Unconditionally

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Justin's POV

"Hey Sel." I greeted Selena when I spotted her next to her locker the next morning.

"Hi." She smiled tiredly, turning to look at me and giving me a clear view of the bags under her eyes.

I frowned, my hands reaching out the trace them as she leaned into my touch.

"Were your parents fighting again?"

"Mhm." She nodded, her pretty brown eyes filling with tears.

"Aw no, don't cry. It's not your fault." I swiped my thumb under her eyes, catching the tears before they could fall.

"Yes it is. They argue about me. If I wasn't like this they wouldn't be fighting. They would be happy. If I was normal people would like me and I would have friends. Why can't I be normal?" She whimpered, each word breaking my heart.

"Hey," I began gently, cupping her face in my hands so that she was looking at me, "This is not your fault. You didn't choose for any of this to happen but it did anyways. That's okay. That's life. No one said it was going to be easy. You don't want to be normal. Normal is overrated. Believe me, you're enjoying this more than everyone else. You still get to see the innocence in things. The world isn't tainted for you yet. That's a good thing. And you do have friends. Ryan and Grace are your friends now aren't they? And so am I." I smiled as a small smile spread across her face.

"You're my best friend." She confirmed.

"See? You do have friends."

"Justin?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you hold my hand again please? I like it when you do. Your hand is warm." 

She was so fucking adorable.

"Of course. You can hold my hand anytime you want yeah?"

"And sit on your lap too?" She asked hopefully.

"And sit on my lap too." I grinned.

"What about hugs? You give nice hugs." 

"You can hug me whenever you want." I promised.

"Yay." She clapped her hands together then jumped up, wrapping them around my neck tightly and I wrapped mine around her waist.

We were silent for a little bit before she spoke up in a small voice.

"You won't get tired of me and leave right?"

"Never." I tightened my hold on her. "You'll always have me." I vowed.

"Promise?" 

"I promise." 

She pulled back, wrapping her pinky around mine.

"You made a pinky promise so you can't change your mind okay?"

"I wouldn't dream about it." I leaned forward, placing a quick kiss on the crown of her head then taking her hand in mine.

"Now come on, let's get to class."

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"Grace!" Selena squealed excitedly from her spot on my lap, beckoning Grace and Ryan over to us.

"Hey Selena."

"Hi! Will you color with me today?" She asked, her eyes wide with excitement.

Grace looked at me then shrugged. "Sure. What do you want me to color?"