Never Too Late
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A/N: so i've been feelin' kinda write-y (is that a word) lately, which is why the last chapter and this one were up so close together, and why i posted 2 other stories in a span of like 4 days... see bottom for details on those.
Warning: the end of this chapter gets a little M-ish but nothing too graphic.
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Chapter 10... Here we go...
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Justin sat in the kitchen of the small two-bedroom apartment that he and his fiancee, Chelsea, shared. He had been living with her for two months now, just a month after he proposed, and he was happy with his new life.
Exhausted from a long day of gopher work at his new job as in intern at a research lab, he stood and made his way to the stove, carefully grasped the handle of the skillet, and gave the pancake contained within a flip. He smiled at the new trick that she had taught him, putting it to good use as he made her favorite... breakfast for dinner... before she had to catch the red-eye to Chicago for another business meeting.
"Hey, babe, you're getting better at that." Chelsea admired, seating herself down on the stool on the opposite side of the island.
Justin smiled at the angelic voice coming from behind him and turned around. "Well..." he said, walking around the counter, placing a tender kiss on her lips. "... I did have a pretty good teacher."
Chelsea giggled and smiled lovingly at him, "You were a good student." Justin chuckled, "Yeah, I get that alot."
He returned to the stove and slid the last pancake out onto a plate, adding the eggs and bacon he'd prepared earlier and slid it toward her. "Eat up. This way you won't be hungry when you land in Chicago."
Chelsea grinned and shook her head slightly at her fiancee, loving the way that he took care of her, even as tired as she knew him to be, feeling a bit guilty that she's been so busy lately. "You worry too much. But thanks."
Justin smiled back at her and shrugged his shoulders. He looked into her deep sea-green eyes, admiring the way they sparkled with life as she dug in to the meal laid out before her. He let his eyes drift down to her pouty lips, painted a soft red, and fought the urge to rush over and capture them with his own. His eyes flickered to her dirty-blonde hair and he loved the way her locks seemed to frame her beautiful face perfectly.
He walked up behind her and pushed her hair to the side and leaned down, placing a lingering kiss on her neck. She tilted her head to the side, pausing her chewing, to give him better access and let out a contented sigh. She swallowed the bite in her mouth and reached back to stroke his cheek as he trailed a series of slow kisses along her neck line before saying, "What are you doing Mr. Russo?" in a flirty tone, feeling him slide his hands up and down her slim, athletic body.
Justin smiled into her neck before placing another kiss and whispering seductively in her ear, "Well, soon-to-be Mrs. Russo, I thought we could say goodbye again before you left."
"We said goodbye twice this afternoon and I don't have time to shower again... and I don't know about you but... I don't like being sticky when I'm flying." Chelsea said teasingly, patting his cheek.
"Okay, fine." he mock-pouted, wrapping his arms around her stomach, kissing her neck again, before she finished eating. He didn't move for several moments, not that Chelsea minded. Eating her favorite meal in the loving embrace of the most wonderful man she'd ever met was a great way to be, but he was rarely so still for so long.
She reached her hand back to caress his cheek again. "Are you okay?"
.x.x.
"Are you okay?" the blonde asked him. Justin blinked a couple of times before shaking his head and looking up at the young woman in her mid twenties. "Huh?" he stated blankly.
She giggled at him, noticing the vacant expression he'd just shaken off. "I said, are you okay?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." he replied less than confidently.
She looked at him for a moment before stating flatly, "Uh huh... then what are you doing on the steps of this apartment building at eleven o'clock at night?"
Justin blushed for a moment, and mumbled his reply under his breath, slightly embarassed.
The young blonde giggled at him again and sat down next to him, "Sorry, didn't catch that."
Justin huffed and just gave in, "I forgot my key..." he told her, even more embarassed that he didn't remember something so important, "...so I'm waiting for the landlord to get back."
"Oh. Well, that wasn't very bright." she teased. Justin's first instinct was to glare at her but when he saw the playful expression on her face his mood couldn't help but lighten. His face softened and he let out a short chuckle, "No, I guess not."
"When is the apartment manager going to be here?"
He shrugged, "Probably tomorrow morning around nine or so."
The young woman furrowed her brown at him for a moment. "Tomorrow? Where are you going to stay tonight? Do you have family nearby you could stay with?"
Justin shook his head and looked away, "None that I still talk to..." The young woman remained quiet for a moment, contemplating her options, analyzing the young man next to her and what might have happened with his family before sticking out her hand and saying, "I'm Chelsea. And you are?"
He looked at her for a second before answering. "Justin," he said, taking her hand in his. "Nice to meet you."
"Well, Justin, I can offer you my couch if you want." Chelsea said sweetly.
What? She doesn't even know me? Why would she say something like that? He asked himself. "No, I'll be fine." Justin replied, releasing her hand. "Thanks for the offer though."
"Justin," she said assertively, "it's freezing out here and it's about to get colder..." He could hear the concern in her sure tone as she continued. "You can't stay out here for ten hours... You'll turn into a popsicle." Chelsea stood up and held out her hand. "C'mon. You're staying on my couch tonight."
Justin laughed nervously, tucking his hands under his arms to stay warm. "I'll be okay. I promise."
Chelsea huffed and started tapping her toe, keeping her hand exteneded. "As much fun as it may be for some people to watch a guy freeze to death, I'm not one of those people... so let's gooooooo."
Justin looked up at her and squinted his eyes in confusion, "You're reallly not going to let this go are you?"
She quirked up her left eyebrow and shook her head. "Nope."
Justin swallowed and nervously reached out his hand to hers until she bent down further and grabbed it. "Oh, come on already! It's freaking cold out here!"
...
"Okay, so there's the bathroom," Chelsea said, pointing to the places in her apartment he needed to know, "there's the kitchen, help yourself to whatever's in the fridge, here's the couch and," she said, tossing him a blanket and pillow, "here's some stuff to make you more comfortable."
Justin looked at the pillow and blankets in his hand and back up at Chelsea, offering her a soft smile. "Thank you, Chelsea."
The blonde beamed at him, "You're welcome!" she said, pausing before turning toward her room, "Good night."
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Justin woke up early like he normally did and decided to make breakfast for Chelsea as a 'thank you for not letting me freeze to death'... but things didn't go as well as he'd hoped.
He didn't even notice Chelsea standing just outside the kitchen, barely able to contain her laughter, at watching him flail about. "Sorry," Justin said blushing, finally looking over and noticing her standing there, "I was trying to thank you for letting me stay here and uh..." he continued, pointing at the mess... "things kinda didn't go as planned..."
Chelsea laughed and grabbed a dishrag from the cupboard, "Don't worry about it. It's kind of sweet, actually."
Justin helped her clean the mess he had made, and noticed that it wasn't quite as bad as he first thought, but then something started bothering him... "Chelsea, why did you let me stay here?... I mean, you don't even know me... I could've been like... some kind of serial killer or something, and-"
Chelsea snorted humorously, cutting him off. "Justin, I grew up in a pretty tough neighborhood... I learned early on how to read people quickly and accurately just to stay safe, and I had you pegged pretty much as soon as I met you."
Justin scoffed, "What? That's not possible." He watched as she just nodded enthusiastically at him. "Well?" He asked.
Chelsea raised her hand to her face and tapped her index finger to her chin, "You are really smart, but you're also pretty shy and try to act more confident than you actually are..." she tilted her head to the side, remembering the conversation the had last night on the steps, "You're probably really honest, so even if you were a serial killer, you would have cracked and told me anyway, and if I had to bet money on it, I'd say that you don't have a violent bone in your body, and when you do have to get physical, it probably makes you a little nauseated." She smiled at him as his mouth started to gape, "So, am I close?"
"Pfft, no!" he adamantly denied a little to quickly, but noticed when she quirked an eyebrow questioningly at him, "Okay, fine! You're right..." and mumbled, "But I could be dangerous..."
Chelsea laughed and walked up to him, patting him on the shoulder, and looked down at the pancakes he tried to make before picking one up and clanking it against the counter. "You're right, Justin. You are dangerous... but only to pancakes..."
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Justin started laughing on his fiancee's shoulder before he answered her. "Yeah, I'm fine... I was just thinking about how we met." Justin let go of her and moved back into the kitchen to start cleaning up a little bit.
Chelsea giggled, "Yeah, I remember." She tried not to laugh when Justin mumbled, "And I still say that I'm dangerous.", but failed.
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Twenty minutes later it was time for Chelsea to leave to catch her flight. She stood by the door, fidgeting with her keys, not really wanting to leave, trying to stall as much as possible. "I'll be back in three days," she said, wrapping her arms around his waist as he stepped to her, "then we can say 'hello' to each other until we're exhausted." she whispered seductively.
Justin leaned in and placed his lips on hers, savoring the feeling, before gliding his tongue across her bottom lip. Once her mouth parted, their tongues lapped at each other, exploring the other's mouth, taking in as much as they could to hold them over for the next three days. They broke apart, catching their breath, and Justin gazed into her eyes, jerking up his brows quickly, "Can't wait..."
Chelsea stroked his cheek and smiled at him, "I love you, Justin, and I can't wait to be your wife."
Justin smiled back brightly at her. "Just three more weeks..." he said, kissing her gently a final time, "I love you so much..." He stood back and opened the door for her, "I'll miss you. Call me when you land, okay?"
Chelsea smiled sweetly at him, "I'll miss you too. And relax, I'll call... You worry too much."
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Justin sat on the couch in their apartment, freshly showered and ready to go to bed. He looked up at the clock on the wall and sighed. "Ten thirty... Might as well go to sleep... Wait, who am I talking to?" He shook his head, stood and streched then frowned when he heard a soft knock on the door. "Coming."
Unlocking the chain and twisting the deadbolt, he turned the knob and pulled the door open, then froze. "Alex?"
She looked nervous and angry at the same time as she looked up at him. "Hey." she said in a neutral tone, pushing her way inside. Justin blinked at the suddenly empty space in front of him and shook his head, turning around and closing the door. "Uh... come in."
He watched as Alex turned around to face him, pulling out the wedding invitation from her purse. "What's this, Justin?" He looked at the envelope in her hand and squinted at her in confusion before stating, "The invitation to my wedding." like it should be obvious.
Alex rolled her eyes and huffed. "No shit, Sherlock. I mean, why didn't you send me one." And why did you give up on us?
"I did... like a month ago." He answered, seeing the small amount of hurt she allowed visible on her face. Alex frowned briefly, Oh yeah, I haven't been home. "Right. Sorry."
Justin took a step toward her and put his hand on his shoulder. "Alex, are you-"
"We need to talk." she blurted out, making Justin flinch and remove his hand. "O-kay." he let out slowly, motioning toward the couch, "Let's sit down."
Justin made his way to the tan leather couch and plopped down near the arm rest and watched Alex as she avoided looking at him and sat down next to him, scooting closer when the need for contact became to great. He didn't say anything for a while, letting her organize her thoughts, feeling the same electricity flowing through him at the touch of her skin like he used to, wondering if she felt the same thing. "Alex?"
"I still love you." she blurted out, turning to face him, hopefullness filling her eyes.
"Wh- what?" Justin stuttered, slack jawed.
"When you found me almost a year ago..." she started with a nervous confidence, "...you left thinking that I didn't love you anymore and I- I needed to tell you that it wasn't true, Justin, I do, I still love you..." Alex reached up her hand and ran it through her hair and took a deep breath. Okay, should I tell him about Katie?... "And I need to-"
"Alex," Justin interrupted with an exasperated sigh, "I'm getting married in three weeks..." "I know, Justin, mom told me, and-"
"Wait, you talked to mom?" Justin asked, surprise evident in his voice. "Yeah," Alex said excitedly, "that's something else I needed to tell you. Mom said that she isn't mad anymore. She's accepted us... well, she made it sound more like she'd put up with us, but still, we won't have to worry about her doing something stupid like she threatened to do last time."
He could here the thrilled edge in her voice and it cut him deeply to repeat, "Alex, I'm getting married.", he needed to make her understand.
"That's what I'm trying to tell you, Justin. You don't have to any-"
"Have to? Have to!" he nearly shouted. "Alex, I'm not getting married because I have to!" He stood up, as a bewildered Alex looked on, and began to pace back and forth across the living room with his arms crossed and one fist pressed to his mouth. "Justin, calm down, I didn't mean it like that." Alex huffed. "I didn't come here to fight with you, okay?" I came here to get you back.
Justin stopped pacing and took a calming breath. "You're right, Alex, I'm sorry... It's just... It's been a really long day." Slowly, he made his way back to the couch and flopped down, letting his arms fall to his sides. "Sorry." Alex took a chance and took his hand in hers, intertwining their fingers, ecstatic when he didn't pull away.
"Just hear me out, okay." she said before she swallowed and licked her lips. "I want to give us another chance, Justin."
She watched as he just sighed, closed his eyes and laid his head against the back of the couch. "I love you, Justin, and I don't want to lose you again."
"Why now? What changed since last time?" he asked, clearly tired.
She squeezed his hand, scooted closer to him, and placed their interlocked hands into her lap. "Mom did. Mom changed. She was the whole r-"
"Alex, stop blaming all of this on our mom." Justin interrupted, growing irritated again. "You could've called me anytime between when you left and when I found you. It-"
"It's not that simple, Justin." Alex said, watching as his head jerked forward and twist to face her. "It is, Alex." he retorted as he stood up and released her hand. He ran his hand through his hair and scratched furiously at the back of his head. "Alex, I..." he started to say before he started thinking about what he should tell her.
He still loved Alex but he also loved Chelsea and no matter what he did, somebody, including himself, would wind up heartbroken. "I- I can't do this right now, Alex!" he said, marching toward his bedroom. "I'm exhausted from work and helping Chelsea plan the wedding and... I- I can't think straight right now. I just need to sleep..." He half-laughed to himself, knowing that he probably wouldn't be able to, as he walked to his room, and when his hand was on the knob, Alex spoke up.
"Justin, wait!" Alex started to tell him all about his daughter and how much both of them wanted him back, but she hasn't slept in almost twenty hours and she thought that a clear mind would be better for both of them so, instead, she asked softly, "Can- can I stay here... I don't want to go back to mom and dad's tonight." Well talking didn't work... Time for Plan B... after a quick nap.
Justin sighed and nodded without turning around and pointed to the guest room. "Good night, Alex."
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Alex rolled over and glared at the phone on the nightstand as it blared out the obnoxious tune that she had set to wake her up. Picking it up the check the time, she turned it off. Three o'clock... Ugh, I never thought I'd do that on purpose. She reached out and flicked on the lamp by the bed before sitting up and rubbing her eyes.
She made her way to the mirror and smiled. She had, some time ago, stripped off everything she was wearing when she had arrived and put on one of Justin's oversided t-shirts before going to bed. I think he's had enough sleep... She thought to herself, and made her way to his room.
Justin's eye's fluttered open when he heard to door to his room open and close with a loud click. "Alex?" he said, squinting through the darkness. "What's wrong?" He was still her big brother and prone to worrying after all.
"I couldn't sleep." she lied, walking to the other side of his bed. "And I guess I'm a little lonely..." Justin only stared at her, trying to figure out what he should do. "Can I sleep here?" Alex asked before he could respond.
"Umm... Alex, I don't think-" he started, before he was cut off. "Please." she begged. Justin let out a quick breath, "Fine." Agreeing with her was usually an easier way to get back to sleep than arguing was... speaking from his past experience with her.
Alex had a sultry smile on her face as she said, "Thanks." and slipped out of his shirt, letting his wide eyes gaze over every inch of her nude form, as the last scrap of clothing she had on, glided to the floor. She could see the stunned expression on his face when she finally, and tantalizingly slowly, slipped beneath the sheets and grinned to herself. "What? It's not like you haven't seen me naked before, Justin."
Justin snapped out of it just long enough to ask her, "What, um.. are you doing?" Alex rolled to her side and looked at him and smirked, "Trying to go to sleep, duh. What else would I be doing?"
He frowned but didn't say anything as he laid back and put his arms behind his head, letting out the breath he didn't realize he was holding. He closed his eyes for a few moments and was almost asleep again when he felt the bed shift beside him. Before he knew it, Alex had snuggled up beside him, and draped half of herself over him. "Alex." he hissed, having gone rigid.
"I missed you, Justin." she said softly, placing her head against his chest, listening to his steady but rapidly increasing heartbeat. She laid her hand on his bare chest and began stroking it gently with her thumb. "I just missed you, is all." She could hear him sigh and begin to untense a little, as he spoke. "I missed you too, Alex, but..."
"I miss being near you," she draped her thigh over his, "I miss the way you smell," she breathed in deeply the fragrance of his body wash, "I miss the way you held me when we slept," she nudged his arm with her shoulder until he took the hint and wrapped it around her, causing her to smile. "I miss the way you used to look at me like I was the only person in the world you needed," she lifted her head to look into his eyes and grinned, "just like that," she looked down at his lips, licking her own, "I missed the way you taste..." and she kissed him.
She expected him to pull away, she expected him to resist, but he didn't. He returned it with as much passion as she put into it, a smile forming on his face at the familiar sensation of her moaning into his mouth, as their tongues explored each other again. Soon, her hand began to wander across his chest and down his toned abs, before making the return trip, and back again. Growing bolder she slid her hand down, pausing just below his belly-button, tracing random patterns, before daring to slip it beneath the waist-band of his boxers and gently caress his manhood.
Suddenly he stiffened and pulled away from the kiss, astonished at what he was allowing himself to do. "Alex, we can't-" he said but his breath hitched as she squeezed him tighter, and his eyes rolled back when she began to slowly stroke him. Alex smirked to herself, feeling a bit light-headed as the heat pooled between her legs, and he began to harden in her delicate but firm grasp.
She expected him to tell her to stop, she expected him to stop her himself, but again, he didn't, and she was near giddiness. "It's okay, Justin. I want this... you want this..." she said seductively, looking up and grinning at him, pausing her stroking just long enough to give his shaft two quick squeezes, "I can tell."
Justin's breathing was becoming labored as she slid down his boxers, and as her stroking quickened its pace, he stuttered out, "Alex, th-this is a b-bad idea." Quickly, Alex captured his lips again, shutting him up. He moved his other had from behind his head this time and ran it through her hair, pulling her closer to him, his mind suddenly lost in the familiar pleasure he'd missed so much.
Alex broke the kiss to gaze lustfully into his eyes, "If you want me to stop, Justin, all you have to do is ask..." she said to him as she moved her head down to lick along the side of his throat and up to his chin, placing soft, slow kisses along his jaw line to his ear.
She slid her leg all the way over him and shifted her body to straddle his, never releasing her grip on him. She positioned him at her entrance and in a low, seductive voice, whispered in his ear, "Do you want me to stop?" Waiting only half a heartbeat for a response, she sank herself down onto him.
A low breathy moan escaped his lips and she had her answer. Alex smirked to herself in victory, "I didn't think so..."
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Chapter 11... the next morning
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A/N: this ch. was weird for some reason. probably because that little voice in my head telling me to 'shut the hell up' was no where to be found and it got a little bloated. also, this may have pushed the line from 'T' to 'M' and if it did, let me know and i'll fix it.
those other 2 stories i mentioned... one to make you mad and one to make you sad... "Goodbye, Alex" was written to get out frustration about Justin's treatment on the show but, secretely, was done to get somebody riled up enough to write a counter-story... and i think it may have worked... also, someone else decided (with permission) to take that story and run with it... "8 Years" is the title... i think.
"As the Fire Dies" is the serious one, and personally, i feel that it is the 2nd best one i've written... i really like it... and i think you will too.
as always, thanks to those of you who have read/reviewed/alerted this thing. i appreciate it.