Don't Get Too Close (Justin Bieber Love Story / Fan Fiction)

Twenty-Six: Need

Twenty-Six: Need
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Song of the chapter:
Female Robbery by the Neighbourhood
(omfg fav)
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One hour.

It had been one hour since Pattie broke the news to Justin. One hour since I saw him completely shut down in front of me. One hour since I saw all of the color wash away from his skin. One hour since he went upstairs without a word and locked his door. One hour since I tried to get him out of his room.

And there I sat outside of his doorway, occasionally pounding the side of my fist against the door trying to get him to talk to me. But he wouldn't. The only sound I heard was the shower running from his bathroom, indicating that he was going to get in. Nothing else.

He had gotten out of the shower at least a half an hour ago, in which case I knocked on the door again to get him out.

"Justin, please talk to me," I pleaded, my heart aching for him. No response came.

Pattie came up the stairs a few minutes later, telling me it was going to be a while before he would be ready to see anyone. I told her it was okay and I wanted to wait for him because I knew he would do the same thing for me.

She sat down beside me, smiling sympathetically. "You really care about him, don't you?"

I nodded. I wanted to slap myself for admitting it but then again, hiding it wouldn't have made me happy either. Hiding what Justin and I had would have been stupid.

"You know, he really cares about you, too," she added.

I scrunched my eyebrows together and brought my eyes to hers. "Really?"

"Yeah," she nodded, smiling. Her eyes were still glazed over and tired from crying, but I knew the conversation between the two of us was distracting her. So, I kept it going. I knew what it was like to deal with losing someone you loved and sometimes, it was nice to just talk about something else. Even if it was for a little bit. "I mean, you're always together. And when you're not, he's always talking about you. He gets this smile on his face that I haven't seen in so long and I--" she paused, looking down. "I'm glad you can get it out of him. I can't seem to do that anymore."

"What are you talking about?" I whispered, shocked. "You mean so much to him. How can you not see that?" She returned her eyes to me, a sadness washing over them. "Remember that night you two got in that really big fight? He told me all about it the next day and he was crushed that he took it out on you. You're so important to him and even though he doesn't show it all the time, he sure does to me. I've never--" I paused. I was about to tell her how jealous and envious I was of their relationship because I never had that with my parents, but I couldn't. I didn't want her to know. "I've never seen a relationship like yours," I finally whispered.

She pressed her lips together and nodded, smiling suddenly. Tears refilled her eyes and I couldn't help but feel sorry that she felt that way. I didn't know why she felt like Justin didn't appreciate or love her anymore but then again, what did I know? I hadn't been around that long. I hadn't seen them together too often. For all I knew, their relationship could have been crumbling. But it was clear as day how much they loved one another and it made sense-- they were all each other had at one point. Between Katherine's death and Pattie's divorce, that is.

"Thank you," she murmured. She stood and so did I, then she enveloped me in her arms. It took me off guard at first, but I knew she needed someone and I hugged her back without a problem. My eyes shut tight and I found my chest closing, the entirety of the situation finally hitting me hard. Pattie's feelings, Avalanna's death, Katherine's death, and most importantly, how it was all impacting Justin. I didn't know how much more he could handle.