Young Love

22

Justin rushes around in the house, trying not to make too much noise as his daughter is sleeping on the couch in the lounge.
Tears make their way in a steady stream down his cheeks as he stuffs clothes, blankets and toiletries into a bag, gagging when he accidentally swallows the salty liquid.
The young father just received the call he never wanted to get, ever.
It's his mom, Pattie. The hospital called Justin to inform him that she was involved in a drunk driving accident this morning, and she's in a critical condition.
The poor boy doesn't know what on Earth to do. He can't bring Bella with him, in fear that she will be too traumatised. But he can't leave her alone at home either.
Justin only has one option, and he's quite doubtful it will work.
He scrambles to find his phone on the couch, waiting for it to ring as he bites his fingernails in anxiousness.
Bella is sprawled out on the coach, gorgeous sandy hair splayed out on the cushions and her small body covered by a thick pink blanket. She looks so peaceful and her father is just so glad she hasn't woken up yet.
"Hello?" The sleepy voice of Ariana whispers into the silence, making Justin sigh in relief. He hates to wake her up at such a late hour, but he has no other choice.
"Ariana?" Justin replies breathlessly.
"Justin? What's wrong?" The young woman sits up in bed and listens to the worried father intently. For some reason she feels extremely anxious to know he is calling in the middle of the night.
"It's my, uh, listen, I hate to do this but..." The sandy-haired man cuts himself off, a frustrated sob leaving his lips.
Ariana's hearts breaks, hearing Justin crying. He's always seemed like such a strong person, and she's never heard him cry before.
"But what? What do you need?" The brunette responds, gulping thickly.
"Uh, i-is it alright if I bring Bella over?"
Ari is surprised by the request, but she isn't at all going to discard the idea.
Liam would love Bella to stay over anyway, and Justin sounds like he needs this badly.
"Sure, just bring her over whenever." The woman smiles small, making Justin sigh in relief that she said yes. He wouldn't know what to do if she'd have said no, and he really doesn't want to get his daughter involved in this.
"Thank you, oh my God, thank you so much." The young man breathes, running his shaking fingers through his touseled hair.
"Is everything okay?" Ariana asks with a strange expression. Why is he just dropping this on her last minute?
"I-It's just, m-my mom, I-"
The brunette mother's heart drops to her stomach at the mention of Justin's mom, and she can't help but to feel distressed herself.
"You don't need to explain Jus," Ariana bites her lip, slipping on a dressing gown over her undergarments and pushing her feet into her soft slippers. "If you don't want to."
A smile tugs at the corner of Justin's lips at the woman's soft voice despite his tears, and he wheels two small overnight bags out to his car, stuffing them into the trunk.
"O-Okay, I'll explain later, when-" The upset man swallows thickly again, and doesn't continue his sentence, trudging back to the house to collect his daughter.
She is still sleeping peacefully, snuggled up in the blanket and a pink dummy hanging from her mouth.
Justin slides his arms underneath her small body and lifts her into his embrace, along with the blanket, rocking her gently so she doesn't wake up and start crying.
"I'll see you in a minute." The man whispers with a grateful tone. He can't believe just how quick Ariana was to agree to this. It's no small feat to care for two fussy toddlers at the same time.
"Sure." The young woman smiles, dimples sinking into her olive cheeks.
As much as it is a bit inconvenient to have Bella over, she can't wait to cuddle with her aswell.
Justin hangs the phone up, just in time to see his beautiful daughter stirring awake.
She blinks slowly, looking up at her father confusedly from over the top of her dummy.
He doesn't say a word but smiles weakly, carrying her out into the starry night and laying her down on the back seat where the heated leather will keep her warm.
"I'm going to drop you at Liam's." Justin sniffles once he's strapped her in, taken his place in the driver's side and pulled out of the drive.
Little Bella Bieber mumbles a small 'yay', still not fully awake yet.
A short while later, the young father guides his vehicle into the tiny parking lot at the building where Ariana and Liam's apartment is.
He carries his little girl into the elevator on his hip along with one of the bags and goes up to the top floor where the flat is located.
He knocks on Ariana's door with his heart in his hands and waits for her to answer, hoping that she is actually able to take Bella.
The door swings open on its hinges and the most beautiful woman appears, her long brunette hair cascading over her shoulders and a dressing gown wrapped around her figure.
"Hello." Ariana whispers, giggling at Bella who has now fallen asleep and is nuzzled against her daddy's chest.
"Hey." Justin mumbles, feeling both apprehensive and nervous.
"Uh, come in." Ari stands back to allow the young man and his child through the doorway and takes a sip of the mug of hot chocolate that is in her hand.
"Thank you so much I-" Justin gabbles, so relieved to have found someone that he trusts to take his daughter and look after her for a couple of days. "A-Are you sure you can-"
"We'll be fine Justin." Ariana nods, realising that something bad must've happened that he doesn't want Bella a part of, and she wants to help. "You go, be with your mum."
Justin smiles thankfully and gently places his daughter down on the couch, pressing a long and loving kiss to her tiny forehead.
"I'm so sorry it's this last minute, I didn't-" Once again, Justin is cut off by the young woman standing before her.
"It's okay Justin, Bella will be fine, alright? You go take care of what you need to take care of, okay?"
"You gotta stop cutting me off." The sandy-haired man chuckles weakly, backing away with a hesitant look on his face. "Please, c-could you just call me? I don't know, tomorrow?"
"Of course." The brunette-haired woman pats Justin's shoulder softly, guiding him to the door. "I'll call you."
Justin finally accepts and gulps thickly, ready to run back to his car.
"Thank you for this." He presses a quick kiss to Ariana's cheek with a flushed face, dashing out of the door before she can stop him.

-

I finally updated omg I feel so proud of myself- but this is NOT proof read so please correct any mistakes🙏🏼
I'm also thinking of going through this book and adding spaces between the paragraphs cos I feel like it's just too messy and jumbled up as it is now.
Thoughts on that?💭
I love you all so much thank you for not giving up on me☺️