The alarm went off the next morning at 6 am signaling for Salina to get up for work. She reached over and turned it off before turning to wake her boyfriend.
“Josh,” She said rolling on top of him and fingering his cheek.
He groaned and stretched a little before letting out a small smile. “Hey, it’s early. Go back to sleep”
Salina smirked. “I can’t. I have to go home so I can get ready for work.”
“So you couldn’t have left a note?” He said finally looking at her.
“You have to take me cause I don’t have a car.” He nodded in response while yawning. “I’m gonna take a shower. You get up!” She said before she climbed out of the bed and walked into the bathroom.
JC laid in bed for the next ten minutes remembering all of the events of the previous night. He smiled at the memories and for a moment considered trying to convince her to stay in with him today but decided that that would be pushing his luck.
When he heard her turn off the shower he got out of bed and put on a t-shirt and some sweats. His head turned when he found her dripping wet, picking up her clothes from where she’d left them the night before when she changed into JC’s sweats, covered in only a towel.
JC’s breath caught in his throat as she bent over to retrieve her bra giving him a perfect view of her backside. He groaned and she turned to him with her eyebrows raised.
“Can I help you?” She asked.
He shook his head slowly. “I’m good, thanks.” She smirked and walked back into the bathroom to dress. He went downstairs and put on some coffee then went back upstairs to brush his teeth and wash his face. When he got back to his room Salina was putting on her shoes.
“Hey, there’s coffee brewing downstairs if you want some. The mugs are in the cabinet next to the fridge.” He said while walking into the bathroom and picking up his toothbrush. He looked at it for a second and turned to find her standing in the doorway. “Did you use my toothbrush?”
She nodded shyly but he shrugged and stuck it in his mouth as he got out his toothpaste. Salina waited for him to finish brushing his teeth and washing his face before she approached him. She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a firm kiss on the lips.
“Coffee?” She asked. He nodded and she led him out of the door down to the kitchen where she poured both of them coffee as he got out the cream and sugar. They took their coffee with them as they got into the car and JC drove them to Salina’s apartment.
“So what are you doing today?” Salina asked him.
“Helping my brother move into his apartment and, ugh, packing.” He said like it was the worst thing in the world.
“Well, you don’t need to pack that much do you? You’re only going to be gone for a few days.”
“I know but I just hate packing in general, ya know?” She nodded at him.
“By the way, you’re leaving at 8 am tomorrow.”
“How do you know?”
”I called Kristi while you were downstairs and she told me. I figured if I didn’t you would have missed your flight.”
“No, I wouldn’t have. Kristi is organized like you, she calls me every time I have to go somewhere to remind me of the time. Just like you, honey.”
She smiled at him as they parked and they got out of the car. They walked up to her apartment silently and entered the home to find Salina’s mother sitting at the table in the dining room looking quite amused with how uncomfortable they became when they saw her there.
“Hi mama.” Salina said trying to stay quiet as Salina’s brothers were still sleeping in the living room.
“Hi.” She said laughing lightly. “Hi Josh.”
“Hi Mrs. Cortez.” JC said ushering Salina into the apartment more so that he could close the door.
“Okay, I have to go change.” JC looked at Salina with eyes that clearly begged her not to leave him alone with her mom. But she just winked at him devilishly before heading to her room to quickly find something to dress in before her dad woke up to find her and JC there to create more tension.
“Josh, are you hungry, mi hijo?”
“Uh…no…that’s okay.”
“Here, sit, I’ll make you something to eat before you leave.”
JC smiled politely and sat down at the table. Maria had just begun to cook the food when they heard jabbering coming out of the baby monitor. Maria’s hands were full so she asked JC to go and get Vanessa up for her.
JC quietly walked to Vanessa’s room to see the little girl standing up in her crib “talking” to her Tebby who had dropped over the side.
“Hey, sweetie.” He said causing Vanessa to look up at him and smile.
“C?”
“That’s me, cutie.” He lifted her out of the crib and immediately smelled something foul. “Eww. Did you go do-do?”
Vanessa just giggled at him. “Yeah, you won’t think it’s funny when you have to change someone later on, huh?” He looked around and placed the baby on the changing table. “We can do this without your mommy.” He said as he pulled off her nightclothes and then took off her diaper. It took him a while to locate everything and figure out how to use it all but he finished and even picked out a cute little outfit for her to wear. However, that’s as far as he got because he couldn’t figure out how to snap the outfit together.
So he carried the baby out into the living room where everyone had gathered having smelled the food cooking and over to Salina. “Okay, I give up. Is there a trick to these snappy-things?”
Salina looked at him strangely as he sat down next to her with Vanessa in his lap. “Yeah, it’s really difficult. Watch.” She said doing it with one hand and shaking her head before going back to one of the many articles she had been reading about the guys in order to learn more about their past and how they answered questions. She had made it through most of their appearances and by no means was planning on reading every one of their articles, but wanted some background on them.
“Do you realize that you guys give the same answers for every interview?”
JC shrugged. “They ask the same questions in every interview.” He said handing Vanessa to Juan who had been asking for her and started to eat his food. “Change the question and we’ll change the answer.”
Salina nodded accepting his answer before standing up to pour herself another cup of coffee. She was going to be late to work but she didn’t care. As she sat back down JC took notice of her outfit.
“Babe, how many different outfits do you have?”
”What do you mean?”
”Every time I see you, you’re in a different one.”
“You think that’s bad? You should see her pile of shoes.” Juan remarked.
JC looked under the table at her feet as he chewed. “Come to think of it, I’ve never seen those shoes before.”
Salina just shrugged and kept drinking her coffee. JC grinned at her slyly. “Are you a shopaholic?”
“Yes.” She said seriously. “It’s my one character flaw.”
Robert coughed. “One?”
Salina threw him a glare as she walked over to her mother and father and kissed them each goodbye before she lifted Vanessa into her arms while balancing her bag on the other. She then turned to JC who was putting his plate in the dishwasher. “You leaving?”
“Yeah, I’ll walk you out.” JC said goodbye to her family who all bid him a farewell and Salina’s mom walked over to him.
“Have a safe flight, Josh.” She said giving him a hug shocking both JC and Salina’s father. JC then followed Salina out the door and took Vanessa from her arms. As they walked downstairs and out to Salina’s car, she listened to him say goodbye to her daughter.
“You bye?” Vanessa asked looking at him sadly.
“Yeah, sweetie, but I’ll be back in a few days.”
“’Kay.” He kissed her cheek as they reached the car.
“Be good for your mommy.”
”Kay.”
”Take care of her and make sure she doesn’t miss me too much.” Salina rolled her eyes from where she was putting her bag in the backseat before she turned to take Vanessa from him so that she could put her in her carseat. JC sighed as he watched her and ran his fingers through his hair when she finally turned to him she gave him a look.
“This is pathetic. We’ll see you in a few days. You’ll be fine. We’ll be fine.” She assured him as they walked to the driver’s side of the car.
“I know.” He said. “I’ll miss you.”
”I’ll miss you too, honey.”
JC leaned down to give her a long kiss before she opened the car door and got in. He told her and Vanessa goodbye one more time before kissing her and shutting her door so that she could be on her way. JC watched her car pull out of her spot and out of the parking lot before heading towards his own car.
“Mama?” Vanessa called from the backseat.
Salina sighed. “Yes, sweetie?”
”C, bye.”
Salina smiled. “Yeah. He’ll be back.”
“Yeah.” Vanessa said before resting her head back onto the carseat.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Story Tags: boyfriendjc jc justin hospital tabloids joey chris lance solojc
