pittsburgh something told him another particular man would quickly fill in for him; and if he wasn't careful, he just might wind up snatching Justin's heart firmly away before callously tossing it aside afterward. He couldn't bear to let that happen, for his sake as well as his friend's.
"Nico?" was the soft inquiry, as the dark-haired man lifted his head to gaze back into the concerned blue ones of his friend. "You've been acting weird all day. You want to tell me what's going on?"
Nico sighed. This wasn't exactly the ideal romantic setting of his dreams, but as he looked around the softly rippling water of the lake and noticed their relatively secluded, private spot away from gawkers, he thought perhaps it was good enough. "I….I need to tell you something before I go back home," he breathed out, biting his lip a little in nervousness as he peered into Justin's pensive eyes.
Justin frowned; this sounded pretty serious coming from his typically happy-go-lucky friend; that was one of the things that had always endeared Nico to him – his ability to look at everything from an optimistic perspective. The man gazing back at him, though, looked uncharacteristically uncomfortable around him, even shy. "What?" he asked softly. Trying to lighten his friend's solemn mood, he teased, "You're going to tell me you're not a real king after all? That you just secretly assumed his identity when the two of you were switched at birth?" To his surprise, however, his attempt at teasing his friend didn't quite accomplish its purpose; Nico simply smiled back at him wistfully as he shook his head. Now he was really worried. Was his friend sick or destitute or something else just as horrible?
"Not exactly," Nico replied softly. He scooted over a little closer to his friend before asking, "Justin – how long have we known each other now?" He leaned his hand on the ground as he lay propped up on his side and body tilted toward his friend, his legs stretched out in front of him as he gazed into Justin's eyes intently.
Justin frowned in concentration. "I don't know – three, four years? Why?"
Nico nodded. "Three years, two months, and 18 days," he replied instantly with confidence as Justin looked at him bemused and shook his head in amazement.
"Now why would you remember it down to the day, you dork?" he asked his friend in amusement. "Although, I must say, meeting me would be downright unforgettable," he quipped smugly.
"It was," Nico replied seriously, throwing Justin off-guard by his intensity.
The blond frowned now; this whole conversation was becoming surreal. "Okay, Nico, out with it. You're really starting to worry me now. What the hell has been up with you today? You were acting a little strange yesterday, but nothing like today. What is going on?" Suddenly, Justin didn't feel like joking around anymore; the look on his friend's face was deadly serious. He watched as Nico took a steadying breath before scooting even closer. His eyes widened at the look of tenderness radiating from the other man's face. It was a look he wasn't accustomed to seeing in his friend's face – at least not when he was looking at him.
"Justin," he whispered, moving to sit up and mimic the other man by sitting cross-legged next to him and turning to face him; their faces mere inches away as Nico stared into his eyes before continuing. "I feel so comfortable around you, like we're two sides of the same coin. The day I met you was one of the luckiest days of my life. I really feel like we were meant to meet some day – we are so alike, you know?"
Justin studied his friend's face, so full of sincerity and bare of any pretense now. "I…..I feel the same way, Nico, you know that. You're a terrific friend," he told the other man, smiling. "I don't know what I'd do without you." He sighed. "I just wish we lived closer together so we could see more of each other."
Nico smiled, his heart doing flip-flops. "Maybe we could," he said mysteriously.
Justin frowned at this unexpected disclosure. "We could – how?"
"I can do my sculpture work anywhere, Justin – most of what I do winds up at New York or LA anyway. The studio rates here have to be a lot more reasonable than in Chicago, aren't they?"
Justin raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Well, yeah, they are, but Nico, you've established your reputation in Chicago. You'd be starting all over again if you moved here. I don't want you to do that just so we could see each other more often – that's not fair to you."
His heart stopped when he watched Nico smile and reach over to gently take his hand. "Justin…..you're not letting me finish," he gently chided him as he slowly rubbed soft circles on the top of Justin's hand. "I need to tell you something, remember? Let ME decide what's fair."
Justin frowned; this whole conversation was totally unlike what their "normal" talks were like. "Okay….." he tentatively answered as he chose to remain silent while he waited for his friend to continue.
"Justin…..You're very special to me." He shook his head as he noticed the blond about to open his mouth to reply. "No, let me do this before I fucking chicken out." Justin nodded in confusion but did as his friend requested as he remained mute, staring back in bewilderment over this turn of events.
Nico shook his head suddenly in disgust; his mouth felt dry as dust as he struggled to voice his feelings. "I don't know why this is so fucking difficult all of a sudden, talking to you!" he growled. He sighed. "Justin…..what I'm trying to tell you here is that – I'm, I'm in love in with you. I want to be with you; I want us to be together. I want to wake up with you every day, support you, grow old with you. I can't imagine being without you." He looked down to the ground, steeling himself for the rest of what he needed to say before gazing back up into the wide-open, blue eyes staring back at him in shock. "I guess I didn't realize how much you meant to me until you moved away. But in a way, I've always known that I love you; I just refused to acknowledge it to myself until you were gone. I've always thought that before you can be lovers, you have to be best friends. And that's what you are, Justin, my best friend."
Justin was astounded; of all the possible scenarios going through his head, this heartfelt declaration was the last thing he had expected. "Nico…." Surely he didn't mean what Justin thought he meant….
His friend quickly took his hand away from Justin's to place it over the pink, full lips and shake his head. "No, please, let me finish." He took his hand away, still tingling from pressing his fingers against the soft flesh, and reached inside his partially-unbuttoned shirt to retrieve the gold chain and ring hanging around his neck.
Justin eyes widened even more and he let out a soft gasp as he saw what Nico was pulling over his head. He watched, astonished, as his friend freed the chain from around his neck and held it in his hand, the gold ring resting lightly in his palm as he looked back into his eyes and smiled a little awkwardly. He watched as Nico stood up and then promptly knelt back down on one knee, just like he had always seen in the movies but never thought he would ever see in person. "Nico….." he sputtered out in disbelief.
"Justin, I know it's hokey as hell, but it's true," Nico said, a little embarrassed. "You would make me the happiest man on Earth if you would agree to be with me for the rest of our lives. Would you do me the honor of marrying me?" He held out his hand, the ring lightly resting in his palm as the finely-woven, gold chain swung below in the quickly setting sun and he waited anxiously for his friend's answer; he searched Justin's face for any sign of what his response would be, but he couldn't read the underlying emotions hanging there on the beautiful face.
As Nico remained kneeling there on the rapidly-cooling grass, his heart openly worn on his sleeve as he stared intently at him for an answer, Justin almost felt like he was in a dream. He thought back over what had happened since he had met Nico – the man made him laugh, made him feel good about himself, had even helped him financially when he was able to. He had a unique way of making him see the optimistic side of things, no matter how dreary they might appear. He, too, has missed his friend terribly after he had made the decision to move back to Pittsburgh. They shared so many things in common and he felt closer to him than anyone else; even his own family. He cared about Nico, definitely – really cared. But love him?
He did know that he had been lonely – so lonely – back in Pittsburgh; even though it was his home town, it had been a long time since he had lived there; in a lot of ways, even with his mother and and sister present, he still felt like an outsider most of the time. He had managed to keep quite busy while he was trying to establish himself, but truthfully it was done just as much as a need to hide the loneliness that permeated his current life than to establish his business.
Romantic that he was, he had always longed for the day when he could get married just like hetero couples, maybe have a child or two, even a dog, all with a supportive partner at his side. He had always thought when he did marry, it would be to a man that he had instantly and deeply fallen in love with at first sight, just like in those old black-and-white movies. But was that naïve to expect? Did it really happen that way? Or did it happen like Nico said, by becoming good friends first and then growing into love? Would that be so bad? Is that how it was really supposed to happen instead?
His thoughts briefly flashed to a certain brunet who had captured his imagination from the moment he had seen him; yes, he was certainly attracted to him – who wouldn't be? But was that all it was? Just a physical pull toward a dark-haired, hazel-eyed man with smoldering good looks and a rich baritone voice? And he had to be realistic – the man was so above his league. Could he really hope to ever compete on an even playing field with him? And when it was all said and done, the man was engaged to be married, to yet another successful man, a man who was much more his equal. Didn't that tell him what he really needed to know? Brian was taken already, for better or for worse, just like the vows say.
He would never understand the reason why Brian had wound up with this seeming mismatch, but it wasn't his place to understand and judge. He was simply their wedding planner – nothing more, nothing less. Didn't he deserve someone who would care about him every day, through bad as well as good, instead of pining away for someone he could never have?
As he stared over into the honest, expressive eyes of his friend, he realized he was very lucky to have this man in his life. Perhaps this was his destiny, what Fate had placed in store for him. It really wouldn't be so bad, would it – spending the rest of his life with his best friend and a man who cherished and encouraged him? Any man would be lucky to have Nico as his staunchest supporter and companion.
Nico couldn't tell from Justin's expression what he was thinking; he thought he saw a myriad of emotions filtering through his face. He couldn't stand it much longer – he had to know one way or the other. Taking a deep breath, he spoke once more, his voice shaky with anticipation. "Justin, before I go back to Chicago, I need to know. I love you. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Please tell me you'll marry me."
A mixture of insecurity, resignation, loneliness, and sincere affection for his friend who had stood by him so many times before stirred within him as he stared into Nico's eyes for several seconds before he heard himself saying at last, "Yes, I'll marry you."