5 >> Back
“All right, fair enough,” Justin laughs. Our morning walk sends us down South Bristol Avenue with our dogs as he requests, “So since you avoided me all day yesterday, tell me about your date Wednesday.”
“Oh my god, you are so obsessed!”
“Because you’re being all secretive and shit,” he defends. “Since when do we hide things from each other?”
My stomach churns at the fact that I’ve been keeping my contact with Talis a secret from him since Sunday. He’d kill me if he knew. Still, “My dates are my business,” I maintain, looking down to the sidewalk ahead of us. “I’m really surprised that you care so much.”
“Well, Jess, if I’m gonna be hanging out with this dude on a regular basis, I need to know what he’s like.”
“I don’t even know what he’s like yet! Just give me some time to get to know him first,” I tell him. “You know how you need time just to figure out if it’s worth pursuing?”
“I guess,” he grants reluctantly. “I usually know right there at the beginning, though.”
“You think you know,” I correct him.
“Jess, I know. When you meet somebody, it’s either there or it isn’t. Don’t you think?”
“I don’t think it’s that simple, but you know… do you.”
“I do me very well, thank you.” He stops so that his baby, Brennan, can do her business in a secluded corner of the street. “Could you at least tell me his name?”
“Jus,” I sigh.
“Seriously, I’m gonna keep bugging you until you give me something, so you can play coy as long as you want, baby.”
“You are so annoying,” I chuckle. “His name is Ryan.”
“Ryan,” he nods slowly as we resume our stroll. “Okay.”
“Does that satisfy your ridiculously nosy ass?”
“No, not really. What does he do?”
“Why does that matter?”
“Jesus, Jess, are you ashamed of him or something? As your best friend, I just want to get to know whoever you’re getting to know.”
“Well, you’re doing that with Rie already, so you can just leave Ryan alone,” I tease him.
“I’ve only met her twice,” he counters, “and one of those times was extremely short.”
“But long enough for you to decide that ‘it’ was there?” I theorize. “Yes?”
“I didn’t say all that…”
“But you said you always know immediately.”
“But I’m currently not looking,” he bolsters. “So just take your little theory and go sit down somewhere.” We continue through our walk, reaching the outer edges of Brentwood before turning back towards my house. “Dude, it’s not Ryan Seacrest, is it? Because I think he’s a little bit gay.”
“No!” I laugh. “And he’s a lot gay.”
“Yes, a lot gay,” he agrees. “So what does this guy do?”
I sigh again, knowing that the minute I state his profession, Justin will have his answer. “He’s an actor,” I finally confess.
“Oh-em-eff-gee. You’re dating Ryan Gosling?” he exclaims loudly, sounding identical to a Gossip Girl.
“Shhhut up,” I hiss, turning to make sure there’s no one following us. “And no, I am not.”
“Ryan Reynolds?”
Okay, well so much for me instantly giving him away. “No, Jus.”
“Meg… Ryan?” he questions warily.
“Ryan Phillippe, you idiot.” I’m laughing, but shit if he didn’t make that one difficult.
“Ohh!” he shouts in realization. “Dude, isn’t he married?”
“Uh, no. He and Reese divorced like a year ago,” I remind him. “And I know I told you she was dating Jake...”
“Oh yeah, you did tell me that,” he recalls vaguely. “Well that sounds like fun.”
“Shut up,” I smirk at him. “I know you’re just itching to say something negative.”
“I’m not gonna say anything.” We stop again, while my dog, Tina, does her thing alongside a tree. We both wave at a car full of girls that pass by us, flailing excitedly. “I’ve heard he’s a major douche,” Justin finally inserts, “but I already know you can’t believe everything you hear. Otherwise, that would make me a major douche as well.”
“I knew you couldn’t resist.”
“What?” He looks around innocently, pushing his shades further onto his nose. “I was just commenting.”
“You’re just so adorably predictable,” I grin. “But no, he’s a cool guy. Like I said, I’m gonna see where it goes.”
“That’s a good idea,” he nods. “This is like your free movie preview weekend.”
“My what?” I chuckle.
“You know, when HBO shows the free movies to the public so they can get more customers,” he explains. “The bliss period. Where you’re showing, like, you know… whatever movies you like. Shawshank Redemption and Schindler’s List, and he’s showing… whatever he likes. You put out all your best shit, like, ‘Yeah, I’m really chill and fun, and not clingy at all.’ And he’s like, ‘Oh totally, I’m a great listener and not even remotely douchey.’ And even though it’s all bullshit, it’s just the really fun, exciting part of the relationship. Before you buy and it turns into, like, the remake of Texas Chainsaw Massacre every fucking night,” he laughs.
“You know I can kick your ass. I don’t even know why you start with me.”
“Because you and I are so far past the free movies that it doesn’t even matter.”
“Oh, then what are we?”
“We’re in the stale ass popcorn phase,” he cackles jovially.
I’m not even sure what he’s talking about anymore, but I do know that it’s great to see him smile “ even with me. “It’s nice to have you back, Jus.”
He drops his arm around my neck, and smiles as we continue our walk. “It’s good to be back.”
>>>>>>>>>>
“Hi, may I speak to Rie?” Justin nervously asked when an unfamiliar voice answered the call he’d made.
“Sure, who’s calling?” the female voice requested.
“This is Justin,” he answered politely.
“Hold on juuust a sec.”
As he held, he considered hanging up the phone all together. He had no idea why he was calling, being that he had nothing to say, but he came across her number as he was searching for his cousin’s, and figured now was as good a time as any to utilize it.
“Hello?” Rie asked, finally making it to her phone.
“Rie?”
“Yeah? Is this seriously Justin?”
“Yeah,” he chuckled. “Who else would it be?”
“Oh my god,” she laughed. “When my mom said Justin was calling, I thought it was Jac playing an evil joke or something.”
“Aww… Does that mean you would want me to be calling?” he teased.
“Well, I suppose. I did give you my number and all.”
“What are you up to?” he grinned into the phone.
“Not much,” she yawned. “My mom came in yesterday for a quick visit and I’m driving her back to San Bernardino this afternoon.”
“That sounds like fun,” he returned. There was a short silence before he added, “What’s your mom like?”
“My mom?” she seemed staggered by his question. “Umm… God, she’s… she’s the best,” she described simply. “She’s been my best friend since the beginning of time. Like, for as long as I can remember, it’s just been me and her, so… yeah. She’s the love of my life.”
Justin internally smiled at Rie’s description, as that basically summed up how he felt about his own mother, so he loved seeing that point of view from someone else. “Yeah, that’s exactly how I feel,” he agreed. “So many people take their moms for granted.”
“Yeah, I think we’re all guilty of that at some point. Mom is usually the one person that’s always been there, like, from the day of conception. I don’t think we realize how dependent we are until they’re not around as much.”
“That’s so true,” Justin granted. “My mom used to be with me basically twenty-four seven until I moved out here. Then it was like, ‘Oh honey, I’m just gonna stay at home with your dad.’” His voice went up two octaves and he put on his thick Southern accent to imitate his mother’s drawl. “I missed her so much.”
“You are so dumb,” Rie laughed heartily. “You know what? I met your mom once.”
“Really? Where?”
“It was at this country club over in Bev Hills,” she recalled. “It was like a couple of years ago, I think; I was there with some guy I was dating. And I remember seeing your mom, she was going around asking if anyone had some Claritin--.”
“Probably for me,” he chuckled. “I have the worst allergies.”
“Oh gosh, me too,” she inserted. “But yeah, I went over to her and gave her my last one and she was so sweet. Your mom’s adorable.”
“Like mother, like son,” he chuckled.
“Indubitably.”
“You know,” he proclaimed, “since you’ve met my mom, it’s only fair that I meet yours.”
“You can meet my mom,” she offered enthusiastically. “What are you doing today?”
“Absolutely nothing,” he answered definitively. In actuality, he had unofficial plans to meet Jessica for lunch, but those could always be rescheduled.
“You feel like taking a drive?”
“Uh, will you be doing the driving?”
“Of course,” she grinned. “Unless, of course, you don’t trust me.”
“Well you already know where we stand with that.”
“Ooh, sorry. I forgot.”
“If you’re driving, then I accept,” he laughed. “I’d like that.”
“You do realize that you’re building up false hope here, accepting two of my two invites,” she joked. “I’m gonna start thinking you actually like me soon.”
“Shit, we wouldn’t want that to happen, huh?”
“Sounds dangerous.”
“I thought you liked dangerous,” he remembered.
“I do, but only when I’m in control of it,” she retorted.
“Well that’s an oxymoron.”
“Ooh, I like those, too.” She couldn’t contain the smile on her face, which was becoming sort of a habit when he was in her presence “ even telephonically.
“If it’ll make you feel better, I’ll turn you down the next time you ask me out.”
“’Scuse you, I’m not asking you out,” she corrected him. “I’m asking you… out.” She laughed, realizing how ridiculous that came out. “Shut up.”
“Yes, that made complete sense,” he retaliated sarcastically. “It’s okay, though, I like being asked out.”
“Really? I hate it.”
“Is that why you always make sure you do the asking first?”
“Always?” she exclaimed. “It’s only been twice!”
“Twice in four days, though. That’s, like, a record.”
“Fuck you,” she giggled. “You’re the one calling me at eleven on a Saturday morning.”
“Anyway,” he switched subjects. “What time should I be heading your way?”
“Well, we were gonna leave around one, so, can you get to Sherman Oaks by twelve-thirty?”
“I think I can handle that.”
Rie loved that she could hear the smile in his voice. “My mom’s gonna freak,” she grinned back. “She has a slight crush on you.”
“I have that effect,” he admitted. “I’ll do my best to behave, though.”
“I’ll see you later.” Still smiling, she ended the call and looked at the screen of her BlackBerry. A part of her simply couldn’t fathom that the last number on her call log was Justin Timberlake’s. “Wild shit,” she said contemplatively.
“What’s wild shit?” Rie’s mom questioned, meandering back into the living room of her daughter’s house. “What’d you do?”
“I didn’t do anything, mom. Just… life is funny.”
“I take it this has something to do with JT calling you?” Tina was almost giddy at the notion.
“Oh god, don’t call him JT,” Rie whined. “And yes, it does.”
“What’d he say? Is he over that child that left him at the altar yet?”
“How do you know about that?” she frowned.
“Girl, I have cancer, I’m not dumb, deaf, or blind. People are talking about that everywhere.”
“Well whatever,” Rie sighed. “I’m sure he is, but please don’t mention anything about it today,” she warned.
“Today?”
“He’s gonna come with us to take you home.”
“No way!” Tina cackled. “I hope you told him he better watch out for me.”
“Ma, he’s my age. That’s nasty,” she smirked.
“Age ain’t nothin’ but a number, Rie. Don’t sell yourself short over something as futile as that.”
Rie rolled her eyes at another one of her mother’s pearls of wisdoms, though she always tried to take them to heart. “Just don’t overdo it, mom.”
“You know I never do.”
>>>>>>>>>>
Justin arrived at Rie’s Sherman Oaks home at exactly 12:30 PM, dressed down in a pair of sweats and a University of Memphis t-shirt. He was glad to see Rie dressed similarly when she answered the door.
“Hi,” she greeted him cheerfully. By now, she knew he wasn’t into hugs or handshakes, so she just let him into her modest home.
“How are you?” he asked, timidly making his way into the foyer.
“I’m good.” She breezed past him to lead him into her den, where her mother sat, watching Thursday’s episode of Lost. “Ma, you ready?”
“Not yet, Rie,” Tina answered, not turning from the flat-screen television. “Lemme just finish these last twenty minutes.”
“That was a great episode,” Justin inserted, startling her. “This whole season has been so dope.”
At the sound of Justin’s voice, Lost had become a… lost cause on Tina. “I’m sorry, hello there.” She slowly rose from her chair to greet him.
Ever the polite guy, he made his way over to her first, offering his hand. “Hi. I’m Justin.”
“Tina,” she smiled. “What a pleasure.”
Justin immediately saw Rie’s face in her mother’s. Their smiles were identical, they were that same chocolate color, and had those bright almond-shaped eyes. The only notable differences were that Tina was much more petite than her daughter, and her hair was extremely short. “The pleasure is all mine,” he grinned back.
“You ready to go now, ma?” Rie interjected, seeing that she was no longer interested in the show.
“I’m in no rush,” Justin told her, just in case she was a bit harried for his benefit. “I wanna see the end again anyway.”
“Was it good?” Tina questioned.
“So good.”
“Justin, are you sure?” Rie queried. “I don’t wanna tie up your whole day.”
“Please do,” he replied sincerely. The less time he had to spend at home or around situations that reminded him of Talis, the better.
“All right,” she conceded. She stepped down into the sunken room and took a seat on her circular couch, watching as Justin followed suit, sitting on the opposing end. “You’re too funny,” she commented.
He looked over to her innocently. “What?”
“Nothing. You’re just funny.”
“Funny… looking?”
“That too,” she laughed. “Anyway…”
Tina, who’d wrapped herself in her favorite blanket, took a seat back in her chair and pressed Play on the DVR. The three of them were immediately engrossed in the last segments of the episode and even continued on to watch a previous episode of CSI. That is, before they all fell asleep.
It wasn’t until almost 3:00, when Rie awoke with her feet propped against Justin’s legs, that she realized they had yet to move anywhere near San Bernardino. “Shit,” she whispered, sitting up.
Justin stirred as well and opened his eyes to the unfamiliar room surrounding him. It took him a minute to recognize where he was. “Was I asleep?” he yawned, already knowing the answer.
“I think we all were,” she noted, scratching through her endless black hair. “Geez, it’s so late.”
“What time is it?”
“Rie, you’re still taking me home,” Tina interrupted, waking from her own nap, “so don’t even try it.”
“You know you wanna stay with me one more day.”
“I need my Sunday to myself,” she refuted. “And it’s two-fifty,” she replied to Justin. “You’ll be home before six if we leave now.”
“I know, I just don’t feel like driving,” she complained.
“Adrienne, get your wide ass up off that sofa.”
“Adrienne?” Justin asked in surprise, looking over to Rie.
“My mom likes to think that’s my real name.”
“That is her real name,” Tina told him.
“I thought you said Rie wasn’t short for anything.”
“Well, I lied,” Rie exhaled. “Shall we go?”
Justin gave her a look that instantly told her he was wondering what else she’d lied about, but he didn’t want to be rude in front of her mother, so he let it slide for the moment. “Yes, let’s go.”
>>>>>>>>>>
About two hours later, Justin and Rie were leaving Tina’s home, headed back west towards Los Angeles. Rie knew that he’d been put off by her little white lie, because he’d been acting weird the entire ride up there. He was charismatic as ever when her mom spoke to him, but he had become very curt with her. Not that she blamed him, but she hated it, nonetheless.
“I specifically asked you if it was short for anything,” Justin announced, turning off the radio as she turned onto I-10. “Didn’t I?”
“You did,” she forfeited. “I don’t know why I lied.”
“Because it comes so easily?”
“Look, I really didn’t think we’d ever talk again. I didn’t think it would be a big deal.”
“Then what was the big deal about telling the truth?”
“Because,” she began to defend. “I just… I don’t know. I hate the name Adrienne. I’m Rie, and I always have been.”
“Fine.” Justin obstinately sat back in his seat and stared out of the window in front of him. “You should’ve taken the 60,” he told her, referring to the less crowded Pomona Freeway. “Less traffic.”
“How about you not tell me how to drive?”
“I’m just sayin’, we could be halfway home by now.”
“What’s wrong with the 10?” she frowned. “There’s no traffic.”
“When we get closer to LA, there will be traffic.”
“The Pomona drops us in downtown LA,” she argued. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I definitely do. Your mom lives closer to Riverside anyway, so the 60 was more convenient.”
“Could you just trust me?” she requested with finality.
“Oh yeah, sure I’ll trust you, Adrienne.” His voice was thick with sarcasm, but he eventually smiled and all the tension seemed to float out of the air.
“Hey, thank you for being so cool with my mom.”
“Are you kidding? Your mom is great,” he dismissed. “Way, way, way cooler than you.”
Her jaw dropped in shock and she looked over to him. “I beg your pardon, where do you think she got it from?”
“Pretty much anyone but you,” he grinned.
“Asshole.” Her eyes went back to the road as she shook her head. “Really though, I appreciate it. My mom doesn’t have a lot of joy in life, but she paints on a happy face anyway, so it meant a lot for you to come along today,” she told him earnestly.
The moment he met Tina, he assumed she was going through some form of chemotherapy, but he didn’t want to pry. However, since Rie seemed to be putting out there, he figured it couldn’t hurt to ask. “Does she have cancer?” he inquired softly.
She nodded quickly and licked her lips. “Umm. Yeah, stage three breast cancer.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay,” she returned quickly. “It’s fine. She’ll be fine. We’re fine.”
“I can tell,” he nodded. “She’s got spunk.”
“Spunk?” she laughed. “Did you really just say ‘spunk’ in my car?”
“I happen to like the word, ‘spunk,’ thank you.”
“I don’t even think that’s a real word!” she was still laughing. “My mom does not have spunk, she’s got attitude. Like me.”
“Your mom would appreciate the compliment.”
“Coming from you,” she reasoned, “maybe. It’s still a stupid word, though.”
“You know you’re gonna start using it now. You’re gonna start putting it on your résumés and shit.”
“Pshh,” she scoffed. “I wonder what it’s like to be so lame.”
“Aw, hell naw,” Justin shot back loudly.
“Yeah, I said it.” She gazed at him as they approached a section of cars that had slowed down considerably. “What you gon’ do?”
“Absolutely nothing,” he deadpanned staring straight into her eyes. “However, let the record show that I was right about the traffic.”
“Good thing you don’t trust me then, huh?”
>>>>>>>>>>
It wasn’t until around 8:00 PM that Justin returned home, with a bagful of Animal Fries accompanying him. He and Rie had just eaten Chinese before he left her house, but he had a craving on his way home that he was stoked to satisfy.
He entered through his kitchen, flipping though the old calls on his BlackBerry Bold and dropped his bag to one of his counters. He chuckled to himself, seeing that Jess had called him four times, figuring she was just being as worrisome as she always was, and began to check his voicemail.
As he went through the various messages, he thought he heard footsteps in the living room, so he shouted, “Rach, is that you?” He didn’t see Jessica’s car in the driveway, so he just assumed it was his cousin.
He was in the middle of chuckling at a message from his mom when a familiar figure reentered his life at probably the least expected moment. “It’s me,” Talis announced.
His eyes darted up to her voice and, due to sheer disbelief, all he could do was stare.
“Hi,” she stated tentatively.
As he continued to stare, he kept his phone up to his ear, and realized that he was receiving a message from Rie. “Hey dude,” her voice came over the phone, “just wanted to let you know that you left your wallet at my house, so um, I’m gonna go ahead and bring it over to you. And hey, let’s pretend this isn’t just an excuse for me to see you again. Hopefully, you didn’t get stopped by the police and are now sitting in a jail cell,” she chuckled. “But then, I guess things like that don’t happen to guys like you? Anyway,” she sighed, “I’m on my way. So um, I hope you get this before you realize you left your wallet and you come back my way and we miss each other by, like, fourteen seconds. You know how that always happens in movies? Anyway, I’ll… see you soon. By the way, thank you, again, for coming today. You are, officially, an awesome dude. Bye,” she drawled out the last word before the voicemail lady was telling him to choose an option.
“Are you gonna say anything?” Talis eventually asked, seeing that he had not taken his eyes off of her.
He turned off his phone and looked down at his flip-flop-covered feet. He didn’t know what to say. “Get out.” It was the first thing that came to mind.
She audibly inhaled and exhaled at his demand, but didn’t move. “Justin, I know you’re angry, and you have every right to be. I just came to tell you that I’m sorry, and--.”
“Don’t fucking try to talk to me about this,” he spat. “Just get out.”
“I have to call a cab, but I’ll go.”
“Get out!” he shouted.
Nodding, she turned for the other room to gather her purse. A few seconds later, she escaped the house via the front door.
He rotated his position to face his counter and gripped the edges tightly. He was almost seething at the sight of her. He couldn’t believe that she had the gall “ the audacity “ to waltz into his house like that after two weeks of no calls, no emails, not even a text to explain herself. “What the fuck,” he whispered to himself. He never once thought that he’d react that way after seeing her again, but he was stunned. All of his good days seemed to be ruined by her lately.
He threw his Animal Fries away “ she’d ruined his appetite “ and headed for his bedroom. Halfway up the steps, his doorbell rang. He just knew it was Talis, wanting to wait for her cab inside the house, so he was prepared to tell her to walk her ass down the driveway and wait at the bottom of it. But he was surprised for the second time that night to see Rie.
“Hey,” he swung the door open.
“Umm, hi,” she grinned, handing over his wallet. “I umm “ this chick at the gates let me in; I hope that was okay?”
He frowned and peered down his yard, futilely looking for Talis somewhere in the distance. “Thank you.”
“Is… everything okay?” she asked cautiously.
“No.”
“You wanna tell me what’s wrong?”
He shook his head, but turned back into the house, leaving her to follow behind. “Shut the door,” he told her.
She did as told and trailed him into his living room, taking a seat on the sofa across from him. After a long few minutes of no words being spoken, she finally stated, “So… long day, huh?”
With his arms crossed, he just watched the space on the wall behind her.
“So… you excited about football season?” Still no answer. “I’m more of a basketball fan myself…” When it appeared that he wasn’t breathing, she had to speak up. “Justin, this is fucking weird. If you don’t wanna tell me, that’s fine, but I’m not gonna sit here and watch you stare at the pimple on my forehead. I already feel self-conscious enough as it is having spent an entire day with you without any makeup on.”
He couldn’t help but soften at her honesty. Her willingness to admit her vulnerabilities, even in a joking manner, always made him a lot less cagey around her. “I was supposed to be married by now,” he announced to the room, finally looking Rie in the eye. “But she left.”
“Talis, right?”
“Yeah. I um “ I guess you already know this stuff, huh?”
She shook her head. “I don’t believe anything I read.”
“Well, believe it or not, they got it right,” he allowed. “She walked out on our wedding day. No reason given, no sense made. She just left.”
“Wow,” she exhaled.
“And she showed up tonight, for the first time since the last time, and… I almost lost it. Like, if you hadn’t come by, I think I would’ve… I dunno…” he trailed off. “I told her to get out.”
“So that’s why she’s in front of your house lookin’ like a hooker?”
He couldn’t help but almost chuckle. “Yeah.”
“Are you angry? Or just frustrated? What are you feeling?”
“Broken,” he confided.
Rie gave him a sad look, and she wanted so badly to give him a hug, but she knew it wasn’t the time. “I’m so sorry.”
“I was okay,” he told her. “Like, I thought I had been doing surprisingly well.”
“You think so?”
“I feel like everyone, including me, expected this to be some big dramatic event where I’d be curled up in a corner for three months or something. I dunno,” he sighed. “For some reason, I was… okay. Not great, but okay.”
“So what changed?”
“She was here. Back in my house “ back in my life. Even though it was only for a few seconds, a mere minute really, I felt like she was standing there strangling me. I’d worked so hard at blocking her out, pretending she no longer existed. I dunno, maybe I figured as long as I didn’t see her, I didn’t have to accept that she ever really left.”
“Did you talk to her?”
He shook his head. “I don’t want to hear what she has to say and I’m scared of what I’d say.”
“Will you talk to her?”
“At some point,” he guessed. “Not, like, tomorrow. But yeah… I mean, five years of my life were invested in her. I’m not gonna just walk away like she did, all cold turkey and shit.”
“Five years,” Rie marveled, shaking her head. “How do you do it? I… could never.”
“You don’t know what you’ll do until you really love someone,” he answered evenly. “It was like, you know how when you were a kid, you used to spin in circles, just to get dizzy?”
“Yeah,” she grinned.
“Love is like that. Everything in you says to stop before you fall, but you just keep going.”
“Hmm.”
“Why do we do that?”
There was a long silence between them, as she didn’t have an answer, until she finally noted sadly, “Hearts will be practical only when they’re made unbreakable.”
“The Wizard of Oz, right?” She nodded. “I don’t mind being breakable. This is the part where I’m fucked up and that’s fine. It’s like getting a baseball to the nuts, and trust me when I say that there’s no greater pain,” he chuckled. “But there’s no better feeling than when it stops hurting.”
She gave him an encouraging smile. “Well, I know I’m not much, but I can be here for you until the feeling fades.”
“Only until?”
“Yeah, unfortunately I have other people to save, so I can’t be wasting all my good vibes on you.”
“You mean I’m not the only one?” he smirked.
“Psh, not even close,” she chided. “But… I guess I can make an exception for you. I’ve been saving you for a while now, it seems.”
“A couple of weeks hardly qualifies as ‘a while,’ Rie.”
They were both laughing now. “How quickly we forget that I gave your mom my last Claritin for you.”
“Oh yes, how could I forget,” he shook his head. “I guess that would officially make you my hero.”
“Well… we’ll see about that.”
Author's Chapter Notes:
I decided to give you guys a couple of the cast pictures for this chapter! They'll be coming in spurts as the story moves along.
Talis Nixon: (Copy & Paste link) http://i36.tinypic.com/xll1sp.jpg
Justin Timberlake/Jessica Biel: (Copy & Paste link) http://i34.tinypic.com/24pzbzl.jpg
Other than that, thanks so much for reading and replying, you guys! I hope you enjoy this one! -Ash
Talis Nixon: (Copy & Paste link) http://i36.tinypic.com/xll1sp.jpg
Justin Timberlake/Jessica Biel: (Copy & Paste link) http://i34.tinypic.com/24pzbzl.jpg
Other than that, thanks so much for reading and replying, you guys! I hope you enjoy this one! -Ash
Story Tags: interracial unrequited boyfriendj love fiancej vulnerablej
