Easy to Fall in Love

I stretched and slowly opened my eyes, focusing on the unfamiliar room. Faded pink curtains covered the open window, soft light fluttering in. I squinted and looked down at the flowered bedspread pulled up to my chest. I heard voices coming from somewhere inside the house as I pushed myself up and out of bed. I opened one of the two doors on the far side of the room and found a closet full of old coats. I tried the second door and it was a bathroom. I splashed some water on my face and walked back, looking for my bag. Inside the house was very cold, so I grabbed a sweater and walked into the hallway.

“I should go check on her, I think.” I heard Justin’s voice in another room. I remembered where I was and smiled.

“Oh Justin, let the poor girl sleep. She must be exhausted, driving in the middle of the night.” An older women’s voice followed. I turned a corner, walking into a dining room. Sitting at the table were Justin and his father, who was flipping through the paper. His mother was in the kitchen, humming with her back to them. I stood there awkwardly for a second, waiting for Justin to look up from his phone. I bit my lip and glanced at the photos on the wall and the antique figurines on the shelves.

“Hey Mom, when did you start a garden?” Jimmy appeared at the back door, wiping his shoes on the welcome mat. “Oh hi; I didn’t know you were up yet.” Jimmy smiled at me and walked into the kitchen. Justin finally noticed me standing there and he quickly got up. I walked over to him and we just stood there looking at each other trying not to smile and I was trying not to grab him and kiss him all over.

“Oh, is that Donia?” Justin’s mother hurried in. “It’s so nice to finally meet you.” She smiled and it was Justin’s smile. She pulled me into a hug and I hugged back, looking over her shoulder at Justin, who was grinning from ear to ear.

“You too, Mrs. Richards.” I pulled back. “Justin talks about you all the time.” Justin told his mother everything—they were pretty much best friends. It was on the list of the many things I loved about him.

“Please sweetie, call me Julie. Are you hungry? You must be hungry after the long night you had. Do you like pancakes? I’m going to go make you kids something to eat.” She scurried back into the kitchen and started banging pots and pans around. I crossed my arms across my chest and rocked back on my heels, looking at the ground and them at Justin. He stared right back with a smirk and we just stood there next to each other until Justin’s dad cleared his throat.

“Well,” Justin’s dad got up and walked over, “I’m Jim.” He smiled warmly. “Glad to meet you. I’m going to go help your mother.” He patted Justin’s shoulder, raised his eyebrows, and joined the rest of the family in the kitchen. The slightest blush rose to Justin’s cheeks and he pulled me along into the hallway, backing me into the wall and kissing me. I placed my hands on his cheeks and stood on my tiptoes, eagerly returning it.

“Good morning.” He smiled down at me. He was wearing his glasses and his hair was slightly mussed from sleeping. He looked so adorable, I could hardly handle it.

“After that, I’d say great morning.” I stroked his arm. “Your family is great. Like the nicest people ever.” I already felt tremendously welcome around them. More welcome then I do in my own family sometimes.

“Yeah, they’re pretty cool.” He looked down and smiled kind of bashfully. “Sorry I wasn’t there when you woke up. I felt kind of awkward shacking up in front of my parents, so I directed your zombie-like self to the guest room and I crashed in my old room.”

“It’s okay. I feel the same way. I don’t want your parents’ first memory of me being us coming out of your room all giddy and…you know.” I reached up and ran both my hands through his hair, smiling. He wrapped his arms around my lower waist and hugged me tight to his body. He relaxed his embrace slightly and leaned down to peck me on the lips once. He kissed me a second time a little longer, and then a third time for much longer. He pressed my back up against the wall and moved his hands to either side of my head, leaning into me. I placed my hands and the sides of his neck and used my index finger to softly trace a line under his jaw. I pulled away and laughed, leaning my head on his chest. He slid his arms around my waist again.

“What’s so funny?” he asked laughing a little too. He started to sway back forth slightly.

“Nothing. I’m just happy.” I closed my eyes and rested there for a second, just breathing in his scent; a mix of laundry soap and his woodsy body spray. I lifted my head and stared into his beautiful blue eyes. “We should probably go back into the dining room in case someone comes looking for us. We wouldn’t want them to think we snuck away to do inappropriate things.” I brushed a stray lock of hair from his forehead and unwrapped myself from his arms, but laced his fingers tightly with mine.

“If only we had actually done them. Sigh.” He fake sighed and I pulled on his hand, reluctantly following me. We walked back to the dining room right as his mom was setting the table.

“Oh, I was just going to go call for you two. Well, now that you’re here, Justin, why don’t you take out the trash? Donia, you can help me finish setting the table.” She shooed Justin out of the room and handed me the plates and silverware. “Just set those on the table Hon,” she smiled at me and walked back into the kitchen. I placed the plates and silverware on each of the mats and moments later Justin’s mom came back out holding a plate stacked high with pancakes and a bowl of fruit. She left again and returned with a tray of syrup, butter and jam. Justin opened the back door and took the tray from his mom, setting it on the table. She patted his shoulder and went back to the kitchen.

“How much food did your mom make? We were gone for like 12 minutes.”

“A lot. She loves company.” He sat down at the table and pulled me into the chair next to his. His mom made one last trip from the kitchen with a pitcher or orange juice and some glasses.
“Justin, go outside and get Jimmy and your father. Lord knows what they’re doing out there.” She started serving the food and Justin got up. He opened the back door and called to Jimmy and his dad, telling them breakfast was ready. He sat back down, this time across from me, and they busted through the doorway a minute later. “Alright boys, have a seat.” Julie settled in next to me, Jimmy sat next to Justin, and Jim sat at the head of the table. Julie topped my plate high with pancakes and fruit. She served the guys and I buttered my pancakes, eyeing Justin from across the table. He made a silly face and I almost dropped the jug of syrup. He covered him mouth and tried not to laugh while I glared at him.

“Justin, can you pass me the juice?” I asked and rubbed my leg against his. He tried to keep a straight a face while he handed me the pitcher. He was lucky we weren’t sitting next to each other and my hands couldn’t reach him. We playfully nudged each other under the table while his parents asked about our plans for the day and the entire time Justin was on the edge of laughing out loud. He was barely containing his smile and had to bite his tongue to keep from making any funny noises as I slid my foot farther up his leg.

“I think I’m just going to take Donia around to the old hangouts and cool secrets spots. We’re pretty much going to hang out on our own today. I’m going to be with the guys on tour for weeks anyway, so we just want to be alone today.” Justin cut up his pancakes and took another bite, washing it down with coffee.

“Yeah, we call all tell by how you’re playing footsie under the table,” Jimmy remarked, sipping his juice. I choked on a slice of banana and Justin finally let out the laugh he’d been holding. His mom shook her head at Jimmy and rubbed my arm encouragingly. “Jimmy, why isn’t Hailee here?” he replied with something about her visiting her sister. They all started another conversation and I looked at Justin over my glass of juice. It tasted funny with my pancakes so I reached for his coffee mug. He protested and I made a puppy-dog face. A sucker for pouty lips, he rolled his eyes at me and gave up. I blew him a kiss and he smiled to himself. I could get used to mornings like this.