Falling Slow

On Air with Ryan Seacrest/Q&A

Justin's pov

This was my first interview in what felt like ages. I was so nervous. I didn't wanna say anything wrong. Pretty much everything I did in the next few months would decide how my comeback was gonna go and I really wanted it to work out. This was my second chance at doing what I love and I was not gonna blow it.

At least the interview was with Ryan though. We were good friends and he had never said anything negative about me in the past couple years. Everything was going fine so far. I talked about new music, the roast, my birthday, my hair, Wango Tango, Ultra, Where Are U Now, and I mentioned how I performed with Ariana.

I couldn't stop thinking about her ever since that night. I kind of wanted Ryan to ask me more about her. I just wanted to be able to talk about her and not keep it all bottled up.

"And I don't wanna embarrass you but I know you can handle this," Ryan said. Oh god.

"But there's this new girl..." Shit. "...that I met."

"What are you talking about?" I smiled involuntarily. He was gonna ask me about Ariana. I knew it.

"Your face is turning bright red." Shit, was it really?

I was so nervous. I started rubbing my chin and looked down. I saw Scooter out of the corner of my eye smiling at me.

"Alright, so there's a new girl that I met that is Justin- I don't wanna say you're in love with her but-"

"Alright." I looked down. This was so awkward. I hoped he wasn't talking about Hailey or Kendall because I have said it a million times, we are just friends.

Ariana and I had literally just performed together a couple days ago though and pictures of us were everywhere. No one could deny the chemistry. I said it myself, I make it obvious when I like somebody and I'm pretty sure it was obvious.

I remember when Ryan asked her about the selfie we took a couple years ago where I kissed her on the cheek. He tried convincing her I was into her, which wasn't a lie, and she had looked so embarrassed. It was adorable. I hate that I didn't make a move back then and she probably thought I didn't like her. It wouldn't have been fair to her back then though. To be honest, I was still hung up on Selena and I was just not in a good place. I wouldn't have wanted to drag her down with me and make the start of her career flop.

"But she's definitely by your side and she's here," Ryan continued. Okay now I knew he wasn't talking about Ariana.

"And she's about this size," Ryan gestured with his hands. Ariana was tiny but she definitely wasn't that tiny.

I was so relieved but a part of me was disappointed he was just talking about Esther. Scooter handed me my puppy and we posed for pictures.

I rubbed her belly as Ryan said, "Like let's just be clear like Justin Bieber needed that kind of cuteness to help him out in the world of singleness, right?"

"She's definitely a chick magnet," I replied, remembering how cute Ariana was with her the other day.

We talked more about the scar tissue on my neck, my tattoos, working out, Mayweather, stuff like that.

"Alright so before you go everyone has been waiting for me to ask, are you single or dating or what's the story?"

"I'm single right now." For the thousandth time.

"And do you enjoy that?"

"I do enjoy it yeah," I answered.

I said my goodbyes to Ryan and drove around LA with Scooter.

"You did good, kid. I'm proud of you. I'll see you Wednesday at the Forum, okay?" Scooter said and we went our separate ways.

A few hours later, I got ready for bed. I hated late night thoughts. It was like everything you didn't want to think about just ambushed your mind and kept you awake for hours.

I didn't want to be single anymore. For the first time in a really, really long time, I was ready to fall in love again. It was a scary feeling but I missed the excitement. I wanted to be able to have someone I could hold at night, someone I could cherish, someone I could spoil. I wanted to make a girl feel special and listen to her and talk to her and surprise her with her favorite things. I wanted to make her smile and laugh. I was finally ready to put myself out there again and I couldn't wait for someone to come along and make me fall for them.

I wanted to feel butterflies again, which is exactly what I felt with Ariana. I was so nervous to see her again. I wanted to make this performance better than the last. I wished she wasn't with Sean. I just wanted to be able to make her fall for me, too.

I tried to stop my thoughts as I brought Esther closer to me. At least she was a good cuddler when I was feeling lonely. I kissed her head and closed my eyes.

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Ariana's pov

I loved seeing all my fans on tour. I was headed to the stage to surprise everyone who had bought VIP. Brian was leading the Break Free Dance Party and my babes looked so cute and happy. I saw them freak out as I got closer. I decided to do a Q&A.

"How was it performing with Justin?"

"It was great," I said half-heartedly. "Friendship goals! It didn't even feel like my show. It felt like a party."

I wasn't in the best mood but I tried to sound happy for my loves. Sean and I had been talking about possibly taking a break from each other because being away was just too hard. He was on tour and so was I. I just wanted to get through it all and I didn't really wanna talk about Justin. I just felt so guilty for having feelings for him and it made the breakup even worse.

The crew was helping me get through this rough patch. Ricky would always find a way to make me laugh. I couldn't help but fall for him. He was what I wanted, what I needed, right now. If Sean and I couldn't make it work then I knew Ricky would be the safe choice for me. We were always around each other. We wouldn't be able to grow apart. He was here. Justin wasn't. Even though Justin was always on my mind, Ricky was just the easier option. I wouldn't get my heart broken that way and I really didn't want to be sad anymore. I was sick of crying.