If I Was Your Boyfriend
seventy.
‘Take care of yourself, will ya?’ Justin wraps his arms around me at the airport. Justin was on his way back to Los Angeles with Garrett and Rocky.
‘Stay out of trouble.’ I tease as he leans in kissing my nose.
‘I’ll think about it.’ He smirks playfully. ‘See you soon baby.’
‘I’ll see you soon.’
‘I love you.’ He gives me a tight squeeze before releasing me.
‘I love you, Jay.’
‘I’ve been waiting for you to say that since I’ve been here.’ He looks down at me with a small smile. ‘Bye Chrissy.’
‘Bye, call me when you land.’ I call after him as he hurries to catch up with Garrett.
‘I will!’ he shouts back waving before going through the airport security. ‘Let’s go, kid.’ Danielle wraps an arm around me as we join Paul. We make it back to the hotel where we both immediately crash from exhaustion.
~*~
A week later
‘Thank you so much for coming!’ I help Danielle out of the car with her bags. Her mom immediately hurries outside pulling us in for a hug. ‘You made it less boring.’
‘Thanks for having me. It was amazing.’ Danielle waves as I climb back into the SUV. ‘Tell Justin I said hi!’
‘I will!’
‘Where to now?’ Paul wonders curiously.
‘Justin’s apartment.’ I reply looking at my phone. It was three in the afternoon here in California and I was home a day early so I was going to surprise Justin. I couldn’t wait to see my mom and Jeff either. Before I know it Paul was parking down the road from Justin’s place letting me out to walk the rest of the way.
‘Will you need me to come back?’ Paul asks curiously. ‘I could bring you home.’
‘No, you’ve driven me around for weeks. Go enjoy your vacation time. See you soon.’ I insist before jumping out of the car. ‘Thank you Paul.’
‘Anytime Chrissy.’ He retorts before I close the door. He waits until I reach the steps to pull away from the curb. I peek into the front window, no sign of Justin. With the key he gave me I quietly unlock the door closing it behind me. Rocky runs from his bed in the corner of the room happily yelping.
‘No Rock. Ssssh.’ I get on my knees and stroke his fur. ‘I missed you too baby. Where’s daddy? Where’s Justin?’ as if he knew exactly what I was saying he runs up the stairs to the apartment. I follow behind him where he leads me to Justin who was laying in the bed sleep. I giggle to myself as I step closer to him. Rocky jumps onto the bed and onto Justin then starts licking his face.
‘Stop Rock. Stop.’ He mutters not rolling over. I plop down onto the bed as well leaning over Justin. ‘Roc- what the…?’ his eyes flutter open staring at me. ‘C-Chrissy?’ he stutters obviously surprised.
‘In the flesh.’ I tease with a smile. He sits up immediately wrapping his arms around me. ‘I missed you too.’ I say hugging him back.
‘What on Earth are you doing here? You nearly gave me a heart attack.’ He laughs running his slim fingers through his messy bed hair.
‘I finished with every thing a day early so here I am. Surprise.’
‘You’re always the best surprise.’ Justin replies cupping my face with his hand. We share a quick slow kiss before he stands from the bed.
‘You’ve actually managed to keep it fairly clean.’ I hint looking around the apartment. There were a few tee shirts here and there and leftover McDonalds sack on the dresser.
‘Told you.’ Justin says taking me downstairs.
‘I am starving.’ I announce walking over to the refrigerator opening it. A 2-liter of Sprite, ketchup, a carton of milk. I check the cabinets. Empty. ‘Justin you don’t have any food.’ I laugh.
‘Yeah, I’ve been needing to go to the store.’
‘So what have you been eating?’
‘McDonalds, Pizza Hut, In-N-Out, Panda Express, PF Wang’s.’ He lists about a dozen of fast food restaurants.
‘You can’t eat junk all the time.’ I wrap my arms around his neck standing on my tip-toes to look at him.
‘Yet another reason why you should live here.’
‘How about I go with you to Walmart and get some food?’
‘Let me put a shirt on.’ Justin says with a smile.
‘We could drop Rocky off at Petco on the way. He needs a haircut.’
‘That was on my to-do list too.’ Justin disappears up the stairs while I wait for him by the garage. He comes back carrying Rocky in one arm with his phone and wallet in his other hand. I climb into the passenger side of Justin's Range Rover then close the door. ‘So how was Germany?’
‘Germany was amazing. There were so many fans at the premiere which was really surprising.’
‘I'm so proud of you.’ Justin takes a moment to look at me as we're backing out of the garage.
‘I'm proud of you. Your music journals are so amazing and deep. I love them all.’
‘Thank you.’ He smiles pressing a button on the steering wheel of his car. The garage door slowly started to come back down once we were out. ‘The bat mobile would've came in handy at that Halloween party.’
‘I was thinking that when we were there actually. How cool it would've been to pull up in the bat mobile.’
‘Next year.’ He laughs driving on the road. My heart flutters as I remain silent. He just said next year. So that's another 12 months he sees himself with me. I hold his hand in mine, never wanting it to leave mine. As Justin's driving I scribble down a list on the back of an old receipt. We drop Rocky off at Petco to get cleaned and a haircut. ‘We'll be back to pick him up in about an hour or two.’ I hear Justin say.
‘We'll have him ready.’ the worker calls back. Justin and I walk back to the car and head over to the Walmart near by.
‘So what are we getting?’ Justin pushes the basket beside me.
‘First the essentials. More milk, eggs, and bread. Then we'll need to get some cereal so there'll always be something to eat in the morning. Can't go wrong with peanut butter and jelly. Now think about what you would want for dinner.’ I say.
‘Spaghetti actually sounds really good.’
‘So what do you usually need for spaghetti?’
‘Well, the sauce, the noodles, parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top, some kind of ground beef for meat balls, and monkey bread. I cannot have spaghetti without monkey bread.’ Justin laughs turning down the condiments aisle. Now were starting to get stares and nods with every aisle we went into. It was odd having people take your picture when you’re just in Walmart. A completely normal thing. People go to Walmart every day. We need to get food like everyone else.
‘Have you ever tried sliced sausage in it with the meat balls?’
‘In spaghetti? No.’ he shakes his head stopping the basket in front of the pasta sauce.
‘You have to let me make it for you then.’ I say. ‘You’ll love it, I promise.’
‘My girlfriend is offering to make me dinner I think I already love it.’ Justin grins getting a couple of jars of the sauce.
‘Okay you have breakfast, some lunch, dinner, and now sweets. I think this is enough for now.’ I put the pack of chocolate chip cookies in the basket as well.
‘Wait, how about some whip cream?’ I watch a playful smirk spreads across Justin’s face as he lifts a white can in the air. I lightly pinch his arm causing him to wince.
‘You wish.’
‘You have no idea how bad I do.’ He says in a raspy whisper against my earlobe making my knees wobbly and stomach tingly.
‘Come on, Rocky’s waiting.’ I change the subject pulling my boyfriend away from the whip cream display. We wait in the line as the worker slowly checks out the people ahead of us.
‘Excuse me.’ The woman in front of us turns around as she’s waiting too. ‘My daughter is a huge fan. Could you both sign this piece of paper?’ she hands me a crinkled old receipt.
‘Sure.’ I agree scribbling my signature down and handing it to Justin. He signs his name and hands it back to the lady with a smile.
‘There you go.’ Justin says once the paper is in her hand.
‘Oh she just won’t believe this. Could I record you saying hi to her?’ Justin and I exchange looks, asking what the other wants to do.
‘Okay.’ Justin says before me, ‘what’s her name?’
‘Her name’s Annabelle.’ The woman was already holding up her iPhone. ‘Ready?’
‘Hi Annabelle!’ Justin starts off waving.
‘We want to thank you for being a great fan!’ I add in.
‘And thank your mom for asking us.’ We wave once more before the woman puts the phone down.
‘Oh thank you so much. She’s going to be so happy when she’s out of treatment.’ The woman’s eyes are filling with tears.
‘Treatment?’ I ask leaving Justin’s side to stand beside this stranger.
‘Well surgery.’ The woman corrects herself. ‘They found a cancerous tumor in her liver so they’re going to try and remove it. I’m buying a few of her favorite things for when she wakes up.’ The woman gestures to her basket full of pink items. ‘She’s so beautiful.’
‘I’d love to meet her.’ I pipe up, ‘if you wouldn’t mind.’
‘So would I.’ Justin quickly adds in.
‘Are you kidding? That would make her so happy. She’s at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Annabelle Thirwall. Room 453. I’m Diane, by the way.’
‘Well it was really great to meet you Diane.’ Justin shakes her hand as he steps in front of her at the register, ‘allow me.’ Before she could object Justin hands the employee a plastic card.
‘Oh my goodness.’ Diane is bawling at this point, ‘thank you so much.
‘Anytime. We’ll be around there sometime this week to meet little Annabelle.’ Justin signs the receipt handing it to the worker before he starts scanning our items.
‘Thank you so much.’ Diane repeats wiping her eyes as she walks away.
‘Stay out of trouble.’ I tease as he leans in kissing my nose.
‘I’ll think about it.’ He smirks playfully. ‘See you soon baby.’
‘I’ll see you soon.’
‘I love you.’ He gives me a tight squeeze before releasing me.
‘I love you, Jay.’
‘I’ve been waiting for you to say that since I’ve been here.’ He looks down at me with a small smile. ‘Bye Chrissy.’
‘Bye, call me when you land.’ I call after him as he hurries to catch up with Garrett.
‘I will!’ he shouts back waving before going through the airport security. ‘Let’s go, kid.’ Danielle wraps an arm around me as we join Paul. We make it back to the hotel where we both immediately crash from exhaustion.
~*~
A week later
‘Thank you so much for coming!’ I help Danielle out of the car with her bags. Her mom immediately hurries outside pulling us in for a hug. ‘You made it less boring.’
‘Thanks for having me. It was amazing.’ Danielle waves as I climb back into the SUV. ‘Tell Justin I said hi!’
‘I will!’
‘Where to now?’ Paul wonders curiously.
‘Justin’s apartment.’ I reply looking at my phone. It was three in the afternoon here in California and I was home a day early so I was going to surprise Justin. I couldn’t wait to see my mom and Jeff either. Before I know it Paul was parking down the road from Justin’s place letting me out to walk the rest of the way.
‘Will you need me to come back?’ Paul asks curiously. ‘I could bring you home.’
‘No, you’ve driven me around for weeks. Go enjoy your vacation time. See you soon.’ I insist before jumping out of the car. ‘Thank you Paul.’
‘Anytime Chrissy.’ He retorts before I close the door. He waits until I reach the steps to pull away from the curb. I peek into the front window, no sign of Justin. With the key he gave me I quietly unlock the door closing it behind me. Rocky runs from his bed in the corner of the room happily yelping.
‘No Rock. Ssssh.’ I get on my knees and stroke his fur. ‘I missed you too baby. Where’s daddy? Where’s Justin?’ as if he knew exactly what I was saying he runs up the stairs to the apartment. I follow behind him where he leads me to Justin who was laying in the bed sleep. I giggle to myself as I step closer to him. Rocky jumps onto the bed and onto Justin then starts licking his face.
‘Stop Rock. Stop.’ He mutters not rolling over. I plop down onto the bed as well leaning over Justin. ‘Roc- what the…?’ his eyes flutter open staring at me. ‘C-Chrissy?’ he stutters obviously surprised.
‘In the flesh.’ I tease with a smile. He sits up immediately wrapping his arms around me. ‘I missed you too.’ I say hugging him back.
‘What on Earth are you doing here? You nearly gave me a heart attack.’ He laughs running his slim fingers through his messy bed hair.
‘I finished with every thing a day early so here I am. Surprise.’
‘You’re always the best surprise.’ Justin replies cupping my face with his hand. We share a quick slow kiss before he stands from the bed.
‘You’ve actually managed to keep it fairly clean.’ I hint looking around the apartment. There were a few tee shirts here and there and leftover McDonalds sack on the dresser.
‘Told you.’ Justin says taking me downstairs.
‘I am starving.’ I announce walking over to the refrigerator opening it. A 2-liter of Sprite, ketchup, a carton of milk. I check the cabinets. Empty. ‘Justin you don’t have any food.’ I laugh.
‘Yeah, I’ve been needing to go to the store.’
‘So what have you been eating?’
‘McDonalds, Pizza Hut, In-N-Out, Panda Express, PF Wang’s.’ He lists about a dozen of fast food restaurants.
‘You can’t eat junk all the time.’ I wrap my arms around his neck standing on my tip-toes to look at him.
‘Yet another reason why you should live here.’
‘How about I go with you to Walmart and get some food?’
‘Let me put a shirt on.’ Justin says with a smile.
‘We could drop Rocky off at Petco on the way. He needs a haircut.’
‘That was on my to-do list too.’ Justin disappears up the stairs while I wait for him by the garage. He comes back carrying Rocky in one arm with his phone and wallet in his other hand. I climb into the passenger side of Justin's Range Rover then close the door. ‘So how was Germany?’
‘Germany was amazing. There were so many fans at the premiere which was really surprising.’
‘I'm so proud of you.’ Justin takes a moment to look at me as we're backing out of the garage.
‘I'm proud of you. Your music journals are so amazing and deep. I love them all.’
‘Thank you.’ He smiles pressing a button on the steering wheel of his car. The garage door slowly started to come back down once we were out. ‘The bat mobile would've came in handy at that Halloween party.’
‘I was thinking that when we were there actually. How cool it would've been to pull up in the bat mobile.’
‘Next year.’ He laughs driving on the road. My heart flutters as I remain silent. He just said next year. So that's another 12 months he sees himself with me. I hold his hand in mine, never wanting it to leave mine. As Justin's driving I scribble down a list on the back of an old receipt. We drop Rocky off at Petco to get cleaned and a haircut. ‘We'll be back to pick him up in about an hour or two.’ I hear Justin say.
‘We'll have him ready.’ the worker calls back. Justin and I walk back to the car and head over to the Walmart near by.
‘So what are we getting?’ Justin pushes the basket beside me.
‘First the essentials. More milk, eggs, and bread. Then we'll need to get some cereal so there'll always be something to eat in the morning. Can't go wrong with peanut butter and jelly. Now think about what you would want for dinner.’ I say.
‘Spaghetti actually sounds really good.’
‘So what do you usually need for spaghetti?’
‘Well, the sauce, the noodles, parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top, some kind of ground beef for meat balls, and monkey bread. I cannot have spaghetti without monkey bread.’ Justin laughs turning down the condiments aisle. Now were starting to get stares and nods with every aisle we went into. It was odd having people take your picture when you’re just in Walmart. A completely normal thing. People go to Walmart every day. We need to get food like everyone else.
‘Have you ever tried sliced sausage in it with the meat balls?’
‘In spaghetti? No.’ he shakes his head stopping the basket in front of the pasta sauce.
‘You have to let me make it for you then.’ I say. ‘You’ll love it, I promise.’
‘My girlfriend is offering to make me dinner I think I already love it.’ Justin grins getting a couple of jars of the sauce.
‘Okay you have breakfast, some lunch, dinner, and now sweets. I think this is enough for now.’ I put the pack of chocolate chip cookies in the basket as well.
‘Wait, how about some whip cream?’ I watch a playful smirk spreads across Justin’s face as he lifts a white can in the air. I lightly pinch his arm causing him to wince.
‘You wish.’
‘You have no idea how bad I do.’ He says in a raspy whisper against my earlobe making my knees wobbly and stomach tingly.
‘Come on, Rocky’s waiting.’ I change the subject pulling my boyfriend away from the whip cream display. We wait in the line as the worker slowly checks out the people ahead of us.
‘Excuse me.’ The woman in front of us turns around as she’s waiting too. ‘My daughter is a huge fan. Could you both sign this piece of paper?’ she hands me a crinkled old receipt.
‘Sure.’ I agree scribbling my signature down and handing it to Justin. He signs his name and hands it back to the lady with a smile.
‘There you go.’ Justin says once the paper is in her hand.
‘Oh she just won’t believe this. Could I record you saying hi to her?’ Justin and I exchange looks, asking what the other wants to do.
‘Okay.’ Justin says before me, ‘what’s her name?’
‘Her name’s Annabelle.’ The woman was already holding up her iPhone. ‘Ready?’
‘Hi Annabelle!’ Justin starts off waving.
‘We want to thank you for being a great fan!’ I add in.
‘And thank your mom for asking us.’ We wave once more before the woman puts the phone down.
‘Oh thank you so much. She’s going to be so happy when she’s out of treatment.’ The woman’s eyes are filling with tears.
‘Treatment?’ I ask leaving Justin’s side to stand beside this stranger.
‘Well surgery.’ The woman corrects herself. ‘They found a cancerous tumor in her liver so they’re going to try and remove it. I’m buying a few of her favorite things for when she wakes up.’ The woman gestures to her basket full of pink items. ‘She’s so beautiful.’
‘I’d love to meet her.’ I pipe up, ‘if you wouldn’t mind.’
‘So would I.’ Justin quickly adds in.
‘Are you kidding? That would make her so happy. She’s at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Annabelle Thirwall. Room 453. I’m Diane, by the way.’
‘Well it was really great to meet you Diane.’ Justin shakes her hand as he steps in front of her at the register, ‘allow me.’ Before she could object Justin hands the employee a plastic card.
‘Oh my goodness.’ Diane is bawling at this point, ‘thank you so much.
‘Anytime. We’ll be around there sometime this week to meet little Annabelle.’ Justin signs the receipt handing it to the worker before he starts scanning our items.
‘Thank you so much.’ Diane repeats wiping her eyes as she walks away.