*Nate*

I know I'm not the most loved person in the world, especially by my managers and production team right now. But my fans are outstanding. They will understand.  Since I got absolutely NO sleep last night, I called my publicist, Elliott, to get the ball rolling. For once, preparing him for the news before it happens so he has a head start.

Then, I called Walter, one of my pilots, to make sure the plane was fueled and ready to go. I talked to Jonah who is more than happy to head home early. Lastly, I told Leslie during our morning meeting. I purposely didn't bring this up to Trisha. She'd just persuade me to reconsider. Of course, having her in the room while I break the news probably wasn't the best idea either.

She'll get over it.

And she will. She always does. Trisha doesn't have much of a choice, does she? She's my best friend but she's also my personal assistant. Sure, she can have an opinion, but the truth is, she doesn't have a say in the matter. Julia comes first. She always will.

So, as we board the plane, I know the silent treatment I am currently getting from Trisha will eventually get old.

"Walter," I shake the pilot's hand. "Thank you for getting everything ready in such short notice."

"It is my pleasure, Mr. Hollan." Water gets paid well. He's not going to tell me it was a hassle and I'm a big pain in the ass. I know that already.

"Louis, good morning." I shake hands with the copilot and then the flight attendant, Amanda, as we get settled in.

This is it.

I'm going home.

*******

*Julia*

As the day went on, I grew tired of trying to stay calm and faking it. At one point, during dinner, my emotions got the best of me, and I cried and ate at the same time. James was gone by this point and Mike was in the cafeteria eating dinner with the rest of the patients. Dr. Cohen came in to check on me and used coming down from the sedative as the excuse for my sudden tears.

 She really believes Jeremy over me, doesn't she? I mean, why wouldn't she. I am, after all, a psych patient, not a Harvard graduate or a doctor. And that is how it's going to be if I were to ever fight Jeremy. The world would be on his side. 

"Moretti, you need to calm down." Paul whispers after the nurse takes what's left of my meal.

"I'm trying!" But I know what comes next, thinking about it just makes me get worked up even more.

Jeremy comes in and puts me back in the restraints.

Apparently, I'm too emotionally unstable right now and he wants to wait and see if I can calm down a little more. Then he goes a step further saying bodyguards aren't allowed to be in patients rooms overnight. They guard the door. From outside.

That's when I lost it.

"You're going to leave me alone in here? Strapped up like this? All alone?" I shriek at the doctor.

"My job is to be by her side at all times, Dr. Donovan." Paul narrows his eyes at Jeremy who doesn't seem intimidated at all by the bodyguard. 

"It's a liability concern, Mr. Rossi. We can't have a male and female in the same room overnight. Bad enough she was in Michael Maloney's room." Funny how the rules change when Jeremy wants them to, because the nurse by his side who is checking my vitals, nods her head in agreement.

"You can't just LEAVE me here! What if I need to use the bathroom??" I'm a crying mess, on the verge of hyperventilating.

"The protocol is to keep your door open and a nurse sitting outside if the patient requires something. You will have your bodyguard, so you can tell him, and he will come find the doctor on call. Me."

"I'm not leaving her. I can't go FIND you. Sir, you understand my job as a bodyguard, correct?" Paul is trying very hard to keep his cool, but I can see that vein in his neck popping out like it always does when he is furious.

Jeremy nods and turns to my desk, grabbing a post-it note and pencil. He scribbles down something and hands it to Paul.

"Then have me paged." He says, then drags the chair out into the hallway. "Mr. Rossi......"

Jeremy waits for Paul to leave the room. My pleading eyes can't get him out of this one so Paul drops his shoulders in defeat and leaves the room. He positions the chair outside the door so he can see me, but I still feel like he's miles away. Paul keeps his eyes on me, and I stare back at him as Jeremy sits in the chair next to me. He begins talking but I focus on Paul while my emotions run wild. The second Jeremy lifts his hand to wipe my tears, Paul bolts out of the chair and into the room.

"No touching." Paul growls making the nurse and Jeremy flinch and retract his hand.

"Relax. Have a seat, Paul." Jeremy takes off his glasses and pinches in between his eyes like we are all making him tired.

Paul is fuming but returns to his chair in the hall throwing daggers for eyes at Jeremy. The nurse is on the other side of the room near the desk, filling out my chart and Jeremy continues to talk to me.

"As I was saying..."

I have absolutely no idea what he was saying. I was too distraught to listen. He looks back at the nurse to make sure she is busying herself before turning to me.

"Julia, you need to calm down. I'm trying to help you." He whispers and bile rises up my throat.

A sudden bipolar wave of boldness crashes through my body and I muster up the courage to speak.

"You told me you were getting help for yourself, Jeremy. You said you knew the things you did were wrong and you were trying to work through it." I whisper through my tears.

"And I am. But..." Jeremy rakes both hands through his dark hair. "Seeing you with that- that felon. Julia, he's dangerous. You don't belong hanging around him."

"You don't get to say who I can hang around with." I sniff but don't look away.

"Sorry, having sex with..." Jeremy states.

"So you tie me up?!"

"If it keeps you safe and away from him. Yes." He admits, looking back at the nurse who is clearly off in her own world filling my chart out for the evening. "You don't belong in his room. You don't belong with him at all."

"This isn't right!" I say a little louder and Jeremy glares at me.

"Miss Moretti, if you can't calm yourself down, sedation will have to be administered." He stands up and adjusts his tie while staring at me.  My eyes widen at that threat. I will 

That boldness I had?  Yeah. It's gone. I turn my head and close my eyes while tears fall. Jeremy and the nurse leave the room.

 This has to be some kind of nightmare.

******

*Nate*

I sit buckled in my recliner with my hands folded in my lap and knee bouncing nervously as we take off. Even or twelve hours, Jule. Just hold on for me. I silently think in my head. I close my eyes and find myself doing something I don't do often enough. I begin to pray. To whoever will hear me. I silently pray like James would pray. For completely healing, physical and emotional healing for Julia. I lean over with my hands clasped together and my head hung low and before I know it, tears well up.

This beautiful woman, inside and out, is being torn to pieces. Broken down to bits. One tragic event after another. How the hell is she supposed to heal in this condition? She'll never trust another therapist, or any doctor for that matter, again. She's never going to get over what's going on in The Avalon enough to stay there to get the help she needs. And she still has a detox waiting for her on top of it all. How is she even surviving right now? I can only imagine what must be going through her head.

A bit of turbulence distracts my thoughts, and I lift my head.

"Sir..." Evan, who is sitting across from me, hands me a tissue without saying another word. I take it with a nod of appreciation and wipe my eyes before looking out the window. Apparently, we will be going through a 'rough patch' with a brewing storm in our way, so we are to expect a bit of a bumpy ride. That certainly doesn't help my nerves.

I look around and Jonah and Casey are both already sleeping and Trisha looks up from her magazine and furrows her brows at me. She's still pissed. I roll my eyes. Then I close them as another patch of turbulence shakes the plane, making my stomach drop. I try to think of anything positive. I think about the first time I met Julia. She had just came off a long flight from Boston and was like a deer in headlights when the bodyguard escorted her to the SUV. She slid into the backseat and was shocked to see me sitting there.  Poor thing was so nervous.

But God she was beautiful. I remember thinking that the moment we locked eyes.

I showed her how to download the calendar app and then watched her as she focused on her phone. Long brown hair, big brown eyes, small perfect features and that tiny little five-foot body.  I remember thinking there is NO WAY this woman is 40. She barely looks 30.

*****

"Your schedule is crazy!" She says, noticing all the things in my box in comparison to hers. "Sorry, I don't know why that is a surprise to me."

Julia looks up, gives me a smile, and looks back down.

Fuck. She has a killer smile, too. This is going to be better than I thought.

"Yeah. Trish likes to keep me busy. But aside from a few dinner meetings, I try to keep my schedule open in the evenings. That's where you come into play. But the first few weeks we will be seeing a hell of a lot of each other during the days, too." I give Julia a wink and a smile, starting to feel myself want to flirt a little. Her cheeks get red instantly.

This is going to be fun.

*****

We hit it off right away. I flirted with her nonstop, but she wouldn't give in. Not at first. She kept everything professional. Until that one night she gave in. That night she let me stay with her in the hotel room so she could attempt to get some sleep. She was struggling with insomnia, and I feared she would burn out quickly if she didn't get a good night's rest. But when she had a PTSD night terror, I wrapped my arms around her and held her to help calm her down. I fell in love with her.

Of course, that night was a disaster, when I went down to find her in the lobby with James kissing her. I should have known right then and there things would be...complicated. We fought in the elevator on the way up to her room. We fought in the hotel room.

But then... Julia kissed me. She kissed me and didn't stop until I gave in. I was so pissed. Pissed at myself for letting this beautiful woman get under my skin so quickly. I kissed her feverishly, breaking every fucking contract, we had signed.

That's when it all began. 

I was so in love with Julia. I wanted to take care of her. Yes, she was broken. She was fighting demons and awful memories in her head.  But I was the one she let in. Not James. Julia might have been attracted to James and have whatever weird best friend connection they have, but I was the one who could take care of her. I was the only one who could handle her.

I will ALWAYS be the only one who can handle her.

And God, that first night we had sex. There's just something about Julia. There really is no comparison to any other woman I've been with. And I've been with plenty. But Julia... she really IS an addiction. Jeremy got that part right. Both James and I were/ are addicted to Julia. Her touch, the way she looks at you. The way she feels. She's so innocent yet so wild-eyed at the same time. One minute she's kissing you sweetly and then next minute she's all over you, making you bed for more. She's just.... Julia.

Julia saved me from myself. She made me WANT to stop drinking and take care of myself. Even though she was struggling with her own addiction she made me want to be the healthiest version of myself. Yet, I always fell short. I fell short because when we fought, we'd fight hard. And when I fight hard, I drink hard. It was a vicious cycle.

But now I'm sober. I'm sober and I'm going to get her sobered up too. She's going to get the fuck out of that facility and detox and wear her engagement ring. She's going to marry me. I don't care what else happens down the road with my tour or anything for that matter. I just want Julia by my side. Healthy.

 I just want Julia to be healthy.

*******