The Lake House [ Justin Bieber ]

eighteen.

Ana

"There's something just off about Justin to me." I heard Dad say to Lisa on Thanksgiving night. It was late and I was coming up to sneak leftovers into my room. I stopped outside of my parents' door when I heard Justin's name.

"This again, Paul? Really?" Lisa sighed tiredly. To my knowledge, there was a huge blowout after I left for the dance between them that resulted in Lisa giving Dad the silent treatment for almost a week.

"I've seen men coming in and out of the house in the last couple of days. I just feel like there's so much that Ana doesn't know." Dad said in a hushed tone.

"They're two teenagers who are dating. It's not love." I leaned my head against the wall/

"Don't be naive, Lisa. It is so much more than that. Ana is really serious about this boy. I don't want her to put her entire future into this relationship only to be screwed over in the end."

Lisa sighed again. "Justin's a broken kid, Paul. He's never been a normal teenager. Neither has Ana. They bring that out in each other. I know how much it hurt you to think that you abandoned your daughter for most of her life, so don't push her away."

"I know it seems like I'm just being an overprotective dad." His voice was low. "But believe me when I say that I have a gut feeling about this. Just like I had a gut feeling with the way Marie was treating Ana. Something is not right with Justin."

Clenching my jaw, I quietly stepped back into my room and set my bowl onto my dresser. It hurt me that I was being torn between my father and my boyfriend, the guy I loved more than anything.

When Monday came, I stood at my locker. I was jumpy; Justin had to be back today. It'd been almost two weeks since I'd spoken to him.

So when I heard the husky "hey" behind me, I spun around, throwing my arms around Justin's broad frame. I felt him let out a breath, arms coming up to wrap around me.

I pulled back. "Where have you been?" Now I was annoyed.

"I haven't been in school."

"No shit, what happened to you? I didn't hear from you once."

"I was sick."

"Sick." I deadpanned.

"Yeah," Justin shrugged. "Caught a bug or something. Richard had me on bed rest for a couple of days but I was good as new by Thanksgiving."

"Justin," I said quietly. "Your uncle told me you were on a trip."

Justin's face fell and became emotionless. "My uncle told you this."

"He said you were back by Thursday."

"I--"

"I haven't spoken to you in almost 2 weeks. Where did you even go, Justin?"

"Why were you talking to my uncle?" Justin snapped.

My eyes narrowed. "Don't deflect the question. You always do this and I never understand why. You keep things from me and give me vague answers. Do you even trust me at all?"

"You know me better than anyone else. You should know I don't trust anyone but you." He grunted, rubbing at his forehead. "You're being dramatic, Ana. I've told you my entire life story. What more could you possibly want?"

That stung a bit. "You know what, forget it Justin. I don't want anything more. This is enough, alright?"

Justin ran a hand through his hair. "We need to talk later." He said lowly.