Leave Me Lonely (JB+AG)

Leave Me Lonely (51)

Ariana

Monday, January 16

4:13 am

The sound of a phone vibrating interrupts my sleep and I open my eyes. Justin sits up and grabs his phone off the nightstand, answering it almost immediately.

From his side of the conversation, it sounds like he's talking to someone from his job.

"I'll be there as soon as I can." He says before hanging up.

I look at him, confused, as he sighs.

"Shit." He mumbles, looking down at me.

"What's wrong, babe?" I ask.

"Ariana, I have to go. There's some kind of emergency in Iraq and they need me there as soon as possible."

"Are you serious?" I sit up and Justin nods.

"I'm so sorry, baby girl. But you know I have to."

"Yeah, I know. I'll take you." I start to get out of the bed but Justin stops me.

"That's not necessary. I'll just get an Uber."

"Justin, I'm driving you to the airport. I'll leave Lilia with my mom."

"Okay, okay. I'm not gonna argue with you. Let me get my stuff."

I nod, looking down at Lilia. She's still fast asleep so I pick her up and walk to my moms room.

"Mommy?" I whisper.

"What is it?"

"I have to take Justin to the airport. There's an emergency with his job or something. Can Lilia stay in here until I get back?"

"Of course. Just lay her down."

I put Lilia on the other side of the bed and say bye to my mom before returning to my room. Justin's zipping up his suitcase, so I slip on some shoes and we both go downstairs.

I find my keys and we go outside to the car. The whole ride to the airport is completely silent, because I'm just thinking about how dangerous an emergency in Iraq sounds.

When we finally get there, I walk inside with Justin, and since this airport is so close to the military base, there's a special place for people in the military to go.

Justin checks in his bag and tells me that he can't get on the plane for another 10 minutes. For the first 5 minutes of that time, I just hug him because I'm so scared, then they announce that they'll begin boarding in about 5 minutes and it really hits me.

"Justin, please be safe." I tell him.

"You know I'll be safe, babe. As safe as I can be." Justin strokes my cheek and I take a deep breath.

"I don't wanna cry, I really don't. But I'm so scared, Justin. I don't want you to get hurt. I love you so much."

"I love you too, Ariana. I promise, I will call you as soon as I can."

I nod, trying to prevent myself from crying, but it doesn't work. My head fills with stupid thoughts about stuff that'll probably never happen and I just get overwhelmed.

"Hey, hey, princess. Please don't cry. I can't leave you crying." Justin pulls me into his chest, rubbing my back.

I stay there for just a few seconds before pulling away. Justin wipes the tears from my face and kisses my forehead.

"Look at me, Ariana." He says.

I look up at him and see that my baby has tears in his eyes. That makes me want to cry even more but I stop myself.

"You know I don't want to leave you. I hate this, but I have to go. I know you know that."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, babe. Just don't cry, okay? I'll be back, perfectly normal and healthy. I promise you, my beautiful queen. I love you."

"I love you too." I feel a tear slip down my cheek.

Justin leans down to kiss me right as they announce that the boarding process is starting.

"Okay, I have to go. Do not cry, and I'll be back as soon as possible." Justin kisses me again, and I wipe the tears from his eyes before letting him go.

I watch him walk to the terminal and stay until he disappears through the door.