……………………………………………………… Chapter Fifteen: LET’S WASTE SOME TIME Brian reluctantly pulls his wet shirt and takes his jeans off. Feeling uncomfortable as he slips them off, he throws them onto the floor and walks to his closet to retrieve two pairs of gray sweats. He throws one pair to Justin and takes out a black v-neck t-shirt. He pulls his shirt on first and then his sweats, hanging low on his hips. Justin dresses at the same time, grabbing his shirt from the floor and slipping it over his head. “Do you want valium?” Brian softly asks Justin. “Umm… yeah, sure.” Justin replies tiredly. Brian digs in a wooden box on the counter and takes a small white pill. He hands it to Justin and Justin shallows it slowly. Brian walks in his bedroom and comes back with a large, dark, red velvet sheet covering him. He walks closer to Justin and hugs him, wrapping the duvet around their bodies. They walk awkwardly, holding on to each other, to Brian’s black leather couch and fall onto it together. They’re lying face to face, Brian’s arms are around Justin, he gently combs through Justin’s longish hair. “Tell me your story…” Brian barely whispers and closes his eyes. Justin softly moans against Brian’s touch. “Um… okay.” He pauses. “Two years ago, when I was seventeen, my father got really mad one night and kicked me out. I think he had found out something, but I don’t know what, he just got really mad. He took me in his car and drove away from our house. He came to Kingsbridge and dropped me off on the sidewalk. I was too confused to beg him, so I tried to find some place to stay for the night. I walked up the hill and saw this beautiful view of New York City from above.” He pauses and clears his throat, feeling the valium take over him. “I saw the couch, somebody threw it away or something, and I slept on it for the night.” He talks with a soft, calm tone, practically unreadable. Brian listens to him attentively, without interrupting. “Then the next day, I knew my father wouldn’t want me home anymore and honestly, I didn’t care. I walked in town and kind explored the place. That’s when I discovered the theater I showed you. Since it was free I entered and everybody in there looked so amazed by the movies and I fell in love with those movies too and cinema in general. I meet a friend at the theater and he gave me his old television so I could watch movies in my ‘fortress’. It didn’t need electricity so I could watch it on my couch.” He pauses and quietly yawns. “So, after about a week, a friend I had met in the theater drove me to the bar. Everybody was nice to me so I stayed, and then went back almost every night.” Justin’s voice gets quieter. “I lived with one of the bartenders, he was really nice and offered m a home because I didn’t have any money, and I said yes. I couldn’t care less about money though.” He swallows hard. “But after a year he moved to L.A. to become a fucking rockstar. I’ve had the whole apartment to myself ever since, but it’s filthy, practically empty and there’s no electricity, so I often hang in Kingsbridge. And then, one night while I was hanging around in my fortress I met you.” Brian smiles, still holding the blond in his arms like a teddy bear. “Your turn…” Justin whispers and cuddles closer in Brian’s chest. “My mother and sister died in a car crash when I was five years old. When I was sixteen, I dropped out of school and left home to live on the streets. I met my friend Emmett Honeycutt, he was living on the streets too and he became my best friend. Then one day, I was seventeen I think, some guy came to find me while I was working at a friend’s restaurant and told me my father died from cancer...” “Sorry…” Justin says, kissing him affectionately. “Don’t be, I didn’t care. Anyway, the guy told me that I inherited all of my father’s money. I gave a little cash to Emmett so he can buy his own place and bought this loft-mansion. Then saw you. The end. ” Brian told. Justin huffs a laugh. “Bri, I’m feeling very tired…” He says feeling the valium more than anything else. Brian kisses Justin’s cheek. “Sleep…” He whispers. Justin kisses Brian’s chin and is silent, quickly drifting to sleep… ……………………………………………………