Chapter Ten

Alison rushed outside during her last period of school that day, anxious to see Justin.  It had been two whole days since she’d gotten in trouble so she’d rarely had a chance to take to him, even with the cell phone.  Her parents were watching here every move, it seemed.  He was waiting patiently outside for her, as usual.

As soon as he saw her approaching, he hopped out of the Bentley that he’d chosen to drive that day and gave her an enormous hug.  “Damn, I missed you,” he mumbled into her hair where she could barely hear him.  He was also squeezing her way too tightly and she could barely breathe, but she didn’t mention a single word of complaint.

It was amazing to her when she thought about the fact that they’d only known each other for a few weeks but now wanted to be inseparable. They never grew tired of being in the others’ presence.  To Alison, school was becoming something else to interfere with her seeing her boyfriend and she was tired of it.  So on that Monday she was a little tense and still angry with her parents for forcing her to have to sneak around.

“I missed you, too,” she rubbed his cheek softly instead of his head, which was covered with a funky hat.  If collecting sneakers was Justin’s #1 obsession, hats definitely came in a close second.  “You didn’t shave,” she remarked, gently rubbing the scruffy beard and goatee that were just beginning to grow in.

He nodded, finally releasing her from his grip so that she could breathe and he could see her beautiful face.  “Nope … I just haven’t felt like it since I haven’t seen you.  And I always wanted to grow a beard to see what it felt like, so I figured why not now while it’s cold?  Nobody could possibly want that hot shit on their face in the dead heat of the summer.”

He opened her car door and got her seated, taking her heavy backpack from her and tossing it in the car.  Once he got in and got settled, he asked, “How much time do we have?”

“Not long,” Alison said miserably.  “I’ve gotta be home within the next half hour in case they call to check up on me.  I was thinking that maybe you could just come home with me and hang out for a little while, and then leave before my parents get home.  Does that sound okay?”

Justin shrugged, holding her hand and running his thumb over it.  “I honestly don’t give a shit what we do as long as I’m with you.  But are you sure they won’t catch us?  Are they cracking down on you hard?  Because I don’t want you to get into even more trouble.”

Alison shook her head.  “I can say for sure they won’t see us but Sam does this all the time and never gets caught.  As long as you leave around four-thirty or so it should be okay,” she told him her plan.  And speaking of Sam …” she deliberately let her voice trail off, which immediately got his attention.

“What about Sam?” he asked, intertwining her cold fingers with his to warm them up.  He switched on the car, ready to go to her house and be alone with his girl.

“Well … I sort of said she could catch a ride home with us … you don’t mind, do you?” she said apprehensively.  While he didn’t look angry, he didn’t look excited either.

He put the car back in park.  “Sure, I don’t mind if she rides with us.  I was just really looking forward to us spending some time alone, though.”

“She won’t bother us,” Alison assured him.  “She’ll go upstairs or whatever and leave us alone, which is what I usually have to do when she has guys over.  She won’t bother us.”

“Okay,” Justin said, still reluctant to be around Sam.  After what JC had told him, he was worried that the more time he spent around her, the more suspicious she would get and that was the last thing he needed.  “Are you sure she won’t tell your parents anything?”  His main concern was not letting Alison get into trouble and while he liked Sam. She did sort of have a big mouth.

Alison snorted in a very unladylike way – Justin thought it was cute because he’d never seen her act like that before.  “With all the dirt I’ve got on her?  She wouldn’t dare to say a word to them.  Besides, she likes you and knows how much I … like you, too.  She wouldn’t do anything to get me in trouble or make me sad.”

Justin smiled cockily.  “So now it’s back to ‘like’?  Whatever happened to love?”

She blushed, her face burning hot.  “Well … it’s still there,” she said, laughing a little uncomfortably.  She just wasn’t used to hearing or saying those words.  “I guess I just like to hear you say it first, you know?  I have a thing about rejection,” she informed him.

“You don’t gotta worry about me telling you I love you, Ali – not any minute of the day,” he said.  “And besides, how do you have a ‘thing’ about rejection when from what I hear, you were the one turning down dudes left and right, not dating and shit?”

Alison mulled that over.  “I guess that’s true, I mean I’m no femme fatale or anything.  But I don’t think it comes from guys anyway.  I think it comes from my dad.  He basically dumped me with the Welch’s’ after my mom died for what was supposed to be a few months so he could set up a household and get a nanny or whatever.  And that was the end of that.  He called a few times and I think he sent my mom – Mrs. Welch, I mean -- some money sometimes, but we didn’t have a relationship.  I think I reminded him too much of my mom.”

Justin was puzzled.  “But I thought they both died at the same time?  Didn’t you say they both died when you were, like, eleven or something?”

“They did die when I was eleven, but not at the same time.  My mom was in a car accident first and a few months late my dad dropped dead from a heart attack.  It was weird because the last time I saw him before he died was at my mom’s funeral.  He was always working or something; he never had time for me.  The only thing he left for me is some money from his and my mom’s life insurance policies.  Money is the only tie I have left to him.  My mom, though, she always had time for me.  Just like my new mom does.  I never feel left out or unwanted or anything.  I love them so much; I sometimes forget they’re not my real parents.”

Justin looked concerned and sad for her and she sensed it right away.  “Look, don’t be sad for me, okay?  I miss my mom but I was so lucky to find this new family … I love them and they love me like their own daughter.  I couldn’t have a better life – I’ve got them, I’ve got you … I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy before.”

Justin leaned over and kissed her softly, his tongue teasingly darting between her full lips.  “I know I’ve never been this happy,” he said seriously. “I want this to work out, Ali, the two of us.  I think we can be so happy together.  And my offer about moving in still stands – I’ll make sure you get to school and that you’re taken care of.”

She sighed heavily.  “I don’t want it to come to that, you know?  I just wish they would understand that I’m not out having raging sex, I’m just hanging out with my boyfriend.”

“I like when you say that,” Justin smiled.  “And I like calling you my girlfriend, too … it just feels right, don’t you think?”

Before Alison could respond, Sam came huffing up to the car and banged on the window.  “I was looking for your other car, Justin,” she said as she climbed into the back seat.  “Oooh, turn up the heat please.  I’m freezing my ass off.”  Justin complied and the three of them took off to Alison and Sam’s house, talking about everything and nothing.  Justin mostly sat back and listened to Alison talk to Sam.  She was so much more open and unreserved with Sam.  He’d caught glimpses of that behavior before but he wanted her to feel that way towards him – able to laugh and joke and say anything.  She was just so guarded with her feelings that he had to work overtime to know what was going on in her head.

But at least she loved him.  Because he knew he loved her to death already, loved everything about her.  Still, even though he’d told her that he knew it was better to take things slow with her.

However, something new had popped up – this whole idea of her moving in with him.  He couldn’t think of anything that sounded better at that time, the two of them being together every single day.  It wasn’t something he would’ve proposed if her parents hadn’t started tripping out, but the more he thought about it the more he liked it. 

The more he wanted it.

And Justin Timberlake always got what he wanted.

*~*

“I like your room,” Justin told Sam and Ali, looking around.  He’d never seen such a girly looking room before in his live.  Everything was done in pink and purple, with posters and photographs covering the walls.  Alison’s bed was purple and neatly made while Sam’s bed was pink and her bedding was strewn across the floor.  “It reminds me of you,” he said to Alison.  And it did.  Feminine … soft … it totally reminded him of her.

“Thanks,” she said, having no idea what to do with her.  She’d never let a boy into their bedroom before, although Sam had plenty of times. 

Sam had been sexually active since the girls were sixteen, something Alison would never even consider.  Not that she was a prude but none of the boys she met interested her in that way so she just figured she’d try to do the right thing according to what her parents and the church said – wait until you’re married.  She and Sam had argued over it many times, with Sam trying to push Alison not into necessarily having sex, but to try dating more guys and getting out more.  Alison had never wanted to until now.  Until Justin came along and turned her world upside down. Suddenly she had a twenty-six year old boyfriend who she was sure would soon expect sex from her and she wasn’t sure if she was ready.  Part of her wanted to talk to him about it but he seemed to know her feelings on the subject and hadn’t pushed her, something she was grateful for.  It made her love him even more, if that was possible.

At any rate, there they were, the two of them alone in her room.  Sam had stayed downstairs in the family room after giving Ali a thumbs up, letting them have their privacy.

“Which bed is yours?”  Justin inquired, as he looked at all the photos on the walls.

Alison pointed.  “The purple one.”  He immediately went over and flopped down onto it on his back.  “C'mere, baby.”

Alison hesitantly made her way over to the bed and sat down on the edge next to him.  She stared at his stomach because she was so nervous she didn’t know where else to look.

“Hey,” Justin said, “come up here with me.”  He opened up his arms and Alison stretched out beside him and curled up against him, her heart beating fast, so fast that Justin could feel it.  “What’re you so nervous about?  Your parents?”

She shook her head.  “No … well, yeah, a little bit.  But mostly … I guess it’s you that makes me nervous,” she replied. 

Justin looked worried.  “What?  How do I make you nervous, babe?  We’re just lying here together; we’re not doing anything wrong.  What’s got you so scared?”

“You just make me … I don’t know.  It’s like you make me want to do things … do you know what I mean?  Things I’ve never done before and didn’t think I’d be doing until I was married or something.  At least until I was older.  So that’s how you scare me … but I have to admit that I like it.”

Justin raised an eyebrow at her.  “You like being scared of me?” he asked, bewildered.

She was getting this all out the wrong way.  “I’m not scared of you, like you’re going to hurt me or anything.  I’ve never felt as safe as I do when I’m with you.  The thing that scares me is my own feelings about you, you know?  They’re so strong.  And it’s only been a few weeks since we met but now I can’t imagine not having you around me.  That’s why I’m so angry with my parents … they should trust me by now.  I’ve never done anything wrong like this, Justin, and Sam does it all the time.  It’s not fair,” she said, frustrated.

Justin tightened his arms around her and kissed her forehead.  “I told you my offer is still open … just say the word and we can pack your shit and you’ll be at the apartment in an hour or so.  I meant it when I said you could move in with me, Ali.  In fact, I want you to.  I’ll get you to school and stuff; you won’t have to worry about anything.”

“But I don’t even have a job!  How am I going to support myself?  And what if Mom and Dad decide not to speak to me again or something? There’s so many questions that are driving me crazy.”

“I told you I’d take care of you, Alison.  You wouldn’t have to worry about a single thing when you’re with me.  I have more money than I know what to do with – I can easily afford to take care of you and spoil you.  I love you, Ali.  I want us to be together.”

“That’s another thing,” Alison said with a sigh.  “When you say you want us to be together, do you … do you mean, like, sex?  Because I’m not ready for that yet, Justin.  I don’t want to lead you on and move in and disappoint you.  I’m still getting used to what happened the other night.”

“Did you like it?” he asked.  “Did I push you or something?  I thought we were just doing what came naturally?”  And he did think that.  She had initiated the physical contact between the two of them that night and he just followed her lead.

“Heck yeah, I liked it,” she laughed a little.  “Too much, actually.  Are you really ready to wait until I’m ready?  Because I know guys get frustrated or whatever …” This was all so humiliating for her to discuss and she wished they’d never begun discussing it.

“Baby,” Justin smoothed her hair back, “I’ll wait for as long as it takes.  I know you’re young and not out there like other girls having sex and shit.  I want to be your first, Ali, because I love you.  I don’t care how long we have to wait as long as I can hold you … kiss you … and touch you.”  As he spoke he did all of those things and pretty soon they were involved in a heated make-out session, neither of them caring where they were or what was going on.  Justin’s touch set Alison’s body on fire and she had the same effect on him.  His hand were just sliding underneath her shirt when there was a loud knock on the door from Sam, calling out Alison’s name.

“Shit,” Justin groaned, pulling away form Alison and sitting up. 

“What?” Alison called out to Sam.  Talk about your bad timing …

Sam cracked open the door.  “Daddy’s pulling in the driveway,” she warned them and Alison felt her heart drop.  “You’ve gotta get him out of here now or Dad’s gonna kill both of you!”