Bad for You

XV

"You like to pry, don't you, little one?"

"Parker! Hello! Baby, are you here?!"

My body jumped at the unexpected voice of Justin bellowing throughout the household, but I was relieved nonetheless, I actually missed his company and he hadn't even been gone an hour.

"I'm in here, Justin." I called out, making him follow the sound of my voice, which was coming from the living room.

His built frame appeared in the doorway, hair a mess, chest heaving, eyes scanning for any damage.

"Are you okay? Jesus Christ you scared the life out of m- who's this?" He asked, sounding out of breath.

"This is Noah," I began, "My brother."

I watched as his body visibly relaxed at that information, making me smile - he really did care about me. Noah stood up and held his arm out, "You must be Justin," He said, smiling a little.

"Yeah..." He trailed off, shaking his hand.

"Are you okay? You look like you're about to pass out." I asked, making an observation. "Well I did just run here all the way from the first bus stop, sorry for being tired," He rolled his eyes, making me giggle.

"I'll make you some tea, sit down."

I left the room, leaving Justin and my brother alone. He had been skeptical about Noah since I told him about what used to happen back home, he couldn't wrap his head around him not trying to stop it.

I heard little to no conversation flowing in the other room, making me huff, this water was taking longer to boil on purpose. Making the beverage as quickly as I could, I shuffled back into the living area and passed Justin the hot drink, which he thanked me for.

"So you two live together?" Noah asked, trying to make conversation.

"And three other guys," Justin replied, which made his eyes widen.

"Four guys, Parker?"

I choked on air and my mood plummeted.

"What are you insinuating?" I asked, rather offended by my brother's comment, to which he shrugged.

"Just seems out of character for you," He replied nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders.

"Why are you here, Noah?"

My question came out ruder than intended, but he really had no reason to be here. I get that I'm his little sister, but with him being at the house, it plausible that the devil could find out where I'm residing, quicker.

"I can't come and see you?"

"Not when there's a possibility that Paul could find me."

"Dad doesn-"

"He's not my dad."

That's the first time I'd ever said that aloud, and to be honest, it felt good. I felt like I was slowly letting go of the hold he had on me. Justin smiled at me sympathetically, but I didn't need it. I was long over people feeling sorry for me.

"Well, I'll be on my way, then..." He muttered, standing up from the couch, "I won't bother you anymore."

"Noah, that's not what I me-"

"It's fine, Parker. Live your life. God knows you're better without us."

Why must he be so extra? This wasn't a movie for crying out loud. The harsh reality was that shit happens.

Hearing the door slam, I sighed and ran my hand through my hair, glancing at Justin. "Thank you, you know... for coming back," I said, "You didn't have to."

"Yes I did," He replied, "I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I didn't, regardless of whether you were safe or not.

"Is Justin Bieber going soft on me?" I teased, causing a scoff to leave his plump lips.

"Don't flatter yourself, Park."

We sent eachother a small smile and I looked away, a tinge of pink forming on my cheeks. Why was I blushing? I hope to God he can't see it; I would have to kill him since he would never let me live it down.

"It's cold. I'm gonna run a bath, wanna join me?"

My stomach flipped and I shook my head, "I probably shouldn't."

*****

"So what were all of you needed in Portland for?" I asked, as Justin towelled himself down.

He glanced at me quickly before shrugging, "Work."

"What do you do?"

"You like to pry, don't you, little one?"

Little one? Was this a nickname? Did I like it?

"Can't help it,"

"If I'm gonna be completely honest with you, it's not exactly good work. Every month, either a pair, or all of us, travel back down to Portland for a night or two, and to put it bluntly, we deal."

I should have expected it, really. None of them were clean cut, or had the motivation to put themselves forth into a respectable career.

"We pick up, hang around bars, alleys, clubs, you name it. Anywhere dodgy, we're there. We make our share and then get the hell out before it's too obvious. 'Boss', as he likes to call himself, allows us a quarter of what we make for the night and in return, he gets our loyalty."

It was interesting to hear, but I didn't really wanna find out about what kind of drugs Justin was dealing with. I liked the vision I had of him right now, I didn't want it distorted by the idea of hard narcotics.

"How much do you make?"

"At a time? It varies. Sometimes my pay as little as $200, since it's only a 25% cut. But on a really good night, peak season, we could be talking $900."

My brows rose, "So that's why it's only monthly?"

"Exactly," He said, lying down beside me on the bed, sweatpants clad on his body, "But don't worry, I'm not a user. I just do it for the quick money."

That made me feel better, I'm okay with the smoking, heck, I'd be pretty hypocritical if I wasn't – I just didn't want to have an image of Justin snorting a line imprinted in the back of my mind for eternity.

But, why did I care?

Feelings were something that didn't come naturally to me, since my entire life has been effected by negativity and pain.

The idea of 'liking' Justin scared me, though I wasn't even sure if that was the appropriate emotion, I've never crushed on a guy before.

Men were nothing to me... well, before him.

wow it's literally been like 4 months, y'all don't deserve that.

i'm so sorry, please forgive me, but i've just drawn such a blank with this story ahhhhhh, i'm trying.