Work Text:
Brian stepped inside the loft after a long day at work and was happy to find Justin sat on the couch, with a pencil and his sketchbook in hand.
It was a few weeks after the dinner at Deb's and they both hadn't heard much from Micheal. They still saw the gang now and then, at the diner or when they visited Gus, or even the times where Emmett would visit Justin at the loft. But Brian and Justin had been avoiding Micheal, Brian because he was still very angry at his best friend (if he could still call him that), and Justin because his life was easier that way.
Unfortunately, he still saw him sometimes, when he had shifts at the diner, but they both ignored each other and nothing ever happened.
-"Hey you", he said smiling softly and taking his coat off.
-"Hi", Justin said as if he just noticed that someone was here with him.
Justin usually went to his own world when he was drawing or painting. That's why Brian finds it so hypnotising to just watch Justin in those moments. It's like he isn't aware of anything surrounding him, he is only focused on his art.
Brian gave him a small kiss before going to the bedroom to take his clothes off and head to the shower.
Once out of the shower, he put on some sweats and a tee shirt and walked into the kitchen to grab a water bottle from the fridge. He went to sit next to Justin once he finished drinking and put his arm around the younger, pulling him close and nuzzling his ear.
Justin relaxed into his embrace and sighed softly before closing his eyes.
-"How was your day?"
-"I had 3 meetings with clients today and I think they actually fell in love with me"
Justin chuckled at that.
-"Well of course they did. Ad exec Brian Kinney is a very hot and charming man. I'd be quacking if I saw you being your confident ad genuis self every day."
-"Yeah right. Anyway, what did you do today?"
-"Well, not much actually. I had a shift at the diner today so i was there from ten to three. Then i came back here, took a shower and went to see my mom for a bit. I came back at around six and was drawing and then you were suddenly right there. I didn't even hear the door open."
He laughed a little at that last part, finding it funny because Brian always tells him how an alien invasion could be happening right in front of him and he wouldn't even notice if he was drawing.
-"You wanna cook something or order dinner tonight?"
-"I'll make something. I'm in the mood for some homemade meal tonight."
-"Okay," he said so so softly, almost like he was a little sleepy, "whatever you want."
They stayed on the couch, snuggled up together for a few more minutes before Justin kissed Brian's neck and got up. He put his sketchbook and pencil on the cofee table and went in the kitchen.
Brian followed him, always helping the younger with whatever he was able to do with the minimal cooking skills he had.
They were peacefully preparing dinner, talking about this and that, when there was a knock on the door.
-"Are you expecting someone?" Brian asks a little confused since Emmett or Daph would never come here unannounced and they were the only one coming by lately.
-"No, I'm not", Justin said, watching as Brian opened the door.
Neither of them were expecting Lindsay to be the one knocking on their door at 7pm on a tuesday but here she was.
-"Hi Brian! Can I come in?"
Brian let her in, still very confused as to why she was here. She looked a bit stressed and like she needed a break from life.
-"What brings your here, unannounced, in the middle of the week?"
-"Hmm so I was wondering if maybe you could let me stay the night?"
Brian was very taken aback by that. What could possibly bring her to ask such a thing out of the blue? She almost never slept here.
-"Why? What happened to your house and family?"
-"Hum.. so Mel and I had a little argument and I left the house and now I have nowhere to sleep because I don't want to go back right now."
Brian became suddenly really pissed off after hearing this.
-"What the fuck? Have you two been yelling at each other in front of my son? I swear if you traumatised him, he is staying with me until you fucking sort out all your stupid problems."
Justin heard them talking from where he was and decided it was time he go see what the fuck all of this was about. He stood next to Brian after greeting Lindsay quietly.
Brian put his hand on the small of Justin's back like he always unconsciously did whenever the younger was standing next to him.
-"What's going on?" he asked looking at Lindsay.
-"No Brian, Gus was at his friend's house, he didn't hear anything. Mel probably went to pick him up by now. I just need somewhere to spend the night. Do you mind if I sleep on your couch?"
Brian looked at Justin, asking without any words if it bothered him to let Lindsay sleep at the loft. Justin smiled at him to let him know that he was okay with it as long as Brian was.
-"You can sleep here tonight" Justin finally said after their silent conversation.
-"But just tonight. You fucking deal with your problems next time, especially when you know Gus will be confused as to why your not home with him tonight."
-"Yes, I'll go home tomorrow. Thanks guys."
Justin and Brian went back to what they were doing, leaving Lindsay to go sit on the couch.
Lindsay was very confused by the scene taking place in front of her. Brian was cooking with Justin? And he seemed to know what he was doing? Well, he mostly followed whatever instructions Justin was giving him, but it still was so much more than what he had ever done before.
They seemed to be perfectly comfortable, like it was something that happened often, and Lindsay was astounded.
Now that she came back to the conversation they just had a few minutes ago, she could aslo point out an other thing that surprised her.
When she asked Brian if she could stay over, he looked at Justin and the two looked like they were having a full conversation without any word being spoken. It was kind of amazing to see actually.
Half an hour after that, dinner was ready and Lindsay watched as Brian brought plates and glasses to the dinner table while Justin brought silverware and napkins.
They all sat and ate, Brian and Justin having casual conversations and Lindsay contributing from time to time.
After that, Lindsay proposed to wash the dishes since she hadn't helped with dinner and they both let her.
Justin and Lindsay were on the couch watching TV while Brian finished some work. Justin also continued his drawing from earlier. Linds asked about his art and what he was interested in lately.
At around 9, Brian finally finished everything he had to do for work and came to sit next to Justin, the younger instantly laying his head on Brian's shoulder. He yawned and rubbed his eyes, feeling tired despite the quiet day he had had.
-"Yeah?", Brian asked smirking and with a snicker.
-"Leave me alone, I'm just a little tired." Justin said back, smiling a tiny bit at Brian's comment.
They then decided to go to bed even if it was pretty early, saying goodnight to Lindsay and heading to the bedroom.
They both went to the bathroom, Lindsay could hear them talk and laugh together. They came out and Brian went to switch all the lights off. Lindsay decided to take this moment to use the bathroom before going to sleep.
When she came out of the bathroom, they were both on the bed, Justin lying on his side, back glued to Brian's chest. Brian's arm was around the younger's waist and he was holding him close.
She silently went back to the couch and lied down.
She never thought that they had this type of relationship. They were so domestic and soft with each other. She never would've thought that these two did anything more than fucking and sucking but she realised she was strongly mistaken.
~
When she woke up the next morning, Justin was drinking coffee in a hurry. She saw Brian getting dressed and decided to get ready to go as well.
Justin told her he was meeting a friend and needed to get going and said goodbye to her. He then went to Brian and kissed him, hooking his hands around Brian's neck while the latter put his hands on Justin's waist.
They broke the kiss after some time, both smiling at each other. Brian went to kiss him again but Justin pushed him away softly, giggling. Brian took Justin's hand to try and draw him back.
-"I have to go." he said with a smile.
-"Yeah okay. I'll pick you up this afternoon. Call me when you're all done."
-"I will. Later."
-"Later." he replied with a smile, slowly letting go of Justin's hand.
Once the younger was out, Brian looked up and saw Lindsay staring at him. She looked surprised and like she was questioning everything she thought she knew about Brian.
-"So where do you want me to drop you off?"
She didn't say anything and Brian was starting to get annoyed by her staring.
-"I have to be at work in one hour max so say whatever you're itching to say and get on with it."
-"I didn't know you and Justin were that close." she finally said after a few more minutes of silence.
-"What the fuck do you mean? Was I not clear enough last time at Deb's when I told everyone to basically fuck off?"
-"No it's not that. It's just that I've never seen you act like you did yesterday evening and this morning with anyone before."
-"Well Justin's my partner. I don't understand what you're trying to get at right now but cut it out."
-"You're never like this when you're with everyone is all I'm saying."
-"Well, no one besides Justin needs to see me this way. And you witnessed it only because you disturbed our routine, everything you saw is what we usually do on a daily basis."
-"Did you just say routine? Fuck, Brian what happened to you? You became like a totally different person..."
-"No I didn't. I just realised that I'm not a teenager anymore and I needed to mature and become who I really am. Justin just helped me realise that it was okay to be my real self sometimes and he allows me to be real when I'm with him."
Lindsay looked like one of her dreams was just crushed in front of her. She realised that what she wanted since college was never going to happen. She was never going to be with Brian. Even after convincing him to have a child with her, she still couldn't find a way to get Brian to want her back.
Brian wasn't aware of those feelings she had for him. He was a bit confused by the look she was giving him but he didn't say anything.
Lindsay finally spoke up.
-"I'm happy for you Brian."
She looked down, sighed and looked back up at him. She needed to make sure Brian wasn't slipping away from her life. She was aware of what happened to his and Micheal's friendship after that dinner at Deb's. The two barely saw each other these days.
She needed to make sure that Brian would never do this to her, and her only solution was Gus.
-"You know, Mel and I have been arguing because of money." she says so quietly that Brian isn't sure he heard it right.
-"What do you mean?"
-"Well, you know we are living with what we have so we can't really do much besides the absolute necessity. But I've been wanting to open an art gallery and work at my own gallery since I was a teenager. And you know these types of things require a lot of money so Mel has been against the idea. She says we need to be more careful about our spendings if we want to give Gus a good life"
Brian was already seeing where she was getting with this. It was always the same thing after all. Different stories each time but the end request was always the same: more money.
-"So I was thinking, maybe you could give me the money to start my gallery so we would still have enough money to take care of Gus."
The thing is, however much money Brian gave them, and he gave a lot, they were always asking for more. And Brian would always help his family if they needed, especially his son, but sometimes he needed to stop being so nice.
-"Lindsay. You know this isn't right don't you? This is not how life fucking works. If you don't have enough money to open a gallery, which by the way isn't even remotely close to a necessity, you work for it. You save money and you call a fucking accountant to help you make a budget. But you sure as hell don't expect someone else to pay for it."
Brian was pissed. He had once again let things get out of hand. He had accepted to give her the money every time she asked with a different reason, but now he didn't want to do this anymore. She had to understand that he couldn't allow it anymore.
-"Brian.. you know I wouldn't be asking if we didn't need it. Think about Gus for a minute."
-"Don't. You don't fucking get to guilt trip me about this. You know I've always done everything for Gus. I've been paying a sort of child support every fucking month since he was born when I don't even have any rights to my son. So stop trying to get me to agree out of guilt. I know I've done everything to give him a happy life and if you can't be a responsible parent and handle your money like an adult then that's on you."
He stopped and sighed.
-"And if you keep neglecting my child's well-being for a teenage dream of yours that you could have if you just worked for it, I swear I'll took him to live with me."
Lindsay nodded at that, not knowing what else to do. She thought this would work like it always did. It was just an other way for her to keep Brian in her life. But now he seemed more pissed thant anything.
They finally left the loft, Brian dropping her off at her house and then going to work.
~
Justin called Brian at 4pm once he finished everything he had planned for that day. He told him where he was and Brian said he'd come pick him up in 10 minutes.
Brian very rarely left work this early. He was even planning on coming back after dropping Justin at the loft but he felt like he needed some time off after his conversation with Lindsay.
He picked Justin up and they drove to the loft. Justin noticed that Brian was being very quiet, like more than he normally was, but he didn't say anything. He knew how Brian acted when something was bothering him and he knew Brian would end up telling the younger about it when he felt ready.
They arrived at the loft and took a shower together, they kissed and had sex before getting out of the shower but even after that, Brian was still a bit off.
They both put on some sweatpants and tee shirts and sat on the bed, still not talking.
That's when Brian decided to let Justin know what was on his mind.
-"I had quite the talk with Lindsay this morning after you left"
-"Oh.. was it very bad?"
-"Kind of.. She asked for money again. But this time I told her to fuck off. I said that she needed to stop relying on me to provide money for whatever non necessary activity she needed money for. And she tried to tell me I wasn't being a good father to Gus by refusing."
Justin got closer to Brian on the bed and took his hand, holding it tightly and waited for Brian to look at him before talking.
-"Brian, you know you're a great dad to Gus. He loves you so much and you love him too. It's so obvious to anyone who spent more than 2 seconds with the two of you. And Lindsay can tell whatever the fuck she wants but everyone knows you would do anything for that little boy. So fuck her for trying to guilt trip you into giving her more money."
-"It's funny you know, because this is exactly what I told her. I basically told her to stop trying to manipulate me and get her shit together because if she wasn't going to give the absolute bestest of life to my son, then I would."
Brian looked at Justin and smiled, showing the younger that everything was okay. That he didn't need to worry about Brian.
-"You were right in telling her that. It was something she needed to hear for a long time now. I hope it will be enough to make her understand and change."
They decided to take a nap to recharge their batteries because this day had drained them of all energy. So they lied down, holding each other, and closed their eyes.
-"You know, I just remembered something."
Brian murmured behind his ear. Justin hummed to make him continue.
-"She also said a bunch of shit about how it's her first time seeing me act the way I do with you, how I've change and all this stuff."
Justin chuckled a little at that.
-"Well, maybe she'll finally stop making doe eyes at you and stop wishing for you to one day realise that you're madly in love with her."
Brian froze at that, wondering what the fuck was Justin talking about.
-"I'm sorry, what?"
-"Come on Brian, don't tell me you never noticed how in love with you she is."
-"But she's a lesbian!"
-"Yeah well maybe not as much as she pretends to be. I'm almost a hundred percent sure she has a thing for men as well. And she absolutely does have a thing for you"
-"Yeah well anyway. I am a hundred percent gay so nothing would happen anyway. Besides, I told her your my partner so I think she got it this time."
-"Yeah, your partner." Justin said with a giggle.
Brian tightened his hold around Justin's waist and they both drifted off for a much needed nap.