Cutting My Losses
Cutting My Losses 5/14
Greg. Greg Sanders.
Justin and Greg are long time friends and they're both having some relationship woes.
Cutting My Losses
Chapter 5
“Who the fuck are you?”
“Greg. Greg Sanders. I’m sure Justin told you about me.” And without another word, Greg was squeezing between Brian and the doorjamb, the bulky bags in his arms effectively pushing Brian out of the way. Greg walked a few feet in and dropped his bags on the floor. He couldn’t wipe the smile off his face at the thought of seeing his oldest friend. He turned back to the brunet still standing at the door.
“Where’s Justin?”
“Not here.” Brian walked behind the kitchen island to grab a bottle of water from the fridge, keeping a suspicious eye on the stranger in his loft.
“Well that doesn’t really answer the question, does it?” Greg took a seat on one of the island stools and dug in his pocket for his cell phone. “See, if I had asked, where is Justin not, then that would have worked.” He finally pulled out the phone and pressed a speed dial number. “But, I didn’t.” Greg put the phone to his ear and within a few seconds the person on the other side was picking up. “Justin, where are you? Your boyfriend was being uncooperative.” Greg looked up just in time to see Brian roll his eyes. Brian walked to the sofa and took a seat, picking up a copy of ADWeek to flip through and pretend to read while he listened to one side of a phone conversation, something he had been doing a lot lately. A few minutes later, Brian pretended to be surprised when Greg showed up in front of him and threw the cell phone into his lap. Brian picked it up.
“What do you want?”
“I want you to be nice, Brian. He’s my friend, my best friend. I put up with Michael’s shit all the--”
“Yeah, yeah. I heard you. Later, Sunshine.” Brian flipped the phone closed and handed it back to Greg who was sitting across from him in one of the chairs. There were a few minutes of silence.
“So, is there a hotel I should be taking you to?”
“No, that’s alright. I’m bunking with you guys.”
“Is that right?”
“Yeah, have you seen the prices of hotel rooms lately? And I haven’t seen Justin in forever. It’ll be fun, like a sleepover.”
“A sleepover?”
“Yeah, you know, camp stories, gossip, and junk food. Good times.”
“You do realize there’s only one bedroom, right?”
“No worries, my friend. That couch looks plenty comfortable.” Brian resigned himself to having this guy in his home for way longer than he desired. He could just imagine the fuss Justin would make if he didn’t let the guy stay at the loft.
“So how long will you be sleeping on my sofa?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I only took off a week. But I could probably get away with taking as long as a month off.”
“Don’t really need you, huh?” Greg had to laugh at that.
“No, they just know my worth. Fastest lab tech in the west.” Until recently. But Greg shook that thought. This was supposed to be a true vacation. He had made a promise to himself that he wouldn’t think about the explosion or his problems in the lab. And he’d try his best to not think about Warrick, but he knew that would be impossible. The older man was never far from his mind.
Greg examined the man in front of him. The man that had taken his best friend’s virginity when he was only seventeen. The man that had taken his best friend to prom and witnessed the younger man’s bashing. The man that Justin left a few months ago only to come back to. The man that Justin would call to complain about, brag about, talk about. For the last two years, the name Brian had been a constant in their phone conversations. Greg had a pretty good idea what made Brian Kinney tick.
From everything that Justin told him which was a lot, the boy can talk, Greg had gotten a good picture of Brian in his mind. He had learned a few definite facts, Justin loved Brian, Brian loved Justin, and what’s more he did his best to take care of Justin. Yeah, Brian was okay in his book. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t fuck with him a little. “You know, my boyfriend has those same jeans…they look a lot better on him though.”
“You have a boyfriend?” Brian looked at Greg, taking in the bright, chaotic, retina burning shirt, the wildly gelled hair with terrible blonde highlights… He couldn’t believe it. “I don’t believe it.”
“What? I’m cute in a mad scientist kind of way.”
“Whatever gets you through the day.” Brian could only imagine what his boyfriend could look like. He had to be a complete loser. Ted would go for Greg. Maybe Theodore had a long lost twin brother that was in Vegas awaiting Greg’s return.
“You should have seen the guy sitting next to me. He had to weigh like ten thousand pounds. He was fucking huge. I don’t know how he fit in that seat. And of course I made the mistake of having three coffees and a bottle of water before I got on the plane. I swear I had to use the bathroom at least five times. And every time I’d have to squeeze by that guy. And you know there’s like no space in between the seats. So of course I was rubbing up against the guy every time I went past him. And he refused to step into the aisle. Man I can’t stand those people. You know, the ones that just stand there and want you to squeeze by them. I mean, no matter how tiny you think you are, you’re probably too big to squeeze by in a cramped airplane. But I think this guy had ulterior motives, he gave me his business card when we were exiting the plane. Like I’d ever call him though, right?”
Brian just stared at Greg for a moment before shaking his head and looking back to his magazine. He had gotten through half a page, when he heard the loft door slide open. Greg was already running to it before Brian had time to get on his feet. And by the time he was on his feet, Greg was at the door and embracing Justin.
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Author's Note: Gotta thank V for doing her beta thing.