Afterlight ✔️

chapter thirty-six

— Chloe Romano

I had woken up on the silken sheets only to see that Justin had gone amiss. The pace of my thumping heart began accelerating, the butterflies in my stomach had started to go wild. No feeling inside of my soul had been content as the bed felt empty. In fact, I figured that something had grown terribly astray. A short sigh escaped my lips as I hopped out of bed, entering into the hallway. I tiptoed down the steps, only to find Justin counting tall stacks of money. My mouth gaped open in utter shock at how much there had been. I blinked to myself, going through a double whammy.

"Justin?" I mumbled, standing behind Justin's chair, fully aware he had been up to something.

"Good morning, baby." Justin yawned, stepping out of his seat to hug me tightly, his grip tightening around my waist.

"Good morning." I grinned, parting back to peck him on the lips. "What's going on?"

"It was supposed to be a surprise." Justin scratched his head confusingly, swallowing the thick lump in his throat. He furrowed his eyebrows, peering over at the table of money, then back over to me.

"I'm sorry." I whispered guiltily, curiosity taking over everything. "I was kind of confused when I saw that you weren't next to me in bed this morning."

A childlike smile grew across Justin's face, he knew that I had trouble sleeping without him and it probably amused him that I became used to his presence.

"No, you don't have to be sorry, baby." He murmured, trailing his nose up my defined jaw and running his masculine hands down my thighs to radiate heat.

I frowned, "I want to know the surprise. Please?" I whined, gazing into his honey brown eyes for an answer.

"Fine." Justin chuckled, "So, you know how you love Disney movies?"

"Yes." I giggled, covering her mouth with her hand in awe, surprised that he had even brought up the subject of Disney.

"–And you even fought with me over the TV in order to watch Peter Pan?"

"I remember." I blushed in attempt to hide my reddened cheeks from Justin.

Within a few moments, I curled her lip in, biting it. Justin rested himself into a seat at the table, clutching me around the waist to pull me onto his lap. Chuckling, Justin began to smooth his thumb across my brightened cheeks, preparing to announce the surprise.

"Well, I'm taking you to Disney World."

"What?" A gasp slipped through my lips after hearing the announcement escape from his mouth. I turned around, lifting my eyes to his in disorientation. The atmosphere of the room thickened, as I realized that he had planned to take me to my favorite vacation spot. All in all, I hadn't have been cognizant of the fact that someone cared for me so much.

"Yes, Chlo!" Jay's voice rasped through my ears, causing my mouth to gape open in outmost shock.

"Justin, you don't have to do this, please..." My voice trailed off. Disney World seemed to have been a lot of money and that money on the table seemed to be all he had. He was willing to give up all of his money to spend his free time with me.

"C'mon, babe. We deserve this time off together. I want us to enjoy this trip and cherish every moment we have away from all of these psychos who live here." Justin took a short pause, "I'm being serious, Chlo."

"Please, spend the money on yourself." I flicked her tongue across my lips, "You worked for this."

"This is for us, baby. We'll only be gone for a week." Justin smirked, "Besides, I want to see if this Disney shit is worth the hype."