Work Text:
Justin slid the door open and stepped into the loft. He put his bag down, closed the door and turned around. Brian was standing by the fridge, holding a bottle of water.
-"Hi", Justin said while walking slowly to where Brian was standing.
-"Hey you", Brian said, watching closely as Justin was coming to a stop next to him.
Brian looked at him and was a bit surprised by the very unsunshiny energy that was radiating from Justin at the moment. He looked tired and really sad.
-"What's up with you?" Brian asked while stroking Justin's arms with his hands.
Justin melted under his touch and snuggled closer to Brian, still not saying anything since his first greeting when he walked into the loft.
-"I was painting and then my hand started acting up and now I have to do it all over again because I ruined it. I was so proud of how it looked and now I'll never be able to create the exact same painting again"
Brian put his hands around Justin's neck and started playing with his hair knowing that the younger always felt calmer when he did that. Brian understood why this would make Justin feel that way but there was something more. Brian knew how devastated Justin was when his art got ruined because of his hand, but right now, something else was bothering him.
-"What else is on your mind?", he asked softly, still playing with his hair.
-"Nothing else. Just sick and tired of my hand being such a burden sometimes."
-"Come on Justin. I know you. Now stop thinking I can't read right through that lie and tell me what else is bothering you to the point of making you not even want to rant about it. You're like the most talkative person I know. It's very unlike you to not want to share what's making you feel whatever you're feeling right now."
Justin often forgot how well Brian knew him and it made him feel a bit happy to see how close they really were, especially after that conversation he had with Micheal earlier.
Justin wasn't really the type to take seriously what Micheal or Linds or whoever actually, told him about Brian. He knew that Brian wasn't the same with the gang and with him. He also knew that whatever people said wouldn't make him fall out of love with Brian.
But after ruining his painting this morning, he was already emotionally drained and didn't really have the strength to deal with Micheal's bullshit.
Justin and Micheal met for lunch because they needed to talk about some things for Rage. Everything went pretty well for the business part of their meeting, but once they had said everything that needed to be said about Rage, Micheal started becoming a little more annoying by the second.
He kept on rambling about how Brian and him were the bestest of friends to ever exist and how no one would ever be as close to Brian as he was, and how Justin was just around because Brian got used to his presence but he would never really care for him and all kind of stuff making Justin feel really uneasy.
Justin ended up telling Micheal to shut up and stop trying to be so involved in his and Brian's relationship and left. He returned to his studio to try and do a new painting but he couldn't focus with everything going on in his mind. His hand was also way to tired because he overworked it this morning which caused it to act up and mess his painting in the first place.
So now he was at the loft, with Brian holding him and playing with his hair, asking what was wrong and he suddenly felt like he wanted to cry.
-"I had lunch with Micheal today" was the only thing he said for a good 2 minutes.
Brian didn't say anything, just humming to let Justin know he was listening. He knew that now that he had started, he would tell him everything. He only had to let Justin take his time, knowing that the younger was somewhat overwhelmed by his thoughts and feelings right now.
-"We needed to discuss some things about Rage. I was already kind of emotionally tired because I ruined my painting this morning but the meeting went well. At least the part where we talked about Rage went well. But then he started saying all those things that I didn't even want to hear and it made me sad"
Brian put his arms around Justin's neck, bringing him closer and holding him tight. Justin told him everything Micheal said and he felt so tired after. He knew Micheal didn't really like him since the very beginning and he was constantly scared that Brian would side with his best friend and get rid of him one day or the other.
Brian let go of Justin when he finished telling him about Micheal and looked him right in the eyes.
-"Alright listen to me because I feel like this is something you need to hear. Listen very carefully and remember what i'm about to say because I will not be repeating it every other week.
I care about you more than I care about Micheal. I care about what you say and what you think, i care about how you feel way more than anyone else really. So stop fucking worrying about whatever other people are telling you because they don't know shit. They don't know what happens between you and me. They don't know what we tell each other, or what we feel for each other. So I hope this is the last fucking time you let someone who isn't me tell you shit about how i feel about you.
Now go take a nap, you look like you're about to pass out. I'll wake you up an hour before we have to leave."
And with that, Justin feels way better. He takes his clothes off and goes to bed to take a nap before going to dinner at Deb's.