"Faith..." he said her name with a chuckle as she struggled to break free. "Where are you going? Huh?"
She burst out giggling as his hands encircled her waist and he tickled her unmercifully. They rolled around on the bed laughing until Faith finally slipped away from him and stumbled to the bathroom, still laughing.
Justin flopped back down on the bed and hugged his pillow. Wow... he had never had a better morning in his LIFE... waking up with the most incredible... perfect girl EVER in his arms. And now... now... she was NAKED in the shower. No clothes... hot water... Faith. His eyes widened. Wait. This was wrong. Faith was his best friend! He shouldn't be thinking about her like that!
Faith turned the water on and stepped into the shower. She couldn't believe she had gotten that close to Justin.
"Justin!"
"Yeah?" He flew to the bathroom door. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." She opened the door a crack and peeked out at him. "I just forgot my clothes. Can you hand them to me?"
"Um... sure." he smiled, before digging through the pile of clothes on the floor. He finally came up with her white T-shirt and khaki shorts. "Here," he said, handing them to her.
"Thanks, sweetie."
"No problem," he said before she closed the door.
"THERE you two are!" Jeremy, Faith's father exclaimed when he saw his daughter and Justin walk into the spacious dining room. "Is everything all right?"
Justin grinned. "Yep! Just fine!" He sat down at the table, pulling Faith to the seat next to himself. "So what's for breakfast?"
Just then, the cook walked out of the kitchen and set a plate of blueberry pancakes in front of him. "Ooo! Thanks!"
"You're awful cheery today, Justin," Faith's sister, Isabelle observed.
Rich, who was sitting at the end of the table shoved a forkful in his mouth. "I know why he's so happy..." he mumbled.
Everyone turned to look at him.
"He got it on with his FAITH last night."
Faith's mother, Alice, dropped her fork and it clinked against her plate as Jeremy stared at them in shock.
Justin and Faith turned red.
"She's NOT my girlfriend and I most certainly did NOT get it on with her," Justin said in defense.
Rich laughed. "Yeah right..."
"Faith! Say something!" Alice cried.
"What do you want me to say? Nothing happened!" she said, looking at their accusing faces.
"You'd believe HIM over US?" Justin wondered.
"Quit lying, Justin," Rich said before he took a drink of orange juice.
Justin stood up so quickly that his chair crashed to the floor. "You're the one making up vicious rumors!" he yelled, stabbing his finger in Rich's direction.
"I'm not making up rumors. I SAW you."
Alice gasped.
"Nothing happened!" Justin shouted again. Suddenly, he got quiet and turned back to Rich. "You were SPYING on us?!"
"I was going to the kitchen for a midnight snack and your door was open a crack so I peeked in." He looked around the table. "They were naked in each other's arms."
Justin retreated. What Rich had said was almost true... "We were NOT naked..." he said softly. He sank into the chair on the other side of Faith. "What happened between Faith and me was personal and it's NONE of your business... but we did NOT make love."
Faith grabbed his arm. "Are you all right?" she whispered.
"I would be if that BASTARD would stop assuming things and then telling your whole family without even know for sure!"
"Justin!" Alice scolded. "Watch your mouth!"
"Sorry..."
Faith pulled him up. "Come on... we'll eat later."
Justin glared at Rich as Faith dragged him out of the dining room.
Once they were safely in the hallway, Justin clutched Faith's arm and forced her to look at him. "You're not mad... are you?"
"I'm not mad. This situation is though..." She led him to a room across the hall and pulled him onto a couch. "My parents think that we..." she trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.
"I know," he groaned, slipping his arms around her waist and snuggling up under her chin.
She could feel his frustration and she held him tighter. "It's okay, sweetie," she cooed, stroking his hair. "We have the truth."
"But, Faith... How close were we?" he mumbled.
"Close to what?"
"Close to making Rich's lie the truth..."
Faith froze. Had they really been that close? Sure they had been almost naked, but they were wearing SOME clothes. And sure, they were holding each other so close, but they never kissed. They were very close to it though... what if they HAD kissed? What would have happened next?
She kissed the top of his head. He looked up at her and their eyes locked. "I should probably tell you something."
"What?" Faith wondered, caressing his cheek softly.
"Of... more like a confession, I guess."
"What is it?"
Justin's expression became needy and she wiped the tears from his cheeks. "I wanna kiss you," he choked out, squeezing his eyes shut.
Faith could tell that he was expecting rejection, but that's not what she was really thinking about. He was HURTING and she needed to fix it.
Slowly, she moved closer, capturing his lips in a kiss that was so soft and gentle, that Justin had to open his eyes to make sure it was really happening. When he saw her face so close to his own, he moved in closer, deepening the kiss. It was a hungry kiss... and neither of them were willing to give each other up.
Things started spinning in circles and they both became light headed. Justin gently pushed her down and crawled on top of her.
"Wait," she said as his mouth moved to devour the soft skin on her neck. Justin didn't hear... his head was pounding.
"Justin, stop!" It took a few pushes before he finally removed his lips and looked down at her. "Justin..."
"Oh my God," he gasped. "I'm so sorry!"
"What's wrong? Why are you sorry?" she pulled him back down and planted a kiss on the tip of his nose.
"You... you asked me to stop and I didn't!" he said softy, his blue eyes brimming with tears.
"Justin... shhh... yes, you did... you stopped."
"Not soon enough..." He moved off of her a little and rested his head so his mouth was next to her ear. "I'm so sorry, Faith," he whispered.
"I know that you could never hurt me." She face him and moved her hand to his cheek, kissing his lips softly.
He kissed her back, but this kiss was more loving than passionate and he smiled when she pulled away.
Faith returned his smile. "There's that smile I love so much."
Her comment made him giggle and he rolled to the other side of her, only to discover that there was no other side and he fell to the floor with a thump.
"Ow..." he moaned before he reached up and pulled a laughing Faith off the couch and back into his arms.
They sat there on the floor, staring into each other's eyes as the laughter slowly subsided. Justin leaned in and took her lips with his.
"What do you want to do next?" Faith asked after the kiss broke.
'You,' Justin thought, but didn't say it. "I'm hungry. Let's go eat."
"Good idea."
They made their way to the kitchen, only to find Rich waiting for them.
"So..." he grinned. "How was the sex?"
Justin lunged for him and grabbed his shirt, pulling him off the counter. "You son of a-"
"Justin! Don't!" Faith begged, grabbing the back of Justin's shirt and trying to pull him away from Rich.
"I don't know WHAT you guys were doing last night, but it sure was more than friendly..."
"Shut the hell up!" It's absolutely none of your business!"
Rich smirked. "Maybe it should be..."
That's when Justin lost it and hit him square in the jaw.
Faith pulled him away from Rich before any more punches could be thrown. "Stop!" she cried, standing in front of her best friend as Rich nursed his jaw.
"You're gonna be sorry, Justin Timeberlake," he threatened before stalking out of the kitchen.
Faith's eyes widened as she watched Rich retreat. "What did he mean by that?" she wondered, her eyes glazing over with fear.
He saw her expression and pulled her close. "Empty threat," he said softly. "He meant absolutely nothing."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Don't worry. One more day until Eric's wedding and then we'll be home... never to see him again."
"Never?"
"Not if I have anything to do about it..." he ran his fingers across her arm and she sighed. "Trust me. We'll be fine."
"Not if we starve to death," Faith grinned, pulling Justin to the refrigerator and searching for the handle. "Are you thirsty?"
"Yeah," he said, gazing inside and looking everything over. "Grape juice..."
"Sounds good!" She pulled out the container and set in on the counter. "What else?"
"Bagels. With lots of cream cheese."
"How much?"
"Lots!" Justin pulled the bag from the pantry while she reached inside the refrigerator for the cream cheese.
"Plain?"
"Oh, yeah." Justin grinned as he plopped it down n the counter. "On second thought..." he eyed the grape juice container. "Coffee sounds better..."
"Oooo! You're right!" Faith put the grape juice back into the refrigerator and starting looking for a coffee pot.
"Let's go out and get some coffee," Justin suggested, taking two bagels out and cutting them in half.
"Great," she agreed as she helped him spread the cream cheese. They put everything away and then grabbed their bagels. Next, they found their way out and hopped into Justin's car.
"Do you know your way around here?" Faith asked him before she took a bite of her bagel.
Justin strapped on his seat belt and instructed Faith to do the same. "No... but there's gotta be a coffee shop around here SOMEWHERE... right?" He handed her his bagel and started the car.
"I would think so... I mean, they're EVERYWHERE."
Justin chuckled as he pulled onto the street and just kept going straight... looking for the nearest town. "Uh oh..." he said suddenly, pulling into the parking lot of a gas station.
"What's wrong?"
"I, um... think we're lost..." he groaned, stopping the car. "Will you come with me?"
Faith laughed at him. "You want me to ask for directions... don't you?"
"No! I do... not..." he paused and stared at her smiling face. "Okay, yes. That's exactly what I want you to do."
She laughed some more and then opened her door. "Let's go, Mr. I-have-too-much-pride-to-ask-for-directions."
He rolled his eyes and hopped out of the car. "Whatever, Miss. I-know-everything," he quipped, grabbing her hand and pulling her to the entrance.
A bell jingled as they walked in and an elderly man looked up at them from the cash register and smiled. They smiled back. Justin squeezed Faith's hand and nudged her forward.
"Hi," she said. "We were looking for a coffee shop and-"
"Ask him where we are," Justin hissed in her ear.
"Where are we?"
The man gave them the name of the town they were in and then told them how to get to the nearest coffee shop.
"And how would we get back to the Pratt's mansion?" she asked slowly.
"Pratt's mansion? Hmm... well, you just go north on Wilmers Drive and then take a left on Kildsen Street-"
Justin blushed. "We know our way from there... Thanks."
Without waiting for a 'you're welcome,' he pulled Faith out of the store and through the parking lot. They jumped inside the car and Justin put it into gear.
"See now?" she said, turning the radio on. "That wasn't so hard, was it?"
He grumbled, turning the station because he didn't like the song. Soon, they pulled up to the coffee shop and got out.
"What are you getting?" Justin wondered as they walked towards the door.
"What do you THINK I'm getting?"
Justin put on his most serious face and looked right into her eyes. She couldn't help but laugh at his expression.
"Well," he began. "Normally, I'd say a vanilla latte... but since it's the middle of summer, I'd have to say a Cooler."
"No-"
"Wait," he said, cracking a smile and waving his index finger in his face. "I'm not finished yet."
She laughed as they paused at the door so Justin could finish explaining his reasoning.
"But since we're at Caribou and NOT Starbucks..." he said, grinning. "And since you like Frappachinos better than Coolers, I'm gonna say that you're gonna get..." He paused and pushed the door open, leaving her in suspense. "An Iced Mocha!"
"Bingo! Wow... you know me WAY too well."
Justin turned around and took her hands in his. "I bet you can't guess what I'm getting!"
Faith laughed. "Yeah right... You? Boring Justin? That's easy! You're getting a hazelnut flavored cappachino."
"I'm not boring," Justin frowned. "You are," he grumbled.
"Bla, bla, bla," she giggled, leading him inside.
They ordered their coffee and then took a seat by the window.
"So, you really think that Rich wasn't serious?" Faith asked, taking a sip of her iced mocha.
"Huh?" Justin looked up at her. "Oh! No... I mean, what could he do?"
They sat there thinking about it. Justin stirred the whipped cream into his coffee and sighed.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing," he said breathlessly. "I was just thinking."
"About what?" she scooted across the booth so that they sat right next to each other.
Justin looked at her and gave her a little smile. "You."
"Me?"
"Yeah." He blushed and shyly reached for her hand.
"Just me?"
"Mostly," he replied thoughtfully.
She ran her thumb over the back of his hand. "Don't worry. Everything will work out. I'm sure my parents believe us."
"Yeah... but..." Justin stuttered as he looked down at their hands. "Maybe they SHOULDN'T believe me."
"What are talking about? Of COURSE they should believe you!"
Justin frowned. "Faith, come on... We both know what could have happened this morning." He paused. "Or last night for that matter!"
"Justin, calm down... nothing happened. You KNOW that nothing happened. You were THERE!"
"But... what about tonight...? And the night after that... and-"
"Shh!" she interrupted, letting go of his hand and wrapping her arms around him. "It's okay," she murmured into his chest.
"Is it?" he sniffed, burying his face in her hair.
"Yes, I promise. As long as we have each other."
"And what about Rich?"
"What about him? Like you said before, we probably won't see him again. He lives here in Colorado."
Justin let himself smile. She was right. But did she want what he wanted? Did she know exactly how he felt? He would ask her... but not now. Later.
She let go of him and picked her iced mocha back up, taking another sip. She stirred the ice around with her straw and stared at them as they spun inside the clear, plastic cup. She knew what he was thinking... he had brought it up and he wanted to know how she felt. She decided to bring it up again later so they could have a long talk about it. She loved talking with Justin... but would this conversation be as comfortable as the rest? She guessed that it probably wouldn't. They had NEVER talked about THAT before.
Justin sat there sipping his cappichino and watching Faith stir the ice cubes around in her glass. He loved her SO much... but could he tell her that? Shouldn't he be able to? He sighed and moved a little closer to her.
"Is there anywhere you want to go after this?" Justin wondered, noticing that Faith was almost done with her iced mocha.
"Anywhere but back to the mansion..." she told him, crinkling up her nose. "I can't deal with Rich anymore."
Chapter 3
I Get Carried Away
Justin {Fiction}
My Fiction
I'll Never Stop {Fiction}
Email me: irishgirl982@yahoo.com