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He opened his eyes.
She wasn't there.
"D." He got out, hoarsely. He almost panicked, at the thought that
she had left because of what had gone on between them. Once he spotted her sitting by the window though, his fears disappeared.
He pulled on his sweatpants, rolled out of the bed, and approached her. "Dru?"
She looked up at him. Her expression
was tired, but her eyes hadn't lost their magic. "Hi." She whispered.
"Aren't you cold?" He laughed, noticing that
instead of getting dressed, she had simply wrapped a blanket around herself instead
She shrugged. "No colder than I've
been before."
"Come back to bed."
She shook her head. "I want to see the sun rise."
A playful look entered
his eyes. "Do you?"
She nodded.
He stepped over to the dresser and pulled out one of his t-shirts and pair of
his sweats. "Here." He smiled, tossing the clothes to her. "Get dressed."
She cocked her head to the side. "Why?"
"You'll
see."
************
The sight was breathtaking. Dru thought she had had a great view of the city before, in the room...but
this...this was amazing. Once she had gotten dressed, he had taken her by the hand and rushed her out of the room. From there,
they had gotten on the elevator...but she had never expected to end up where they were now.
"We're gonna get in trouble."
Dru warned, not being able to hide her smile.
"No," Justin shook his head. "We're fine."
They were on the roof
of the hotel. Dru knew she would have been frightened if she were by herself. But she wasn't alone...Justin was there, holding
her in his strong arms, and whispering sweet nothings in her ear. She was surprised at how romantic he could be...for someone
as conceited as he was.
"Look." Justin said, pointing straight ahead. "There's the sun."
"It's beautiful." She
said softly, gazing at the beauty of the city at dawn. She looked back at Justin, who had a faraway look in his eyes. "I'm
sorry...that I wouldn't...you know..."
He looked at her, as if she were insane. "Dru...you don't have to be sorry for
something like that." He smiled, and planted a soft kiss on her lips. "What we did...it was enough for me...for us."
She
was confused. "Us?"
He licked his lips nervously. "Well...I mean...there's sort of an "us" now. Isn't there?"
She
shrugged. "Should there be?"
He laughed. "I don't know D. Everything happened so fast last night...I'm just as confused
as you are."
She stared deep into his eyes. "Do you want there to be an us Justin?"
He let out a long sigh.
"I...I don't know."
She nodded. "That's okay."
"I...I just got out of a long relationship." He confessed. "To
tell you the truth, I'm kinda scared to fall into another one. Maybe...we can just wait and see what happens first."
She
shrugged. "Sure."
He released his arms from around her waist. "You're not mad? You don't feel used...or anything?""
She
shook her head.
"Dru...you have every right..."
"I'm not mad." She whispered. "How could I be mad? Justin...you're
the first guy, that's ever treated me like a woman. The first guy, that's ever respected my body...and what I want to do."
His
mouth tensed into a thin line and he stared off into the distance. "We'd better get back."
She studied his face then
took a step back "What's wrong?"
"I shouldn't have done this."
"Huh...? I don't..."
"I'm scum," he told
her softly, like he was crooning a love song. "Usually I don't think about the long term when I start out with a girl. It's
just...fun, y'know? But...I shouldn't just be having fun with you Dru. You're so different..."
"Why don't you stop
before I puke." She grumbled. "I should have known you would be a jerk about all of this. I'm going back to bed...so at I
can at least pretend to be somewhat of a human being for those charity people." She stormed away from him.
"D...come
on." He called out, following behind her. He grabbed her arm just as she was about to open the door.
She yanked her
arm away from him. "Stop." Her tone was firm.
He coughed, covering his mouth as he did so. "I'm sorry Dru."
Her
eyes widened. There was blood all over his hand. "Justin...your hand..."
"Oh...Jesus." He whispered, staring at his
blood smeared hand.
"I guess being around me didn't cure you." She got out after a moment.
"Sh *t." He gapsed,
clutching his stomach in pain. "Not again."
"That's it!" She yelled. "I'm making them take you to the hospital!"
"No..."
He gasped, but this time, he couldn't chase after her. He was dizzy, his legs turned to jello...
Everything went black...
*********************
"Why
didn't you say something?"
Dru shrugged.
"You know...he could have died because of you." Trace muttered. "You
knew how sick he was..."
"Trace...just leave 'er alone." Marissa spoke up. "We all know the facts, there's no reason
for you to go rubbing them in. Right now, we should just be thankful that Dru was smart enough to get me out of bed." She
nodded. "And I'm sure, even in his weakened condition, he tried to stop you....Dru...am I right?"
Dru nodded, but didn't
say anything.
"See?"
"She knew he was sick, and she didn't say anything." Trace persisted. "This whole damn
time...he was puking up blood...and she didn't say anything." He chucked the magazine he had been thumbing through across
the room angrily.
Dru winced.
"I knew there was some sort of reason why he was keeping you around." He glared
at Dru once more, before angrily walking away from the two of them.
Once she was certain Trace was out of earshot,
Dru spoke again. "Marissa?"
"Yeah?" Marissa replied tiredly.
"I would of...you know...told you. But Justin...he
was just so afraid." She wiped the tears out of her eyes. "I don't think...he even knew what to do. I mean...he only went
to the doctor because, of the deal and..."
Marissa sat up. "Deal?"
Dru bit her lip. God, how much of a moron
was she?
"Deal?" Marissa repeated. "Dru...you better tell me everything you know."
She shook her head vigorously.
"Tell
me." Marissa persisted, her voice was stern, controlling.
Her eyes widened, and she sucked in a deep breath."Oh...I...hetoldmehewouldgotothedoctorifIsignedthecontract."
She was amazed at herself. She never knew she had the capabilities to speak so fast.
"Huh?"
"He told me...he
would go to the doctor if I signed the contract." She repeated, slower this time.
"Oh Dru...and you actually believed
him?" Marissa shook her head.
"But he went." Dru nodded. "He told me he went."
She simply laughed. "Yeah, I'm
sure he went, and everything the doctor told him most likely went in one of his ears and out the other. Dru, you just...don't
know him. He would never admit that he was sick. It would put a stop to his career. What happened Dru? Why did Justin confide
in you?"
She looked at the floor. "I...saw him get sick in the bathroom."
A look of disgust spread across her
face. "That bathroom?" She cocked her head to the side. "How the hell did you get into the bathroom with Justin?"
She
sighed. "I can't read...and I went into the men's room by mistake. He just happened to be in there, and well...he got sick.
I guess, he was afraid I would tell somebody...so he just took me back to the hotel with him. Oh please Marissa...please don't
hate me."
Marissa's mouth gaped. She couldn't believe the lengths Justin had gone to conceal his secret. He had given
a homeless girl the opportunity of a lifetime...just so nobody would find out how sick he was. She shook her head sadly. Dru
was a waste of a perfectly good charity spot, and she should have backed down in the beginning.
But it was too late
now, the papers were signed, and the people from the charity were waiting to meet with Dru. Nothing could be undone now. She
was simply going to have to put up with Justin's lie...and hope that no one of great importance found out the truth. If the
truth got out...Justin's image would be ruined.
But, it wasn't like lying to protect Justin's precious image was anything
new to her.
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