Disclaimer: If you are under 18 years of age, do not read this story. If you are offended by homosexual relationships, do not read this story. If you are looking for some quick jerk off material, do not read this story. If you are here to read the continuing story of two guys who fall in love, please read this story!
All characters and events in this story are fictional.
Copyright Alekz March 2001
Thanks so much to everyone who took the time to write me! It really means a lot to hear what you guys think about my work. I love hearing from you guys, so keep emailing me at alekzmarch@hotmail.com
Enjoy,
Alekz
Julian and Bryan, Chapter Two
By some complete miracle of nature, the rain had let up when Bryan and I left my apartment. Since neither of us had a car, we walked through the quiet streets of my neighbourhood in the general direction of the downtown. I had no idea what our destination was, and Bryan insisted that it be a surprise.
We talked the whole walk, and I found myself growing ever more attracted to Bryan. He was smart, and funny, and seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say. We talked easily about any number of things, and by the time we reached the downtown it seemed as if we had been friends for years.
Bryan had a distinct air of confidence about him that I found very attractive. Unlike his brother, however, this confidence didn't go so far as to be considered arrogance. He was just very sure of himself, and I admired him for that.
I was half way through a typical story about one of my hatred filled encounters with Dr. Nemesis, which Bryan seemed to find hysterical, when he stopped suddenly and announced that we had arrived at our destination. The surprise turned out to be quite a pleasant one, as the building we had stopped in front of was home to the Galley restaurant, one of the more upscale and romantic restaurants in the city.
"Good choice." I complimented him. I had been to the Galley a few times before, and my meal was always perfect.
Bryan smiled. "I'm glad you think so. I've never actually been here before, but my sister recommended it."
"Your sister has good taste."
"In restaurants, if not in other things."
I gave him a questioning look, but he didn't elaborate. He seemed to get a bit distant for a moment, so I took his hand and led him inside. He started a bit when I took his hand, but then he smiled and held mine tighter.
The Galley is a pretty popular restaurant, but apparently Wednesdays are slower because we had no problem getting a good table in the back. We ordered, and I was pleased to note that Bryan didn't order any meat. I knew from our talk on the way to the restaurant that he wasn't a vegetarian, so I assume he was being accommodating to my own tastes. I thought that was very considerate of him.
We talked until our food came, and then talked even more while we were eating. My family had always been big on conversation during meals, so I've never been able to understand people who eat in silence. Bryan said that his family was the same.
"So how long have you lived with your brother?" He asked me once we had breached the topic of our families. I had been trying to avoid this all night, but I don't think he noticed.
"Almost three years, since right after our parents died." Strangely enough I found it didn't hurt that much. After three years I was by no means forgetting them, but the pain associated with memories of them had faded a lot.
"I'm sorry." Bryan said, taking hold of my hand.
I smiled at him. "Don't be, it's not your fault."
"I know, but I just didn't mean to bring up something painful."
I shrugged. "You didn't. It stopped hurting quite a while ago."
I was lying of course, and I think Bryan saw that because he gave my hand a gentle squeeze and stayed silent. Unfortunately, the cheerful mood that had prevailed earlier was gone. I had hoped to get it back, but when I looked up I saw that things were only going to get worse.
Walking toward our table was a man who looked to be about thirty, but whom I knew was actually six years older. He was handsome, in a "I know I'm so handsome" sort of way, with curly black hair and hazel eyes. He was tall and fit, and wore a smirk that put Ryan's to shame. I groaned involuntarily, and Bryan gave me an odd look. He saw the man coming, and his look turned questioning.
"Julian my boy, it's been too long." The man, Peter, said when he reached the table. He said 'my boy' with a strange tone and I knew exactly what he meant. I refused to even look at him. Peter laughed, and it was not a pleasant sound.
"Now Julian," He began in a patronizing tone. "That's not very friendly. And as I recall, you were much friendlier the last time we met."
Now I did look at him, and it was a hateful look that could only be described as a glare. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Bryan looking very confused.
"Look man, what exactly do you want?" Bryan asked him. I knew that was a mistake.
Peter's smirk widened. "What do I want? Why don't you ask Julian? He knows exactly what I want." I could feel my anger rising, and was about to tell Peter exactly where to go when he interrupted me, talking to Bryan.
"By the way, he's a great fuck. Worth every penny I payed for him."
If I was angry before, now I was furious. My anger had nothing on Bryan's, for the next thing I knew he exploded out of his chair and landed a vicious sounding punch right where Peter's smirk had been. It happened so fast that I didn't even have time to let out the delighted laughter I felt rising in me.
Peter was lying on the floor, bloody and dazed looking. Bryan straddled him, grabbed on to his collar and hauled him up no more than an inch from his red, seething face.
"If you ever say anything like that about Julian again, I'm going to ruin your pretty little arrogant face, do you understand me?" He spoke very low, in a deceptively calm voice. He was obviously still furious though.
Peter nodded, and Bryan let go of his head, which smacked against the floor with a sound that made me flinch. Bryan stood up calmly, reached for my hand, and helped me out of my chair. We walked to the front desk together, accompanied by the stares of a dozen or so other astonished customers.
"I would like our bill now, please." Bryan said to our waitress in his normal voice.
"Um, actually..." The waitress stammered, "The manager just told me your meal's on the house, if you'll just, um, leave now."
Bryan nodded. "Fair enough. Good night."
I left a hefty tip on the desk for our waitress, by way of some sort of apology, and walked out with Bryan. Appropriately enough, it had started raining again. We walked for a bit in the rain, neither of us saying anything, until Bryan broke the silence.
"Look," He started suddenly. "I'm sorry if I made you angry by punching that guy, but he really deserved it."
I was shocked. He had just been told in no uncertain terms that his date had slept with somebody for money, gotten into a fight in a restaurant to preserve my honour, what little of it remained, and now he was apologizing to me!
"Bryan, I'm not mad." I turned my eyes down from his, not able to meet them right then. "I'm really honoured that you would stick up for me." I felt a tear slide down one cheek and cursed myself. This wasn't going to be easy. "What he said about me...it's true."
I started to cry quietly. I hadn't thought about Peter or that part of my past in a long time, and I was almost surprised by how strongly ashamed I still felt. I felt Bryan's hand on my chin, and he slowly lifted my head to look at him. I expected to see anger, or even worse, pity, but instead I saw something completely unexpected. Understanding.
He didn't even say anything. Instead, he leaned his head down and kissed me. It was a slow, gentle kiss, and it was wonderful. I felt my tears stop, and my sadness and shame faded away, replaced by warmth and happiness. When the kiss finally stopped, I was standing there in the rain, smiling. Bryan was smiling back at me, and that only increased the warmth I felt.
"I don't care about what he said, and I don't care if it is true." Bryan took both my hands. "It doesn't matter to me."
I thought about this for a minute, just looking into his face in the rain. I could tell he meant it, and I knew I could tell him the truth.
"I want to tell you about it."
"You don't have to."
"I want to." I told him. "I've never told anyone, at least not anyone I cared about."
Bryan smiled. "You care about me?"
I blushed and nodded. Bryan laughed and wrapped his arms around me. It was a very good feeling.
"Good, because I care about you too."
Twenty minutes later, we sat on the couch in my living room drying our hair and faces with a towel I stole from Justin's room. Once we were dry we layed down on the couch, Bryan spooning me from behind, with his arms wrapped around me. I was facing away from him, staring into a candle I had lit on the coffee table.
"I feel very safe right now." I told him.
"I'm glad." Bryan told me. "You're always safe with me."
I laid there for a bit, enjoying the feeling in silence, before I started to speak. I felt like I had to finally tell someone, someone who knew me and would tell me it was alright.
"I was eighteen when my parents died." I began. Bryan's arms tightened around me. "They were out for a walk the night of my highschool graduation when they were hit by a car. The driver turned out to be a guy from my school, he was drunk and on his way to another party." Bryan kissed me gently on the back of my neck, and I shivered. "It was a hit and run. He just mowed them down and kept on going..."
For the next half hour or so I kept talking, telling Bryan about that summer. I told him about how close my parents had been with Justin and I, and how I fell apart when I heard they were dead. I had gotten drunk with some friends, trying to dull the pain, and I met Peter while I was stumbling home. We talked for a bit, and he seemed sweet and nice, and I felt so alone. He took me home that night, and I had sex for the first time. He wasn't gentle, and it hurt a lot even though I was drunk. I spent the night and in the morning he gave me fifty bucks and his phone number and sent me on my way.
I called him the next night, and began a routine that lasted all summer. Every second or third night, whenever I was feeling even more depressed than usual, I would call Peter, he would fuck me, and I would go home fifty bucks richer. Usually I would spend the money the next night, getting myself and my friends plastered.
"By the end of the summer, my self esteem was gone, my self image was crap, and I still felt terribly alone." I explained to Bryan. Every so often he would give me a squeeze or rub my stomach to let me know he was still awake, and still listening.
"It was actually my brother who suggested I see a shrink." I said with a bit of a laugh. "He was only fifteen, but then he's always been just a little bit smarter than me."
I started seeing my new shrink, Dr. Anna Solvejg once a week, then two times a week, and after a month or so back down to once a week. She was a genius, and a miracle worker as far as I'm concerned. She helped me deal with all my pain and grief, and with all the mixed feelings I had towards my dealings with Peter. Then, last of all, she helped me see how much my brother was hurting.
"I was so messed up that I had hardly even thought about him." I wondered briefly if Bryan had fallen asleep, but he hugged me again, so I went on. "It had been six months since the accident by this point, and Justin had been living with our grandparents. I got this place and had him move in with me."
We started seeing Dr. Anna together, and she helped us both a great deal. On top of all his grief, which he was handling better than I had, Justin had a lot of anger towards me. We had been close before the accident, but then I had withdrawn and ignored him when he needed me the most. Anna helped us get past this, and we ended up even closer than we had been.
"Fortunately Justin forgave me, and we've been really close ever since. Peter is the one thing I never told him about."
"I'm glad you told me." Bryan said.
"I'm glad I did too."
"So how do you feel?"
I sat up, and Bryan did as well. "I feel great actually." I wrapped my arms around him and kissed him, a bit more passionately this time.
"Mmm, you certainly do feel good." Bryan said when we finished.
I laughed. "Whatever. Thanks for listening."
"Anytime." Bryan smiled at me, then looked at his watch. "Shit man, it's getting late and I've got early classes tomorrow."
I nodded. "I've got to go to bed too. Will I see you tomorrow?"
"Definitely. I'll give you a call after my classes." He stood and put on his shoes and his jacket. "Thanks for tonight Julian."
I laughed and stood up. "Sorry it wasn't your average first date."
He shrugged. "Are you kidding? It was way better than average. After all, it's not every date that the restaurant gives you a free meal."
"Of course we probably won't be invited back soon." I said with a laugh.
"No, probably not." Bryan leaned down and gave me a kiss goodnight. "Seriously, I had a great time getting to know you tonight."
"If you keep kissing me like that, you're gonna get to know just about all of me tonight."
Bryan laughed. "Don't tempt me. Goodnight Jule."
I smiled. "Goodnight Bry."
He walked out the door, and I headed off to bed knowing I would see him again soon. The warm feeling I felt stayed with me as I fell asleep, and I had many pleasant dreams.
To be continued...