InsaneJournal

Current mood:	giggly
Entry tags:	author: ahaw9913, fic, prompt: moving

Moving Challenge Ficlet!
Title: Britin Regained
Prompt: Moving
Author's Note: This is a follow-up to Britin Lost written for the Rain Prompt in qaf_drabbles. A huge debt of gratitute goes to my superfantabulous beta, suze_y.


Brian's lip curls as he wipes soot off the old black duffle Justin had set on the pool lounger. "With everything that was destroyed, I can't believe this thing survived the fire. Figures."

Justin shoves the art box Melanie and Lindsay had given him inside the duffle, shaking his head as the weight of sadness and disbelief presses on him. The box is smeared with ash and was a little burned, but it’s intact. “I can’t believe I'm moving into this bag again. I swore New York'd be the last time.” Justin's resigned sigh echoes in the morning quiet.

"Justin, it's going to be okay."

Justin rounds on Brian. "How is it going to be okay? Our home, our stuff, it's all gone. This is all we have left." A puff of soot floats into the air as the duffle is shaken and tossed back down onto the lounger. A slightly panicked tone seeps into Justin’s voice as it rises. "How can it be okay, Brian? Britin is gone." The last harsh note holds a tinge of anguish.

Brian tips his head back, his “oh-so-put-upon” voice a sharp contrast to Justin's lingering pain. "Jesus. And everyone thinks I’m a drama queen." Brian's voice is now as serious as his face. "Justin, listen to me. Are you listening?" Still caught up in a maelstrom of emotions, Justin can only nod. "This bag…” Brian shakes the duffle this time, “…is not all we have left. Britin. Is. Not. Gone." As Justin's eyebrows lift and he looks around meaningfully at the piles of burned timber and ash, Brian raises his own brow and pointedly looks down at his hands. Justin's gaze follows as Brian gathers the empty rosewood ring box and the picture Justin had drawn of him and adds them to Justin's charred art box inside the old black duffle. Just a touch of whimsy colors Brian’s voice. "It’s just downsized for a while." A breath he didn't realize he was holding escapes Justin as Brian's meaning hits him.

Lifting the bag to his shoulder, Brian reaches out and flattens his hand on the side of Justin's face. As Justin leans into the caress, Brian’s fingers curl around the back of his head and he draws Justin in for a kiss. When Justin finally begins to soften into the kiss, Brian pulls back and stares into his eyes. Justin wonders what he is looking for, unaware that the strength and resiliency that always amazes Brian has come back into his eyes. Brian seems satisfied. "Come on, your mom’s waiting for us."

Justin takes one more quick look around, and realizes the crushing pain he’d felt just minutes earlier has lightened. His shoulder nudges Brian’s as they turn and move toward the waiting taxi. "You know, Deb says Michael's old room is still available..."