Chapter song: Ghost by Halsey

(Val's pov)

-5pm-

Justin and I drive back to his house to get ready for dinner. Despite the event between him and the three girls earlier, I'm actually having a good time.

I wish I could tell myself I don't care about his female connections, but I can't. If what Justin and me have is truly love, then I don't know how to play along. I know how to love, but I don't know how to love Justin. He's too fed up. He's so frustrating. He's protective of everything. He fucks girls, thinking they'll get over him, but instead they move into his house.

I don't want to be apart of this. His problems are his business.

"I have something special planned for tonight."

Like a gentleman, Justin opens my car door and takes my hand. We've just arrived at his mansion.

"I can't wait."

Allowing him to hold me, I smile and lean into him. He makes me feel irreplaceable. That's not good, because it's too risky.

"Me neither."

He opens the door for me, and I walk into his huge mansion, just like the first time.

"You guys really need to go. Dammit, we've told you a million times."

But I see Khalil, Za, and Ryan arguing with...the three girls from earlier. I only know Chantel and Jayde because Justin mentioned them.

"Just a minute. I wanna wait until Justin comes back."

Chantel speaks, just a shirt and panties on. Wait wait wait. I examine the situation.

Khalil's shirtless, Za's in only his boxers, Ryan's hair is a mess. Chantel's got an oversized shirt snd panties on, Jayde's topless, and the other girl is only in her bra and panties.

By the looks of it, they totally fucked.

"Justin! You're here!"

Jayde charges at Justin, the other two trailing along like anticipated kitties.

"Woah, what the fuck? I thought I told you to get out of my house."

Justin backs up and now he's ticked off. Gee, thanks bitches.

"Papi, they let us in."

The Latin girl flirts with Justin, making his eyes lower to her body. Bullshit.

"Dude, that's not how it went. They literally bursted through the door. We didn't let them in."

Za cuts in, looking guilty yet upset.

"That convincing."

Sarcasm melts off Justin's words. He knows they fucked each other.

"Ok, we made an agreement so they would leave."

Khalil explains, but Justin's still pissed.

"You. Get the fuck out of my house."

Justin snaps at all three of the girls, glaring coldly.

"But Justi-"

"No! I said get the fuck out! Now!"

Justin barks, making all of them, including me, jump in surprise.

"Fine."

Chantel loses her flirty side and marches into the kitchen.

"Did you hear me? Where the fuck are you going?"

Justin eyes Chantel while the other girls take her side.

"We're leaving. You can fuck with your whore's feelings. You're making a big mistake."

Jayde puts on a shirt, pulling me into the conversation. I'm not arguing this time.

"Get out."

Justin mutters while sighing in irritation.

"Maybe we should fuck with your feelings, see how you like it."

Then Chantel knocks over a set of plates, sending them shattering on the floor.

"Fuck! You better pick that up."

All of a sudden, Justin seems panicky, his breathing beginning to get uneven.

"I thought you wanted us to leave, baby."

Chantel pours a box of cereal on the floor, teasing him unkindly.

"Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit."

Justin curses under his breath and turns away, his hands in his hair.

"Dammit. Val, take Justin outside. We'll handle this."

Ryan tells me before Khalil and Za go into the kitchen.

"Come on Justin."

Unsure of what's happening, I take Justin's arm and pull him back outside.

"Fuck."

Justin heaves. He looks like he wants to cry yet wants to hit something at the same time.

"Justin, baby. What's wrong?"

All I know is that he's tripping out, and I need to help him.

"It's ruined. They messed it up."

Justin sits on the sidewalk, sounding like a whining puppy.

"What? Baby what are you talking about?"

Sitting beside him, I rake my hands through his hair and massage his neck.

"...Nothing. I just need to calm down."

His voice is breathy and despondent.

"Are you ok?"

I ask after about 5 minutes of deep breaths and faint whimpering.

"Yea."

He nods and sighs with his head in his hands.

"What happened?"

Finally, I ask what's been lurking in my mind since we were inside.

"It's just something that happens with my...OCD–It's no big deal."

He seems skittish about this topic, so I only nod and proceed to caress his neck.

"Don't worry about me, babe. We should probably get ready for dinner. You still up for it?"

Justin stands up, offering me a hand.

"Yea. Let me see if your friends are done."

I stand up and glance at the house.

"Ok."

Justin nods before I walk into his house again.

Khalil, Za, and Ryan are cleaning up the mess. There's no sign of the girls, thankfully.

"Do you guys need help?"

Stepping closer, I offer to them.

"No thanks. We're just about done anyway."

Za tells me with a smile.

"Yea, you can bring Justin back in."

Ryan smiles as well.

"Ok."

I return the smile then turn towards the door.

"Let's get ready, babe."

When I open the door, I see Justin and grab his arm again.

"Bro, you ok? Man, we're sorry bout what happened. We thought they'd leave."

Khalil interprets, sounding honest to me.

"It's ok."

Justin's not in a good mood anymore. Dammit. This is all his bitches' fault. Tonight was supposed to be special.

"Justin, we don't have to go if you don't want."

Trying to sound stable, I place my hand on his shoulder.

"No, baby, I still want to go."

But his voice sounds like he wants to be left alone.

"Justin. Let's stay here and relax. I think you should rest."

To be honest, it hurts a little. He somehow let a few girls fuck up the whole night. Maybe I'm overreacting. Maybe his OCD is causing him to act like this. All I know is that he's bothered now.

"Valerie..."

He's devoid of words, his eyes narrowed.

"I'm going to take a shower. Is it in here?"

It's difficult to ignore his eyes, suspecting my lies.

"Yea baby."

His affection makes me want to cry. Not looking back, I enter his bathroom and shut the door. Just to save me from breaking to pieces, I lock the door so Justin can't touch me.

The bathroom his different from his last place. It's larger with an eight foot wide mirror and two showers. Nice.

I need to dye my hair. The brown streaks are growing out. I need to shave. I need to freshen myself. I need time, 30 minutes. Maybe more, counting the amount of time it takes me to cry.

Why am I crying? Is it because I was looking forward to our plans? Is it because I'm not Justin's only one? Or am I upset? I can cry from anger, right? I can cry from jealousy, right?

I can cry over Justin, right?

(A/N: Btw guys I'm getting behind on this story, so I might be a little late or inactive this week. Just know that I'm really trying to catch up. As far as I know, I'm posting on Tuesday.)

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