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Bitter Pill -- Act 2, Scene 2 by Falcon "What do you think?" Brian asked, thrusting the handful of lipsticks at Stefan. "Candy Apple Smile? Vampire's Kiss? Tropical Punch?" Stefan glanced over them, and then selected a frosted purple color, his expression turning incredulous as he read its name. "Bruise Pristine? They stole that from us!" "The price of fame," Brian conceded, more flattered than upset. "Now, come on. Which shade do you like best?" "Brian. They cost five dollars each. You get paid more than that for farting into a microphone. Just buy them all, so we can go get some lunch." Brian shook his head. It always amazed him that Stefan could be such a girl in some ways, and yet so utterly oblivious in others. "The point isn't owning them all. The point is making myself beautiful." Laughing, Stefan gave Brian's ass a gentle pat. "You could smear mayonnaise on your lips and still be beautiful." "Mayonnaise?" Stefan looked sheepish. "I'm hungry�" "Fine. I can take a hint." After a moment's consideration, Brian selected a deep red tint called Fairy Blood, and paid for it. Then he dropped it into one of the several bags Stefan was carrying. "Lunch it is. But we better go someplace where I can get drinks that come with little paper umbrellas in them." "Anything. Just as long as I get to eat." Leaving the store, they wandered down the sidewalk, marveling at the incredible assortment of kitsch displayed in each window. Then, when Brian paused to point out a particularly absurd coconut sculpture, Stefan shifted the bags to one hand, and closed his other hand around Brian's, as natural and gentle as coming home. Out of the corner of his eye, Brian looked up at the tall Swede beside him. He used to feel so safe around Stefan. Maybe that was why the whole thing with Steve had cut deeper than pain could describe � even though Stefan hadn't meant to hurt him, he had. It felt like a betrayal. It felt like discovering that pulling the blankets up over your head couldn't really protect you from monsters. A bit of innocence, a bit of trust, a bit of faith, lost forever. Gently, Brian squeezed Stefan's hand. And they kept walking. Finally, after some deliberation, they ended up at a charmingly tacky tourist trap, which outdid paper umbrellas by serving flaming sparklers in their drinks. "Fire and alcohol," Stefan muttered. "I'm not sure that's such a good idea." "You're just jealous." Brian waited until the last white spark had dropped onto the table, before removing the exhausted firework, and setting it in the ashtray. Then he took a long swallow of the drink, which tasted like someone had melted watermelon-flavored hard candies and mixed them with vodka. "Now. The sacred ritual of gloating over our loot." Stefan reached into one of the bags, and pulled out a large, flat, box. "Which dress is this?" Squinting at the box, Brian tried to remember." "I think that's the black one. With the cracked ice detailing, and double sway fringe around the bottom." "Ooh, my favorite." Stefan opened the corner of the box, and slipped out a bit of dress, watching the material glitter in the restaurant light. "I'll let you borrow it." Stefan smiled. "On me, it would be a fringed halter top." Shutting the box, he returned it to its proper bag. "Anyway, dresses look silly on me. I'm not like you. When you get dressed up, and walk into a room, people's hearts stop." That was true. But instead of being pleased by the thought, a chill pain pierced Brian's chest. "What good is it?" he asked. "What good is being beautiful? What good are all the dresses and lipsticks in the world, when they can't get me the man I love?" Stefan glanced away, without answering. Stefan's silence infuriated Brian. "What was it like?" he hissed. "To have him in your arms? In your bed?" "Please, Brian�" Stefan's voice was hoarse with pain. "I don't want to talk about this�" "Come on," Brian insisted, his tone turning vicious. He couldn't stop hating Stefan for having tasted the thing denied to him. "Just between us girls. A little harmless gossip. What was it like to have him love you?" "It was paradise." A slow tear slid down Stefan's cheek. "It was like suddenly remembering a magic word. Like holding the night sky in my cupped hands." His eyes rose to meet Brian's, shimmering as brightly as the dress's cracked ice detailing. "What do you want from me? Do you need to hear that I'm hurting? Fine. I'm hurting. I'm hurting so bad, you can't even imagine it." "Can't I?" "He doesn't love you. He loves me." Brian's vision blurred. "And that makes my pain easier? Or worse?" Despair opened up inside him, like a bottomless pit, and he buried his face in his hands, his shoulders jerking as he began to cry. "Oh. Oh, Brian�" In between soft sobs, Brian heard Stefan slip over to his side of the booth, and a moment later, felt Stefan's strong arms wrap around him. "Shh," Stefan soothed. "I'm sorry. Of course, you're hurting, too. But we'll get through it. We'll help each other get through it." Again, Brian looked up at Stefan. Looked up at the man who had surrendered his lover, just because Brian asked him to, and never even thought about resenting the sacrifice. Stefan always gave him so much. So much. Brian's hand closed around Stefan's wrist, his touch crackling with need, like an electrical current. "Give him to me," he whispered. "Give him--?" Stefan looked bewildered. "Steve's not a toy. I can't just give him to you." "You can. I know you can." Brian's eyes met Stefan's. He knew, on some level, that what he was doing was wrong, but desire burned too fiercely. /I want, I want, I want�/ echoed inside his head, until he couldn't hear any other impulse. "Please, Stef. If you try. If you try, I know you can." Stefan fell silent, stroking Brian's hair as he stared off into space. "If I do this," he asked, after what seemed like forever. "Will it make you happy? Will things go back to being the way they were?" "Yes." Slowly, Stefan nodded. "Alright. We'll try. Tonight, dress up in you best new things. The three of us will go somewhere fun. Get Steve in a good mood, and drunk off his ass � he was drunk off his ass the first time anything happened between us." For a second, Stefan bit his lip, unable to speak. But he forced himself to continue. "He still wants me. If I tease him, get him worked up, and then you insinuate yourself into things. You're so beautiful and sexy. Once he's had you. Really, fully, had you � I can't imagine him even remembering my name." "Okay," Brian agreed, leaning against Stefan's tall body. For the first time in endless weeks, he felt safe. Prev | Next Home |