Love Gone Black

Part 9

        (Chris's POV): Justine managed to run away and I have no idea where she is now. I chased her down as far as I could but with her being so short and it being so dark outside she got away from me and I couldn't find her anymore. I drove around town for two hours looking for her and still couldn't find her. I parked in front of the apartment and waited for an hour thinking she might come back. When I didn't see her and it was already past one o'clock I decided to go inside. I wanted to die. Justine is somewhere out there alone while it's raining. Who knows what could have happened to her or is happening to her right now. I squeezed my eyes tight to fight back the tears. I haven't cried in years and I won't start now. Not over a woman.

        I headed for the stairs and just as I was about to go up I spotted Justine sitting in the corner soaking wet looking down at the floor with a forlorn expression on her face. "Justine!" I ran over to her and pulled her up to her feet. "You had me scared to death! Why would you run out there in the middle of the night when it's raining and you're barefoot?! Could you have been more stupid?!" I grabbed her arms and shook her. "Don't you ever do that again!" she nodded. "Okay." she said softly. "Now let me get you upstairs where it's warm before you catch a cold."

        We went up to my apartment and I turned the heater up to make it warmer. "I'll get you a blanket." I grabbed a blanket, a sweater, and some sweats for her to put on. "I'll go make some hot chocolate too." I said. I ran to our clean kitchen and started to make Justine hot chocolate. I still couldn't believe our kitchen has actually stayed consistently clean. But what I couldn't believe more was that I drove around town all night looking for her when she was just downstairs in the lobby waiting for me. I felt like an idiot. But at least she was home.

        Justine came out of the bathroom with the sweater and sweats on and the blanket wrapped around her shoulders. "It'll be a few minutes before it's done. You wanna put on another record?" I asked. She shook her head and just kept standing there by the bathroom door. Seeing that she was still upset, I went over to her. "I know you're really shocked and sad about all of this but it'll be okay. I promise you. Pain doesn't last forever." I said. "But it still hurts." "How can I make it better?" she put her head down and didn't say anything. "I know what'll make you feel better. Extra marshmallows for your hot chocolate." I went back into the kitchen to get the bag of marshmallows. When her hot chocolate was ready I put a handful in, stirred it up, and carried the mug over to her. "Let's go in the bedroom where it's warmer." I said.

        She and I went into my room and sat down on the bed with our backs against the pillows. "How does it taste?" I asked. "Fine." she said softly. "Are you mad at me?" she shook her head. "I'm not mad anymore. Just disappointed that you wouldn't tell me. I thought we were friends." "But we are friends." "Friends don't keep secrets like that." Justine said. "Well how can I make this better? Just tell me what to do and I'll do it." Justine turned her face up to me and what I saw I didn't like. "I want you to stay away from me. I'll be out of here first thing in the morning and back in L.A." she said. "But I thought we were friends? Why would you want me to stay away from you?" I asked. "We're not friends anymore. I appreciate you letting me stay here and showing me around Seattle but I don't think we can be friends anymore after this."

        I stared back at her in disbelief. "You can't be serious. I poured my heart out to you and told you everything and now you don't even want to at least be my friend?" I asked. Justine handed me the mug. "Thanks for the hot chocolate. I think I'll go to sleep now. I have an early flight." I slammed the mug down on the nightstand and got out of bed. "Fine. If this is how you want it to be." I said and stormed out of the room.