A Love Like Ours

Chapter Five

“Mom?”



“Yeah, I’m in the kitchen!”



Justin was arriving in less than ten minutes, and although I’d already raised the matter of him coming to Mom, I had to remind her in case she misunderstood this whole thing. Though, I wouldn’t think that far. I’m her daughter; she should know how I am; my nature, oh.



I tiptoed into the kitchen, “Morning, Mom. So, uh, you know Justin’s coming over, right?”



“Yes,” she took a sip of her tea, before looking up at me, “why?”



“Oh, I just wanted to remind you,” I flashed her a grin before hiding behind the wall that separated the stairs from the kitchen. Composing myself, I drew in a breath before exhaling and walked out to the living room where it would be a thousand times easier for me to run and open the door when Justin reaches.



I am unexceptionally happy today. I still don’t know why. Oh.



I was a step away from the couch when the doorbell suddenly rang, making me jump like six feet in the air. I laughed at my clumsiness before jogging my way towards the door. Eh, who cares if my hair’s messy? All I cared about was the fact that Justin was here.



I pulled the door open, and the first thing my eyes met, were a pair or brown ones.



For one, he was wearing his usual black jeans, and a v-neck white tee, with a black leather jacket over, and he was wearing his ray ban. And his hair was still as amazing as ever. I grinned up at him, earning back a grin. “Hey, come in!” I took a step to the to make way for him to enter.



“Morning, Jules,” I swear I tried to stop myself from melting. But I couldn’t. I closed the door when he was inside and led him to the living room.



“Wait for like, five more minutes,” I said, taking a quick glance at Mom who was still drinking her tea. Didn’t she know she was running late already? But oh wait she’s the boss. Hmm. Upon noticing Justin’s confused expression, I went on speaking. In a whisper. Somehow, that made him chuckle. “My Mom would be gone in five.”



“All right,” he licked his lips once, “sure.” He licked his lips twice.



As a fan, I’ve been through every thought. Is it safe to say that my ovaries have exploded? Again, in a Belieber’s point of view. I almost glared at him for licking his lips. Oh, God. I shouldn’t be thinking like that with him sitting right before me. In an attempt to shake all thoughts away, I shook my head once and quick.



“Hello, Justin,” Mom voice appeared, catching my attention. I stared at her as she grabbed her bag off the sofa, “Julie, I’m leaving. Take care of the house, and,” she turned to look at me with stern eyes, “you two,” then she shifted her gaze from me to Justin before averting to mine, “stay safe. All right, bye!”



I slapped my palms over my face, “Oh, my God, Mom,” I whispered. “Why.” See? Sometimes Mom is no different from any other people’s Mom.



“Jules, don’t worry,” Justin laughed, trying to pry my hands away from my face. Tough luck, I’m too embarrassed. Oh. “Jules! C’mon. If it makes you feel better, my Mom does it, too. C’mon, I wanna see your eyes.” With more effort than before, he managed to pull my hands away but I quickly hid my face on the sofa cushion. “Aw, c’mon. Party pooper. Don’t make me tickle youuuu.”



I let out a soft laugh before rolling my eyes and looking up. “Happy?”



“Much,” he whispered, pulling his ray ban off and placing it on the coffee table, his eyes never leaving mine.



I was the first to look away. It just feels weird looking at my idol like that.



Sure, I love him, sometimes I even think I love him more than an idol, but you know, he’ll never return. Besides, seeing what happened last night in the after-party, wasn’t it obvious something between him and Selena had happened? I mean, you know…ugh, I hate when I do this to myself.



“Hey, what’s wrong,” his soft voice sent shivers down my spine but I refused to acknowledge it. I continued staring at nowhere in particular until he spoke up again, “Jules. What’s wrong?”



I could feel his palm against my arm; the heat radiating off my skin. I turned to look at him and shot him a weak smile. It’s all I could manage. I didn’t dare to look in his eyes. I might blurt things I shouldn’t say, so.



“Nothing, Justin,” I shook my head, “anyway. Do you want a drink? I could go grab you a drink if you want. Oh, I’m thirsty s—”



“Juliet, I thought you were always straightforward?” He interrupted me, making me sigh. If only you knew, Justin, if only.



“Always at everything but this,” I mumbled to myself, dropping my head so that my hair could fall down and cover my face as I squeezed my eyes shut. Oh, damn. I’m over-thinking again. Geez. “Nothing’s wrong, I’m torn.”



“You’re torn?” He questioned, narrowing his eyes on me. I raised my eyebrows.



“Torn? What torn? I said ‘Nothing’s wrong, I’m fine’, didn’t I?” I shot back, crossing my arms across my chest. I watched as he sighed and leaned back against the sofa, still staring at me intently. Although I felt a little conscious I was glad he at the very least cared about what’s on my mind.



“So do you still want a drink?” I offered, trying to get away from that awkward situation. He shook his head and shot me a smile, a small smile.



“You wanna know what happened between me and Selena, don’t you,” he let out a long sigh before shifting his gaze to somewhere rather than me. Or rather, elsewhere but me. Curiosity was eating me alive, but I couldn’t do anything. I wanted to know more than that, but I must be crazy for thinking that. Nah.



So instead of saying there’s more, I simply raised my eyebrows again and nodded. “But, if you don’t feel comfortable saying, don’t worry, I understand. We could just watch a movie or play some dumb game. Eh, I’m a boring person so…”



Well, at least that made him laugh. He burst out laughing and I couldn’t hide smiling at his really, really adorable laugh. “Okay, first of all, you’re not boring. It’s called ‘Down to earth.’ Second of all, I’m fine with telling you; you’re like my best friend now, and I trust you. Third of all… I’ll lead with the everything after I’m done telling you.”



He grinned, raising his hand, reaching for his hair. He ran his fingers smoothly through his hair before dropping his hand. I made myself comfortable and waited for him to begin, patiently.



“Well, like after you left—like I brought you home, right? Right. When I returned, Selena was like, ‘Justin, can I talk to you?’ So like, because we’re close friends, I’m like, ‘Sure.’ So I sat down next to her when she just suddenly, out of nowhere grabbed my hand and said, ‘Justin, I like you more than a best friend should.’



She didn’t even allow me to respond when she just went ahead and kissed me. I didn’t know what to do; I didn’t kiss her back, I was frozen! What could I have done? I pushed her back gently and told her, ‘Selena, this can’t happen to us. We’re best friends and only staying this way. I’m sorry.’ And then before I even got to leave, she goes all, ‘Justin, you don’t understand! You don’t know how much it hurts me looking at the way you look at Juliet.



She’s just another fan. We’ve been friends for long and I deserve your love’ and shit like that, so I got pissed because she had no right to say that at all. You were my best friend and not just a fan, and she didn’t have any right to choose my girlfriend, so I stomped out, then shared a room with Fredo and Ry for the night.”



I didn’t know how to feel. What to feel. I was surprised, I was shocked, I was furious, I was incredulous.



I was surprised at the type of girl that she was. I was shocked at her rashness. I was furious at her actions. I was incredulous because I had underestimated her. Looks like we really aren’t supposed to judge books by their covers, huh? I suppose, that’s what I did.



“So that’s why you were mad,” I blinked a couple of times, allowing what I’d just heard to register in my head for a while, “I see… Did she take it easy?”



He heaved the longest and heaviest sigh ever before shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. “I don’t know, honestly. I didn’t care to glance at her a second time before walking out. She kind of just ruined our friendship.” So am I a rebound? I wanted to ask, but I stopped myself just in time.



“Oh,” I managed, “well, you two will go back to being best friends again. Trust me, time will tell,” I flashed him a toothy grin. He sent a small, grateful smile my way appreciatively and I nodded as response. Selena kissed him. On the lips. Oh, my God, what? “Anyway, whatcha wanna watch?”



“I was thinking…” He flashed me a cheeky grin, before reaching into his jacket, pulling out a Paranormal Activity 4 DVD. How he managed to buy it without having the DVDs out in store yet beats me, but he must be f-ing with me. For real. “This.”



“No, Justin, no!” I cried, shaking my head. Oh, God, no. I hated watching scary stuff. I wouldn’t dare to shower on my own, then. And I wouldn’t be able to sleep like that. Shit, Justin! Of all movies, this! Ugh! “Please, Justin!”



He pulled me close and laughed, “Come on, Juliet! I’m here with you! For the whole day! Probably ‘til eleven, cuz Mom said my curfew’s at twelve. But anyway,” I found it cute that he remembered Pattie’s rule. Oh, wait. Is Justin blushing? I let out yet another laugh and threw my head back. “Come on, I’ll be here. I won’t go anywhere.” He whispered, fixing his his silky light brown eyes on my own. I sighed.



“Promise?”



“Like, I’ll even accompany you to the toilet if you want,” he wiggled his eyebrows teasingly, making me laugh all over again. I pushed him away with an effort and huffed.



“Go and put it in. I’m not going near the TV where my face is so close and suddenly some creepy ass face pops up, scaring the shit out of me. No, you go do it yourself,” I scrunched my nose up and stuck my tongue out at him, earning back a laugh.



“You’re such a chicken, Jules,” he laughed, getting off the sofa, walking towards the DVD player. I swear it’s almost like he didn’t stop laughing even when he was placing the CD in the player. Oh, wow. Thanks, Justin, wow.



“Excuse me for being a girl!” I gasped, feigning heartbroken. He shook his head at ridiculous comeback before laughing again, making me join him. Oh, I never knew something so simple could turn out hilarious. But, you know, every weird thing with Justin’s just simply funny and fun.



“Girl, sh, it’s starting!” Justin hushed, quickly running towards me and leaping onto the couch, next to me. I do not have a good feeling about this. I already hate the fact that the start of the movie is so normal! God, it’d be normal now…and when you least expect it, the freaking creepy shit pops out and screams in your face like- GOD, I WANNA DIE.



“Jules, please don’t tell me you’re already afraid,” I know Justin was trying to swallow his laughter, but it wasn’t working too well. I turned to glare at him, before turning back to face the front. “Aw, come on. Be happy. It’s the best one out of the four, you know.”



“Which means it’s scarier! Justin, what the hell?” I groaned, hiding my face into one of the cushions again.



“Okay, I promise, after this we’ll do what you wanna do.”