<p>Sorry for not updating in a while, but I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thanks to my beta!


<p>Brian drove along a less than respectable rode while listening to Justin ramble on about this apartment he had found. It had been almost week since the last family dinner and Justin, now starting to panic about monthly tuition, took a job at the diner. Although he said that working with Debbie wasn’t that bad, Brian could tell that it was weighing on Justin’s nerves. He did, however, figure it was better than working for Sap. During the last week the blonde had been trying very hard to get Brian and Ben to get along. The man knew that Ben was hesitant to trust Brian and as much as Brian wanted to use that against the man he couldn’t really blame him. Hunter has been acting weird though Brian couldn’t really judge if that was normal or not, considering that he never knew the teen before last week. Whenever they ran into the two Hunter always seemed like he had a hidden agenda. 

<p>Brian thought back to a couple of days ago when Ben invited them… well invited Justin to go see the house they had bought. Brian didn’t find the place particularly stellar but the blonde fell in love with it. 

<p>‘Artists.’ he though, rolling his eyes.

<p>He remembered as Justin and Ben walked through the house talking, Hunter got cozy next to him and started asking some quite annoying questions…

<p>*****

<p>Brian watched as Justin walked side by side with Ben, the two talking about accent walls or some shit like that. He idly looked around the house they were standing in. He knew Justin liked the place but Brian couldn’t really see why. I guess he could see some room for improvement but it seemed to… breeder. He sighed and resisted the urge to ask Justin how long he was going to be. Acting like a dick in front of “Zen Ben” didn’t seem like a bright idea. He didn’t see the teenager who snuck up behind him. He jumped slightly when he felt a hand on his shoulder and scolded himself for being so jumpy. He saw Hunter smirk.

<p>“If you don’t like it here, why don’t you leave?” the boy asked with a cocky smirk on his face and Brian had to restrain himself from smacking the boy.

<p>“Who says I don’t like it here?” he shot back. Hunter rolled his eyes.

<p>“It’s obvious. So, are you Justin’s boyfriend? Or are you two just fuck-buddies?” he asked. Brian’s eye twitched. 

<p>“Who are you again?” the man asked while trying not to grind his teeth together. 

<p>“Hunter. So are you?” the boy asked, unfazed. 

<p>“No. We’re not boyfriends-” Brian started but was cut off by the teenager.

<p>“So you’re fuck-buddies?”

<p>“No. We’re not that either, and I don’t see how this is any of your business.”

<p>Hunter was about to answer but a crash was heard from the kitchen. Soon they heard Justin and Ben laughing. Brian was about to make his way to the noise when Hunter stopped him. 

<p>“So have you had many boyfriends before?” he asked. Brian sighed.

<p>“What is with you New York brats and my love life? No I haven’t. Now fuck off.” Brian said, now annoyed. 

<p>“Geez you don’t have to be an ass about it. What is with Justin and dating assholes, huh? It’s like he’s a fucking masochist or something. Do you treat him like that?” Hunter asked. His face was going in between anger and amusement. Brian opened his mouth to yell at the boy but Hunter continued. “It doesn’t really matter,” he said while leaning against the wall and crossing his arms over his chest. “You won’t last long, not with your history anyway. I’ve heard a lot about you on Liberty Avenue… they all say that you’re a fucking slut. They’re even taking bets on how long it will take you to freak out and do something stupid and lose Justin.” Hunter said with a smug look on his face. Brian tried not to flinch at his words. 

<p>“Listen, you little brat-” Brian started.

<p>“You know that they used to fuck? Did Justin tell you that?” Hunter interrupted the man who was now sporting an odd look. “Ben and Justin I mean.” he elaborated. 

<p>“They’re just friends.” Brian said, wanting to leave.

<p>“Well yeah, NOW they are. Not a year ago though, about a year ago they were fucking all the time, it was kind of funny.” Hunter said and Brian hoped the boy was lying. The two men in question walked into the room, still laughing.  Justin walked over to him and wrapped his arms around his waist. Brian returned the favor.

<p>“Are you done?” Brian asked quickly and Justin gave him an odd look.

<p>“Well, yeah but-”

<p>“Fine. Then let’s go.” Brian replied cutting Justin off and started tugging the blonde towards door. Brian saw Justin shoot Ben and Hunter an apologetic look. He ignored it and pulled him to the jeep, and started it up.

<p>*****

<p>“Brian?” Brian heard Justin ask uncertainly, he snapped out of his gaze. “You can go…” the blonde said while pointing to the green light. Brian shook his head and lifted his foot off of the brake and started down the road again. He could feel Justin’s gaze on him but he tried to ignore it.

<p>“Where did you go?” Justin asked. Brian rolled his lips inside his mouth. 

<p>“Nowhere. Just thinking.” he said, hoping Justin would drop the subject. 

<p>“About what?” the blonde asked.

<p>“Nothing, alright?!” Brian snapped and saw Justin flinch.

<p>“Look, we don’t have to do this today… I just thought that you would like to see it.” Justin said in a strong yet slightly hurt tone. Brian sighed.

<p>“No, I’ve just got this new account on my mind. I didn’t mean to snap.” he lied. He saw Justin nod slowly from the corner of his eye. He knew that the blonde didn’t believe him but was glad that the other man didn’t push him. In reality Brian couldn’t stop thinking about what Hunter had said… about Justin and Ben. A part of him didn’t believe the boy but the teen’s words kept running through his head again and again. He wanted to ask Justin, to get his side of the story, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Partly because of his pride… he didn’t want Justin to think that he cared, partly because he was afraid of the answer. He didn’t want Hunter to be telling the truth.

<p>“Oh! Turn here!” Justin exclaimed excitedly and Brian couldn’t help the small smile that crossed his face at his lover’s excitement. His smile however, faded when he pulled up to a run down apartment building. The sides were covered in graffiti and other forms of tags. Some of the windows were broken out and the sign was barely readable. Brian looked over at Justin, who had a bright smile on his face and raised his eyebrows. 

<p>“Are you fucking kidding me?” he asked and Justin rolled his eyes.

<p>“It’s better inside.” he said and jumped out of the jeep. Brian sighed and did the same, following Justin into the run down building.

<p>‘It’s going to be a long day…’ 

<p>~~~~~

<p>Brian couldn’t believe his eyes. 

<p>‘Better inside my ass!’ he thought as Justin showed him around the one room studio apartment that he was thinking of renting. Only $300 a month and Brian thought that was a rip-off. Justin however seemed to think it was the best fucking thing since sliced bread. Brian tried his best find something good about the apartment, but was having no luck. He looked towards Justin who was smiling like a fool. Brian couldn’t help but chuckle. 

<p>“So what do you think?” Justin asked happily. Brian tired not to snort.

<p>“Charming.” Brian said. Justin shook his head while smiling.

<p>“You don’t like it do you?” he asked. Brian sighed.

<p>“You can do better than this, Sunshine.” he said while making his way over to the younger man. 

<p>“But I like it here.” Justin said while wrapping his arms around the brunette. Brian smiled. All the thoughts of Ben and Hunter were gone as he embraced the blonde. 

<p>“It has great space and lighting for painting, and I don’t have to worry about blasting my music when I choose to do so.” Justin said jokingly and Brian sighed.

<p>‘So does my loft.’ Brian thought to himself. He imagined the blonde living with him and to his shock; the idea didn’t bother him too much. He wondered what asking Justin to live with him would do to their… relationship. Brian shook his head, wondering what the hell he was thinking of.

 <p>He looked around the shithole Justin had brought him to, and stopped.

<p>“Where’s the bathroom?” he asked and Justin chuckled nervously.

<p>“Down the hall?”

<p>“You don’t get your own bathroom?” Brian asked. Justin shook his head.

<p>“That’s it we’re leaving.” he said while dragging Justin towards the door. Justin laughed.

<p>~~~~~

<p>Hunter walked down Liberty Avenue, determined to get to his destination. He wasn’t sure what he was going to say to Michael when he saw him but he figured that he had been in worse situations before. He stopped in front on “Red Cape Comics” and sighed. He didn’t think Michael was a bad guy or anything, and Ben really seemed to like him. He was just too…. goofy. Ben needed someone intellectually stimulating, someone mature enough to handle his HIV status, and no matter how many times the older man told him otherwise, he was sure that Ben’s “Prince Charming” was Justin.

<p>He pushed the door open and walked inside, the bell chimed alerting the brunette of his presence. Hunter could see the confusion on the man’s face but it soon turned into a smile. The teen was surprised he didn’t think Michael liked him that much. 

<p>~~~~~

<p>Michael sat at the counter in the shop, looking over various shop bills. A smile graced his face as he did the usually stressful task of managing money. He couldn’t stop thinking of Ben. His smile turned to a frown when he remembered the other day when he dropped by the man’s house. He had asked Michael if they could get together tomorrow night, that he wanted to talk to him about something important. He was confused. The two hadn’t even been on an official date and Ben already wanted to “talk”. Michael sighed. 

<p>The bell over the shop door chimed and he looked up to see Hunter. He wasn’t sure why the teen was there and it didn’t look like Ben was with him. He gave him a warm smile and saw the shock on Hunter’s face. He tried not to laugh.

<p>“Hey James-er Hunter. Sorry, I know you prefer Hunter.” Michael said in a lighthearted voice. He saw a hesitant smile form on the teen’s face. He waved the boy over. 

<p>Hunter walked towards the counter and sat at the stool that sat in front of it. He looked around at the lack of patrons in the shop and smirked. 

<p>“Slow day?” he asked cockily. Michael chuckled.

<p>“School’s not out yet.” Michael replied, “So what are you doing here?” he asked. Hunter shrugged.

<p>“Just dropping by.” Hunter said while looking around the small comic shop, his eyes finally landing on a curious Michael. “So you really like Ben, huh?” he asked. Michael tried not to smile.

<p>“Yeah, I do.” he replied calmly. Hunter frowned. 

<p>“You know-” Hunter started, but Michael interrupted him.

<p>“Ben told me that you like manga.” Michael said while trying not to laugh at the confused look on his face. 

<p>“Yeah. So?” Hunter replied almost defensively. 

<p>“So I need help. I know a lot about western comics but almost nothing about manga. I get a lot of questions about it so I decided to dedicate a section to it…” he said and walked over to a shelf and pulled off a shirt that had been draped over it. Michael chuckled as Hunter’s eyes widened at the collection of manga before him.  

<p>“Whoa…” 

<p>“You think it’ll help the shop?” Michael asked and Hunter gave him a look which clearly stated ‘duh’.  

<p>“Wait… where’s Inu-Yasha?” Hunter asked while looking over the shelf. 

<p>“Inu-Yasha?” Michael asked. Hunter’s eyes widened.

<p>“You don’t know Inu-yasha?” he asked. Michael shook his head. Hunter seemed offended but wasted no time in telling the older man all about the Japanese comic book. Michael didn’t bother to hide his smile as he listened to the teen. He was glad that Hunter was warming up to him.

<p>~~~~~

<p>Brian smirked as he sat at a table in Woody’s and listened Michael talk excitedly about the day he and Hunter spent together and how the teen helped organize his newly acquired anime/manga section of his store. Brian tried not to roll his eyes when he started talking about how funny Hunter was and how glad he was that they were getting along. To Brian, Hunter was just like Ben… a threat. Brian shook his head. 

<p>‘A threat to what?’ he thought. ‘To me and Justin.’ he whispered to himself. Ted looked over at him.

<p>“What was that?” he asked with a small smile on his face. 

<p>“I was just wondering aloud about what it would take to get you laid, Theodore… I’ve yet to come to a conclusion.” Brian replied with his tongue planted firmly in his cheek. Emmett giggled.

<p>“I didn’t know you were so concerned about our sex lives Brian, I’m touched.” Emmett said with his hand over his heart.

<p>“I do try.” Brian said. Michael laughed.

<p>“Excuse me!” Ted yelled offended, “For ALL your information, I have a date tomorrow night!” he said. Emmett gasped.

<p>“Teddy! Why didn’t you tell me?! Who is it?!” he asked while bouncing up and down. Brian rolled his eyes.

<p>“It’s Jay.” he said and sighed when everyone gave him a blank look. “The red head that used to dance at Babylon…” he elaborated. Recondition flashed over everyone’s faces.

<p>“Ohh, Big Red! You dog Teddy!” Emmett said excitedly. Ted chuckled.

<p>“Not bad Theodore,” Brian said, “For a piss-ant like you.”

<p>“Awww, thank you asshole.” Ted said with a false smile on his face. Emmett and Michael laughed. 

<p>“Hey!” Brian heard Justin’s voice call out. He turned towards the blonde and smirked at his disheveled appearance. 

<p>“Well you look freshly fucked.” Brian said, “How was he?” he asked. Justin smirked.

<p>“Eh…” he said while taking a see next to Emmett and giving the man a kiss on the cheek. 

<p>“Yes well, everyone is “eh” after Brian Kinney.” Brian said with a smirk. Michael and Emmett started gagging while Ted rolled his eyes. Justin smiled and leaned over, giving the man a small kiss on the lips. 

<p>“How are you doing?” the blonde asked him. He couldn’t help but let a small smile grace his lips.

<p>“Better… now.” he said quietly so only Justin could hear him. The blonde gave him a smile Brian would like to think was only for him. 

<p>“So, how’s the apartment search coming baby?” Emmett asked Justin, bringing the two out of their stupor.

<p>“Great, I found this place that’s cheap and perfect for me…” Justin started but Brian interrupted him.

<p>“It’s a dump.” he said. Justin glared at him.

<p>“It’s cozy.” he argued. Brian rolled his eyes and once again restrained himself from offering his loft to the blonde. An uncomfortable silence followed after that, until Michael cleared his throat. 

<p>“Okay! Who’s up for Babylon?” he asked. They all jumped up and headed out the door. 

<p>~~~~~

<p>Brian kept his arm around the blonde’s waist as they entered the large building of writhing half naked bodies. He glared at the men whose eyes gazed over Justin lustfully. He felt stupid for doing so but didn’t notice that Justin was doing the same for any man that looked at the brunette. The five men made their way to the bar and Justin turned to Brian.

<p>“I’m going to go dance.” he said giving Brian wicked look. Brian smirked.

<p>“I’ll join you in a minute.” he replied. Justin nodded and turned towards the dance floor. Brian’s eyes didn’t leave Justin’s body as he leaned against the bar. He thought about how much had changed since the blonde moved here. If someone had ever told him that he would be acting like a lovesick schoolgirl over some blonde twink who’s related to Theodore Schmidt of all people, he would have laughed. Yet here he was, pushing down feelings of jealousy as he watched Theodore’s blonde cousin from New York dance with various guys on the dance floor. Relief flooded over him every time the other man would turn down an offer.

<p>Brian thought about the apartment Justin showed him today and sighed. He really didn’t want Justin to live in a place like that, where he had to share his fucking shower with other people. No, it shouldn’t be like that. He knew Justin liked it because it was cheap and there was room to paint. But the loft was huge, and Brian owned the building… turning the upstairs into a studio wouldn’t be a problem. Justin already made it clear that he had no problem with his tricking and even tricked himself. It would be like having a roommate that he happened to fuck. It would be a ‘step’ in their relationship, but fuck it, he knew he wanted to be with Justin, so why not? And although the thought of waking up next to Justin everyday should have scared him have to hell… it actually excited him.

<p>Brian rolled his lips inside of his mouth and nodded to himself before making his way over to Justin on the dance floor. 

<p>He was going to ask Sunshine to move in with him.

<p>~~~~~

<p>Justin swayed his body slowly to the beat. He felt arms go around his waist and smiled as he smelt Brian’s cologne. He turned around and wrapped his arms around the man’s neck and helped him to sway with him. Justin chuckled. Brian Kinney wasn’t the best dancer. In fact he was quite bad at it, but Justin didn’t care. Brian Fucking Kinney was amazing, whether he could dance or not.

<p>Justin smiled as Brian started nibbling on his earlobe. The two swayed to the music, forgetting about everyone and everything around them. Justin relaxed into the brunettes arms as they moved and focused on the music intermingled with the sound of Brian breathing in his ear.

<p>“Move in with me.” Brian breathed almost silently and Justin froze, not sure if he had heard the man correctly. He moved away from the man and looked him in the eye.

<p>“What?” he asked dumbly, not able to recognize the look on Brian’s face. 

<p>“Move in with me.” he repeated, and Justin swallowed a lump he hadn’t realized was in his throat. 

<p>~~~~~

<p>Brian wasn’t sure what the look on Justin’s face meant, but it didn’t like the blonde was too enthusiastic about the idea. He wasn’t sure what to do. He didn’t want to stick around and hear Justin reject him, but he needed to hear the boy’s answer as well.

<p>“Brian…” Justin started and Brian felt his throat go dry. “I-I can’t…no.” he finished. Brian wasn’t sure what to do with himself at this point. He knew there was a chance that Justin would say no, reject him, but he didn’t think it would hurt this bad. 

<p>Not knowing what else to do the brunette turned on his heal and made his way out of the club. He heard Justin calling his name but ignored it. The cool air that hit his skin when he finally got out of the building sent chills down his spine. He walked briskly towards his Jeep, not sure if the blonde was still following and not caring at the time. Brian slid into the driver’s side of his jeep. Starting the vehicle he tore off into traffic nearly missing a car that was already heading down the street. He headed towards his loft. He tried to keep his emotions under control, but was failing miserably, ignoring the tear that slid down his face and focused on the rode.

<p>~~~~~

<p>Justin watched the Jeep speed away helplessly. Brian left so hastily he didn’t get a chance to explain himself. The blonde didn’t want to hurt Brian and he knew that although the other man would deny it up and down, he had hurt him. 

<p>Justin felt his gut clench as he recalled the look on Brian’s face when he refused his offer.

<p>‘Maybe ‘no’ was a bit blunt’ he thought sadly, wrapping his arms around his waist and shivering at the sudden cold that had come over him. Justin thought briefly about asking Ted for his car so he could go after the man, but thought differently only because he knew at this point that he would only make things worse. 

<p>The blonde leaned against a light post and let out a shaky sigh. He was so afraid of Brian hurting him; he hadn’t realized that it would be the other way around.