Vanilla And Cocoa

Chapter 12 "Hope"

My mouth parted as all the air in my lungs escaped at the sight. Justin's hands crept to his face and hastily tried to wipe away the tears like a child. I took a timid step forward before I was completely in front of him.

I let my legs give out and fell to my knees. My fingers reached out and tenderly touched his arms. He didn't react and my arms slid up and around his neck, capturing him in a hug. He inhaled sharply and maneuvered his arms from his face to around my waist.

I felt the salty tears fall and begin to soak into my skin. With a shaky breath, I squeezed him a bit tighter and whispered against his ear. "It's going to be okay. You're fine. We're fine."

I felt him shake his head and I hushed him. "We'll talk in a minute, okay? Just try to calm down first."

He relaxed a bit in my arms and took a few deep breaths until I felt the tears slow to a stop. I released my hold on him slowly and cradled his face in my hands. I wiped away the tears trails with my thumbs tenderly and looked him dead in the eye. The gesture was intimate but I could hardly care at the moment.

He slowly nodded and I exhaled slowly, moving to sit beside him. "Could you please tell me what's going on?"

He sat there, shaking and staring at the space between his feet. He sniffed and rubbed a hand over his face in an abrupt manner. "I-I have a problem. My friends have been trying to...help but it's not working."

My eyebrows furrowed in concern. "Justin," I placed my hand over his and squeezed lightly. "How long has this been going on for?"

"I don't exactly remember. It's been awhile." He mumbled.

"Have you tried to completely quit?" I whispered.

He laughed dryly. "I think about it constantly but I'm a coward."

"A coward?"

"Too scared of the consequences. Withdrawals and such." He elaborated softly.

I pursed my lips in thought as my other hand came up to comb through Justin's hair in a calming way. Justin reacted positively and leaned closer to me, dropping his head onto my shoulder. I bit my lip as I listened to his breathing. I should tell him.

"Justin, I-" His breathing faltered but I pushed on. "The other day, I found a stash of empty boxes of citalopram underneath couch but none of them had your name on them. I just wanted to kn-"

"That's because they aren't mine. I-I mean, they are but they aren't." He shifted a bit to where his nose was tucked into the crook of my neck and I resisted the urge to shiver.

"Then where are you getting them from?" He grew quiet and I sighed softly.

"Justin, you need to get help." He stiffened and he pulled back abruptly, irritation burning in his eyes.

"You don't think I don't know that! All of you say the same things, parroting after each other like birds, it's annoying." He stood up and turned his back to me.

"Justin, it's because we care about you. We want to help you. I might not have known you for as long as they have but I'll gladly jump on that bandwagon to help you." I said, my voice going tight with desperation.

His head whipped around so fast that I thought he might have gotten a whiplash. "You aren't going to help me. You're going to try and then you're going to get frustrated once you start to realize it's hopeless. You'll throw my addiction in my face and start to blame me. It's the same thing everytime."

I laughed out of disbelief and stood up to meet him in the middle of the room. "You haven't even let me try yet and you already think you have the turnout. That isn't fair. Give me a chance," I met his gaze with pure determination. "Please."

He stared at me for a moment as the tension melted from his body with every second that passed. He let out a breathy laugh and I saw a smile twitch onto his lips. "You're ridiculous."

"Maybe."

He wiped his face and frowned at my damp sleeve. "Sorry about that."

I shrugged. "Don't apologise about that. It's fine."

"No," I raised an eyebrow at him as he walked over to his closet and tossed me the first shirt he saw. "Put that on."

I shook my head. "Justin, I can't-"

"Just take it," He nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "It's the least I can do."

I bit back a smile and clenched the material in my hands. "Thank you."

He nodded, not looking at me and left the room to let me change. I pulled my shirt over my head and quickly slipped Justin's on. It was loose around my body but it was comfortable.

I was about to leave the room when I saw the pills and water bottle on the floor. I carefully picked them up and considered them carefully. A thought passed about placing them where he can't find them but disregarded it when I realized that would do more harm than it would be to help right now.

I placed them on his dresser and stepped away, whispering a small reminder. "When he's ready."

I exited the room and Justin was waiting outside. I took notice of how tired Justin looked and tilted my head.

"When are you thinking to go get Merissa from her friend's house?"

"Uh, shit. What time is it?" I pulled out my phone and checked the time.

"Nearly two." He visibly relaxed and sighed.

"I'll go get her in an hour."

"Where does her friend live?" He gave me a look and I smiled innocently as he told me the address.

"Why-"

"Want to watch a movie while we wait?" I interrupted him and he gave me another long look.

"Sure." We went back to the cave room after we finally picked up the mess on the stairs and put on a movie.

Justin tried to stay up and see what I was up to but sleep finally overcame him. I sighed in relief when I heard his soft snores. I pulled a blanket over him and grabbed my keys, heading to my car.

And when Justin awoke late at night with Merissa tucked underneath his arm, fast asleep, taken care of, and most of all, happy, he may have felt something akin to something he hasn't felt in a long time.

Hope.

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^^;

I'm sorry. Man, but getting this chapter out was a pain in the ass. I made the mistake of saying that this chapter was going to be Destiny and Justin conversing about the situation and then I realized that the conversation was barely enough to be considered an actual chapter. This chapter was more description than dialogue. 😩😩😩

Moving on past my failures, next chapter, Cameron is going to pop back up because I love drama and feelings 👌👏👏