I..umm, well love you..:)

"why are you still here?"

"well, what were you doing with him?" her mom continued..this was ridiculous. and disgusting.

"hanging out. mom, are we done here?" jeremie asked rudely. justin all the while only wondered what was wrong with jeremie's mom. were they on bad terms? had jeremie done anything wrong? was she past her curfew, if she had one? he looked at jeremie, he had to go. but how could he just say a 'bye' abruptly? 

"really? what else did you guys do?" her mom proceeded with the investigation. 

"mom, we watched a movie. that is it." jeremie said through gritted teeth.

"are you sure it was only him, or were there ten other boys who thankfully aren't here to drop you home?" her mom said. jeremie made a disgusted expression. 

"what?" she asked. 

"your clothes from last night smell of alcohol. jeremie, you might as well want to let me know what you are up to these days." 

"if you would care." jeremie snapped back. 

"ma'm we weren't doing anything wrong, it was just a movie really." justin tried to convince.

"do not side with her kid." jeremie's mom raised a finger at justin. "i don't think she's even told you how many guys she must've done." her mom said. jeremie's jaw fell. this was totally wrong. how could her mom accuse her of sleeping around like that. and why does she care? she never had, she never does, so what now? and saying all of it in front of justin just made it worse, he obviously knew by now what kind of relationship she and her mom shared but this was too much. too much. her mom just walked inside the house and slammed her bedroom door shut.                                        jeremie's eyes were filled with tears, all ready to burst out. she was almost shaking and justin out a reassuring arm around her. she settled herself on the staircase outside and looked at the green front yard ahead. what was she crying about? about her mother not caring or about the insult? she wasn't sure. what made her feel miserable was that her strong, confident side had shattered completely. she was thankful justin was here with her at this moment. she wiped her tears away but she kept coming. maybe she just had to cry. maybe she needed to. cry her pain out. she looked at justin who was already looking at her, he placed his hand on hers and took a seat beside her. 

"i'm so sorry." she said.

"no, its okay." he said. she had stopped crying now and was staring blankly at the grass. 

"you know, sometimes i feel, so weak, so lost and i don't have anyone to talk to, no shoulder to cry the pain out, no encouraging words no.." she trailed off, justin's face was serious. his mind was buzzing with a lot of things. jeremie's tears seemed to be piercing through him. each drop that fell on the ground, dampening it, she didn't deserve this. she deserved to be loved and taken care of. she deserved someone who would never let her go, make her feel like she's the most precious thing on earth. like there was nothing more important. and for some reason, he thought he could be that one person. he pulled her closer and she let her head rest on his shoulder, soft sobs escaped her mouth as justin held her tightly against him.  "it's going to be alright." he whispered.

"why are you still here?" she asked, not moving an inch.

"what do you mean?" he asked. 

"don't you think your wasting time, here with me? i'm such a weak person, here crying on your shoulder, boring you to hell probably." she let out a stiff laugh.

"jeremie." he said and made her face him. "you are not weak, okay. crying does not make you weak. jeremie, you are strong enough to face the truth. the problem with your family, they're so frustrating, but you aren't backing out. and that is strong." he said. jeremie smiled.

"thank you. you make me feel so good." she said hugging him tightly. 

"it's okay cherry-nose." he said touching her now red nose. she giggled and he smiled. 

they walked hand in hand to justin's car and for the first time jeremie felt like she didn't want to let go of his hand. she wanted to be with him, she wanted him to hold her. she felt beautiful in his presence. honestly, she had no clue why these things were happening to her. but one thing she was sure of, justin wasn't just a friend anymore...