He walked in the two-story house and carefully placed his keys on the hook by the door. She hated it when he left them on the table, something about scratching the wood. He strode to the living room expecting to find her there curled up with a book. Whenever he came home she was there and it was so comforting to him. For him the best feeling in the world was to come home and find the person you loved so much waiting for you. He frowned when he realized there was no one curled up on the overstuffed chair. He walked to the kitchen only to find it empty.
“In here Babe.”
He grinned and practically ran to the family room in the back of the house. The plasma screen television was playing “High School Musical” as she sat moving her foot to the beat. He never understood why she liked the movie: it really was for twelve year olds. Not that he had seen it. However it was only one of the things he loved about her.
“Hey you.”
She paused the film and looked up at him with a smile. “Hey yourself. How was your day?”
He sighed and dropped to the couch, mumbling incoherently and leaned over to kiss her. “Can you ask a less complicated question?”
She looked at him with concern. “Rough day at the studio huh?”
“That’s the understatement of the century.” He reached behind them to pull the blanket off of the back of the couch and threw it over his legs. For Los Angeles it was freezing outside and while she was in sweats and slippers he was in jeans and a t-shirt. “Leaving out the specifics, in the span of the entire day we recorded maybe half a song.”
Her eyes widened knowing that for him that was very unusual. Once he got started he usually couldn’t stop, but for things to happen, not only was it unusual but it made him very frustrated. “I’m sorry. Anything I can do?”
He turned and stretched his body across the length of the couch resting his head in her lap.
“Can we just go somewhere?”
She stroked her fingers over his forehead and his cheek. It always helped him relax; her touch did that to him. “What do you mean?”
“I mean just leave, take off, pack up and go away for a bit.”
She smiled slightly at his thought then shook her head. “Baby what’s wrong?”
He turned his face into her stomach and tried to hide away from the world. “I just want a break. I’m so tired I just want to rest. And now I finally convince them to give me four days and now I have nowhere to go.”
She perked up upon hearing his confession. “You have time off?”
“Yeah, a few days, and I just want OUT OF HERE!”
She laughed as she heard the frustrated whine that was mumbled into her stomach. “And exactly where do you want to go?”
“Alaska sounds good.”
She smiled down at him recognizing the exhaustion that was seeping through his skin. This was not the first time nor would this be the last. He had always had a hard time realizing that he needed to take a break. She had tried many times on numerous occasions in their relationship to make him take a break. She hated seeing him when he was on his last wind. The last time this had happened it had been preceded by a full-fledged breakdown with tears and screaming included. She’d be damned if she let it get that far again. It hurt to see him break.
She was brought out of her thoughts when she saw him glancing up at her curiously. “We should go somewhere where you can disappear.”
“Any idea where that would be?”
She sat quietly for a few minutes thinking about that question. “We could go to Memphis, you always seem to relax there.”
He sighed thinking about it but then shook his head. “No, if we go somewhere I would want to go to a place where no one knows us, where I can really disappear.”
She sighed then came up with an idea. “What about somewhere up in Northern California? Not San Francisco or anything, but around there? Sonoma is gorgeous, or Napa.”
Justin thought about it for a second and relished in her fingers against his face. “That might be nice. I’ve never been there before.”
“Oh it’s great, they have beautiful vineyards there and you can take tours and drive in the country…”
“But you don’t drink.”
She rolled her eyes and lightly smacked his head. “I don’t like alcohol, but I’ll try to drink a glass of wine.” She could tell he wasn’t completely sold on the idea so she tried another approach. “Think about it,” she said sweetly, “long drives, little picnics, romantic candlelit dinners,” she paused for a minute drawing her finger down his chest, “a cute little hotel somewhere…”
He grabbed her finger off of his chest and gently pulled the back of her head down to meet her in a slow, soft kiss. “I think Northern California is perfect.”
She threw her head back in laughter and his eyes lit up just watching. “I thought you might.”
He kissed her quickly once more then jumped off the couch. “I’ll go pack you make reservations!”
“Oh wait we’re leaving now?”
He came back around the corner with a mischievous grin. “Oh, did I fail to mention that?”
She sighed making her way to the computer. As she signed on to the internet she grinned at his voice.
“Baby what’s the weather like up there? What do I pack?”
She rolled her eyes. “Men.”
Story Notes:
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Chapter Notes:
This is just a three part short story. I hope you like it, it was the first JT thing I ever wrote! -Mandy
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