Huge thanks to Becky for the beta! :)
Special thanks to Helen for the banner! :)
Chapter 24------------------------------
“Any bar, any cross, any impediment,
will be med’cinable to me.
I am sick in displeasure to him;
And whatsoever comes athwart his affection
Ranges evenly with mine.”
‘How did we get this far?’ Brian asked himself as the blinding morning light was coming through the window, making the man narrow his eyes while watching the fragile, slim body of the peacefully sleeping blond in awe. Justin was lying next to him, looking like a beautiful angel, the special mix of wild wantonness and sweet innocence. Brian was wondering how that enormous contradiction could take place in such a small body.
The man watched the long eyelashes flattering slightly, the flawless porcelain skin glowing in the morning sun. He didn’t think he’d ever seen such a perfect creature. Before he realized he shouldn’t have thought something like that, he admitted to himself that he loved having the blond beside him. It was so much better to wake up like this, seeing his face. No trick had ever made him feel this way; though he’d realized long ago that he couldn’t call Justin a trick. He’d never been one; he’d been different from the beginning for some reason, even though Brian couldn’t put his finger on it.
The man suddenly found himself wondering what it would be like to wake up every morning like this; feeling Justin’s warm body next to him, sharing the same air with him, listening to his peaceful breathing, watching his delicate frame rising and falling slowly. Truth be told, he kind of liked the idea, and much to his surprise it didn’t freak him out anymore. Not that much, anyway. He didn’t know how Justin was doing it, but he made Brian want him more with every minute, and never let him go. ‘Little fucker.’ Brian thought to himself while he kept on watching the sleeping boy with a heartfelt smile on his face.
“You’re watching me.” Justin’s voice broke the silence unexpectedly, as a bright smile crossed his face, but he didn’t open his eyes.
“What makes you think that?” Brian asked the boy softly, smiling somewhat shyly.
“I can feel it.” The blond smiled wider and opened his eyes, “Weren’t you?”
Brian shrugged lightly in response, holding Justin’s gaze without a word.
“How long have you been awake?” Justin asked.
“Long enough to see what a sleepyhead you are. God, how long could you sleep? ”
Now it was Justin’s turn to shrug and he asked sleepily, rubbing his eyes,
“What time is it?”
“Almost nine. We’re going to be late.” Brian got up, looking down at the boy expectantly, “Now, get that delicious ass of yours out of the bed.”
Justin smiled seductively as he answered in a husky tone,
“You’ll have to convince me first.”
“Fine.” Brian replied and yanked the duvet off the boy with one movement.
Justin protested intently,
“Hey! That’s not what I had in mind.”
Brian gave Justin an innocent smile and asked sweetly,
“What’s wrong princess? You expected something else?”
“To tell the truth, yes, I did.” The blond sounded somewhat disappointed.
The man chuckled and added softly while pulling the boy off the bed,
“Come on. I’ll show you what a fun showering can be.”
That convinced Justin at last and he followed his man to the bathroom, closing the door behind them. The splashing sound of the water suppressed the sounds of pleasures the blond was creating. Gosh, taking a shower would be his favorite activity from now on.
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When Justin stepped onto the street he couldn’t wipe the bright smile off his face. He felt like his happiness would have been enough for the whole wide world. He knew that something had definitely changed between the two of them; he could tell it from the way Brian looked at him, the way he talked to him, and most of all, the way he touched him.
He left Brian at the loft because he had to stop at his apartment to change his clothes and to pick up some things he might have needed. When he opened the apartment door he recognized that Daphne had already left. He wasn’t too disappointed about it; as much as he wanted to tell his friend everything, he knew he wouldn’t have had enough time for a proper talk.
He changed his clothes quickly, grabbed some more art supplies he thought he was going to need and headed toward the theatre. As he entered the building he didn’t find anyone in the hall or in the auditorium. He frowned, because it seemed somewhat weird to him. Not standing in the empty room any longer, he turned around and walked towards his little studio.
When he got there, an unexpected scene greeted him. A bunch of people stood at the door of the little room, talking nervously, looking pretty dumbfounded. When Justin reached them he could see Emmett and Ted turning around, looking at him in a somewhat regretful way.
“Oh, sweetie!” Emmett sighed and Justin could see that he was pretty shocked.
“Justin I…” Ted started, “…I don’t know what to say…I’m so sorry…I have no idea who did this.”
“Did what?” Justin asked, getting really impatient now.
As the two of them made way for him, he stepped inside and almost fainted. All of his sketches from the day before were lying on the floor, ripped into tiny pieces; the pages of his old sketchbook he’d left in the studio torn to bits; the sketches of the last few months were covering the room’s floor in silent desolation; none of them remained undamaged. His pencils and crayons broken, his brushes pierced into one of the canvases.
Justin could feel himself getting dizzy, unable to say a word. The sight made him feel sick, seeing a very important part of his life spread all over the place, destroyed. He could feel tears burning in his eyes but he forced himself not to let them out.
“I…I can’t believe it.” He said almost in a whisper, still not realizing what had happened.
“Maybe we should call the police.” Emmett suggested.
“What for?” Ted replied bitterly, “As far as I can see nothing has been stolen…and whoever did this; they certainly had a key.”
“No shit.”
Justin reared his head as he heard Brian’s voice. The man stepped into the room, looking around with a serious expression.
“…Probably my key.” Ted added quietly.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Brian asked, raising his voice.
Justin was very grateful to Brian for asking the questions he had on his mind because he was too weak to ask.
“I couldn’t find my key yesterday, even though I knew it was exactly where it’s always been. But it disappeared somehow. I tried to call you the night before but you never called me back. I thought maybe you’d seen it somewhere.” Ted gave Brian a disapproving look.
Brian remembered someone calling while he’d been deep inside Justin’s ass, but he’d forgotten to look at the caller’s ID later. He’d had more important things to take care of after all.
“No, I didn’t see it.” Brian answered shortly.
“It doesn’t matter, since someone obviously stole it.” Ted said with a heavy sigh, “I’m terribly sorry Justin.”
“That’s okay; it’s not your fault anyway.” Justin replied weakly.
“We’ll help you clean up this mess.” Emmett said, already bending down.
“Would you…um…leave me alone for a minute?” Justin asked quietly.
“Sure.” Ted nodded, and the blond could see in his eyes that he felt really bad about this.
The others left, but Michael was still leaning against the wall.
“Mikey.” Brian said quietly, “Please.”
Michael looked at Brian and then at Justin then he left too.
Justin sighed and started to rub his face. ‘Who could have done something like that?’ There weren’t too many choices. Someone who knew exactly what Justin’s art meant to him. Someone who was mad at him. Before he could say anything Brian spoke, as if reading the blond’s thoughts,
“Michael might be an ass sometimes, but he’d never do something like that.” He stated.
“I know.” Justin answered and watched the man as he bent down and picked up a creased piece of paper.
Brian examined the sketch for long seconds, never saying a word. Justin stepped beside him to see which one it was. He could feel himself blushing as he saw that it was a portrait of Brian which he’d made a few weeks ago. The blond could clearly remember the night he’d drawn it; visualizing the actor’s every feature while he could hear Ethan snoring next to him. Ethan.
“I think we both know who it was.” Justin said, leaning his head against Brian’s shoulder.
Brian nodded and pulled the boy close to him. He kissed Justin’s head and started to stroke his back soothingly. Despite his gentle touches, the anger was increasing dangerously inside of the actor. Someone was definitely going to get a surprise visit.
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Ethan was lying on his bed, feeling incredibly sick, trying to recover from yesterday’s hangover. He couldn’t remember too much, but there were some moments he could clearly recall.
After leaving Justin and that asshole behind, he went to Ted’s office to get his money. The director was polite but he made it clear that he wouldn’t need his music anymore. Feeling betrayed by the whole world, he grabbed the director’s key from the drawer he’d seen the man putting it in a couple of minutes earlier.
Then he stopped at a bar and had an enormous amount of alcohol, determined to get totally drunk. He still couldn’t believe what Justin had done. After several drinks, he went back to the theater, watching Justin and Brian leaving together. He followed them unnoticeably, and watched them disappearing into a huge building.
As he was watching the window where the lights went up a minute later, he couldn’t help imagining what the two of them were doing. How they were doing it. How many times they were doing it. As the effect of the alcohol took over completely, he decided to give Justin a memorable good-bye.
The next thing he remembered was the satisfying demolition he’d made in the little studio. God, how good it had felt. But now, in the morning it didn’t seem such a great idea. He almost regretted it – not because he didn’t want to cause his ex-boyfriend pain, but he suspected that sooner or later they would find out who it had been. Ethan couldn’t suppress a huge smile as he imagined Justin’s face the moment he stepped into the little room. He knew exactly how important his work was to the blond.
He looked at his watch and realized that Darren could be there at any minute. He hated to be alone and since he didn’t have a better idea, he’d called his so-called lover to come over. He needed some consolation after all. Ten minutes later he heard someone banging on the door, so he got up from the bed to let the other violinist in.
He opened the door, and decided to shut it immediately as soon as he saw his visitor. Brian was standing in front of him, and his face didn’t look very promising. As Ethan tried to close the door, Brian stopped him by putting his foot in the crack then pushed the door in. Giving up finally, Ethan stepped aside letting the man inside, but not closing the door.
“What do you want?” He asked the actor and tried to sound casual, but he couldn’t hide how nervous he was.
Brian looked around with a pretty disgusted look, careful enough not to touch anything.
“Fuck me, what a shit-hole.” He said.
“What the fuck do you want?” Ethan repeated, louder this time.
“Just checking how you’re doing.” He answered absent-mindedly, still looking around horrified, “Fuck, do they pay you for living here?”
“It has its advantages you know.” Ethan answered in embarrassment.
“The only advantage it ever had is not here anymore.” Brian replied shortly.
Hearing Brian referring to the blond, Ethan became even more nervous,
“Would you mind telling me what you want?”
The violinist watched Brian as he walked to the door, closing it in no time, not giving him a second to stop him.
“I just wanted to have a chat with you….about that little mess you happened to make last night.” Brian said with a dangerous smile.
Ethan protested automatically,
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Brian nodded to himself, stepping closer to the other man,
“Last night. In our set-studio. Does that ring any bells?”
Ethan couldn’t answer, just blinked a few times.
“Listen, let’s cut it short, shall we? It’s not a question who’s capable of taking such a sneak and petty revenge.” Brian spoke again, stepping up to the violinist.
Ethan tried to back away, but the actor grabbed him and pushed him against the wall, gripping his neck strongly. Ethan tried to speak for himself but all he could manage was an intense coughing.
“What?” Brian asked and leaned a bit closer, “Did you say something?”
Ethan nodded, trying to pull Brian’s hand off of his neck, but he failed. Finally, Brian loosened his grip a bit, letting the violinist talk.
“That’s…that’s all your fault.” Ethan said accusingly.
“Is that so?” Brian asked sarcastically.
“If you wouldn’t have shown up, he’d still be…living here…with me.” Ethan spat back.
“Luckily for him, he met me.” Brian smiled devilishly, “It’s not my fault you can’t fuck, you know.”
“I…love him.” Ethan said desperately.
“Do you?” Brian asked, “I didn't notice.”
“I don’t care what you think. I love him; but you’re just using him. Or are you trying to tell me that you have feelings for him?” Ethan asked challengingly, feeling the grip tightening on his neck again.
“What I feel…” Brian stopped for a second, “…or don’t feel is none of your fucking business.”
“Let me go or I’ll call the police.” Ethan tried to free himself.
“Relax, fiddle-boy.” Brian shrugged, “You can call whomever the fuck you want for all I care. There’s only one thing I want to say anyway.”
Ethan stared at the man, waiting for Brian to go on, though he suspected he wasn’t going to like it. Brian leaned even closer and spoke quietly, though the sound of his voice scared the shit out of Ethan.
“If you ever get near him again…” he paused for effect, “…you can say goodbye to your fucking balls.” Brian pulled away, took a good look at the violinist and gave him an evil smile, “That is, if you even have any.”
Ethan swallowed hard, still unable to answer.
“Did I make myself clear?” Brian asked harshly with a raised eyebrow, turning Ethan’s face to his.
Ethan nodded weakly, but couldn’t say a word.
“I want to hear it.” Brian commanded.
“Yes.” The violinist hacked, “I understand.”
Brian released Ethan, shooting him one more threatening glare then left, leaving the door open. Ethan panted heavily while letting out a sigh of relief. He started to rub his neck and moved to close the door. Brian was serious; he had no doubts about that. Maybe this was the part where he had to give up. Maybe he should admit defeat. It wasn’t worth it anymore.
Quote:
W. Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing
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