xie_xie_xie (xie_xie_xie) wrote in qaf_drabbles, @ 2008-12-30 20:32:00 |
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Entry tags: | author: xie_xie_xie, challenge #96: 'tis the season |
Challenge #96: 'Tis the Season
Title: Fixing It, 20-27 of several; series begins here.
Author: Xie
Condoms: 8 to Brian
Warning: Minor Character Death; WIP
20.
Brian thought Justin would sleep late, but when he woke up, he was alone in bed. He found Justin curled up on the sofa, the television on with the sound muted, a bottle of aspirin and a cup of coffee in front of him on the coffee table. Justin glanced up when he saw Brian, and turned the sound on.
Brian got himself a cup of coffee, and sat next to him on the sofa. "What are we watching?"
Justin shrugged. "Some show about people who go insane decorating their houses for Christmas."
Brian nodded. "Ah, yes. The Debbie Channel."
21.
They watched the television in silence for a while.
"You know," Justin said, eyes on the television screen, "It's not that I feel guilty I wasn't here. It's not that I regret the last thing I said to her, because it was "I love you, and I'll call when I get to Tokyo."
Brian shifted a little closer to him. "Funny, those were your exact words to me, too."
Justin looked at him sideways for a second. "Anyway, I don't feel guilty."
Brian stroked his hair once. "What is it, then?"
His voice broke. "I just fucking want her back."
22.
Brian let him cry. It was different from his tears the night before. He wasn't drunk. He didn't try to hold them in, and he didn't sob. He just cried, quietly and hard, his tears soaking into Brian's t-shirt.
"I don't even care about Christmas," he said, wiping his eyes with his arm. "But now I'll always think about this whenever I think of Christmas. And I'll always miss her all over again."
Brian cleared his throat. "That would happen no matter when she died. If it was in the summer, it would be picnics, or fireworks, or hot days."
23.
After a while, Justin stopped crying. Brian took the remote and turned off the television. "Are you hungry?"
Justin shrugged under his arm. "I don't know. Not really."
Brian kissed his hair. "Let me fill my own neurotic personal need to do something for you and make waffles or something."
Justin made a sound that was half a laugh and half a sniffle. "Do you have any of the ingredients of waffles here, or anything to make them in?"
"I have frozen waffles in the freezer and a toaster, and a bottle of Vermont maple syrup a client gave me."
24.
Justin sat up and stared. "Who are you and what have you done with the real Brian?"
Brian smiled at him. "I think my identity can withstand a few frozen waffles and some syrup." He paused, then went on. "And butter."
"Butter." Justin repeated it, amazed. "I thought you had to be stoned and with Michael to eat like a normal person." He looked at Brian. "Or be eating it off someone else's plate at the diner."
Brian laughed, stood up, and held out his hand. "Come on, Sunshine. How often does your partner offer to make breakfast for you?"
25.
Justin followed him into the kitchen. "Apparently once every eight years."
"This seemed like a good morning to start."
Justin watched Brian put the waffles – organic frozen whole wheat walnut and blueberry waffles from Whole Foods, of course – in the toaster. He put out a cube of butter and the tin of syrup, and made a fresh pot of coffee. Then he put the waffles on a plate and set them in front of him.
Justin took a cautious bite. "These are good." Brian was making more, presumably for himself. "This is nice, even if it is freaking me out."
26.
Brian refilled their coffee cups, put his waffles on a plate, and sat down next to Justin. "It's a Christmas miracle."
They ate quietly for a few minutes, then Justin got up to get more coffee. "We should call Gus."
"Yeah."
Justin took his coffee back to the sofa, and Brian followed.
Justin looked at him. "Did you think Gus seemed kind of freaked out yesterday?"
"He was. But he'll be okay. He's got his moms, and Debbie, and Michael and Zen Ben. It's like a whole team of therapists. He'll be helping us process our grief by tomorrow night."
27.
Justin laughed. "Yeah, probably." He set his cup down. "But still, I think we should call him. Maybe go over there."
"Over to… Deb's?"
Justin got up. "Yeah."
Brian followed him. "Are you sure?"
Justin was turning on the shower. "I'm positive," he said, his voice firm. "And I don't care how many perverted elves and demented reindeer she has." He looked right at Brian. "It's what I want to do."
Brian wrapped his arms around Justin's shoulders. "I've learned to never get in the way of what Justin Taylor has decided he's going to do." Then he kissed him.
Continued here...