Queer As Folk - One Shots

S5 E3 - Sunshine, How Did I Ever Get Along Without You?

As Brian waits for the gate of his building's parking garage to slide open he taps impatiently on the steering wheel as the gears grind with infinitesimal slowness. Deliberately trying to slow his breathing down, he holds his breath until the gates clang open and he can drive through. Letting his breath out again, steadily, slowly, takes practice as the car tyres squeal a little around the bends towards his designated space. 

He'd first learnt the technique when it came to trying to deal with Justin's bashing a few years before. He hadn't needed it before, nothing in his life had warranted it. But, when Justin was critically ill in the hospital, he'd found a need to be able to calm himself down since he wasn't able to control anything else at that time of his life.

Climbing out of his car, Brian tugs impatiently at the tie around his neck, loosening it with one hand as he swings the door open. He finds himself wishing he could be looking forward to spending an evening in with Justin and some rather nice red wine that he'd purchased a few days ago. Instead he knows that he's going to have to pretty much do a straight turn around; maybe grab some food quickly, get changed and head back out of the door again. 

Slamming the car door shut, the ping of the automatic lock echoing around, Brian decides to take the stairs rather than wait for the old lift to decide to descend. He finds he's more energised than tired when he gets to the top of the stairs and his own front door, swinging it open in a quick movement, nipping through the small gap before he pulls it shut again. 

Coming around the corner quickly, he feels a slight pang in his stomach of hunger at the same time that he realises that Justin isn't in the kitchen cooking up a storm as he usually is. Instead he looks towards the dining area to his left since the rest of the loft seems to be unoccupied. He gets a rush when he sees Justin busy with his work and, without missing a step, deposits his briefcase on the kitchen counter as he walks by. It's a natural reaction now to greet his boy with open arms and a smile and it doesn't occur to Brian how much he's changed in the years since he met Justin. 

Justin though, permits himself a small smile as he sees his lover come steaming towards him. It's been a long time coming that Brian now arrives home straight from work without having stopped by the diner to pick up some dinner before going out for the night and bringing back some random person for sex.  He doesn't stop what he's doing, knowing that Brian's not that type of person to want him to drop everything the moment he arrives home. Fact is that Justin had had a creative brainstorm type of day and couldn't stop from the moment he woke up to now when he's nearly finished. 

Grabbing onto Justin from behind and wrapping his arms around him, Brian clears his throat as he looks at what Justin's been working on. The feel of Justin is what catches Brian's attention first though, the warm body that he's currently wrapped around and the soft neck that's calling out for a kiss. Clearing his throat, ready to taste that soft, sweet skin, Brian's eye catches what Justin has been working on and all thought of snuggling his face behind Justin's ear is forgotten. 

He loves what he picks up, loves it instantly, and had Justin been looking at Brian's face at that very moment he'd have noticed the half cocked eyebrow in surprise at the quality of the work and known how much Brian thought of it. Instead Brian defaults to his usual depreciation;  "Not bad..." He states as he turns the piece in his hands and looks down at the others on the table. 

"It's brilliant," Justin states, confidently and clearly. He'd known all day that he was producing high quality work and wasn't going to let anyone tell him any different.

"An artist can never have too high an opinion of himself..." 

If Brian was expecting a come back from Justin he doesn't get one. Instead Justin just keeps sorting his work, "They were going to be part of my final school project."