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Every Sky Is Blue - Day Three
Title: Every Sky Is Blue
Author: j33_3
Fandom: Placebo
Genre: Romance/Fluff
Pairing: Molsdal
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Stefan takes Brian on a holiday... somewhere Brian hadn't expected...
Author's Note: This is the first really long fic i managed to write. It took me about a year and a half to write, on and off. It doesn't really have a plot as in the supsense sense of the word but it does follow a line and makes sense... I hope :D Oh and the Banana Café is a real place located in Paris.
I divided the fic according to the days in the story, ‘cause LJ wouldn’t take the whole thing. In all, there are 7 days, so 7 parts.
Brian woke up in the morning at the sound of car doors slamming shut and voices cheering downstairs, followed by some laughter.
Brian stirred and groaned, pressing his hand on the ear that wasn’t resting in Stefan’s chest, trying to shut the noise out. But as he heard another laughter, this one familiar and much closer, he opened one eye. Stefan was looking at him, wide awake, grinning, obviously amused.
“What’s this noise?” Brian growled, rolling off Stefan and hiding his head under the pillow.
“Cousins must have arrived,” he replied and sat up, pulling the covers off him.
“Where are you going?” Brian asked, emerging from under his pillow.
“Getting dressed and then say hello,” he smiled, “come on, get up.”
Brian groaned again, rolling on his front, pressing his face on the mattress. “I can’t, I’m ill.”
Stefan laughed. “No you’re not, you’re hungover. Two painkillers and a cup of coffee and you’ll feel better.”
He got on his feet, taking one step towards his suitcase when he felt a small hand grasp his wrist. He turned to see Brian smiling sweetly at him and he raised an eyebrow questioningly.
“Gimme a kiss.”
Stefan grinned and bent down, teasingly licking at Brian’s lips. Brian brought his tongue out, licking at Stefan’s tongue and soon he was lying on top of Brian, kissing him deeply.
“Boooooooyyyyyyyyyyyys!!” Agneta called from downstairs. “Nicole and Blaine are here!!”
Brian let out another groan and Stefan reluctantly moved from his lover’s body, getting on his feet. He opened the first suitcase he found.
“Uhm, Bri?“
“Hm?”
“Why did you pack sandals, sun-tan and that large beach towel?” he asked sceptically.
Brian sat up abruptly, his jaw dropping and his hand soon moving to cover his open mouth.
“Shit, Stef, I won’t have enough clothes and they won’t be warm enough…” he grimaced. Stefan frowned. “Well,” Brian explained, blushing and looking away, “I… I thought we were going to Spain…”
From the corner of his eye, he could see Stefan’s face fall. “Fuck…” he murmured as he remembered their conversation of the week before. Brian must have been looking forward to it. “Aww baby I’m so sorry, I forgot about that, I-”
“No no no!!” Brian exclaimed, jumping on his feet and walking to Stefan. “I’m really happy you took me here, I swear, your family is very sweet and I’m touched, I really am.” He smiled reassuringly, holding Stefan’s hand to his lips, kissing the back of it softly.
Stefan seemed to relax and leaned down to kiss Brian’s cheek before starting to laugh softly.
“What’s so funny?” Brian frowned, a small grin on his lips.
“Nothing, I was just imagining you clad in my clothes…” he laughed harder.
Brian shrugged, pouted and poked his tongue out before bending down, rummaging through his stuff to try and find something to wear.
After sharing some more kisses and other things, they both made their way down the stairs and into the kitchen where Agneta had left some food for a late breakfast.
“Stef!!!” someone exclaimed from behind them.
They both turned to see a blonde guy, looking younger than Stefan and of the height of Brian, bright blue eyes, rather attractive.
“Oh my god, Blaine!!” Stefan wiped his mouth and got up from the table where he had been sitting with Brian, running into the boy’s arms. “Long time no see!”
“Too long,” Blaine pulled away, grinning up at his cousin.
“Blaine, I’d like you to meet Brian,” Stefan said excitedly.
Brian got up, walking to them, shyness taking over him once more. “Hi…”
“Ooh so it’s you, the one we all heard so much about…” he grinned and stared deep in his eyes in a way that made Brian feel quite uncomfortable.
“Uhm, I guess,” he replied, smiling weakly, glancing at Stefan for help.
But he didn’t need it as a girl came in the kitchen, looking very similar to Blaine, though her hair were slightly darker.
“Nicole…” Stefan pulled the girl close.
“Stefan, it’s so good to see you,” she sighed.
“Hey Nicole, this is Brian, you know…” Blaine winked at her.
She looked at Brian, smiling sweetly. “Nice to meet you finally Brian. We’re Stef’s cousins, I’m Nicole, and that sneaky bastard over there is my lil bro Blaine. Be careful with him, he likes pretty boys.”
Brian blushed, smiling weakly at the two of them as he felt even more uncomfortable. Stefan didn’t seem to notice it, though, he was too busy laughing and sharing childhood memories with his two cousins.
Brian’s eyes wandered to the window and to the lake. He walked outside and to the shore. Burying his hands deep in his jeans pockets, he looked in the distance. He took a deep breath, savouring the pure morning air going through his nostrils. And as any intoxicated urban man, he felt in need of a fag. He reached in his back pocket, pulling out the packet and took one, lighting it. He exhaled softly, sitting down on the grass, crossing his legs and stayed still, smoking, admiring the beauty of the site. It reminded him a bit of his grandma’s house in Scotland.
Thinking about his family made his heart sink. Stef’s family was so nice and loving and caring compared to his own. He still couldn’t believe the way they had welcomed him the day before, as if he was part of the family, and all the nice things they said about him. Stefan’s parents loved him, and wanted nothing else but their son to be happy, even if it had to be with another man, they accepted it and didn’t seem to mind.
“Stef, you lucky bastard,” he sighed and shook his head.
“What makes me so lucky?” came an amused voice behind him.
Brian jumped and turned around, looking up at Stefan.
“Stef, you bitch, you scared me!!”
“I’m sorry,” Stefan laughed and sat down next to him, snatching his fag from his cold fingers. “You ok?” he asked after a few seconds, one hand raised to brush Brian’s cheek. “You look a bit sad.”
“Hm?” Brian looked at him and smiled. “Nah I’m fine. I was just thinking that you were lucky to have such a great family.” He didn’t say more, but Stefan knew what was on his mind.
He moved closer, snaking one arm around Brian’s waist, pulling him against his chest, Brian gratefully cuddling up to him.
“Boys?” a voice called from the house. They turned around to see Agneta approaching them, looking at Stefan. “Your dad he’s going fishing, I thought you might wanna accompany him, show Brian what it’s like, what you were doing as a kid.” She smiled broadly.
Stefan looked a bit hesitant, but one glance at Brian and he made up his mind. The small man had a wide grin on his face, obviously intrigued by the ‘kid Stef activities’.
“Yes, good idea mum, when is he leaving?” he asked.
“As soon as you’re ready,” she winked and walked away to inform her husband that they would join him.
“You’re not planning to go like that, are you?” Blaine laughed as Brian walked down the stairs, dressed in ¾ length black trousers and an equally black sleeveless top.
Fred, Nic and Stefan, turned to look at him and laughed as well.
Brian frowned and felt a bit hurt, he didn’t like people making fun of him, and even less about his fashion sense. He looked down at his clothes and back up at the men in front of him.
“Why? What’s wrong with them? The air’s warm enough, I-”
“It’s not that, love,” Stefan smiled, walking to him and squeezing his shoulder comfortingly, “you don’t wanna ruin those, they’re too pretty to go fishing,” he gestured at the clothes.
“We’re gonna have to walk through the woods to get there, there’ll be mud, and then step in the water…” Fred explained.
Brian looked at Stefan, horrified, as if they’d just announced him David Bowie was throwing a party and he wasn’t invited.
Stefan was biting his lip, doing his best not to explode in laughter, though the others didn’t make that much efforts to hide their amusement.
“Fine, what do I have to wear then? I don’t have much clothes for that kind of… things,” Brian asked, pouting.
“Well, it doesn’t really matter since you’ll wear one of those,” Nic replied, holding up something that vaguely looked like a pile of green rubber with boots hanging from it.
Brian raised one eyebrow. “What the hell is that?” he asked slowly, as if afraid of the answer.
Nic held it up properly, revealing deep green rubber dungarees with boots built-in.
A quiet whimper escaped Brian’s lips and he gripped the banister not to fall to the floor in shock. He suddenly erupted in a fit of mad cackle.
“You’re kidding me, right? Hahaha, very funny!!” he exclaimed sarcastically, grinning. But his face fell quickly as he saw the stunned looks on Stefan’s family members’ faces. Once more he turned to his lover.
“Stef?” he asked weakly, “you can’t expect me to wear that…”
Stefan was biting his lip so hard not to smirk that the skin was almost to breaking point. He nodded weakly, taking a deep breath to calm himself down.
Brian’s expression changed from horrified to pouting and from pouting to annoyed. He glared at Stefan and shrugged.
“Anyway, I doubt you have my size, you’re all so tall!” Brian stated, shaking his head in disbelief.
“You can have mine, we have the same size,” Blaine offered, staring deep in Brian’s eyes, making him squirm again under the gaze. Blaine had a small wicked grin on his lips.
“You-you’re not going?” Brian stammered.
“Nah, you need those dungarees more than I do, I bet it’s not everyday you have the opportunity to go fishing, I can go whenever I want,” he winked, and Brian felt somewhat relieved to know he won’t have to spend the day with him.
“Ok, that’s settled, Stefan, go back upstairs with him and find him some clothes,” Fred said, “and hurry up or we’ll be too late and the place will be taken already.” He added as he and Nic made their way outside, taking the dungarees with them.
Blaine just stood there, looking at Brian and Stefan as they climbed up the stairs.
“Stef, do I really have to wear those awful things?” Brian whined as soon as they were back in the Swede’s room.
Stefan sighed. “Come on, Bri, stop whining, it’s gonna be fun!!”
Brian sat down on the bed, looking at Stefan as he was rummaging through his wardrobe. He finally emerged holding a pair of beige trousers and a beige and red checked flannel shirt.
Brian raised an eyebrow sceptically, his face twisting in a mocking grimace.
“Don’t tell me those are yours!” he snorted.
Stefan blushed. “Yeah well, shut up and get into them.”
“No fucking way!!” Brian laughed. “And how come you have such things?? It’s a crime against fashion, Steffie, as a queer you usually have a better taste than that…”
“Fuck off,” Stefan grinned. “I didn’t buy them, my mum did when I was a kid, ‘cause contrary to a certain someone, I did grow up, I didn’t remain a midget!”
Brian poked his tongue out at him, stood up and snatched the clothes from their owner’s hands. He looked at them closely, his face not hiding his obvious disgust.
“What I wouldn’t do for you…” he sighed, and, shaking his head, he started to strip.
It was Stefan’s turn to sit on the bed, and he looked at his lover as clothes fell to the floor. Brian turned around, aware of Stefan’s eyes on him. He smirked and stepped closer to him, pulling the long legs apart with his knee. Stefan’s hands immediately moved to the small hips.
“Can you imagine that such a beautiful body is soon gonna be covered with the most ugly clothes ever?” he purred and Stefan looked up at him, their intense gazes meeting.
Stefan sighed and ran his tongue over his lips, very tempted to taste the soft skin of Brian’s stomach. Instead, he just slapped his arse, causing Brian to squeal, and got up.
“Stop teasing me and get ready or my dad will freak out if someone’s already there when we arrive.” Stefan said seriously.
Brian dressed quickly, not forgetting to complain and once ready, he stood in front of the mirror, a desolated look on his face.
“Stef, if someone sees me in this, and recognizes me, I’m fucked, my reputation is fucked til the end of my life…”
“You’re such a drama queen Brian,” Stefan sighed exasperatedly. He joined Brian and wrapped his arms around the small waist of his lover from behind, leaning his chin on his shoulder and looked in the mirror as well. “I think you’re quite cute actually.”
“Don’t bullshit me Stef,” Brian sniggered.
“I’m not! I dunno if it’s ‘cause you’re in my clothes or ‘cause you actually look like a boy, but I think it suits you, in a way…” Stefan blushed.
Brian looked at his reflection as if he was insane before bursting out laughing. “You’re crazy Stef.” He turned around in his strong arms and looked up at him. “Love you,” he smiled and rose on his tiptoes to press his lips on Stefan’s.
Fred stopped the car on the side of a small path leading inside the forest and they all started to get out of the car except, of course, Brian.
“Bri?” Stefan called, peering inside the car through the open door. “What are you waiting for?”
Brian looked hesitant. “Stef, if there’s a way through the forest, why can’t we go there by car?”
“‘Cause it’s a private property, now come on.” Stefan helped him out of the 4x4 and led him to the back of the car where they all picked up some stuff, dungarees, fishing rods, landing nets and various boxes and buckets.
As they started walking through the woods, Brian’s face grew darker and darker, and Stefan could hear him sigh repeatedly and mumble to himself. After 5 minutes of that, Stefan had enough. He stopped abruptly, causing Brian to bump into him, cursing loudly.
“Fucking hell Stef!!” he looked up and threw him a death glare that startled the poor man.
“Brian, what’s wrong? What’s all that mumbling and sighing and cursing about? If you didn’t wanna come, then you just had to say so and we would have stayed home!!” he exclaimed, slightly pissed off by his boyfriend’s behaviour.
“That’s not the point, I hate woods, I hate walking, and I hate those fucking shoes!!” he spat, pointing at the trainers at his feet. Blaine’s. “They’re too small, it hurts like fuck!”
“Well, serves you right for packing only sandals,” Stefan giggled. Bad idea. Brian was fuming.
“Fuck off!!” he exclaimed and started to walk again, going past Stefan. He walked fast for a few seconds before turning back. “You know, YOU’re the one who didn’t wanna tell me where we were going!!! This is YOUR fault!!”
Stefan sighed, feeling a mix of pissed off, guilty, sympathetic and deeply amused. He walked to Brian who was now shaking. He looked on the verge of tears, tears of frustration. Plus Blaine did have unusually small feet so Brian must really hurt.
“Come on, on my back lady,” he winked, kneeling down.
Brian stared at him, mouth and eyes wide open, his head shaking in disbelief.
“You’re serious?” he asked in a small voice.
“Of course, now hurry up, Dad and Nic have already disappeared in the distance.”
Brian gave a kind of amazed laugh and crawled on Stefan’s back, wrapping his legs around his thin waist and his arms around his strong shoulders. They managed to find a way to carry all their stuff and Stefan started walking as quick as possible to catch up with the two other men.
“You’re a doll…” Brian grinned against his lover’s ear, slowly licking the edge of it and watched amusedly as the skin of his neck covered in goose bumps.
5 more minutes and they were out of the woods and on a pebbles beach, a rather large river flowing in front of them.
“We’re here!” Stefan exclaimed.
“Oh…already?” was Brian’s only reply, he was too preoccupied blushing and feeling silly about his earlier tantrum.
Stefan laughed as he recognised the tone in Brian’s voice and let go of him, letting the small man slip from his back to the ground. He turned and grinned at the very bright red Brian smiling sheepishly at him.
“Well, erm, thanks…” he mumbled, visibly embarrassed.
Stefan felt himself melt inside. This little guy was so cute, and all for him. He reached out for Brian’s chin, cupping it in his hand and lifting it slightly before leaning down and kissing the soft pouty lips.
“Hey guys!! Over here!!!” Nic’s voice interrupted them as the kiss was slowly turning into a full snog and they both giggled, picking up what they had let falling to the ground and walking quickly to where Nic and Fred had settled down.
Pebbles were covering the whole way, and seemed to extend to the whole river bed. Brian, for who walking through the woods was hell, was now wincing with pain at each step as the nasty pebbles were twisting his ankles and pushing the shoes material against his toes.
They finally reached the two others, dropping their stuff to the floor. Brian immediately sat down, taking the trainers off and wiggling his poor toes in the warm air, pouting and grimacing as he massaged them, letting out small whimpers.
Fred, Nic and Stefan exchanged a glance and grinned, holding back a laugh.
“Not used to walking in the nature, eh?” Fred teased him, but Brian didn’t hear it as he was too concentrated on his red hurting toes.
While Brian was busy with his toes, the others started to unpack and prepare everything. Folding stools appeared from nowhere, and the bits of fishing rods were assembled.
When Brian looked up, he was confronted with the sight of his boyfriend as well as his brother and dad all dressed in green rubber dungarees. He stared at them before grinning, wider and wider, finally having to bite his lip not to let out a nasty laughter.
“Don’t you look at us like that!” Stefan laughed, throwing the fourth dungarees at him, “here’s your own.” He winked mockingly.
Brian poked his tongue out and got up, picking up the dungarees and holding them between two fingers, looking at it in disgust.
“Oh well, when you have to… you have to.” He shook his head and stepped into the weird piece of clothing. He brought the straps over his shoulders and looked down at his body, cringing at the thought of how bad he must have looked like that.
He heard a ‘click’ sound and looked up just in time to see Stefan hiding a small camera behind his back. His jaw dropped and he launched himself at Stefan, trying to take the cam from him. But Stefan was faster and handed it to Nic who hid it in one of the bags without Brian noticing.
After a while, Brian, tired of fighting, just leant against Stefan, looking up at him, his chin resting on the taller man’s chest.
“Meany,” he pouted and poked out his tongue. “Right, what do we do now?” he exclaimed, pulling away from his lover and walking to the fishing rods and buckets, trying to have a look at what was in them.
“Now, we each take a rod and a few baits and go try our luck in the water,” Fred answered.
“Baits? What kind of baits will we use? Those kind of bright fake flies and all?” Brian asked, trying to sound like he knew something about fishing.
“Ahh yes, we’ll use that later on, but for now, we’ll use those…” he said, walking to one of the buckets and opening it. The inside of the bucket was swarming with pink-grey maggots, producing an awful suction/rubbing sound and a more than nasty smell.
Brian peeked inside and gulped, gathering all his courage not to run away. He gulped again, his face turning a greenish shade.
“Those are… maggots, right?” he asked in a shaking voice, feeling a bit sick.
“Yes, and we’ll hang one at the fish-hook and wait for a fish to bite,” Nic looked up and winked. He frowned when he saw the look on Brian’s face. “You ok?” he asked concernedly.
“Mhmm,” was the simple mumbled reply, the small man’s eyes locked on the contents of the bucket.
After a while, he seemed to come back to his senses and raised his head, a look of apprehension on his face.
“So, uhm, I have to, uhm, take some of those, and, uhm, hang them to the hook,” Nic nodded to him, “with my fingers, right?” Again, Nic nodded, looking more and more amused.
Brian swallowed hard, taking a deep breath and trying to look brave. “Ok.” He put on a fake smile, doing his best not to show his disgust.
A few minutes later, they were all stepping in the water, each of them armed with a fishing rod and a bag of maggots hanging from their arms. Brian followed Stefan until he had water coming up to his waist.
“Uhm, Stef, stop,” he called after Stefan who was still walking further in the river.
He turned back, looking at the man a few feet behind him. “What is it?”
Brian gestured vaguely to his waist. “I can’t go much further in or the water will come up above the edge of the dungarees, and I don’t wanna get wet.”
Stefan nodded and joined him, sighing and shaking his head jokingly. “Midgets…” he murmured loud enough for Brian to hear, knowing it was driving him crazy.
He was right, Brian’s face grew red and he glared up at him, obviously struggling to find an appropriate reply. “Hmmphhh” he groaned, not having found anything. He just turned away from Stefan, fumbling with his fishing rod, trying to understand how it worked.
Stefan laughed. “Brian, look, here, like that,” he said, showing him what to do.
He opened his bag and took out a maggot. Brian couldn’t help grimacing as he looked at the pink little thing wriggling between Stefan’s fingers. But he kept watching as Stefan attached the maggot to the hook and flung it forward, the line casting off. The hook landed in the water a few feet in front of them and Stefan turned to Brian.
“See? Not complicated,” he smiled. “Your turn.”
Brian opened his bag, letting out a strangled whimper as he put his hand inside, gulping as his fingertips came in contact with the swarming content. Stefan watched him, amused. The poor little guy really seemed to be using all of his courage and bravery to get the hook through the maggot. He cringed as a little droplet of blood escaped the pink thing and took hold of the line, raising the hook in front of his face. Stefan laughed as Brian threw a disgusting look at the maggot before turning to him.
“Er, what do I do now? I fling it forward?” He didn’t wait for Stefan’s reply. He raised the fishing rod and with one swift movement, threw the line forward.
“Brian, no!!!!!” Stefan exclaimed loudly, his hands moving to stop Brian’s arm. But he was too late. The bag of maggots, still open, had let its content fall in the water, and hundreds of maggots were now happily swimming around them.
Brian let out a shriek as he realised what had happened and immediately dropped his fishing rod, throwing his arms in the air, rising on his tiptoes.
“Steeeef!!!” he squealed, “Stef help me please!!! They’re all around they’re on me I can feel it fucking hell Stef help me!!!” He yelled out. Stefan turned to find the smaller man splashing and screeching, and generally making a large fuss, so he started to wade towards him.
But before he could do anything, Brian was running to the shore, almost tripping in the process. He stumbled on the pebbles and once he was out of the water, he started pulling roughly at his dungarees and kicking his legs. He got out of them quickly and threw them away, taking several steps back, before falling to the floor and staring at the discarded dungarees suspiciously. He started scratching his skin and slapping at his trousers. “They’re still on me… crawling… uuhh” he whimpered to himself as he tried to seek out the non-existent maggots.
Stefan ran after him, stopping in front of him and looking at him pulling at his clothes and skin, turning on himself as he tried to look at his back.
Stefan grabbed his arm, stopping him in the middle of his investigation. “Hey, calm down Bri…”
Brian snatched his arm from Stefan’s grip and resumed checking himself agitatedly. “I need to get them off Stef!! Aargh! What’s this???” He moved closer to Stefan, biting his lip in apprehension, holding a piece of fabric on the back of his shoulder.
“That’s just the seam you dummy! There’s nothing on you.” Stefan laughed and shook his head as Brian looked at it and sighed in relief, his whole body relaxing.
Stefan reached out to Brian, pulling him into a big bear hug, ruffling the dark hair.
“Hang on, what’s this?” Stefan asked, faking to find something on Brian’s back.
Brian pulled away, trying to look at his back. “What? What did you find?” he asked, slight panic in his voice. He turned to stare at Stefan as he heard him laugh.
“I was just kidding Bri,” Stefan grinned.
Brian glared at him. “Yeah very funny!” he snapped and walked back to his dungarees, carefully picking them from the floor and examining them. When he was sure there was no risk, he slipped back in them. Still ignoring Stefan’s presence, he started making his way to the water, walking along the shore in hope to find his fishing rod.
“Brian! Brian!!” Stefan called and ran after him, grabbing his shoulder to make him stop as Brian was doing a great job in ignoring him. “I’m sorry ok, I didn’t think you’d take it like that!” he exclaimed exasperatedly.
Brian turned around, trying to look pissed off but a pout soon replaced his mad expression. He shrugged and looked at his feet. “I just hate those, I really do.” He looked up at Stefan and grimaced. “Imagine they could have crawled into my pants…” he shuddered and moved closer to Stefan, cuddling up against his chest, sighing as the tall man wrapped his long arms around his back.
They heard the sound of someone walking on pebbles and turned to see Fred approaching them, holding a fishing rod.
“Is that yours?” he asked Brian as he neared them.
Brian blushed. “Uhm yes, thanks.” He took it from Stefan’s dad who was looking at him oddly.
“We heard screams, then the rod came floating down the river to where we were… what happened? Are you ok?” he asked concernedly.
Brian looked embarrassed and Stefan had to bite his lip not to laugh and was struggling to keep his face straight.
“We’re fine, thank you Fred, I just got… uhm, surprised…” Brian mumbled, turning bright red.
Mr Olsdal raised an eyebrow and looked at his son questioningly. Stefan mouthed ‘I’ll tell you later’ behind his boyfriend’s back and winked, smirking. Fred grinned, causing Brian to turn and look at Stefan suspiciously.
“Alright then, I’m going back to Nic, we’ll have lunch a bit later, ok?”
The boys nodded in agreement and Fred walked away.
“What did you do behind my back?” Brian asked slowly, hands on his hips, one eyebrow raised.
Stefan held up his hands in defence, looking innocent. “Who, me? I did nothing!” he grinned. “Stop being so paranoid.”
Brian sighed, shaking his head. “I have reasons to be!” he grinned back.
“Now you have your rod back, which is a luck, can we go back to fishing?”
“If I have to…” Brian sighed dramatically.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be there to protect you if the nasty worms come back to attack you and eat your pants off!” Stefan smirked.
Brian hit him playfully. “Yeah, you’d be like my own superman… Supersteffles, rescuing a weak lady from the awful sneaky worms.”
“Haha, I don’t think I could stand wearing tight red pants…and blue just isn’t my colour.” Stefan shook his head as they made their way to the water.
“You don’t have to dress like him, you could have your own costume…”
“Oh and what do you have in mind? ‘Cause I’m sure you do have something…”
“You know me so well.” Brian grinned. “Well…” he stopped walking, turning to look at Stefan. His hand moved to his chin, holding it pensively. “I think boxers would do.”
Stefan laughed. “Just boxers?”
Brian nodded. “Of course… why would you hide such a gorgeous body?” he smirked. “Just golden boxers!”
Stefan grimaced. “Golden? That looks so gay!”
Brian sniggered. “Stefan, you ARE gay!! Plus they have to be golden.”
“And why is that?”
“‘Cause they’re magical!!!” he exclaimed, a mysterious smile playing on his lips.
Stefan burst out laughing. “Magical boxers?? Oh my god Brian, what did you smoke?”
Brian shrugged, laughing as well. “Just think about it and all wonderful things they could do!”
“And what could they do?” Stefan asked between fits of laughter.
“Err… argh! I can’t think, but you’d look hot as fuck in them.” Brian smirked naughtily.
Stefan laughed. “Ok, consider this as Supersteffles’ first mission then…” He knelt down, grabbing Brian’s legs and hoisted him up onto his shoulder, Brian’s small legs down his front and his head and chest hanging down his back. “Let’s fly to the river!! Wooooooo!!!” he exclaimed and started running to the river and inside, splashing water all over Brian’s body, the small man giggling madly, slapping Stefan’s arse.
One hour later, Stefan had caught a few small fish, but Brian’s score was still 0.
“Why the fuck are they eating your worms and not mine??? A worm is a worm!” he exclaimed, more and more annoyed as time was passing. “What are you doing that you didn’t tell me to do?? I want the fucking fish to eat my fucking worm!!!”
Stefan giggled at Brian’s last sentence, causing Brian to throw him a sceptical look. Stefan only shrugged.
“I have no idea why they don’t like your worm Brian,” Stefan smirked, jumping slightly as another fish bit at the end of his line. “I don’t see what’s wrong with it, it’s quite nice actually…” he winked.
“But I… Steeef!!” he stopped and exclaimed exasperatedly as he finally realised what Stefan was on about.
“Stef! Brian!” Nic called from the shore. “Come on, we’re gonna have lunch!”
Brian sighed in relief. “At long last.”
He and Stefan made their way out of the water and to where Fred was starting to gather some bits of wood to make a fire and dropping them next to a circle of stone.
“Hey, how did fishing go? Did you catch anything?” Nic asked Brian cheerfully, emptying his fishing net into a bucket, then adding Fred’s and Stefan’s fish.
Brian looked at the fish, bumping stupidly into each other in the small space of water they had and grunted his reply.
“What was that?” Nic raised his eyebrow, glancing at his brother.
“He’s pissed off ‘cause the fish weren’t interested in his maggots,” Stefan grinned.
“You didn’t catch anything?” Nic asked, surprised. “That’s odd, this river is full of fish, it’s usually quite easy to catch something…”
Brian looked disgusted and sat on the floor, pouting.
“What do we have to eat?” he asked in a small voice after a few minutes of sulking.
“Fish!” Stefan and Nic exclaimed together, laughing at the look on Brian’s face.
“Speaking of which, we have to empty them, gimme a hand, would you?” Nic asked his brother.
“Hang on…” Brian looked at them with big eyes. “You mean we’re gonna eat those?” he pointed at the bucket. “They’re still alive!!”
“That’s why we gotta kill them first.” Nic winked.
Brian’s jaw dropped in shock and he turned to look at Stefan.
“Don’t look at me like that Bri, what’s wrong with that? You often eat fish in London, I don’t see what’s the problem…”
“But… but… I never thought of it as real fish… I mean, it’s just bits, it doesn’t look like fish when I buy it…” he grimaced.
Stefan and Nic laughed. “And where do you think it comes from? A tree?”
Brian resisted the urge to show him the finger. “Ha-ha,” he laughed sarcastically, “very funny. I meant it’s just food in shops, not animals… get me? I don’t have to…” another grimace “watch some barbarians kill and open and empty it!” he finished with a shudder.
“Oh god Bri, you’re such a sissy.” Stefan sighed, shaking his head.
“Fuck you!” Brian spat.
“Not in front of the fish honey,” Stefan poked his tongue out at him and Brian huffed in frustration.
“Poor fish…” Brian was standing in front of the fire, looking down at the fish happily grilling. “Poor, poor fish…” He shook his head and sighed.
“Hmm, they look ok, I think we can eat now.” Stefan said from just behind him.
Brian turned around, looking up at him. “You’re so cruel…”
Stefan raised an eyebrow. “Does that mean you’ll go without food? ‘Cause that’s all we have…” He smirked at the look of pure shock on his boyfriend’s face.
“Alright then…” Brian pouted at him.
“Alright then what? You’re having some or not?”
“Yes,” Brian mumbled.
“What was that? I didn’t hear.” Stefan teased him.
“Yes! I’m fucking hungry, ok?” Brian exclaimed and Stefan laughed, happy with himself.
They all settled down on the pebbles next to the fire, eating fresh fish, and Brian couldn’t do anything else than to admit that it was the best he ever ate. He was rewarded by a pat on the head from Stefan, a grin from Fred and a laugh from Nic.
He himself couldn’t help a big smile from appearing on his lips as he looked around himself. He felt good, here in the nature, experiencing new stuff. It was quite a change from his every-day-life, a very nice one. Stefan’s family was making him feel like a normal human being, he didn’t feel out of place like with his own family. He was having a good time, better than he had in ages. And it was all thanks to his wonderful Steffie.
He turned his head in Stefan’s direction, smiling as he met the warm brown eyes of his lover. Stefan smiled back, guessing the thoughts present in Brian’s head and he reached out for one small hand, squeezing it in his.
After a few more bites of fish, a few beers and loads of chatting and laughing, they were all back in the river. Fred and Nic had decided to try their luck upstream this time while Brian and Stefan kept their earlier spot.
“Do you think they will like my maggots now?” Brian asked, nodding to the water.
“I’m sure that now you ate one of them, they will be more than willing to piss you off by stealing your worms.” Stefan winked.
“Ooh so that’s how you Swedish people do!!” Brian exclaimed and started laughing.
“Fish are stupid…” he added after a while of silence.
“Why?” Stefan grinned.
“They’re not logical… they should have liked me more ‘cause I never hurt one of them, but instead they ignored me and preferred to go to your worms, knowing perfectly you had already murdered members of their family… no logic at all…”
Stefan stared at him with big surprised eyes.
“On the other hand,” Brian continued, “the fact you ate them could explain their preference. They’ve been in your body, parts of them are still in you, in your blood, muscles and all, and the fish in the river might feel their brothers’ and sisters’ auras emanating from you…”
Stefan was now gawping at him, shaking his head in amazement.
Brian noticed the look on his face. “What?”
“I can’t believe we’re having this conversation…” Stefan answered, disbelief in his voice, and the both of them burst into laughter.
Hours passed, and when the sun started to go down, Brian still hadn’t caught the tiniest fish.
“I must be cursed or something…” he sighed. “This sucks! What will I look like when we go back to your home and you all bring back loads of fish and I have nothing?? A whole fucking day and nothing, not one single fish!!! Stef, what- aaaaaaaaargh!!!”
Brian shrieked as something almost snatched the rod from his hands, something that was pulling on it with such a force Brian was struggling to keep hold of it.
“Oh my fucking god Stef!! I have a bite!! Stef help me goddammit!!!” he squealed.
Stefan join him quickly and helped him turning the reel and getting the line back to him. When Brian pulled the hook out of the water, a huge salmon was hanging onto it, wriggling madly to get free.
“Holy shit…” they both murmured in unison, gaping at the big fish at the end of Brian’s line.
“Wow… you don’t catch anything for all day, but when you do, it has to be the biggest fucking fish of the whole river! I’ve never seen such a big salmon!” Stefan moved closer from the fish, watching it in awe. He took it down and put it in the fishing net. “Come on Bri, lets get out before this fellow decides to sneak away from us.”
They walked back to the shore where Stefan dropped the fish in a bucket, which they found out was way too small for such a bit creature. The salmon was wriggling so hard the bucket fell over and the fish went hopping on the pebbles.
“Hey you fuck!! Don’t you dare buggering off on me!! I’ve waited for you all bloody day so come back!!” Brian exclaimed, running after the fish, trying to catch it but it kept slipping from his hands.
Stefan was laughing so hard watching his boyfriend running after a fish that his abs were hurting and he had to hold his sides.
“Stop laughing dammit and come and help me!!!” Brian shrieked, trying to kick the fish with his foot but missing it and ending up sending a few pebbles flying.
Stefan grabbed a fishing net and ran to Brian and his rebellious salmon. He threw the net over the fish which was soon prisoner but kept giving weak attempts at hopping away.
“Thank you!” Brian sighed, breathless. His gaze moved to the fish which was desperately trying to get some oxygen but looked weaker and weaker by the minute. Brian kneeled down next to it and poked it. “Aww poor fishy…”
Stefan sniggered. “You can’t help it, can you? It tries to fuck off but you still pity it…” he laughed.
Brian took a deep breath. “You know what Steffie? You’re right.” He pointed at the dying salmon. “You got what you deserved you bitch!! You’re gonna die and then I’ll eat you and all your children will love me afterwards!!! Mwahahaha!!” he broke off in the wickedest evil laughter.
“Oh my god! Stef is it you who got this one??” Fred exclaimed as he and Nic came back.
“No, it’s Bri.” Stef laughed at Brian who was grinning happily.
“Really?” Nic stared at Brian, amazed. “Wow!!” he moved to pick up the fish, looking at it closely and showing it to his dad.
“That’s the biggest fish I’ve seen in quite a while, I didn’t know it was possible to get one with just a simple maggot…” Fred shook his head in disbelief. “That calls for a picture!” he added as an afterthought.
“A picture?” Brian asked, confused.
“Yep, when someone gets a really big fish, it’s tradition that a picture is taken of him holding his fish.” Stefan answered.
Brian looked at him oddly before bursting out laughing. “Ok, why not.”
Nic handed him the salmon, indicating to Brian to hold it by the tail while Stefan found the camera.
“Hang on.” Brian stopped Stefan as he was about to take the picture. “I want you to be on the picture with me.” He smiled.
Stefan smiled back, handed the camera to his brother and moved to his boyfriend’s side, wrapping one arm around the narrow shoulders as Brian was holding the fish on his other side, beaming proudly.
Once they were done, they quickly packed all their stuff and walked back to the car, Brian still in his dungarees as it was more comfortable for him to walk in them than in the tiny trainers. He only took them off when they reached the car.
A few hours later, Brian was lying in the grass at the back of the house, his head resting on Stefan’s stomach, both men looking up at the stars in silence.
When they had come back home, Fred had made Brian show the fish to the whole family who had awed in admiration, and Agneta had insisted on cooking it for dinner.
They had had a nice meal, outside like the day before, chatting, laughing and talking about Stefan’s childhood.
“You really built a wooden house?” Brian broke the silence.
“Mh-hmm,” Stefan answered, “on the other side of the lake.”
“That’s quite far from here, you were walking all the way til there? Wasn’t it dangerous to walk in the woods by yourself when you were so young?” Brian asked, turning to lie on his front, resting his chin on his hand as he looked up at the man lying next to him.
“Well, nothing bad can really happen here, it’s a quiet and calm place, plus I was never really alone, there was always my bro or cousins with me…”
“Are you still going there?” Brian continued, absentmindedly playing with Stefan’s shirt.
There was a short pause before he replied. “Actually no, I haven’t been there for years… it must have become a ruin by now. It was nothing big, just a small house built by four children… we had fun there…” he added, smiling softly at the memories.
“Would you show me?” Brian asked hopefully.
“You wanna see it?” Stefan replied, surprised.
“If that’s ok with you, I’d love to. I… I’ve never had anything like that, you know, I didn’t get to do all the things a child usually does. I was alone, my brother was too old to play with me, and we lived in a city, there was no woods around… And when we were visiting my grandma in Scotland, I wasn’t allowed to wander too far from the house anyway, so…” Brian trailed off, a sad and bitter tone clearly audible in his voice.
“Of course we can go, love.” Stefan said, not really knowing what to reply to that.
Brian simply smiled at him and cuddled up to him, resting his head on Stefan’s chest and laying one arm across his waist as Stefan wrapped his arms around his small body, stroking his dark hair with one hand.
“Thank you,” Brian whispered after several minutes of silence.
“What for sweetheart?” Stefan asked softly, still running his fingers through his lover’s hair.
“For taking me here and showing me what the word family really is about…” Brian replied, snuggling even closer to Stefan.
“I’m glad you like them.” Stefan said genuinely.
“They’re lovely.”
“So are you.”
Brian just smiled, burying his face in Stefan’s neck and closing his eyes, letting out a small contented sigh, quickly dozing off.
“I think we’d better go to bed now.” Stefan laughed softly as he felt Brian’s body grow limp.
“But I feel good here,” Brian protested weakly, moaning as Stefan moved to stand up.
“Come on, love, we can’t sleep here or we’ll get a cold.” He helped Brian up.
Brian fell against him, half asleep, hugging him tightly, nuzzling his neck. He tilted up his face, blindly searching for Stefan’s lips. He let out a tiny sigh as he found them and they shared a slow tender kiss. Then Stefan moved Brian’s arms around his neck and picked the small man up, wrapping the short legs around his waist and carrying the sleeping form inside the house.
Author: j33_3
Fandom: Placebo
Genre: Romance/Fluff
Pairing: Molsdal
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Stefan takes Brian on a holiday... somewhere Brian hadn't expected...
Author's Note: This is the first really long fic i managed to write. It took me about a year and a half to write, on and off. It doesn't really have a plot as in the supsense sense of the word but it does follow a line and makes sense... I hope :D Oh and the Banana Café is a real place located in Paris.
I divided the fic according to the days in the story, ‘cause LJ wouldn’t take the whole thing. In all, there are 7 days, so 7 parts.
Brian woke up in the morning at the sound of car doors slamming shut and voices cheering downstairs, followed by some laughter.
Brian stirred and groaned, pressing his hand on the ear that wasn’t resting in Stefan’s chest, trying to shut the noise out. But as he heard another laughter, this one familiar and much closer, he opened one eye. Stefan was looking at him, wide awake, grinning, obviously amused.
“What’s this noise?” Brian growled, rolling off Stefan and hiding his head under the pillow.
“Cousins must have arrived,” he replied and sat up, pulling the covers off him.
“Where are you going?” Brian asked, emerging from under his pillow.
“Getting dressed and then say hello,” he smiled, “come on, get up.”
Brian groaned again, rolling on his front, pressing his face on the mattress. “I can’t, I’m ill.”
Stefan laughed. “No you’re not, you’re hungover. Two painkillers and a cup of coffee and you’ll feel better.”
He got on his feet, taking one step towards his suitcase when he felt a small hand grasp his wrist. He turned to see Brian smiling sweetly at him and he raised an eyebrow questioningly.
“Gimme a kiss.”
Stefan grinned and bent down, teasingly licking at Brian’s lips. Brian brought his tongue out, licking at Stefan’s tongue and soon he was lying on top of Brian, kissing him deeply.
“Boooooooyyyyyyyyyyyys!!” Agneta called from downstairs. “Nicole and Blaine are here!!”
Brian let out another groan and Stefan reluctantly moved from his lover’s body, getting on his feet. He opened the first suitcase he found.
“Uhm, Bri?“
“Hm?”
“Why did you pack sandals, sun-tan and that large beach towel?” he asked sceptically.
Brian sat up abruptly, his jaw dropping and his hand soon moving to cover his open mouth.
“Shit, Stef, I won’t have enough clothes and they won’t be warm enough…” he grimaced. Stefan frowned. “Well,” Brian explained, blushing and looking away, “I… I thought we were going to Spain…”
From the corner of his eye, he could see Stefan’s face fall. “Fuck…” he murmured as he remembered their conversation of the week before. Brian must have been looking forward to it. “Aww baby I’m so sorry, I forgot about that, I-”
“No no no!!” Brian exclaimed, jumping on his feet and walking to Stefan. “I’m really happy you took me here, I swear, your family is very sweet and I’m touched, I really am.” He smiled reassuringly, holding Stefan’s hand to his lips, kissing the back of it softly.
Stefan seemed to relax and leaned down to kiss Brian’s cheek before starting to laugh softly.
“What’s so funny?” Brian frowned, a small grin on his lips.
“Nothing, I was just imagining you clad in my clothes…” he laughed harder.
Brian shrugged, pouted and poked his tongue out before bending down, rummaging through his stuff to try and find something to wear.
After sharing some more kisses and other things, they both made their way down the stairs and into the kitchen where Agneta had left some food for a late breakfast.
“Stef!!!” someone exclaimed from behind them.
They both turned to see a blonde guy, looking younger than Stefan and of the height of Brian, bright blue eyes, rather attractive.
“Oh my god, Blaine!!” Stefan wiped his mouth and got up from the table where he had been sitting with Brian, running into the boy’s arms. “Long time no see!”
“Too long,” Blaine pulled away, grinning up at his cousin.
“Blaine, I’d like you to meet Brian,” Stefan said excitedly.
Brian got up, walking to them, shyness taking over him once more. “Hi…”
“Ooh so it’s you, the one we all heard so much about…” he grinned and stared deep in his eyes in a way that made Brian feel quite uncomfortable.
“Uhm, I guess,” he replied, smiling weakly, glancing at Stefan for help.
But he didn’t need it as a girl came in the kitchen, looking very similar to Blaine, though her hair were slightly darker.
“Nicole…” Stefan pulled the girl close.
“Stefan, it’s so good to see you,” she sighed.
“Hey Nicole, this is Brian, you know…” Blaine winked at her.
She looked at Brian, smiling sweetly. “Nice to meet you finally Brian. We’re Stef’s cousins, I’m Nicole, and that sneaky bastard over there is my lil bro Blaine. Be careful with him, he likes pretty boys.”
Brian blushed, smiling weakly at the two of them as he felt even more uncomfortable. Stefan didn’t seem to notice it, though, he was too busy laughing and sharing childhood memories with his two cousins.
Brian’s eyes wandered to the window and to the lake. He walked outside and to the shore. Burying his hands deep in his jeans pockets, he looked in the distance. He took a deep breath, savouring the pure morning air going through his nostrils. And as any intoxicated urban man, he felt in need of a fag. He reached in his back pocket, pulling out the packet and took one, lighting it. He exhaled softly, sitting down on the grass, crossing his legs and stayed still, smoking, admiring the beauty of the site. It reminded him a bit of his grandma’s house in Scotland.
Thinking about his family made his heart sink. Stef’s family was so nice and loving and caring compared to his own. He still couldn’t believe the way they had welcomed him the day before, as if he was part of the family, and all the nice things they said about him. Stefan’s parents loved him, and wanted nothing else but their son to be happy, even if it had to be with another man, they accepted it and didn’t seem to mind.
“Stef, you lucky bastard,” he sighed and shook his head.
“What makes me so lucky?” came an amused voice behind him.
Brian jumped and turned around, looking up at Stefan.
“Stef, you bitch, you scared me!!”
“I’m sorry,” Stefan laughed and sat down next to him, snatching his fag from his cold fingers. “You ok?” he asked after a few seconds, one hand raised to brush Brian’s cheek. “You look a bit sad.”
“Hm?” Brian looked at him and smiled. “Nah I’m fine. I was just thinking that you were lucky to have such a great family.” He didn’t say more, but Stefan knew what was on his mind.
He moved closer, snaking one arm around Brian’s waist, pulling him against his chest, Brian gratefully cuddling up to him.
“Boys?” a voice called from the house. They turned around to see Agneta approaching them, looking at Stefan. “Your dad he’s going fishing, I thought you might wanna accompany him, show Brian what it’s like, what you were doing as a kid.” She smiled broadly.
Stefan looked a bit hesitant, but one glance at Brian and he made up his mind. The small man had a wide grin on his face, obviously intrigued by the ‘kid Stef activities’.
“Yes, good idea mum, when is he leaving?” he asked.
“As soon as you’re ready,” she winked and walked away to inform her husband that they would join him.
“You’re not planning to go like that, are you?” Blaine laughed as Brian walked down the stairs, dressed in ¾ length black trousers and an equally black sleeveless top.
Fred, Nic and Stefan, turned to look at him and laughed as well.
Brian frowned and felt a bit hurt, he didn’t like people making fun of him, and even less about his fashion sense. He looked down at his clothes and back up at the men in front of him.
“Why? What’s wrong with them? The air’s warm enough, I-”
“It’s not that, love,” Stefan smiled, walking to him and squeezing his shoulder comfortingly, “you don’t wanna ruin those, they’re too pretty to go fishing,” he gestured at the clothes.
“We’re gonna have to walk through the woods to get there, there’ll be mud, and then step in the water…” Fred explained.
Brian looked at Stefan, horrified, as if they’d just announced him David Bowie was throwing a party and he wasn’t invited.
Stefan was biting his lip, doing his best not to explode in laughter, though the others didn’t make that much efforts to hide their amusement.
“Fine, what do I have to wear then? I don’t have much clothes for that kind of… things,” Brian asked, pouting.
“Well, it doesn’t really matter since you’ll wear one of those,” Nic replied, holding up something that vaguely looked like a pile of green rubber with boots hanging from it.
Brian raised one eyebrow. “What the hell is that?” he asked slowly, as if afraid of the answer.
Nic held it up properly, revealing deep green rubber dungarees with boots built-in.
A quiet whimper escaped Brian’s lips and he gripped the banister not to fall to the floor in shock. He suddenly erupted in a fit of mad cackle.
“You’re kidding me, right? Hahaha, very funny!!” he exclaimed sarcastically, grinning. But his face fell quickly as he saw the stunned looks on Stefan’s family members’ faces. Once more he turned to his lover.
“Stef?” he asked weakly, “you can’t expect me to wear that…”
Stefan was biting his lip so hard not to smirk that the skin was almost to breaking point. He nodded weakly, taking a deep breath to calm himself down.
Brian’s expression changed from horrified to pouting and from pouting to annoyed. He glared at Stefan and shrugged.
“Anyway, I doubt you have my size, you’re all so tall!” Brian stated, shaking his head in disbelief.
“You can have mine, we have the same size,” Blaine offered, staring deep in Brian’s eyes, making him squirm again under the gaze. Blaine had a small wicked grin on his lips.
“You-you’re not going?” Brian stammered.
“Nah, you need those dungarees more than I do, I bet it’s not everyday you have the opportunity to go fishing, I can go whenever I want,” he winked, and Brian felt somewhat relieved to know he won’t have to spend the day with him.
“Ok, that’s settled, Stefan, go back upstairs with him and find him some clothes,” Fred said, “and hurry up or we’ll be too late and the place will be taken already.” He added as he and Nic made their way outside, taking the dungarees with them.
Blaine just stood there, looking at Brian and Stefan as they climbed up the stairs.
“Stef, do I really have to wear those awful things?” Brian whined as soon as they were back in the Swede’s room.
Stefan sighed. “Come on, Bri, stop whining, it’s gonna be fun!!”
Brian sat down on the bed, looking at Stefan as he was rummaging through his wardrobe. He finally emerged holding a pair of beige trousers and a beige and red checked flannel shirt.
Brian raised an eyebrow sceptically, his face twisting in a mocking grimace.
“Don’t tell me those are yours!” he snorted.
Stefan blushed. “Yeah well, shut up and get into them.”
“No fucking way!!” Brian laughed. “And how come you have such things?? It’s a crime against fashion, Steffie, as a queer you usually have a better taste than that…”
“Fuck off,” Stefan grinned. “I didn’t buy them, my mum did when I was a kid, ‘cause contrary to a certain someone, I did grow up, I didn’t remain a midget!”
Brian poked his tongue out at him, stood up and snatched the clothes from their owner’s hands. He looked at them closely, his face not hiding his obvious disgust.
“What I wouldn’t do for you…” he sighed, and, shaking his head, he started to strip.
It was Stefan’s turn to sit on the bed, and he looked at his lover as clothes fell to the floor. Brian turned around, aware of Stefan’s eyes on him. He smirked and stepped closer to him, pulling the long legs apart with his knee. Stefan’s hands immediately moved to the small hips.
“Can you imagine that such a beautiful body is soon gonna be covered with the most ugly clothes ever?” he purred and Stefan looked up at him, their intense gazes meeting.
Stefan sighed and ran his tongue over his lips, very tempted to taste the soft skin of Brian’s stomach. Instead, he just slapped his arse, causing Brian to squeal, and got up.
“Stop teasing me and get ready or my dad will freak out if someone’s already there when we arrive.” Stefan said seriously.
Brian dressed quickly, not forgetting to complain and once ready, he stood in front of the mirror, a desolated look on his face.
“Stef, if someone sees me in this, and recognizes me, I’m fucked, my reputation is fucked til the end of my life…”
“You’re such a drama queen Brian,” Stefan sighed exasperatedly. He joined Brian and wrapped his arms around the small waist of his lover from behind, leaning his chin on his shoulder and looked in the mirror as well. “I think you’re quite cute actually.”
“Don’t bullshit me Stef,” Brian sniggered.
“I’m not! I dunno if it’s ‘cause you’re in my clothes or ‘cause you actually look like a boy, but I think it suits you, in a way…” Stefan blushed.
Brian looked at his reflection as if he was insane before bursting out laughing. “You’re crazy Stef.” He turned around in his strong arms and looked up at him. “Love you,” he smiled and rose on his tiptoes to press his lips on Stefan’s.
Fred stopped the car on the side of a small path leading inside the forest and they all started to get out of the car except, of course, Brian.
“Bri?” Stefan called, peering inside the car through the open door. “What are you waiting for?”
Brian looked hesitant. “Stef, if there’s a way through the forest, why can’t we go there by car?”
“‘Cause it’s a private property, now come on.” Stefan helped him out of the 4x4 and led him to the back of the car where they all picked up some stuff, dungarees, fishing rods, landing nets and various boxes and buckets.
As they started walking through the woods, Brian’s face grew darker and darker, and Stefan could hear him sigh repeatedly and mumble to himself. After 5 minutes of that, Stefan had enough. He stopped abruptly, causing Brian to bump into him, cursing loudly.
“Fucking hell Stef!!” he looked up and threw him a death glare that startled the poor man.
“Brian, what’s wrong? What’s all that mumbling and sighing and cursing about? If you didn’t wanna come, then you just had to say so and we would have stayed home!!” he exclaimed, slightly pissed off by his boyfriend’s behaviour.
“That’s not the point, I hate woods, I hate walking, and I hate those fucking shoes!!” he spat, pointing at the trainers at his feet. Blaine’s. “They’re too small, it hurts like fuck!”
“Well, serves you right for packing only sandals,” Stefan giggled. Bad idea. Brian was fuming.
“Fuck off!!” he exclaimed and started to walk again, going past Stefan. He walked fast for a few seconds before turning back. “You know, YOU’re the one who didn’t wanna tell me where we were going!!! This is YOUR fault!!”
Stefan sighed, feeling a mix of pissed off, guilty, sympathetic and deeply amused. He walked to Brian who was now shaking. He looked on the verge of tears, tears of frustration. Plus Blaine did have unusually small feet so Brian must really hurt.
“Come on, on my back lady,” he winked, kneeling down.
Brian stared at him, mouth and eyes wide open, his head shaking in disbelief.
“You’re serious?” he asked in a small voice.
“Of course, now hurry up, Dad and Nic have already disappeared in the distance.”
Brian gave a kind of amazed laugh and crawled on Stefan’s back, wrapping his legs around his thin waist and his arms around his strong shoulders. They managed to find a way to carry all their stuff and Stefan started walking as quick as possible to catch up with the two other men.
“You’re a doll…” Brian grinned against his lover’s ear, slowly licking the edge of it and watched amusedly as the skin of his neck covered in goose bumps.
5 more minutes and they were out of the woods and on a pebbles beach, a rather large river flowing in front of them.
“We’re here!” Stefan exclaimed.
“Oh…already?” was Brian’s only reply, he was too preoccupied blushing and feeling silly about his earlier tantrum.
Stefan laughed as he recognised the tone in Brian’s voice and let go of him, letting the small man slip from his back to the ground. He turned and grinned at the very bright red Brian smiling sheepishly at him.
“Well, erm, thanks…” he mumbled, visibly embarrassed.
Stefan felt himself melt inside. This little guy was so cute, and all for him. He reached out for Brian’s chin, cupping it in his hand and lifting it slightly before leaning down and kissing the soft pouty lips.
“Hey guys!! Over here!!!” Nic’s voice interrupted them as the kiss was slowly turning into a full snog and they both giggled, picking up what they had let falling to the ground and walking quickly to where Nic and Fred had settled down.
Pebbles were covering the whole way, and seemed to extend to the whole river bed. Brian, for who walking through the woods was hell, was now wincing with pain at each step as the nasty pebbles were twisting his ankles and pushing the shoes material against his toes.
They finally reached the two others, dropping their stuff to the floor. Brian immediately sat down, taking the trainers off and wiggling his poor toes in the warm air, pouting and grimacing as he massaged them, letting out small whimpers.
Fred, Nic and Stefan exchanged a glance and grinned, holding back a laugh.
“Not used to walking in the nature, eh?” Fred teased him, but Brian didn’t hear it as he was too concentrated on his red hurting toes.
While Brian was busy with his toes, the others started to unpack and prepare everything. Folding stools appeared from nowhere, and the bits of fishing rods were assembled.
When Brian looked up, he was confronted with the sight of his boyfriend as well as his brother and dad all dressed in green rubber dungarees. He stared at them before grinning, wider and wider, finally having to bite his lip not to let out a nasty laughter.
“Don’t you look at us like that!” Stefan laughed, throwing the fourth dungarees at him, “here’s your own.” He winked mockingly.
Brian poked his tongue out and got up, picking up the dungarees and holding them between two fingers, looking at it in disgust.
“Oh well, when you have to… you have to.” He shook his head and stepped into the weird piece of clothing. He brought the straps over his shoulders and looked down at his body, cringing at the thought of how bad he must have looked like that.
He heard a ‘click’ sound and looked up just in time to see Stefan hiding a small camera behind his back. His jaw dropped and he launched himself at Stefan, trying to take the cam from him. But Stefan was faster and handed it to Nic who hid it in one of the bags without Brian noticing.
After a while, Brian, tired of fighting, just leant against Stefan, looking up at him, his chin resting on the taller man’s chest.
“Meany,” he pouted and poked out his tongue. “Right, what do we do now?” he exclaimed, pulling away from his lover and walking to the fishing rods and buckets, trying to have a look at what was in them.
“Now, we each take a rod and a few baits and go try our luck in the water,” Fred answered.
“Baits? What kind of baits will we use? Those kind of bright fake flies and all?” Brian asked, trying to sound like he knew something about fishing.
“Ahh yes, we’ll use that later on, but for now, we’ll use those…” he said, walking to one of the buckets and opening it. The inside of the bucket was swarming with pink-grey maggots, producing an awful suction/rubbing sound and a more than nasty smell.
Brian peeked inside and gulped, gathering all his courage not to run away. He gulped again, his face turning a greenish shade.
“Those are… maggots, right?” he asked in a shaking voice, feeling a bit sick.
“Yes, and we’ll hang one at the fish-hook and wait for a fish to bite,” Nic looked up and winked. He frowned when he saw the look on Brian’s face. “You ok?” he asked concernedly.
“Mhmm,” was the simple mumbled reply, the small man’s eyes locked on the contents of the bucket.
After a while, he seemed to come back to his senses and raised his head, a look of apprehension on his face.
“So, uhm, I have to, uhm, take some of those, and, uhm, hang them to the hook,” Nic nodded to him, “with my fingers, right?” Again, Nic nodded, looking more and more amused.
Brian swallowed hard, taking a deep breath and trying to look brave. “Ok.” He put on a fake smile, doing his best not to show his disgust.
A few minutes later, they were all stepping in the water, each of them armed with a fishing rod and a bag of maggots hanging from their arms. Brian followed Stefan until he had water coming up to his waist.
“Uhm, Stef, stop,” he called after Stefan who was still walking further in the river.
He turned back, looking at the man a few feet behind him. “What is it?”
Brian gestured vaguely to his waist. “I can’t go much further in or the water will come up above the edge of the dungarees, and I don’t wanna get wet.”
Stefan nodded and joined him, sighing and shaking his head jokingly. “Midgets…” he murmured loud enough for Brian to hear, knowing it was driving him crazy.
He was right, Brian’s face grew red and he glared up at him, obviously struggling to find an appropriate reply. “Hmmphhh” he groaned, not having found anything. He just turned away from Stefan, fumbling with his fishing rod, trying to understand how it worked.
Stefan laughed. “Brian, look, here, like that,” he said, showing him what to do.
He opened his bag and took out a maggot. Brian couldn’t help grimacing as he looked at the pink little thing wriggling between Stefan’s fingers. But he kept watching as Stefan attached the maggot to the hook and flung it forward, the line casting off. The hook landed in the water a few feet in front of them and Stefan turned to Brian.
“See? Not complicated,” he smiled. “Your turn.”
Brian opened his bag, letting out a strangled whimper as he put his hand inside, gulping as his fingertips came in contact with the swarming content. Stefan watched him, amused. The poor little guy really seemed to be using all of his courage and bravery to get the hook through the maggot. He cringed as a little droplet of blood escaped the pink thing and took hold of the line, raising the hook in front of his face. Stefan laughed as Brian threw a disgusting look at the maggot before turning to him.
“Er, what do I do now? I fling it forward?” He didn’t wait for Stefan’s reply. He raised the fishing rod and with one swift movement, threw the line forward.
“Brian, no!!!!!” Stefan exclaimed loudly, his hands moving to stop Brian’s arm. But he was too late. The bag of maggots, still open, had let its content fall in the water, and hundreds of maggots were now happily swimming around them.
Brian let out a shriek as he realised what had happened and immediately dropped his fishing rod, throwing his arms in the air, rising on his tiptoes.
“Steeeef!!!” he squealed, “Stef help me please!!! They’re all around they’re on me I can feel it fucking hell Stef help me!!!” He yelled out. Stefan turned to find the smaller man splashing and screeching, and generally making a large fuss, so he started to wade towards him.
But before he could do anything, Brian was running to the shore, almost tripping in the process. He stumbled on the pebbles and once he was out of the water, he started pulling roughly at his dungarees and kicking his legs. He got out of them quickly and threw them away, taking several steps back, before falling to the floor and staring at the discarded dungarees suspiciously. He started scratching his skin and slapping at his trousers. “They’re still on me… crawling… uuhh” he whimpered to himself as he tried to seek out the non-existent maggots.
Stefan ran after him, stopping in front of him and looking at him pulling at his clothes and skin, turning on himself as he tried to look at his back.
Stefan grabbed his arm, stopping him in the middle of his investigation. “Hey, calm down Bri…”
Brian snatched his arm from Stefan’s grip and resumed checking himself agitatedly. “I need to get them off Stef!! Aargh! What’s this???” He moved closer to Stefan, biting his lip in apprehension, holding a piece of fabric on the back of his shoulder.
“That’s just the seam you dummy! There’s nothing on you.” Stefan laughed and shook his head as Brian looked at it and sighed in relief, his whole body relaxing.
Stefan reached out to Brian, pulling him into a big bear hug, ruffling the dark hair.
“Hang on, what’s this?” Stefan asked, faking to find something on Brian’s back.
Brian pulled away, trying to look at his back. “What? What did you find?” he asked, slight panic in his voice. He turned to stare at Stefan as he heard him laugh.
“I was just kidding Bri,” Stefan grinned.
Brian glared at him. “Yeah very funny!” he snapped and walked back to his dungarees, carefully picking them from the floor and examining them. When he was sure there was no risk, he slipped back in them. Still ignoring Stefan’s presence, he started making his way to the water, walking along the shore in hope to find his fishing rod.
“Brian! Brian!!” Stefan called and ran after him, grabbing his shoulder to make him stop as Brian was doing a great job in ignoring him. “I’m sorry ok, I didn’t think you’d take it like that!” he exclaimed exasperatedly.
Brian turned around, trying to look pissed off but a pout soon replaced his mad expression. He shrugged and looked at his feet. “I just hate those, I really do.” He looked up at Stefan and grimaced. “Imagine they could have crawled into my pants…” he shuddered and moved closer to Stefan, cuddling up against his chest, sighing as the tall man wrapped his long arms around his back.
They heard the sound of someone walking on pebbles and turned to see Fred approaching them, holding a fishing rod.
“Is that yours?” he asked Brian as he neared them.
Brian blushed. “Uhm yes, thanks.” He took it from Stefan’s dad who was looking at him oddly.
“We heard screams, then the rod came floating down the river to where we were… what happened? Are you ok?” he asked concernedly.
Brian looked embarrassed and Stefan had to bite his lip not to laugh and was struggling to keep his face straight.
“We’re fine, thank you Fred, I just got… uhm, surprised…” Brian mumbled, turning bright red.
Mr Olsdal raised an eyebrow and looked at his son questioningly. Stefan mouthed ‘I’ll tell you later’ behind his boyfriend’s back and winked, smirking. Fred grinned, causing Brian to turn and look at Stefan suspiciously.
“Alright then, I’m going back to Nic, we’ll have lunch a bit later, ok?”
The boys nodded in agreement and Fred walked away.
“What did you do behind my back?” Brian asked slowly, hands on his hips, one eyebrow raised.
Stefan held up his hands in defence, looking innocent. “Who, me? I did nothing!” he grinned. “Stop being so paranoid.”
Brian sighed, shaking his head. “I have reasons to be!” he grinned back.
“Now you have your rod back, which is a luck, can we go back to fishing?”
“If I have to…” Brian sighed dramatically.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be there to protect you if the nasty worms come back to attack you and eat your pants off!” Stefan smirked.
Brian hit him playfully. “Yeah, you’d be like my own superman… Supersteffles, rescuing a weak lady from the awful sneaky worms.”
“Haha, I don’t think I could stand wearing tight red pants…and blue just isn’t my colour.” Stefan shook his head as they made their way to the water.
“You don’t have to dress like him, you could have your own costume…”
“Oh and what do you have in mind? ‘Cause I’m sure you do have something…”
“You know me so well.” Brian grinned. “Well…” he stopped walking, turning to look at Stefan. His hand moved to his chin, holding it pensively. “I think boxers would do.”
Stefan laughed. “Just boxers?”
Brian nodded. “Of course… why would you hide such a gorgeous body?” he smirked. “Just golden boxers!”
Stefan grimaced. “Golden? That looks so gay!”
Brian sniggered. “Stefan, you ARE gay!! Plus they have to be golden.”
“And why is that?”
“‘Cause they’re magical!!!” he exclaimed, a mysterious smile playing on his lips.
Stefan burst out laughing. “Magical boxers?? Oh my god Brian, what did you smoke?”
Brian shrugged, laughing as well. “Just think about it and all wonderful things they could do!”
“And what could they do?” Stefan asked between fits of laughter.
“Err… argh! I can’t think, but you’d look hot as fuck in them.” Brian smirked naughtily.
Stefan laughed. “Ok, consider this as Supersteffles’ first mission then…” He knelt down, grabbing Brian’s legs and hoisted him up onto his shoulder, Brian’s small legs down his front and his head and chest hanging down his back. “Let’s fly to the river!! Wooooooo!!!” he exclaimed and started running to the river and inside, splashing water all over Brian’s body, the small man giggling madly, slapping Stefan’s arse.
One hour later, Stefan had caught a few small fish, but Brian’s score was still 0.
“Why the fuck are they eating your worms and not mine??? A worm is a worm!” he exclaimed, more and more annoyed as time was passing. “What are you doing that you didn’t tell me to do?? I want the fucking fish to eat my fucking worm!!!”
Stefan giggled at Brian’s last sentence, causing Brian to throw him a sceptical look. Stefan only shrugged.
“I have no idea why they don’t like your worm Brian,” Stefan smirked, jumping slightly as another fish bit at the end of his line. “I don’t see what’s wrong with it, it’s quite nice actually…” he winked.
“But I… Steeef!!” he stopped and exclaimed exasperatedly as he finally realised what Stefan was on about.
“Stef! Brian!” Nic called from the shore. “Come on, we’re gonna have lunch!”
Brian sighed in relief. “At long last.”
He and Stefan made their way out of the water and to where Fred was starting to gather some bits of wood to make a fire and dropping them next to a circle of stone.
“Hey, how did fishing go? Did you catch anything?” Nic asked Brian cheerfully, emptying his fishing net into a bucket, then adding Fred’s and Stefan’s fish.
Brian looked at the fish, bumping stupidly into each other in the small space of water they had and grunted his reply.
“What was that?” Nic raised his eyebrow, glancing at his brother.
“He’s pissed off ‘cause the fish weren’t interested in his maggots,” Stefan grinned.
“You didn’t catch anything?” Nic asked, surprised. “That’s odd, this river is full of fish, it’s usually quite easy to catch something…”
Brian looked disgusted and sat on the floor, pouting.
“What do we have to eat?” he asked in a small voice after a few minutes of sulking.
“Fish!” Stefan and Nic exclaimed together, laughing at the look on Brian’s face.
“Speaking of which, we have to empty them, gimme a hand, would you?” Nic asked his brother.
“Hang on…” Brian looked at them with big eyes. “You mean we’re gonna eat those?” he pointed at the bucket. “They’re still alive!!”
“That’s why we gotta kill them first.” Nic winked.
Brian’s jaw dropped in shock and he turned to look at Stefan.
“Don’t look at me like that Bri, what’s wrong with that? You often eat fish in London, I don’t see what’s the problem…”
“But… but… I never thought of it as real fish… I mean, it’s just bits, it doesn’t look like fish when I buy it…” he grimaced.
Stefan and Nic laughed. “And where do you think it comes from? A tree?”
Brian resisted the urge to show him the finger. “Ha-ha,” he laughed sarcastically, “very funny. I meant it’s just food in shops, not animals… get me? I don’t have to…” another grimace “watch some barbarians kill and open and empty it!” he finished with a shudder.
“Oh god Bri, you’re such a sissy.” Stefan sighed, shaking his head.
“Fuck you!” Brian spat.
“Not in front of the fish honey,” Stefan poked his tongue out at him and Brian huffed in frustration.
“Poor fish…” Brian was standing in front of the fire, looking down at the fish happily grilling. “Poor, poor fish…” He shook his head and sighed.
“Hmm, they look ok, I think we can eat now.” Stefan said from just behind him.
Brian turned around, looking up at him. “You’re so cruel…”
Stefan raised an eyebrow. “Does that mean you’ll go without food? ‘Cause that’s all we have…” He smirked at the look of pure shock on his boyfriend’s face.
“Alright then…” Brian pouted at him.
“Alright then what? You’re having some or not?”
“Yes,” Brian mumbled.
“What was that? I didn’t hear.” Stefan teased him.
“Yes! I’m fucking hungry, ok?” Brian exclaimed and Stefan laughed, happy with himself.
They all settled down on the pebbles next to the fire, eating fresh fish, and Brian couldn’t do anything else than to admit that it was the best he ever ate. He was rewarded by a pat on the head from Stefan, a grin from Fred and a laugh from Nic.
He himself couldn’t help a big smile from appearing on his lips as he looked around himself. He felt good, here in the nature, experiencing new stuff. It was quite a change from his every-day-life, a very nice one. Stefan’s family was making him feel like a normal human being, he didn’t feel out of place like with his own family. He was having a good time, better than he had in ages. And it was all thanks to his wonderful Steffie.
He turned his head in Stefan’s direction, smiling as he met the warm brown eyes of his lover. Stefan smiled back, guessing the thoughts present in Brian’s head and he reached out for one small hand, squeezing it in his.
After a few more bites of fish, a few beers and loads of chatting and laughing, they were all back in the river. Fred and Nic had decided to try their luck upstream this time while Brian and Stefan kept their earlier spot.
“Do you think they will like my maggots now?” Brian asked, nodding to the water.
“I’m sure that now you ate one of them, they will be more than willing to piss you off by stealing your worms.” Stefan winked.
“Ooh so that’s how you Swedish people do!!” Brian exclaimed and started laughing.
“Fish are stupid…” he added after a while of silence.
“Why?” Stefan grinned.
“They’re not logical… they should have liked me more ‘cause I never hurt one of them, but instead they ignored me and preferred to go to your worms, knowing perfectly you had already murdered members of their family… no logic at all…”
Stefan stared at him with big surprised eyes.
“On the other hand,” Brian continued, “the fact you ate them could explain their preference. They’ve been in your body, parts of them are still in you, in your blood, muscles and all, and the fish in the river might feel their brothers’ and sisters’ auras emanating from you…”
Stefan was now gawping at him, shaking his head in amazement.
Brian noticed the look on his face. “What?”
“I can’t believe we’re having this conversation…” Stefan answered, disbelief in his voice, and the both of them burst into laughter.
Hours passed, and when the sun started to go down, Brian still hadn’t caught the tiniest fish.
“I must be cursed or something…” he sighed. “This sucks! What will I look like when we go back to your home and you all bring back loads of fish and I have nothing?? A whole fucking day and nothing, not one single fish!!! Stef, what- aaaaaaaaargh!!!”
Brian shrieked as something almost snatched the rod from his hands, something that was pulling on it with such a force Brian was struggling to keep hold of it.
“Oh my fucking god Stef!! I have a bite!! Stef help me goddammit!!!” he squealed.
Stefan join him quickly and helped him turning the reel and getting the line back to him. When Brian pulled the hook out of the water, a huge salmon was hanging onto it, wriggling madly to get free.
“Holy shit…” they both murmured in unison, gaping at the big fish at the end of Brian’s line.
“Wow… you don’t catch anything for all day, but when you do, it has to be the biggest fucking fish of the whole river! I’ve never seen such a big salmon!” Stefan moved closer from the fish, watching it in awe. He took it down and put it in the fishing net. “Come on Bri, lets get out before this fellow decides to sneak away from us.”
They walked back to the shore where Stefan dropped the fish in a bucket, which they found out was way too small for such a bit creature. The salmon was wriggling so hard the bucket fell over and the fish went hopping on the pebbles.
“Hey you fuck!! Don’t you dare buggering off on me!! I’ve waited for you all bloody day so come back!!” Brian exclaimed, running after the fish, trying to catch it but it kept slipping from his hands.
Stefan was laughing so hard watching his boyfriend running after a fish that his abs were hurting and he had to hold his sides.
“Stop laughing dammit and come and help me!!!” Brian shrieked, trying to kick the fish with his foot but missing it and ending up sending a few pebbles flying.
Stefan grabbed a fishing net and ran to Brian and his rebellious salmon. He threw the net over the fish which was soon prisoner but kept giving weak attempts at hopping away.
“Thank you!” Brian sighed, breathless. His gaze moved to the fish which was desperately trying to get some oxygen but looked weaker and weaker by the minute. Brian kneeled down next to it and poked it. “Aww poor fishy…”
Stefan sniggered. “You can’t help it, can you? It tries to fuck off but you still pity it…” he laughed.
Brian took a deep breath. “You know what Steffie? You’re right.” He pointed at the dying salmon. “You got what you deserved you bitch!! You’re gonna die and then I’ll eat you and all your children will love me afterwards!!! Mwahahaha!!” he broke off in the wickedest evil laughter.
“Oh my god! Stef is it you who got this one??” Fred exclaimed as he and Nic came back.
“No, it’s Bri.” Stef laughed at Brian who was grinning happily.
“Really?” Nic stared at Brian, amazed. “Wow!!” he moved to pick up the fish, looking at it closely and showing it to his dad.
“That’s the biggest fish I’ve seen in quite a while, I didn’t know it was possible to get one with just a simple maggot…” Fred shook his head in disbelief. “That calls for a picture!” he added as an afterthought.
“A picture?” Brian asked, confused.
“Yep, when someone gets a really big fish, it’s tradition that a picture is taken of him holding his fish.” Stefan answered.
Brian looked at him oddly before bursting out laughing. “Ok, why not.”
Nic handed him the salmon, indicating to Brian to hold it by the tail while Stefan found the camera.
“Hang on.” Brian stopped Stefan as he was about to take the picture. “I want you to be on the picture with me.” He smiled.
Stefan smiled back, handed the camera to his brother and moved to his boyfriend’s side, wrapping one arm around the narrow shoulders as Brian was holding the fish on his other side, beaming proudly.
Once they were done, they quickly packed all their stuff and walked back to the car, Brian still in his dungarees as it was more comfortable for him to walk in them than in the tiny trainers. He only took them off when they reached the car.
A few hours later, Brian was lying in the grass at the back of the house, his head resting on Stefan’s stomach, both men looking up at the stars in silence.
When they had come back home, Fred had made Brian show the fish to the whole family who had awed in admiration, and Agneta had insisted on cooking it for dinner.
They had had a nice meal, outside like the day before, chatting, laughing and talking about Stefan’s childhood.
“You really built a wooden house?” Brian broke the silence.
“Mh-hmm,” Stefan answered, “on the other side of the lake.”
“That’s quite far from here, you were walking all the way til there? Wasn’t it dangerous to walk in the woods by yourself when you were so young?” Brian asked, turning to lie on his front, resting his chin on his hand as he looked up at the man lying next to him.
“Well, nothing bad can really happen here, it’s a quiet and calm place, plus I was never really alone, there was always my bro or cousins with me…”
“Are you still going there?” Brian continued, absentmindedly playing with Stefan’s shirt.
There was a short pause before he replied. “Actually no, I haven’t been there for years… it must have become a ruin by now. It was nothing big, just a small house built by four children… we had fun there…” he added, smiling softly at the memories.
“Would you show me?” Brian asked hopefully.
“You wanna see it?” Stefan replied, surprised.
“If that’s ok with you, I’d love to. I… I’ve never had anything like that, you know, I didn’t get to do all the things a child usually does. I was alone, my brother was too old to play with me, and we lived in a city, there was no woods around… And when we were visiting my grandma in Scotland, I wasn’t allowed to wander too far from the house anyway, so…” Brian trailed off, a sad and bitter tone clearly audible in his voice.
“Of course we can go, love.” Stefan said, not really knowing what to reply to that.
Brian simply smiled at him and cuddled up to him, resting his head on Stefan’s chest and laying one arm across his waist as Stefan wrapped his arms around his small body, stroking his dark hair with one hand.
“Thank you,” Brian whispered after several minutes of silence.
“What for sweetheart?” Stefan asked softly, still running his fingers through his lover’s hair.
“For taking me here and showing me what the word family really is about…” Brian replied, snuggling even closer to Stefan.
“I’m glad you like them.” Stefan said genuinely.
“They’re lovely.”
“So are you.”
Brian just smiled, burying his face in Stefan’s neck and closing his eyes, letting out a small contented sigh, quickly dozing off.
“I think we’d better go to bed now.” Stefan laughed softly as he felt Brian’s body grow limp.
“But I feel good here,” Brian protested weakly, moaning as Stefan moved to stand up.
“Come on, love, we can’t sleep here or we’ll get a cold.” He helped Brian up.
Brian fell against him, half asleep, hugging him tightly, nuzzling his neck. He tilted up his face, blindly searching for Stefan’s lips. He let out a tiny sigh as he found them and they shared a slow tender kiss. Then Stefan moved Brian’s arms around his neck and picked the small man up, wrapping the short legs around his waist and carrying the sleeping form inside the house.