Justifer: From the beginning

Wait.. are we fighting?

When Justin pulled into the parking garage it was almost 4AM. He was annoyed, his head was pounding & his ears were ringing. He wanted nothing more than to have a hot shower, pop a couple of aspirin and climb into bed.

He entered the apartment and made his way to the bedroom. Jen was in bed with her back facing the door and the covers pulled up to her ears. He moved quietly through the room and into the bathroom where he practically tore the clothing from his body and stepped into the shower. He lathered his body, washed his hair and stood under the steaming hot spray to ease some of his tension. When he was done, he stepped out of the stall and came face to face with 5-feet, 5-inches of ANGRY.

'Uh-oh'.

"Hi honey." he said, reaching for her.

Jen smacked his hands away. "'Hi honey'?!?! Are you serious?" she asked, her blue eyes ablaze with fury.

"Jen please, my head is killing me."

"Good! You deserve it! You were supposed to be home hours ago, Justin! Correct me if I'm wrong but I seem to remember that you called me and told me that you'd be home by 6 o'clock. It is almost 4 in the morning! I was worried sick about you. I was literally sick with worry. I called everyone looking for you. I pictured your car in a ditch somewhere and you, out there, all alone. Where were you?"

She was rambling hysterically and Jen knew in her head that she needed to calm down but she couldn't. She was livid! She was relieved to know he was okay, but she wanted to strangle him at the same time.

Justin felt awful. What had he been thinking? Oh that's right. He couldn't think anything with that insanely loud pounding music and the chatter that had surrounded him all night. He had forgotten all about the phone call.

"I can't believe I did that. Sweetie, I'm so sorry. I wasn't thinking."

"So where've you been all night? Huh? Robbing banks? Stealing cars? Scamming chicks and getting hammered?" Nothing she said made any sense, even to her, but she was too angry to care.

Justin looked at her with an amused look on his face. "'Scamming chicks'? What the hell does that even mean?" he asked laughing.

"I'm so glad you're amused."

Her tone was so serious that Justin's laughter stopped like a light being switched off.

"Okay Jen look, I know I messed up and I know you're upset with me but you have to believe me when I say that I .." he paused and looked at her with his head cocked to one side. "God you're adorable when you're angry."

Jen was fuming. He thought this was funny? She glared at him, turned on her heel and walked out of the bathroom. Justin followed her, pulling on his clothes.

"Okay. I'm sorry. No more kidding around." He sighed and raked his hands through his hair. "I don't know what you want me to say."

"I don't want you to say anything." Jen said curtly. She climbed into bed, turned off the light and pulled the covers up to her chin. "Goodnight."

Justin stood there for another minute, not knowing what to do or say. Maybe it was best to leave it alone. He switched off the bathroom light, walked around to his side of the bed and started to climb in next to her.

"What do you think you're doing?" Jen asked without turning to face him.

"Uh, I thought I was going to bed." he said, puzzled.

"I don't think so buddy. You are on the sofa."

Jen sat up just long enough to throw a pillow at him and then buried herself back up to her neck in the covers.

Justin started for the door and stopped. He knew he shouldn't press his luck but he couldn't help himself.

"Wait..." he said with a mischievous glint in his eyes."....are we fighting?"

Jen couldn't stop the smile that crept onto her face but she didn't dare let him see it. He was so flipping cute! She wasn't ready to forgive him yet though. She pushed her face deeper into her pillow to hide her grin and kept her back to him; remaining silent as Justin walked out of their bedroom and quietly closed the door.

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Jen turned over and stretched, startled when her arm came into contact with warm flesh. Her eyes popped open and she looked over at Justin sleeping beside her. Written across his forehead were the words 'I'm an idiot'. She knelt on the bed beside him and her expression softened. Now that she was calm she realized that she might have overreacted a little bit.

She leaned closer to him and noticed a scribbling on his chest that was partially hidden by the sheets. She pulled the covers back just enough to reveal the words;

'I know you're angry.'

She pulled the covers further down and saw; 'What I did was wrong' written across his rib cage.

Further down; 'I hope you'll forgive me' across his stomach.

Jen's eyes went back to his face. His eyes were open and watching her intently. He sat up slowly and put on his best puppy dog face, complete with bottom lip poking out and sad, drooping eyes. He brought his right hand up, palm facing her. In his palm were the words; 'Because I'm sorry...'

He brought his left hand up and in his left palm it said '...and I love you'.

Jen leaned forward and kissed his cheek.

"I'm sorry too Sparky. I was just so scared. I was afraid every second until you walked in that door.. and then I wanted to choke you."

They both laughed at her dramatics.

"I know and I don't blame you." he replied, touching her cheek. "I was careless and irresponsible but I swear I didn't do this on purpose."

"I know. Last night I just wanted you to feel like shit for putting me through that hell." She shrugged sheepishly. "Does that make me a horrible person?"

"No, you're definitely not a horrible person. You're a perfectly wonderful person. And I did feel like shit for putting you through that." he said softly.

"Well, I'm ready to listen now." she said quietly. "Wanna tell me what happened?"

Justin told her everything. He told her about how he had run into his old college roommate who had just gone through a horribly messy divorce. Somehow, he had suckered Justin with a guilt trip that ended with him driving a drunk, unconscious man home and then carrying all 260 pounds of him up five flights of stairs before driving home to face a very angry fiancé and sleeping on the couch after hours of sitting in a corner of some ridiculous bar.

"Poor baby. That's sounds awful!" Jen said sympathetically.

"It was awful. It was loud, everyone was either drunk or stoned or both, the music sucked, the food sucked and the place smelled like old meat and dirty gym socks." he shuddered at the memory.

Justin reached out and pulled Jen onto his lap. "I love you for being worried sweetheart. It just shows how much you love me." he said, kissing her lips.

Jen wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back.

"I do love you Sparky. More than I have ever loved anyone. But if you do this to me again, I'll break both your legs."

Justin threw his head back and laughed out loud at her 'threat'. She was so delightfully charming.

Jen gazed into his smiling eyes. He was home safe and sound and in her arms where he belonged.

"Hey, as first fights go, I think this one went pretty well. Don't you?" he asked.

Jen giggled and kissed him again and all was forgiven.

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Author's Note: I thought a little argument would bring some realness to the characters and test their mettle. Jen and Justin are imperfect beings which means conflict is bound to arise in their relationship so I thought I would inject a little discord to see how they handled it. This is just a test :)