Midnight Whispers
QAF Brian and Justin Fanfiction
Author's Chapter Notes:

So, I was told that a mild tissue warning might be needed for this vignette. Consider yourself warned.

 

January 16

Cynthia smirked and barely held back an amused chuckle as Brian rolled his eyes and nodded for the dozenth time. He had his office phone pressed against his ear, impatiently listening as Kellie from Eyeconics blathered on and on about the reason for yesterday's rescheduled lunch meeting, her syrupy sweet voice likely grating his nerves. Justin had been one of Kellie's favorites since his Vanguard days; and she was usually on the phone, cooing over him, at even the whiff of a rumor that he was unwell.

His pregnancy had only made the situation worse.

Brian cast an exasperated look over at Justin, who blatantly ignored it and continued sketching out the pitch idea that they'd just been discussing. When Yasmeen came into the room to announce that Kellie was on the phone, and was not taking no for an answer, the two of them had had a brief squabble over who was going to answer the call. A fight that Justin won by pointing out that if he were to get on the phone, they would never get Kellie off of it and they needed to focus on this pitch since the meeting was scheduled for the next week.

Brian had huffed, but conceded to the argument, as it was well known that Kellie merely tolerated Brian because he was the best in the business and made her lot of money.

"Yes, Kellie," Brian said, his voice striving for bland and failing as his exasperation for the woman and his husband started to bleed through. "I appreciate the call and I'm sorry that we had to cancel with such late notice, but these things can't be helped."

Brian paused and pinched the bridge of his nose before averting his eyes to the ceiling as if he were praying for patience. And then he looked sharply at Justin, a frown on his face and his brow furrowed with confusion. Justin just looked up with an innocent smile that fooled no one; evident by the way that Brian glowered at him.

"Yeah, I have to admit it was a bit scary at first, but luckily it turned out to be nothing," Brian continued, still glaring at Justin. "I'll admit that I may have overreacted a bit when he told me he wasn't feeling well, but better safe than sorry."

Justin snickered to himself, but remained silent. Cynthia arched an eyebrow, trying to will him to tell her what was going on, as she sensed there was a story there, but he just shook his head and mouthed, 'Later.' Cynthia huffed and turned her attention back to Brian, knowing she'd get more information out of him just by his reactions.

Although, she had heard the rumors swirling around the office and had a pretty good idea of what happened yesterday. While Justin may have had the sense to give Yasmeen the rest of the day off, the office had been full of people and the walls, while not paper thin, weren't all soundproofed much to her annoyance.

Thankfully, she had been out of the office, meeting with the CEO and his entourage of their newest account and hadn't been here for her boys' latest 'performance.' But, if the way Murph blushed and averted his eyes every time he passed Brian's door was any indication, it had been quite an afternoon for the staff.

"Yes, he's doing much better today," Brian said, turning away from a remorseless Justin with another roll of his eyes.

Cynthia could have told him that it wouldn't work. It never did. If Brian had really expected to shame his husband for his actions, he'd forgotten who he was dealing with; Justin had learned from the best after all, and he never felt shamed by his sexuality. If there was anything Brian had done right in the beginning of their 'relationship,' it had been instilling a sense of confidence and acceptance in Justin. As a result, Justin never apologized or made excuses for who he was.

Much like another person she knew.

"I'll be sure to pass that on the next time I see him, Kellie, " Brian said, his infamous tongue in cheek smirk on his face as he glanced over at Justin. "Thank you for calling and I'm looking forward to our meeting next week."

Brian hung up the phone and swiveled his chair around to stare at Justin, who, for his part stared right back at Brian blandly. The staring lasted for several moments until the door opened and Yasmeen walked in with a tray filled with the sandwiches, fruit and salad that Cynthia had ordered for this meeting. Nodding her thanks, Cynthia grabbed a plate and began filling it as Brian looked at Yasmeen with a sly smile.

"So, you told them that I had a family emergency in regards to the pregnancy?" Brian asked with one brow arched.

"I was merely relaying the information given to me by Mr. Taylor-Kinney, Sir," Yasmeen said with a smirk, making Cynthia snort with amusement. She smiled proudly at her protégé; she'd trained her well. Not that she needed much to begin with; best hire ever.

"Yeah, I just bet you were," Brian drawled, casting an amused glance at Justin as Yasmeen took her leave. "You and I need to have a conversation about your definition of emergency, Sunshine."

"I desperately needed to get laid yesterday." Justin stated baldly, completely unrepentant in his actions. "To me, it was an emergency."

Brian snorted. "Getting back to the subject at hand," he said as he stood and walked back over to the sitting area, a file in his hands. "Are you certain that they wanted to go with…" Brian trailed off as Justin stood at that moment, paled considerably and staggered on his feet. Cynthia stood, her heart in her throat as he threw his hands out as if to catch his balance, and then sagged as if he were about to pass out. She was just about to go to him when Brian beat her to it.

"Justin!" Brian cried, fear flashing in his eyes as he dropped the file in his and ran over to Justin; he captured Justin around the waist and pulled him into his chest, pressing his lips against his temple. "Are you okay, Sunshine? Is anything the matter? Is the baby…"

"Yes, yes; I'm fine," Justin interrupted, waving Brian off, although he still sounded a bit winded. He tried to pry himself out of Brian's arms, but Cynthia could have told him that it was fruitless; which he discovered on his own when Brian just tightened his grip. Justin huffed. "Really, I just stood up too fast."

But Brian wasn't having any of it. Pale as milk, he kept a tight grip on Justin and led him over to the couch. "Here, Sunshine; lay down here for a few minutes."

"Brian, I'm fine," Justin groused, trying to fight Brian off, and failing again when Brian just took matters into his own hands, scooped Justin up and plopped him on the couch. "Will you cut it out? There is nothing…"

"Don't," Brian said, his tone implacable, and Cynthia could see a fine tremor run through his hands as he smoothed Justin's hair back. "Just don't."

"Fine," Justin huffed impatiently, laying back on the couch. "If it will make you feel better…"

"Thank you," Brian said, pressing his brow to Justin's for a moment, breathing him in, before he lifted it and looked over his shoulder. "Cynthia, would you mind going to the break room and grabbing me a wet washcloth?"

"Brian, I really don't need…" Just began again, only to trail off as Brian turned and glared at him.

"Justin." Brian said, his tone brooking no arguments; Justin sighed and rolled his eyes, but remained otherwise silent. "Cynthia, please."

"Of course, Brian," Cynthia said and swiftly walked down the hall toward the break room.

She walked through the door, ignoring the curious glances shot her way; it was rare for Cynthia to go to the break room as she had her own little kitchenette in her office. But the staff break room was closer than her office. She pulled down one of the generic mugs from the cupboard, filled it with hot filtered water from the water dispenser and then measured out some of the peppermint and lavender tea blend into a tea infuser.

She dropped it into the water to steep and opened one of the drawers near the sink and pulled out a dishcloth. Wetting it thoroughly, she rung out the excess water and then grabbed the mug of tea and swiftly headed back to Brian's office, mentally rolling her eyes as a familiar, strident voice echoed down the hall.

"So, what's wrong with the little princess now?" Michael sneered; and Cynthia could just see the ugly expression on his face. "Does he have a tummy ache? I bet he's just faking to get more atten…ow!"

Cynthia smirked as the idiot yelped; one that deepened as she watched Brian drag him out of his office, dumbass' arm firmly clutched in his hand. Brian shoved him towards the entrance way, his lips compressed into a thin white line and his eyes blazing. Michael ripped his arm away and rubbed it, unwisely opening his mouth to complain. But Brian put a halt to it with one raised hand.

"What the fuck is your problem, Michael?" Brian asked between clenched teeth, staring Captain Asshat down. "First, you barge into my office after being told I was in a meeting and therefore unavailable." Michael opened his mouth again, but Brian hissed and made a cutting motion with his hand. "Shut up. I was in a meeting until five minutes ago, when Justin, who is here because he is the requested artist for the campaign I'm working on, had a dizzy spell. Not that I need to explain myself to you in any way, shape or form. And then you dare to accuse him of faking it?"

"Well how was I supposed to know…" Michael groused, acting like a petulant child.

"I told you to shut up," Brian snapped, cutting off his explanation.

And wow, Cynthia had never expected this, but good for him. She'd been waiting for this day for years and wanted to dance a jig in celebration, but held back because it would be undignified. But tonight, drinks were so on her. Moron just gaped at him, stunned that Brian wasn't going to let him talk his way out of his poor behavior.

"You are walking on thin ice with me, Michael," Brian continued. "I warned you just days ago that I would not tolerate your bullshit. Don't. Test me."

Michael spluttered, obviously trying to come up with a good explanation for his antics, but finally fell silent when Brian just glared him into submission.

"By the way," Brian drawled, a sardonic grin on his face and a hard glint in his eyes. "Thanks ever so much for sharing the pregnancy with my mother; couldn't wait to mention the good news, could you?"

Michael flushed a bright, fire engine red and shifted nervously on his feet. Cynthia gasped softly; and suddenly something she'd heard made sense. Pursing her lips, she narrowed her eyes at the little insect she'd desperately wanted to crush under her beloved Louboutin's the first day she'd met him. Oh, that little asshole was so not getting away with this if she had any say in it.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Brian snorted, obviously reading the non-answer correctly. "Get the fuck out of my office, Mikey; I don't have time to deal with this bullshit. I have someone important to take care of; and newsflash, it's not you." Turning his back on the asshole, Brian smiled tightly and nodded as he took the cloth and mug from her hands. "Thank you, Cynthia. Please take care of that, if you would?"

"It would be my pleasure," Cynthia said, casting the peon an evil smile as Brian walked back into his office. "Shall we, Mr. Novotny?"

The little worm actually looked as if he were going to argue with her, but quieted when she stepped forward with a menacing smile.

"Oh, please do put up a fight, Mr. Novotny," she smirked, watching him swallow harshly with cold eyes. "I would so love to call security and have them throw you out on your flat, rapacious, ungrateful ass."

Dipshit snorted and rolled his eyes, but turned on his heel and stomped towards the door. Cynthia followed at a good distance behind him, smiling at Yasmeen as she paused in the entrance hall to glare at dickhead. Cynthia halted next to her and waited until the jackass was at the door before she called out.

"One more thing, Mr. Novotny," she said, waiting until the imbecile turned around. "If you show up to Kinnetik one more time without an appointment, I will have you permanently banned from the premises. This is an office building, not a kindergarten playground."

"You can't do that," Michael huffed, puffing up like the self-important popinjay that he was; Cynthia was unimpressed. "I'm Brian's…

"Noose around his neck?" Cynthia finished for him, barely quelling a disdainful snort when he sputtered. "Yes, I know. You'll also find that as a fully vested partner in Kinnetik, Mr. Novotny, I can damn well do as I please without even running it by Brian first. And he will support me. Don't test my patience."

Michael sneered, but remained silent as he stormed out of the building; which suited her just fine. But he was in her crosshairs and she'd deal with him when the time was right.

"Please make certain to call security and relay my orders, Yasmeen," Cynthia said to the woman at her side, smiling warmly when she nodded. "Like hell am I going to let that little weasel get near either of my boys while they are here."

Cynthia strode back to Brian's office, Yasmeen at her side, intending to finish the meeting that had been interrupted, but halted as she caught the sound of low voices filtering out of the room.

"Will you stop hovering?" Justin huffed, obviously irritated by Brian's continued mother henning. Not that she'd ever call it that to his face. "Fuck, if it's not you, then it's Em. If it's not Em, then it's Mom. If it's not Mom, then it's Deb. All hovering like people don't have babies every fucking day. Did you hover over Lindsay this way?"

"No," Brian conceded, but continued after a small pause. "But I never loved Lindsay the way I love you."

Cynthia gasped, her eyes misting a little at Brian's words. Of course, she knew that Brian loved Justin. Hell, she'd known that for a long time before even he acknowledged his love for Justin. But he rarely expressed himself so freely and it touched her heart to hear him say the words without hesitation.

"Not fair," Justin muttered petulantly.

"Life's not fair, Sunshine," Brian countered, his tone grave and Cynthia could only imagine the dozen or so things that could be running through Brian's mind. "We learned that a long ago. And if saying that will get you to pause long enough to think things through, then I will use whatever it takes to get you to listen to me."

There was another pause, and some light shuffling as they moved around in the office, before Brian confessed in a low voice.

"I want you safe; I want you around for a long time. You and Sunbeam are my life, and if anything were to happen to you… I can't live without you, Justin. God knows I tried multiple times in the beginning; and each time I failed miserably. My life is nothing without you in it. So, please; if only for my sake, take it easy, okay?"

Cynthia smiled and turned on her heel; she had a feeling that the rest of the meeting was cancelled for the day. Not that she minded; she had plenty to do in her office. She started to walk down the hall, but had to laugh at their final exchange.

"You know, this does bring to light an interesting point about faking illness; given that blatant lie you made to that poor woman who dotes on you yesterday," Brian drawled, and Cynthia could just see his tongue in cheek smirk. "For shame, Sunshine. Now what did we learn about this situation?"

"To always make sure that you're not around when I have my dizzy spells," Justin quipped, his infectious laughter carrying throughout the office.

"Twat," Brian huffed affectionately.

Cynthia grinned, shook her head and vowed that anyone intending her boys harm would have to come through her first.

 

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