Note: Okay, I lied. This isn't the last chapter. It'll be either the next one or another if I get inspired.
**
The entire time Quinten was out on his date, Brian had been a ball of worry.
He kept mulling over what his brother said earlier that day, about Cal being upset with him and what that could mean. While he didn't know the dynamics of their relationship, none of it sat right with him, especially considering it had made Quinten extra quiet and standoffish. If it had been a simple disagreement, then why the long face? Why the reluctance to talk about it at all? Truth be told, Brian hadn't wanted Quinten to go and see his boyfriend. In fact, he didn't want his brother to see him at all. Period.
It was stupid and selfish and he had no right to want to control Quinten's life, but something irreversible had changed between them. When he had looked down into his brother's face and saw that vulnerable look in his eyes, the universe suddenly rearranged itself with sharp clarity. Mere words couldn't convey the way Quinten had looked at him like he was a light in the darkness, like he held the weight of his world in his hands. He didn't bother to try, knowing that nothing would suffice. But what he did know was that something had touched his soul, and when Quinten broke decorum between them and kissed him, he didn't fight it.
To keep himself occupied, Brian turned to ye old faithful: Solitaire. He quickly lost himself in the menial task of clicking through cards, stacking them and either frowning when he lost or watching like a drone as the cards flew around the screen in victory. It helped, a little, in getting him to forget that his brother was out with some guy Brian never met, sucking on a cock that he knew wasn't as half as good as his own... A few times he caught himself grinding his teeth and setting off a headache.
Two hours after Quinten left and Brian had won twenty-two out of sixty rounds, he faintly heard the front door open and close with a quiet snap. Voices followed right after, low and crooning. One, his mother's, the second, Quinten's.
Brian instantly straightened up from his miserable slouch, his heart leaping into his throat with gusto. He hurried out into the hallway and peered down over the banister to find his sibling in the middle of shedding his huge coat while their mother said something about how she saved him a plate from the dinner he had skipped. Quinten didn't seem that interested but he nodded along and was obviously zoned out while she continued fussing over him. Once he had removed all his outer wear, she literally got behind him and started guiding him towards the dining room, determined to make sure he ate. Brian smiled fondly at the whiny "Mooooooom" and set off down the stairs on the pretense to wheedle information out of him, when in truth all he wanted was to hold him in his arms again.
Quinten was just sitting down when Brian rounded the corner in a controlled skid. A frown immediately pulled at the corners of Brian's lips when, this close up, he saw that Quinten's hair was still damp. It should have dried a while ago, unless...
"Hey, Quin," Brian greeted softly.
Quinten startled and looked up from where he was having a staring contest with the tablecloth. Brian took quick stock of him. The first thing he noticed was how tired he looked now. In the span of just a few short hours, he went from soft and boyish to looking like he aged ten years. His face was red from the cold and drawn, his eyes dewy with the need to close and rest. His lips were mildly puffy from all the abuse he'd sustained that day and his nose looked particularly aggrieved as if something had been impacting it (more than likely his boyfriend's pelvis), but all-in-all he seemed to be in one piece.
"Oh, hey," Quinten muttered, quickly looking away.
Brian sat beside him, and after craning his head around to make sure their mother wasn't about to suddenly appear with Quinten's dinner, he leaned over and pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek.
Whether on reflex or not, Quinten immediately jerked away from him and pointedly angled his shoulders to the side. A stab of hurt went through Brian but he put on a nonaffected smile and leaned back.
"Sooo, how was it? How'd it go?"
"Fine," Quinten answered shortly.
Brian drummed his fingers along the table, knowing full well it hadn't gone 'fine'. "Things are good between you, then?"
Quinten shrugged and ran a hand through his tousled curls. "Guess so, yeah."
"You... guess?"
"
Yes
. Look I don't know what you want me to say, Brian," Quinten snapped, turning halfway in his chair to glare at him. Brian pinched his lips together. "He fucked my face, came all over my hair, and I guess I was good enough because now he wants to-" He cut himself off abruptly as though literally biting his tongue. "Never mind."
Brian searched his face, believing he could see a bit of fear underneath his brother's frustration. As much as he wanted to reach out and draw him into a hug, he kept his hands to himself; Quinten looked like he was seconds from blowing up.
"Tell me," he said eventually. "Whatever he wants to do, I can help you."
Quinten gave a weary sigh, his eyes dipping to a point somewhere above Brian's heart. "I... honestly I don't think you can. He..." He stopped, swallowed, then tentatively raised his gaze back up, bright green meeting pale green.
Something in Brian lurched, and he knew. He just
knew
what Quinten was about to say. He didn't interrupt. He had to hear him say it. He wanted to hear him say it.
"He told me... that he wants to... to..."
"Here you go, sweetie!"
Quinten clammed up as their mother appeared with his plate of steaming food in one hand and a glass of water in the other, oblivious to the moment she had unintentionally shattered. He completely faced forward, looking a little green.
Fucking hell, Brian thought blandly, their mother seemed to be having perfect impeccable timing today.
"We'll talk later," Brian told him under his breath, and at the tiny nod he got in return, he squeezed his shoulder to convey his support and made his exit.
The next morning they definitely did not talk about it.
