Brian woke up with the sun in his face. He slowly opened his eyes and sat up, groaning. Again, the young man was disappointed by the fact that this was his reality rather than a dream. Well, fuck, he thought, rolling his eyes. Looking beside him, he noticed that his companion was not next to him. Standing up, he was relieved when he immediately spotted the kid on the beach with some sticks and tree branches. Intrigued, Brian walked over to the blond to see what he was doing. “Morning”, he said, reaching the kid. Justin shot a nod at him but did not respond with words. He was far too busy creating a large SOS sign on the beach with the branches and sticks he held. “Nice work”, Brian commented, watching Justin as he moved.

Justin looked up briefly this time and gave Brian a small smile. “Yeah, well, if we want to get the attention of planes or helicopters, this’ll come in handy”, he said. Brian nodded and took off his shirt. “Wha-What are you doing”, Justin stuttered, feeling himself blush at the sight of a shirtless Brian Kinney. It was a wondrous sight he could not tear his eyes away from.

The blond continued to stare, his jaw dropping when Brian took off his pants. “I’m going for a swim”, Brian told him with a knowing smirk when he looked at the boy’s flushed face. “It’s a hot morning and I want to cool down. Feel free to join me if you like.” Clad in only his briefs, Brian turned and took off towards the water. Entering the ocean was like a breath of fresh air, the water calming him instantly. Brian loved the ocean. Any morning that begun with a dip in the ‘great blue’ was a good start to the day, where Brian was concerned. Justin watched Brian diving through the waves for a moment before turning back to his SOS sign. He tried not to ogle the man too much…

*****

An hour later, Brian and Justin collected Branches and palm leaves to build a shelter. Working as a team, the pair built a fairly sturdy shelter in just over 30 minutes. “There we go”, Brian said, tying off one last leaf on the top of the shelter. All seemed to be going well until Brian felt a sharp prick to his left hand. “Ouch!” he cried out softly and jumped back slightly, holding the thenar space of his left hand.

Justin looked up at the brunet and reached out for him. “Here, give me your hand”, he said, taking Brian’s hand as he offered it to him. Inspecting Brian’s injury, Justin bent down to take a tissue and a band aid out of his bag. Brian couldn’t help but laugh as the boy pressed the tissue to the bleeding knick on his hand. “What?” Justin questioned with a quirked brow.

“Of course you would have tissues and band aids with you”, Brian said wryly. He flinched when Justin pulled the tissue away and quickly applied the band aid.

“Lucky for you. You might’ve gotten an infection if I didn’t have those things”, Justin responded.

Brian smiled and shook his head before he sat down, Justin following suit a moment later. “I still might, you know.”

Justin shrugged, “With my first aid skills?” he joked. “No way.”

The pair shared a small laugh and sat in silence for a few seconds. “Thanks”, Brian said, breaking the quiet.

“You’re very welcome”, Justin replied. Again, the boys sat in brief silence. “So…” he began awkwardly.

Brian ran his fingers through his hair and looked over at his companion. “Uh…so what is it that you want to do with you life?” he asked, saying the first thing that came to his mind to kill the almost painful silence.

Justin was relieved to have something to talk about. “Well, my parents have always wanted me to go to Dartmouth to study business, but…I’ve always wanted to be an artist”, he admitted.

The older boy nodded, listening intently. It surprised him how genuinely interested he actually was in the blond’s life. “Forget your parents”, Brian advised him in a friendly manner. “Do what ever the hell you want to do. It’s your life.”

“I think my parents would support me no matter what I did” Justin said. “They’d just be disappointed if I didn’t go into business like my father. But art is…it makes me feel…it’s everything”, he admitted, his eyes shining.

Brian noticed the passion on Justin’s face as he spoke of his dream future in art. It was mesmerising to look at. “Wow” he said.

Justin broke out of his trance and looked over at Brian. “What?” he asked curiously.

“I’ve honestly never seen that look you just had on anyone else’s face before. Not ever.” Justin looked at Brian in slight confusion and asked what he meant, to which Brian responded, “You looked so…like you were in a completely different world. Like even just thinking about art, you get lost. It was incredible. I’ve never been as passionate about anything the way I guess you are about your art.”

Taken aback completely by Brian’s profound and flattering words, Justin blushed and stuttered, “Uh…t-thanks.” He let out a small, nervous laugh, not knowing how to respond to Brian’s massive compliment. He never expected a guy like Brian to say anything like that. “Well, do you know what you want to do? You know, after you graduate from college?”

Brian thought for a moment. “I do want to get into advertising”, he told the boy. “I’m fucking good at it. I’m not trying to talk myself up or whatever, but I really am good at this shit”, he admitted as Justin nodded in understanding and interest. “So, I guess I’ll be an Ad Executive, but…I dunno, I thought maybe one day I’ll try to open an agency of my own. Be the CEO of it all. I’d like to be my own boss one day, I suppose.” Brian surprised himself for letting out his future hopes like this. He usually never did, but Justin’s simple yet passionate talk about his own dreams had inspired him. He looked away, feeling slightly self conscious.

“What about…” Justin began, causing Brian to look back at him. “I dunno, a family? You ever thought about starting one some day?” he asked, feeling awkward at the question.

Brian scoffed. “A family?! HA!” he let out a loud, sarcastic laugh. “I’ve honestly never even considered it”, he told Justin. “Besides, seeing as I’m a fag that may have been difficult even if I ever did think about it.”

Justin’s eyes widened and his heart began to beat faster. “You…you really are gay?’ he asked.

“What can I say”, Brian began with a shrug. “I can’t resist a good dick and a nice ass.”

Flushing at Brian’s illicit use of words, Justin replied. “I-um…me too.” Brian quirked a brow and smirked at him. “I’m gay too”, Justin added.

“Oh, I know”, Brian replied casually.

Justin’s eyes widened. “You can tell?”

Brian nodded. “The way you’ve been staring at me was kind of a dead give away.” Justin couldn’t help but blush. “Plus my gay-dar is pretty good.”  

The blond laughed. “Yeah, well might I remind you that you were staring at me just as much”, he pointed out light heartedly.

Brian got a mischievous look on his face and said, “Well, perhaps those condoms my friend slipped me won’t go to waste after all.”

The younger of the pair went bright red, his heart suddenly pounding faster. “Brian!” he complained, clearly not appreciating the joke. “Don’t be gross!”

The brunet laughed, relenting. “Alright, alright”, he said, lifting his arms in surrender. “It was only a joke, Sunshine.” After another beat of silence, Brian studied Justin and asked him, “You’ve never been with anyone have you?”

“I-I”, the boy stuttered. He looked over at Brian’s expectant face and sighed in defeat. “No. I haven’t”, admitted the teenager.

“That’s okay”, Brian reassured the blond. “Not everyone is a slut like me.”

Justin looked at the older guy curiously. “Huh?” he inquired.

“It’s nothing, kid”, Brian shrugged the issue off.

The teenager nodded, deciding once again not to press the young man next to him. Not when they were actually getting along. His mother always taught him to be patient with others so as to get in their good favour. That thought provoked several others that he had been avoiding. “Our parents must be so damn worried about us”, he mused aloud.

Brian huffed, “Yeah, yours might be. I doubt my folks give two shits about what happens to me.”

“Why do you say that?” Justin asked. “I’m sure they are worried about you, Brian. I mean, they’re your parents.”

The brunet shook his head, not looking at Justin. “Let’s just say I didn’t exactly have the ideal parents to bring me up”, he told the boy.

Justin studied Brian, curious about how mysterious he seemed to be. He figured he might just find out a whole lot more about Brian Kinney.

Pittsburgh

“Oh my God, Hunter, what if he’s dead!?” exclaimed an emotional Daphne Chanders to her friend.

Hunter sighed over the phone; he did not want to think of that as a possibility. “Daph, this is Justin we’re talking about. He always knows what to do. Even in the worst situations.”

“What situation could be worse than this!?” Daphne asked. “He could be all alone out there!”

“But he could be with that guy. My Uncle Ben’s friend. I think his name was Brian?” Hunter suggested.

Daphne nodded. “Yeah, I guess that would make sense…kinda. I mean; where the hell could they be? What if they really are dead?! Oh God!” The girl begun to get emotional thinking about what could be of her friend.

“Daphne, you have to calm down!” Hunter insisted, despite his own worry for Justin. “We have just got to believe he’s okay.”

Daphne took several deep breaths to calm herself. “You’re right, you’re right”, she admitted. “It’s just…if anything happens to him, it’ll be our fault! We never should have left without making sure he was with us! How fucking stupid could we be!”

“I know how you feel”, Hunter admitted. “I blame myself too. But we have to be strong for Justin.”

This made Daphne crack up slightly. “Did you really just say that?” she asked, giggling.

Daphne’s small laughter made Hunter smile. “Pretend you didn’t hear that”, he said.

“Too late”, the girl teased. “Anyhow, your uncle is still in Trinidad, isn’t he?” she asked, getting right back on track.

“Yeah. I’ve been messaging him and talking to him”, Hunter told her. “He said there is still no sign of that Brian guy.”

“So they probably are together”, Daphne said thoughtfully.

Hunter nodded. “It looks that way, yeah.”

A dramatic sigh escaped Daphne’s lips. “I really hope they get found. I don’t know what I’d do if we lost Justin.”

“Me neither”, Hunter admitted. The two friends stayed on the phone in reflective and sombre silence for several more worried-filled minutes.

Trinidad airport, international terminal

“There he is”, Craig Taylor said, pointing at Mr. Glenane, the teacher on the senior trip who agreed to stay in Trinidad to meet the missing student’s parents there. The worried parents hurried over to the man who was waving at them.

The teacher reached out his hand to shake those of both parents. “Mr. and Mrs. Taylor”, he greeted politely.

“I want to speak to the police right away”, Jennifer said assertively, not bothering with her usual WASP-ish politeness.

Nodding, Mr. Glenane turned and began walking, gesturing for Craig and Jennifer to follow after him. “There is a car waiting for us just outside”, he told them as they walked. “It’ll take us up to the hotel first, so you can unload your luggage and-“

Craig cut the man off quickly, “No. We don’t need to ‘unload’. What we need is to find our son. We’re going to the police before we do anything else”, he told him firmly.

Helpless, Mr. Glenane nodded, agreeing to the man’s demands. He knew that there was no chance of charming the parents of the missing Taylor boy. Things would be sharp business between them, he supposed. Walking fast, they exited the airport and headed for the car. Craig and Jennifer Taylor were two people on a mission that no one was going to get in the way of.  

The Hotel

“Okay…” Melanie began, sighing. “I gotta admit…things do seem off now.”

Lindsay nodded and squeezed her girlfriend’s hand. “Brian definitely would have been back by now. He would never disappear in a different country for over two days”, she said.

Michael ran his hand through his hair. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you guys!” he exclaimed, relieved that his friends finally seemed to agree that something was wrong. He knew his friend was in trouble and until everyone accepted that, they wouldn’t be able to help him. “He is really missing. I just know he needs our help.”

“Oh my God, what if he’s already dead?!” exclaimed Emmett dramatically.

Everyone turned to look at Emmett’s expressive face. “Emmett! Don’t say things like that!” cried Lindsay, reaching over for a hug from Melanie.

“He’s not dead, alright”, Michael said, shaking his head at his friend. “He just…he can’t be. We’ve just gotta help him.”

“How?” Emmett asked, with the same dramatic tone as before.

Michael took a sip of his water to relieve his dry throat. He had hardly slept due to his worry for his friend. “We help the police however we can. We look for him. We ask around. Anything”, he answered.

Ben wrapped his arm around Michael’s shoulders and gave him a squeeze. “And you can help him by never giving up. Don’t lose hope”, he said comfortingly.

The dark haired comic lover leaned into his new lover’s touch. “We won’t”, he responded. “Thank you.”

“What for?” Ben asked gently.

“For being here”, Michael said, reaching up to touch the hand Ben had on his arm. He gave the hand a squeeze.

“There’s nowhere else I’d be”, Ben whispered. “He will be okay, Michael”, the man reassured. “He will be found.”

Michael sighed and said, “I sure hope you’re right…”

TO BE CONTINUED…