Intrepid Traveler - Part 7

Justin stood in front of the classroom, reluctant to go in.  He felt the same way he did the first time he stood in that same spot – nervous, excited, anxious.  Except, it was so much worse this time, since he knew that Brian would be on the other side of the big, heavy door.  And he had no way of knowing what the teen’s reaction would be to seeing him after what happened the night before.  Not only that, Justin was still angry and hurt for the way Brian had treated him and he wasn’t sure of his own reaction to the other man as well. 

With everything inside him screaming to turn around and run, Justin somehow managed to move through the door, his eyes falling immediately on the long, slim figure slouched in the same seat as usual.  For a moment Justin stood still, trying to decide whether he should find a different seat – away from Brian and the threat of having an unpleasant encounter with the brunette.  But the choice, as always, had been taken away from him when Lindsay caught sight of him and waved for Justin to join them.

Taking a deep breath in, Justin crossed the distance between them, briefly glancing at Brian as he lowered himself into his usual chair.  He tried to tell himself that he expected Brian’s reaction – the cold shoulder, not even getting as much as a glance over in his direction.  But the truth was, it stung.  Brian’s apparent indifference was too much for him to handle after the events of the prior night and Justin felt his throat tighten. 

Coughing to clear his throat, Justin turned to Lindsay, who watched the two of them intently.  “Did you start your paper?”

Lindsay’s gaze jumped from Justin to Brian back to Justin.  “Yes.  About half way done.  What about you, Brian?” she, once again, turned her attention to the man in black sitting on the opposite side of the artist.

Slowly, Brian raised his head and looked over his shoulder at the two blondes staring at him, meeting Justin’s eyes for a brief second before moving onto Lindsay.  “Finished it.”

“When did you manage that?” Lindsay inquired.  “Between work and classes and staying out all night?  Do you ever sleep?”

Brian shrugged.  “Sleep is a waste of time.” 

“See, most of us common folk need that waste of time to function,” Lindsay noted.

“Well, that’s your problem, isn’t it?” Brian’s eyes shifted onto Justin’s face, staying there just a little while longer before looking away once again.  “I’d rather be up…”

“And fucking,” Justin finished for him, locking gazes with the brunette.

They stared off with each other for a few seconds until a small smile spread on Brian’s lips.  The change in the expression on the teen’s face was brief, though, returning to the nonchalant mask moments later.

Justin cleared his throat again, seeing this as the small window of opportunity to actually talk to Brian.  “Do you wanna get together and work on your project later today?”

Brian’s jaw hardened as he looked away, watching their teacher getting set up before the class started.  “I’m busy later today,” he finally replied, his voice quiet, but harsh.

The blonde swallowed, looking straight ahead as well, the tears stinging his eyes.

He wasn’t sure how he got through the hour and a half of lecture without suffocating, since it seemed as if all the air had been sucked out of the room and he was sitting in one big vacuum bubble.  But as soon as Brian pushed past him toward the exit, all the air rushed back in, like a sudden gust of wind, nearly knocking him on his ass. 

“You ok?”

Justin looked up to find two concerned eyes staring down at him.  Unable to speak, he nodded.  Lindsay waited for him as he gathered his things and stuffed them in his backpack, the two of them the last ones to leave the room.

“So, you wanna tell me what that was all about?” Lindsay asked as they walked down the hall.

Justin wasn’t surprised in the least to hear the question.  He knew Lindsay well enough to know that, even though she often believed she knew more than she actually did, the woman was very perceptive, especially when it came to Brian. 

“Not really,” he responded, opting for avoiding a question instead of lying to the woman who was quickly becoming his close friend.

He figured he must have been quite a sight – pathetic – because Lindsay stared at him with pity. 

She sighed loudly.  “I warned you.”

Justin stopped and turned around, meeting her gaze.  “Can we not talk about this, please?”

But she didn’t hear him.  “I just don’t understand.  I saw you guys yesterday.  Everything was fine.”

Justin exhaled sharply.  “Lindsay,” he pleaded.

“Did he give you his ‘relationships are for dykes and straight people’ speech?”

Justin squeezed his eyes shut, this conversation being too much for him to handle.  A few seconds later he felt her soft touch on his arm.  Opening his eyes, he stared back at her.

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly. 

Justin nodded in response.

~~~***~~~***~~~

“Wanna tell me what’s wrong?” Nick asked as he picked up the huge burger off his plate and took a bite.

Justin shrugged and looked away, considering charging money every time somebody asked him that question.

“Ok, I realize I haven’t known you for that long,” the brunette said over a mouthful of processed meat and something that was supposed to pass for vegetables in this cafeteria, “But even I can tell that’s something’s bugging you.”

The blonde gnawed on his lower lip as he shifted his gaze back to the man sitting across the table from him.  It amazed him how quickly the two of them became the best of friends, feeling completely at ease with each other.  As if they’d known each other forever, maybe in another life.  But even with that being the case, Justin wasn’t sure he could talk to Nick about his relationship with Brian. 

“It’s about him, isn’t it?” Nick answered for him.

Justin’s gaze dropped to his left hand that was nervously twirling a pen between fingers. 

Nick sighed loudly as he put down the half-eaten burger down on the plate.  “I wish I could have told you to not get involved with him.  But there’s no point now, right?  It’s too late.”

Justin placed the pen over his notebook and met his friend’s gaze.  

“You’re in love with him.” 

It was more of a statement rather than a question, but Justin still nodded in response.

“Well, then, my advice, blondie, is – if you want him, go get him.”

Justin snorted, a sad smile spreading across his lips.  “I don’t know how anymore.”

“Well, giving up is certainly a great place to start.”

Justin scowled at the man’s sarcastic comment.  “Most people would have given up a long time ago.”

“So, why didn’t you?”

“Because I…” Justin paused, thinking back to the first days, weeks, months really of him meeting Brian.  No matter what the man did or said, something in him just wouldn’t let him give up, wouldn’t let Brian drive him away.  He sighed.  “I couldn’t.”

“And now?”

It took only a second for Justin to realize that he already knew the answer to the question. 

~~~***~~~***~~~

Brian picked up another batch of folders from the bin, flipping through them to make sure that all of the last names were alphabetized.  It still didn’t fail to amaze him how stupid some people could be.  One would think that with having at least some college education would mean that people knew the alphabet.  Filing, after all, didn’t require one to be a rocket scientist.  In fact, it was probably one of the most mind-numbing tasks he could find in the admissions office, which was his current place of employment. 

Satisfied with the order of the files, the teen moved toward the file cabinets on the opposite side of the room. 

“Excuse me, sir.”

Brian sneered as he turned around, not happy with being bothered.  There was a reason why he wasn’t the one answering the phones at the front desk.  Sometimes it looked like a nuthouse, rather than an administration office – phones ringing, students talking, people having panic attacks.  He, on the other hand, preferred the quiet and calm task of filing students’ files to wiping Katie’s tears because she missed the deadline for registering. 

When he looked over the person before him, though, Brian’s expression changed dramatically.  The guy was tall, dark, and fucking hot.  Just the way he liked them. 

“Can you tell me where the bathroom is?” the other man asked.

Placing the folders on the nearby table, Brian smirked.  “Why don’t I show you?”

~~~***~~~***~~~

An hour later, Brian brought Gary…or Graig…or…he didn’t really give a shit…back to his dorm.  He had planned on going out after work, but since he had a good and willing partner waiting for him, he opted for a quiet, or not so quiet, evening of fucking the guy’s lights out. 

Brian felt the other man’s stiff dick poking him in the back as he unlocked the door to his room.

“I want you so much,” the guy whispered behind him.

Brian smirked, pushing the door open.  “Don’t they teach you down in North Carolina that patience is a virtue?”

“North Dakota,” the man corrected.

“Whatever the fuck.  Just get in here and take off your pants.”  Brian slightly pushed the man forward, following him inside and closing the door behind them.  Pushing past the dark-haired man who stood still right by the door, looking around the small room, Brian walked over to the desk and threw his bag down on the chair next to the bed. 

He was already unzipping his pants when he turned back around to face the other teen.

“What’s that?” the man held up a letter-size white envelope that he just picked up off the floor.

Brian narrowed his eyes as he approached the man and took the object in his hand, eyeing it wearily for a moment.  There was no name or anything else written on the envelope, so Brian cautiously looked inside, his breath catching in his throat when he pulled out the sketch that he and Taylor had been working on for his advertising class.  Except, it was finished now; complete with all the changes they talked about making to it and even more features that the young artist took the liberty of adding at the last minute.  Brian couldn’t tear his eyes away from the work of art he currently held in his hands.

“So, are we gonna do this?”

~~~***~~~***~~~

Justin looked up from his sketch, looking out the only source of light in the room - a small square window on his left.  It was starting to get dark much earlier these days; a sure sign that fall was here.  It was funny how all of a sudden, one day, you just noticed that the days were getting shorter.  And then, of course, the cold weather followed.  It was always the case.  And Justin, staring out into the dark sky outside his window, couldn’t help but shiver in anticipation of the cold. 

The artist rose from his bed and walked over to switch on the lights.  There was still enough light coming from outside, but the fluorescent light created the fake sense of warmth and Justin needed that now.  Pulling a sweater out of the tiny dresser by his bed, Justin put it on and flopped back down on the bed.  Picking up his sketchbook and pencil, he turned his attention back to the sketch he had been working on for the past hour – a drawing of Brian.

He had drawn the face of his lover so many times; every single line, every single contour that made up the beautiful face were embossed in his brain.  But no matter how well he knew the ad exec’s features, he was still inspired to put it down on paper and all the drawings still looked different, portraying different emotions, different positions, different Brian. 

Especially now that he was back here, seeing Brian so young made him want to just sit down with his sketchbook and draw all the time.  But unfortunately he couldn’t see Brian posing for him any time soon.  So, he just had to make do with drawing from memory.  Which, when it came to drawing Brian, wasn’t all that hard to do.  Brian’s face, Brian’s body was imprinted in his mind, stored in the most secure, private place in his head. 

Even now, when things were at their worst between them, Justin still couldn’t help but smile as his hand moved in quick, short motions, adding depth to the face that was staring back at him.  Things were bad; he was willing to admit that.  For one, Nathan was…well, he wasn’t sure where Nathan was now.  All he knew that he hadn’t felt the angel’s presence since the night before. 

And then there was the whole mess with Brian.  The brunette was avoiding him like a plague.  Which made his plan of being with Brian…well, to say, complicated would be an understatement.  And Justin had no idea how to un-complicate it.  How to make the other man trust him again, or at least let him in a little bit closer. 

Just as the artist was considering his options on how to get Brian back, he heard a knock on the door.  Surprised, he just stared at the door for a moment, trying to decide whether he imagined the sound or not.  But then more knocking came and Justin realized that it was in fact real.  Puzzled as to who it could be on the other side of the door, Justin put his sketchbook aside once again and rose from the bed, walking over to the door.  The only person who ever visited him here at the dorm was Nick, but the young man had a date tonight, which he was very excited about. 

So, Justin was at loss for who his visitor could be as he opened the door, only to come face-to-face with the last person he expected to find on the other side of it.

“Hey,” Brian said, fidgeting nervously in place.

It took Justin a while to realize that it was really Brian and not a product of his wishful thinking.  “Hey,” he finally replied.  “What are you doing here?”

Brian shrugged as he held out a cardboard box in front of him.  “Here.”

Justin eyed the object wearily, looking up at Brian, then down at the box.  Finally, taking it in his hands as if it was about to fall to pieces, Justin held the door open wider for Brian to walk in.  As Brian’s tall form passed by him, Justin closed the door shut, his gaze shifting over to Brian who was currently looking around, inspecting the small room.  Finally, Brian turned around, his eyes locking on Justin’s. 

A corner of his mouth curved up, as the hazel eyes dropped down on the box still carefully clutched in Justin’s hands.  “It’s not a bomb, you know.”

Justin looked down, remembering that he had something in his hands.  “What is it?”

Brian moved forward, crossing the distance between them.  “Open it.”

Instead of doing as Brian instructed though, Justin’s eyes were glued to the dark-haired man’s face, looking away only when Brian motioned at the box. 

Justin walked over to the desk, and carefully placing the box down, pulled the lid off.  The contents of the box left him breathless - a tube of icy hot, an ice pack, a bottle of aspirin, a hot water bottle, a tensor bandage, and a few color cushion grips for pencils.

“It’s not state-of-the-art computer, but it should do the trick,” Brian said, walking up behind him.

To say that the young artist was overwhelmed with emotions would be an understatement.  Justin’s eyes remained glued to the box, the blonde convinced that as long as he kept his eyes fixed on its contents, the tears that were stinging from behind his eyes would stay there.  That theory was put to the test when the dark-haired teenager moved to stand in front of him and took his right hand into his, holding it firmly in his big, warm hands.

“Does it hurt?” Brian’s husky, quiet voice broke through the silence.

Justin closed his eyes as Brian’s soft fingers gently massaged the palm of his hand, finding that speaking wasn’t an easy task as he had believed up until that moment.  “No,” he was able to utter, opening his eyes.

But Brian didn’t seem to hear him, his attention focused fully on the light pink skin of Justin’s palm, brows furrowed in concentration.

Justin raised his free hand and brushed it against the stubbly cheek of the taller man, smiling slightly when the brunette raised his eyes to his.

There was so much Justin wanted to say.  Had to say.  And it appeared to be the case for Brian as well.  But now that they were in the same room together once again neither seemed to remember what it was that they needed to talk about.  All they could do was stare at each other. 

That was until Brian pulled Justin toward him, the artist’s right hand still encased in his.  Justin stepped forward, pressing his body against Brian’s, his mouth open slightly in anticipation for the kiss to come.  Brian ducked his head down so that their lips were on the same level, but at the last minute stopped, looking up into Justin’s eyes.  Justin could have sworn he saw a question there, a request for permission to proceed, almost…a hesitation.

A ghost of a smile touched his lips, but it was the answer Brian was searching for, his mouth covering Justin’s instantaneously.

~~~***~~~***~~~

That was what it was all about.  This.  This feeling that overwhelmed him, enveloped him as their lips locked. 

Brian was reluctant to let go of the artist’s hand, but the need to be closer to Taylor won over, and dropping the blonde’s hand, he raised his to the other man’s back, using it to press the smaller body as close to his own as humanly possible. 

Taylor moaned something in his mouth, but Brian didn’t understand.  He knew they shouldn’t be doing that in Taylor’s room, since Jim Cole was one of the world’s least tolerable people.  Brian realized that they should have gotten Taylor’s things and went up to his room.  But at the moment his desire for the man in his arms overpowered any coherent thought left in his head.

Brian told himself that they’d stay here for just a couple more minutes and then they’d go to his room and finish what they had started before anybody saw what they were up to.  Unfortunately that option was taken away from them when the door swung open, revealing Taylor’s roommate.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Jim asked, disgust written on his face, as he stepped inside the room.

Brian untangled his arms from around Taylor’s body and moved away from his lover.  “It’s called kissing, Jim.  I’m sure there are books in the library where you could look it up.  With big, color pictures and everything.”

Jim glared back at him.  “Fuck you, Kinney,” he hissed.

Brian sneered.  “Sorry.  You’re not my type.”

The other man walked over to his bed, looking around the room as if he caught them breaking-and-entering instead of making out.  “I don’t want any cock-sucking going on in my room.”

Brian scoffed.  “It’s funny how much you seem to know about what goes on between two queers.”

He could almost see steam coming out of Jim’s head and he was enjoying every minute of it. 

“Get the fuck out of my room,” Jim growled.

“Or what?  You’ll tell your mommy on me?”

Jim took a step toward him and Brian prepared himself for an attack.  But nothing happened, because another body moved to stand in front of him, positioning himself between the two men.

“It’s alright, Jim,” Taylor said, “We were leaving anyway.”  He turned around and looked at Brian, who was about to object.  He wasn’t the one to seek fights, but he’d never run from one.  But something in Taylor’s eyes forced him to step back and relent.

“Saved by the blonde,” Brian sneered as he followed Taylor out the door.

“This isn’t over, Kinney,” Jim called after him.

“At least you got something right, Cole,” Brian threw over his shoulder before slamming the door shut, snickering when he heard the rumbling behind the closed door. 

His smiled quickly disappeared when he turned around to find Taylor’s eyes staring intently at him, finally realizing that the only person who would suffer from this confrontation would be the blonde-haired, blue-eyed man standing before him.  Taylor was the one who when it was all said and done had to share the room with Cole.  “Sorry about that,” Brian said, motioning at the door.

“It’s ok,” Taylor shrugged.  “I’ll just have to sleep with one eye open.  No big deal.”

Brian frowned, even though the blonde’s mouth stretched into a pink, beautiful curve.  “I shouldn’t have done that,” Brian said as the two of them began making their way toward the staircase and up to the fourth floor.

“Yeah, what was it about, anyway?  Something happen between you two?”

Brian sighed as he raked his fingers through his hair.  “It’s a long story.”  Reaching his room, Brian opened the door and waited for Taylor to walk through it before following inside and closing it behind them.

“I’ve got time.  Since I’m not going back to my room tonight,” Taylor teased.

Brian took his time closing the door as he considered telling Taylor the truth.  Turning around, he realized that there was no way out of it.  “Last year the English department had a writing contest.  The winner got two grand toward tuition, living expenses, or books.”  He walked past Taylor and dropped down on his bed.  “We were both finalists.  Cole thought that he should have won.  He didn’t.  I did.”

“That’s it?” Taylor asked incredulously.  “He’s just jealous that you won?”

Brian sighed, wishing it was that simple.  “He believes that I somehow stole what was his.”

“But it’s just one contest.  And it was last year.  Shouldn’t he be over it by now?”

“I told you before, the guy’s a sleaze.  He can make your life hell.”  The moment the words were out of his mouth, Brian winced.  Taylor was doing just fine until Brian decided to make his life a little more interesting.  Brian dropped his head, unable to look at the other man.  “Sorry.”

It was a few seconds later that he felt the mattress move a little.  Opening his eyes, he found Taylor sitting next to him.

“In case you forgot, that was my tongue in your mouth,” Taylor said, a smile playing on his lips.  “speaking of…”  And the next thing Brian knew, Taylor’s tongue was once again inside his mouth. 

Brian pulled away only when air became an issue, smiling when he saw lust and need in the deep blue eyes locked onto his, reflecting the same feelings that he was experiencing  at the same time.  “Thanks for the drawing,” he murmured as he once again moved closer to the other man, his tongue creating a path between the blonde’s earlobe and the collar bone bellow the strong, pale neck.  “It’s fucking incredible.”

“Glad you approve,” Taylor replied between moans as Brian pushed him down on the bed.

“I more than approve,” Brian unbuttoned the blonde’s shirt and immediately went to work on the perfect pink nipples while his hand began its descent south of the artist’s belly button.

“Good.  I guess we can talk about payment then.”

Brian looked up briefly, a sly smirk on his face spreading even wider when he heard the artist gasp as his hand found it’s ultimate goal…Taylor’s cock.

Go to Part 8

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