As I walked in Pattie left. It was like this for days.

As the days went by I noticed Justin becoming more and more confident. He was always awake when I got there and once Pattie left he'd come in for a kiss before taking me to his room so we could watch cartoons. At around eight I made him breakfast and we ate together.

He would talk to me about the things he had painted and then he would show me the finished paintings.

Everything was going well, except for the fact that I was getting more and more confused by the day. I loved Xavier but I also wanted Justin.

Sometimes I would ask myself if it was just pity that I felt for Justin but it couldn't have been.

"G-guess what J-Justin m-made," he said.

"What'd you make?" I asked.

"A p-painting for y-you," he said.

"For me?" I asked.

"Y-y-yes," he said fiddling with the zipper on his jacket.

"I'd love to see it," I said.

"A-a-are you s-ure?" He asked.

"Yeah," I said.

"J-Justin not very g-good," he said.

"I think you're a great painter," I said.

"R-really?"

I nodded. He smiled and took my hand leading me into the storage room where he had a painting of the beach.

"It's the beach," I pointed out.

"Y-yeah," he said.

"I love it, it's beautiful."

"Th-thank you."

"Did you paint it from the description I told you?" I asked admiring how perfect it looked.

"Y-yes," he said, "J-Justin w-wish he c-could take y-you."

"One day you might," I said.

"Umm... I d-don't think s-so."

"Why not?"

"B-be-because J-Justin not n-normal," he said.

I looked at him as he looked down at his worn out black converse. My eyes watered and I looked away quickly wiping my tears as they fell out of my eyes. "Hey, I think Justin's normal. I think you're amazing and you shouldn't wish to be any different because you're perfect just the way you are."

He looked up at me and smiled. I smiled back as I placed my hand in his cheek slowly leaning in and getting on my tippy toes to place a kiss on his lips. He smiled and kissed me all over my face making me giggle.

: :

The next day I got there at the usual time and once again Justin was patiently waiting for me.

Pattie left, giving him a kiss on the forehead.

I stood by the door and Justin got up from his spot on the couch slowly walking over to me. He took my hands and bent down to kiss me on the lips, bringing my arms around his neck. His arms rested around my waist as we made out for a couple of minutes.

We finally pulled away once we were both out of breath.

"Okay, let's eat, come on we have to hurry," I said.

"W-why?" He asked.

"You'll see," I said taking his hand and walking him over to the kitchen. I made eggs and bacon and we quickly ate. Justin stood next to me at the sink drying the plates that I finished washing.

I put the plates away after he dried them then we walked over to his room. I grabbed his usual converse and sat down on the floor in front of him.

As he put the right one on, I put the left one on, letting him tie his shoelaces since he had just recently learned how to.

"Okay come on," I said taking his hand and pulling him with me.

I opened the door and took the keys with me locking it behind us. Once in the car, all buckled up, I drove away.

"W-where w-we g-going?" He asked.

"You're taking me to the beach," I said.

"I-I-I am?"

"Yup, are you excited?" I asked.

"Y-yes!" He replied rubbing his hands up and down his thighs.

I smiled turning the radio up, humming along to the song playing. After I parked the car I put my backpack on and held Justin's hand as we walked towards the sand.

"Do you want to take your shoes off?" I asked putting my sunglasses on.

He slowly nodded. I bend down and started untying his shoes before pulling them off along with his socks. I rolled his jeans up and took his hand again.

I waited for him to slowly step into the sand and adjust to the feeling of it. He quickly stepped out and looked over at me.

"It-it's weird, he said.

I giggled, "I know. If you want we can put your shoes back on."

"N-no," he said.

I took my shoes off and stepped onto the sand so he could see that it was okay. He slowly stepped on the sand too and took a few steps. His grip on my hand tightened and he started rocking back and forth.

"You okay?" I asked.

He slowly nodded before taking another step. He moved his toes in the sand and smiled confidently taking more steps. We walked together and as we started approaching the large crowds of people I pulled him with me away from the loud clamor of people talking.

We found a spot away from the loud crowd and I pulled a blanket out from my backpack, placing it on the sand. I put my things down and sat down, patting on a spot next to me.

Justin sat down too. We stared out into the ocean watching as the waves moved back and forth.

"You hear that? I think that's one of my favorite sounds in the entire world," I said resting back on my arms.

"L-like a s-swoosh," he said imitating the sound of the waves.

I smiled before crossing my legs at my ankles and feeling the wind run through my hair.

I heard giggles coming from Justin and when I turned to look at him I found him smiling as he played with the sand.

It only made my insides warm up. I stood up and held my hand out for his. He took it and I helped him up before pulling him with me to where the wet sand started.

As he stepped onto the wet sand he gasped, "I-it's sq-squishy!"

"If we get a bit closer we'll be able to feel the water on our feet," I said, "do you want to feel it?"

"Mhmm," he hummed.

We took slow steps closer and closer. I held his hand tightly, "Okay, a wave is going to come close and it's going to hit our feet, it'll be kind of cold, but don't worry we'll be okay."

He nodded as he looked over at the water. The large waves moved far away and as they got closer they dissolved into smaller ones until only a small gush of water hit us.

"W-woah," he said taking a hold of my arm with his over hand. I held him and looked down at our feet before looking up and placin a kiss against his lips.

"Did you like that?" I asked.

He nodded.

Suddenly a group of guys ran past us yelling to pass the ball. Justin jumped and started rocking back and forth.

"It's okay, they're just passing by," I said.

He closed his eyes tightly trying to get closer to me.

"You're okay," I said rubbing his back. I placed my hand on his cheek slowly rubbing it and feeling the softness of his skin under my fingers. "Do you want to go sit back down?"

He shook his head as he opened his eyes.

"Okay, the water's about to hit us again," I warned him before the water hit us covering our feet up to our ankles in water.

Justin giggled and turned towards me, "I-it feels g-good."

"It does," I agreed.

We drew shapes onto the sand with our feet and once the waves came in the erased them away, leaving behind a new canvas for us to draw on.

After a while we walked back to our blanket and sat down. Justin rested against my side before placing his head on my lap.

I played with the strands of blonde on his forehead while I told him a story about my first time at the beach. I was six and it my parents decided to take me and my brother out of school to take us to the beach. It was one of my most beloved memories.

"D-do you s-swim?" Justin asked.

"Yeah," I answered.

"C-could you t-teach J-Justin some-someday?" He asked.

"Of course," I replied.

He sat up and turned to face me, "Th-thank you f-for b-bringing me."

"No problem babe," I said.

"C-can I-I k-kiss you?" He asked.

"Sure," I said.

He leaned closer until I felt his lips against mine. The softness of them soothed me. A combination of his kisses and the sound of the ocean was the best feeling ever. I felt his hand on my cheek as we continued kissing.

Once we pulled away, we rested our foreheads against each other's, our breaths hitting our mouths as we tried catching them.

"I love you," he said.

My eyes widened at how perfectly he said it. Wow, he's getting better and better.

"I love you too," I said.

I laid back down feeling as the sun hit my skin making it tingle. Justin laid next to me looking up at the sky.

"I-I wish I c-could fly," he said.

"Me too."

"L-like b-birds."

I placed my head against him feeling his body raise up and down as he took a breath in then let it out. "If you could go anywhere in the world where would you go?" I asked.

"Mmm... P-Paris," he said.

"I would go there too," I said.

"I-I-I w-wanna go w-with you," he said running his hand through my hair.

I smiled, "Me too. I want to leave and travel the world without having to worry about anything. I want to see something other than California."

"W-we can st-start with P-Paris," he said.

"We can visit Italy, Germany, Lebanon, Africa, and so much more," I said.

"S-sounds so c-cool," he said in amazement.

"Maybe one day it'll happen," I said in hope.

You never know right? It's a possibility. We laid for the next ten minutes in silence before Justin asked to walk closer to the water. We walked down the shore, hand in hand.

Justin started singing "You Got a Friend in Me" and I sang along while I swung his hand back and forth.

"We should get back home," I said once we finished the song.

"N-no..." he whined.

"Yes, you're mom will be coming home soon and we don't want her to worry," I said.

"B-b-but Mila..." he said puckering his lower lip out.

"We've been here for like four hours already, besides, we'll come back some other day if we leave right now," I bribed.

"O-okay," he said.

"Alright, let's start walking back," I said.

He waved to the ocean before saying, "B-bye ocean."

Once we made it to the cement I helped him put his shoes on before we got in the car and drove back to his house.

"You probably shouldn't tel your mom that we went to the beach, she wouldn't like the idea," I said.

"Oh o-okay."

As soon as we got there we washed our feet in the bathtub and I prepared pb&j sandwiches as a snack.

Afterwards we went to his bedroom and laid on his bed putting a puzzle together.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked.

"Y-yeah," he said.

"Why do you like puzzles so much?" I asked as I put another piece in its place.

"Th-they're f-fun," he said, "I-I-I like pu-putting things t-to... to..."

"Together," I finished his sentence.

He nodded placing another piece down.

"So like building things?" I asked.

He nodded again.

"My fi-" I stopped and reworded what I was going to say, "my friend, works in construction, he's an architect."

"S-so h-he works on ma-making build-buildings?" He asked.

"Mhmm," I hummed as I heard the front door open. I sat up and waited for Pattie to walk in.

"Hey," she said as she stepped into the room.

I looked over at her and smiled, "How was your day?"

"Pretty good, yours?"

"It was good," I replied.

"Hi bubba, you okay?" She asked Justin.

"Y-yes," he said looking up at her.

"I should get going," I said standing up.

"I'll walk you out," Pattie said.

"Bye Justin," I waved.

"Bye Mila," he waved back.

I grabbed my backpack on my way to the door and as I walked out Pattie said, "I have the rest of the week off so you don't have to come in."

"Okay," I responded.

"Drive safely," she said.

"I will, good night."

I walked over to my car, unlocking it before going inside and driving off. I picked up Chinese take out on the way home and once I got home I prepared the dinner table.

Not seeing Justin for almost a week would be hell mostly because once I come back he's going to say that I left him and didn't want to see him.

I sighed as I sat down at the table in front of Xavier.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah," I replied.

"Lisa called and said she wanted to schedule a visit to a couple of dress shops," he said.

"Sounds good, I'll call her tomorrow."

I picked at my food moving it around with the chopsticks not really feeling like eating. Xavier finished and I still wasn't halfway done with my plate.

I ended up throwing the rest away and going upstairs to get ready for bed. As I laid down I turned the TV on looking for a good movie. Xavier sat next to me with his laptop on his lap.

I turned to the side watching his as he worked. My eyelids became heavy and they slowly started to close until I was asleep.

My baby is so cute 😍