I've always thought of their nose squishing as a very intimate act. And by intimate, I don't mean on par with fucking, sucking or rimming. Let's face it, Brian does all of those things with tricks, and I'd hardly call the situations intimate. To him, sex isn't meaningful, emotional or a way of expressing his feelings for someone. He also doesn't believe in saying the words, playing into the romance or doing any of the "traditional" things that one might do to express intimacy towards another. So what's he left with? That's right - nose squishes! It's Brian's way of saying, "I care about you, you're special to me, I love you".
Let's look at some examples, shall we?
This one's by lj's nanoa and, as you can tell, it's their first kiss. Are they already conveying deep and intimate emotions? Perhaps not. But what this says to me, especially knowing what the nose squish will end up meaning to them, is that the love between them is fated. Even before they are aware of it, even before they've truly fallen, the inevitable imprint of their importance to each other is there, right from the start, almost from the first moment of contact:
The Forever Young scene from 118, this time by lj's fishf00d. Brian did a lot of talking before this dance, using words to make sure that there was no misinterpreting his message. But when the talking's done, he hasn't quite finished communicating. Here he's saying one last thing and he doesn’t need words to do it:
The prom by paddies. Some people say this is the night that Brian truly fell in love with Justin. But whether you think it happened here or some other time, the telltale nose squish, in front of a crowd of on-lookers no less, sends a clear message to anyone who's paying attention:
This one by youbetterwiseup, I call "Babylon nuzzle" in my userpics. It's one of my most favorite icons ever, and all you have to do is look at the expressions on both of their faces to see why. No words, and yet the communication is clear:
The first time we see Justin top Brian, by ohfreckle. We've had endless discussions about whether or not this was the actual first time, if Brian ever bottoms with tricks, and how often Justin does this. But regardless of your position on any of these things, the nose squish here conveys everything that needs to be said by either of them:
This one, by paddies is a difficult scene for many of us. It's during the S2 break-up arc where there are major communication problems between Brian and Justin. Notice Brian's nose squish. Notice also how Justin can't see it:
The have some balls kiss by paddies. Brian challenged Justin, and Justin didn't back down. In fact, he used a very Brian-like nose squish to help get his message across:
This one is by ohfreckle and yes it's hot. Yes, they're fucking. But remember, fucking in and of itself isn't intimacy. But with the addition of the nose squish, we see clearly conveyed that this is so much more than just a fuck. If anyone thinks that they would never say "I love you" during a good, hard fuck, please take a closer look:
The 513 kiss by paddies. This one needs no explanation at all:
The above are only a few examples. There are so many more. Brian may have waited until 510 to say the words, and Justin may not say them with any kind of frequency, but then again - they tell each other all the time.