When you wake up everyday
And it gives you your first breath
Or it makes you so afraid
But you take another step
...
When peace becomes the truth
And you know that it's okay
And the happiness you feel
You just want it everyday...
- Star Cast
________________
- Justin
"So how long has this been going on?" My mom asked with a smile while Ashton was in the bathroom. I looked over at my mom and returned the same smile softly.
"About seven and a half months now." I sighed happily and fixed my hair before looking back at her bright eyes and smile. "Do you like her?"
"Baby," she chuckled to herself "I can see the smile that she puts on your face and that little light you have in your eyes when you talk about her." She sat closer to me and took my hand in hers. "I haven't seen that look in your eye in ages. To know that she's helped to bring it back makes me love her. I just want you to take care of her and cherish her. I don't think you'll ever get another great one like her."
I took in everything she said and nodded my head since I know what she wanted to say without actually saying it: 'don't fuck this up, Justin'. "I won't. I really love this one." I looked over at her and heard Ashton's footsteps coming down the steps and she smiled at the both of us.
"So Ashton, hows my son been treating you? I hope well since I raised him the right way." My mom playfully glared at me and made a giggle come out of Ashton's mouth when she sat on the other side of me on the couch.
"He treats me well," she smiled at me "I don't have any complaints so far Pattie."
"See? Told you." I turned to look at my mom and grin wide.
"I just have to ask, because once again; I know my son. Justin told me that he met your mom also! I hope to meet her one day."
"You will, before the wedding." I interjected and her eyes and Ashton's both grew twice their size.
"Wedding?" The both said in unison.
"Justin, are you being serious—" my moms eyes began to water a little and Ashton held her chest in either confusion or out of her being happy. I really wasn't sure, but I held my hands up and shook my head.
"Not anytime soon, but yeah. I told you that you're someone I plan on marrying." I turned to Ashton. "I wasn't joking about that— but when we're ready. I'll make sure your nails are done and that Dani, Crystal, and your friends help me with picking out the ring." I joked.
A sigh left her lips and she hit my shoulder. "Don't do that again! You almost made your mom and I have a heart attack." She pouted. "I mean; this would be amazing; but then my family isn't here and I don't look to great—"
"You look fine, Ashton. Just relax." I laughed and shook my head, seeing my mom look at us again and smile; I could already tell that Ashton won her over. She looked at her in a way that she never looked at Selena or even Hailey— and at one point, she loved them both.
"Well, how about we all go out for dinner later? There's a restaurant here that Justin loved as a kid." My mom smiled at Ashton and she nodded her head.
"I would love to. Food is always a good idea." She laughed and looked at me for confirmation.
"I'm cool with whatever. What time did you wanna go?"
"Probably around six or seven? I don't want to have you both out too late and have people throwing themselves at you both." She stood up and stretched before her cellphone started ringing.
"That's probably your dad." She sighed and smiled. "I told him earlier that you both were here and he so happened to be in town with your brother and sister. I guess we can make this a family event." She shrugged. "Are you comfortable with that, Ashton? I don't want to pressure you with all of there people around so soon—"
"No, Pattie. I promise it's fine." She nodded. "Justin put up with my crazy family for just about a week; I would love to be around a calmer setting and I'm sure he would to. I'd love to meet everyone."
She looked at Ashton some more and I noticed that her eyes were getting a little teary. She was always emotional; but I could understand why.
"Mom," I chucked. "Everything okay?"
"I just really like this one." She patted under her eyes as the tip of her nose turned red. "She's so genuine!"
I looked over at Ashton and smiled at her, quickly kissing her cheek. "Thank you." She smiled at my mom.
"I'll give you two some more time to get adjusted." She quickly ran off to grab her phone, leaving Ashton and I in the living room, watching each other with a smile.
"So, what do you think of her?"
"I like her." She smiled and rested her head in my lap. I ran my fingers through her purple hair and rubbed her scalp; she always told me that doing this put her to sleep easily. "She reminds me of my mom in a way— I'm sure they'd love each other if they met."
"She's very... emotionally driven." I smiled.
"Oh, like you aren't?" Ashton raised her eyebrow at me and chuckled. "At least I know where you get it from now."
"Shut up." I laughed and took her hand, walking her outside to the sitting area and pulled her to my lap. One of her arms went around my neck and she rested her head on my shoulder.
"I won't have to deal with any of your old female friends who potentially have a crush on you popping up, will I?" Ashton chuckled and played with my hand in hers.
"Trust me, that's the last thing we'll have to worry about." I grinned and squeezed her side. "I was thinking that when you're done working, we should take a vacation." I shrugged. "I have a few more weeks left of getting this album together— everyone your friends can come if they want, and I'll bring mine."
"A vacation to where?"
"Ever been to St. Lucia?" I looked up at her and her eyes widened.
"St. Lucia? Justin... that's a big trip to try and plan within a few weeks!"
"Babe, don't worry about that. Do you wanna go?"
"Of course!" She laughed and cupped my face in her hands, kissing every inch of the skin on my face. I caught her chin before she could give me another on and kissed her sweetly.
I felt her smile against my lips before she pulled away and grinned at me, biting her bottom lip. "I love you." She said quickly and grinned.
"I love you, too."
"No," she shook her head at me and threw her other leg on the side of me, straddling my waist. "I know that you love me, but I really love you." She mumbled. "I like the way I feel when I'm with you. Even when we have our off days, or days when we annoy each other— I might walk around with a attitude for a while, but even when we argue, I still love you and hate the silence that comes after it. You really opened my eyes up to a lot of things." She went on and I just smiled at her.
If there was anything I knew about Ashton, it was that sharing her emotions instantly wasn't her 'thing'. I always had to force her emotions out of her; despite telling each other I love you any chance we got.
"Sometimes I get scared though." I stopped and frowned at her, while her eyes stayed on me. What did she have to be scared of?
"Scared of what?" I questioned.
"I don't know... maybe that all of this goes too smoothly sometimes— it's not something that's common for me; so for you to allow what we have to blossom so smoothly? It's crazy."
"Ash, we've been at this for what's going to be eight months soon... I don't want you to constantly predict the worst, babe. I love you, that's all that should matter and that's all that will always matter." I took both of her hands in mine and squeezed them gently. "I'm learned a lot from just being with you... and I plan on learning a lot more."
"I'm cool with that." She laughed and hugged me, nuzzling her face into the crook of my neck.
________________
- Ashton
"Babe! Are you ready yet?" Justin yelled from the bed that he was sitting on like I wasn't at least eight feet away from him in the bathroom that was connected to the room. I put down the lipstick that was in my hand before putting them on my hips and glaring at him.
"Why are you yelling? We're literally not that far from each other, Jay."
"Because when you're putting on makeup it's the only way I can get your attention, now let me take a picture of you; you look amazing." He walked over to me and smiled, shaking his phone in his hand. I'm starting to think he has a giant file on his phone that's filled with the pictures he takes of me. I went along with it anyway while he still took the picture.
@justinbieber: Wow 💜
COMMENTS:
@lovelauren: wow, best friend @ashglo. I'm moist. You fine 👀🤤
—— @khalil: @lovelauren bring your ugly/fine ass back upstairs I'm tired of waiting for you man 🙄
@USER46483: GLAD YOURE WITH THE WINNING TEAM BOO
@USER46384: Plant your seed in her asap
—— @kendalljenner: @USER46384 I second this action. Do it before I do.
@traviscott: 🔥
@mtv: MOM AND DAD 😍
—— @maejor: @mtv y'all really don't be having shit else to do huh? 🤔
I rolled my eyes when he was done and pulled out my phone. "Your turn, because you seem to hate having people take pictures of you." I laughed and grabbed his arm so that he could come closer.
He groaned playfully and rolled his eyes. "I'm more of a selfie type of guy."
"Well, we've taken enough of those. Now, pose and look pretty." I giggled
"First of all, I don't even have a shirt on."
"Second of all, you're acting like that's stopped you before. Now just look cute, babe." I smiled and rolled my eyes at the face he was making. Despite his hair being all over the place, he still looked good.
@ashglo: a seat. a snack. a man💕
COMMENTS:
@daniglova: EW. IM TELLING MA
@daniglova: jk @justinbieber I see you best friend 👀 don't let the pants wear you... 😅
@USER0879: BITCH FINALLY WE'VE BEEN IN A DROUGHT
@USER34689: Can y'all just have babies all ready.
@USER0666: @justinbieber have my babies instead pls
—— @theworldshero: @USER0666 sorry sis my mans is preoccupied with a real one at the moment. Try @shawnmendes
—— @crystalglover: @USERR0666 sis... calm your 12 year old ovaries pls. He's good with my cousin 🙃
—— @ariananogrande: @crystalglover IM DED 💀
I laughed at all of the other comments before officially turning my phone off and watching him finally get dressed in something casual. "Excited to see Jaxon and Jazz?"
"Insanely." He smiled when he finished pulling his shirt over his head. "You're gonna love them, I swear. Cutest kids ever."
I smiled and nodded at him before grabbing his hand so we could officially leave to meet his family. Pattie decided that she's leave before us to give us more 'alone time' no matter how many times I told her that we didn't need it.
________________
We pulled up to some Italian restaurant that looked pretty casual, thankfully there was no paparazzi around to try to ruin the night for us. To be safe, we still entered through the back of the restaurant.
"It smells so good in here." I moaned and eyes the plates as we walked through, my mouth was already watering.
"You'll love the food." Justin laughed and held my hand. "Probably some of the best Italian food in Canada— in my opinion."
"Well, I'm gonna trust your opinion tonight." I smiled. When we were in Chicago I found a way to persuade him that Italian beefs were the best food in Chicago despite him feeling iffy about the idea of soggy bread; but he eventually came around and loved them.
We made our way to the table to see Pattie and Jeremy sitting with two little kids, and I instantly knew that they were his siblings. "Did you start ordering without us?" Justin smiled and put his hands on Jaxon and Jazmyn's shoulder.
Both of them instantly turned around and had their hands around Justin's waist as he laughed, kissing the tops of their heads. "Missed me?"
"You've been gone for ages!" Jazmyn grinned up at him and Jaxons eyes soon fell on me.
"Who's this?"
Justin chuckled and pulled me towards him. "This is my girlfriend, Ashton. Ashton, this is Jazmyn and Jaxon." He introduced me. I smiled at them both and came down to their level.
"It's nice to finally meet you both. Justin told me a lot about you two." I chuckled. Jazmyn instantly hugged me around my neck, while Jaxon continued to look at me.
"Say hi, Jaxon. She doesn't bite." Jeremy, Justin's dad laughed and so did Pattie.
"H-Hi." He smiled and his cheeks turned red instantly before pulling Justin down and whispering something in his ear.
Justin smiled and nodded his head. "I know, right?" He ruffled Jaxon's hair and helped them to sit back down. I said hello to Jeremy and Pattie before sitting down next to Justin.
Apparently, Jeremy already knew about me from conversations he had with Justin and he liked me a lot— from what he heard. So it was cool to know that I was liked by this half of his family so far.
"Are we ready to order? It's nice to see you all— you as well, Justin." A older waiter came up to the table. I guess he's been here since Justin was young since they engaged in a conversation before we started ordering, letting his parents and siblings go first.
"And for you, miss?" He smiled at me kindly.
"Um... the baked ziti sounds nice, with red wine, please." I smiled and handed him my menu.
"Can she have it without mushrooms? Definitely no mushrooms." Justin interjected, making me smile.
"No problem, everything should be out soon." He smiled and took all of our menus before walking off.
"No mushrooms?" Jeremy asked as I took a sip from my lemon water.
"She's allergic. Anywhere we go to eat, I have to ask them to remove them. She loves to eat them, but when she has a reaction, she's not happy." He chuckled. If it was noticeable for me to blush, I would be at this very moment.
We went to a restaurant in LA a while back and I ordered pot stickers and ate them all before realizing that the chicken inside also had mushroom paste inside. Everything swelled up and Justin had to rush me to the ER. He was pissed when I told him that I knew I was allergic, but liked to eat them still because of the flavor they had. So now he acts like he's my doctor and reminds me 24/7 of the things I can and can't eat.
"Oh, like you don't have the same problem with grapefruit!" I laughed at him and shook my head.
"This is about you, baby. Not me." He joked.
Jeremy looked at us and smiled before clearing his throat. "Now, I hate to be the one to ask the question; but how serious are you two? I mean, you both seem pretty serious but—"
"Jeremy!" Pattie hissed and hit his arm.
"I'm serious about him." I interjected, looking Jeremy right in the eyes. "I wasn't the one perusing Justin when we first met. We met under... odd circumstances; but after that, I didn't want him. He was very persistent while and even after we worked together, and he was there for me when I needed him. That's when I realized that I actually could see myself with him. Even if he didn't have this status, I would still want to be with him." I defended and felt Justin squeeze my hand under the table for reassurance. "I know he's serious about me, this isn't something I'd just jump into."
Jeremy studied my face before nodding and taking a sip of his water before the wine was finally brought out for us and Jaxon and Jazmyn had their Sprites. They were too preoccupied with their iPads to even realize what was going on.
"What she's trying to politely say, is that she's not in this for the money and isn't like the other girls I've been with." Justin looked at him before looking at his mom and his features softened.
"Okay," he nodded. "So tell me what you do for a living, Ashton?"
"I'm an editor and journalist for Cosmopolitan Magazine." I said proudly.
"Let's talk about something that's less... provoking. Okay, Jeremy?" Pattie glared at him before smiling at Justin and I. "I'm sorry about him... Jeremy's been on edge for the past few weeks."
"Is it the girlfriend?" Justin questioned. Jeremy sighed and nodded.
"I'm sorry to the both of you. It's just been a lot going on." He looked at me with sympathetic eyes and I let my guard down so that I would jump up and beat the hell out of him. Maybe he had a point towards asking me those questions since Justin's track record with dating wasn't the best, but still. There's a way to handle things like this.
But I digress.
"Let's talk about where you two see your relationship going in the future? I know this is way too soon to be asking; but I can't help it. Could there be a wedding and kids in the future? Or am I pushing it?" Pattie chuckled and our food was brought out.
The smell of the pasta sauce went up to my nose and I almost groaned out loud. I've been starving for the past few days and it seemed like no matter what I ate, nothing could make me feel full.
"We've had the conversation. We'd like to be married in the future, and have kids. Probably at least five—" Justin discussed our future plans and I stopped eating to look at him.
"Five? As in five kids? That's a lot of children to push out Justin. Maybe two or three, but no more than that." I laughed nervously. He never told me exactly how many kids he wanted to have, but five was a number that I wasn't willing to push out.
"You wouldn't want five? I think we'd do amazing with five. Plus I've seen how you act with your baby cousins, it's almost like you're a natural with kids. It's cute." He smiled and started talking to me like it was just the two of us there and no one else. "I'd be grateful to have any out with you, really. But I know we have a long way to go, so I'm not rushing at all."
A squeal came from the other side of the table, and I soon realized that it was coming from Pattie's mouth. Her hands were pressed together against her cheeks and she grinned at us. "I just love you two together. I really feel as if God put you both together for a reason."
"I think he did too." I smiled at Justin and I felt him press a kiss to my cheek.
I looked over to see Jaxon looking at me again with red cheeks before looking back down at the iPad in front of him. "He's got a crush on you," Justin mumbled in my ear when the table grew quiet cause everyone was eating. "He told me that he thinks you're really pretty."
"Aww, that's why he keeps stealing glances my way? He's adorable."
"More adorable than me?"
"Way more adorable." I joked and pecked his cheek before we went back to eating.
_____________
By the time we finished eating, Jaxon and Jazmyn wanted ice cream from a parlor across the street. Jeremy explained to them that he was too tired to wait in the line, so I figured I'd take them over. From what Pattie told me, their ice cream was really good and worth the wait.
I held their hands as we ran across the street and went into the sweet smelling shop to wait in line. One of Justin's security stayed by the door in case we got mobbed, but I told him that it wouldn't happen.
As always, Justin didn't listen.
"What flavor do you guys want?" I smiled down at them and noticed they were pulling a few dollars from it of their pockets— probably allowance money. "Hey, this one is on me. You guys save that for something else, yeah?" I chucked and they nodded with a grin.
"I want a strawberry sundae with everything but nuts. I don't like nuts... oh, and please!" Jazmyn beamed up at me.
"Cool, what about you, Jaxon?" I asked him and he looked away from me, still blushing.
I felt Jazmyn tug on my shirt and pull me down to her level. "He thinks you're really pretty. He's really shy around pretty girls."
"Oh!" I wired my eyes and pretended to know the new information and nodded to her before turning to Jaxon.
"Hey, Jax." I kneeled down by him. "Can you tell me, what type of ice cream you want?"
"V-vanilla sundae with everything." He mumbled and looked up at me through his eyelashes, playing with his fingers.
"You got it sir." I smiled. "You don't have to be nervous around me, Jaxon. Besides, I think you're really cool and really cute."
His eyes widened and he smiled at me. "Thank you." He said clearly.
"No problem, cutie. You just have to promise me one thing, yeah?"
He nodded his head, giving me his full attention.
"Don't tell Justin I called you cute. He gets jealous really easily. Pinky promise?" I extended my pinky to him and he wrapped his around it almost instantly.
"Promise!"
"Great!" I chuckled and kissed his cheek, and it turned red all over again.
I soon paid for their ice cream and made our way back across the street to the cars before standing next to Justin.
"Did you guys say thank you?" He asked.
"They did." I assured him. Pattie told Jeremy that they could stay at her place while Justin and I were in town so that we could all spend time together. Jeremy agreed, but told us that he could only stay for two extra days before getting back to his girlfriend.
We all got into our cars and made our way back to her place with full stomachs. "I love that your mom is still so open to having Jeremy stay over despite their relationship with each other." I mumbled to Justin and rested my head in his lap. His hands ran through my hair soothingly and I could tell that I would fall asleep soon.
"Yeah." He smiled. "She told me once before that she couldn't hold any grudges towards him. Once her relationship with God grew, she said she began to see things in a different light."
"I also love how spiritual she is. I think that's why she reminds me so much of my mom." I smiled.
"When you took the kids to get ice cream, we talked. She told me that she can see the love that you have for me in your eyes. She said it's like your eyes warm up when you look at me and it's the best thing she's ever seen." He chuckled and rubbed my back.
"Are you serious?" I smiled up at him and he nodded. "That's crazy."
"How so?"
"My mom literally told me the same exact thing before we left Chicago. She told me that the same look she sees you give me, is the same look my dad would give her." I felt a lump start to form in my throat, and apparently he could hear the strain in my voice because bent down and pressed kisses under my eyes.
"The type of love you've been waiting for, right? Similar to your mom and dads." He reminded me.
"Mhmm." I chuckled and sniffed softly. "I don't know if this is the wine or my emotions, but I really love you." I laughed. "It's like... I knew that I did. But, it's something when others can see it to, and it just confirms it. Then you just make me happy, and I wanna feel like this for as long as possible, I've never been so happy in my life—"
I was cut off to him placing his lips on mine very sweetly. I moved my lips against his before he pulled away slowly and smiled. "I love you too. I've known that I did when I saw you so broken at your house when you saw Christian. At that point, I just knew; I just didn't know how to say it. But I'm glad that I eventually did."
"If we keep talking like this, we're gonna have to get married soon and have babies because it'll be perfect." I giggled.
A chuckle fell from his lips and he held my hand in his, brushing his lips against my knuckles. It was one thing to be kissed on the lips or anywhere else that could be considered sexual, but I studied Justin enough to know about his other gestures. Whenever he kissed my knuckles, I knew that he was thinking about something, and was trying to figure out how to say it without kissing all over me. His face would hold so much emotion and feeling; it was hard to not notice.
"You're the one for me, Ashton. Even if something goes wrong and we argue, or we feel like we need a break from each other; God forbid, I feel like you're the only person out there for me."
"Okay, Stop because now I'm actually about to break down and cry." I whispered and he just laughed at me. He knew that whenever I was wine drunk, I was bound to be emotional.
"You only had two glasses. You're normally drunk by four or five." He reminded me.
"I know, but I just don't know how to react right now, I'm feeling a lot of emotions at once, and it's making me uneasy." I held my head in my hands. "I keep telling myself it's the wine; so it has to be the wine."
"Lay down, babygirl. I'll wake you up when we get to the house." His hands went back into my hair, and before I knew it, I was out cold.
__________________
- Justin
When we got to the house, Ashton was out cold and snoring softly. Personally, I knew better than to wake her up because if I did— even though she told me to, she'd find a way to hate me when I woke her.
As soon as we parked, I slid her off my lap and got out of the car, pulling her bridal style into my arms and carried her into the house. The tv was going and I saw everyone on the couch, while Jazmyn and Jaxon were sleeping too.
"Turning in for the night?" My dad called to me and smirked.
"Yeah, the wife is out cold, and if she wakes up to me not next to her, she panics and won't go back to sleep for another hour. Then she'll be a mad woman in the morning." I chuckled and he did the same. "I figured you should be too, you're not the young guy you were years ago." I joked.
"Trust me, I am." He laughed and I turned to walk up the steps, being stopped when I hear him call my name.
"Yeah?"
"Whatever you're doing to keep that girl in your arms happy? Keep doing it." He nodded at me. "It's not often that a man finds the person that he wants to spend the rest of his life with at a young age. Treat her right."
"I plan on it." I smiled. "See you in the morning, dad." I turned and went up the steps to the room that we were staying in and laid her on the bed, pulling off her pants and leaving her in her shirt and panties— how she slept every night.
I gently peeled he cover back and put her under them, grabbing the makeup wipes from her bag and taking her makeup off for her. She rarely wore foundation, so the only struggle was taking off the damn winged eyeliner she always wore."Damnit, Ashton." I chuckled softly and bit my lip, trying to take it off without waking her up.
After going through five wipes to get it off completely, it was gone and she was still sound asleep. I sighed and kicked off my jeans and shirt before getting in the bed next to her, facing the ceiling.
She stirred in her sleep before her leg was thrown over me and her head was on my chest with her lips pouted. I smiled and kissed her lips before turning the light out and closing my eyes.
I haven't prayed in months. My mom always reminded me to; and Ashton would pray before going to sleep and make me pray over my food before eating it. I just always forgot to do it, or told myself that I would do it the next day. I had a lot to pray for and be thankful for, and one of them was right next me to me sleeping.
I sighed and cleared my throat quietly,
"God, I know you haven't heard from me in a while, and I'm sorry for that. But... I just wanna say thank you. Thank you for the lessons and the blessings, the gifts and the people you've placed in my life. H-help me to never get big headed with my fame, help me to always stay a humble man, help me to find peace when I need it, help me to always find time to speak to you and be with my family, and help me to become a better version of myself and Ashton. Thank you for sending her to me— for blessing me with her. Help me to always do my best to keep her happy and feel loved. To never forget to love her— even when she feels like she doesn't deserve it or when we fight and argue. I love her more than anything, and I need her more than anything. Let her stay in my life for as long as you'll allow her to, and allow me to be in hers. Even when the roads get a little bumpy... I can't thank you enough. A million thank you's for her wouldn't be enough. She's even helping me get closer to you, day by day. She taught me the importance of loving you and praying to you— even when I don't have anything crazy going on in my life. She told me just praying to say thank you... like I am now— means a lot. So thank you again. In Jesus name, Amen."
_____________________
CHAPTER EDITED
_____________________