Don't Blink | ✓

049

It had taken hours.

Approximately thirteen if he was counting.

Now it was 4:42AM and even though there were still hours left before the sun was set to rise, the dark sky was beginning to noticeably lighten.

Justin trained his eyes on the woman across the airport. She was juggling two large suitcases, a carry-on, and a screaming toddler. The little girl's hair was an array of tangles as she pushed the strands out of her face to scream louder. The sleeping passengers awaiting their planes rustled as the lady, her rowdy kid, and her bags which lolled side to side passed by.

Finally as if the mother had enough, she dropped her bags, squatted to her daughter's level where she passionately swiped away her tears, placed two kisses to each of her cheeks, and then swooped her up onto her hip.

Justin bit his cheek in anxt as he thought about how she was going to carry a kid and three bags.

His butt was beginning to hurt from the mixture of the plastic airport chair and the long amount of time that they'd been waiting.

Just as the woman began to head in his direction, he was almost out of his seat in an instant. Until the hand that fed through Blink's, their fingers interlaced, kept him grounded.

"You can't help everyone." His head turned then to look in her direction. Blink was sitting beside him, her legs Indian style and her hand that wasn't woven with his up on the armrest to support her head. Her eyes still laid closed and her face was void of any emotion, it almost as if she hadn't said anything at all.

His eyes flickered briefly back to the woman and her bags as she continued past him before they fluttered back to Blink.

How she had known what he was thinking was beyond him.

"I can try" he sighed, shifting his body to face the brunette beauty.

Blink breathed slowly, her lack of response feigning sleep until she counted to thirty in her head. Then she says, "Why are we doing this? Why can't we just wait until your group of friends want to fly around again" she was referring to the public airport.

"Because"

"Ooo, good parental response because hunting me down and dragging me here wasn't enough." Her laugh was completely sarcastic as she pulled her hand out from his.

"We're doing this because you drunk yourself unconscious." He threw her a sideways look, grasping her hand again and humming when she accepted it.

"You just happened to find me at the wrong time" she stifled a giggle, squeezing his hand in hopes of releasing the tension between his brows, no matter how cute the dimple created there was.

"Glad you can see this from a comical approach" he huffed, pulling the ball cap that flattened his golden locks further down to shield his eyes.

"You're making us leave before New Years all because you found me drunk—" Opening up his lips to interrupt, Blink quickly shushed him before she continued, "which you know is something I do frequently with Rellik."

"I couldn't take being there anymore. I would rather sit here in this airport until our board time than be at home with them. Plus you were turning into a gigantic fucking mess. Didn't I tell you they would do that to you?"

"A gigantic fucking mess" Blink's eyelashes fluttered in mock appreciation as she pressed a gentle hand to her chest where her heart lay. "You are so sweet, I don't believe it when you say Hallmark has never reached out to you"

Sticking his tongue out like a little kid, Justin quickly released her hand this time, rubbing his own knuckles with his opposite hand. "Yeah that too" Blink sighed. "You nearly punched me in the face"

Justin groaned then, slumping forward to rest his healing face into his hands. Rubbing vigorously, he only relented when Blink tugged on his shoulder to stop him. "I can't believe I stooped to his level" he sighed as he peered up at Blink. "I can't believe I almost punched you in the face"

Blink shrugged. Man-on-woman violence was never acceptable, however she couldn't find herself caring about the almost-accident. Although being punched in the face by a near grown man felt anything but good, she wasn't scared about what he was capable of. As cliché and stupid as it was, she knew Justin wouldn't hit her.

He may have acted like it, but it was just the stress of being Brandon's personal rag doll for not only the week, but nearly his entire life. "It's ok, I egged you on" she replied, giving him a small smile.

"It's not ok Blink. Something's seriously wrong with me. And if you think shrugging it off is ok, then what the fuck's wrong with you?" The question was harshly put, but his conviction behind it told Blink he was seriously questioning their situation.

"I admit it was fucked up," Blink shuffled in her chair to face him, "but I was saying a lot of shitty things that would bring the worst out of anyone, not just you. You've seen what I do to people when tension runs high...I should stop myself when things get like that."

Minutes of silence stretched on until a female voiced announced the first flight of the day, set to take off in two hours.

"I told my mom I was broken" Justin admitted as he looked over to the girl who was shooting her hair bands at random sleeping passengers. She ignored him at first, her concentration solely on hitting a particular old man in the face. Only when her aim finally corrected itself and she successfully hit him in the eye, did she turn to Justin.

"And what'd she say to that?"

"She said I wasn't"

"She lied" Blink giggled, pulling his lip free that was latched by his teeth. Grabbing his arm and pulling it until it was around her shoulders, she snuggled into his side, humming at the feeling of his lips meeting her hairline.

"I'm broken too" she snuggled further into his side before yawning. "And somehow we work"

"What if us trying to fix each other only breaks us further?"

"Maybe, just maybe, two broken people can manage to create something whole"

A glimpse into his past a bit. Next chapter is 50 and it starts one of my favorite styles which is occasional flashbacks into Blink and Justin's lives. Stay tuned. xx