"Wow..." I panted, wiping the beads of sweat forming on my forehead.
"That was amazing..." Justin sighed, trying to catch his breath.
I nodded, reaching up to plant a soft kiss on his jawbone, "I love you so much."
"I love you so much." He said back, wrapping his arms around my bare body.
Soon enough, his breathing evened out, signaling that he was asleep. I fell asleep soon after, having no trouble for a change, which felt nice.
-
My eyelids fluttered open, then shut again as they adjusted to the sudden light. I glanced up at Justin, who was still sound asleep, his arms firmly wrapped around my bare torso.
I reached over the edge of the bed, grabbing Justin's Pink Floyd t-shirt shirt that he had previously been wearing. I slipped it over my head, and put on a new pair of underwear.
After carefully wiggling out of Justin's grasp, I exited my room, in search of Jess. I found her in the kitchen, her eyes glued to her phone. She looked up at me with a smirk.
"You guys were loud." She laughed, shaking her head, "I can't believe I walked in on that!"
"Me either! I felt so embarrassed!" I chuckled, taking a bottle of water from the fridge.
"But you still boned." She said, raising an eyebrow.
"Jess, oh my god!" I laughed, shaking my head as I walked back to my room.
"Sorry not sorry!" I heard her yell.
Justin was still asleep, so I layed back down next to him and his arms wrapped around me. He yawned before speaking.
"Hi." He smiled, looking down at me.
"Hi." I chuckled as he leaned down to plant a small kiss on my lips.
"Do you know what time it is?" He asked me. I shook my head, reaching over to grab my phone from my nightstand.
"It's 10am."
"Feels later..." He said, pulling me back down.
"Yeah, probably cause we went to sleep at 5pm yesterday." I laughed. I unlocked my phone, seeing that I had a text from an unknown number.
U- Hey, it's Ricky. How ya been?
A- Oh, hey. I've been doing better.
R- I'm glad.
A- Me too. So how are you?
R- I'm hanging in there haha
A- well that's good lol
R- wanna hangout today?
A- yeah :D
R- pick you up at 3?
A- perfect
R- see you then ;D
I texted him my address and got up to take a shower.
"Aw where are you going?" Justin whined as I peeled his arms off of me.
"I'm going to take a shower. I'm hanging out with Ricky today at three." I informed him, grabbing my towel. He groaned, sitting up. His unruly dirty-blond hair was carelessly strewn around his face. Sex hair.
I blushed, turning away from him so he wouldn't notice my red cheeks.
I walked into my bathroom and turned on the shower, stepping in. I stood there for a while just thinking about stuff. Thinking about life.
Asking myself why my mom had to die. And asking myself why it had to happen to her of all people.
My thoughts were soon interrupted by the bathroom door opening. I jumped, dropping the bar of soap.
"Justin what the hell." I groaned, rinsing the conditioner out of my hair.
"Sorry, I had to pee." He said, followed by a long yawn.
"It's fine, you just scared me a little bit." I sighed, turning off the water and grabbing my towel. I pulled the shower curtain back, just as Justin finished.
"I gotta get dressed." I told Justin as we both walked back into my room. He nodded, walking out.
I put on a new pair of underwear and a bra, going over to my closet.
I grabbed a pair of black skinny jeans and a MIW shirt that I've had for god knows how long, slipping them on. I walked back into my bathroom, doing my makeup quickly. As I finished, I grabbed my vans and my bag, going out to the living room.
"I'm gonna head over to my place." Justin said, kissing my cheek. I nodded, putting my shoes on.
"Alright, I love you."
"Love you too." He said back.
"JESS!" I yelled as he exited.
"Yes?!" She asked worriedly, opening the door to her room.
"Let's go do something. I'm hanging out with Ricky at three and I have some time to kill." I told her. It's only 11, why waste 4 hours?
"Okay, be right back." She said, going back into her room and coming back out around ten minutes later, "Kay, I'm ready."
I nodded, walking over to the door. We walked down to my car and she was silent the whole car ride.
"Jess what's up?" I asked her, turning the radio off.
She shook her head, looking down at her hands.
"Jessica." I pressed on, looking over at her before turning my attention back to the road.
"Okay. Well, I was nervous about telling you, but me and Jack are getting our own apartment..." She said, not being able to contain her excitement. I smiled ear to ear, pulling her in for a hug as we approached a red light.
"Jess that's awesome." I said happily, pulling away so I could continue the drive to the mall.
"I was nervous to tell you." She admitted. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.
"Why?"
"I have no idea." She laughed, leaning her head against the window.
"I'm really happy for you guys."
"Thank you." She said appreciably. I nodded as I pulled into the mall parking lot. We got out, walking up to the entrance.
We just walked around, window shopping for about an hour when I got a phone call from Isaac.
"Hello?" I said, putting my phone up to my ear.
"Hey..." He sighed.
"What's up?" I asked, feeling terrible for not visiting them enough since my mother passed.
"Well, I have some news. Uh, dad is gonna be abke to come home tomorrow. Ash is gonna have to stay for another few weeks but he's hanging in there." He said, trying his best to sound happy.
"Good, I'm glad they're doing okay. Where are you and Ari at right now?" I asked him.
"We-we're at home." He said, followed by a long sigh.
"Want me to come over?" I asked him.
"Please."
"I'll be there in 20 minutes. I love you, Isaac." I said, turning on my heel.
"Love you too."
Once we had hung up, I began to walk in the direction of the exit.
"You don't mind going over to my... parents house for a little while, right?" I asked Jess.
She shook her head, "Of course not."
We walked back out to my car and I drove to my parents house. We let ourselves in, and I saw Isaac emerge from the kitchem along with Arianna. He dragged himself over to me, hugging tightly.
"How have you guys been?" I asked him. He sighed, looking down at the floor.
"I'm doing terrible, honestly.. but I have to keep it together for Ari." He said, glancing over at her as she approached us.
"Yeah, I understand. And hello, beautiful!" I said happily, kneeling down to give her a hug.
"Hi." She smiled before going back to her toys.
"So, mom's funeral date is this Sunday..." He said quietly.
I nodded, trying not to start crying. I don't just have Ari to be strong for. It's everyone. I can't afford to cry every time my mother is mentioned.
"I can't tell her. I can't get up the nerve to tell Arianna that she's never gonna see her mom again." Isaac told me, scratching the back of his neck.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded, "Do you want me to tell her?"
He nodded, stepping aside so I could go over to her, "Hey, Ari, can I talk to you for a second?"
She nodded, hopping onto my lap as I sat down on the couch. I took a deep breath, thinking of a way to make this not sound as sad.
"Can I ask you something first?" She asked. I nodded.
"I miss mom. When is she gonna come home? When is daddy coming home? And Ashton?"
My eyes widened and the lump in my throat came back. I started to tear up, but held the tears back. I heard a sniffle come from behind me and Isaac walked back into the kitchen.
"Well sweetie, the thing is... Mommy was in a car crash with daddy and Ashton. Mommy got really hurt, and she's in a better place now." I sighed, wiping the beads of sweat formimg on my forehead.
"Is she ever gonna come back from the better place?" She asked, looking up at me with sad eyes. I shook my head, offering a sad smile.
"No, Ari. Mommy's gonna stay there. But don't worry. You'll see her again one day. Maybe not soon, but you'll meet again, I promise." I told her, placing a kiss on the top of her head.
"Did mommy die in the car crash? Is that what you mean?" She asked, tearing up. I nodded slowly.
"Yeah... that's what I mean."
"I'm gonna miss mommy." She sighed, leaning her head on my chest. I wrapped my arms around her and sighed. I felt a tear fall from her eye and I wanted to to cry so bad, but I didn't.
"Me too, Ari. Me too."