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Brian looked up when a coffee was set on his desk. "What're you doing here?" "What, can't stop by and make sure you ain't out getting yourself in the hospital again?" Vince asked, tone light and a bit amused. "I mean yeah, but I thought- I thought you hated my job." "I'm not overjoyed 'bout it, but I don't hate it. Makes you happy, but it also gets you hurt more often than not." A spark was in his eye and he sparked to lean in when Brian stood abruptly. "Juarez, are those my crime scene pictures?" The man in question nodded, handing him a folder. "Yep. Who's this?" Vince opened his mouth to introduce himself, but Brian beat him to it. "This is my friend Vince. Vince, Antonio Juarez." Vince shut his mouth, lips thinning a bit. "Nice to meet ya," he muttered, shaking his hand and trying to smile. "I was just gonna go. See ya, Bri." He turned on his heel and left, leaving Brian wondering about his sudden mood change. ~~~~~~~~ The next time it happened, someone noticed. Brian had been promoted to detective, so of course the entire team had attended the ceremony to support him. He'd come up to them after, tears in his eyes as he hugged them. "I know you don't all approve of my job. This means a lot." "We're over the job thing," Letty scoffed. "You're family, Bri, and we support family no matter what job they have." Brian hugged her especially tightly before wandering over to talk to Agent Trinh, who congratulated him on his achievement. Vince came over ten minutes later, touching Brian's arm. "I've gotta head out. I'm sorry, but my cousin's at the hospital and needs me to pick her up." "That's okay. Vince, this is Trinh. I worked with her for a bit, remember? Trinh, this is my friend Vince." Vince shook her hand before a muttered, "See ya tonight, Bri," and he walked away, tension in his shoulders. Brian frowned, but returned to the conversation. Later when he was leaving (driving Letty and Mia because Vince had been Letty's ride over from the garage, and Mia because she'd invited herself into the car) he commented on Vince's behavior. "He acted weird after I introduced him." "How'd you introduce him?" Mia inquired. "My friend." "Well that's why," Letty cut in. "What do you mean?" Brian asked. "I assumed he wanted to keep us quiet. I didn't think he'd want to announce that he's in a gay relationship." Letty rolled her eyes. "Men. Honestly, I've never been so glad I'm a lesbian." Mia giggled at that. "Brian. He doesn't like you denying your relationship. If he wanted to keep it quiet, wouldn't he have told you by now? He's getting hurt that you're only introducing him as a friend." "Really?" "I'm pretty sure, but talk to him. You two need to talk about it." "Thanks, Mia." ~~~~~~~~ A party was going strong outside in the yard as dusk fell, but Brian had taken Vince's hand and dragged him inside. "We need to talk," he'd said. Honestly? Vince was a little worried. What he and Brian had was relatively new (maybe not, but it had only been two months) and he hated to think he'd screwed it up already. He was pretty damn sure he loved him, and if that didn't speak volumes about his commitment-phobic usual ways, then he didn't know what did. Brian led him to his bedroom, sitting on the bed, motioning for Vince to sit next to him. Vince did, still eying him warily. "Yeah?" Brian sighed. "I'm sorry." Vince frowned. "For what?" "I'm sorry I didn't introduce you as my boyfriend. I thought maybe you wanted to keep it quiet, but Mia told me that wasn't the case." "I'm open about liking both, Bri," Vince said. "Everyone on the scene knows I've brought girls and a few guys to races before. I didn't know if you'd want to announce it, with your job." "I'm not ashamed of you, V, you need to know that," Brian said earnestly. "If I'd have known you were okay with me introducing you as my boyfriend, hell, I'd have told Juarez way back during the first week we were dating. But I didn't know if you wanted that, so I kept my mouth shut." "I ain't ashamed of you either, Buster. Hell, I'm proud of you, and everything you've done. I'd kiss you in front of the whole damn racing scene if that's what you wanted." Brian laughed. "We're good, then?" " 'Course we're good. Now c'mere, I think you deserve a reward along with your promotion..." ~~~~~~~~ Brian walked into the station with a smile on his face and a mug of coffee in his hand. The travel mug was silver and had a couple of hand-painted blue stripes on it, mimicking his car, along with a note scrawled in Sharpie near the bottom that read, 'Drink more coffee, don't kill yourself with those damn energy drinks - V'. A hickey was just barely visible under his collar when he moved a certain way, making his partner laugh. "Someone had a good time after their promotion. I take it 'V' was proud of you?" Daniels said, grinning. Brian grinned as well. "Yeah, he was. What've we got?" Daniels blinked, processing Brian's answer, then started, "Well, we have a few suspects..." ~~~~~~~~ Around lunchtime, Vince strolled into the station, paper bag in hand. He set it on Brian's desk. "Mia made tuna for lunch. Said she remembered how much you liked it." Brian laughed. "You're making me suffer?" "Gotta do it for the family, buster. I had to sit at the table and eat two if 'em so I wouldn't hurt Mia's feelings." "You're going soft," Brian teased. "Is there something edible to go with it?" "Can't have you starving, now can I? There's also a sandwich from Abby's deli. I passed it on my way here. But you gotta eat Mia's first." "Of course." Brian pulled out the tuna sandwich, grimacing a bit, which made Vince smile. "Who's this, O'Conner?" They both turned, and Brian used the sandwich to gesture. "Vince, this is my partner, Theodore Daniels. Daniels, this is Vince." "Oh, this is 'V'? Hi, nice to meet you." Daniels shook Vince's hand. "So you're the one taking care of O'Conner here?" "Sure," Vince said mildly. "Vince is my boyfriend," Brian explained offhandedly, biting into his sandwich. "Responsible for that hickey?" Brian's hand flew to his neck. "I thought it was under my collar?!" Daniels chuckled. "Hate to tell ya, it's visible half the time when you move." Vince smirked smugly. "You told me where it'd be covered. It's technically covered...most of the time." "I hate you," Brian grumbled. "So we're not still on to watch that movie tonight? I was looking forward to pizza and beer and...what's it called? Green Bee?" Brian chuckled. "Green Hornet. And yeah, we're still on, V. I shouldn't be too late, but I'll call if something comes up." "Great. I gotta go, Dom's a stickler about 'lunch hour', but I'll see you tonight." Vince prepared to leave, but Brian pushed back his chair and stood. "Wait. You're forgetting something." "What?" Brian kissed him chastely. "A proper goodbye. Now go, I don't want Dom holding your ass at the garage til midnight, we have plans tonight." Vince smiled, kissing his forehead and ruffling his curls. "See ya tonight, Bri."