Chapter 21:
Justin slept much better the second night then the first. He could ignore the traffic much easier and it helped that they were on the eighteenth floor. He woke up before Tara and noticed the sun coming through the curtains of her massive windows. Justin rolled over and snuggled closer to her, hiding his face into the back of her neck and wrapping his arms around her tightly.
Tara felt Justin stirring and opened her eyes slowly when his arms wrapped around her. She sighed sleepily and snuggled back against him.
“Are you awake?” he mumbled against her neck.
“Yeah,” she replied. “Did you sleep better?”
“Much better,” he said.
She smiled sleepily, “good.”
They were silent for a minute, as their breathing became deeper and sleep started to take over their bodies again. A few minutes after they had fallen back asleep, the alarm clock blared from Tara’s bedside. She smacked at it and moved back under the covers.
“What time is it?” Justin asked still holding her close.
“Mmm,” she groaned sleepily. “Nine.”
Even though they had gotten into bed early, they didn’t fall asleep until almost three in the morning.
“Too early,” he responded.
Tara giggled and turned herself in his arms to face him. She leaned forward and kissed his forehead lightly, watching him as his eyes opened slowly. She couldn’t help herself and leaned forward to press her lips to his lightly. Justin’s arms wrapped around her waist as he moved himself onto his back and pulled her on top of him.
She giggled watching him before speaking up. “We should get ready if we’re going to shop,” she said.
Justin responded by rolling her back onto her back as he laid over her, supporting his weight with his arms and leaned down to kiss her neck lightly, moving down to her collarbone.
“We don’t need to shop,” he mumbled against her skin.
Tara giggled and reached up to run her hands through his hair, bringing his face back up and looked at him. “C’mon, you promised,” she said.
He pouted, which only caused her to giggle again and she leaned forward to capture his lips in another kiss. She broke the kiss and wiggled out from under him, reaching for the nearest piece of clothing which happened to be his T-shirt from last night. She slipped it on and made her way toward the connected bathroom. Justin waited until he heard the shower door close before slipping out of the covers and joining her.
-*-
Tara got a hold of Teddy and he was at her place at 11 o’clock. They climbed into the back of the SUV and headed to the small shopping area Tara had been talking about the night before. They made small talk with Teddy on the drive over and once they reached the shopping area Teddy stayed close by. They walked hand in hand and from store to store through the strip mall. Tara got Randy his shoes while Justin picked up a few things for him. They also got some little things for his parents, Susan, Andrew and Trace. After shopping most of the afternoon, they stepped for lunch at a small café before heading back to Tara’s place.
They lounged around the apartment after packing up their stuff and waited for Hannah to call and let them know she was downstairs. Justin was lying across the couch with Tara cuddled to his side and rubbing her back lightly.
“Are you ready to go home?” she asked.
“Kind of,” he shrugged, “mostly because I miss Randy.”
“We should bring him next time,” she suggested with a smile.
She moved her chin to rest on his chest and looked at him. He opened one eye and looked down at her, and she giggled.
“No?” she asked.
He smiled. The fact that she mentioned them coming out again made him smile. She thought about him in her future and he liked that. She watched him and giggled nervously when he didn’t respond.
“What?” he asked.
She leaned forward and kissed him deeply. He pulled her close to him and felt her legs begin to straddle his thighs when her cell phone rang loudly on the coffee table.
Tara broke the kiss with a sigh and leaned her forehead against his. “Even when we are away we aren’t really,” she said.
She reached for the phone and answered it; Hannah was downstairs waiting. They got up and grabbed their bags. Tara locked up her place and they made their way down the elevator to the waiting car. They climbed in and drove toward the airport.
“Are you ready to go home?” Tyler asked Justin as they all got settled into the car.
“It has been nice to see something new,” Justin replied not really answering the question. What business was it of his anyway?
“What did you guys do last night?” Tyler asked. “Hit up the clubs?”
Tara rolled her eyes and shook her head no. “We got Chinese and watched a movie,” she answered.
“Which one?” Tyler asked.
“The Bend,” Justin replied.
Tyler chuckled. “Who’s idea was that?” he asked knowing full well what the movie had been.
“Mine,” he replied. “I liked it.”
Tyler chuckled again, mumbling something under his breath and Tara reached over and smacked his head.
“Oww geez!” Tyler rubbed his head. “You know you’ve done that like 10 times since this trip started.”
“Then stop being a jerk,” she replied.
“I was just sayin’,” he argued. “Gosh, defensive much?”
“Tyler, do you really want me to hit you again?” Tara asked.
“You two need to chill,” Hannah said turning to look at them. “We’ve got a five hour flight ahead of us.”
That cause both Tara and Tyler to be quiet. Tara leaned against Justin taking a hold of his hand as she looked out the window at the passing city. They reached the airport sometime later. There was only a small crowd which consisted of a few photographers but it was nothing like it had been when they had arrived. Teddy told them to follow the same formation they used upon arriving: Hannah and Justin first, then Tara and Tyler and Teddy bringing up the back.
Once they were safely inside they headed toward security and were able to get through quickly before being escorted to a private waiting room. Tyler headed off to find something to eat while Hannah went to call Markus with an update. Tara and Justin were sitting in one corner of the room while Teddy patrolled the area.
“You gonna see Randy tonight?” she asked resting her head on his shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
“I don’t know,” he replied. “It might be late and he has school tomorrow.”
“I don’t think Susan would mind if you tucked him in,” she replied.
He shrugged.
“I don’t know about you, but I sure missed him,” she said. “He would love New York don’t you think?”
Justin looked down at her and smiled. He kissed the top of her head hugging her close to him. “He would love it here,” Justin agreed. “He’d get a kick out of your place.”
She laughed. “You think Susan would let him come?” she asked.
“She might,” he replied.
Tyler came back a few minutes later and sat down across from them, snacking on some chips.
“Is that the best thing here?” Tara asked him.
He smiled at her. “Yup,” he replied.
There was silence for a while before Tyler spoke up again.
“So we’ve got about a month and a half left,” he started. “Have you guys talked about what you’re gonna do?”
Tara tried her best not to blow up at him for bringing up the subject. She and Justin had been pretty good about ignoring the pink elephant in the room but as time went on it was going to get harder and harder. It was something that needed to be discussed.
Tara reached for Justin’s hand and held it tightly as she turned back to Tyler who had been watching them closely. He seemed to get the hint and went back to crunching on his chips. Tara sighed and leaned her head on Justin’s shoulder.
They waited for an hour or so before the plane was ready for them to board. Teddy walked them toward the terminal.
Tara hugged him tightly. “Bye Teddy thanks for watching over us,” she said.
He grinned and hugged her back. “Of course kiddo,” he said. “Be safe out there and I’ll see you soon huh?”
Tara nodded. Teddy reached over and shook hands with Justin. “You take care of her huh?” he asked.
Justin nodded. “Of course,” he replied.
Tara and Justin headed onto the plane first, followed by Tyler and Hannah after they had said goodbye to Teddy. They sat in the same spots as before: Tyler near the front, Hannah in the middle seats and Tara and Justin in the back.
The flight seemed to be longer on the way back then it was there. By the time they got back it was almost 11 o’clock and Justin decided he wouldn’t go to see Randy until tomorrow. He sent Susan a text letting her knew he would pick him up from school and take him for a few days.
Once the plane landed, they all exited and headed to a waiting SUV. They were going to head to the bungalows, and Tara would drive Justin home from there. It still had been undecided whether Tara would stay the night with Justin or head back to the bungalows because she had an early day tomorrow.
Tara drove in silence, like most of the trip back home. Something had been nagging at them both and as much as they didn’t want to admit it, they both knew what it was. Tyler’s words had stirred them. Tara would be leaving in a month and a half. What would happen then?
Tara pulled into Justin’s driveway, beside his truck and put the car into park.
“Are you going to stay?” he asked looking at her.
Tara looked at him then at the house, before turning back to him. “I probably shouldn’t,” she replied. “I’ve got to be up at six.”
He nodded in understanding. She reached over and took his hand, causing him to look at her.
“I had a great time this weekend,” he spoke. “Thank you for inviting me.”
She smiled. “I enjoyed the company,” she replied. “Thank you for coming.”
She leaned over and pressed her lips to his lightly. Justin lifted his other hand to hold Tara’s cheek lightly as he deepened the kiss.
They broke it a minute later, Justin leaning toward her. “Are you sure you don’t want to spend the night?” he smirked.
Tara giggled and reached over the console to hug him tightly, burying her face in his neck. Justin rubbed her back lightly and held her tight.
“Have a good time with Randy tomorrow,” she whispered. “Don’t let him open the shoes until I can see okay?”
He nodded with a laugh. They got out of the car as Tara popped the trunk so he could get his bags out. She helped carry them to the doorstep and waited for Justin to open the door. They slipped his things inside before Tara reached up and hugged him again tightly, wrapping her arms around his neck. Justin hugged her back wrapping his arms around her waist. She broke the hug and looked up at him, standing on her toes to kiss his lips lightly.
“You should get going,” he smiled. “You have an early day.”
She nodded. “I’ll call you okay?”
“Okay, be careful,” he said. “Text me when you get back.”
She smiled. “I will, love you,” she said.
“Love you too,” he returned the smile.
She walked down the steps and got into her car. Justin waited until she drove down the road before he walked into the house. He left everything where it was; too jet lagged to care and walked into his bedroom. He changed quickly before lying down on the bed and waited for Tara’s text.
Tara got back to the bungalows a few minutes later. She tried to keep herself from thinking about the awkwardness that just occurred. She chocked it up to them being tired and decided to not think about it anymore.
Hannah sat on the couch with her laptop on her lap typing furiously when Tara walked in.
“Aren’t you exhausted?” Tara asked as she kicked off her shoes.
“I am, but I gotta make sure Markus knows what is going on,” Hannah replied as she continued to type.
Tara rolled her eyes; Markus was not her best friend right now.
“You didn’t want to stay?” Hannah asked her.
Tara shook her head. “I have to wake up at the butt crack of dawn,” she replied.
Hannah giggled. “Oh,” she replied.
Tara then walked to her room. “See you in the morning,” she replied.
“Night,” Hannah responded.
Tara closed the door and changed into a long T-shirt before lying in her bed. She pulled out her cell phone and sent Justin a quick text before putting her phone back on the night stand and turning over falling into a dreamless sleep.
Author's Chapter Notes:
It’s been forever and a day. Sorry once again. No excuses, just a busy life and a little bit of writers block. Summer is here though and I have no school for a couple months. So I will try and get this story finished. I have an outline, just gotta get the ideas to write the chapters. Thanks for those of you who are still reading! I appreciate it a lot!!! Drop me a line and let me know what you think. Thanks Christine for continuing to look over the chapters, even though your mind is elsewhere sometimes. :-D
Chapter End Notes:
Comments? Questions? E-mail me at Spacey1141@hotmail.com
Incomplete
Sassy Spacey is the author of 20 other stories.
This story is a favorite of 10 members. Members who liked Something More also liked 443 other stories.
This story is a favorite of 10 members. Members who liked Something More also liked 443 other stories.
Story Tags: Be the first to add a tag to this story
