"You were made perfectly to be loved - and surely I have loved you, the idea of you, my whole life long." -Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Justin's head was firmly nestled into Brian's chest.  He didn't want to leave the security of the older man's arms, not just yet.  He knew the cocoon he was in wouldn't last for long, and he wanted to revel in it for a while longer. 

Brian absentmindedly stroked Justin's mop of blond hair.  The kid was clinging to him for refuge from his nightmarish experience, and he couldn't blame him.  As he held him, Brian was trying to let go of the anger he felt raging inside of him, towards the blond's attackers.  Justin, his beautiful brave boy had been through so much.  But the kid was a survivor. 

After a while, Brian finally decided it was time to sever their physical connection before he succumbed to Justin's need to be loved, as well as his desire to love him.  Extracting himself from the kid's grasp was not easy, and he felt a twinge of guilt at Justin's reluctance to part.  Brian was deeply affected by the kid's puffy red eyes, and wounded look.  'Damn those fucking animals,' he thought. 

"You alright Justin?"

"Mmmm...yeah, I guess so," the blond answered, rubbing his eyes.

Brian gripped him by the shoulders, and exclaimed sincerely, "I'm proud of you for telling me about what happened.  Alex said that would be a huge step for you to take."  The Alex who Brian was referring to of course, was Justin's therapist.

Justin timidly peered down for a moment, and then honestly professed, "I wasn't sure if I could do it.  But now I feel as if a burden's been lifted.  I guess telling you was sort of cathartic for me."

"Do you think you could identify those bastards if you saw them again?"

Justin knew where Brian was going with this.  "I just want to deal with this Brian, and move on with my life." 

Brian saw the look on Justin's face and heard the emotion in his voice, so he decided to drop it.  He was at a loss of what to do to help the kid, but then something came to mind. 

"Sunshine, how about coming with me to Babylon tomorrow night?" he suggested.

"I don't know."

"You could use some fun for a change.  It might help you forget about life's problems for a while."

"It's been ages since I've danced.  I do miss it," Justin said trying to make up his mind.  "Okay, I'll go."

Brian brandished a lopsided grin, pleased in knowing that he'd persuaded the kid to say yes, and that it would probably do him a world of good.

Justin had felt encouraged by his progress.  He figured that a night out might just be what he needed.  Maybe he'd even get to dance with Brian.

The work day passed by quickly.  Brian and Justin changed into their club attire after dinner.  Brian was dressed all in black.  He had on a sleeveless shirt, and skin tight pants.  Justin was immediately horny when he saw how hot the older man looked.  Little did he know that Brian was thinking the same thoughts about him. 

Justin had selected to wear something from his hustler days, because he hadn't had much time to expand his wardrobe.  He had on a cut off sports jersey, and form fitting jeans that hugged his ass, and were worn in just the right places.  Brian was so tempted to kiss the boy senseless, and fuck him right there where he stood.  However, he just commented appreciatively, "You look hot."

"Thanks," Justin responded, smiling ear to ear. 

Before they entered Babylon, Brian warned Justin to stick close to him, and not go off with anyone he didn't know.  Justin frowned at the man's overprotective speech, but agreed to it anyway. 

They met up with some of Brian's friends, and hung out at the bar for a while.  Justin liked Brian's buddies, especially the flamboyant one named Emmett.  It was Emmett who motioned for Justin to join him on the dance floor, since he sensed that the boy was itching to dance.

Emmett was tall and Justin was short, and the physical contrast was amusing as they began to sway to the music.  Justin seemed a little awkward at first, but then he began to loosen up.  Brian's eyes were trained on the blond, as he moved his body to the beat.  The young man closed his eyes, and seemed to be in a world of his own. 

Brian felt his dick twitch to attention, and strain against the roughness of the material of his pants.  He knew he had to deal with his arousal soon, before he went up to Justin and dragged him off the dance floor to fuck him.  The sweaty blond and his flaming dance partner came back to where Brian and the others were standing.  Justin's face was flushed, and his blue eyes gleamed with excitement over the pleasurable workout he just had. 

Brian was glad the kid was having a blast, but it was time he satisfied his own needs.

"Justin, I've got something to do.  You stay here with the gang.  I'll be back."

"Sure Brian," Justin replied amenably.

As Brian left his group of friends, Justin tracked him with his eyes.  The other guys were laughing, and nudging each other, as Brian walked up to a hot young brunet.  The kid smiled seductively at Brian, as the older man whispered something in his ear.  Justin watched curiously, and was suddenly getting a foreboding feeling in his gut, as the scene unfolded before him.

Brian pulled the brunet by his belt towards the back room, with a lascivious smile adorning his face.  Justin started to feel nauseous as he realized what was happening.  Brian was obviously going to fuck the guy, who appeared to be nearly the same age as him.  Justin's stomach was in knots, as he listened to Brian's friends and their snide remarks.

"Looks like the stud of Liberty Avenue hasn't lost his touch," Michael declared with a grin.

"Brian always gets the hottest guys," Ted lamented.

Justin was feeling worse by the minute.  'How could Brian do that?  Didn't he know how much Justin cared about him?  Why wasn't Brian interested in him?  He had told him he looked hot.  Was he just lying to make him feel good?'

Brian returned to the group looking more relaxed.  Justin was highly irritated that Brian had left him to pound into some twink's ass. 

"Can we go?" Justin asked Brian in a curt voice.

"You tired already?" the older man questioned.

"Something like that,"  Justin replied.

They rode home in silence.  Brian was confused at the shift in Justin's mood.  He seemed to be having a great time, and now he appeared to be upset about something.

Once in the loft, Justin headed to the bedroom to change.  He came out to get a drink before retiring to bed.  In doing so, he slammed the refrigerator door shut.

"You gonna tell me what's on your mind?"  Brian asked. 

"What makes you think that something's bothering me?"  Justin snapped in a sarcastic tone.

"Oh, maybe it's because you haven't said two words to me since we left Babylon, and now you've taken to slamming things."

Piercing blue eyes bore into Brian.  The older man cocked his eyebrows waiting for Justin to tell him what was going on with him.

Justin huffed, and then relented, "You bring me to Babylon, you tell me to stay close, and then you abandon me to fuck the first hot guy you see."

"I didn't abandon you, but yes, I did fuck that guy in the back room.  Not that it's any of your damn business."

"Fuck you Brian."

"What the fuck is wrong with you?"  Brian queried, perilously close to running out of patience.  "I thought you were having a good time."

"The last thing I wanted to see tonight was you in predatory mode.  Is it that much of a hardship to spend some time with me.  Did you have to fuck that guy and flaunt it in my face?"

Brian was silent, and just stared at the blond.  He was puzzled by his hostile behavior.

Justin realized that he was going to have to spell it out for the man. 

"I'm attracted to you Brian.  It was difficult for me to see you with some other guy."

When Brian still didn't say anything, Justin continued, starting to queen out.

"In all this time we've know each other, you've never fucked me, and we sleep in the same bed!  Is it because you think of me as a hustler?  That I'm not good enough for you?"

Now Brian was getting pissed.

"Listen to me, you little twat.  Do you know what it's like being next to you every night, and not being able to ravish you?  Denying myself the pleasure of your body because I'm worried that it may screw up your recovery if we fucked?"

Wow!  Justin was absolutely shocked by Brian's impromptu confession, and didn't know what to say.  Brian had obviously thought about this a lot.  Once again, he had terribly misjudged the man.