Blind // Justin Bieber [under minor editing]

Chapter Twenty Four

I unwrapped my arms from around Justin’s shaking body, and placed my hands on my lap. Justin snapped up to his feet, and both him and his dad engulfed each other in – what I’m sure would be – a bone crushing hug. His father’s grey shirt soaked up Justin’s tears, leaving dark patches. Only then did I take notice of his Dad’s attire, he wore baggy camouflage trousers, heavy black leather boots, a plain grey tee and two silver dog tags hung loosely around his neck.

More and more tears formed in my eyes as I heard Justin’s whimpers, and they gave no sign of stopping.

I clamped my bottom lip between my teeth, surely drawing blood as the metallic taste entered my mouth. Jazmyn, being as cute as she is, joined into the hug and wrapped her small arms around both of their legs, preventing them from moving even a step.

I stood and walked to where Pattie was standing, tears gathering up in small pools in her eyes. She smiled gently to me as I did the same, just from glancing at her I could tell she was the happiest person in the world.

“And who’s the pretty lady, Justin?” Justin’s dad murmured into Justin’s ear, although it was loud enough for everyone to hear and everybody turned to look at me, expectant looks upon their faces. Justin wiped his tears with the back of his hand, before smiling and simply saying,

“Courtney,” he bit at his lip like I had just done, like he was preventing himself from saying something he’d rather not.

“Girlfriend?” his dad raised an eyebrow, a sly smirk slowly forming on his lips. Both mine and Justin’s cheeks heated, and Justin bowed his head, reluctantly shaking it. His dad nodded his head knowingly, smiling over to me.

Pattie nudged my shoulder and as I turned to her, a knowing smile was also on her face. What? “Ah, I see how it is...” he trailed off, patting Justin’s back. Justin raised his head and smiled towards me, nervous. The resemblance between Justin and his Father was unbelievable; they shared the same smile, the same tone and tanned skin, the same glistening dark mahogany eyes. They were just, so similar.

“She’s my best friend!” Jazmyn shouted from where she stood behind Justin and his dad, her eyebrows furrowed and her hands on her hips. Pattie chuckled from beside me, raising her thin eyebrows at Jazmyn. Huffing, Jazmyn trotted over to where I stood, and a cheeky smile spread on her lips as I lifted her up and settled her on my hip.

I ran my fingers through Jazmyn’s soft hair as she rested her head on my shoulder. Her arms wrapped loosely around my neck, and she hummed unrecognisable tunes into my ear. A wide, toothy grin spread on everyone’s faces at the sight of me and Jazmyn, her eyes slowly closed as I rocked us from side to side. “How long do we have until you go?” Justin asked, his eyes finally leaving Jazmyn and I, and settling on his dad. Both Pattie and Justin’s dad shuffled where they stood, the topic seeming awkward to them. Although he couldn’t actually see where everyone was standing, he could guess where we stood by how our voices travelled. Sometimes I forget that he’s blind, as you couldn’t guess when simply looking at him.

“I have to leave on Boxing day” he muttered, all the excitement in the room lowered, and Justin’s gorgeous smile disappeared. “They only let me stay for Christmas” he coughed awkwardly. I looked over to Justin, his head lowered as he nodded understandingly. Although I’m sure he didn’t understand, it was, after all, unfair that he was only allowed to see his father for three days after a year apart. In some strange way, I felt as if I had been through this, but in reality I hadn’t. My situation was different, I was allowed to see my family, but chose not to. In Justin’s case, he had no choice.

My heart swelled at the thought of how devastated he must be, just one look into his glistening orbs and I knew that he was fighting the tears. His shoulders slumped as the news sunk in, he glanced to me, and I gave him the most reassuring smile I could. Knowing that he couldn’t see my facial expression, I walked to where he stood, and gave his hand a small squeeze with my unoccupied hand.