Only Us (Justin Fields)

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Jillian

Now that Covid has slowed down enough for the state to open up again we decided to go to Georgia for the 4th of July. I'm honestly surprised that Justin waited this long to go back home, it's the longest he's been without his family his whole life. But they're all Covid free now and we are good to go so they bought some fireworks to set off and food to grill. It should be a fun couple of days.

I drive the first half down and Justin the second half with his hand in mine as we approach his city.

"You told them we're dating, right" I ask him.

"Of course I told them. Whether or not they believe me... that's yet to be seen" he mumbles.

"Do you think us being together is that inconceivable" I question.

"No, not at all. In fact I think it makes all the sense in the world. However, my family's faith in my ability to act on the feelings that we so obviously shared for so long... yeah they had no faith in me" he confesses.

"I see" I nod. I was the one who made the first move so I guess they weren't totally wrong.

I guess on paper it doesn't make much sense, him and me. He was the sun and I was the moon. Him the oil and me the water. We were like two parallel lines to never meet. But we did, and I think that intersection between x and y was all we needed. A single moment in time to connect and the rest was written. It was fate. Maybe from the start it was written for us to be here like this. Together.

It's never worth speculating, if he would have stopped one floor before or one after we wouldn't be having this conversation. In fact there wouldn't even be a conversation to be had. But I truly believe this was inevitable. Even if I don't believe in god there had to be something out there that sent him to me, and he was sweet enough to stay.

We pull up to his dad's place and I smile. It's been so long. Justin runs around the car to get the door open. Nice to know that something's will never change.

He grabs my hand before placing a quick kiss on my lips. "I love you" he says randomly making me smile like an idiot.

"I love you so much" I promise.

We walk up the pathway and before we can even knock the door swings open. Jaiden and Jessica both stand there, mouths wide open. You would think it was a picture with how still they had become.

"Uhhh, hello" Justin quizzes, but I'm not even sure they were breathing at this point. He waves his free hand in front of their faces but they haven't even blinked yet.

"Did you guys kiss" Jessica asks and my face catches on fire. I did not think they were watching us.

"Can I not kiss my girlfriend" Justin challenges.

"No way she actually agreed to be your girlfriend" Jaiden scoffs.

"I told you guys I was not messing with you. We're really together" Justin tries.

"Is he holding you hostage" Jaiden asks me making me giggle.

"Not at all" I smile.

"You're with him... willingly. Even after all this time" Jess continues.

"With him is my favorite place in the world" I promise.

"I guess she looks happy enough. But I'm not convinced" Jess says. This is going to be a long day isn't it?

We get inside and I find his step mom in the kitchen. Justin pulls me into a quick kiss before he goes in search of his dad. I jump right in with prepping the things for the grill.

"You know I thought Justin was lying to us when he told us you guys got together so we would get off his back about it" she starts and I shake my head.

"You all have no faith in that man" I laugh.

"We do. Justin is one of a kind and we all know that. He is stronger than he knows, braver than most, wiser than all. But he has this issue where he listens to his brain more than his heart. His brain deceives him, worries him about things that aren't ever going to be true. And his heart can be screaming at him telling him that his brain is just anxious and he can't even hear it. He tries to follow logic where logic is not present. Like love. He would sit there and make a pros and cons list of telling you that he loves you sooner than he would just flat out tell you" she claims.

"I did say it first" I tease.

"I'm not surprised. Little does he know there are so many ways he showed his love before the words ever passed his lips. Like teaching you how to drive or learning vegan recipes with you. They're small but they add up. Eventually he had to stop listening to his brain so worried about everything that could go wrong and let go. It looks like he actually has" she nods.

"Love taught us a lot. And he seems more in touch with his heart now. Not being so worried all the time. We wake up and we can just go for walks and he can tell me things I know he always wanted to tell someone but felt like he couldn't before. He said it with his eyes, his touch. But he's been using his words just fine" I admit.

"That's good" she smiles.

Eventually we go outside and start grilling. I end up in the pool with Jessica and Jaiden before Justin joins us. He swims right over to the corner I put myself in and places his lips on mine.

"You really want to do this in front of your family" I ask softly as we break apart.

"I don't care where we are or who is watching. All I care about is you. Only you" he says lowly.

My face nearly gets as hot as the sun as I look into his big brown eyes. God I could get lost in those things forever. He stares at me long enough to have to clear my throat to break up the silence. Before I know it his lips were on mine again.

"Enough PDA. You guys have called me single in five different languages already today" Jessica says swimming by for a water.

"Don't be mad" Justin teases his sister.

"Be nice" I warn.

"She started it" he whines.

It's like he never even left.

Finally it gets dark and we get out the pool. The food was eaten, the smores on deck and the fireworks ready. Since there couldn't be one big celebration like most towns do everyone had their own smaller ones. Lots of fireworks go off but Justin's dad didn't spare any expenses. I watch in amazement as the fireworks explode above us. I sit in Justin's lap just admiring the colors. The art being made in the sky. They have such a short lifespan. Just a few seconds. Yet they hold infinite beauty.

I turn to say something to Justin and I realize he was watching me not the fireworks. "What" I ask.

"Nothing. I just like watching you" he says.

"More than the fireworks" I ask.

"Of course" he claims.

I just smile as I rest my head on his chest. I watch the fireworks from the comfort of what I considered to be home.