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There was a light tapping on the door, which caused Dru to bolt upright in her bed. She swallowed hard against the thick
pounding of the pulse in her neck. Pulling the quilt up to her chin, she let her gaze settle on the chair next to her bed.
Yes, she sighed with relief, her bag was there, just where she had left it.
Tapatapatap
Go
away, she thought. "Come in," she said.
The door opened a crack, then pushed open all the way as the two boys squealed
and tumbled into the room. Jonathan suddenly stood straight as a marine, while Steven shrieked with delight, finding a Slinky
under the bed.
"We wanna play with you."
"Yeah," said Steven.
"You're cool." Jonathan clambered onto
the bed and pressed his nose against Dru's. Dru reared back slightly, having no clue what her next move should be.
"Are
you guys gettin' busy with Dru?" Justin leaned against the door, holding a plate of food in his hands, tapping one slipper-toed
foot on the carpet. His white robe fell open, revealing his slightly damp torso and a pair of blue boxer shorts.
"We
like 'er." Steven supplied.
Justin raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah?"
Jonathan wrapped his small arms around Dru's
neck. "Will you read us a story?"
Dru gasped. "I...um..."
Justin walked further into the room, and placed the
plate of food on the bureau. "Maybe later we can all read a story together. I think Dru is still tired from the plane ride."
He smiled, and sat down on the bed.
"But we want a story!" Steven whined.
"Guys, please...I promise you, later
on I'll read you a story." Justin nodded.
"Dru...please. Will you please read us a story?" Jonathan persisted, tucking
his head under her neck. "Pleaassee."
Dru sucked in a breath. At that moment, she would have given anything to be able
to read. Never had a child asked anything of her. She felt needed...she felt like she had a purpose.
Justin became
annoyed. "Guys, I told you...she doesn't feel like it right now. Just...go play Transformers or something."
Steven's
smile faded. "Come on Jon," he said sadly, making his way to the door. "Justin wants to kiss Dru now."
Jonathan nodded,
and released his hold on Dru. He jumped off the bed and met his brother at the doorway.
"Steven!" Justin exclaimed.
"What did Mom tell you?"
Neither boy answered. They ran out of the room, closing the door behind them. Moments later,
they could be heard running down the stairs, squealing playfully.
"Sorry about them." Justin said after a moment, meeting
Dru's gaze. "They're just...curious. You're new ya know? They were so used to Britney being around..."
"You don't have
to apologize Justin," Dru nodded, wrapping her arms around her knees. "They're just kids."
Justin nodded, and chewed
on his lip nervously for several moments. "My Mom and I...talked about what happened
before."
Dru looked down at
her knees.
Justin moved closer to her. "And everything is fine."
"No." Dru shook her head vigorously. "It's
not fine. She wasn't supposed to find out about you and me, Justin. Nobody was."
Justin curled a finger under her chin
and forced her head towards him. "I care about you. Before, I guess, I was a little scared to admit it to other people...but
now I don't care. Dru...I just told my Mother how I feel about you...I told her I love you Dru."
Her eyes widened.
"You shouldn't say things you don't mean Justin."
Justin shook his head, annoyed. "Lord, ya know! Now you just pissed
me off!" He rose from the bed. "I tell you I love you and you just don't care!"
"You never said you loved me." Dru
replied, softly.
"I told you I loved you at the hotel." Justin nodded, picking up the plate of food. "You hungry?"
"No."
Justin
shrugged, and began to shovel the food that was on the plate into his mouth.
"And you didn't say you loved me at the
hotel." She nodded. "You said that you thought you loved me. There's a
difference."
Justin stopped eating. He had
never thought about that before. "Oh."
"Things are moving too fast. It seems like one day I was trying to rob Trace
and then the next day we were all over each other. It doesn't make sense Justin. I'm so confused...is this how the world works?"
Justin
sighed, and made his way over to the bed again. "You know how everyone has a favorite song?"
"Uh...I guess."
"It's
like...you don't need to decide whether or not it's your favorite song, you just know it is, from the first time you hear
it." Justin explained. "Just like how I feel about you. I don't need to decide if I love you or not...I just know I do. Dru,"
he sat down and leaned in toward her. "I love you."
She stared at him. She could barely breathe. She didn't have to
question him again...his eyes were answering her questions for her. "Justin...I...I love you. I...I love you too."
"Shh."
He smiled, pulling her close to him.
His kisses began to take her away. Away to that place where nobody could ever
hurt her. That place where she was eternally happy.
Yes.
She loved him.
**********************************
"Wake
up!"
"Mmmm."
"Dru." Justin whispered. "C'mon."
Dru slowly opened her eyes, and squinted as the brilliant
light of the sun shone down on her face. It was morning. She hadn't realized that she had fallen asleep. "What time did I
fall asleep?" She asked him.
He chuckled. "Around one. You were exhausted."
"The movie was too long." Dru whined.
"But I wanted to see what happened. Justin, that was so sad you know? That
Jack died and stuff."
"Yeah, but Rose
went on...and she was stronger, ya know. She was independent." Justin nodded. "What do you want to do today?"
"Aren't
you supposed to be resting?" Dru questioned.
"I am." Justin smiled. "Spending money is resting."
She gave him
a skeptical look.
"Come on D!" He said excitedly, tugging on her hand. "You've never seen Los Angeles before."
"You're
supposed to be resting." Dru persisted.
He frowned. "You're no fun."
"I just worry about you Jus'." Dru nodded.
"Look,
we won't stay out that long. I'll just show you some of the sights and then we'll come back...I promise."
She couldn't
resist his charm. "Fine Justin." She grumbled.
His eyes filled with excitement. "Great."
Dru pulled herself
out of the bed, and yawned.
"Look in the closet." Justin said after a moment.
"What?"
A playful smile
rested on his lips. "Just look."
She walked over to the closet. "Justin...what are you up..." She stopped mid sentence
when she swung open the closet door. It was filled with clothes. Tons and tons of clothes. Her eyes widened. All of this...for
her? She turned around. "Justin..."
"Marissa made up a list of designers that you had seemed to like. So I made a few
calls...I hope you like everything."
Her mouth gaped. It was too much. She didn't deserve any of it. "I..."
"You
don't know what to wear now right?" Justin said, thinking for her. He got up and approached the walk-in closet, pulling her
inside. "This would look nice." He said, pulling a skirt and a blouse down. "And..." He bent down and pulled out a pair of
pumps. "These."
She took the items from him, still too shocked to say anything.
"Oh yeah," he blushed slightly,
pulling open a
drawer. "Um...I'll leave this part up to you."
She approached the drawer, and after a moment, realized
why he seemed so embarrassed. The drawer was full of undergarments. "Thanks." She squeaked out.
He kissed her on the
cheek. "I'll meet you downstairs."
She stared after him, the amazement still apparent on her face.
Last week
she had been a street girl. Now, she was standing in the middle of a mansion, picking out what outfit to wear.
She
pinched herself.
She frowned. "Oww."
This was real.
******************
"No balloons??"
His Lucky
Charms were defective. On his way to the garbage can he made a silent note to tell his maid to complain on her next shopping
trip. Justin dumped the cereal out, and turned back to his cereal cabinet. Yes, Captain Crunch would have to do this morning.
He poured the cereal into his bowl, and after a thorough inspection he poured the milk in. He sat down at the table, and began
shoving the cereal into his mouth, while keeping his attention focused on the reading material on the back of the box.
The
phone began to ring.
He dropped the spoon into the bowl, letting out an aggravated groan. He slid out of the chair
and grabbed the phone off the receiver.
"Herro?" He answered, his mouth full of cereal.
"J...what up."
He
frowned, and swallowed. "Hey."
"Man, you didn't call me yesterday." Trace snickered. "What
happened?"
"I
was preoccupied." He grumbled.
"What'd your Mom cook?"
"Pot Roast."
"Dude!" Trace exclaimed. "I should
smack you for making me miss that."
"Yeah...well I should smack you...for other things."
"Huh?" Trace replied,
confused.
"Don't play dumb with me." Justin snarled. "I heard
everything. I know what your little "plan" is."
Trace
was silent.
"Not so tough now, are you?"
"Justin...I...I'm so sorry man." He replied, finally. "I just want
the best thing for you man, you know that."
"If you wanted the best thing for me, you would get to know Dru better."
Justin supplied. "Not try to drive her away."
"I just...don't trust her. You know how these people can be Justin. They're
only out to get your money."
"Don't give me all this negative bullsh*t Trace. You know, you're lucky I haven't hung
up on you." Justin said, coldly.
Trace sighed. "Look, what I said...I only said it because I didn't understand how
you could be so infatuated with somebody you had only just met. J...if you like Dru, I mean really like her and want to be
with her...you should. I'm sorry I even thought of bringing Wade into all of this. I guess I just wasn't thinking."
"I
guess I can accept that." Justin said after a moment. "I've known you too long to give up on our friendship now."
"Am
I forgiven?"
Justin half smiled. "For now."
"Does your Mom know?" Trace asked.
"Yeah." Justin snickered.
"She was kinda pissed at first, but she got over it when I told her about how she was there for me when I was sick. She's
cool about it."
"She's cool about it!" Trace exclaimed. "Whoa, I would have
never thought she would have accepted
her."
"She's about halfway there." Justin explained. "Let's just say she's not ready to drive her away yet."
Trace
laughed. "What are you doing today? You wanna chill?" Trace asked.
"Maybe later. I'm taking Dru out today." Justin
explained. He listened for the miserable groan he was sure his friend was about to let out.
"That's cool...have a good
time. Don't stay out too long
though, you're supposed to be resting ya know." Trace chuckled.
Justin had to laugh.
"Thanks T."
"Call me later?"
"Yeah." Justin said, about to hang up.
"It's you and me til the end J."
Trace said quickly. "Don't ever forget that."
"I won't." He said softly, and hung up.
He was amazed. Trace
really was a true friend...despite what he had thought about him the previous day on the airplane. Sure, he had said some
messed up things...but it was only out of concern for his friend...not for himself.
He sat back down, and began to shovel
more cereal in his mouth.
Marissa on the other hand...
He still hadn't forgiven her.
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