A Lily Among Thorns

𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚁𝚃𝚈

✞ J U L I A N   W E S T B R O O K ✞

"If it's going to bother you, I can just stop by your apartment tomorrow. I don't want you slipping up or anything," Celai tells Julian as she pushes the front door closed behind her. "It's late at night, you'll be sleeping in my room, temptation will practically breed in there," she lists off.

Julian smiles at her concern. "I can handle you."

She raises her eyebrow and crosses her arms. "What is that supposed to mean?"

He leans in and presses his lips against hers, anything to wipe the smug look off her face. "It means I'm here and I'm not leaving until morning," he says.

Celai chases his lips for another kiss before pushing her back on the door. Julian notices the red coloring in her ears, a signal of her blushing. "You get on my nerves," she mutters as she walks past him.

He chuckles as he begins to follow her up the stairs. "What did I do?" She whips her head and mugs him before turning back around, making him laugh harder.

He follows her to her bedroom and immediately feels her personality throughout it; he's never seen more than what he saw while FaceTiming her, but now he can definitely see that it fits her with it being so nicely decorated and clean.

Julian can't help but to look around her room to get a peek inside her mind. He notices Scripture from the Bible, encouraging quotes, and pictures down from her childhood to yesterday all splattered across her wall in an organized fashion. 

His eyes land on two particular pictures that hang above her bed that stood in the corner. One is of her totaled car and the other is a picture of him and her. Julian doesn't remember it at first, but he then realizes it's from the day she became his girlfriend.

He cocks his head a bit, not being able to make a correlation between the two. He looks at Celai. "What's up with those?" he asks, pointing.

Celai looks in his direction. "You weren't supposed to see those, but oh well. It's my unfinished puzzle. I truly believe God is molding me into a testimony and everything is happening for a reason."

Julian smiles at the thought of him being a part of her testimony. "I hope I stick around to see it all come to light," he says.

She smiles. "I'm sure you will." She turns and pulls out the extra mattress from underneath her bed, Julian helping her.

"When's the last time someone slept on this thing?" he asks, trying not to scrunch his face up.

"Don't ask questions, just know that it's clean," Celai grins. She goes over to one of her drawers and pulls out a set of night clothes. She faces Julian, looking like she wants to say something, but she quickly retracts her words and flees to the bathroom connected to her bedroom.

Julian chuckles and meets her on the other side of the closed bathroom door. "Nervous to speak to me?"

"No, but if I would've said that I wish I had a pair of clothes for you to get comfortable in, you probably would've laughed at me."

"Nah, I just would've said I'm glad you don't."

"Were you gonna look at me sideways if I did?"