“What’s with all the cleaning? You haven’t stood still since you got home. What? Is the President coming to visit and someone forgot to tell me?” Ethan chuckled to himself as he sat down on the couch. Justin just stared at him like he’d made the stupidest joke in the history of the world. Ever. He started muttering to himself as he carried on picking up dirty clothes and throwing them into the trash. It was obvious that he wasn’t going to answer his boyfriend’s question anytime soon, and as he started going through the fridge, picking something up to take a closer look at it and saying something about finding the cure for cancer before chucking it in the bin, Ethan decided it was time to intervene. “Hey Justin,” he said firmly as he held the blond by the shoulders. “What’s going on?” Justin finally stopped and took a deep breath. “It’s Nathan.” He said the words like it was the most obvious thing in the world. It wasn’t. At least not to Ethan. When Justin continued to look around the room, no doubt mentally working out how much more cleaning he would have to do before the apartment was up to his standard of presentable, and appeared to have no intention of elaborating, Ethan asked the question. “And Nathan is?” Justin gave him a look that suggested he thought he might be mildly retarded. “My cousin from England. I told you he was coming over during his college vacation. Well he’s come a bit early.” Justin saw an old sock poking out from under the bed and rushed over to remove it. God he hadn’t realized how much they’d let the place go. He wasn’t usually this messy, but he supposed as it was a shit hole to begin with, it didn’t much matter. Also, when he’d been living with Brian they’d had a cleaning lady so he’d kind of gotten out of the habit of picking up after himself. Say what you will about Mr. Kinney, he certainly had it right when it came to domestic chores. Ethan stood still by the fridge looking perplexed. “He’s coming to stay? Here?” He gestured wildly around the one bedroom apartment as if to indicate that it was hardly the Ritz, and as such, having anyone else to stay was wholly impractical. Justin was slightly offended that Ethan would think he was as ridiculous as to try and fit another body into their shoebox. “No,” he stated with a sigh to show that it was in fact Ethan whom was being ridiculous. “He’s staying with Mom and Molly. He arrived today though instead of next week. He’s coming over later and then we’re taking him out.” “Taking him out where? What kind of things is he into? I mean we hardly know the best places to go for picking up women.” Justin snorted a laugh. “That won’t be a problem for him as he’s never picked up a woman in his life.” Ethan looked confused. Again. Justin briefly thought that maybe he should have just drawn his boyfriend lots of pretty pictures and let the man work out the story for himself, while Justin got on with much more important things. “He’s gay.” Understanding washed over Ethan’s dark features. Then he started laughing. “What’s so funny?” “I don’t know, just, what are the odds that there would be two queers in your family’s bloodline. I bet your daddy’s real proud.” Justin had to admit that the news had amused him when his mother had first told him. It had been about 6 months ago when she had finally got the courage up to tell his aunt that he was gay. The admission had prompted his aunt to make one of her own. It was strange really, as the two boys had always had a lot in common. They were only a year apart in age, Nathan being the elder, and they had similar physical attributes, both being blond with blue eyes. Their body shapes were alike too, though the older man was a good few inches taller. Intellectually they were both honour students at their respective schools and both had a passion for art, music and literature. Nathan had chosen to pursue graphic art, however, not fine art like his cousin, and was now studying at Bristol University. They had always gotten along well and kept in regular contact, but this would be the first time they were going to see each other since they had both come out. Justin just hoped Nathan could handle the overt sexuality of Liberty Avenue. He didn’t want to scare him off. After all he couldn’t imagine Nathan would have had all that much experience where he was from. ~ ~ ~ Nathan walked down Liberty Avenue taking in the sights. It was a lot like Canal Street in Manchester where he was from, though he had to admit it wasn’t quite like this during the day. He had been openly cruised by almost every guy that had crossed his path. Some of them were really hot and the blond smiled to himself. He could really enjoy this place. He stopped as he came to the diner that his aunt had told him about. She wasn’t sure whether Justin would be working but she had told him that it was a friendly place and that they made great lemon bars. Nathan, never being one to turn down decent food, decided that he would pay the place a visit. As he walked in, he felt like he was in a movie. The whole place became quiet as every pair of eyes turned to him. Luckily, Nathan was a confident lad and thrived on this sort of attention. He slowly made his way over to the counter, making sure to add an extra swagger into his walk, just for his ardent admires. He sat down on one of the stools and spun around, raking his eyes over every male face in the place. Yes, he could definitely enjoy it here. “And what can I get you gorgeous?” Nathan was pulled out of a staring competition with another hot blond by a female voice behind him. He turned around and took in the woman’s appearance. She had curly red hair, extra bright make-up that he suspected was to match her extra bright clothing, and was wearing a vest covered in badges. She was grinning at him. He smiled back and then glanced at the blond one last time, who as he had expected, was still staring at him longingly. “Afraid he’s not on the menu,” she laughed and snapped her gum at him. “That’s a shame as he looks so full of protein.” She laughed again. “I guess I’ll just have to make do with a lemon bar and a black coffee then,” he finished off with a smirk. “You’re not from around here are you?” she asked, eyeing him curiously as she poured some coffee into a mug. “What was it that gave me away?” he joked, as she placed the mug in front of him. He picked up the sugar and poured 3 teaspoons into it his coffee. “Well first, it was the way I nearly slid across the floor on all the saliva from these guys. It’s quite rare we get anyone in here that no one’s fucked before.” He raised an eyebrow at her. “Second, I’ve worked in here for the past 20 years and I know EVERYONE that comes down Liberty Avenue. And third, you’ve got just about the cutest fucking accent I’ve ever heard.” With that she leaned across the counter and pinched his cheek. Nathan laughed and sipped his coffee. “I’m from Manchester, in England. I’m just visiting…” Right then he was interrupted by a group of men coming through the door. Nathan made a quick appraisal of them as they walked towards him. One of them in the front had short black hair and was wearing a boring grey suit. He looked like he might commit suicide at any moment. “I can’t believe he didn’t remember me,” he was saying to the man walking next to him. This guy was the complete opposite. He was wearing a pink fluffy coat, skin-tight purple snakeskin pants and had a completely flamboyant air about him. He was patting the miserable one’s shoulder soothingly as they sat down in a booth behind the blond. “I’m sure he just didn’t see you sweetie.” “Yeah, I’m sure that was all it was,” the third guy stated cheerfully. He was quite cute in the boy next door kinda way. Nathan was just about to turn back around, completely unsatisfied with what he had seen, when someone else spoke. “Of course he saw him, didn’t you see the way he turned and ran in the other direction?” “He didn’t run anywhere Brian. He probably just forgot to turn the oven off or something.” “Oh come on Emmett, he practically pole vaulted over that bench. I think the problem was that he DID remember you Theodore, too well.” Nathan found himself staring at the brunet practically open mouthed. How had he not noticed him right away? He was beautiful. Everything about him. As he stretched out in the booth next to the ‘boy next door’, Nathan’s eyes travelled up his long legs to his lean torso. He was also wearing a suit, but his was black and perfectly tailored. He was wearing a red shirt, which offset his dark features. The artist within made him want to tell, Brian was it?, what an excellent choice he’d made with the mix of colours, but as he looked at the man’s face he knew that he wouldn’t be able to get a coherent word out. He continued watching Brian as his friends talked around him. He could tell that the man was older, and by the look of his clothes was obviously successful. He tried to picture what he might do. From the confidence he effortlessly exuded Nathan couldn’t imagine him working in a conventional office job. He was obviously a people person. He was still staring at the man’s perfectly formed mouth when he suddenly looked up and was met by the most entrancing hazel eyes. As he looked into them, he felt as if he was drowning. Brian broke the contact and gave him a very slow once over. From the look on his face he obviously liked what he saw. No body else at the table had seemed to notice what was passing between the two of them. Suddenly their moment was broken as the red haired lady moved in front of Nathan and stood by the booth. “Hey ma,” the guy sitting next to Brian said. “Hey sweetie. What can I get you boys?” She looked down at Brian who was staring up at her. “I think I can guess what you’re after,” she cackled as she tilted her head in Nathan’s direction. The boy felt his stomach jump as the other man smirked and looked back at him. All the other men around the table seemed to finally notice him. He didn’t turn away. He was in his element. This guy wanted him, he could tell. He smiled his brightest smile at them and then picked up his lemon bar and took a bite. Mmmm, they really were good.