Chapter 61

( 3 weeks later )

“You sure you don’t need any help in there, J?” Kerrigan called into the kitchen from the living room.

Justin was making them some dinner, or so he claimed.  Kerrigan had no clue what he could possibly be making.  Typically he was a heat everything up in the microwave kinda guy, but he’d been in there for a while now and Kerrigan was growing weary of what he could actually be doing.

“For the billionth time, I got it.” he called back.  She had only asked to help him a good ten times in the last half hour.  He didn’t know if she was just bored senseless or if she really didn’t trust his cooking ability.

But it wasn’t like he was making something that was a real challenge.  It was just spaghetti, who could mess that up?  Even he could make spaghetti.

“Just thought I’d ask.” he heard her say from the other room and he couldn’t help but chuckle to himself.

The last few weeks had been pretty uneventful.  Well, as uneventful as possible.  They had finally heard when Kerrigan’s trial was going to be.  It had been set for the 10th of January, just a few weeks away since it was already mid December.

They had met with Johnny again a couple times to go over everything and Kerrigan was doing a really good job of pretending not to be worried but both Trace and Justin could see right through that.  But they were worried too.  Everyone was worried.

The guys had all been informed about what was going on and had all stopped by individually at some point or another to check in on Kerrigan and see how everything was going.  Kerrigan’s family was flipping out, they couldn’t believe what had happened.  Justin kept trying to talk Kerrigan into telling them the truth, but she had said it would only make things worse.  And Justin knew Kerrigan’s Mom well enough to know that if she found out Kerrigan was taking the blame for something Justin had done she really would flip out and that was the last thing they needed at the moment.

And of course Justin’s Mom was worried about both of them.  She worried about Kerrigan’s fragile state of mind.  And she worried about her son worrying about Kerrigan.  It seemed like everyone was at their wits end and worrying about one thing or another.  So the idea that the trial was coming up soon was comforting in the sense that it would soon be all over.  But at the same time it was scary because they still didn’t fully know what to expect.

Justin had also finally gotten involved with the details of his record sales.  “Justified” was doing incredibly well on the charts and had surpassed anything he could have expected in sales.  He was proud of himself and his accomplishment.  It made him feel great to know that so many people had enjoyed his album.  And it made him feel even better when Kerrigan had told him how proud she was of him and his accomplishments with the album.  It just meant so much more coming from her.

And then there was Trace, who had seemingly given up on his task to get Justin to open up about his feelings.  He had droned on about it for another week or so after Justin had mentioned it to him, but after seeing that his words were going in one ear and out the other he had given up.  Which was exactly what Justin had wanted to begin with.  He had a hard enough time fighting off the urges he felt inside and dealing with his own conscious, without having to deal with Trace as well.  So at least some of that stress had been relieved.

Kerrigan still somehow ended up in his room every night though.  Still Justin didn’t mind that.  It felt good to hold her close, knowing that he was helping her in some way.  Hell, it felt good just to hold her, even if it wasn’t in the way he truly wanted to.

Justin was also happy to see that Kerrigan was doing much better.  All of her bruises had faded and she’d had the stitches removed from her back a couple weeks prior.  The scaring that was left wasn’t nearly as bad as Justin had thought it would be.  In fact the Doctor had stated at her last check up that with time you would barely be able to see them at all.

Her ribs were also healing nicely.  The doctor had done another set of X-rays to check on their progress and had stated that they appeared to be healed, however they were still very fragile so she still had to take it easy, at least for another couple of weeks.  But for the most part, she could get back to her regular routine.

That news had thrilled Kerrigan.  She hated depending on other people to help her and Justin knew she was sick of asking Becca for help with things.  As soon as she had been able to do things on her own she had started refusing the assistance.  But then Justin couldn’t blame her there.  Having someone helping you bath yourself probably wasn’t the funest thing in the world.  At least not in the sense that she needed the help.

Stirring the sauce on the stove once more, Justin turned when he heard footsteps behind him.  He jumped when he realized how close Kerrigan actually was behind him.  She was attempting to look over his shoulder at what he was cooking.  He didn’t know how she had gotten that close without him hearing her before, but assumed that because he was so lost in thought a bomb could have gone off beside him and he wouldn’t have noticed.

“You just couldn’t stay in the other room, could you?” he joked, turning back to the stove.

“Well, you’ve been in here for a while and you claimed to be cooking and I just couldn’t wait any longer.  You’re making spaghetti?”

“Yeah, why?” he asked, eyeing her over his shoulder.

“No reason really, I just didn’t know it took this long to make spaghetti.” she shrugged, walking over to the center island, hopping up to sit on it.

“Yeah, well we didn’t have any sauce so I had to make it from scratch.” he shrugged, turning to stir the sauce once more before walking over and joining Kerrigan on the countertop.

“You made it from scratch?” she questioned wearily, almost as if the thought petrified her.

“I called my Grandma and got her recipe.  Don’t worry, I’m not going to poison you.” he half laughed.

“Who’s worried?” she asked, giving him her best “non-worried” look.

Justin chuckled, hopping back down from the counter.  “You are.  I can see it on your face.”

“Well, I have to admit, you making something from scratch is a little scary.  And the idea that you did it all on your own is even scarier.”

“Believe it or not Kerr, I can cook ya know.”

“I didn’t say you couldn’t.  It’s just most of the time you cook TV dinners and stuff like that.” she smirked.

“Is this give Justin a hard time day or did I miss something?” he asked as he broke the pasta up and threw it into the boiling pot on the stove.

“No, I was just a little shocked is all.”

“Just because I don’t cook like this every day, doesn’t mean I can’t cook at all.” he paused to wipe his hands off on a dish towel.  “Now, if you wanna talk about someone that can’t cook to save his life, we can talk about JC.  That boy lives off of frozen pizzas and hot pockets.”

Kerrigan laughed, she knew that was the truth.  JC couldn’t cook if his life depended on it.  “I didn’t say you couldn’t cook, J.”

“Doesn’t matter if you did or not.  I can and I am, so shut up and go set the table.  It’ll be ready soon.”

“Oh, so you’re finally gonna let me help?” she joked.

“Just go make the table.” he said, turning back to the stove.

Kerrigan snickered to herself as she grabbed some plates and silverware and headed for the dinning room table to set it up for dinner.

“All done.” she said, brushing her hands together like she’d just completed a major task.

Justin laughed at her.  “Is Trace joining us for dinner tonight or is he out with Becca again?”

“He’s with Becca.  He’s helping her study for her exams.” she said as she hopped back up on the island counter top again.

“Helping her study, huh.  I’m really sure that’s what they’re doing.”

“Shut up, Justin.  They can do whatever they want.”

“I didn’t say they couldn’t.  But they don’t have to make up lame ass excuses like that to spend time together alone.  If they wanna go back to her place and get it on, then they should just say so.”

Kerrigan rolled her eyes.  “You’re so crude some times.”

“It’s not crude.  It’s the truth.  We’re all adults here.  It’s not like we don’t know what they’re really doing anyways.” Justin said, turning to give her a mischievous smirk.

Kerrigan laughed at his expression, he looked so devious.  “I think someone’s jealous.”

“Jealous of what?” he asked, leaning against the counter beside the stove.  “Of Trace?”

“Not of Trace, but of him having someone to “get it on with” as you put it.  Why haven’t you been going out lately?  I thought you and Alyssa were still talking?”

Justin groaned, giving her a dirty look.  “For the gazillionth time, me and Alyssa were only friends.  She’s got herself a new man, I believe he’s the guy she was talking to at my release party.  Besides, I’d much rather stick around here and pester you.”

“Yeah, because pestering me is SO much fun.”

Justin turned back to the stove, but not before giving her a smirk.  “It really is.”

Kerrigan laughed at him, she loved their friendly banter.  She loved spending time with him period.  He’d been so supportive over the last few weeks and he hadn’t left her side.  Although, at times she wished he would have so she could have a little time to breath on her own, but she did appreciate his effort.

“Kerr, c’mere for a sec.”

She hopped off the counter and walked the few feet to his side.  “What’s up?”

“Here, I want you to taste this.” he said, holding up a wooden spoon, covered in red, steaming sauce.

Kerrigan shrugged, accepting the tip of the spoon for a taste as Justin raised it to her mouth.  “Wow, that tastes really good.” she smiled, savoring the great taste of the sauce.

“Did you think it would be bad?”

“Well, I mean you cooked it so you never know.” she joked.

Justin gave her a dirty look.  “Thanks a lot, Kerr.” he said, then tapping the spoon against her cheek, leaving a smudge of the red sauce there.

“Justin!” Kerrigan exclaimed.  “Why’d you do that?” she asked, looking around for something to wipe her face off with.

“Because you were being mean to me.” he smirked.

“I wasn’t being mean to you.”

“You said it might taste bad because I cooked it.”

“I was playing with you, jeez!” she said, still not locating anything in her immediate area to wipe her face with.

“Oh, God Kerrigan.  It’s just spaghetti sauce.  It’s not gonna kill ya.”

“Just give me a towel or something to wipe my face.”

“You don’t need a towel.” he said, leaning over he licked the sauce from her cheek.  “See, all gone.” he said as he pulled back, their eyes immediately locking.

Kerrigan wore a completely stunned expression and Justin couldn’t help but smile because of it.

“You licked me.” she stated, dumbfounded.

“It was easier than getting a towel.” he shrugged.

“But you licked me.” she repeated.

“Do you want me to lick you again?” he joked.

Kerrigan didn’t know what to say to  him.  He was staring at her with this wicked smirk on his face and she didn’t know whether to laugh or to punch him.  She wasn’t really upset with what he had done, but she didn’t really know how to react to it.  He’d never done anything like that before.

When Kerrigan didn’t answer Justin’s smile grew.  She seemed so shocked with what he had done.  Hell, he was a little shocked with himself, he had no idea what had gotten into him for him to actually lick her face.  But part of him was loving it.  Seeing her reaction.  He wanted to laugh at the expression she wore.

“Would it make you feel better if you licked me back?” he asked.  He was having too much fun with this and there was just this part of him inside that wanted to see how she would react.  Like it was really going to tell him anything.

But Kerrigan didn’t say anything, she just stared at him and that’s when the smile slowly disappeared from Justin’s face.  Their eyes were locked and something was happening but he had no idea what it was, but he could feel it.  Something was definitely happening.

For the longest moment they simply stared into each other’s eyes.  And for the briefest moment Justin thought Kerrigan was going to kiss him, or that she was at least thinking about kissing him.  There was just something about the look in her eyes.

But before his prayer could be granted, Kerrigan snapped out of her daze, snapping him out of his as well when she playfully smacked him in the arm.  “You’re so gross!” she laughed.

Ok, not the reaction he’d been hoping for, but at least she wasn’t pissed at him.

Snapping himself out of his thoughts, Justin laughed it off and turned his attention back to the food still cooking on the stove.  “So are you excited about Christmas?”

Kerrigan shrugged, leaning her back against the counter.  “As excited as I can be I guess.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.  But we need to make the best of it.  I mean after all we….” he trailed off, not wanting to complete his thought.  He knew it would only upset Kerrigan.

But he was too late, she already knew what he was going to say.  She could read his thoughts so easily because she was thinking the exact same thing.  “Because we don’t know if we’ll get to share another one.” she finished for him.

“I wasn’t going to….”

She cut him off.  “Yes, you were.  It’s ok, J.  I was thinking the same thing too.”

“I’m sure it’ll all be fine, Kerr.  Johnny, seems confident about everything.  We should just try to forget about it until after the Holidays.  That way we can enjoy the time with our families.”

“You’re right.  Let’s agree to not bring that up anymore, at least not until after Christmas.  This is a time to be thankful and celebrate and be with our families.   Besides,  Christmas is stressful enough without adding anymore stress factors to the whole ordeal.”

“I agree.  So no more talk about the trial till after Christmas.”

Kerrigan smiled.  “Till after Christmas.”