He was finally sleeping in Brian's bed, and not the couch. He was waking up cuddled and sated and happy. That feeling carried him through looking at job ads, shifts at the diner shift, and climbing back in bed with Brian night after night.

It had been four days since he had been fired, so Justin had picked up extra shifts at the diner. He had to make money somehow, until he found a second job.

In fact, that's exactly what he was doing now, sitting at the diner on one of his breaks, looking through job postings, until his cellphone started beeping.

Caller ID informed him that the call he was receiving was from Vanguard. Wondering if it was Brian or Kathy or maybe even Steve, Justin answered.

"Hello? Justin? This is Cynthia."

"Oh. Hi Cynthia. Is everything ok? Is Brian…is everything ok?" For the life of him, Justin couldn't imagine why Cynthia would call him, especially now that he was no longer working at Vanguard. Unless...

"Everything – and everyone – is fine."

Justin sensed the teasing smile in Cynthia's voice, and he blushed. Mercifully, he didn't have to say anything, because Cynthia continued to speak.

"I actually wanted to give you a message from Betsy. She of the famed Eyeconics account." Cynthia made no attempt to hide what she thought of Betsy. "We were supposed to have a meeting with her this morning, but it got cancelled because…well, because she was upset that you weren't at the meeting, and she became downright apoplectic when she heard that you no longer worked here."

"Oh." Justin wasn't sure what he was supposed to say. The one thing he knew was that he was flattered and relieved that someone other than Brian recognized the contributions he had made while at Vanguard.

"Betsy insists on speaking to you; I didn't know if it was ok to give her your contact information, so I assured her that I will have you call her back within the day. If you have a piece of paper, I can give you her number now."

"Umm… yes, yes of course."

Justin wrote down Betsy's contact information, and chatted a bit with Cynthia before hanging up the phone.

He stared at the number, wondering. It was impossible to imagine what Betsy could possibly want to discuss. In any event, he couldn't keep Betsy waiting; he had to call her back soon. Justin wondered if his idiot phone would last through another conversation, and then decided against taking that particular risk. He would simply ask Debbie if he could use the diner phone.

It had been hours since his conversation with Betsy, but Justin was still struggling to believe that it had actually happened. He wanted to discuss it with Brian, but didn't want to pounce on him as soon as he walked in through the door. Dinner was a better time, so he waited. However, when dinner actually rolled around, Brian had another topic he wanted to discuss. Justin had expected this conversation with Brian at some point though, which had given him mild, intermittent panic attacks. Especially because he himself was somewhat distracted, and not really in a frame of mind to deal with the topic. However, Brian hadn't run and he seemed determined to see it through, so the panicky animal in Justin's ribcage contained itself within the first few seconds.

"I don't know if I can do this. This thing…this serious…and you just coming out of a relationship. Waking up together and sharing dinners and monogamy and white picket fences…" Brian stated, but he kept still, and looked Justin in the eye.

"Well you seem to be doing great with the waking up together and the sharing dinners." Justin replied. "I am a little disenchanted with the whole relationship thing right now. Turns out, it can kind of suck."

"Well relationships generally…"

"Don't start." Justin interrupted Brian before he could go into a diatribe. "I also can't do that thing you do. Going out, fucking whoever. Or being with someone who goes out and fucks whoever. I don't think my self-esteem could take it right now, or ever. Or even if it's more a self-respect thing as opposed to a self-esteem thing."

"I figured that you couldn't."

"Right now, I just know I want a place to live, preferably not someone's couch. And an education. And you. I know I want you."

"Me too."

"So we can figure it out. Right?"

"I don't know. I don't know what I can and can't do. I've never tried."

"How about sharing your beer? Can you do that?"

Brian smiled, and passed the can of beer.

"Speaking about white picket fences and what I want in the future, something very interesting happened today." It wasn't the best segue, but Justin had waited all day to tell Brian what happened with Betsy, and he couldn't wait any longer.

Brian raised an eyebrow. "You won the Lotto?"

"Funny. I spoke to Betsy. From Eyeconics."

"Ugh. Betsy? Betsy Fowler?" Brian grimaced. "She threw another hissy fit today, because you weren't at the meeting. I told Vance to deal with it, since this entire mess is one of his creation. What did she want?"

"Weeell. Betsy wants me to join Eyeconics. She offered me a job!" Justin didn't even try to act normal. He was beaming, as if he had in fact won the Lotto.

"Seriously? Wow. Congratulations, Sunshine." Brian leaned over and kissed him. "Good for you. I know exactly how we're going to celebrate this."

Justin laughed, seeing Brian's expression. He could well imagine what Brian's idea of a celebration was going to be.

Brian continued, "She's a fucking lunatic, but you seem to like her, and she clearly likes you. What does she want to hire you as?"

"I have to meet her tomorrow morning, to finalize everything. And formalize it. She said she wants me to be the Brand Manager for Eyeconics. Basically deal with Vanguard in every aspect, and make sure everything is done as per her wish, because apparently, I'm the only one who understands her vision for the brand. And any other creative work that might come up, like working with the visualizing…merchandising…department and…oh my god, I am so excited and so relieved! An actual job. Not a trainee, not an intern. A proper job with a proper salary and medical and dental and holy fuck…this is so unreal."

Brian was smiling too, and Justin smiled even more, seeing him. Brian motioned for Justin to come to him. "Don't sign a damn thing until I see the contract," he said, pulling Justin onto his lap. "Betsy is recognizing the value of your hard work and your talent, which is excellent. Doesn't mean you're not going to negotiate for the best fucking deal you can get."

"Mmmm." Justin placed butterfly kisses on Brian's face. "You know, you better enjoy these home cooked meals while you can…because after a month at Eyeconics, I'm going to have enough money – first and last - to finally move into my own place."

"I'm planning to enjoy a lot more than the meals."

Brian lounged on his couch, enjoying the silence that filled the loft. It had been a while. Justin, while not noisy per se, was also not silent. He was also not invisible, which meant that there was little space in the loft to 'be alone'.

Now that Justin had moved into his own place, Brian was back to being the king of his domain. Brian had lived on his own for way too long to, and it hadn't been quite easy sharing space with Justin. Part of the reason could simply have been that his place was not exactly spacious enough for two people, but that wasn't something Brian considered at all. What Brian knew was that he liked having his own space. He liked being able to brood in silence when he wanted to, sleep for hours without being woken up by noises in the kitchen, not have his suits crushed by too many clothes in the closet, and also not have to have his spotless living space marred by duffel bags and the like.

At the same time, and though Brian was loathe to acknowledge it, he kind of missed Justin. It was disgustingly lesbionic to admit this, but it was nice waking up next to someone else, especially when that someone else was cheerful, undemanding and full of warmth. Now, he rolled over in the morning, and the whole damn bed was empty. And as much as Brian loved being alone, he also missed the companionship that Justin had brought. The blonde had known how to be there, without getting in the way.

Justin had also brought with him a rare sense of home that Brian had never known, except when he was at Debbie's. Warm light, the smell of food, laughter and affection. That was what he missed the most.

Well, he had seen Justin's new place – in fact, he had insisted on it. It was decent, but wasn't a patch on the loft. It shouldn't be too hard to make Justin spend a night or two here, Brian thought.

Change was coming. Change was already here. Brian could sense it. Lindsay was pregant. Justin had got himself a job and an apartment. Everyone was moving forward with their lives.

Brian reached for his cigarettes, and then remembered that they were on his bedside table. He decided to forego smoking in favour of staying still, watching the streetlights reflect off the balcony window and ceiling.

Tomorrow would be another frustrating day at work. Ever since Justin had been fired, Brian was struggling. That incident had brought to fore all his issues with Vance, and it was impossible to ignore them any further. He hated Vance, was loathe to work for a man who had not one quality that Brian could respect and it was absurd that he was making money for Vance hand over fist. It was worse now, because Vance had a bruised ego to deal with; with Justin and Betsy joining forces, Vance had been banished from all things Eyeconics. Vanguard wouldn't last twelve months without Brian, and yet, Vance was happily riding roughshod over him.

Brian stared at the shadows. He didn't need Vance. He didn't need Vanguard. There was no way in this - or any parallel universe - that Eyeconics would stay at Vanguard if there was no Brian. Callisto furniture wouldn't either. He could let them experiment with Amanda and Harvey, but that would be an experiment doomed to fail. Brian was quite certain that Brown Athletics would follow him as well. Did he really need to stick around at Vanguard, taking this shit from Vance?

He could be ready in four months or so to move out of Vanguard. Three clients would more than tide him over initially; he wouldn't need a huge set-up to service them. And once they brought in the money…

Brian swung his legs off the couch. It was time to switch on the lights and get his laptop. He had a business plan to start working on.

"Mr. Kinney, my boss is very specific about my work, our brand and the people we choose to collaborate with."

"Is she now?" Brian was drawing the syllables out, voice low, and it was doing things to Justin that no eyewear presentation should ever, ever do.

"Yes. She demands only the best." They had been going at it like this for a while; the opportunity to one-up Brian on his home turf, now that Justin had some modicum of power over the man being too tempting to resist. He could feel some nervousness emanating from the other people in the room, like they were ready to break up a fight at any moment, and Justin had to suppress a laugh at the thought.

"I'm sure you provide her with that."

"I absolutely do, but this isn't about what I provide, it's about what you do."

Brian's eyebrows rose challengingly. "Have I proven myself lacking in your eyes?"

"Well, the presentation isn't over yet." Justin smiled.

The intern from the new arts department dropped a board, loudly, and rushed to put it back into place, his cheeks turning pink. Justin winced with sympathy for the poor kid.

The presentation continued, and though he teased Brian, he also kept it professional. He was not planning on disappointing Betsy in the least. As always, Brian's work was stellar, but Justin knew what Betsy would be happy with, and he insisted on a few changes to the visuals. Work was work, and Justin was a very busy man indeed.

"Wow, you really hate that guy Kinney, huh?" Justin's new colleague, a short redhead and probably his favourite person at Eyeconics, whispered to him as they were making their way towards the elevators.

Justin made a vague sound, in acknowledgement of the remark. His mind was back in the conference room, and who he knew was waiting for him there. "I think I forgot something."

"Oh, we can…"

"It's fine, you go ahead. Tell Betsy everything went fine. Never mind, I'll tell her myself," Justin added, when she looked at him appalled at the prospect. "When I get back. Just go ahead without me. I'm getting lunch next, anyway."

He rushed her out into the hallway, and didn't step back into the conference room until she had turned the corner. Justin closed the door behind him, finding no key, but feeling like time was too much of the essence at the moment to worry too much about it. Brian had already sent everyone away. Smart man.

He had barely taken a breath before he was in Brian's arms, mouth hot on his, Brian's clever fingers working blindly at the buttons of Justin's shirt and quickly ridding him of it.

"You really know how to drive a hard bargain." Brian was whispering in his ear, and there was that fake professionalism all over again. Justin wanted to devour him.

"You've seen nothing yet." His hands in turn found Brian's belt buckle.

"Is that really the intern Steve got to replace me?" Justin managed to get out, in between harsh, urgent kisses. "Looks like a scared little lamb." It was hard to make coherent sentences when Brian did that damned thing with his teeth that managed to drive Justin insane every time.

"Mmmmm…he's trying. It's not working out very well. His predecessor had a couple of good things going for him.

"Just a couple?"

"Are you jealous?"

"No." There was, in fact, a pang of it; not being the one to see Brian every day at work, to be able to work with him, be around him in this context. He'd even missed seeing Brian yell at someone on the phone. Still, he wouldn't trade the things he could have with Brian now. "Honestly, I probably feel sorry for the kid. Knowing the shit he'll have to go through with his boss."

"Hey. I think I was quite easy on you, I barely even hazed you."

Justin pushed Brian forcefully against the wall at that, with his palm flat on Brian's chest, and enjoyed the astonished look on Brian's face when he got the wind knocked out of him. He had pushed Brian harder than he probably should have, especially considering the shove sent a framed picture cluttering down.

"Oops," Justin said with no real conviction.

"Not afraid someone will hear?"

"Let them. I don't even work here anymore."

"Taylor."

Oh, and Brian's shirt was coming off now. Justin took a second to marvel at the fact that he could look so openly now, that this was allowed and something he could have.

"I think you might be getting a kick out of this," Brian said, feigning shock at Justin's assumed moral indiscretion. "Getting caught." Brian's hand was making its way south, leaving a hot trail behind in its wake. "To think, anyone could walk in at any moment and see us like this…"

Justin swallowed hard. "Maybe I just get off on antagonizing you."

"That sounds more like a statement of fact than a theory."

Brian, with his hands around the now-exposed skin of Justin's waist, was guiding him backwards. Justin, unable to see where they were going, was trusting that Brian wouldn't let him fall or miss his step. And that was its own kind of little thrill, catalogued in an ever growing list of little thrills. Justin only stopped when the back of his knees found the side of the table.

"Or maybe I just like getting you in trouble," Justin countered.

"I'd get into trouble for you. Gladly. All I can think of right now is how I need to have you on this table. I thought about it, back when you worked here. Constantly. That we could fuck in my office. Vance's even. The fucking cafeteria."

"So, what's stopping you?"

Brian groaned into his neck, sending shivers down Justin's spine. As he sat on top of the desk, Brian making his way down his body, Justin managed to sober up enough to make something clear. "No but really, I'm going to need those revisions by Monday."

"You're serious." Brian, hair sticking out in all different directions due to Justin's wandering fingers, and in the process of getting the pants past Justin's ankles, looked at him with such a dismay that Justin had to let out a loud laugh.

"Of course"

"Can't believe I'm into you. Annoying little shit."

"Brian…"

"Yes?"

"Just shut up and kiss me."

A/N: Merry Christmas to all our wonderful readers! Hope you all had a great holiday, and thanks so much for reading and reviewing this story.

Just the epilogue left, which you'll have by New Year's Eve  :)