Celestial

Between Two Points

Several weeks had past since Justin’s and Serenity’s run in with Chase. Serenity realized that afternoon the danger of the whole situation. She played that moment over and over in her head wondering when did Chase change and why. She used to think of him as a person who would never even think of hurting her and now it seems to be the only thing on his mind. From that day forward Serenity and Justin spent a lot of time together forming what on the outside looked like a mere friendship but deep inside it was becoming a bond that would eventually break the walls they‘d both built so well.

~Serenity~

It was 5 o’clock at night and Justin had been in his garage for about and hour so doing God knows what. I got hungry so I decided to cook some dinner for the both of us. I looked in the fridge to see what we had and there wasn’t much. I made a mental note that we had to get groceries and opted for some good ol’ mash potatoes and steak. Who wouldn’t like that?
I was peeling potatoes and I got lost in my thoughts. Lately Justin had been really touchy, feely with me…not that I mind it, but it’s driving me insane. Since that whole towel incident I put myself in check so I would never lose it like I did that day ever again. Not in front of him at least. He didn’t make it easy though. Just last week he invited me to play basketball with him out back and decided to play shirts versus skins and you can guess he was skins. There was absolutely no need for that seeming it was just he and I, but that was just the tip of the iceberg. During that game there was a lot of back to chest contact and when I did something cool or made a good shot he’d hug me or quickly caress the tip of my chin with his fingers and tell me how good I was doing. If it wasn’t that it was his need to gloat when he was winning. He is one of most competitive guys I’ve ever met and he loves to rub it your face. Every time he took the ball from me he’d purse his full cherry lips and wink his eye at me. The fact that I made it through that game speaks volumes of my strength.
“Mmmm…smells good.” Justin said pulling me out of my thoughts.
“Thanks…” I replied
I turn to see Justin standing in the door way wearing sweats and a wife beater completely drenched in sweat. 
“What the heck were you doing out there?” I exclaimed, my eyebrows furrowed.
“Working on this…” Justin replied lifting his shirt to reveal his flawless abs covered in sweat making them look deliciously edible. He pulled off the wife beater and used it to dry the sweat off his neck.
“…Rome wasn’t built in a day baby.” he said in a flirtatious tone.
I rolled my eyes at him and chuckled at his playful display of arrogance. 
“Alright I’m gonna take a quick shower and I’ll be right out for dinner.” Justin chuckled and disappeared down the hallway.
“Kill me now…” I whispered to myself banging the side of my head on the fridge.
Justin came out of the shower just as the food was almost done. He helped me set up the table and we sat quietly and ate dinner. I kept watching his facial expressions every time he took a bite of food. Waiting to see if he’d scrunch up his face at anything thing I made, but he didn’t. The clinking of the forks against the plates and the silence was beginning to drive me mad so I broke the silence.
“So we’ve been living together for almost months now and there’s not too much I know about you.” I nonchalantly stated.
Justin looked at me with a faint smile on his face. 
“Well you never ask me anything.” his smile widened it a bit.
“Okay…fair enough.” I nodded.
“What do you want to know?” he asked before shoved a fork full of potatoes and steak into his mouth, a mischievous grin on his face.
I looked away and laughed he was too adorable for me. I’d wonder if he’d done it on purpose at times. I collected myself sitting up as straight as being full would allow me.
“Have you lived in Texas all your life?” 
“I’m actually from New York City…I moved to Virginia when I was eight-teen for boot camp and I liked it so I stood, then I came here and have been here in Texas a little over a year.” he replied sliding his empty plate over to the side, resting his elbows on the table.
“You left at eight-teen?…” my eyes widened “You must have wanted to get the hell out of there.” I assumed. 
Justin nodded agreeing with me. 
“A lot of people are infatuated by the bright parts of the city or they glamorize the pain there and everyone thinks it’s cool. Truth is there are a lot of people struggling out there.”
A huge smile spread across Justin’s face, obviously impressed by my comment.
“Are your parents still alive?” 
“Yes.. My mom is still alive. I never met my father.” he replied.
“Do you talk to her a lot?” 
The smile slowly faded from his face. “I try to, but I’m not very fond of her husband and she doesn’t like that I voice my opinion about it. So she doesn’t always pick up when I call.” 
I felt like a complete ass. I wasn’t sure if I should change the subject or just stop asking him questions all together. My thoughts must have been written all over my face because he reached out his hand to touch mine and held it gently in his.
“You didn’t say anything wrong.” he chuckled. 
“I’m sorry.” I apologized anyway.
“My turn..” Justin said softly playing with my fingers. “What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?”
“Hmmm...” I tapped my chin with my index finger. “Move in with a guy I barely know who’s saved me from death on more than one occasion.” I nodded and chuckled. 
“Yeah pretty crazy…” Justin laughed. 
“What about you?”
“I’ve done a lot of crazy things…Risked my life for this country and a pretty girl more than once…” a grin spread across his face. 
My eyes lit up beyond my control. Did he just call me pretty?
He continued “…sang some Backstreet Boys at school talent show and dedicated my performance to a girl I was crushing on.” We both burst into laughter. 
“On that note…” I said standing up picking up the dishes. Justin got up and took the dishes from my hands.
“ You cooked, I’ll clean.” he smiled and kissed me on the cheek.
Regardless of the fact that I felt like Justin was torturing me, trying to kill me slow with all of his for the lack of a better word HOTNESS, Justin and I had a connection unlike any other connection I’d ever had with anyone. It was effortless and honest with no pretenses. I was quickly becoming fond of him in more than just a friendly way and I was okay with that. The one thing that crossed my mind often was if he felt the same way.