Justin's POV
It was a typical Tuesday and the house was vaguely silent. Dylan left for work early in the morning so I woke up and decided to watch some television by myself, until the sound of my phone ringing vibrated throughout the room. A small grin appeared on my face as I saw Caitlin's name brightly shine on my screen.
"Hello?" I answered.
"J-Justin." My eyebrows furrowed after realizing she was crying. My heart began to race as I grew more and more worried.
"Baby, is everything okay? What's wrong?"
"No, can I please come?"
"Yeah yeah, of course." I replied, trying my best to comfort her.
After what seemed like 15 minutes, my doorbell rang and I instantly knew it was Cait. I swiftly ran up to the door and seconds after opening it, her body jumped onto mine and the sound of her crying grew louder as she came close to me. My arms snaked around her petite waist and I held a tight grip around her.
"Sh, baby. It's okay." I said, my voice coming out softer than I had expected. I gently placed my hand at the crown of her head and ran my fingers through her silky long hair. The smell of her rose shampoo instantly infusing my nose.
I took note of her breathing as it settled after every stroke. Her body was now less tense and the sound of her crying ceased. She pulled away from the embrace and looked up at me with blood shot and droopy eyes, mascara smeared all over her plump cheeks. My heart broke into pieces seeing her like that.
I reached for her hand and pulled her towards me as I closed the door. "Come," I whispered as I guided her to the living room. "Sit down while I get you something to drink."
-
It had been two hours and we were sitting on the couch while talking about god knows what. The topic of the conversation didn't really matter to me and it never did, I was just glad I had the ability to make Caitlin smile and laugh again.
She threw her head back as her laugh echoed throughout the room. That fucking laugh. I loved it more than anything and the fact that I was the one who caused it is what made it even better.
I've never really been in situations like these. I've never had somebody cry in front of me as I sit there with a blank face, not knowing what the hell to do. Caitlin looked so broken. So fragile. I was not only confused as to what to do and why she was crying, but I was also mad because I got scared somebody did something to her. I was afraid it would be Derek. But I was thankful it wasn't or else I would have snapped.
"I can't believe that happened." She took another sip of her juice, trying her best not to let out another giggle.
I smiled at her enthusiasm over the story. "Yeah, it was pretty funny." After minutes of finally calming down from the laughter, I turned to face Caitlin, crossing my legs in front of her as she did the same. I brushed my palm over the velvety skin on her cheek. "Can you tell me what's wrong, Cait? I was worried somebody hurt you."
She closed her eyes and smiled, the sides of her eyes wrinkling ever so slightly. "No no, nothing happened." She bit on her bottom lip as she looked up at me, her blue eyes shining so brightly. "I just felt really upset and guilty."
I furrowed my eyebrows and cocked my head to the side. "Why? What's wrong?"
Her voice was unsteady as each word slipped out of her mouth. "I think I'm just homesick." She paused and looked down at her fingers as she fiddled around with the strings of her hoodie. "I got a call from my mom today and she said my dad got mugged during his business trip in New York. The guys took a shit load of money and it just bothered me that I wasn't there to you know, support them."
I nodded understandingly, trying my best to show comfort. "Those fucking bastards. Is he alright?" My hands traveled down to her knee as I began to stroke it. Her body seemed more relaxed at my touch so I continued.
"He's alright. I'm just really confused as to why I came here." She brought her eyes back to mine. "I should be at home with them but instead, I decided to be selfish and come here. I'm starting to regret that because now I feel like they're upset with me."
I moved closer to her. "Cait, they're not upset at you. I'm sure as hell they're beyond proud of you for making it here by yourself. Look at you, you're studying in university and you have a nice job. You came here for a reason, don't you remember?"
She nods slowly. "You're right, I shouldn't even be upset. I came here to live my life and see things I can't see back in that shitty town."
"Exactly." I grinned at her. After a few minutes of silence, I spoke up. "What are your goals?"
She was taken back by my question. "What?"
"What are your goals?" I repeated.
"Uhm, I don't know. To become rich?" She chuckled as she took another sip from her juice.
"No, seriously. What's on your bucket list? Every girl has one of those sappy things, right?" I joked.
She playfully punched my arm and I quickly held it, pretending like it hurt. "Shut up. Not every girl has one."
I smirked. "Bull shit. I know you have one, it's probably with you right now."
She looked around the room and smiled to herself. "Maybe."
I laughed until I watched her grab her brown leather bag. "Wait, you were serious?" I said in disbelief and as my eyes widened.
"Yeah, weren't you?" She smirked as her arm began shifting through the bag. I watched closely as her fingers were wrapped around a small piece of paper that was folded and a bit crumpled. She opened it and placed it in front of her. Her face lit up as she began to read the list in her head, smiling to herself. "I wrote it when I was 14. It's pretty embarrassing though."
I smirked at her and pulled out my hand. "Let me read it."
"What? N-no, it's really pathetic." She shook her head and looked back down at the paper, the smile still plastered on her face.
"Oh come on, it can't be that bad." I quickly snatched the paper out of her hand, managing to get it before she returned it back in her bag.
"Justin, give it back. Please." She pleaded, bending over to take it from me. Unfortunately, my hand was just too far away from her reach. "Don't read it, I'm begging you." She said as she let out a laugh.
"That just makes me want to read it more!" I smirked, holding onto her arm that was trying to get the paper out of my hand.
She let out a loud sigh as she sat back down in her previous position, still facing me. "Ugh, fine. Just don't tease me about it, okay? Remember, 14 year old Caitlin wrote this."
"Alright." I quickly leaned over to kiss her cheek, and then began to read the list. "Hmm, let's see what we have here." I said as I skimmed my eyes over the wrinkly old paper. It felt rough on my fingers as I held it tightly in front of me.
I watched Cait as she let out a loud groan and placed her face in the palm of her hands, obviously embarrassed. It was beyond cute to me that she still kept stuff like this. I don't even have my middle school graduation picture but she still had that?
I cleared my throat and began reading it out loud. "Number one."
"Oh God, no!"
"Go to China?" I couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Cait, what the fuck is this?" I shook my head and kept reading. "Number two. Hey, this one's not that bad. Meet a celebrity."
She giggled. "Oh my god, are you still gonna read this?"
"Hell yeah, I gotta see what 14 year old Caitlin was up to." I looked back at the paper. "Number three. Party hard." My eyes narrowed as I looked closer. "And it's already checked off?"
"Yeah, the New Year's party that you took to me to was the first time I ever went clubbing." My eyes widened at her comment. The fact that I managed to check something off her list was surprising to me.
"I should have known you were new to the whole partying thing when you got tipsy by the first shot." I teasingly grinned at her. "What else is there? Ah yes, number four. Go to a rock concert? Fuck, that sounds like fun."
I looked up at Caitlin who still had her face covered by her hands. I playfully rolled my eyes at her. "Cait, it's okay. Don't be embarrassed, even though this list is shitty."
"Okay okay, let's just get this shit over with."
"Well number five is checked. Have a new years kiss?" I furrowed my eyebrows at the paper until it all clicked to me. My mouth formed into an "o" as I finally remembered the night me and Caitlin kissed at the party. I smiled to myself, memories of the fun event coming back to me.
"And last but not least, number six. Find prince charming." I chuckled to myself. That hot got to be the most cheesiest bucket list I have ever read in my entire life but for some reason, I had so much courage and energy to make sure every single thing listed on that crumpled piece of paper was check marked.
I wanted Caitlin to be happy. That was all I cared about. I wanted to fulfill those goals and show her why she really moved here. The last thing I wanted was to see her run to me with tears running down her face again. I hated seeing her like that because it broke me. I didn't want to see her like that ever again, which was why I made a mental note to check off everything on that bucket list, including the last one.
Caitlin's POV
"Alright, make sure you wash the beakers and test tubes and return them to the cart. Then hand in your results at the front desk and you're good to go." I heard the professor say as we all finished a project in the science lab.
I managed to finish my paper on time and quickly clean up the area I was working in. Being in a rush was something I was used to. Living in a city where everything is a rush, it slowly effected me too.
I got a call from Justin that morning saying he was picking me up from university. He said something about a "special" date and that I should probably bring my list along with me. I had no idea what he had planned and what he was up to but I never thought of saying no to his adventures.
I saw his Audi pull up as I quickly ran up to it, trying my best to avoid the cold February weather. It was like the gods above heard my teeth chattering because the minute I sat inside, a long gust of warmth surrounded me and it felt like heaven.
"Are you that cold?" I heard Justin ask with the little smirk that I was annoyed by but learned to love so much. He was wearing a plaid button up shirt and a pair of black skinny jeans. His hair wasn't styled today, instead it was left down. I loved it like that.
"Y-yeah, I was waiting for a while." I replied, fastening my seat belt. "So where are we off to, babe?" I smiled to myself as the words rolled out of my mouth. Babe. It felt so good to finally have somebody to say that to. I wasn't used to it yet but I was sure I would be soon.
"You'll see." Justin winked at me as he made his way into the street.
-
After probably ages of driving, I finally heard the engine of the car die down as we parked in a clear area. I watched as Justin made his way around the car and opened the door for me with his hand out. I blushed slightly at his kind gesture and smiled to myself.
"You know, you don't have to always open the door for me." I commented after he closed the door behind me and locked the car. I could see the air escaping my lips after every word I said. Damn, was it cold.
"Nah, my mama didn't raise me like that." He grinned at me as he wrapped his arm around my waist and brought me closer to him. "Okay, this way."
The sun had set early today, considering it was that time in the winter where it would be pitch black by 5 PM. We were walking close together on an icy sidewalk, making sure not to slip. I noticed a lot of trees near us and an empty street on the side.
"So remember how I read your little bucket list?" I heard Justin ask me as we stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. I blushed again, probably from the cold weather though.
"Yeah?" I nodded.
"I remember the first one saying you wanted to go to China, right?" I nodded again, trying my best to see where this was going. Without a word, he grabbed my hand and continued to walk until he stopped in front of an open gate. "Well I hope this is close," he said as he stepped aside.
I let go of his hand and walked in front of him to get a better glimpse of the view. Right in front of me was like a replica of China itself, here in the city of Chicago. You could literally hear the sound of my jaw making contact with the floor. It was mesmerizing.
There was Chinese writing everywhere, women wearing beautiful cheongsams, a cherry blossom tree in the center, twinkly lights everywhere, a bunch of buildings that I guessed were restaurants. It was all located in one area that was surrounded by walls and it looked absolutely amazing.
I turned around to look at Justin with probably the biggest smile on my face. I watched him as he placed his fist over his mouth, trying to fight the laughter that was about to come out. "Justin. This," I was speechless. "This is beautiful. It's exactly what I've wanted."
"I'm glad you like it." He smirks at me, definitely satisfied at my reaction. I felt him grab my hand as his soft and long fingers interlocked with mine. His touch sent shivers down my spine and butterflies in my stomach. I went on my tip toes to give him a warm kiss on the cheek. He looked down and smiled at me as we began walking.
"I reserved a table at this nice restaurant called Lao Beijing. I hope you'll like it."
-
Dinner was incredible, the small little performance at the restaurant was so cute, the sights they had were breathtaking and I swear, I think I peed my pants over how excited and happy I was. I felt like a little kid all over again. Like all my worries weren't even there. None-existent. Just gone. All thanks to Justin.
Thankful was an understatement though. The fact that he managed to do all that was shocking but what made it even better was the fact that it was all for me. He finally reminded me of the reason why I was begging my parents to come here, the reason why I had to work at two jobs to save money. The reason why I always dreamed of living my life in a big city like Chicago.
He helped me achieve a goal that I wanted to pursue for so long and I couldn't thank him enough for it.
I felt Justin's toned arm wrap around my waste as we were walking side by side. We made it back to my apartment since he offered to drop me off. He stopped in front of the lobby doors and turned to face me. "Did you have fun?" He asked me as he reached for my hands and held them in his.
Sparks rushed through me as he began playing with my fingers. It had been weeks since we started dating and somehow, he still managed to make me swoon over him. His touch made me feel like jello and his eyes captivated me. I looked up to the brown orbs standing in front of me. I nodded my head and smiled at the ground. "Yeah, I did. Thank you so much for this, you really didn't have to."
His thumb brushed over my chin and lifted it lightly, making me focus on his eyes again. "Don't thank me, I wanted to." After the words escaped his mouth, I watched him lean in as his lips touched mine in the most delicate way ever. I kissed back as I went on my tip toes and wrapped my hands around his warm neck, playing with the back of his hair.
The kiss was sweet and passionate, nothing too harsh and strong. His hands were on my waist as our lips were still connected. He pulled back and I looked up at him. "See you tomorrow?" His voice came out raspy and low.
I bit my lip and nodded. After saying goodbye and changing into a pair of comfortable pajamas, I sat on my bed and pulled out my bag in front of me. Getting a blue pen from my bedside table, I quickly pulled out the paper from my bag and opened it, placing it on my lap. I smiled to myself as the pen glided swiftly on the paper next to the first thing listed.
Go to China. Check.
A/N: Hope you guys liked that chapter, there's much more to come so stay tuned.
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