Sunlight

Chapter 27

Ariana's P.O.V.

I pace the floor with my phone up to my ear, dialing Justin's number for the fifth time this morning.

He didn't come home last night and he won't answer any of my calls. I'm slightly beginning to panic.

"You have reached the voicemail box of-"The speaker is cut off from me ending the call. I already left two voicemails and sent him a few text messages. I don't know why he isn't answering.

"I'm worried, maybe something bad happened to him"I tell Lucas as he sits at the kitchen bar, eating breakfast.

Thoughts about all the bad things that could have happened to Justin begin to swirl around in my mind.

"I'm sure Justin is fine"Lucas tells me. "What if he's not?"I question.

"Your overthining right now. Why don't you sit down and eat some breakfast"Lucas motions for me to sit down with him. I sigh and take a seat on the barstool next to him. I put my phone down and he hands me a plate of food.

"I get anxiety a lot, my parents being the main cause of that. Ever since they died, it's hard for me to act calm when I feel uneasy about things, like Justin not coming last night"I explain to him.

"I get it, I used to get bad anxiety too back in high school"He tells me.

"Why?"I ask him. "I got anxiety attacks mainly because of stress from school and stress at home. My parents were going through a divorce so that caused a lot of problems"He answers.

"When you had anxiety attacks, how did you control them?"I ask him. "I tried to focus my mind on positive thoughts or happy memories I had made"He says.

"I don't get anxiety a lot but when I do, it scares me"I'm honest. "Just do what I did. Focus on positive thoughts or happy memories. I promise it will help ease the anxiety and calm you down"He tells me and I nod.

A few seconds later, Paige walks out of her bedroom in a pink robe, and heads towards the kitchen. She doesn't pay me any attention as she grabs a water bottle from the fridge and walks back into her room.

"You and Paige are in a fight huh?"Lucas asks and I nod. "We had a pretty bad argument yesterday. I don't think me and Paige will be talking for awhile"I tell him.

"Is this about Angela?"He asks. "We're fighting about a lot more than just Angela"I answer. "What about?"He asks next. "I'd rather not say"I tell him.

"You and Paige have a bond like no one else. I'm sure you guys will eventually make up. Maybe space will be good for you two, that way when you reunite, the bond between you guys will be even stronger"He says.

"Maybe"I shrug and take a bite out of  my food. I don't know if me and Paige will ever make up. It's gonna take a lot more than just sorry for our friendship to be fixed.

"I think I'm gonna try calling Justin again"I say and reach for my phone. I'm about to call his number again but I stop when I hear the sound of the front door open. I watch as Justin enters the apartment.

I instantly jump out of my seat and embrace him in a tight hug.

"Where the hell have you been all night? Why haven't you answered or returned any of my calls?"I ask him.

"I'm sorry. Me and the guys on the football team decided to crash at Jake's place, one of my teammates that were with us"He tells me.

"You could have at least called me to let me know, I was worried sick"I say and hit his shoulder. "I know, it's just my phone died"He says and leans down to kiss my head.