“Don’t touch me,” Blair spat as Justin sat down next to her on her couch. He had moved to hand her a glass of water and accidentally brushed his hand on her arm.
Justin rolled his eyes and did his best to keep his mouth shut. She was getting harder to be around as the days wore on. Despite the fact that she was beautiful, and becoming more beautiful as time wore on because of the baby, she had a bite to her. She may look sweet, but when she has something on her mind, she will say it. And if the hormones were kicking in and Justin happened to be around, she’d let him have it.
“I don’t want water, Justin,” she told him through clenched teeth. “I asked you to get me some chips and salsa.” Blair glared at him, her bright blue eyes boring into his own blue eyes.
She was terribly uncomfortable. Since it was nearing the middle of July in Florida, it was to be assumed that besides the high temperature that was making her uncomfortable, the high humidity wasn’t helping much either. Blair had air conditioning in her house, but just that week it broke. She had called to have someone sent over to fix it, but the soonest they could have someone over was following week.
“I haven’t had a chance to go to the store to get the right kind of salsa yet. You finished the last of the only salsa you’ll eat yesterday.”
Blair stood up, while groaning because of her back and had to walk slowly to the bathroom. Upon standing, she felt the sudden need to use the restroom. Just before closing the bathroom door, she shouted to Justin that it was unbearable in this heat and she hated him making her this way. Justin clenched his fists and stood from the couch. He shut his eyes and took a deep breath. He, too, was beginning to feel the effects of pregnancy, and not in a good way. He had been to her house every day since the incident on the telephone. It was now the weekend and he was learning that this was what his life would be for a while. A long while. He had been spending an awful lot of time with her. He had only spent a couple hours in the studio while she was working, but when she was free he would find himself over at her house, asking if there was anything she could do to make her feel better. He was beginning to see her array of food cravings from chips and salsa, and no sugar added vanilla instant pudding were just a couple.
It was taking Blair a long time in the bathroom, but just when Justin was beginning to get worried, she emerged from her room wearing a different outfit than what she had been wearing prior to her trip to the bathroom. Dressed in a pair of pink knit shorts and a white tank top with her blonde hair in a messy bun, she walked slowly towards Justin, who was now holding a glass of orange juice in his hand, still glaring at him.
“It’s hot in here.”
“Blair, I’m sorry that they can’t get here this week, but I don’t know what to do to fix it right now. Do you want to drink some ice water and maybe sit outside for a while? There might be a breeze.”
“No, Justin, I don’t water and I don’t want to sit outside. There are bugs.”
“The book you gave me to read said that you should be drinking six to eight cups of water a day,” he told her, offering the glass of water she had rejected just minutes beforehand. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m hot,” she sniffled.
Justin sighed and wrapped his arms around her. “I know,” he said softly. “Let’s go to my house. The air is on and working and I’ve got a pool if you want to get in and cool down. Come on.”
Before leaving for Justin’s house, Blair grabbed a bathing suit just in case she felt like taking a dip in the pool. She was amazed at the beauty of his home. It was extravagant, like she expected, but still classically beautiful. She assumed she must have made a noise of amazement because Justin had turned his head and chuckled a bit. She commented on how beautiful she thought his house was and he told her that it was only beautiful because he didn’t help design it. He laughed, but Blair did not. She got out of his car and walked slowly to the front door of the house, her bathing suit and purse in hand, admiring and taking it all in. She touched the woodwork and detail on the front door. Justin unlocked the door and motioned for her to proceed.
“Would you mind giving me a tour?” Blair asked, setting her purse and bathing suit down on the glass table in the entryway/foyer.
“Not at all,” Justin said, closing the door behind himself. He removed his shoes, Blair following suit, but only blindly. She flung her flip-flops off her feet. She had said that they were really the only shoes that felt comfortable on her feet anymore. She said that not only was her belly expanding but her feet as well.
Blair commented on how good it felt inside the house because of the air conditioning as they walked down the hallway towards a guest room, a bathroom and his office. She noted the hardwood floors, light fixtures, wallpaper and paint, artwork on the walls, and in the office, some of his *NSYNC memorabilia. She pointed to their first gold album when Justin was still very young. Justin laughed as he blushed and tried to get her to leave the office.
They walked back down the hallway towards the stairway, living room, dining room, den, kitchen and laundry room. Blair felt herself getting jealous upon seeing his kitchen. It was her favorite room she had seen so far. It was so large and well planned. It was beautiful. They next walked up the stairs to reveal three more guest rooms and the master bed- and bathroom. Everything was so clean and color coordinated. Everything flowed together. It was so beautiful.
When they made their way back down stairs, Blair said that she was getting thirsty and that she had to go to the bathroom again. She saw a door at the end of the hall and asked where it led. Justin told her it was his own studio, but told her he’d show her the studio some other time. Justin told her he’d get her a glass of water while she went to the bathroom and then asked her if she wanted to go in the pool for a while. She thought about it for a moment and then decided that going in the pool might feel good.
She grabbed her bathing suit and reentered the bathroom. Justin had run up the stairs to change into his own bathing suit and to grab two fluffy towels. When he came back downstairs, he waited in the living room, on the couch, for Blair to join him. He began to ponder their relationship. Although he liked her as a person, he didn’t feel anything romantic for her. Sure, she was funny and nice, but there was just something missing. Maybe it was the fact that even she had told him she didn’t want to start a relationship anything but platonic. He was okay with that though. Just because she was gorgeous-
And then she walked down the hall and entered the living room. Her arms were crossed over her somewhat bulging tummy as if she were embarrassed. She had emerged wearing a red and pink tropical print bikini that tied around the neck and back as well as on the hips. It looked as though she would spill out of the top of her bathing suit at any moment. Obviously, she had yet to go shopping for a maternity bathing suit. She took a sip of the water Justin had handed to her and he noticed her eyes glistening as well as the fact that she refused to look him in the eye. Thinking the water might help her calm down, she took another sip and silently followed Justin out the glass French doors that led out to the patio and pool.
Justin set the towels down on one of the lounge chairs along the edge of the pool. Blair set her plastic cup of water on the pavement near the steps of the pool. She put her feet on the first step of the pool and sat down on the edge. She watched Justin dive in on the other end and swim to the steps in one breath. He surfaced, taking a deep breath, and sat on the top step.
“What’s up?” he asked, expecting her to tell him what was bothering her.
“Nothing,” she shook her head, and then took another sip of her water. “I’m okay. It’s just a little chilly, the water is.”
“First you’re hot, now you’re cold,” Justin joked, “Make up your mind, woman!”
Blair inhaled quickly, her bottom lip quivered.
“Oh, Blair,” Justin said, placing his hand on her knee. “Blair, I was just kidding.” Justin scooted up one step so only his feet were in the water. “I was just kidding, it’s okay. I’m sorry.” He wrapped his arms around her small, warm body once again, completely forgetting he was soaking wet. She jumped at the contact and from the coldness of the water dripping onto her. “Oh, hey, I forgot I was wet, sorry.”
Blair laughed slightly through her tears as she pushed him away from her playfully.
“Oh, pushing me away, are we?” he asked in a playful tone. “You wanna be like that?”
With her plastic cup still in hand, Justin put one arm under her legs and the other around her back. In one swift movement, he lifted her up and carried her into the pool. She shrieked and kicked her legs, screaming something about being careful because of the baby. He told her to calm down, and that she was lucky he remembered the baby or he would have thrown her over his shoulder and dropped her into the pool. She told him to put her down, but when he asked about the timing, she told him to take her to the edge of the pool. Justin ignored her pleas. Without warning, she dumped her ice water on his head, dropped her cup in the water and threw her arms around his neck, holding onto him tightly. He shook due to the ice cold water sliding down his body and dunked himself a little bit under the 80-degree pool water. He carried her around the pool, threatening to drop her in the water every few seconds but never did. She laughed loudly as he ran as best he could in the pool while she squealed and kicked her feet more for show than anything else.
Their fun stopped when they heard someone clear their throat. A man Blair recognized stood about a foot away from the edge of the pool with his arms crossed over his chest. He had his sunglasses on and an amused smile played on his face.
“Having fun?” the man asked.
“Jace!” Justin exclaimed, dropping Blair off at the steps and he himself getting out of the pool to meet his friend after quickly grabbing a towel and wrapping it around his waist. “You’re in town?”
“Yeah, if you checked your messages you would know that,” he said, pretending to be rude. He lifted his sunglasses off of his face and placed them on top of his head. He smiled and hugged his friend in the manly fashion that guys hug. He didn’t care that his expensive vintage t-shirt got wet.
In the meantime, Blair had exited the pool and grabbed a towel. She wrapped it around her body self-consciously stood at the table examining her nails. Her nail polish was chipping.
“A friend of yours?” JC asked, motioning towards Blair. “What happened to Angie?”
“Oh, that’s Blair,” Justin said, taking a few steps towards her.
Once she heard her name, she looked up at the two friends. Justin put his hand on her bare back. “Blair, this is my friend JC. JC, this is Blair.”
“Blair,” JC smiled, nodding at her, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Blair laughed uncomfortably, “Uh huh, you too.”
“So, how do you know each other?” JC asked, pulling out a chair at the patio table and sitting down. Blair and Justin looked at each other quickly and then sat down at the same time. “Long story?”
“Sort of,” Justin shrugged his shoulders. “Um, Blair and I met a while back and… uh,” he struggled with the rest.
“You’re just now hooking up?” JC smirked and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
“Actually no,” Blair interjected, “We’re not together.”
“Then what’s the deal with you two?” JC asked. “You guys were looking pretty comfy there in the pool. What, with you carrying her around and all, J,” he winked. What a goofball. “What’s the deal, what’s going on?”
“You know how I talked to you a few days back and told you about the pregnant stuff?” Justin asked, wishing this awkward moment would be over.
“This is her?”
“Guilty,” Blair said quietly as she looked down to her lap.
