Despair

sixty

(2) justinbieber
my help?

for what?

(1) selenagomez
abel.

(2) justinbieber
has he hurt you?

i swear to god, selena... if he has...

(3) selenagomez
it's not like that.

he's sweet, amazing, kind.

but he's not the problem. he's related to it.

(1) justinbieber
related how?

(2) selenagomez
the label is the problem.

can we meet up? it'll be easier to explain.

(1) justinbieber
anything.

*       *       *

the first minutes of the meet-up hadn't gone the way justin dreamt of. he imagined that as they were walking closer to each other on the pavement that led to god knows where, she would jump into his arms as he snogged her.

however, of course, that wasn't the case. instead of justin's fairytale, when they met up all he could do was smile into her brown iris.

"i can explain," she ironically says – it was always expected that those words would leave justin's mouth whilst she begged not to listen. now she was saying the dreaded words, justin unprepared to hear what would leave her kissable lips.

he nods, showing her that he was listening. she inhales a large amount of air before saying, "abel is the most amazing gentlemen i've met. please don't think that whatever i'm about to say is his fault, because i am the only one possible of taking the blame of the situation i'm currently in."

the chatter around them, which now that justin recalled was the café they went to before selena dropped justin off at the studio where their schedules took up most of their time and spread toxic to the only good thing that happened to him, continued to reverberate  around the small room.

"not long after our breakup," she speaks with struggle, "i kept on getting into arguments." she scoffs at herself for whatever reason that justin didn't know. "somehow, i messed up terribly. said the wrong things to the wrong person. along the lines, i begged to end everything, to end the endless jealousy, to end my career." she shrugged carelessly, like this was no serious statement to her.

"i begged for them to kill me," she speaks in a quiet tone, leaning more closer from across the table, propping her elbows on the silverware. "i was being dramatic, and mostly because of how hurt i felt, i wanted to scream anything, to be heard. again, i said the wrong things to the wrong person."

she went into the story of how since then, since the mental breakdown she had in a studio room where they tried and failed to get her to record, she was sent to therapy. during that period, the label she was with had a discussion on what to do: what they thought the best solution was to get her out there again, set up a PR stunt, keep her still in people's minds whilst they tried to get a new album out of her.

and here they was today, selena in a fake relationship with a men who was sensible and asked for consent before doing anything, and also trying to get the record label off her back about recording something she had no motivation for.

she was living the fake life.

after justin, everything really did go down hill for her.

without his comfort she craved and lived for, she had no one to turn to, she had no one to cry to. he was always that person, but in their separation it was her and the isolation.

but now that selena said the words that removed the scar that burned justin's heart, he wanted to remove this burden from her.

even if they meant more burden for him.

if he got in trouble, he wouldn't care as long as selena was safe.

but like before, before the butterflies died, he was willing to lose everything for her. that motivation was slowly building up – he wanted best for the woman of his dreams.

oblivious now, selena would soon come to realise that calling justin for help would be a mistake.