This is the sixth story in the Rewriting History series, and it follows Radiate Simply. I'm posting this early because tomorrow is the Fourth of July here in the US, and I'm going to be away for the day. (Like I needed an excuse to write one more of these...I'm hopeless!)

Warnings: m/m, occasional bad language, angst, AU. No spoilers for the movie.

I hope you enjoy it. :)

~Silk

*****

Came Down Like Water

By Silk

"It took us two bloody hours to clear Customs, Brian! All because of your new *friend*," Mandy sneered.

"It wasn't his fault!" Brian protested, wondering why he bothered to defend Curt. Curt was right there and perfectly capable of taking care of himself.

"They said he looked like someone on a wanted poster, Brian," Mandy continued without a break. "He does, you know. He looks exactly like what he *is*. A homeless drug addict sponging off his betters!"

Curt sighed and counted to ten. Twice. He could have stopped Mandy any time, but out of deference to Brian, he kept his mouth shut. He could read the tension in Brian's body. Brian's back was a straight line, the curve of his spine all but obliterated by Mandy's diatribe.

"Mandy-"

Jerry, ever the peacemaker, intervened before the inevitable happened. "Mandy, let me take those cases for you, darling. You shouldn't be carrying them."

"In my condition? That's what you mean, don't you, Jerry? You think I'm *pregnant*?"

"Oh, fuck," Curt muttered under his breath.

"And not a word out of you!" Mandy shouted.

"Darling, you're upset," Jerry placated.

"No shit, Sherlock! Why do you think that is?"

Jerry glanced at Brian whose face flushed dark red. "Don't look at *me*, Jerry!"

Jerry raised an eyebrow and regarded Curt. Curt laughed out loud. "Figures. I haven't been in England ten minutes and you all want to blame *me* for Mandy's little psychotic break. Well, I got news for you people. Madame looks like she could use a little Lithium. No charge for the consultation."

As soon as he finished speaking, Curt swept down the corridor and jumped onto the moving sidewalk. With any luck, he would be at the taxi stand before the rest of them. He didn't look to see if Brian was following him. He didn't expect him to. What right did *he* have to expect loyalty? No one ever believed Curt. No one ever took his side.

Except...there was a part of Curt that thought Brian *would* come after him.

When he reached the exit, he grabbed a cigarette out of his jacket pocket and lit it. He closed his eyes and took a drag, feeling the nicotine bubbling through his veins like a much-needed elixir.

He blew the smoke out through his nose and opened his eyes to find Brian staring at him.

"What? I shouldn't have said anything, right?"

"Curt-"

"I know, I know. You're disappointed in me. You expected better and you got worse." Curt snorted derisively. "Welcome to the club, man."

Brian cocked his head and studied his lover. "What *are* you talking about, Curt?"

"I pissed off Mandy."

"Curt, *everything* pisses off Mandy. Including the color of my hair, the shape of my nose, and whether or not I clipped my fingernails before I came to bed."

Despite his black mood, Curt chuckled. "She likes a little obsessive-compulsive to go with her manic-depressive, huh?"

Brian grinned. "You could say that."

"I *did* say that."

"Yes, you did, you bad boy." Brian plucked the cigarette from between Curt's lips and took a puff. "Now kiss me before she catches up with us."

Curt didn't hesitate. He kissed Brian a little more heartily than he originally intended, a fact that amused Brian no end when an old woman threatened to thump both of them with her umbrella.

"Perverts!" she cried.

"That's *Mr.* Pervert to you, ma'am," Curt said, earning him a dirty look.

She shrieked in dismay and threw up her hands. When she was out of sight, Brian smiled at Curt. "We should be home in time for dinner at this rate."

"You're kidding. Where the hell do you live, man?"

*****

Brian called an old Georgian mansion north of London home. He kept a flat in town, but Mandy wanted to return to the country. The tour seemed to have taken its toll on her. Or was it Brian's growing preoccupation with Curt Wild?

"I gave him a nice room, Brian. I bent over backwards to give you what you wanted. Now don't yell at me!" Mandy screamed.

"Then why the hell is he all the way on the other side of the fucking house?" Brian demanded.

"I thought he might like some privacy. You remember privacy, Brian, don't you?"

Brian stalked out of the master bedroom and slammed the door. Mandy winced at the crash it made. She wasn't afraid of Brian. Far from it. In fact, under normal circumstances, Mandy quite enjoyed provoking him. But Brian was making a scene, and while a little drama was acceptable, even desirable, Mandy didn't want everyone else to know that there was trouble in paradise.

It took several minutes for Brian to find the room that had been allocated for Curt's use. He surprised Curt standing on the balcony, smoking yet another cigarette. "Do you like your room? I told Mandy not to put you all the way over here, but she did it just to annoy me. Did you find everything you needed? Is there anything I can get you?" Brian asked, unaware that tension was making his speech sound pressured.

"Get over here, Bri."

Brian braced himself for what he imagined would be a repeat of the histrionics he endured at Mandy's hands. But instead Curt threw down his cigarette and calmly stomped it out with the heel of his boot. When Brian was within an arm's length of him, Curt reached for the younger man and pulled him into a snug embrace. "I missed you, babe."

Brian felt his anxiety fade away as Curt's hands slid down his back. "Me, too."

They kissed, albeit briefly, and then Curt said, "Stay with me till I fall asleep."

"You're not coming down to dinner?" Brian pouted.

"I'm a little jet lagged. It's been a long day."

"You don't want to be with me?" Brian whispered.

"Always, babe. I'm just tired, that's all."

"Then who's going to protect me from Jerry and Mandy and all the other predators of the world?"

Curt pressed a tender kiss to Brian's forehead. "Lay down with me so I can sleep, baby."

"If I lay down with you, neither one of us will sleep, Curt."

"I couldn't get it up if I tried, man. The only way I could fuck you now is if I fell on you."

Brian's lips curved into a bittersweet smile. "I wish I could sleep with you."

"I just told you-"

"I mean *sleep*, Curt. I want to wrap my arms around you and hold you all night long."

"You'd do that for me?"

"For *us*."

Curt pushed a hand through Brian's hair, smoothing the spiky little tendrils back from his face. "Every time I think I've got you figured out, you surprise me."

"Do you like surprises?"

"Yeah, I think I do. Especially Brian-shaped surprises."

Brian stepped between Curt's legs and kissed him, his lips tracing a path along his jaw. All at once Curt sought his mouth, slipping his tongue inside as Brian parted his lips obediently. "I love kissing you," Curt whispered.

"I love *you*," Brian whispered back, his heart in his eyes.

An ear-splitting shriek rent the air. "*Brian*!"

Brian sighed. Suddenly Curt was struck by how young and vulnerable Brian looked. It was as if he'd dropped the faade that kept people at a distance and let Curt inside. "If I can get away later, maybe I'll join you during the night," Brian said, sounding curiously hesitant.

"I'll be waiting, babe."

Brian's lower lip trembled tellingly. "I don't want to leave you."

"And I don't want you to go." Curt played with a wispy strand of Brian's baby-fine hair.

But they both knew that Brian had no real choice.

"*Brian!*"

As Brian stepped back, he reached out to Curt, and for a moment, their fingertips touched and held.

All too soon, Brian was gone. Curt lit another cigarette and stared out at the deepening twilight. Brian was the magic that had been missing from his life all along. Ever since they'd met, Curt felt like he stood on the brink of discovering something wondrous. Now he knew what it was.

Softly, his voice scratchy from disuse, he began to sing. "I came down like water...for the age of solar..."

End