Friday, Vision Clinic...

Opening his eye, Justin was assaulted by brightness. He winced, blinking once, then twice, his heart hammering in his chest as he realized he couldn’t stand the light. A million thoughts raced through his head at this realization, but he couldn’t focus except to acknowledge that his worst fear had come true.

He couldn’t see anything. “I can’t…” he managed to breathe out. “I can’t see. I... Fuck!”

Brian felt his blood run cold as Justin tensed up by his side. He cursed loudly and started to pace back and forth in John’s office. With the blond reacting like that, it could only mean that the surgery hadn’t worked and, therefore, that Justin’s last hope of recovering his sight was vanishing. There was no way the blond could recover his sight in his much more deteriorated left eye, if this operation hadn’t succeeded. Brian felt his lungs closing up as he made eye contact with Jennifer, who was standing frozen at the foot of the examination table.

“Give it a moment,” John intervened, noticing everyone’s anxiety rising in the last few seconds. “It’s perfectly normal for your eye to need time to adjust. Can you tell me exactly what you’re experiencing?”

“I…” Justin began, trying to control his overwhelming panic. He felt Brian tentatively place a hand on his arm. “It’s bright. Too bright. It’s…”

“That’s a wonderful sign, Justin,” John cut him off, the tone of his voice reflecting his satisfaction. “What you’re seeing is most likely the ‘halo effect’ from the dimmed lights in here. Your eye isn’t used to that kind of brightness anymore.”

“No shit,” Brian quipped nervously. Justin was sure he was glaring at John for not having warned them sooner.

John ignored Brian’s remark and proposed, “Give your eye time to adjust. The halo should diminish during the next few minutes.”

Justin responded with a slight nod. Exhaling deeply, he forced himself to relax and open his eye. Again, he couldn’t bear the light, but he continued until he felt comfortable enough to stand it longer. It took several minutes for the irresistible urge to fight the brightness to fade.

During that time, Brian could barely breathe. His gaze never left Justin’s face as he suddenly realized his lover’s injured eye held a different color than before.

************************

When the light become bearable and Justin’s vision began to clear, the first thing the blond noticed was that he could discern the ceiling above him. But most importantly, he could see its color. It was a pale shade of white.

A moment later, he could see a small crack running along the smooth surface. It wasn’t clear, but it was there, undulating on a few inches.

Justin’s heart thumped as his lips curled upward, realizing Brian’s anxious breathing was echoing in his ears, and he blinked, before moving his head. As he did, he knew he would remember this moment - this image - for the rest of his life.

Brian’s face. It was indeed godlike, just as described in the newspaper the day after they’d met at the Bloom Gallery. The unblemished skin; the high forehead; the raspberry lips; the slightly rounded chin; the gently sloping nose with the tiny bump at the bridge - the small imperfection that Justin couldn’t actually see with his still cloudy vision but that he remembered tracing with his fingers; the finely-shaped ears; the dimple winking into existence next to his mouth; the arched brows under which hazel eyes sparkled - yes, all of those appealed to Justin.

But what really made the blond fall in love all over again was the auburn hair in messy disarray - as if Brian had been running his hands through it while he anxiously waited to find out whether Justin could see him, the light stubble on his chin and neck that showed he had been too keyed up to take the time to shave, and, especially, the undiluted joy in his eyes.

“Hey,” Justin breathed out, grinning broadly as he kept exploring his lover’s visage, unable to look away. Brian stared back at him with a huge smile of his own, raising his eyebrow in a silent question. Justin nodded, the bliss overpowering him. “Yes… yes, I can see you,” he said, his eyes tearing up against his will. He repeated, as if convincing himself that his most fervent wish had really come true, “I can see you.”

Brian bit down on his lip almost shyly, and Justin thought it was the most adorable thing he had even seen. Most of all, Justin was awed to read his lover’s face, which reflected a myriad of emotions. He hadn’t doubted the man’s feelings for a while now, but even though his sight was still affected by blurriness, he understood Brian really loved him. This was it. Nothing, no words, no ‘I love you’ could ever make Justin feel more loved than Brian’s gaze on him at this instant.

Justin felt high. He doubted he had ever felt happier in his entire life.

Impulsively grabbing the brunet’s hand, he murmured teasingly, “You’re kind of easy on the eye, you know?”

Brian let out a dry chuckle, replying impishly, “Admit it. Even in your wildest dreams, you couldn’t have imagined a hotter man than me. And you haven’t seen my...”

“Oh, Justin!” Jennifer interjected, as she, too, came to stand at Brian’s side, preventing him from finishing his sentence. Happy tears were running down her face.

“Mom…” Justin laughed as he looked at her. “It’s good to see you. You’ve aged well.”

John was smiling widely, too. “Nice to meet you, Justin,” the doctor jested, prompting the blond to look at him. The slightly overweight man was in his fifties, with grey, receding hair, but there was something beautiful about him, an ‘underlying’ kindness in his smile. For the first time since he’d met John, Justin forgot about the doctor’s relationship with Brian, only remembering what this man had done for him. Justin owed him so much. Not only John, but Brian as well. Without them, he probably never would have gotten his sight back.  

“I really want to kiss you right now,” Justin quipped, addressing John, before murmuring a heartfelt, “Thank you.”

“Before thanking me, let me examine your eye, okay?” John replied, reminding Justin that he needed to be careful. “The fact that you can see us is a very good sign, but I want to make sure everything’s alright.” He peered at Jennifer and Brian, requesting, “Why don’t you go to the main waiting area? I’m going to perform a few tests now, and I need Justin to focus on those.” He then regarded Justin, who was looking at Brian again. Visibly amused, he drawled, “Somehow, I think you’re too much of a distraction for my patient right now.”

Brian stared at John with a smirk. He was about to respond when Jennifer placed her hand on his side and pushed him toward the door. “Don’t answer that. I don’t want to know.” she ordered, although her lips curled upward.

Brian looked at her, his face caught between innocence and outrage, but he didn’t resist her. He stopped in front of the door, however, directing one last glance at Justin. “Be a good boy,” he mouthed jestingly.

Justin nodded at him in response. “I promise,” he whispered, merriment dancing in his eyes.

************************

Daphne was waiting for her friend with Brian and Jennifer when John called them to his office to share the prognosis with everyone. The doctor was obviously thrilled with the results of the surgery, but he nonetheless cautioned his patient about the aftermath of the procedure, giving him a series of strict instructions to adhere to until their next appointment, which was scheduled for the following Tuesday. He calculated that Justin would recover at least 80% of his sight in that eye, if not more. The blond needed to follow the guidelines, but his eye should continue to heal nicely as long as he was careful.

Daphne began to sob uncontrollably as John finished his lecture, availing herself of Brian’s jacket as a tissue. Justin had to hug her for long minutes to calm her down, avoiding his lover’s indignation over the fate of his designer clothing, although he ended up crying on her shoulder too.

He finally realized that this was really happening, that he was allowed to go home, back into a world he had not been able to observe for more than a year.

Jennifer surprisingly left with Daphne after having heard the prognosis from John, about an hour after her son first opened his eye. Thus, Brian was the one to escort his lover out of the clinic, Justin’s hand wrapped around his arm, the blond’s eyes protected by shades. And yet, there was something very different in Justin’s posture, in the way he walked. The artist felt a hesitancy that hadn’t been there before, but at the same time, he felt stronger. It was hard to explain.

Justin let Brian drive them back to the loft. Neither man talked during the ride, nor questioned where they were going. Justin felt out of his mind, as if he were breathing in a dream, yet also wide awake. He kept staring at every single thing his eye fell upon, like an infant discovering the beauty of the world for the first time. His fingers were itching to draw, to carve that beauty into paper. He had never experienced such elation before.

In the end, his eyes were always drawn back to Brian. He had traced every curve of his lover’s face, every inch of his body, imagining the brunet countless times in his mind. Every time, the image he had created had been perfect. How could it not have been? Justin was so fucking in love with this man.

He could see him now, though. And he realized Brian wasn’t perfect, not really, because such a fantasy didn’t exist. Brian was real and fucking handsome, even if that thought was still too simplistic. Justin couldn't find better words, however, to describe how he felt at that moment, observing his lover’s aquiline silhouette, his gaze fixed on the road as he navigated the streets.  

Brian parked, turning off the Jeep. Justin didn’t move as the brunet unlocked his seatbelt and got out of the vehicle. Only when Brian opened his door did he realize he could do it on its own. Peering at his lover’s expectant face, he smiled and slid off the seat. Brian stepped back, allowing Justin to decide his next move. The blond stood still for a moment, looking around at everything on the street, before he reached for Brian’s hand, interlacing their fingers together.

Justin entered the building and walked to the elevator with Brian at his side. He laughed when he saw it, before lifting the barrier with his free hand. They rode to the third floor in silence, and Justin felt his heart thump as they walked out, stopping in front of the door to Brian’s loft.

“Ready to enter the gate to paradise?” Brian quipped with a smirk as he unlocked it and slid it open.

“I can’t wait,” Justin grinned.

Brian gestured for him to walk inside, and Justin finally entered the loft, deliberately taking his time. Brian followed him, but after having closed the door, he stayed there, watching Justin made his way around.

Images of the two of them melded with the place Justin was seeing for the first time. He could envision them laughing at the kitchen counter, fucking on the couch, and defining their relationship in the bedroom, that night when Justin had told Brian he was in love with him. It was mesmerizing, especially because this place was everything Justin had imagined, and more.

As the artist took the three steps separating him from the center of the loft, he paused, staring at the rumpled bed. Closing his eyes briefly, he turned around and met Brian’s eyes.

Without a word, he headed toward his lover and stopped in front of him, never breaking their gaze. He reached out to touch Brian’s face, letting his fingers graze his skin. Everything in that man was waking up a dormant desire, one Justin couldn’t ignore any longer.

“I want to draw you,” he breathed out as he gently pushed a lock of the brunet’s hair back from his forehead. “I want you naked. On your bed. On your back.”

Brian raised an eyebrow. “You probably should rest,” he cautioned, even though Justin could hear the quiver lacing his words. There was no doubt in his mind that Brian wanted this just as much as he did.

Justin unconsciously licked his lower lip, and he heard Brian exhale a dry, “Fuck…” before the man leaned down and kissed him.

They tried to slow down but were consumed by the need to crush their lips together. It was raw, almost animalistic. Justin knew they should stop, John having warned him to take it easy for the next few days, but he couldn’t do anything to prevent what was happening. Even when Brian leaned back, his eyes glazed with lust, Justin couldn’t halt, trying to resume their kiss immediately by placing his hand at the back of Brian’s neck and urging his lover to continue. Brian resisted, which made everything even more unbearable, the blond’s cock feeling so fucking hard and hot in his pants. Justin was pretty sure he whimpered then, and his lover gripped his waist tightly in response, pulling him more firmly against his body and staking his claim, even harder than before.

After kissing for a long time, they collapsed to the floor, Brian’s body covering Justin’s, and he hastily popped the blond’s jeans open with one hand. The brunet hovered over his lover teasingly, his fingers wrapping around the blond’s cock. He wanted to read every nuance of pleasure on Justin’s face as he began to slowly jerk him off. Justin’s mouth opened as he tried to breathe through his grunts and moans, and the brunet kept savoring the moment, his hand moving up and down, again and again, on the blond’s shaft. Of course, having Justin come from a handjob wasn’t enough for Brian, so he lowered his head to taste what he really craved.

The instant the brunet’s tongue traced the tip of Justin’s cock, the artist’s back arched off the floor as he tried to feed his dick to his lover. He was too fucking gone to stop his body from reacting to this delightful touch, the wetness and warmth of Brian’s tongue entirely too heavenly. Brian smirked, ignoring Justin’s undulations, and kept focusing on the tip, until his lover’s breathing became ragged. Only then did he engulf Justin’s cock, relishing the feeling of the hard shaft filling his mouth, and he lost himself in the task, one goal in mind. To make Justin come.

However, Brian also needed to come desperately, so he continued to hum and suck while opening his own pants, and upon freeing his dick, he immediately started to fuck his fist. He would have preferred to fuck Justin, but they weren’t supposed to so soon after the surgery. A blowjob probably wasn’t recommended either, but it was too late.

As a result of his ministrations, his grunts became louder, although muffled by Justin’s cock, and all too soon, the two men were shamelessly moaning in bliss. Brian felt high as immense pleasure rushed through his own cock, and he let go of all restraint, sucking Justin hard, so fucking hard and fast that the first spurts of come surged into his mouth without the blond being able to warn him, except for the loud shout which echoed around the loft. He swallowed and then cried out in ecstasy, feeling his cock pulsate in his hand as he climaxed, his come decorating their clothing.

He couldn’t have cared less, however, since he couldn’t think. Every time he and Justin had sex, his orgasm left him breathless and delirious. Really, he had never imagined how good sex could be when he was with a man he cared about. Everything was more intense, the sensations increasing more than tenfold, his body in sync with his mind, and he behaved like a puppet his lover could easily stimulate without doing much of anything. Every touch, brush, graze, lick, and kiss turned him on so fucking much. It was insane.

Right now, Brian struggled to catch his breath, rolling onto his back next to Justin, who hadn’t moved at all. A minute elapsed before Brian recovered enough to drawl, “You do realize I’m reduced to performing a blowjob on the floor and to finishing myself with my hand because I can’t for the life of me resist you, right? I mean, the bed is inches away. What the fuck are we doing here?”

Justin barked out a laugh. “You could have fucked me.”

“You heard John. Strenuous activity is not recommended. I’m pretty sure a hard, deep fuck has to be avoided, alas,” the brunet complained.

“This is your definition of light exercise?” Justin railed, laughter bubbling from his chest.

“Well, I hadn’t fucked you in nearly four days. My balls were turning blue,” Brian declared shamelessly.

“Hmm…” Justin responded absently, amused by Brian’s logic. He was pretty sure Brian could have fucked him instead of blowing him, and the experience wouldn’t have been any less intense. “Well, I still want to draw you. Do you have a piece of paper somewhere?”

“Sure,” Brian confirmed, but he didn’t move. Feeling Justin’s stare on him, he rolled his eyes. “Now?”

Justin straightened up on his elbows to look at Brian. “Yes, please…” he grinned, before covering the brunet’s lips. Brian sighed happily as he welcomed Justin’s tongue into his mouth, and was about to deepen their touch when his lover suddenly stood up, leaving him all hot and bothered on the floor.

Brian glared at him, but his gaze quickly lowered to the blond’s ass, as Justin hiked up his jeans and walked toward the kitchen.

“I can feel that,” Justin informed him with a chuckle, opening the fridge to retrieve a bottle of water.

“Your ass is a piece of art,” Brian commented as he finally got up. He decided not to bother with his clothes. Making sure to wait for Justin to turn around, he slowly pulled his shirt over his head, letting it fall to the floor, his eyes fixed on Justin’s face. His lover was visibly enthralled by the show, as he stared, mesmerized, at the brunet’s arms, chest, and nipples. Satisfied, Brian then placed his hands at his waistband and stayed still for a long moment, before lowering his jeans completely. Once he had stepped out of his pants, he sauntered over to Justin, purposely undulating his hips, and stopped in front of him. His eyes never swerving, he snatched the water bottle from Justin’s hand, took a few sips, and finally poured it carefully over his head, shaking his now wet hair, the drops running down his body.

Justin swallowed, frozen in place. Brian pretended to lean in to kiss him, but instead of covering his lips, he exhaled, his warm breath washing over the blond’s skin, while his eyes traveled over his lover’s face enticingly. When Justin shivered at the simple gesture, Brian smirked, before brushing against Justin’s body as he walked past him and headed toward the kitchen counter.

Now, Brian was sure Justin’s inspiration to draw him has reached its peak.

Opening a kitchen drawer, Brian retrieved a pad and a pencil and placed them on the counter. Then, he advanced toward the bedroom and climbed the steps, giving time to Justin to pick up the items. A few seconds later, he sensed his lover behind him, just an inch away from his body. He couldn’t help but quiver when the blond boldly reached for the curve of his ass, tracing the separation between his cheeks, his warm lips grazing his neck sensually.

The delicious, unexpected touch didn’t last however, as Justin halted the motion, breathing out, “I want you on your stomach on the bed. Now.”

Brian was surprised that the image of himself spread out for his lover appealed to him so strongly. He had been fucked since he’d become sexually active, but it hadn’t happened often, Brian quickly realizing that he preferred to top rather than bottom. No matter what, he had never liked to relinquish control.

Brian closed his eyes briefly, chasing a picture of Justin fucking him from his mind, and moved to the bed. He slowly lay down and waited for his lover’s next move.

Justin breathed deeply. To say that he was affected by Brian’s beauty was a huge understatement, and even though he longed to have sex again, his need to sketch the brunet’s form was stronger. He therefore went to sit on the edge of the bed and stared at Brian’s naked body. His gaze roamed over Brian’s back, his ass, his legs. He inhaled every detail, every inch of his skin and began to slide his pencil across the paper.

As the drawing progressed, line by line, Justin felt Brian staring at him, but he ignored it. Biting his lip, his hand moving ceaselessly, he gazed back and forth, his brow furrowing. Brian spoke at some point, but he was too focused to actually register what his lover said.

Justin didn’t hear anything, not the vivid scritching of his pencil or Brian’s slower breathing. Artists often claimed to enter some kind of a trance when they created, and Justin would have agreed, if asked. He would also have said that transcendent state was nothing compared to what he was experiencing right now. After being almost blind and meeting the love of his life. After recovering his sight and being able to draw the one person that meant the most to him.

His strokes became quicker and shorter as the indistinct form on the paper turned into a man. Individual features emerged from the elongated silhouette, shadows giving the drawing depth and realism. Brian’s humanity, his essence, surged to life. Justin doubted anyone else could see Brian as he saw him, for the man he really was, but if they couldn’t, the artist would show them.

When his hand stopped moving, the artist lit up as he peered at the result of his frenzy. Of all the sketches Justin had ever created, this one must be the most beautiful. Not because Brian was a handsome man, but because everything Justin felt for the man had come to life on the page.

He stared at the drawing for a long moment. He didn’t even know how long he’d zoned out when he finally looked up at Brian on the bed, sound asleep and snoring lightly, his hair falling into his eyes, his legs slightly spread, his bare ass begging to be touched.

That’s when Justin realized that he was hard as steel and definitely turned on. He had read somewhere that creating produced a euphoria that could only be compared to the feelings one experienced during the best sex of their life, with sex often paling in comparison even then.

But sex never paled with Brian. The brunet elicited so many emotions and feelings - pleasurable feelings - ones the blond never could have imagined. And right now, he wanted even more. In fact, he craved his model, badly.

Deciding not to resist the urge any longer, Justin stopped thinking and acted, standing up and undressing. His clothes landed on the floor next to the bed. His gaze never left Brian’s body as he finally placed a knee on the bed, his hand reaching for the skin he so strongly yearned to touch, feeling the soft fuzz along the curve of his lover’s ass.

He caressed both cheeks and leaned down, a clear goal in mind. He started to pepper the small of Brian’s back with kisses, his mouth slowly traveling lower. His hands never stopped moving over the skin, his fingers reaching for the place he so longed to touch. He resisted, though, exploring hips, thighs, and legs instead.

Brian stirred under him. Justin peered at his lover’s face, but the brunet’s eyes were still closed. The blond smiled, before resuming his kisses.

But Brian suddenly pulled away, rolling onto his side, a disapproving look on his face. “What do you think you’re doing?” he sternly asked, his brow furrowing.

Justin was so startled by Brian’s reaction that he stammered, “I… I was going…”

“Justin,” Brian interrupted him with a sigh, propping himself up on his elbow. “You’re recovering from a major surgery. You can’t ignore John’s recommendations to take it easy. What if you rim me, or fuck me, and something goes wrong with your eye? What then? I shouldn’t have given you a blowjob in the first place.”

Justin frowned. Brian was angry because of the surgery? “I feel fine, Brian,” he weakly argued, although he knew his lover was right. John had specifically instructed them to avoid any strenuous activity, for Justin not to overdo it. He was supposed to sleep with a protective pad over his eye for the next couple of days. And that blowjob earlier had been a little reckless, even though Justin had not done much of anything except enjoy the sensations Brian had elicited.

“We can’t risk it,” Brian firmly asserted, bringing him back from his musings. The brunet sat up, before slowly slipping his fingers into blond’s hair. “I don’t want anything to go wrong.”

“I don’t want that, either,” Justin agreed, closing his eyes briefly. “I just… I really want to…” he trailed off, avoiding Brian’s eyes, anxious about revealing how much he wanted to be inside the brunet.

“...fuck me?” Brian finished his thought, his lips curling upward. When Justin nodded, Brian’s expression became serious. He stared insistently at his lover until the blond peered at him. “I get it, Justin. You’ve never fucked anyone, never experienced what it’s like to have a warm ass surrounding your cock.”

“I don’t want to fuck just anyone,” Justin countered, grabbing Brian’s hand and placing their joined hands on the bed. “I want to be inside you.”

Brian stared at Justin, his gaze indecipherable. The artist realized he couldn’t read him, even if he had regained most of his sight. It had nothing to do with the blurriness still affecting his vision, but only with Brian not wanting Justin to know how he felt about getting fucked.

So, Justin’s only option was to push him. “You don’t get it, do you?”

“Get what?” Brian inquired, shaking his head in confusion.

Justin held his lover’s gaze, “How it feels to have my sight back. How it feels to see you. To really see you.” He glanced away momentarily before stating with conviction, “It’s like… I can’t stop staring at you, because I’m afraid it’s just a dream, that I will wake up and my sight will be gone. That all that will remain will be this... near blackness.” He paused, shuddering at the thought of being almost blind again if anything went wrong.

Feeling Justin’s tension, Brian immediately reassured him, “John said it was almost certain that your eye would continue to heal, that the most difficult part is behind you...”

“I know,” Justin responded. He peered at Brian, searching for the right words for what he really wanted to convey. He gently traced Brian’s jaw with his fingers, before letting his hand fall back. “You’re so fucking beautiful, and I keep thinking this can’t be true. It can’t be possible for a man to look so beautiful when he is already the best man I have ever met.”

Brian was totally taken aback by Justin’s declaration. He had never doubted his lover’s feelings since they’d reunited, but hearing the blond’s sincerity made his heart thump, fast.

“I drew you, and I couldn’t stop those feelings from overwhelming me,” Justin continues. “And I don’t want to fuck you to feel good, or just because I’m horny. I want you because I love you, and I know you love me too.”

Brian didn’t respond, didn’t move. But while Justin hadn’t been able to read his lover earlier, he could now see Brian’s feelings reflected in his gaze, in his smile.  

“You’re such a romantic twat,” Brian eventually drawled, reaching for Justin and pulling him into his arms. Embracing the blond tightly, yet careful not to put any pressure on his eye, he held his lover for a long time, before murmuring softly, “I do love you,” in his ear.