Title: Men of Extremes
Author:
severina2001Timeframe: Post Season Five
Word Count: 621
Rating: PG
Authors Notes: Kinda dashed this one off quickly. Probably too quickly. :/
Men of Extremes
By Severina
* * *
They are men of extremes.
It takes Justin six months of dark chocolate and red roses to realize that romance does not come in a heart-shaped box. It takes a bomb for Brian to realize that love is not a four letter word. It takes them both two week after the purchase of a country manor to realize that their lives together will always be full of compromises.
* * *
Daphne nestled the final pile of DVD’s into the packing foam and closed the lid. “That’s the last of it,” she said. “Hand me the tape.”
Justin tossed her the wide roll of packing tape. “I don’t know why I’m even bothering to ship DVD’s. It’s not like I own a DVD player.”
“Like Brian won’t be sending you one as soon as he finds out about that.” She sealed the box and fiddled with the sticky end of the tape, before squinting up at Justin. “Where is Brian?”
“Out.”
She shot him the ‘well duh’ look that he knew so well. “Is he--”
“Completely freaking out,” Justin affirmed. He pulled himself to his feet and wandered to the kitchen island, running a hand over its smooth surface. “He doesn’t think I’m going to come back.”
“Did he say that?”
“He doesn’t have to.”
Daphne placed the roll of tape carefully atop the box and rose, stifling a sigh. Whenever she spent time dealing with the Ongoing Trials and Tribulations of Justin and Brian, she felt assured that she should really, really look into changing her major to psychiatry.
“Then you just need to make sure he knows that you‘re not going anywhere,” she said. She slugged him playfully on the arm. “Like you always do.”
* * *
Justin laid it out on the line as best he could, despite Brian’s “it’s only time.”
They loved each other; they would see each other all the time; New York wasn’t the moon.
He left feeling more confident than he had since the decision to leave had been made.
Brian still had the rings.
* * *
“So,” Justin said, “are you going to meet me at the airport?”
“Actually,” Brian began.
Justin took a breath and prepared himself. Two steps forward and one step back was the norm, after all. Brian would say that he wasn’t going to be in Pittsburgh for the fourth, or that Independence Day was a sham, or that he intended to be fucking indiscriminately at the Baths and if his path happened to cross with Justin’s, they’d get together. He’d say anything but what he wanted to say: that he missed him and loved him and couldn’t wait to see him again.
“I was thinking you would meet me,” Brian continued. “In Ibiza.”
Justin let out the breath he’d been holding. Brian still had the ability to amaze him, surprise him. Annoy the fuck out of him. “Brian.”
“Unless you’d prefer snowboarding,” Brian said.
“Brian,” Justin said again.
“Neither one?” Brian sighed into the phone. “I must say, young man, you‘re being remarkably particular considering--”
“What I want,” Justin said, “is to eat overcooked hamburgers in Deb‘s backyard. See how big Gus and JR have grown. Listen to Emmett swoon about his new boyfriend. And when it’s all over, I want to go back to our home and make love with you in our bed.”
Silence on the line.
And silence.
And when Brian spoke again, his voice was soft. “What time does your flight get in?”
* * *
It takes them six more months to realize that they don’t have to be men of extremes. But they get there… eventually.
THE END
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