*Nate*

We have a plan in place, but I know it's not what Julia wants. She's going home. Specifically, James's home. It's a temporary plan until Julia is healthy again. The tour is over for James and Julia for now. He won't leave her side and has accepted the 11-hour flight back to California. There's no other way. But it will be his last flight for a while, and they will take my private jet. Once again, word got out, and Julia is headlining International News and all over the internet.

Tour is also over for Paul. He has volunteered to take care of Julia. He's confident he can handle her, and I'm confident he can as well. He has proven this time and time again. He will accompany Julia to the Avalon every day.  He will be with her 24/7.

As for a bodyguard. I trust Paul's judgment. He told me who to hire. Apparently, this man is the best of the best in the industry right under Paul. Actually, my good friend Leo used him through his entire tour last year, so I know he is good. His name is Evan Scholfield, and he is 33 years old.  Taylor Swift has used him numerous times as well as Leo and Harrison, so I trust he is top-notch. He is also a good friend of Paul's, and I trust Paul with his judgment. I trust him with my life, obviously. I trust him with Julia's life.

I couldn't bear to separate Jonah and Casey and know Casey wouldn't be able to handle Julia. Not like Paul can. And I need Jonah with me. James will be happy to be back in his home. It's where he belongs.  Julia will detox at home and go to The Avalon part time in the mornings like she was doing before. She will not sleep there. Over my dead body.

But while Julia is there, James will need someone to be with him. He can't be alone. He can't even take a shower without someone helping him. He still needs round the clock care.  So the plan is, while Julia and Paul are at The Avalon, my driver Ren will bring James to his mother's house every day. He will be with his sisters as well as the nurse we hired. Claudia starts next week. Jonah recommended the young nurse and assured us she is the best nurse in the hospital as well as his friend. Claudia will get paid well, and she almost passed out when I told her how many zeros will be on that weekly pay.

I can afford it.  And I will do whatever it takes to make sure James and his family are taken care of. James and the dog will only be at his mom's house in the mornings. Ren will pick him up right when Julia gets home, and Julia will take care of him. She needs that, and I can't take that away from her. Taking care of James gives her purpose, and she takes care of him better than anyone else can.

At first, it may be a tough adjustment for James. Apparently, his crystal blue eyes are identical to his abusive father's eyes, whereas his sisters all have green eyes like their mom. James can't look at his mother without triggering her dementia and bringing her right back to some pretty awful times of abuse she lived through. But Claudia knows this, and Katie and Kendall still live with their mom, so they can help. Well, Kendall can, at least. It sounds like Katie is going downhill as fast as her mother, and she's only in her early forties.

Me and Julia may not be together, but I feel like now she will slip right through my fingers. My heart is so broken just thinking about her not being here with me. I can take care of Julia. I 100% can take care of her. But I can't take care of her the way she needs while on tour. It's just not possible, and I have a huge obligation to my fans, to my managers, to Trisha. By contract, I have to continue my scheduled concerts like planned. There's no negotiation. 

So, I've lost Julia.

 I can't win her back when she's so far away. She will fall back in love with James. I feel a hard lump in my throat just thinking about that, but I guess if I had to choose anyone to lose Julia to, I'd pick James Gallo. I wouldn't want to see her with anyone else. Now THAT would kill me.

All of this came together in one night. Julia ended up needing to be admitted for two nights instead of one because she had trouble keeping food down. So that night, Trisha and I worked hard, and everything came together. The bodyguard, Evan, is already on a flight to Berlin, and then we fly right to Copenhagen, Denmark. I will go from Denmark to Oslo, Norway.  I will make up the Berlin concert at the end of the tour.

Because I am putting Julia on the private jet... Trisha, Jonah, Casey, and I will be flying on a commercial flight in first class once my bodyguard shows up. I will do the same from Norway to Stockholm, Sweden, which is only a 1-hour flight. By then, my private jet will be ready and waiting for me in Sweden.

Without Julia on it.

"I can't believe we are making this happen, playboy." Trisha closes her laptop. It's two in the morning and we are both exhausted. I still have a concert to perform tonight and have yet to sleep. Actually, I haven't slept much since Julia was sent to the hospital. 

****

Telling Julia these plans was gut-wrenching to do. Casey had to leave the room because she couldn't handle Julia crying so sad like that. James was right behind her.

"No one is giving up on you, Julia." Jonah says to help calm her down. "This is all temporary. It's for the first leg of the tour. Then we all fly home, and Nate has three weeks off before the second leg begins.

Julia is shutting down. She has barely said more than 10 sentences the entire time she's been in the hospital. Tomorrow morning, she will be discharged and fly home with James and Paul. Paul will have his work cut out for him.

Saying goodbye to Julia is going to be one of the hardest things I will have to do.

******

*Julia*

Jonah and Casey go back to the hotel with Trisha. Casey wants to spend as much time with Maggie as possible before we leave in the morning. Paul, James, and Nate have not left the hospital once since I came.  The staff moved me to a more private room the first night, and it has a couch as well as a recliner in it. Paul is fast asleep on the recliner, James on the couch. It's almost two thirty in the morning and just me and Nate now. He lays with me in my bed, and we both lie on our sides to face each other.

I've never witnessed Nate cry for this long. We stare at each other like we used to do at the Marriott while talking. But we ran out of things to say and have been crying uncontrollably. 

This isn't how it was supposed to go. I was only trying to teach Nate a lesson. Instead, I wasted time not being together. Now....now I'm leaving, and the only thing I want is to be by Nate's side.

"I forgive you." I can barely choke out the words. Nate cries harder. His eyes are so red and irritated, and his lips are swollen. "I love you and want to marry you."

 Better late than never.

Tears stream down his face and practically soak the pillow. It's all he wanted to hear from me.

"I love you so much, Jule."

 And for the first time in a long time, we lean in and kiss each other. 

We pull the covers over our bodies and make love for the first time in a while, and the last time for... who knows how long... Weeks? Months? I haven't a clue when I will see Nate again. We make love right in this hospital bed. Nate rolls on top of me and makes love to me even though James is sleeping on the couch and Paul on the recliner.  We make love and cry all at the same time.

*****

*Nate*

"Can we get a dog?" Casey kneels down and hugs James's dog, teary-eyed.

"NO!" Both Trisha and I say in unison.

"Are you trying to replace Maggie already??" James snorts. "Don't listen to her Mags. You'll always be the O.G. tour dog."

Mini-Julia Casey crying doesn't surprise me. What throws me for a loop is seeing  Trisha's eyes begin to water when she says goodbye to James, and then Paul.  I can't tell who she is crying over. Did she have something going with Paul?  James??

I will have to get it out of her once they all leave.  But right now my focus is solely on Julia. I feel like we are breaking up.  I don't recall ever crying so hard or feeling this devastated saying goodbye to a woman. 

We all stand out on the pavement in front of the private jet while the pilots and flight attendant patiently wait.

I feel my hot tears build up as I grab Julia and hug her. I hug her so hard I feel like I may break her. 

But she breaks me first.

"I don't want to go. Please..." She sobs in my chest, and I purse my lips together and look over at Jonah, not sure I can go through with this. He knows I never wanted it to come down to this. But I know it needs to be done. Julia knows it needs to be done. She's so nervous about her detox and nervous about change in general. She's not good with that. But Paul will take good care of her and update me often.

"I'll be home for three weeks straight before you know it, ok? You're going to do just fine." I choke on my words, unable to hold in my emotion now.

"They should probably leave soon." Trisha looks down at her watch and back up at me, but Julia's grip only gets tighter, as does mine.

I cup Julia's face and kiss those perfect lips one last time. I hold her one last time.  We can't seem to break apart. Both me and Jules are disasters now. Crying and clinging to each other.

"Nate..." Trisha says again as Paul puts his big ol bodyguard hand on Julia's shoulder, pulling her back and away from me.

"C'mon Moretti, time to go."

I hold my breath trying not to burst, but the minute she turns around and Paul walks her up the stairs into the plane, I lose it. I throw my hand up to my mouth while watching the door close and literally sob. Hard. Loud. Not caring Jonah, Casey, Trisha, and some random bodyguards are still standing with me.

Once I hear the engine of my plane start up, I turn around and march back into the terminal of the airport.

 Sobbing.