Safe In A Stranger's Arms

Chapter Sixteen

Justin's POV

It was a typical Tuesday and the house was vaguely silent. Dylan left for work early in the morning so I woke up and decided to watch some television by myself, until the sound of my phone ringing vibrated throughout the room. A small grin appeared on my face as I saw Caitlin's name brightly shine on my screen.

"Hello?" I answered.

"J-Justin." My eyebrows furrowed after realizing she was crying. My heart began to race as I grew more and more worried.

"Baby, is everything okay? What's wrong?"

"No, can I please come?"

"Yeah yeah, of course." I replied, trying my best to comfort her.

After what seemed like 15 minutes, my doorbell rang and I instantly knew it was Cait. I swiftly ran up to the door and seconds after opening it, her body jumped onto mine and the sound of her crying grew louder as she came close to me. My arms snaked around her petite waist and I held a tight grip around her.

"Sh, baby. It's okay." I said, my voice coming out softer than I had expected. I gently placed my hand at the crown of her head and ran my fingers through her silky long hair. The smell of her rose shampoo instantly infusing my nose.

I took note of her breathing as it settled after every stroke. Her body was now less tense and the sound of her crying ceased. She pulled away from the embrace and looked up at me with blood shot and droopy eyes, mascara smeared all over her plump cheeks. My heart broke into pieces seeing her like that.

I reached for her hand and pulled her towards me as I closed the door. "Come," I whispered as I guided her to the living room. "Sit down while I get you something to drink."

-

It had been two hours and we were sitting on the couch while talking about god knows what. The topic of the conversation didn't really matter to me and it never did, I was just glad I had the ability to make Caitlin smile and laugh again.

She threw her head back as her laugh echoed throughout the room. That fucking laugh. I loved it more than anything and the fact that I was the one who caused it is what made it even better.

I've never really been in situations like these. I've never had somebody cry in front of me as I sit there with a blank face, not knowing what the hell to do. Caitlin looked so broken. So fragile. I was not only confused as to what to do and why she was crying, but I was also mad because I got scared somebody did something to her. I was afraid it would be Derek. But I was thankful it wasn't or else I would have snapped.

"I can't believe that happened." She took another sip of her juice, trying her best not to let out another giggle.

I smiled at her enthusiasm over the story. "Yeah, it was pretty funny." After minutes of finally calming down from the laughter, I turned to face Caitlin, crossing my legs in front of her as she did the same. I brushed my palm over the velvety skin on her cheek. "Can you tell me what's wrong, Cait? I was worried somebody hurt you."

She closed her eyes and smiled, the sides of her eyes wrinkling ever so slightly. "No no, nothing happened." She bit on her bottom lip as she looked up at me, her blue eyes shining so brightly. "I just felt really upset and guilty."

I furrowed my eyebrows and cocked my head to the side. "Why? What's wrong?"

Her voice was unsteady as each word slipped out of her mouth. "I think I'm just homesick." She paused and looked down at her fingers as she fiddled around with the strings of her hoodie. "I got a call from my mom today and she said my dad got mugged during his business trip in New York. The guys took a shit load of money and it just bothered me that I wasn't there to you know, support them."