Love Yourself (JB+AG)

[3]

Ariana

Tuesday, 11:38 pm

Derrick hasn't been in here yet, and I'm hoping he won't come at all. I don't think he went to a club tonight, but we have plenty of alcohol here, so he could be very drunk, or he could just be asleep.

I don't wanna risk waking him up if he is asleep, but I'm thirsty and I'll die if I don't get some orange juice right now. Yes, orange juice, because I love orange juice.

I walk to the door and open it slowly. The kitchen light is off, thankfully. That means he's asleep. I walk onto the kitchen and make myself half a glass of orange juice.

After I finish, I rinse the glass out and put it in the dishwasher. I turn around to face Derrick, who's leaning against the counter, watching me with an amused smirk. He's not drunk, but I must have woken him up.

"God, Derrick, you scared the shit out of me."

"Just the one I was looking for." He says, ignoring me.

"Derrick, leave me alone. I am tired."

"Of course you are, after last night."

"Derrick, leave me the hell alone. I am not in the mood."

"You never are. But it seems like I always get you. One way or another." He chuckles, stroking my cheek.

"Don't touch me." I slap his hand away and he glares at me.

"I thought you would be smarter than you are by now."

His fist comes in contact with my face, right below my eye. I know it's gonna be swollen and disgusting by tomorrow morning.

"I fucking hate you." I mutter, running out of the kitchen.

This time, I'm smart enough to lock the door of the guest bedroom. I climb into bed, crying myself to sleep.

Wednesday, 8:45 am

Derrick went to work two hours early, so Nicole checked on my eye, which was definitely bruised. I think it could qualify as a black eye, but I didn't wanna call it that. It just didn't sound right.

"Thank you Nicole, for everything you do. I know I'm stupid for staying with him but I have nowhere else to go."

"I know, Ariana. I know." She starts making breakfast for the two of us, and the doorbell rings as I'm about to help her.

"I think that's Justin. I told him he could come back today. What about my eye?"

"Go put some makeup on it or something. I'll get the door." She says.

I nod, going to one of the upstairs bathrooms to find my makeup. I hadn't worn any in a while, mainly because I was too scared to go upstairs.

I find my concealer and put it all over my face so it won't look uneven. Eye shadow won't help, so I don't put on any of that. I just put on concealer and lip gloss before putting my hair in the neatest ponytail I can and going downstairs.

Justin, AKA hot piece of man, is in the kitchen with Nicole, drinking coffee and telling her about himself.

"There she is." He smiles when I walk which melts my heart.

His teeth are perfectly white and his eyes are so brown, it's mesmerizing. I smile back before looking at my feet. Even though his eyes were amazing, he did not need to see mine.

"Ariana, do you want some coffee?"

"No thanks."

"How have you been since yesterday, Ariana?" Justin asks.

I knew he was referring to the pills. I hadn't taken any besides the one I took right after he left, but he didn't need to know that.

"Good. I didn't do anything since yesterday." He winks at me and I nod.

"What the hell is wrong with your eye?" He gets up from his chair, cupping my face with both of his hands.

Although he was worried about my eye, I was more worried about the heat growing between my legs. Hot piece of man was touching me, and I think it was the best feeling I've ever got.

"Ariana, what happened?" He asks.

I can tell he's worried, but I don't know if I should tell him the truth.

"I-I uh... I was playing with glue and I got my hand stuck on the table. I had to yank it off and I hit myself in the eye."

"You are the worst liar in the world. Tell me the truth. You can trust me."

Nicole leaves the kitchen, leaving me alone with hot piece of man and a huge question that I didn't wanna answer.

I squeeze my one good eye shut to stop the tears from coming, but fail. Justin doesn't waste any time embracing me in a hug, and since he, like Derrick, is also taller than me, I cry into his chest.

"Shh. It's okay." He whispers.

He rubs my back until I'm calm enough to pull away from him.

"Thank you. I needed that."

I wipe away the tears on my face and it's back to silence with me and hot piece of man.

"Ariana, I'm gonna go now." He says.

Now I've messed it up. He's never coming back. I know he's not.

"Maybe you can come to my house tomorrow. It's basically empty, but I still manage to live there, so it can't be too bad." I giggle, staring at his smile.

Maybe I didn't mess it up.

"I can help you unpack. That's something I'm good at."

"I'm sure you're good at a lot of things. But you can help me unpack, if you want to. Because I'm sure as hell not gonna do it. At least not for a couple months."

"Boys." I roll my eyes playfully and he chuckles.

"So I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, but I might be late. Tomorrow is Derrick's late day at work, and he's very protective. I don't think he'll like it if I'm with you. Especially at your house, where he can't monitor my every move."

Justin just nods. He's thinking about something. I said something wrong, I know I did.

"I guess I'll be leaving now." I walk hot piece of man to the door and watch him walk across the street to his house before closing the door.