Chapter 19 – Together

"Brian, why is your hotel room full of candles?"

Brian looked startled for a moment. "I can't believe I forgot." He smiled down at Justin. "I had plans for tonight."

"I can see that," Justin whispered, looking around the suite in wonder. Dozens of white candles were scattered about the room, flickering softly. A bowl of yellow flowers stood on a table, next to a bottle of champagne. Justin walked to them, inhaled the aroma. "Golden gardenias. I can't believe you found them." Justin turned to look quizzically at his lover. "What's going on?"

Brian smiled, looking slightly embarrassed. "I'm plagued by lousy timing. With the news about Hobbs, maybe we should put this off to another day. I don't want to be thinking about him."

Justin looked around the room and walked back to Brian, putting his hand on Brian's cheek. "I can ignore Hobbs, I promise. If you can't, I'll understand, but…"

"But what?"

"Don't let him win."

Brian cocked an eyebrow then grinned. "Okay." He took the bottle of champagne sitting in a cooler near the flowers. Justin jumped slightly as the cork exploded. "I told you I celebrate accomplishments." Brian poured two drinks, handing one to Justin. "We'll have a party in Pittsburgh next time you're back." Brian leaned in to kiss Justin briefly. "Congratulations on the show, signing your contract with Bannerman and on Liberty Art - your new company." Brian clinked his glass against Justin's and took a drink.

Justin took a brief drink. "Brian, I …" Justin paused, at a loss for words. "Thank you." Brian brought his mouth down to Justin's.

He's so good at this, Justin thought, as Brian's hands got busy and Justin's pulse jumped in response. Justin let the kiss take him away from the worries of the day. He'd stopped thinking when he felt Brian pull back, touch their foreheads, and take a deep, sighing breath.

"Brian, how'd you come up with all this?" Justin lifted a brow. "Candles and flowers?"

"What? I can't be romantic?"

"No." Justin grinned mischievously. "Not usually."

Brian glanced away, a slight tinge of red flushing his cheeks as he muttered, "I asked Lindsay what you'd like."

"You asked Lindsay?"

"I get it wrong sometimes. I thought she could stop me from blowing it." Brian smirked. "Until the right time, that is."

"Lindsay suggested golden gardenias?"

"No, she suggested roses. That was a bit too predictable for my taste."

Justin's grin broadened as he struggled not to laugh. "Did she give you advice for the whole night or did it stop at the candles?"

"No need to get insulting." Brian's disgusted look caused Justin's laughter to break free.

"She was right, I love it."

"Good." Brian pulled his lover in for a searing kiss to stop the laughter. "There's more."

Justin smiled and reached for the front of Brian's pants. "I certainly hope so." At the sound of the snap undoing, Brian stepped back.

"No," Brian laughed lightly, "I mean there's more to talk about. We can fuck after."

Justin gave a small huff of laughter, contrasting the words with the flowers and candles setting. "Ever the romantic," he teased.

"A man can only change so much, Sunshine." Brian took Justin by the hand and led him over to the desk area. He opened his Tumi briefcase and pulled out a large stack of papers. "The notary will be by in the morning to witness everything, but I wanted to walk you through these before then."

"Brian," Justin asked, "what's all this?" Spotting a will in the stack of papers, Justin looked up. "Is the cancer back?"

"No." Brian took a breath, "I'm fine. I just thought it was time to make our non-conventional, non-defined relationship a little more conventional and defined." Brian sat down beside Justin. "Let me walk you through what's in here first then you can look at it all. First, joint bank accounts, credit cards, investment accounts."

Justin looked through the statements, eyes widening at the amounts. "Brian. You were broke two and a half years ago. How?"

"Babylon's been very successful. So has Kinnetic." Brian explained. "After I left Vanguard, they had a hard time picking up new clients. That was what I did for them. Four of their best people noticed the problem and came to work for Kinnetic." Brian gave a wicked little grin. "I'm sure the offers I made didn't hurt. When they left, the quality was shot and the existing clients starting leaving. It took less than a year." Brian's grin turned vindictive. "Vanguard was going under without me. I picked up almost all of his clients and staff with a buyout. Business boomed. There's really no other competition on the scale of Kinnetics in Pittsburgh now. That's why I can start setting up an office in New York."

Justin raised his glass. "To Kinnetic, a huge success to celebrate."

Brian took a drink before turning serious. "Speaking of Kinnetic, one of the contracts is a partnership agreement making you a full partner in the company."

"Brian, you can't do that." Justin protested, "It's your company. I don't need it. You don't have to take care of me."

"I know that. It's not about you. It's everybody else."

"What?"

"If anything ever happened to me, my mother and Clare would be hiring lawyers, trying to get everything." Brian badly needed Justin to understand. "We live in the good old U S of A, Justin. It doesn't matter what civil union, marriage or otherwise a gay couple files. Get the wrong judge and you lose everything. If you're a partner in the business and the transfer is part of the original business deal, they can't fight it."

When Justin opened his mouth to protest, Brian took him by the shoulders and shook him lightly. "Listen to me. If Debbie were to get sick, would you take care of her?"

"Of course I would. You know that."

"If Michael ever asked for anything, would you give it to him? Would you take care of Gus? Make sure he has money for college?"

"Brian, you don't even have to ask."

"That's right – I don't. You'd take care of them all. And you always will. No matter what happens with us. Do you think Clare would? Or my mother?" Brian looked steadily at Justin. "I know you can take care of yourself, but it's not just you and me. It's for everybody."

Justin finally understood what Brian meant by actions being more important to words. The level of commitment in those contracts far exceeded any marriage contract.

"Christ, Brian. You don't do things half-way, do you?" Justin leaned his head forward, rubbing his neck.

"No, I don't." Brian smiled ruefully. "You see why it's necessary, don't you?"

"Yes." Justin looked up into Brian's steady hazel gaze. "I'll sign, but on one condition. We do the same for Liberty Art."

"I thought you'd say that. Those contracts are in the pile, too. There's more."

"More?" Justin shook his head in bemusement. "What more could there possibly be?"

"It's the list of current investments." Brian shuffled through the papers and pulled out one set. Flipping to the second page, he showed Justin the list.

Justin looked at Brian quizzically before taking the list. "My God, Brian. You own half of Liberty Avenue."

"After the bombing, a lot of the investors were gun-shy. Or is it bomb-shy? Companies who build shopping malls and condos started looking at Liberty Avenue and buying up property." Brian flushed slightly, obviously embarrassed. "I couldn't let Liberty Avenue turn into a hetero haven, so I bought up enough to block them."

Justin was still looking through the list. "Oh, my God," Justin exclaimed in shock.

"Yeah. Thought you'd notice that one." Brian smirked slightly. "Couldn't let Deb be out of a job, could I? I'd never hear the end of it."

"My God."

"Don't tell anyone we own the diner. It's even a condition on the new manager's job that no one ever hears." Brian shook his head, twisting his lips slightly. "Can you imagine Debbie, if she knew? She'd either be hounding me with renovation plans or not speaking to me." Brian's brows furrowed slightly as he considered the option. "I'm not sure which. If I knew, I might tell her."

"My God." Justin said again, still stunned.

Brian got irritated. "Would you stop saying that? You're starting to sound as idiotic as Emmett."

Justin shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Before I sign, I just want to know one thing."

"What?" Brian smiled with a sense of victory; Justin was definitely going to sign.

"How iron-tight is that secrecy clause with your manager?" Justin asked. "If Debbie finds out we own the diner, she won't hound you, she'll come after me. She'll figure I'm the easier target."

"That's just because she doesn't know you as well as she thinks she does." Brian grinned. "You'd hold out better than I would and we both know it. Don't worry. She won't find out."

Brian took another sip of his champagne. "Two of the agreements are signing over administrative rights to each other. You'll own half of Kinnetic and I'll own half of Liberty Art, but neither of us will interfere in running the other's business." Brian's hands came up to Justin's shoulders, touching and soothing the nerves. "Then there's the usual wills, powers of attorney, insurance and so on. That's it for the business portion of the evening."

"Good," Justin exclaimed. "Now let's get started on the entertainment portion." Justin was just reaching for the snap on Brian's pants when Brian's hand stopped him.

"One more thing."

"Brian! Can't it wait?"

"No."

Justin looked at Brian. Brian's hazel eyes were raw with emotion, a rarely seen vulnerability. Justin reached up to touch Brian's cheek. "What is it?"

"I don't believe in marriage or commitment ceremonies. I know you do." Brian tilted his head, slightly awkward. "But… I'm not sure how you want to do this. Our last try was a disaster." Brian reached into his coat pocket and took out the rings. "I've got the license to do a civil union right now with one phone call. We can do this anytime, anywhere you want. Today, back in Pittsburgh or never. You choose what you want and I'll be there. I'm not going anywhere, ever."

Justin's emotions swirled through him. It was unreal that Brian was asking again. Justin didn't know if his heart could take the surges moving through it. Justin swallowed as he struggled to find the right words.

"Not right now," he began slowly. "I find that I don't need it as much as I thought I did. That actions matter more." Justin smiled. "That we're together because we want to be, not because we have to be. One day we'll do it, but not today, I think."

Brian's lips quirked in a half smile. "I thought you'd want to wait until everybody can watch." He pulled out two gold chains and strung a ring on each. "A promise. Anytime, anywhere." He handed one necklace to Justin and then reached to place the other necklace around Justin's neck.

"Anytime, anywhere, because I'm not going anywhere either." Justin confirmed. He placed the necklace around Brian's neck and watched Brian's eyes, sensing the release of unspoken tension.

Brian moved in and lightly rubbed Justin's lower lip with a finger. "Well, then. It's time."

"Time for what?"

"Guess." Brian started opening Justin's shirt, one button at a time as he backed him toward the bedroom. Brian brought his mouth down and Justin let out a light gasp as he let the kiss take him under. When Brian came up for a moment, Justin looked around the bedroom. The theme from the living room had been carried into the bedroom. Candlelight flickered over the flower petals that covered the bed and surrounding floor.

"I didn't know you had romance in you." Justin commented.

With a laugh, Brian tore Justin's shirt the rest of the way open. "As long as it makes you hard, I do." He picked Justin up and tossed him onto the bed, following immediately to take off the dress pants Justin had worn to dinner. Brian looked down at the simple white underwear Justin wore, becoming instantly aroused.

Brian skimmed his hands over Justin's chest and leaned down to kiss the spot where the ring rested. He felt Justin's heart race under his lips and heard a sound, somewhere between a gasp and a sigh.

Brian sat down beside Justin to take off his own shirt. Justin sat up, reached over and moved Brian's hands out of the way. He slid himself sideways until he was sitting on Brian's lap undoing his shirt. After he got it off, Justin moved to meet Brian's mouth again then pushed him backwards until he was lying on the bed. Justin followed Brian down, moving to kiss the spot where Brian's ring lay. He slowly moved down, hovering over Brian, removing his clothing until he could come back up, to lie naked together on the bed.

Justin dove into the kiss, sinking into it, feeling the need that always lay under the surface. A lingering, permanent ache that only Brian's touch could take away.

As Justin moved above him, Brian felt emotions that he'd never known he could feel. He rolled Justin over, staring into blue eyes gone wild with desire. "Mine," he whispered as Justin shuddered in response.

Justin knew when he was ready and pulled his legs upward. He felt Brian fill him. Justin moved with Brian, desperate for more. He matched stroke after frantic stroke.

When the need was too much, when Justin felt himself about to fall, he looked into the intense hazel eyes. "Brian!" he cried, throwing his arms haphazardly around Brian's neck." The orgasm flashed, bright as day, through Justin as he felt Brian take the fall with him.