What Do You Mean?

Chapter Two

I got a text from Justin about three hours later, telling me that he would pick me up outside of the coffee shop at nine o'clock. I didn't feel comfortable giving him my address, even though my apartment was literally around the corner from my work.

When I arrived home, I was greeted by the sight of Nathan on the couch playing a video game and drinking a beer. He had a place of his own to live, which was ten times nicer than my apartment, but he seemed to always be over here more than anything.

"Hey baby," he called from the living room. I was in my bedroom taking my uncomfortable boots off and ridding my body of my old Rolling Stones hoodie.

As I walked back out and into the kitchen, I replied with my head practically in the refrigerator.

"Hey," I sounded casual.

"I was thinking we could go out for dinner tonight, how does that sound?" His voice was right behind me this time.

My stomach churned, because I somehow had to break it to him that I would be busy the whole night with "my step sister, Ashley" because she was "visiting" me.

"I would love that, a whole lot, but uh, Ashley is in town and was wanting to get together tonight and have a few drinks at her hotel. You know, catch up and everything." I tried my best to sound believable.

His smile faded and I immediately felt like a completely terrible person. And I was.

"Oh, well how about tomorrow night then?"

I kissed his cheek, "That sounds perfect. I love you so much."

"And I love you too, Luna."

God, I am such an awful human being.

***

Nate left a half an hour later, which was around seven. Despite feeling bad, I hopped in the shower before getting ready for this stupid party. I don't even know why I was going. Maybe it was Justin's smirk. It had to be.

I wore a pair of black skinny jeans and an old Metallica tee shirt. He didn't say anything about dressing up so I assumed that casual would be okay.

Once my long, dark hair was blow dried, I didn't worry about putting on a lot of makeup. Just a light swipe of eyeliner and mascara.

It was about eight thirty when I was done, so I sat on the couch and played on my phone until I heard a few knocks on my front door.

Here goes nothing.

I opened up the door and saw Justin wearing black skinny jeans and a Metallica shirt with a black jacket over it. Oh great. We matched.

"Nice outfit," he teased as we walked across the hall and got on the elevator.

"Same to you, J."

I was kind of worried. We were about to walk into a party basically matching. How could we not look like a couple? I should've just turned back around and gone back home. I should've called Nathan over and watched movies and ate pizza. But no, I was being an idiot and continuing on to a random party with a guy who I literally knew nothing about, aside from his name. Wasn't that how most horror films started?

His car was a matte black Mercedes SLS, which didn't surprise me because he looked like the type of guy to have some ridiculously expensive car. We got in and a wave of nervousness washed over me. I knew from the moment I answered the door, I should have made up an excuse so that I wouldn't have to go. But I just couldn't.

"So, what exactly are we going to be doing?" I said as we drove along an unfamiliar road, listening to music softly in the background.

"What else do you do at parties?" He grinned over at me and my stomach whirled around. I knew it.

We pulled up to a very large house that had over thirty cars in the drive way. They all looked much like Justin's; expensive and new. Justin put his hand on my lower back as we walked to the front door, and I swear that if it had been any other guy, I wouldn't have been doing this. Just something about him seemed trustworthy, but then again, that could've been my hormones talking.

A young guy with brown hair answered the door, and immediately smiled at Justin.

"Aye, just the person I wanted to see!" The guy yelled over the music and leaned in to give Justin a bro hug.

"And who's this pretty lady?" He gestured towards me.

"My friend, Luna. She works at that lame ass coffee shop like ten minutes from my place and looked miserable as fuck, so I invited her," Justin spoke as we walked forward into the house.

"Well it's nice to meet you, Luna. I'm Ryan," he stuck out his hand for me to shake, which seemed awkward because he didn't come off as that type of person.

I smiled shyly and followed Justin around to another group of people, who were all passing around what looked like a blunt. All of them had large smiles on their faces.

"You wanna hit this?" The guy who's name I learned as Chaz asked me. Once again, every instinct told me to refuse, but I took the blunt from his fingers and held it to my lips. Every pair of eyes in that little group was on me and I inhaled very deeply, holding in the hit for around ten seconds before blowing a big cloud of smoke out. Justin looked at me with wide eyes and a stupid grin.

He walked over to me after his hit and got a little too close.

"I didn't take you for a smoker," he whispered dangerously close to my ear.

By that time the blunt had made its way back to me and I inhaled sharply again, blowing the smoke in Justin's face. He licked his lips and smirked.

After ten or so minutes of passing around more blunts than I could count, I started to loosen up a little. Granted, my mouth was kind of dry and I could definitely go for a burrito, but I felt great.

Justin walked up to me and handed me a red solo cup, and I gladly took the offer. The cold liquid poured down my throat and I was so grateful for whatever it was. It tasted like Hawaiian punch and vodka. It didn't matter though, it quenched my dry throat.

"Hey, come out on the balcony with me," he urged while putting his hand on my lower back like earlier.

We walked out to the balcony which overlooked the entire city of New York. It was so beautiful, and I would have enjoyed it more if I would've brought a jacket with me. It was really cold and windy, and I was only in a tee shirt. Before I knew it, my teeth were starting to chatter.

Justin looked at me and immediately shrugged off his jacket, placing around my cold body. The inside was so warm and comforting, and my heart swelled at the kind gesture. The lights of the city lit up his eyes, and made his lips look shiny and inviting.

"Are you okay now? Are you still cold?" He questioned with concern in his voice.

"I'm warmer now, thank you." I smiled lightly.

He stepped forward and brushed a loose strand of hair out of my face, which sent my stomach into a fit of butterflies. I should have stopped it right there, because I knew where it would end. But for what seemed like the hundredth time that day, I couldn't stop it.

Slowly but surely, his face inched his way towards mine. Part of me wanted to move out of the way and tell him to take me home, but that part wasn't in control.

The feeling of his soft, warm lips touching mine instantly melted me. He pulled me very closely to him and held my face in his large hands. I felt his tongue run over my bottom lip, and I opened my mouth, granting access to him.

I knew it was a bad idea. It was awful. It was morally wrong and I wouldn't be able to face Nathan when the time came. But none of that mattered as our tongues caressed each other and I breathed in his intoxicating scent under the full, glowing moon.