“Would you care if I wasn’t?” Justin words rang through Brian’s head over and over again. He just couldn’t believe that the teen would even have to ask. Everything that Brian had done in the last few months was all for he and Justin. Even going to Chicago to get the damned Brown Sports account was to ensure their future. And, yet Justin had gotten pissed and went to Vermont alone. Little fucker. Brian thought. When Jennifer Taylor had come to Brian and asked him to take Justin in, Brian had initially done it because he felt guilty about the bashing, but in a very short time, Justin had come to mean so much more to him. And, Brian had to admit that coming home to Justin each night was something he would look forward to. Just thinking about lying in his large bed with Justin wrapped around him could lift his spirits even after the shittiest of days. How had it gone so wrong so fucking fast? It had all started on Justin’s birthday. Yes, Brian was glad that Justin was there to even celebrate another birthday, but being born isn’t a reason to celebrate at least not with flowers and romance. The year before, Brian had taken the teen back to his loft and fucked him 10 ways to Tuesday and Justin had loved every minute of it. Why was this year so fucking different? Why did Justin suddenly decide he needed hearts and fucking flowers? Most importantly, when had Ethan-fucking-Gold insinuated himself into Justin’s life? Ethan was everything that Brian was not. Ethan could give Justin everything he wanted and more. Brian couldn’t even bring himself to buy a bouquet of flowers for the teen. It just felt wrong for him to do so. It seemed like an empty gesture. A gesture he had seen his father give to his mother all too often. It hadn’t meant that Jack Kinney actually loved Joan. It was just a pacifier; something to keep Joan sated until the next time Jack screwed up. Brian absolutely refused to treat Justin in that manner. It was Brian’s stubbornness that had cost him so much. It cost him the only man he had ever loved. It had cost him lonely nights spent staring at the ceiling instead of sleeping. It cost him the only link to his own heart. Without Justin he felt nothing. Without Justin there was only emptiness and loneliness the likes of which he had never felt before. Each night he would stare at his reflection and wonder how he would survive. Each night he would pray that tomorrow would never come and he wouldn’t have to face a new day. And, yet, every day the sun would rise and he would get up, put his mask in place and head into another day. End Chapter 2