The Monday of his third week outside of Liberty, Justin woke late and staggered out of bed. He went to the bathroom, too tired to close the door, washed his hands and went in search of coffee. He couldn’t even fully open his eyes.

He’d been in a haze since Saturday when he had gone to his parent’s house and picked-up his things. He’d been unable to focus on painting or sketching, and had been tired. Brian had dragged him out to Woody’s on Sunday, and it had been nice to get out and see everyone but he’d just felt so exhausted and finally Brian had agreed that they’d head home.

As he passed the bed, he noted that there was a vaguely Brian-shaped lump, but he passed by and navigated, mostly from memory, to the kitchen. There was a fur rug by the island in the kitchen and Justin wondered when Brian had bought that and why he’d not noticed it before but coffee was more important than examining the rug. He collapsed onto a chair, his head resting on his arms while the coffee brewed, then he poured himself a mug and sipped it right there, standing by the coffee machine. 

Finally he was able to blink he eyes open a little. After another savoured sip where he thought he could actually feel every cell in his body becoming awake, he turned and headed over to examine the rug.

Justin stood there for a moment, staring at the white, furry rug. He blinked. The rug blinked back. “Brian!” Justin called.

“What?” Brian asked, staggering down the stairs, scratching his head with one hand while the other attempted to tie the drawstring of his pants. He’d been wearing those pants around the loft quite frequently, they were black and they were silk, and Brian looked devastatingly attractive in them.

“There’s a dog in the kitchen!” Justin said, turning back to the dog just to see if maybe he had hallucinated.

“Well,” Brian said, crossing around the island and filling a mug without even looking at Justin or the dog. “I’d never own a dog so he must be yours.”

“What?” Justin asked, he turned to look at Brian who was now leaning against the counter, a mug of coffee in his hand, smiling a little, looking much more awake than he had a second ago. “He’s...” Justin said, trying to piece it all together. Brian raised his eyebrows and his head tilted forward a bit, as if he were willing the connection to be made in Justin’s brain. “My dog?”

Brian smiled. “I always knew you were smart!” Justin turned back to the dog. It was a puppy, really, but was fairly large for a puppy. He was white, with dark eyes and a dark nose, and a big pink tongue. He looked like he was grinning at Justin, and Justin grinned back, dropping to the ground and scratching the white ball of fur vigorously.

“What kind of dog is he?”

“A Great Pyrenees,” Brian said. “They’re friendly, intelligent, obedient, and they don’t go stir-crazy if they aren’t walked every three minutes. This one is even house-trained.”

“I can’t imagine you buying something that might damage your loft,” Justin said, laughing.

“Take a look at all that fur, Sunshine,” Brian said seriously. “That could damage my loft, that could also damage very expensive clothes. I expect you to keep him brushed and shedding as little as possible. What’s his name?”

Justin looked back at the dog and couldn’t think of anything. “Something will come to me,” he said. 

“In the mean time, I’m heading out for work,” Brian said. He’d shifted his schedule around only a little so that he could be home to see Justin’s reaction. Cynthia had been kind enough to pick-up the beast from the woman who bred and trained them, and then drop it off at the loft. Brian was feeling much better as he got dressed and ready for work. Justin had been in a funk since Saturday and Brian thought this might be the thing to cheer him up. That, and his new compromise about house etiquette, which Justin seemed appreciative of at the very least, the young blond seemed more relaxed now that Brian was naked less frequently. 

“Brian!” Justin said as Brian picked-up his briefcase and headed to the door. “Thank-you,” he said, his voice soft, as if the words weren’t enough to express the level of gratitude. 

Brian smirked and couldn’t resist a slow kiss, which Justin returned with equal enthusiasm. “Later, Sunshine,” Brian said. He was answered by a dog bark, and Justin’s broad grin.

........................

Justin made breakfast while the dog sat obediently and watched him, his floppy ears perked and looking attentive as if he were really taking in everything Justin was talking about. Justin was talking about everything.

He ate and fed the dog some scraps from the table on the condition that he not tell Brian, and then Justin got dressed and washed, located the collar and the leash for the dog, and realized that beyond that they had nothing. “We’re going to have to go shopping,” Justin said. 

The dog kept wiggling out of its collar every time Justin slipped it on him, and Justin kept calling him a Silly Goose. Finally they compromised, and Justin promised he’d buy the dog a much nicer collar if the dog wore this one just until they found a much nicer one. They ran down the stairs together and Justin, who knew the neighbourhood quite well after his frequent walks, headed to a small pet store down the street. 

Justin got a bit carried away. He bought lots of toys and several bones. They picked-out a nice black collar that seemed to meet the dog’s standards, and Justin filled out the forms for a license. He phoned Brian to check if the dog had been given all its shots, and Brian had said yes, and if Justin phoned again about the damned dog he’d return them both, Justin thought Brian was a bit melodramatic. He’d only called three times about the dog, and if Brian didn’t care about what he bought then that was fine. 

He bought a matching water and food dish, both of which were blue, and a mat to place them on, so Brian didn’t have to worry about spills. He’d decided he was going to paint a goose on the front of the bowls, but that would have to wait until he bought the right paints for it.

Justin didn’t know what kind of food Goose would like, and Goose wasn’t helpful, so Justin bought a few small bags to try, and then he phoned for a cab and loaded his purchases in and they headed back to the loft.

Goose relieved himself at the front of the building, and then they hauled their purchases into the elevator and headed back into the loft. Once Justin had set-up the mat and the dishes and filled both dishes-up, Goose came over and inspected them quite closely, then he turned his back on them and proceeded to nudge Justin in the direction of the kitchen. “I’m not feeding you table scraps,” Justin said. Goose pawed at the fridge, and then sat and oversaw the creation of Justin’s lunch, and only when Justin was sitting and eating did Goose turn back to his own bowls. “My dog’s a freak,” Justin said.

.........................

When Brian returned home, the first thing he noticed were Justin’s shoes. As usual, Justin had left them by the door, exactly where he had toed them off. This time, however, there was a chewed bone sticking out of the left shoe. He smirked a little, and then his attention was caught by the brand new leash hanging on a peg by the door. 

“Hey!” Justin called, his blond head popping up from the sofa where he was sprawled. Brian shook his head, noted the mat with the dog bowls, and headed to the couch. He bent over the back and kissed Justin, a short peck and then a longer kiss, which was rudely interrupted when Brian felt a wet tongue that wasn’t Justin’s.

“What the fuck?”

“Mother Goose, down!” Justin said. The fluffy puppy hopped off the sofa and sat by Justin, looking repentant. “Good boy! My good by!” Justin said, scratching the dog’s ears.

“You named the dog Mother Goose?” Brian asked.

“Yeah,” Justin said. “Go ahead, try and skip a meal around him. He’s worse than Debbie was.” Brian pinched the bridge of his nose and wondered what he had been thinking when he’d bought the damned thing. Then he remembered that Justin had been in a funk. Well, that was one problem solved. Now he had a considerably more permanent one.

“Do you plan on unpacking those boxes?” Brian asked, Justin turned from where he had been scratching Mother Goose and looked at the boxes.

“Some of it is kid’s stuff. Like, when I was little. I don’t think you have space for all of it,” Justin said.

“Well, unpack what you want and then we’ll put the rest in storage,” Brian said.

“Sorry to be so much trouble,” Justin said, his face turning sombre again.

“Sorry’s bullshit,” Brian said, and Justin frowned as he watched the other man head into the bathroom.

Since he wasn’t sure what to make of Brian’s mood, Justin sat with Goose on the floor by the coffee table and sketched while the dog chewed on a squeaky-toy that looked like a big red porcupine. By the time Brian came out, dried and changed after his shower, Justin was engrossed in his sketching. Mother Goose looked up, the red toy still in his mouth, and eyed Brian cautiously. Brian looked back. When Brian made no move to join Justin, and instead headed towards the computer, Mother Goose ignored Brian and began to chew on the toy again.

The sound of Justin sketching had become relaxing to Brian, but he was fairly sure there would be nothing relaxing about the quiet squeaking. Instead, he found that both noises faded into the background and he was able to focus on his work.

........................

When the alarm went off the next morning, Brian silenced it quickly. Justin had woken from a nightmare at about three in the morning, and though he had brushed off Brian’s offer to stay up with him, Brian hadn’t been able to sleep until Justin had crawled back into bed around four thirty, and fallen asleep.

He yawned, stretched, and rolled over, expecting to see Justin his face relaxed in sleep and looking beautiful. Instead, his nose bumped into Goose’s and they stared at each other. “Get off the bed!” Brian ordered. “Mother Goose,” he said, though the name pained him. “Get off.”

“Goose?” Justin said, still sounding groggy. Goose perked up and looked happily over at Justin, then shifted and began to lick Justin’s face.

“He likes you better,” Brian said with a glare.

“Of course he likes me better,” Justin said, smirking a little. “I spent all yesterday walking him around town, feeding him and buying him things. Have you even scratched his ears once?”

“I bought him!” Brian said. “Get him off the bed.” Justin nudged at Goose and told him ‘Down’ and Goose hopped off agreeably, and sat by Justin’s side of the bed and wagged his tail, his pink tongue poking from his mouth. “I have fucking doggy hairs all over the sheets.”

“You change the sheets every morning, anyway,” Justin said. Until that moment, Brian hadn’t realized that changing his sheets had become a force of habit. He ignored Justin’s comment and went into the bathroom to wash. “I’m going to go through the boxes today.”

“Do whatever you want,” Brian said, this was beginning to be a bit too domestic.

“Okay,” Justin said. “And I’ll even remind you that you said that when you pitch a fit over something I do.”

“Why, what are you planning?” Brian asked, stepping out of the bathroom, the shaving cream still on his cheeks, shaver gripped in his hand.

“I don’t know, these things just come to me,” Justin said innocently. Brian rolled his eyes and headed back into the bathroom. Brian finished shaving and headed out to pick his suit, stopping in his tracks when he saw Justin drifting off to sleep, his arm thrown over Goose’s back, Goose, who was once gain on the bed.

Brian ignored both Justin and the dog and got dressed. He’d made the decision to get Goose for all sorts of reasons, after all, not all of them had to do with Justin, but his main purpose was to give something Justin that would make the loft feel like a home for him. If Justin couldn’t voice his concerns or express his discomfort at the moment, maybe he could watch the dog causing all sorts of trouble and see that Brian wasn’t kicking the dog out, and that might give him some more confidence.

“Later,” Brian said as he finished lacing his shoes.

“Mm,” Justin said, more asleep than awake.

“Ruff!” Goose called as Brian exited the loft. 

........................

Justin was sitting on the floor, surrounded by open boxes and clothes and toys and various debris from his youth. Mother Goose had appropriate a stuffed dragon that Justin had when he was nine, and was gnawing lovingly on its head, while Justin sorted what he wanted to keep and what he didn’t; what he needed here at the loft, and what could go into storage.

At the sound of the key in the lock, both Goose and Justin perked up, their heads turning to the door expecting Brian to come through. He didn’t. Instead, Ben pulled back the door and stepped inside as if he’d been doing it forever.

“How did you get in here?” Justin asked, jumping to his feet. He was thrown-off by Ben’s presence, thrown-off that the man had come into his home so casually. Goose didn’t appreciate the other man’s presence either; he took one look at Justin’s reaction to the intruder, and growled.

“Justin?” Ben asked. “I have a key,” he held up the key. “What are you doing here?”

“This is my home,” Justin said. Mother Goose barked, clearly adding ‘mine too!’

“I don’t understand,” Ben said, his eyes scanning over the boxes that were in the middle of the loft.

“I live here,” Justin said. “Does Brian know you have a key? How did you get it?”

“Brian gave the key to me, for emergencies.”

“Is something wrong? Did something happen to Brian?” Justin asked, feeling suddenly very cold.

“No, why?”

“You said the key was for emergencies!” Justin said.

“Oh, well, I guess it was originally for that, and now it’s just for whenever I need to reach Brian.”

“He’s at work,” Justin said hesitantly. He was feeling jumpy. They hadn’t had anyone at the loft with the exception of Joan. Justin had been feeling a bit territorial, as if his space there could easily be pulled from him if he didn’t protect it. “Is there something you wanted?”

“No,” Ben said. “I’m sorry. I brought some groceries over for Brian, that’s all.” 

“Leave them on the counter, I’ll find room for them,” Justin said, the cupboards and the bridge were pretty well stocked.

“I’m sorry, Justin. I didn’t know you’d moved in with Brian.”

“Yeah,” Justin said. Ben nodded and headed out again, and Justin sat heavily onto the ground, the adrenaline leaving his system. He wasn’t sure why he had reacted the way he had to Ben’s presence, it made no sense.

............................

Ben hurried out of the loft, part embarrassed that he’d waltzed into Brian’s loft, and part stunned and a little jealous that it was now also, apparently, Justin’s home. He hadn’t thought that when he’d met Justin. Blake had told Ted and Ben that Justin and Brian knew each other from Liberty, but beyond that, the other man had kept pretty quiet. Ben had thought of Justin as a friend of Brian’s, as a new addition to the group. He’d not imagined for a moment that Justin might actually be living with Brian.

That opened up an entirely different set of problems. Every day he spent with David he was feeling more disappointed, more distanced from his friends. David didn’t like Babylon, and Woody’s was a slum in the man’s opinion. He was snooty and steady and sometimes even predictable. He didn’t understand how every once in a while, Ben enjoyed going down to Liberty and hanging out. He didn’t like Ben’s friends.

Now Brian had returned from the hospital, and he was that perfect blend that Ben was looking for. He enjoyed the clubbing, but when he went home it was to the loft, where someone was waiting for him. The man wasn’t tricking, not anywhere that Ben would see, and the gossip about the Stud of Liberty’s absence on the tricking front was inescapable.

The point, however, was that Brian was with Justin, and Ben was with David. Whatever problems he was having with David, they weren’t Brian’s problems. And where once Ben might have pursued Brian, with Justin in the picture, he couldn’t do that. He wasn’t going to go chasing after someone and wrecking things up between an obviously budding relationship. If he was supposed to end-up with Brian, well, then he could trust that it would happen. 

But Christ! Brian had even let a dog into his loft! That was completely unfathomable. 

..........................

“What are you doing here?” Brian asked when he looked up to see Ben standing in the door to his office. “Come in or get out,” he said. Ben stepped inside and shut the door.

“I called Cynthia, she said you weren’t working on anything, so I figured it was a good time to stop by and give you this,” Ben said, setting the key down on the table.

“What the fuck is that?” Brian asked.

“The key to your loft.” Brian raised his eyebrows and Ben answered the question he knew Brian wasn’t openly voicing. “If Justin’s living there then who has a key to your place should be something you discuss with each other.”

“Who told you?” Brian asked.

“No one. I went over to bring you some groceries,” Ben said.

“Let me guess. You walked right in.”

“Why wouldn’t I? If I knock and you’re there, you’re usually busy, or you ignore me, or yell at me to use the key anyway. And you didn’t tell anyone that you have a roommate.”

“He’s not my fucking roommate,” Brian said.

“Well, whatever he is, you didn’t tell him that your friends have keys, did you? You need to tell him, and see how he feels about that. He’s jumpy enough as it is.”

“What happened?” Brian asked.

“It seemed like he couldn’t decide whether to run and hide under the bed or shoo me out with a broom.” Brian snorted and Ben stood, heading to the door before he paused. “Bye the way, nice dog.” Brian groaned and dropped his head in his hands. At least it was only Ben. If it had been Ted, he would have been fucked because the man had no qualms sharing any bit of news with all of Liberty.

....................

Brian returned home early on Tuesday and wondered for a moment why he was greeted by an over exuberant Goose and no Justin. Then he recalled that Justin had his class on Tuesday and Thursday.

“It’s just you and me,” Brian said. Goose observed him speculatively. Brian made a peanut butter and cucumber sandwich and brought it to the sofa by the TV. He ate and sipped a beer while he watched crappy television. There had been times when he’d wind-down exactly like this before he was sent to Liberty. When the idea of heading out to Babylon and tricking took too much energy to even consider. Since Justin had moved into the loft, Brian hadn’t been heading to Babylon as frequently. He considered Justin’s confession that had slipped out, however unconsciously. 

He’d considered it all once before, walking along a beech and watching the blond splashing in the water. He’d decided he was up to the challenge, wanted to see where whatever it was he and Justin were to each other would take them. Whatever it took. Now Justin had confessed something that would have previously sent Brian running. He wanted to. He didn’t know what was different. Didn’t know what had changed, but he wasn’t leaving, and wasn’t exactly fighting it, whatever ‘it’ was.

The sofa shifted and then a warm weight settled on Brian’s legs. “Goose, get off the couch,” he said. He was answered by a soft bark. “Goose!” Brian tilted his head up to glare at the dog. Goose looked back at him with puppy eyes and Brian huffed and dropped his head back on the couch. 

Justin came home late, relaxed and mellow after his class his muscles pleasantly worked and found Brian and Goose both lying on the sofa, both of them lifting their heads and watching him with similar expressions. Except, where Goose bounded from the sofa and barked and wagged his tail and greeted Justin with enthusiastic kisses, Brian merely sat up, raised his eyebrows and watched silently. 

Justin crouched and scratched Goose and ruffled his fur, and then he crossed to the sofa and kissed Brian before heading up to their bedroom, both his boys trailing behind him. 


 ------------------------

End Chapter Ten: