A winter frost can kill. Once it hits you wonder if all is lost and you hope there is something left to start the growth again, wondering how much pruning and pain will have to be endured in order to make things flourish.

Brian has been frosted more than once. His heart was more than half frozen for 29 years. When what started his thaw was damaged by a deadly frost he stands watch to see what he can salvage and protect; waiting for the spring to see if it can flourish again.

Yes, this fic is sad, but incredibly pure and filled with love. I find it amazing that nothing is jarring, no snark to lessen the pain, no hot sex to distract. Only Brian facing the damage of the frost that was done to Justin. Waiting for the spring.

I used to watch Justin sleep before he got bashed. He did it the way he fucked, without holding anything back. He let himself go all the way to sleep, his lips parted just a little, his lashes lying on his cheeks, his skin flushed, his body soft. Justin had the amazing ability to sleepily open his arms or legs or body warmth up to me when I wanted that, and to curl away, his cheek on his arm, when I’d had enough.

I couldn’t remember the last time I saw him sleep like that.

Even now, after really intense sex, he sometimes would fall into a deep sleep. I would stare at him, willing it to stay peaceful, but it never did. If I watched him long enough, I could see his breathing get uneven, his eyes start flickering under his closed lids, and hear little sounds in his throat.

Brian knows what Justin had, his innocence, his trust. He knows what he wants Justin to have again but can't, not yet, maybe never. But he is still there, watching, waiting, tending, knowing. What I find pouring through me as I read this was underneath everything was love and hope, even if it had been frosted.