His

49. Awkward Talk With Kenny

"And by normal, I mean completely not normal."

Kiera's POV

*Three Weeks Later*

A few weeks passed after the incident and gradually it seemed life began to become normal again. And by normal, I mean completely not normal. Justin, with no exception, was about a bajillion times more protective and needy than before. I thought before was bad, oh no, nothing could compare to the way he was now. I was actually quite worried about him. And not just because of his increased protectiveness and neediness. The nightmares still plagued his sleep and well, to put it frankly, he looked awful. Dark circles lingered around his eyes, he was more pale than usual and worse, the marks from where he gave me blood still left faint traces along his torso as much as he tried to hid them from me I still saw.

"Kiera? Love?" Justin asks, his grip around my hips tightening instinctively, pulling me closer to his body as we walk.

"Hmm?" I ask, looking up at him.

"I love you." He says sweetly, leaning down to press a kiss to my face.

"I love you too." I respond, touching his face gently, giving him a smile.

Seeing him smile back in satisfaction, he sighs barely audible to anyone but me, his body relaxing once again. He does this a lot you see. It's as if he has to reassure himself that I'm still with him, even if I haven't left his side. I could see it in his eyes, the fear and anxiousness he had, the fire and the dreams that plagued his sleep that gave him no peace, making him the way he was now. But I didn't know what to do to fix it. He claimed he was fine, acted normal in front of the crew and fans, faked his way through daily life, but I knew better. It was in the little things he did, his actions, his words, in the way he would keep an arm around me always or a twitch in his arm as he reassured himself that I was still next to him or in the way he seemed to orientate himself around me no matter where we were or what we were doing.

"Kiera? I have to go get ready. Is that okay?" Justin asks, coming up to me while I chat with crew members, looking to me for approval.

"It's okay Justin. Go ahead. Ryan and Chaz and the rest of the Guard are right here. I'll be just fine." I reassure, lifting my hand up to touch his face gently.

"Okay love. You'll watch me right?" He asks worriedly.

"Of course Jay. Promise. Now go before you're late. We can spend time together later today." I promise, giving him a reassuring smile.

"Okay baby." He says finally, as I visibly see the tension in is body leave.

Giving him another warm smile, I turn back around to continue my conversation.

"Hey Kiera!" Kenny says loudly and good naturedly, coming up to me a few minutes later.

"Hey Kenny! What's up?" I ask, as I'm enveloped into a bear hug.

"Not much actually. Justin's on time, the interviewer is set, Justin's not stressing out for once and we even have 15 minutes of extra time. It's kind of nice and relaxing. It makes me feel like I'm missing something important snce Justin's not rampaging or throwing a mega "find my mate" tantrum. I don't know how you do it Kiera. You're a miracle worker with Justin. I admire you for that." Kenny jokes.

"Haha Well I'm not sure how much I'm actually doing. But thanks anyways." I reply, laughing along with Kenny.

"Trust me Kiera. More than you know. More than you know." He says meaningfully, squeezing my shoulder affectionately.