*Julia*

Things are starting to come together, and not in a good way. Seeing that black Escalade SUV with tinted windows brought back so many things, but most of all-it brought back that panic I'd feel knowing someone was following me. 

First, it started when we noticed someone watching us in the Modern Studio's parking lot. The SUV would sometimes sit idle for hours while Nate and I were inside. It was more than just creepy. I always assumed it was Susan Hardy. Nate thought so, too.

I had it all wrong.

"You alright over there?" Dr. Tremont wonders why I stopped short when opening the gate to the lot.

"Whose SUV is that?" I point to the vehicle, but before Trevor can respond, I see the answer for myself. The person gets out of the familiar SUV and looks at me while on the phone.

I feel like I'm going to throw up.

"Oh God." I mutter and know all the color has drained from my face. The owner of the car knows something is wrong and hangs up the call.

"Jule? Are you ok?" The owner of the SUV asks.

I take a few steps back. My eyes dart from the person to the SUV and back. I walk backward to the point I bump right into Trevor. I feel him put both hands on my shoulders and look down at me from behind. "Hey...what's the matter? You're shaking." He whispers.

"I.. I-"

 I can't peel my eyes away. 

"Oh God," I cover my mouth and point to the black SUV. "It was YOU?!"

"What's happening, Julia?" Trevor whispers near my ear, still holding on to my shoulders.

"He... it was -"

"Jule, I can explain." Jeremy now sees how I have put two and two together.

"I thought THAT was your car." I point to another vehicle parked and glare at the psychiatrist.

"It is."

"And this is yours too... isn't it?"

"Not....not exactly... I mean, yes, but listen. I can explain everything -" Jeremy takes a step closer, but I shake my head.

"Fuck you. You sonofabitch. Oh my God..." I turn and bury my head into Trevor's chest, not caring about boundaries. All I care about is not seeing Jeremy's face in this very moment. Everything is confusing to me as I remember the past. Trevor doesn't hold me or anything like that but does take a step back either. He wraps one arm around and pats my back to try to calm me.

"I'm not sure what's going on here, but I think you should go to your own apartment right now, Dr. Donovan." Trevor says.

"Julia, please." Jeremy ignores Trevor. Probably pissed I turned to him and begins to walk my way. "Before you jump to conclusions, let's talk about this."

I turn to look up at Trevor now. He drop his hand from my shoulder with a confused look. But he knows something is terribly wrong. My eyes are wide, and my heart is racing. I can't even look at Jeremy right now.

"Jeremy.... go." Trevor says sternly and I hear Jeremy's footsteps as his pivots and walks away. I scramble to get into my apartment where I begin pacing.

Paul is in the living room watching TV and stands up when he sees how distraught I am.

"You good, Moretti?"

"It was him." I mutter to myself as Trevor comes inside and closes the slider behind me.

"Julia, you need to tell me what's going on. Did something more happen between you and Jeremy?" Trevor asks.

Mike is awake now and everyone is looking at me. James walks over to me and hugs me. He has no idea what's happening but knows I need him right now. I cry in my best friend's arms.

"It was him... That whole time." I lift my head and turn to Paul. "The black SUV. The one with tinted windows. The Escalade. Remember that car?"

"Of course. One of Hardy's minions sent to follow you and Hollan. What about it?"

"Babe, you're seriously shaking." James pulls out a kitchen chair and sits me down, sitting down next to me. Maggie doesn't care about this right now. She heads over to Mike, who keeps scratching up and down his arm needing his fix.

"That car... And he pretty much admitted to it just now." I'm not making any sense to anyone, but Trevor catches on fast.

"Oh shit." Trevor blurts out now. "You mean to tell me...."

"Someone talk in full fucking sentences please?" Mike bellows from the cot in the living room.

"It wasn't Susan Hardy. It wasn't the reporter or anyone who worked for her!" I cry out. "It was Jeremy!!"

*******

*Nate*

[Have someone call me. Now]

I sit up a little in the hospital bed when I read Paul's message. Christ, this can't be good. I'm here alone right now. Casey and Jonah went down to the cafeteria to get some food. Trisha and Evan are at the studio so Trisha can attend a meeting with Elliott and Richard.

[No one is in the room right now. It's just me. Is Julia ok? Cara?]

[Yes.]

[Paul- type. What's going on?]

[Remember the first time you hired me out to watch over Julia? When someone trashed her Marriott room and slashed her tires? You had mentioned one of Susan Hardy's reporters had been parked outside the studio a few times.]

[Bunch of lowlife reporters. Please tell me they aren't stalking Julia at the Avalon looking for their next story]

[Nate. That Escalade.... belongs to Jeremy Donovan]

I scrunch my brows together and read that text again. What the hell is Paul talking about?

Jonah and Casey walk in together and the second they see me, and the blood pressure numbers on the machine, they know something is wrong. I'm trying REAL hard to not use my voice right now but it's extremely difficult. I dial Paul's number and put my phone on speaker, handing it to Jonah. He takes it and sits down at the foot of my bed, putting the phone flat on the mattress.

"Paul? It's Jonah. I have you on speaker. Nate called you. He's listening."

"Yeah, Nate..." Paul talks fast which is unlike him. "The black Escalade. The one you thought belonged to Susan Hardy. The same one that was stalking you guys at the studio when Julia first came to L.A.. It's Jeremy's."

Holy shit.

"That doesn't even make sense." I whisper and then grab my whiteboard

 [Julia didn't meet Jeremy until she started going to the Avalon]

"He said that doesn't make sense. That Julia didn't meet Jeremy until she started going to the Avalon." Jonah says for me.

"Yeah well he had an obsession with her before she ever knew he existed. She saw him get out of the SUV today and the second he knew she had put the pieces together he tried to explain. But Moretti got all worked up and Trevor told him to go back to his place or something.

"Why the hell would he be stalking Julia?" Casey asks now.

"Why the hell does he do any of the things he does. All I know is he practically called himself out on it. Which means- He was the one who broke into her Marriott room."

[ And slashed her tires?? If he's obsessed with her he wouldn't do things like that.]

 I show Jonah who relays my message.

"Nate? It's Trevor. We don't know all the details yet. Julia is in her room fairly upset and James is with her. But if Dr. Donovan has a mental illness and wasn't take care of it- rage and destruction would make sense with his diagnosis. Either she pissed him off in some way or he was mad about whatever situation she was in at the time. It makes perfect sense. I'm not saying he did those things but from a medical point of view... yeah... it is possible."

"Shit." I mutter to myself, but this time don't get reprimanded by anyone. Jonah and Casey don't know about any of this stuff because it happened before I ever got sick. Once Julia started going to the Avalon we never saw that Escalade and soon forgot about it altogether. This obsession with Julia started way before the Avalon, didn't it? Her actually needing the Avalon- the facility HE works at, is just a weird coincidence.

 I can't seem to wrap my brain around any of this. I don't even know what to do with this information- if anything, it just makes Julia fear Jeremy even more now. I put my hand on my chest when I feel that familiar stabbing pain. My monitor goes off and Casey hits the button for me.

"You should rest." Casey says and looks from me to Jonah who nods.

"Ok, Paul. Let us know if you guys find any more information."

"Will do."

Paul hangs up and Jonah gets off the edge of the bed.

"So you guys had someone stalking you during your sessions at the studio? And you thought it was the paparazzi, but it was Jeremy?" Jonah asks and I nod yes. "And her room? Someone broke in? Can we call the police? Let them know it was Jeremy?"

[The police did a full investigation at the time and came up with nothing. She was on the 4th floor of the Marriott. The celebrity wing so there were no cameras. They didn't have any leads at all.]

"So THAT'S what the 4th floor is!" Casey bursts.

[We had it all wrong. Susan Hardy had nothing to do with any of it. It was Jeremy and his sick obsession with Julia. Someone over there needs to talk to him and get all the information. Julia must be going out of her mind right now.] I scribble and lay back on my pillow, feeling a headache starting now.

******

*Julia*

"I feel sick to my stomach." I sit on the edge of my bed with James sitting next to me. "I was so scared that night." I think about the night someone broke into my room. The night I met Paul. I was petrified of him. I was a nervous wreck, and Nate couldn't tell me much at the time.

"I remember. I was there. It wa-was awful." James sighs and rubs my back. "Why would Jeremy do something like that? It just doesn't make sense."

"I need to talk to him. I need more info." I drop back and lay flat on the bed to look up at the ceiling. James does the same but turns his head to me.

"This obsession the guy has over you..."James's voice trails off.

"He must have been ecstatic the first day I came here for treatment." I huff. "What a weird coincidence that I would have mental health issues and need to come here. And that of all people- my stalker would be the only one who knew how to treat me. I wonder how long he was watching me."

I really need to talk to Jeremy, but I don't know if I can even be in the same room as him right now. Did Katherine Cohen know about this? Did he tell her about these things during his therapy sessions?

"Babe..." James studies my face. "I hate to say this but maybe you should cut ties with that doctor all together. Maybe only work with Dr. Tremont."

"Unfortunately, I can't. Even Trevor admitted that Jeremy is smarter than he is when it comes to my diagnosis. I still need to rely on him for his brains." I say to the ceiling. "I had it all wrong, though. That SUV. Everything."

I try not to shut down the way I usually would but it's getting harder every time. I'm mentally tired from these last few days, so I close my eyes. Tears roll down the side of my face on to the mattress and I end up falling asleep thinking about that damn SUV being Jeremy's.

******

When I wake up from my nap it's not James lying next to me. Not even Maggie. It's Paul of all people. He has kicked off his shoes and is back into his grey Nike joggers with a plain white T-shirt instead of his usual black on black on black bodyguard attire. He's leaning against the headboard, leisurely scrolling through his phone. When I stretch like a cat, Paul sees I'm awake.

"Where's James?" It's the first thing I think of. My main priority is making sure James is well cared for, not shutting down. "Is Mike fine?" My second priority.

"Mike's sleeping it off. He's in rough shape. James wanted to go to his grief therapy session. Dr. Tremont offered to bring him down." Paul grumbles, then second guesses things. "He seems fine with him taking him..."

I nod, putting Paul's mind at ease. James is a grown adult. If he felt comfortable with the doctor taking him down, then that's fine with me. There are plenty of nurses in the room if anything does happen with James.

"Ugh! He's such a fucking show-off."

Paul chuckles at that, knowing I hate any and all therapy sessions here but James is always looking for ways to stay positive and better himself. We are so opposite like that. I throw my hair up into a messy bun, turn away and curl up into my ball under the covers.

"Why are you in here, Paul." I'm in a bad mood and I can tell already.

"I thought you were shutting down. Wanted to be prepared. The bathrooms here are nice."

"Ha...ha...ha..." I roll my eyes even though he can't see me.... but then.... my eyes and nose sting and my bottom lip quivers before I burst into tears.

"Knock it off, Moretti." The grumpy man grumbles but I pay no attention to him. All I pay attention to are the facts I learned earlier. I shake my head and continue on. Paul knows I can't help it and pushes all jokes aside.

"You're safe, Julia."

"He was stalking me. Before I even met him." I croak in between tears.

"Watching me." There's no stopping the waterworks now and Paul knows it.

Instead of snapping at me, or ignoring me completely like he used to do, Paul lays down behind me while he's over the covers and I'm under and wraps his big bodyguard arm around me, pulling me in to him a little.

"You're safe." He repeats in his low toned voice.

"He broke into my room. Tore it apart." I keep talking through my whimpers but grab on to Paul's arm and hold it tight like it's my anchor.

"I know."

"I was so scared!" I cry, playing out all the details in my head. Paul lets me.

"I know." He answers softer.

"He slashed my tires..." I sniff and feel Paul rest his forehead down on the back of my shoulder.

"I know, Moretti." He sighs and I can hear the defeat in his voice. "But you're safe now. I won't let anything happen."

I nod slightly to let him know I heard him and regulate my breathing more. I close my eyes and try to regain composure. I am safe. I know this. But I say it over and over again in my head to remind myself. I hold on to Paul's arm and feel safe as I say the words in my head.

Paul knows I will always struggle. As more and more things get thrown at me one thing I know, Paul will keep me safe. There is no doubt about that.

He lifts his forehead, rests his chin on my shoulder, and lets me settle against his body completely, now feeling calmer. Aside from the blankets separating us this is about as close as two people can get physically without anything more happening.

I can feel his heart beating hard against my back and the air from his nose against the crook of my neck as he breathes in and out slowly.

Paul turns his head slightly and ever so lightly, his lips accidentally brush against the side of my neck. My shoulders drop and relax. My body begins to tingle, my pulse quickens in pace, but I keep my eyes closed and take in the scent of his cologne.

When Paul's soft lips graze my skin again, I realize it was no accident. It was no accident and I'm not moving away. This is so out of character for him.  I squeeze his arm a little tighter but unsure why. To acknowledge I felt it?  Feel him? I've had dreams of this happening. Me and Paul. But neither of us would ever dare to act on it. Paul would never. We are off limits to each other. He has made that one very clear.

But has he? Because while I'm thinking that very thought, Paul does something that changes everything.

He gently presses his lips to my skin, this time making me know I'm not imagining things. I'm also not imagining the things I'm feeling inside right now. The slow burn of desire deep down in my stomach is certainly not fake.

He slowly, softly, peppers the side of my neck with light, teasing touches of his lips. His kisses are barely there, like a soft breeze that gives you goosebumps, though inside, that slow burn turns into a wildfire tornado of lust spinning through my body. My breathing becomes more labored as I melt into him, and Paul's heart continues to beat fast against me.

I had it all wrong, didn't I?

This whole time... I had it all wrong.

******