Britin – Valentine's Day – Post Ep 513

Justin sighed as he sat down on the king-sized bed in his and Brian's master bedroom, having emptied his suitcase of its contents in the laundry chute a few minutes ago and placed his toiletries back in the bathroom in their customary spot, noticing immediately the quiet that permeated throughout the monstrously-large house that Brian and he shared now.

This wasn't what he had imagined or hoped for when he had found out he would be back home for Valentine's Day; initially Justin hadn't thought he would even make it back by today, having been told by his agent that the trip to Miami for a meeting with an art gallery consortium interested in displaying some of his works would take at least three days to hash out all the details. He had been ecstatic, then, when the meeting had gone better than his agent and he had anticipated and it had wrapped up early; taking advantage of his luck, he had eagerly booked the next available plane out of Miami for Pittsburgh as soon as he could make it to the airport.

His excitement, though, over being with Brian on this day for lovers had promptly evaporated, however, when he had spoken to him on the phone while waiting to board the plane earlier and his partner had told him he was going to be tied up in a meeting with some radio network bigwig until well after evening and probably would be lucky to get home by 11 or 12. To his credit, Brian had sounded a little regretful about it at the time once he had found out he would be coming home and he had promised to make it up to Justin later with some mind-blowing sex, but it still hadn't tempered his disappointment very much. Besides, he always had mind-blowing sex with Brian; that hadn't changed over the years, so that promise wasn't exactly something out of the ordinary.

And, yes, Justin knew Brian still didn't like to commemorate such outrageously lesbionic holidays by acknowledging them, especially Valentine's Day, even though he had gotten better over the years at expressing his feelings toward him; he even got an occasional mumbled "love you" out of him, normally after he had been gifted with an exceptionally enthusiastic blowjob by him or when he had to leave for a week or so on business – or Justin had to leave HIM to take care of matters having to do with his paintings. But still, he had hoped that on today of all days his partner and he could at least have had a nice, quiet dinner at home with just the two of them; in fact, he already had all the supplies he needed for the gourmet dinner he was planning on fixing Brian in the refrigerator and the freezer: chateaubriand with parsley potatoes and steamed asparagus and warm, crusty bread, followed by some caramel mousse for dessert – in bed, of course. He had assumed he wouldn't be able to fix it for Brian on the actual holiday, but once he had found out it was possible his hopes had surged and he had made plans for them to be together later today. Now as he sat there in the oppressive silence, however, Justin realized he had been right after all; his special dinner for Brian would have to wait until at least tomorrow and the thought filled him with disappointment.

Silently berating himself, though, he shook his head in disgust over how much importance he was placing on this day; wasn't it more important that Brian and he were happy and his partner had been faithful to him now for the past two years? Wasn't that much more indicative of his love and devotion for him than some hokey, orchestrated, romantic holiday? Despite his attempt to dismiss all his morose thoughts, though, and to listen to reason he still hated the idea of being here without Brian on Valentine's Day.

Suck it up, Justin, he silently scolded himself. It's just one fucking day. Of course, the word 'suck' wound up being a poor choice of words because it simply reminded him of exactly what sort of 'sucking' he wouldn't be experiencing today; well, at least not until much later today.

Shaking his head as if to clear his mind of all the melancholy, pity-party thoughts, Justin walked over to the dresser and pulled out a pair of well-loved jeans and a soft-cotton, dark-blue, long-sleeved tee-shirt. Sliding his feet into a pair of slightly threadbare sneakers, he was about to go searching for some dinner for one as he heard the front doorbell ring. The noise startled him somewhat; out here in the fairly isolated area he and Brian lived in, they didn't get many unexpected visitors to Britin.

Walking down the hallway and over to the steps, he descended the wide, hardwood staircase, noticing someone as he approached the main floor who appeared to be wearing some sort of uniform standing in front of the half-glassed entrance door. Figuring it was a delivery of some sort for Brian's business – which happened fairly regularly as he received samples of advertising prototypes by courier from Kinnetik – Justin arrived on the main floor and walked over to open the door.

Swinging the door open, he realized his guess had been correct; there stood a boy who appeared to be in his late teens with thick, wavy dark hair and a tall, slender build, wearing blue jeans and a light brown uniform shirt with the words City-Wide Shipping emblazoned on an embroidered patch over his chest. He was slightly shorter than Brian but a little more muscular; he looked over at Justin as he popped a large wad of bubble gum and held out a medium-sized, white cardboard box. "Justin Taylor?" he asked as he eyed him rather indifferently. Justin got the distinct impression that this kid was bored out of his mind at the moment, but he supposed he couldn't blame him; making deliveries all day long didn't strike him as an exciting and mind-challenging vocation.

He nodded in confirmation. "Yes," he said as the man thrust the box out toward him.

"This is for you, then," he said as Justin accepted the plain-looking box and eyed it curiously. There wasn't anything written on the outside, not even a company name or an address. If the kid hadn't mentioned his name specifically, Justin would have figured it was yet another delivery for Brian. Apparently, it was for him, though; he tried hard to read too much into receiving a delivery on Valentine's Day of all days as he cradled the fairly heavy box in the crook of his arm, noticing the delivery kid standing there shuffling his feet expectantly.

"Oh," he said in revelation. He dug into his pocket and managed to retrieve three somewhat crumpled dollar bills before handing them over to the delivery boy, who grunted something only halfway coherent as he turned and shuffled back to a white panel truck containing the courier's name written on a magnetic sign attached to its side.

As the kid started up the truck and proceeded down the circular drive and back out to the main road, Justin turned and re-entered the house, closing the door with his foot as he carried the mysterious package back into the nearby living room. This was one of his and Brian's favorite rooms, having been the first one he had seen that fateful day when his partner had brought him here and had first told him he had purchased this majestic-looking, obscenely large house for their home. There would several months of twists and turns in their lives before he finally returned back here for good, having made enough of an impression with several art galleries in New York City that he could afford at last to paint from here while being reunited with the man he had first fallen in love with and had never forgotten.

Curiously he walked over to the dark leather couch Brian and he had bought last year in Pittsburgh and sat down with the box in his lap as he ran his fingernail under the lid and broke the taped seal. Lifting the white top and placing it down next to him on the couch, he noticed red and silver tissue paper disguising the contents, unable to hide the smile of realization that this must indeed have something to do with Valentine's Day and that it could have only come from Brian – as incredible a thought as that was.

As he pulled the tissue paper aside, Justin's eyes lit up and he beamed in surprised delight as he noticed a large silver container shaped like a Hershey's kiss nestled in the center. As he lifted the heavy object out of its cocoon, he realized it had a hinged lid on it. Putting the bottom of the box down next to the other part, he briefly admired the way the shiny gift reflected a rainbow prism across its surface from the side table lamp next to him before he balanced it on his knees and lifted the lid to peer inside.

Situated inside were several wrapped Hershey's kisses in various foil colors: lots of traditional silver ones, but also a few in red and a single, solid purple one. Justin noticed a small, folded white piece of paper tucked into the side as he plucked it from its location and opened it with slightly shaky hands. His heart began to race as he recognized his partner's familiar, masculine scrawl:

Start with the silver ones. Then the red ones. Open the purple one last. BTW – I said OPEN them, NOT eat all of them! ~ B

"Well, we'll just see about that," Justin said to himself with a smirk as he dutifully picked up one of the silver ones; as he began to unwrap the foil, he noticed the little white wrapper accompanying it seemed different somehow. It didn't have the customary thin, waxy feel to it; it felt like it was composed of something more substantial like a linen-type material and was a little thicker in texture. He untwisted the foil to unwrap the candy and pulled the slip of paper out. He laughed as he read what it said: Blow me.

Ignoring what his partner had instructed him to do, he promptly plopped the milk chocolate in his mouth and balled up the foil, carefully placing the paper tag down inside the cardboard box for safekeeping as he savored the sweet taste melting on his tongue and sliding smoothly down his throat. Picking up another silver wrapped candy, he began to read what the next strip of paper said: You suck in a good way.

Snorting at the sentiment, he opened the foil, discovering this one was a white chocolate kiss. "Mmmm," he couldn't help commenting as he plopped that one in his mouth, too, and licked his lips in appreciation.

"I could get used to this," he said to himself with a smile as he picked up a third silver kiss; it wasn't nearly as good as having Brian actually there in person – nothing was as great as that – but just the thought that his partner had thought of him on this outrageously romantic day of all days helped just a little to lift his mood. This one contained a message that stated, "Dick isn't a four-letter word." He laughed at his partner's ingenious way with words as he opened the contents and discovered this one was a chocolate and peanut-butter variety. I never realized there were so many kinds, he idly thought as he lobbed that one into his mouth, also, and reached for yet another one – the last silver one in the bunch.

This one's message made him laugh out loud: Kiss my ass. "You wish," he murmured; to his consternation, just the thought of him kissing Brian's ass, though, was making him hard. He huffed softly in realization; only Brian could make him horny without even being there.

Picking up the tiny silver balls of foil he was rapidly collecting, he crushed them into one larger ball before throwing them into the nearby trash can and picking up one of the red ones now. He untwisted the tip of the foil-wrapped candy just enough to pull the next strip of paper out; he was actually more interested at this point in the quirky sayings his partner had created in his oddly romantic way than the candy, although he certainly wasn't going to let that go to waste, either. He pulled the paper out to read: You rim, I ram. Again, a very sexy picture entered his mind's eye as he squirmed a little on the couch, feeling his pants quickly becoming quite tight. There was nothing he liked better than having a taste of his gorgeous partner's ass – one that was much too far away at the moment. He tugged on the crotch of his jeans to adjust them as he imagined what sort of 'candy' treat he wanted to taste at the moment, knowing that was one particular delight he wasn't going to have the honor of imbibing in, at least not for a while yet.

Hoping he could divert his attention to something else, he plopped the next, darker-colored candy in his mouth, discovering to his surprise that this one was a chocolate-covered cherry kiss. He snorted. "Won't be popping my cherry tonight, Mr. Kinney," he muttered. "Not if you don't get that ass home soon."

He sighed a little forlornly as he lay back lengthwise on the couch, the silver kiss lying on his stomach and his head propped up on the arm of the furniture as he picked up the next red-foil candy and peeled back the exterior to expose the next message: Pucker Up. He groaned at the thought. Of course, that message didn't make him think of kissing, although kissing Brian was one of life's greatest pleasures; no, that message made him think of some other pucker as he took his hand and unsnapped his jeans, feeling how oppressive and constricting the denim fabric presently felt against his cock which was getting harder and harder the more he read Brian's unique take on 'love notes' – or should he call them fuck notes, he thought with a grin.

Continuing to balance the container deftly on his stomach, he slid one hand inside his jeans and began to idly play with his cock as his other hand tried to untwist the next candy kiss. He was finding it difficult to unwrap it with one hand, but his other one was presently occupied with other matters, so finally he succeeded in undoing the next chocolate cherry kiss as he pulled out the next message: Great Balls of Fire. He snorted, wondering which 'balls' his partner was referring to. He finally decided since it was balls plural, that he was complimenting HIS – at least he liked to think so. He knew Brian certainly enjoyed feasting on them.

At that delicious thought, he reached down and lightly fondled them, dreaming that it was Brian doing it instead as he closed his eyes for a second, realizing just how terribly he was missing his partner at the moment. He could almost feel Brian's warm, long-fingered hands stroking him to perfection as he slowly turned into a whimpering, blithering mess of pleasure. The lack of sight served to accentuate the taste of the candy as he savored the tart chocolate in his mouth, imagining him and Brian sharing it as their tongues dueled together and they kissed deeply, their bodies molded together into a sweaty, slick embrace. "Brian," he whispered longingly as he began to caress his cock forcefully, wanting desperately to feel his lover's hands all over him. "God, I miss you," he whispered in yearning, the cold metal of the kiss container dramatically contrasting with the warmth spreading through his body at the thought of making love with his partner again. Each day, hell, each hour they had to be apart was much too long for him, especially on a day like today.

He finally opened his eyes, the reality of being alone washing over him as he sighed once more. Lifting his head just enough to gaze at the shiny object lying on his belly –still in a state of shock that Brian would even make such an overtly romantic gesture toward him – he scooted back up with his elbows so he could prop his back up against the side arm of the couch as he felt inside the container for what would be the last kiss remaining – the purple one that Brian had instructed him to open last.

He held it up in front of him with two fingers, watching the way it sparkled against the soft glow of the subdued lighting, before he held onto it and untwisted the bit of foil to dislodge the last 'Brian Kinney witticism.' Pulling out the strip of paper, he wondered what other sort of purely-Brian twist his partner had composed for this last one. His heart leapt in his throat as he read the final saying: Come out to the 'back room,' Sunshine.

His eyes widened; was it possible? No, surely not…but he had to know anyway. His partially open jeans forgotten, he quickly plopped the last candy into his mouth – after all, his mother had always taught him not to be wasteful – noticing fleetingly with irony that this one was a cookies and cream variety before he practically jumped up off the couch and hurried out of the room, the precious silver container held securely in his hands. Making a right turn down the hallway, he rushed toward the formal dining room where a set of French double doors were situated leading out to the newly-remodeled rear patio that had been turned into an all-season heated room enclosure that Brian had affectionately dubbed the "back room of Britin." He and Brian had recently decided to extend their living quarters off the back of the house, installing all-glass insulated walls and enclosing the patio to give them the opportunity to appreciate the beauty of nature that surrounded their home all year round. They had already spent many an evening sitting on the couch in companionable silence, enjoying the flickering of the flames from their free-standing wood-burning fireplace as they enjoyed a drink together and talked about their day.

The beauty of their surroundings in no way compared, however, to the scene greeting him as he arrived at the French doors to discover them already opened by his partner who was standing in the midst of the room. Brian was dressed in one of Justin's favorite outfits – well, after nothing at all, anyway. He was clad in a deep-blue, custom-tailored Armani suit with a dark gray satiny shirt that was open at the neck; even shrouded in the form-fitting expensive fabric, Justin could still admire the way Brian's shoulder muscles flexed as he bent over a large pillar candle in the center of the square, glass-topped table, lighting it with an engraved silver lighter that Justin had given him this past Christmas. It appeared to be the last candle to be lit among several other pillar candles interspersed around the room – they were aglow on the coffee table, the side tables – even on a couple of glass shelves hanging suspended from the ceiling, and they cast a – dare he say it? – romantic glow throughout the room.

The largest long-stemmed red rose that Justin had ever seen lay nearby on the table which had been set with two place settings sitting side by side to each other. He didn't really take much time to see what else was on the table, however, because his attention was diverted the moment his partner turned around to look at him and their gazes locked onto each other. As usual, his heart fluttered at the look of love so readily apparent on Brian's face as he smiled back at him; his partner no longer tried to disguise how he felt about him anymore – a fact that made him inordinately happy and made him feel even more cherished.

"Hey, Sunshine," he softly drawled as he drunk in the sight of his partner's beautiful face; the silver kiss container cradled firmly in his arms as he stood in the doorway, the candlelight reflecting off his blond hair. He was glad that Justin had decided to let it grow out a little more – playing with the soft strands of golden hair had always been one of his guilty pleasures when they were making love. He curled his lips under, almost in embarrassment to be performing something so blatantly romantic as he stated, "I see you got your package." His eyes slowly traveled down the length of Justin's slim form until they stopped at his partner's obvious proof that he had apparently been thinking about him while examining its contents. "I see you tried to start without me," he murmured as Justin's face flushed red in acknowledgment. "Naughty boy; I'll have to take care of that problem for you very soon." His eyes slowly traveled back up until he was staring at a pair of intense blue eyes that seemed to say so much. "Come here," he whispered velvet-like as he held his hands out toward his partner in invitation.

Justin smiled and his heart fluttered in response just like it always did when he was in the presence of his lover as he slowly walked over to Brian and, finally relinquishing his treasured gift to place it down on the table, melted into Brian's embrace, his arms slipping under the linen jacket to slide around to his partner's back as their lips came together for a kiss. No, this wasn't a dream, he realized in bliss as he felt the warmth of Brian's touch against his mouth; despite what his devious partner had told him, he was really here and it wasn't some spontaneous twist of fortuitous luck, either. No, his partner had obviously planned the whole thing somehow. He sighed in pleasure as their kiss deepened, Brian's hands pulling him closer as their bodies molded together; his adrenalin raced through his body as he felt the evidence of their mutual desire between them hard and unrelenting as they continued to kiss.

At last they pulled back of one accord to stare into each other's eyes, both breathless and flushed. Brian smiled down tenderly at the contented face that he now held cradled in his hands as his partner scolded him, "I thought you said you wouldn't be home until almost midnight."

Brian curled one side of his mouth up in amusement. "Well it wouldn't be much of a surprise if you already knew about it, now would it, Sunshine?" He glanced over at the table to see the gift he had hurriedly arranged to be delivered earlier; it had cost him a fucking mint to have it done on such short notice – especially on Valentine's Day – but looking at the man now staring up at him with so much love in his eyes, he knew it had been worth every cent he had had to pay. And of course, it hadn't hurt that he had an art department at his disposal who could concoct whatever he needed in a heartbeat, although he had had to endure several amused looks by his department head when he had explained what he needed the slips of paper to say; plus not to mention that he had had to practically threaten everyone involved with possible job termination if they ever so much as divulged what he had done for his partner. After all, the Brian Kinney of old never used to do romance, and he still had a reputation to maintain.

He gave Justin another quick kiss on the lips before pulling back to stare into the sparkling blue eyes, wrapping his arms around his neck to lock them casually together.

"How did you manage all this?" Justin asked in wonder; he could smell some sort of wonderful aroma nearby but wasn't sure what – or where – it was. "How did you even get into the house without me knowing about it?" he asked curiously. He hadn't heard a thing the whole time.

Brian smiled. "The advantage of having a back entrance – and an obscenely large house with good insulation," he explained. "I brought a lot of it into the house before you got back, hoping you wouldn't wander out here right away, and parked the car around the side when I got home. I took advantage of a new moon and lots of luck."

Justin nodded as he felt Brian lightly feathering the back of his hair. He shook his head. "I still can't believe you did all this," he said as he glanced around the room in amazement before returning his attention back to his gorgeous partner; in the glow of the candles interspersed throughout the room, Brian looked like some majestic, bronze Greek god and his eyes seemed to have prisms of green and gold reflected in them as they stared deeply into his eyes.

Brian released him to reach over to retrieve the perfect, red rose; Justin blushed at the intense look on Brian's face as he shyly accepted the rose and raised it to his nose to inhale the intoxicating fragrance before placing it down gently on the table, still in awe that his partner had done all this for him.

He watched as Brian leaned over to pick up the silver Hershey kiss container, remembering what Brian had told him earlier in his note.

"Brian…" he hastily began but it was too late; his partner had already released the small catch on the lid and opened it to find nothing but a series of white paper strips with all the ingenious sayings he had so carefully concocted neatly stashed inside. He noticed without much surprise that Justin had also kept the note he had written to him. He turned with a knowing smile on his face. "What did I tell you about not spoiling your appetite, Sunshine?" he asked in mock reproach.

"You didn't say anything about spoiling my appetite," Justin countered. "You just said not to eat all of them. How was I supposed to know you were planning on spoiling me with dinner, though? You really didn't expect to send me chocolates and not have me eat them, did you? That is, after my stomach got over the shock anyway."

Brian laughed softly at the part impertinent/part indignant expression on Justin's face. "No, I guess that WAS asking you to do more than you could comply with," he stated, thinking there was something that he couldn't resist, either: this man staring up at him with the soft blue eyes. "Let's just hope you still have room for prime rib, baked potatoes and steamed asparagus in that full little tummy of yours, Mr. Taylor."

Justin's face broke out into a pleased smile as he totally ignored the 'healthy' part of the meal. "Prime rib?" he asked. He twisted his head around to gaze down at the place settings, but saw nothing that resembled one of his favorite foods anywhere. "Where?"

"It's still grazing out on the back forty," Brian deadpanned before he explained, "It's warming over there." He nodded his head over toward the corner of the room where a small, temporary table had been set up; lying on top were two silver-domed plates, resting on what appeared to be some sort of warming dish. "Ready to eat, then, I take it?"

Justin gave him a look like he had grown two heads. "Never mind," Brian said with a laugh as he reached over and pulled out one of the chairs as Justin promptly sat down and placed his napkin on his lap. "Stupid question." He took one more look at the now-empty candy container – totally devoid of anything edible – before he walked over to the warmer and retrieved the two domed plates containing their meals.

Their meal consumed thirty minutes later, along with a bottle of red wine, Brian couldn't help studying the beautiful face of his partner as Justin chatted animatedly about his latest art show held in downtown Pittsburgh that had been met with great acclaim. Justin had matured somewhat over the past several years – his face was no longer as youthful-looking as it had been when they had first met and he had looked like he was maybe fourteen at the most – but he was still very young-looking for his mid-twenties. He supposed he would always look younger than his years, but he did know one thing for sure; no, two – Justin would always be beautiful and he would always love him.

"Brian?" He blinked, not realizing his lover had been asking him a question.

He smiled a little sheepishly. "Yeah, Sunshine?"

Justin grinned back at him in amusement. "I was saying – I'm waiting for my dessert." Brian arched his eyebrows as Justin verified, "Not that kind of dessert; you'll get that later. What do you bring me?" he asked inquisitively.

Brian smirked. "I guess we should have just saved a lot of time and money and skipped right to that course," he teased as Justin maturely stuck the tip of his tongue out at him. "Don't worry; I know better than to feed you and not provide dessert as part of the meal." He smiled as he stood up and walked over to a large insulated, chilling tote to unzip it and retrieve a white, round, Tupper-ware type container. Walking over to the leather, L-shaped couch in the corner of the room, he placed the covered dessert down on the coffee table. "Come over and see, Sunshine," he replied softly in invitation as his partner quickly scooted back from the table and stood up to join him. As he approached the couch and sat down to reach over for the container, Brian quickly snatched it away and held it above his head. "Uh, uh, uh, Mr. Taylor; have you no patience?"

Justin actually seemed to pout like a child deprived of his favorite toy as Brian chuckled. "No, I don't," Justin quickly affirmed as he crossed his hands over his chest in annoyance, inordinately curious as to what Brian had brought him for the last part of their Valentine's Day dinner.

Brian smiled as he lowered the container and slowly pried open the lid to display the pièce de résistance: large, jumbo strawberries stuffed with orange crème sauce and mini-chocolate chips, dusted with raspberry-chocolate Godiva shavings. He smiled as Justin's eyes widened in amazement; he knew how much his lover adored chocolate-covered strawberries, and when the gourmet caterer he had ordered the meal from suggested this unique twist on the iconic dessert he had jumped at the chance to try it out on Justin.

"What is it?" his partner asked almost in awe as his face lit up. Brian couldn't help smiling at the wondrous look on Justin's face as he explained what they were. Immediately his partner uncrossed his hands to reach for one of the jumbo fruits as Brian shook his head. Justin was about to protest but the words died on his lips as he watched Brian reach over and scoop out part of the creamy, light-colored, mousse-like stuffing with his middle finger and raise it to his lover's lips. Justin slowly opened his mouth as Brian pushed his finger inside, his eyes darkening as Justin obediently began to suckle the flesh for a taste. The vibrating effect on Brian's lips as Justin savored both his finger as well as the dessert instantly made his cock jump even further to attention as he fought for self-control a little while longer.

"Mmmm," Justin murmured as he closed his eyes in bliss to savor how the orange liquor contrasted with the sweetness of the strawberries and the slight bitterness of the dark chocolate. His eyes slowly fluttered open after a few moments when the finger was removed and he observed his partner's face inches from his as Brian brought the rest of the strawberry up to Justin's mouth for him to take a bite. After Justin held part of it in his mouth, Brian leaned in to capture the remainder of the juicy fruit in his own mouth as they came together for a kiss to taste it on both their lips as well as their tongues.

Brian proceeded to feed Justin the rest of the half-dozen strawberries the same way as before in between a few additional kisses until the dessert at last was completely finished, neither man quite sure which one had enjoyed it the most. Justin sighed as he leaned back in the couch, content and sated from the fantastic meal Brian had presented him with. "That was wonderful," he murmured in appreciation as he turned his head to gaze into his lover's eyes that were eyeing him intently, some sort of questioning look on his face.

Brian smiled back at him. "I'm glad you enjoyed it, Mr. Taylor," he told him as he mind wandered to one more thing he still had yet to do.

Justin frowned slightly, noticing Brian seeming to fidget a little as if he were nervous about something. "Is something wrong?" he asked softly.

Brian shook his head and continued to smile back at him softly in reassurance before he took his lover's hand in his, slowly caressing the pale flesh with his thumb. "No, everything's great," he told him. "You're great," he whispered sincerely.

Justin blushed at the unexpected compliment. "Then what?"

His partner was quiet for a moment before he explained "I have one more kiss for you. The candy kind," he clarified, realizing since dinner they had been participating in quite of few of the other kind of 'kiss.' "I have one more, custom-made Kinney-ism for you."

Justin groaned. "I know you'll find this hard to believe, Brian, but I don't think I can handle one more piece of candy right now. I've finally reached my limit."

"No, you have to take care of one more," Brian insisted as he reached inside his jacket pocket to retrieve one single, gold-colored kiss. He smiled tenderly at his partner's look of confusion as he handed it to him and watched silently as Justin held it in his open palm.

Unlike the other ones, this one seemed crudely wrapped and wasn't symmetrical like all the other ones. He eyed Brian warily, wondering if he was trying to pull some sort of practical joke on him – his practical jokes were legend by now – before he heard Brian softly urge, "Read the message first."

Justin stared at him in suspicion for a moment longer before he bowed to his lover's gentle entreaty and twisted the top of the wrapped candy to loosen the last slip of paper that Brian had created especially for him. His heart leapt to his throat as in shock he read what it said; unlike some of the others, this one was short and sweet – but oh so sweet it was: Marry Me.

His eyes flew open wide in astonishment as with slightly shaky hands he opened the kiss up and immediately recognized what was nestled inside; no wonder it had been so lumpy looking. This time it didn't contain a variation of the familiar chocolate candy. No, this wrapping held something much more precious: his gold wedding band that Brian had obviously kept all this time. Mouth hanging open, he watched as Brian silently reached over and took it out of his hand; eyes locked on each other briefly before he held Justin's hand and slowly slipped it onto his left ring finger, the shiny metal object sliding easily over the slim digit. The pale fingers curled over Brian's hand as his gaze lifted to his partner's and Brian whispered to him, "I need an answer to my message."

Justin couldn't believe this was happening; despite what he had told Brian before about not 'needing vows or rings' to prove their love – which he did mean at the time – the truth was that he still had longed for it, though. He knew both were just silly conventions people created to demonstrate their devotion to each other – or maybe to prove it to others – but just the thought of Brian wearing his wedding ring on his finger, and having those vows spoken with his soulmate in front of their friends and family to affirm their love and commitment to each other still made his heart flutter at the notion of it. As he gazed down at the gleaming band of gold lying snugly against his skin, he slowly lifted his eyes to stare into Brian's for a sign that he was being sincere. To his relief as well as astonishment, there was no hint of sarcasm or jocularity on Brian's face, simply eyes that mirrored the emotion he was currently feeling.

"Justin?" was the soft urging as Brian stared into his face; he could see both doubt as well as hope battling there. Could he blame him, though? Even though he had asked Justin to marry him once before, they both knew soon afterward that it wasn't the right time to go through with it. And they had reluctantly parted soon afterward when Justin had gone to New York, both adamant that they didn't need any outward signs for them or anyone else to prove their devotion to each other. And they didn't. They didn't NEED them, but as time went on Brian came to the realization that he wanted them. He wanted to show others that he had matured, that he was no longer afraid to affirm his deep love for this man. He wanted to go to bed with Justin each night after they made love and wake up with him in his arms each morning. He wanted to come home every night and share his day with him – relaxing with a drink in front of the fire as they sat companionably together, discussing their dreams as well as their disappointments, the highs as well as the lows. He wanted everything with him. And while perhaps those overt signs of devotion were more important to Justin, if the man he loved wanted those things then it was all right with him, too.

"Are you sure?" Justin whispered at last. It had taken an inordinate amount of persuading the last time on Brian's part to convince him that he was being sincere when he had asked him to marry him before; he had been fully prepared to go through with marrying this man – his soulmate – back then and he was more than prepared to do the same now. But he still had to be certain, because for Brian this represented a huge sea change in his previous lifestyle and it was important to him that Brian wanted the same thing that he did. He didn't want him doing it merely because it was trying to please him.

He watched as Brian's face slowly broke out in a tender smile. "I've never been more sure of anything in my life, Sunshine. You're the person I was meant to be with; the person I didn't even know I had been waiting for." He took Justin's other hand in his and slowly caressed them as he told him, "You've taught me what it means to be a partner to someone and how to be a better friend and a better father." The side of his mouth curled up as he noticed Justin's eyes tearing over, but he forged on nonetheless before he lost his nerve, knowing the waterworks were probably about to commence. "You believe in me, Justin, as much as I believe in you." He smirked. "At the risk of suspending credibility, I dare say you've even made me a better lover." He received a knowing smile in response as he sobered to stare into the soft blue eyes, now shining with unshed tears. "I can't imagine not going to bed with you at night and not waking up with you every morning. I want to be there to support you, to listen to your inane chattering about every conceivable subject on earth and to watch you ingest more food and carbs than a human should be capable of doing. I want to be part of the drive and passion that makes you so special."

Justin swallowed the sentimental lump in his throat, wanting to brush his childish tears away with the sleeve of his shirt, but unable to because Brian still had firm hold on both his hands. He felt a lone tear trickle down the left side of his face as he pointed out, his voice raspy with emotion, "But you have that already. You already have my heart," he told him softly. "You always have."

Brian smiled at him gently. "So have you," he admitted. "I think from the first moment we met." He released Justin's right hand to tenderly wipe away the stray tear with the palm of his hand before cupping his cheek. "But I want everyone else to know it, too. I want to wear the ring, Justin. And I'm hoping that you do, too."

Justin bit his lip thoughtfully as he gazed into the hazel eyes boring into his before to Brian's relief he nodded. "You know I do," he told him as he stared down at the gold band nestled securely on his finger, still not quite able to believe what he was seeing. He lifted his eyes to stare into Brian's once more before he broke out into one of his trademark smiles, his face lighting up in joy. "You fucker – you know I do," he repeated a little more firmly as Brian grinned back at him.

Brian let go of Justin's hands at last to gently wipe away a few more tears that slowly escaped from the blue eyes before he pulled Justin's head toward him for a deep kiss to seal the deal; he slowly, almost reverently, lowered his partner to the couch so they were lying lengthwise on top of the soft, buttery cushions. He stood up on his knees long enough to remove his jacket and drape it over the back of the couch, reaching inside the pocket to retrieve the other ring – his own – that he had secured there. He handed it to Justin, who promptly took it and slid it onto his larger hand; Justin clutched it for a few moments, staring at the piece of jewelry now adorning his fiancé's finger before Brian broke off their clasp to pull Justin onto his side so they could lie down face to face. He began to open up Justin's already partially undone jeans to slide his hand inside and grasp the hard, pulsating shaft hidden there before he murmured, "Now…why don't we practice for the honeymoon?"

A/N: Thanks to Boriqua522 for looking this over for me; hope you enjoyed this little diversion before I delve back into the deepening angst of "Paper Hearts Killer." Thanks for reading!