A New Form of Therapy

Back To What You've Been Waiting For

"Why on earth would you wear your pajamas out on a date?" Katie Reece, one of my only non-client friends in all of Los Angeles, asks with a mortified look on her face. 

I can't help but laugh at her expression and her tone of voice. I'm not the only one wearing a very low-key outfit tonight. Justin and I both agreed to wear something that will not draw too much attention to ourselves. I settled on my grey sweats and a long sleeve blue t-shirt. It may not seem like that would be considered 'pajamas', but it is. I think Katie is just mortified that I'm not spending hours getting ready. 

And that I won't tell her who I'm going out with. I'm not sure how she found out I was going on a date, but I guess she could see the change in me from a couple weeks ago to now. I do feel happier. Putting two and two together has always been Katie's specialty.

"It's a themed place we are going to," I say nonchalantly. "It's just a laid back place. Casual dress." 

"But still, I mean you're going on your first date with this guy in sweat pants?" 

I laugh at her again. One because she is fake feigning. Two because she thinks this is our first date. "I'm going like this and that's final. Now, you need to start taking off because he'll be here in a little while and I don't want to introduce him to your craziness just yet." 

"I'm offended," Katie says. "But oh well, I'll meet him eventually." 

"Maybe," I say and add a little smirk afterward so she thinks I'm kidding. If I can help it, she won't find out for a very long time. Katie might be good at putting things together, but she can't keep that secret once she does. 

"Call me afterwards and let me know how it went."

"Will do," I say. I shut and lock the door behind her. 

I still have plenty of time before Justin gets here, so I settle on the couch and continue watching my latest binge, Beauty and the Beast. In just two days, I'm almost done with season one. I get three minutes into the final episode when my phone starts ringing. 

"You could not have worst timing," I say to Justin as I answer the phone. "I was just starting the final episode of a TV show's first season." 

"You're on the final episode already? How do you have time?" He asks with a laugh. 

"Not all of us are international superstars. Anyways, are you here?" 

"I'm about to pull up. Is your car in the back?" He asks. 

"Yep," I say. "I'll meet you down there. It's unlocked if you want to go ahead and get in if I'm not down there." 

"Got it," he says. "I'll see you in just a minute." 

"Can't wait." 

We hang up and I grab my things and turn the TV and lights off. I lock the door behind me and bolt down the stairs as fast and quietly as I can. I'm going on  a date with Justin now. In public. 

I walk outside and see that Justin is just getting out of the car that brought him. I wave at his driver. I've spoken to him a couple of times. The first time being when Justin first came to see me as a client. I like to get to know everyone that I can that is around my clients. Everyone still thinks that he is coming over for sessions. 

We wait just inside the door until his driver leaves. We share a look and then head back out to my car. He opens my door before walking around to the passenger seat and sliding in. I turn the car on and back out. As soon as I pull out onto the road, I take Justin's hand in mine. 

The drive takes twenty minutes and during that time, we talk about nothing in particular. I enjoy it. I missed it. Before I knew it though, we were at the theater. Just in time for the movie. 

"I'll get the tickets and you head on in?" I ask, going over the plan one last time. 

"Of course," Justin says. He closes the distance between us and our lips meet softly. I smile against his lips before we break apart. 

It takes only a minute to buy the tickets and get through the front. Justin is wearing a hoodie and sweats, similar to me. He's also wearing a hat which hides most of his face. Justin hands me money and heads to find seats. I wait in line to order a large popcorn and drinks. 

I mumble to myself about not dropping the drinks and wondering how much butter is too much butter for Justin. I personally love to drown my popcorn in butter. I just barely make it to where Justin is sitting before handing him one of the drinks. 

"I just about dropped that twenty times walking in here," I say and take my seat beside Justin. He picked a couple seats toward the back. Luckily, the rows are elevated so we can still see the movie just fine. 

"I could have helped," Justin says. 

"No, it's no problem. I just wasn't expecting all of it to be so heavy. I also wasn't sure how much butter you liked so I put a little less than what I usually get to be on the safe side." 

"You and your butter. I've noticed your love for it." 

Justin and I laugh together. There are only a handful of other people in the room, maybe ten or so. They are all minding their own business, not aware that Justin is sitting in the same room as them. Maybe they don't care, I think to myself. 

The lights go down and Justin and I settle in to our seats. I have the popcorn bucket in my lap and he occasionally reaches over for a handful. Twenty minutes into the movie, my hand hits the bottom of the bucket and I look in it, shocked. 

"We ate all the popcorn," I whisper, leaning closer to Justin. We both snicker and turn back to the movie. I set the bucket down on the floor beside me. Justin reaches for my hand and I rest my head on his shoulder. I smile each time I hear him laugh at something in the movie. We came to see '9 Lives'. I am constantly laughing during the first half of the movie. 

"I'm happy we did this," Justin whispers to me toward the end of the movie. "I was thinking maybe we could get some take out before we go back to your place." 

"Sounds good to me," I whisper. "I'm glad we did this too." 

For the remainder of the movie, Justin and I sit in silence. I can feel his thumb tracing circles on the edge of my hand. I concentrate on the feeling, not being able to think of anything else. I've missed being near Justin. It feels so natural. 

**I am SO sorry for such a long break! But I've been working on some other stories and catching up on some reading and whatnot! But I finally got this done and I will definitely be writing more soon!**