When The Snow Settles - Justin Bieber Fanfiction

In Winter's Glow

Disclaimer: I will occasionally switch the "POV's" between Justin and Emma, to give you guys insight on how they're both feeling between really intimate moments. 

Justin's Point of View:

I hadn't expected this. Any of it.

Emma had been asleep on my shoulder for the past ten minutes; her breathing was so soft and even as my mom read from A Christmas Carol. The fire was crackling. My arm was around her shoulders like it was the most natural thing in the world. But it wasn't. Not for me. Not now.

There was something about her. Something I couldn't fucking shake. The way she fit against me, the way she still smiled with those damn dimples after all these years. She had always been just Emma, the quiet girl next door with a book in her hand. But now... now she felt like something more. And I didn't know what the hell to do with that.

Especially because of Alison.

Fuck. Alison.

But even before this moment, before she fell asleep on my chest, I had felt it. In the library, when she stood on that spiral staircase, bathing in the morning light that came in from the windows, that brown dress hugging her perfectly, the black bow in her dark brown hair. It hit me then. She looked like she belonged there, surrounded by old books and endless shelves. And she looked beautiful.

I never really noticed it before, how she came alive in a place like that. But now? I couldn't stop looking at her. And it was starting to fuck with my head.

My mom's soft laugh pulled me out of my head. "She's gorgeous, huh?" she said, keeping her voice low so she wouldn't wake Emma.

I nodded slowly. "Yeah, she is," I muttered, looking down at Emma. Her face was relaxed against my chest, her breathing steady as she remained asleep. The firelight danced over her skin, making her look even softer. She wasn't like Alison. She wasn't all polished and picture-perfect, always ready for the camera. Emma was just... Emma. Effortless. Real. And that shit was almost harder to look at.

"She's always been good for you, Justin," my mom added, her eyes meeting mine over the top of her glasses. "Even back when you two were just kids."

I shifted, suddenly too warm. "What do you mean?"

Mom sighed, shutting the book for a moment. "When you left for California, she took it hard. You didn't see it, but I did. She was quiet about it, but it was there." She adjusted her glasses, her voice softer now. "She's been through a lot. Just... don't mess with her heart, okay? I know you've got a whole life out there, but she still cares about you. Even if she won't say it."

I exhaled slowly, running a hand over my face. "Shit," I muttered under my breath, staring down at Emma. I didn't know what to say, what to feel.

I just knew I was fucked.

My chest felt really tight as I looked down at Emma, still asleep, completely unaware of the shitstorm going on in my head. I didn't want to hurt her, not again. But what the hell was I supposed to do? Tell her I was just now realizing there was something here, but I'd be gone in a month? That I had a girlfriend waiting for me in LA? None of this felt right.

"I'm not trying to lead her on," I muttered, but even I wasn't sure if I believed it.

Mom just gave me that knowing look, the one that always made me feel like a little kid caught in a lie. She patted my shoulder before heading into the kitchen. "Just... be careful, Justin."

I watched her go, my stomach sinking. Be careful. Like that was so fucking easy.

Emma shifted against me, sighing softly in her sleep, and I swallowed hard. She had no idea what was running through my head, no idea how torn up I was about all of this. She just looked... peaceful. Like she belonged here. But I didn't. It has only been a fucking day.