Chapter 17
Justin turned off his car and
pressed a button on his rear-view mirror.
The garage door responded and closed behind him. He smiled, amused by the neat little car
feature. He opened his car door and
stood up. Stretching his muscles, he
yawned. He turned and looked at the girl
knocked out in his car. He walked over
to her side of the car and unbuckled her seatbelt. He picked her up, without even opening the
door.
"mhhhnnn..." Meredith groaned and wrapped her
arms around his neck and snuggled her head on his shoulder.
"Sorry." He whispered and kissed her forehead. She smiled weakly and sighed.
Justin took the keys that were in
his hand, and blindly fiddled with them to get the right key in the lock. He WAS carrying a person and all. He entered his house and closed the door
behind him.
He subcontiously
pressed a button on the security panel. Something that he HAD to do, for his own safety.
Meredith was breathing heavily
against Justin's shoulder as he walked up the steps. She had fallen back to sleep. Justin entered his bedroom and didn't bother
turning on the light. He walked over to
the comfy chair beside the window and set her down in it. She immediately awoke but slumped
her shoulders. The
moonlight coming through the windows casted and eerie
and romantic glow on her back.
Justin walked to his closet and
turned on the light. After a few moments
the
Justin tossed the extra pillows of
the bed on the floor, on the other side of his huge sleigh bed and pulled back
the covers. He turned around and faced
Meredith. She was somehow awake but her
eyes were glassed over and droopy and they focused on nothing.
Justin walked over to her and
offered his hands. When she didn't
accept he pulled her up and forced her to stand on her feet. She let out a whimper and finally met
Justin's intense eyes. She barely
smiled.
He stepped behind her and pulled
off her shoulder shirt. He unzipped her
tube top and grinned when he thought of the events that had occurred
earlier. He looked down at her skirt and
searched for the zipper. He found it on
the side and slid it down her hip. He
unclasped the hidden hook and watched as the skirt fell to the floor.
He stepped back and looked at her.
She was only in her black tube bra and underwear, and she still had on her
shoes. She was so beautiful to him. He was thankful they were so tired, because
if not, things would definitely get out of hand.
He pushed her towards the bed and
sat her down on the edge. He kneeled
down and fidgeted with the straps of her shoes.
He finally removed both of them and slowly stood up in front of
her. Justin towered over her and she
looked up at him with tired eyes.
"Ready for
bed?" Justin asked.
"Yeah..." Meredith
dragged out. He sat down beside her and
pushed himself back farther on the bed.
He now sat behind her. Justin
wrapped his arms around her and kissed her exposed shoulders making his way to
her neck.
He mumbled against her skin,
"I love you." She shuddered at
his touch.
She unknowingly to him, smiled and
whispered, "I love you in those gray boxer-briefs."
He opened his mouth in shock. Half because she said that
and the other half because she actually was conscious.
"Come here, you little
rascal." He grabbed her around the
waist and pulled her back on the bed with him, while she let out a quiet
squeal. He quickly grabbed the covers
and pulled them up over both of them. Justin immediately returned his arms
around Meredith who leaned her back against his chest. They both giggled at the sight of each
other. They were completely covered by
the sheets, except for their heads that stuck out and rested on the pillows.
"You know, I've been wanting to sleep in this bed, ever since I saw
it." She mumbled.
"You know, I've wanted you to
sleep in this bed, ever since I saw you."
He giggled and nuzzled her neck.
She rolled her eyes and turned around in his arms so she faced him. She looked at him adoringly and studied his
face. She brought up a hand and touched
his eyebrows, cheeks, nose, lips.
"I love you." She said
pressing her forehead against his.
"And I love you." He softly touched his velvet lips against
hers and let them linger there for a few moments before pulling away and
pressing his body against hers.
"Goodnight,
angel." Justin closed his eyes.
Meredith rested her head on his
chest and looked at their intertwined fingers lying on his stomach. She smiled and whispered, "Goodnight, my
J."
--------------------
"OH MY
GOSH!"
"Shhhhhh"
JC quieted Joey's surprised expression.
"Look at them. They are sleeping in the same bed in their
underwear. I didn't think they would
ever get to this point. I'm proud of our
little curly boy." Joey said in a
whispered tone from the doorway of Justin's bedroom.
"Joey, get your mind out of
the gutter for once. I doubt they had
sex." Just then, some one in the
bed began to move and Joey and JC made a dash behind the Japanese screen in the
corner of the bedroom.
Meredith stretched her arms above
her head and yawned. When she realized
where she was and how comfortable she was, she smiled like a kid and turned her
head to look at the other person in the bed with her. She began to giggle at the sight of him.
Justin was sleeping on his side
with one hand resting on the pillow. His
mouth was slightly open and was drooling. A light snore came from deep within
him and his curls...Oh his curls. They
were shorter because of the hair cut.
But they still were wild.
Meredith tried to contain her laughter but it was no use. Shortly after she began laughing, Justin
yawned and wiped his mouth before stretching.
He brought his arms back down and reached for Meredith, but when she
backed away he opened his eyes.
"Can't I get a
kiss?" Justin asked in a groggy voice.
"I guess." Meredith leaned down and kissed him fully on
the lips. They both pulled away and
looked at each other.
At the same time they pointed to
each other. "Morning
breath."
"I don't have morning breath,
you do!" Meredith said matter of factly.
"Oh pulease,
everyone has morning breath. It IS
morning." Meredith laughed at his
attempt to be smart.
"You think that's funny. I'll show you what's funny..." Justin
immediately began to tickle Meredith.
She squirmed and giggled and tried to tell him to stop between laughter,
but it was no use. Finally, she got some
strength to stop him.
She pushed him off her and
straddled his waist. She took his wrist
and pinned them with her hands above his head.
Her face hovered above his. He
looked at her with a curious grin.
"My, my,
my. Lately you've grown a thing for
straddling me." Justin smiled a
sexy smile.
Joey mouthed to JC. "Told ya!"
"Justin, last night was my
first time I did that to you."
Meredith grinned back closing the gap between his lips and hers.
JC looked at Joey, shocked.
Justin chuckled. "Yeahhhh, it was felt goooooood
too. Didn't it?" He briefly kissed
her mouth.
Meredith leaned back and released
his hands. She started moving on his
waist and singing.
"Ride it, Ride it, Ride it, Giddy Up!"
They both laughed and Justin broke into another song as Meredith
"rode" him.
"If you wanna
fly
Come and take ride
Take a space ride
With the cowboy
baby...
They both fell into a fit of
giggles as Meredith lay down beside him and snuggled to his chest.
"I KNEW IT! How was it G?
Was your first time screwin' good?" Joey
yelled coming from behind the screen.
"JOEY!!" JC yelled, appearing also.
Meredith and Justin looked at the
two impostors and then at each other.
Justin winked and Meredith got the drift.
"Joey, he was soooooo amazing. OH my gosh, like, total king of sex right here." Meredith pointed to Justin as she looked at
Joey. Joey did some dance as JC's mouth dropped open.
"Meredith, you
didn't!!!" JC exclaimed almost
upset.
"JC, we did. She was good too. REAL good." Justin started kissing her neck.
"Well, I'm pretty proud of
them, what do you say C?" Joey
patted JC's back.
JC mumbled, "I don't
know."
"I'm proud of J here. 4 orgasm's in a row, Joey. 4!! He
knows how to work his body the right way."
Meredith looked at Justin who had snuck under the covers to muffle his
laughter.
"Justin, my GOD!!! 4???
What were you trying to do? Wear
her out the first time?" Joey asked
astonished.
"What can I say?" Justin appeared from the covers. "She asked for it, and I gave it. She likes it rough, don't ya
baby?" Justin and Meredith looked
at each other, their faces were beginning to turn red from containing the
laughter but they managed to just briefly kiss instead.
"OK, I can't take this
anymore." JC covered his ears.
Meredith chuckled on Justin's lips
and pulled away. "I cant take it either, haven't
you guys learned anything from me and Justin??" Meredith laughed her heart out into Justin's
chest.
"What?" They looked up confused.
"We are just kidding,
guys. We didn't have sex. Meredith didn't have one single orgasm. She doesn't like it rough, well not that I know
of. We just slept in the same bed,
THAT'S ALL!" Justin shook his head
almost ashamed that his friends had fallen for it again.
"I hate you guys..."
Joey mumbled.
"Well, Chris and Dani, and Lance and Leslie, are going to be here in 30 to
watch the game." JC said walking
out of the room a little embarrassed with Joey in toe.
Once they left
Meredith turned to Justin. "How
did they get in here?"
"They know the security codes
and if you know certain codes you can get in the house without a key. But I think I'm going to change them. Someday they might interrupt something."
"Like what?" Meredith asked eagerly.
"I don't know, you tell me
Miss 4 Orgasm's. I might be good. But not THAT good. Don't get your hopes up Angel,
I'd hate to disappoint you." Justin
gave a sly grin.
"Save it for the 'bopper's
J." She climbed out of bed and
immediately when she stood up she fell back on the bed.
"This bed is WAY too
comfortable."
"Yeah, its
great to sleep in." Justin
whispered in her ear, "Especially with you." He kissed her temple and ran to the bathroom.
"SHOWER FIRST!" HE yelled and laughed as Meredith groaned
into the covers of the bed.
---------
“TOUCHDOWN!! That's 13 to 7 BABY!" Chris screamed.
Justin looked in shock at the TV. "NOOOOOOOOO!!!!"
“AHH HAAA! GO PACKERS, GO
PACKERS!" JC did a little dance
from his seat on the couch.
Dani glared at Chris. "PACKER'S
SUCK!" He gave her a
sarcastic smile and turned to give JC a high five.
"YEAH, they just got
lucky." Lance mumbled looking at
his girlfriend.
Leslie kissed him and smirked.
"NO, the Titan's are just pansies."
"Damn, look at them
cheerleaders." Joey groaned at the TV.
"Oh gosh....." Meredith threw a pillow at Joey.
Justin's game room was packed with
drinks and snacks, while the eager friends were split into teams. Dani, Lance,
Justin, and Joey were pulling for the Tennessee Titans. Whereas Leslie, Meredith,
JC, and Chris were rooting the Green Bay Packers. On one couch JC was still doing his
dance. Beside him, Meredith snickered as
Justin sulked in embarrassment and disappointment for his hometown team. In front of them, on the floor, Chris and Dani sat Indian style throwing back insults to each other
about the other ones team. Lance and
Leslie snuggled on the plush loveseat, not really caring much about the
game. And Joey sat by himself, on the
edge on a recliner, grinning at the Cheerleaders appearing on the screen. They cut to a commercial and Joey relaxed in
the chair with a sigh.
"Could that pout stick out
any further?" Meredith poked at her
boyfriend's side.
"Actually, it can. This sucks!" Justin said in a huff, crossing his arms over
his stomach.
Meredith got really close to his
face. "It's almost half-time,
sweetie. Anything can happen." She
paused and he looked at her sweetly before leaning in for a kiss. "But.... the Packers are GOING to win." She pulled away before their lips touched.
Justin sat up and looked at her
with a confident grin. "Wanna make a bet?"
"What kind of bet?" She
inquired.
Justin smiled brightly. "If
Titan's win, you have to do something for me; if Packers win, I do something
for you."
"All right...but first; what
will I have to do?" She lowered her voice in question.
Justin kissed her sweetly on the
lips and gave her a sexy grin. "YOU
will have to wear that skimpy bikini with ME in the shower."
"OH no...." Meredith
sighed.
Justin reassured her, "But if
Packers win...."
She thought for a while and a big
smile came to her face. "If Packers
win, that big sleigh bed is ALL mine, and ONLY mine,
for one night. And in the morning, YOU
will serve me breakfast in bed. NOT
cereal. I'm talking, eggs, bacon, grits,
the whole sha-bang!"
"All right. But what's the fun
of my bed, if I'm not in it?"
"Grow up..." She groaned
as Justin put his arm around her shoulders only to be jerked away when the
Titan's ran 50 yards for a touchdown.
"Any body
want anything to drink? We ran out I think." Meredith looked around
the room.
"Yeah, get me a beer."
Chris piped up.
Leslie stated. "Pepsi,
for me please."
"Anyone
else?" Meredith questioned and was answered by heads
shaking back and forth.
Meredith
stood up and stepped around the couch towards the door. A hand caught her wrist and she turned around
to see Justin's face smiling up at her, upside down. He had his head leaning on the top of the
couch's pillow.
"Hmm?" She questioned.
"Can you get me a
kiss?" He said in a kid's tone.
Meredith shook her head and leaned
closer to him. "But you'll miss the
game."
Justin put his other hand at the
back of her head and brought her closer to his face. "I don't care..."
When Meredith and Justin's lips
met the rest of the world faded away.
The screams for the Titans third touchdown yelled throughout the
room. But both of them were oblivious. Justin's tongue glided slowly back into her
mouth one more time before he removed his hand from the back of her head and
she pulled away slightly, bringing his top lip with her.
"Wow..." He whispered
against her lips.
"Yeah, we should kiss upside
down more often." She smiled and
gave him one last peck before pulling away and leaving the room.
"JUSTIN! Did you see that interception?" Joey plopped down into Meredith's empty seat
and stared at Justin's dazed face.
"What?" He asked finally snapping out of it.
"The
interception. The
touchdown. IT WAS GREAT! WE ARE AHEAD!" Joey said ecstatic.
"Oh. Wow. I guess I was a little preoccupied."
Justin stretched his head not caring about the game anymore.
"Yeah, he and Meredith were
"talking"." Lance looked
at Leslie and giggled.
Justin rolled his eyes. "Oh
shut up. You and Les have been making
out the whole game."
---------------------------
Justin strolled into the kitchen,
wondering what was taking Meredith so long.
He saw her with her hands rested firmly on the counter and her arms
stretched out. Her head was bowed and he
was very curious as to what she was doing.
He walked up to her and put his
arms around her. She jumped, then
relaxed.
"What cha doin?" Justin rested his chin on her head.
"Thinking." She said without
emotion. Justin noticed and pulled
away. He turned her around and looked at
her questionably.
"What's wrong?" He said full of concern.
Her eyes met him and they stared
into each others soul for a few minutes before Meredith turned her head to the
side and concentrated on the hardwood floor of the kitchen.
"Nothing.", she
whispered.
Justin rolled his eyes. "Oh pulease, don't give me that. I KNOW when something is bothering you. You
get this look in your eyes."
"Aren't you missing the
game?" She turned around, changing
the subject.
"It's half-time. And don't try to change the subject. What's...wrong?" He accented the last sentence clearly.
Her toned raised and almost shouted at him as she turned to
face him. "I just have a lot on my mind, OK?"
Justin was a little offended.
"Why don't you share it with me." Justin offered leaning on the counter across
from her, and crossing his arms over his chest.
"I..ummm..nevermind..."
She stuttered. He pushed himself off the
counter and held her upper arms firmly.
Justin bent down so they were eye level.
"TELL ME." He said sternly.
She sighed and looked into his
eyes, finally giving in. "I don't
deserve you."
"What?" Justin asked confused.
"I don't deserve you. I have never in my life done anything to
deserve someone as perfect as you. It
frightens me to know that you could have your choice of anyone you want and
somehow you are here with me."
"First of all I am NOT
perfect. We BOTH know that. And second, why am I with you? Maybe, I uhh, let me think.
Oh yes, I know. Could it be
because I love you?" Justin asked
serious but with a joking manner.
"No Justin. You could do so much better than me. I know you probably just feel sorry for me
because of Dan. And it is so wrong of me
to expect you to really care about me when you have girls throwing themselves
at you, every minute. I mean, you could
have Britney Spears. You could have
Jennifer Aniston. You could have Janet
Jackson. You could have anyone you wanted.
And you probably do..."
"YOU THINK I'M CHEATING ON
YOU??" Justin screamed, utterly
shocked.
"No, no. I just...I DONT KNOW
JUSTIN. I just don't
know!" A tear fell from her eye
and Justin watched it as it ran to her chin and dripped on her shirt and was
absorbed. He was more confused than he
had ever been in his life.
"What is going on with
you?" He whispered staring at the
spot on her shirt that was quickly fading.
"I need time to think. Give me today. I'll call you tomorrow." She brushed past him and grabbed her keys off
the hook in the kitchen. She walked to
the door and looked back. He looked at
her in complete shock. He had NO clue
what her problem was. She shrugged and
opened the door and closed it.
-What the HELL just happened!!!-
--------------------------------------
Leslie parked her Honda Civic
outside of Meredith's apartment and walked up the sidewalk to the front
door. Noticing the security panel she
pressed Meredith's apartment number to be entered in the building. After about 3 minutes and 15 pushes on the button,
Meredith's voice still had not came over the intercom. Leslie looked around and checked again to see
if Meredith's car was there, and saw it parked in its usual place. She figured her and Justin went to do
something, but she was going to call and make sure.
"Meredith?" Justin's voice asked hopefully.
Leslie chuckled. "No, Justin.
It's Leslie. She not
with you?"
"No she's not. She promised me she would call today and she
hasn't. Leslie she REALLY confused me
yesterday. I was just about to go over
and check on her." She could tell
he was worried.
"Beat ya
to it, buddy. Her and
me were going to hit the after Christmas sales and she told me to either
call or just come over. I tried calling
but never got to her, so here I am."
"Oh. Good.
So she is OK?" He asked
sighing.
Leslie laughed a bit. "No
Justin. I'm STUCK out of her apartment
building. She won't answer the
intercom."
"The code is 82649. I'm worried about her. This is not like her. Get up there, now!" HE demanded.
She rolled her eyes and walked
into the apartment building. "Yes sir.
So, what did she say yesterday again?
She didn't deserve you?"
"Yeah, it was SO weird. She has NEVER been like that before."
"OK, so I'm knocking on the
door and ringing the doorbell. There is
no answer." Leslie made sure she was at the right door by looking at the
number beside the doorway again.
She heard something slam on the
other end and figured it was Justin's fist. "Dammit."
"Calm down Justin." Leslie said softly
"I CANT!! My girlfriend is missing and I'm SORRY that
that bothers me! ARRGGGHH." He let out a cry of frustration.
"I know I know! I'm sorry. What do you want me to do?"
Justin thought for a while and got
an idea. "Go to
He was talking at about 100 words
per second and Leslie was going to make a smart comment to him, but decided
against it since he was already riled up.
Leslie walked the short distance.
"OK, knocking now."
A few moments later a short
elderly woman opened the door and smiled.
"Yes?"
"Hi, I'm Leslie, one of
Meredith's friends. And she is not
answering her door. I have Justin on the
phone here. He said you have a spare
key."
Ms. Grenard
nodded. "Oh sure, honey. Let me go
get it. Tell Justin I said
hello." She went into another room
to get the key.
"She says hello." Leslie chuckled into the phone but stopped
when she noticed Justin was not laughing.
Ms. Grenard
re-appeared and handed her the key. "Here you are."
"Thank you so much!" Leslie smiled brightly and walked back to
Meredith's door.
Ms. Grenard
smiled and closed her door. "Sure thing."
"So..." Justin dragged
out, impatiently.
"So, hold your horses. I gotta get the key
in the lock, boy." A few moments
later Justin heard a horrified gasped in his ear.
He asked confused. "Les?"
"Leslie?" He said more firmly and worried.
After a few moments of pure
silence and torture, Leslie's voice demanded over the phone line.
"Justin get
over here NOW!"
-------------------------------
Justin sprinted up to the building
and frantically pressed the security code. He entered the building, and ran up
the stairs. It usually took 15 to 20
minutes from his house to hers, but he had managed to go about 90mph in a 65.
He got to her door and didn't even
bother knocking. Justin swung the door
open; Leslie had left it unlocked.
He stopped abruptly.
Shattered glass was everywhere on
the hardwood floor of her living room.
Smashed picture frames were strewn about the room. Pictures that were torned
and burned covered the place. His eyes
searched the room. When the door shut
behind him, he jumped in freight. Something glimmered in the light and he bent
down to the floor to pick up a rather large piece of glass. He noticed a picture beside it. It was one of two small children not any
older than 8. He recognized Meredith,
but not the other kid. He studied the
young boy's hair and smile. He knew.
It was Dan.
He scanned the other pictures he
could see. Most of them that were torn
and burn, in fact all of the pictures, were of Dan.
He rested his eyes on the jagged
glass in his hand and noticed something on it.
Something Red.
His eyed got big as he notice a drop of blood
on the floor in front of him. A few feet
away was another one.
He stood up and followed the
trail, until he hit the white carpeted floor of the hallway that led to her
bedroom. He noticed about 5 splotches on
blood that stood out like an elephant in a crowd on the carpet. He was scared
before. But now, he was terrified.
"Meredith??
Leslie??" He said weakly but loud.
"In here." Leslie's voice called from Meredith's
bedroom.
He slowly walked to the doorway
not wanting to see what or who was in there.
He stopped in front of the doorway and only after about a minute did he
get enough courage to turn and see.
When he did, his breathing
stopped. His heart stopped. He stopped.
Meredith sat in the corner of her
dark room that was getting darker as the evening approached. She had on sweatpants and a sports bra. Her hair was stringy and looked like a giant
knot. Her arms had bruises and scrapes
on them. Her knees were pulled up
against her and she was rocking herself back and forth. She was humming to herself, but he didn't
know the tune. Her head was buried into
her knees and he couldn't see her face.
He was glad for that, because he was scared as to what expression it
might hold. In her hand he saw a
photo. She was clutching it, as if it
were her last breath.
Something was terribly wrong.
Leslie pushed herself off
Meredith's bed and walked over to Justin, who was still not breathing and was
starring at Meredith's shadowy figure.
"I came in and there she
was. I tried talking but she just kept
humming, over and over again. I tried to
touch her but she pulled away from me. I
didn't know what to do, so..." Leslie stopped not knowing what else to
say.
Justin caught his breath finally
and exhaled loudly. He had to be
strong. "Thanks Leslie. Can you leave us alone for a while?"
"Sure, I'll go clean up the
mess outside." Leslie tried to give a reassuring smile, but it never
came. She left the room and closed the
door quietly behind her.
Justin walked carefully over to
Meredith and looked down at her rocking form. He knelt down in front of her and
gently touched her arm.
"Meredith.."
He whispered. She backed away from his
touch and stopped rocking. She looked up
at him and Justin wasn't prepared to see her face. Her face was white, ghostly white. Salty tears soaked her cheeks and her eyes
were glassy and blood-shot.
He touched her face and wiped away
the wetness, but this only caused more tears to come. She tried to pull away but he got closer and
laid a firm hand on her shoulder. She
finally gave in.
But not the giving in that Justin
hoped for.
She pinned him on the ground with
her body and roughly forced her mouth onto his.
He didn't protest at first, but then her hand started unbuckling his
pants. She broke from the kiss and
concentrated on his beltbuckle and fly of his
jeans. Justin grabbed her wrist and
shook his head.
"What are you doing" He
whispered softly.
"Don't you want
this?" She asked scared. He noticed and tilted his head to her and
gave her a confused expression. He was
about to speak but she started fidgeting with her trembling hands and mumbling.
"I have to give you what you
want. I have to. You might die if I don't. I have to.
I have to. You might die. You want this, I have to do what you want or
you might die. You can't die. I need you, Dan. You can't die." Her breath was deep and staggered.
Justin placed his hands around
hers to stop their trembling and brought them to his mouth. He kissed them softly and whispered.
"I'm not Dan. It's J, Meredith. It's Justin. Your Angel, remember?" He looked at her with wide eyes trying to get
her to look at him.
Slowly her head moved upward. Her eyes finally met his and one fat tear ran
down her cheek. He took his hand and
cupped the side of her face, wiping the tear away with his thumb.
"Justin?" She asked in a child-like voice, but one that
was filled with pain.
"Yeah, it's me." He smiled at her and she began sobbing
uncontrollably. He wrapped his arms
around her small frame and she rested her head on his chest and grabbed the
front of his shirt, twisting it in her anger, hurt, pain, and love. After a few moments Justin could feel the
wetness penetrate through his shirt, undershirt, and onto his skin. She must have been crying a flood to make
that happen.
He ran his hand up and down her
back, trying to calm her. He rocked
their bodies back and forth in a peaceful manner, but she kept sobbing. Finally he resorted to the thing he knew
best.
Singing.
"When the vision around you
Bring tears to your eyes
And all that surrounds you
Are secrets and lies
I'll be your strength
I'll give you hope
Keeping you faith when it's gone
The one you should call
Was standing here all along
And I will take you in my arms
And hold you right where you
belong
Till the day my life is through
This I promise you
This I promise you….
When he finished he noticed
Meredith wasn't sobbing anymore and her hands weren't clutching his shirt. Slowly she brought her hands up and put her
arms around his neck. She rested her
head on his shoulder and whispered in his ear.
"That was beautiful, you're
beautiful."
"So are you."