Memories {A compilation of Britin short stories}

Story 5: The Bracelet

Justin was lying in the bed with Brian, as usual. Naked and coming down from a night of hot sex. Brian's arm was draped around him. Justin messed with the shell bracelet Brian always wore. He had never seen him without it. He never took it off not even in the shower or when he went to work. It was always there.

"Why don't you take this bracelet off?" Justin asked.

Brian lay there, eyes closed, feeling Justin fiddle with the bracelet on his wrist. A chill ran down his spine at Justin's question, but he quickly dodged it. "Never had a reason to," he said with a slight shrug of his shoulders. He opened his eyes to study the blond's face. He could only hope that was enough to sate Justin's curiosity.

Justin smirked. "Well now you have a reason to. Take it off. Or do you feel naked without it?" he teased.

Brian pulled his hand out of Justin's grasp, rolling onto his back. He rolled his eyes at Justin's words. "It's not because I feel 'naked' without it; it's because I don't want to."

"Come on. I want to see your other wrists." Justin was playing, but he was also serious. He wondered why Brian was so adamant about not taking it off.

"What is with you?" Brian snapped. "Do you have a new wrist fetish or something? I'm not taking it off!"

Justin sighed. "It's nothing. I just want to know why it's always there. Most people take off their bracelets when they get in the shower or when they have a professional job. But you never do. It's always on your wrist."

Wracking his brain for an excuse, Brian shrugged his shoulders again. "I always wear it. Why would I take it off when I'm just going to put it back on?" Brian sighed, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Look, I'm fucking tired. Can we just turn the lights out?"

Justin pursed his lips so he wouldn't be tempted to say anything else. He turned the light off and laid on his own pillow. The question of the bracelet was still lingering in his mind.

Brian waited for Justin to fall asleep before sitting up in bed. His fingers ran over his wrist, over the shells of his bracelet. He sighed, closing his eyes as he continued to run his fingers over the delicate shells.

Suddenly, he found his fingers undoing the knot, letting the bracelet fall from his wrist. He stared at his bare wrist, just barely able to make out the scars in the darkness. Brian's face twisted in pain at the memories as he ran his fingers gently over the scars, and he let out a shuddering breath.

Justin woke up early the next morning. Brian was asleep when he opened his eyes. He was about to get out of bed when he noticed the bracelet on Brian's wrist again. The knot that held it on his hand was loose like he had taken it off and put it back on. Justin slowly moved the bracelet aside so he wouldn't wake up Brian. He saw the outline of old self inflicted scars and some of them were freshly pink like they had just been made a few days ago. Justin put the bracelet back of the scars and got out of bed.

The longer Brian sat there, the more uneasy he felt. He had a growing suspicion, a twisting feeling in his gut. He somehow knew Justin had seen the scars, had seen what he'd done to himself. That would explain why the younger man was not in bed with him now. Shit.

Climbing out of bed, Brian pulled on a pair of sweats, and headed down the steps into the living room. It didn't take him long to find Justin. Brian made his way over to him slowly, eyes cast downward. "You saw them, didn't you?" he asked quietly, as if he needed any more confirmation for what he already knew to be true.

Justin was sitting on the couch, looking out the window. He had a beer bottle on the table. He didn't usually day drink, but he felt like he needed it this morning.