In every competitive game you have a winner and a loser. For sports you train, push your body to the limits, go over strategical plays, practice. For chess, you move around to control the board, attack your opponent's pieces, checkmate your opponent's king.

Same goes for the courtroom competition. You use strategy to achieve a goal. Anticipate the opponent and how they respond. Assess the risk, weigh the potential consequences of each move. The players must do their best with the hand they've been dealt.

Both chess and litigation are high-stakes games where careful strategy is often the difference between winning and losing.

Addison Landry has one goal in mind. Winning. Losing would put James in jail. That is why I'm sitting in this pretentious cafe with my tail between my legs. Once Trisha heard about my little temper tantrum, she made sure I fix the mess I made. So here I am, apologizing to the lawyer I'M PAYING.

Paul, for some reason, is at the Avalon. He is spending more and more time with Julia because James and I are spending less time with her. Evan sits in the booth behind me as my bodyguard, watching people come in and out paying ten bucks for their high calorie sugary shit they call a cup of coffee.

"I'm glad you called me, Mr. Hollan." Addison slides into the booth to sit across from me with her cup of real coffee, black, while I sip my decaf thanks to my heart. She ticks her head to Evan with curiosity.

"Who is that man staring at me?" She asks, giving him a wink, making me roll my eyes.

"Evan Scofield. One of my bodyguards."

"Do you only hire the good-looking ones?"

"Trisha hires." I smirk. "Listen. I'm sorry about yesterday. I... we are all very protective of James. He's been through a lot. When he gets overly stressed out, he has seizures. I could tell the meeting was becoming too much for him. But the way I reacted was wrong and I'm sorry."

"Wow. I don't hear 'I'm sorry' very often. I almost don't know how to respond." She laughs. "Listen. Time is not on our side. I need to make sure Mr. Gallo is prepared in all the ways possible. Colton West plays hardball. He wants to win this. He wants revenge for the two cases he lost against me. This goes deeper than reckless driving."

"Ms. Landry, do I need to find another lawyer capable of representing James that doesn't have beef with the prosecutor? Because I don't care about whatever 'beef' you two have with each other. James's reckless driving charge goes deeper than your petty shit. I need to know he is your top priority.  So I'll ask again. Do I need to find another lawyer who will put James first?" I sit up straight and eye the woman. She knows I'm not fooling around. I will find another person willing to work with us no problem and Addison is aware of this.

"No, sir." She cowers in her seat a little. I stand up, making Scofield rise and stand behind me.

"Good. You say you're a winner? You say you have won every single case in your career? Prove it. Show me. Win this case, Addison. If you lose, James not only goes to jail, but your reputation will be tarnished. You will be the loser for the first time in your career.  You'll be the woman who couldn't come through for Nate Hollan."

I glare down at her once more. Then...

I walk out.

******

"You walked out? You fucking walked out? Seriously?"

Ok, I guess maybe that wasn't the right thing to do either and Trisha is reaming into me now.

"It was epic."  

"Shut up, Evan."

"Yes, sir." Scofield is still smiling stupid behind that perfectly groomed beard of his, making Trisha soften up and laugh.

"God, maybe you should have been a lawyer, Nate."

"I needed to put a fire under her, ok? This isn't some game. If this becomes dirty because her and Colton are at each other's throat, I will go public with it all and look for someone clean. We can't risk it."

I look around the room. "Where is James, anyway?"

Jonah and Casey are watching a movie on the living room couch while Trisha and Evan are sitting at the kitchen island. Paul must still be with Jules.

"In bed." Casey says in a sad manner. "He wouldn't cooperate and got all worked up."

"Did you offer to take him to see Julia?"

"Didn't work this time." Jonah replies. "He's falling deeper into depression because of this. It's all over the news. He can't get away and it is real to him now. Real and approaching fast."

"Nate, he can't go to jail." Trisha chokes out.

"I know. Jesus Christ! You don't think I know?!" I put my hand on my chest and close my eyes for a second before talking a bit calmer. "I know, ok? I'm trying my hardest, guys."

"Try harder!" Trisha bursts into tears and walks to her own room now, slamming the door behind her. I drop my head in defeat. 

"I'll go." Casey leaves and I take her spot on the couch, leaning my throbbing head back.

"We can't lose, Jonah."

*******

*Julia*

"You lost." I smile triumphantly, finishing my lunch well before Mike could this time.

"Technically, I won. I wanted you to eat. You're skinnier than my 95-year-old grandma. And it's whoever can actually KEEP their food down." Mike retorts. 

Paul sits next to me silently scrolling on his phone. He has been coming here every single day since the trial went public. The courthouse is a zoo. Outside the Avalon is a zoo. Anywhere Nate usually goes is a zoo of reporters waiting for any comments they can get their hands on. 

Jeremy comes into the room and my eyes shift down. I've been avoiding him since that day I freaked and kicked him out of my room. Paul puts his phone away and follows Jeremy with his eyes. The doctor is clearly scanning the room looking for me. I hate that. He has a trillion and one other patients who adore him. I am not one of them.

Jeremy walks over to my table.

"Julia, you missed our appointment this morning."

Right, the nurse told me he scheduled a one-on-one appointment, and I purposely blew it off. I keep my eyes shifted down.

"C'mon. We'll have it now."

"Um... I'm still eating." I lie and Mike catches on once he notices the attention.

"And then she was going to help me." He smirks.

"Help you with what?"

"I don't know. Read. She's gonna help me learn how to fucking read. I'm illiterate."

I burst out laughing accidentally.

"Nice try, Michael." The doctor rolls his eyes. "Let's go, Julia."

"She's not going alone." Paul is the one to cut in now.

"Actually, Mr. Rossi. She is." Jeremy takes off his glasses and wipes them with a cloth nonchalantly before putting them back on. He stuffs his hands in his pockets and raises his brows at Paul. "She's a full time Avalon patient. Full time patients don't have bodyguards unless they file the appropriate documents and are approved. You have not been approved yet. Julia, c'mon. I'm not playing games."

My heart begins to pound a little faster and Paul stands up with me.

"Alone. Julia." Jeremy says but looks at Paul.

"I'm walking her down and waiting at the door." The bodyguard crosses his arms.

"Whatever." 

I nervously follow Jeremy out and look back at Mike for a moment who shakes his head. We silently walk down the hall so Jeremy can grab my chart and then down to his office. The whole time I fidget with my hair, then my clammy hands, letting my nerves get the best of me.

I walk into the office with hesitation, and he closes the door.

"Have a seat."

I do as I'm told but nervously bounce my knee and look around the room.  Jeremy slides his chair over, so he is right across from me instead of sitting on the couch next to me which I'm grateful for. He then rests his elbows on his knees and clasps his hands together.

"What's going on with you?" He asks softly.

"What do you mean?" I play the game, but he sees right through me.

"Jule, ever since you left your apartment. Ever since we had that conversation... you've been avoiding me. Like you're scared of me or something. Why?"

I can hear my heartbeat pounding in my ears. Then...

My bipolar braveness comes out.

"Why? Jeremy, you really need me to explain this shit to you? C'mon man. You're a smart guy. You went to fucking Harvard, didn't you?"

"I did...." He sits back in the chair and observes my irratic behavior.

"Stop the charades already. You think you can play games with my head. You think you can fool me? You think I'd forget??" I seethe. "You told me you were going through hard times. Not taking care of yourself. Not taking your fucking meds. But it wasn't that long ago you had me pinned up to the wall fucking threatening me. Feeling me up and fucking threatening me!" I spit out but then begin to cry.

"Julia..."

"Julia nothing! I let my guard down. You got me right where you wanted me. But that will never.... ever happen again." I hiss and stand up, ready to leave.

"Wait!" He grabs my hand but gently holds it. My eyes stare down at it before looking back up at Jeremy. "This meeting was to tell you that you can move into your apartment now. That's all this was. You no longer need a nurse 24/7. Hell, I can't even remember the last time a nurse checked on you. You're keeping your food down. You're nearing the end of your detox. The apartment is yours."

"It is?" My eyes widen.

Jeremy smiles brightly at me.

"It is."

Wait. Is this part of his game? Is this his strategy or something? Did he know I caught on so quickly threw that in to make me forget?

"Is this some sick game?" I take a step closer and glare up at the man towering over me. He closes his eyes and shakes his head for a moment before placing his hand on my cheek.

"I hate games. This is real. The apartment. Everything. All I want is to see you healthy. Happy. But you're right. I slipped up back then. When you were fooling around with Michael. I slipped up. But you slip up too."

I drop my shoulders, back up and sit down again.

"Fine. Tell me the rules with having the apartment."

Jeremy sighs, almost relieved. But I still have my guard up. I'm thinking clearly these days. I'm not doped up and my mind isn't fuzzy. If my way of "slipping up" is screaming and tearing apart a room and his way of "slipping up" is tearing apart, well...me, then I'm always going to have my guard up. Now more than ever.

"Ok. There's not many but there are some important ones. You have to show up for your sessions now. No excuses. You can't just say you don't feel good or use detox as your reason out. There are three sessions per day. We'll start with one for the first two weeks to get you back into the routine."

"Fine."

"You can have a car on the premises. You have your own parking space in back near your apartment. But you have to check in and out every time you leave and let someone know where exactly you are going in case something happens. For liability purposes."

"Seriously??"

"Julia..."  He sighs.

"Fine. Go on."

"You can have visitors all you want for however long you want, but they cannot go through the Avalon door. They have to go through your personal front door from outside. They can't roam the halls here or anything like that. This is to protect  the other patients who want to remain anonymous. That's a strict one. So, once you move in, people like...Paul...cannot accompany you to the cafeteria or to your meetings like this one. He can come during visiting hours and follow the usual protocol. The designated areas would be your room, which you wouldn't even have anymore, or the visitor's rec room. That's it. If he wants to be your fulltime bodyguard, he will have to be patient and wait for the paperwork to go through. I have no control over that one. Oh, and no Avalon patients can stay with you. That includes Michael Maloney. No patients in your apartment. They have their own designated rooms for a reason. They aren't even allowed to go down to that wing of the building at all."

"Geez."

"Do you want the apartment or no? You can stay in your little room if you rather do that." Jeremy says in a joking tone.

"No. I want it."

"For the first two weeks you still have to eat three meals a day in the cafeteria or monitored by someone, and it still has to get logged into your chart. If we see you are slacking, you will have to be monitored more closely. Unfortunately, even though it's not your addiction per say, no alcohol on the premises. So, no wine, or even beer."

Ok, I get that. If I really wanted a glass of wine I could go to a restaurant, but forever? No wine or beer in my place forever?

"Even though Avalon patients can't go into my apartment??"

"Sorry, you're still an Avalon patient." Which means, he can probably have it in his apartment, can't he? He's not a patient.

"And no damage to the apartment. Regular wear and tear but you know what I mean. No 'Julia' damage. If you feel yourself "slipping" you call me. Day or night. If you feel overwhelmed or that you may hurt yourself, you call me. Day or night."

I watch Jeremy shift in his seat to reach into his pocket. He pulls out his keychain, finds the key and works it off the ring.

"I won't need this anymore. You can have it, and you will get another set as well. Maintenance does have a copy of the keys so if anything happens or you are in danger in any way, maintenance will come unlock your door just like any other apartment building. But I don't need a key."

My heart slows down now as he leans over and hands me the key. I appreciate that he did that without me even having to ask first. Maybe he wasn't trying to manipulate me after all.

******

*Nate*

It was Gwen to get her brother out of bed. She bribed him with a movie and going out to eat after. Casey went with them as James's nurse since he has been so "off" lately. Jonah is on the couch sleeping like an old man and I swear Evan is flirting with Trisha while she's cooking dinner when I get a text message.

Fucking Donovan is text me. What the hell does he want? I open the message.

"Wow." I say out loud while reading.

"Wow what, Playboy?" Trisha turns away from Evan and looks at me now.

"Julia can move into her apartment now."

Trisha starts ranting while waving the spatula around. "I swear, I don't know how you guys trust that man after what he did to her. He's got something up his sleeve giving her that apartment. And her tuition doesn't go up? Something is fishy about that."

She's not wrong there. But if Julia signed herself up to be a full time resident regardless, might as well be a resident with a nice apartment.

"I'm gonna go pack her some of her clothes. I'll have Ren drop me off."

"I can take you, sir. I should get going anyway. Unless you need me here." He raises a brow.

"No. You're not needed here. Trisha has Jonah." I look over at the sleeping man and laugh a little. But it's better than this guy flirting with her when she is with Gallo. Better Evan sticks with me.

I rush to my bedroom and pull out one of my small suitcases to pack Julia's favorites. I also pack some of my stuff because Lord knows, I'm having my way with her tonight. In less than ten minutes I'm rolling out the suitcase with a goofy smile plastered on my face.

"If I don't come home tonight you know why."

"Gross, Nate. At The Avalon? You sick bastard." Trisha snorts.

I walk over and kiss her forehead. "No sex in my shower."

"We'll see about that, Mr. Hollan."

*****

*Julia*

Mike is in the shower right now so I can't really tell him what's going on, but I plan on telling him the next time I see him.

"Where's she off to?" Cara walks by and sees me and Paul packing up what little stuff I own in this room.

"Keep walking, Cara." 

"What do I tell people here?" I look up at Paul. Jeremy didn't really tell me what to do about that.

"Not sure so don't say anything right now. I mean, sooner or later they are going to catch on when you mysteriously walk down some hall and never return."

"True." I shut the dresser and stand up straight. "I think that's it." I look around the room and smile.

"Don't let your guard down Moretti." Paul reminds me and I nod.

"I get it. He can never be trusted. No matter what."

"Correct."

While everyone is in the last session of the evening, Paul and I head to my new home with two bags. I hate that I'm now obligated to go to every single session here. I can't remember the last time I went to one full one, never mind three.

"He gave me his set of keys too. I didn't even have to ask." 

"Don't let your guard down Moretti." Paul repeats as we near the last wing of the Avalon. We pass what I now know is Jeremy's apartment and continue to walk further until I get to mine. Once we are at my door I turn around and dangle a set of keys.

"I have three keys. Paul, I want you to have one and Nate have one, ok? In case something happens. Is that fine?"

He nods and I hand him one of the keys, before unlocking the door and turning on the light. A big smile forms on my face when I see a big bouquet of Daisies on the kitchen table. I drop the keys in the dish on the table next to the door and Paul follows me in.

"Did he fucking food shop for you??" Paul eyes the unripe bananas and bowl of fruit on the counter.

"Must have before he gave me all the keys." I put down my bag and look around more.

"Red Flag number one, Julia. Make sure you have all the keys." Paul spins around and stares down at me.

"He told me maintenance has a key too."

"Is there a way to change the locks and give maintenance a key?" He asks, now overthinking everything.

"I can ask."

"Ask maintenance, not Donovan." Paul looks tense.

"Relax. This is no different than if I were in my room back there. My room and the bathroom and showering with no locks at all." I remind him as we both plop down on the couch at the same time. "It's so quiet compared to out there."

 Paul looks around while rubbing his hands on his thighs.

"Well, I guess I should go then. You don't need me." He says reluctantly.

"Wait. Hold on, you're leaving? I'm going to be here all alone??" I begin to freak out internally. I haven't been alone since.... since the Marriott days.

"Do you want me to sta-"

"Yes." I blurt out.

"Stay..." He finishes and laughs. "Ok. I can stay."

"Will you stay overnight?"

"Whatever you want me to do." He answers.

"Can you?"

"Yes. I'll stay the night. It's my job, remember?" Paul sees me begin to calm down a little and settle into the couch. I rest my head on my bodyguard's shoulder.

"Thanks Paulie." I close my eyes and feel him lean back to get comfortable and wrap his arm around me.

"Anytime, Moretti."

*****

*Nate*

"My brother is being difficult." Gwen says over the phone. 

"He didn't want to go to the movies. Instead, he conned me into bringing him to Sullivan's, but he has no intentions of leaving anytime soon Nate. I need to head back to my mom's because she's giving everyone a hard time today but don't want to bring James with me to deal with that stress. He's not budging and has had a LOT to drink." Gwen rambles.

"Shit. Ok. You head home Gwen. Go take care of your mom. I will get your brother."

One weird thing I have learned about Gallo since his accident. His brain is wired all wrong. He tends to have MORE coordination when he drinks and while everyone else looks visibly sloshed, James can walk in a straight line, hold his shot glass and talk without stuttering. It's something Dr. Giovanni can't explain but it makes me know James is having no problems throwing em back without the help of his sister. And his uncle Mac probably feels sorry for him because of everything going on so doesn't have the balls to cut him off in the whiskey department.

I'm going to have to get him. 

I'm going to have to go into Sullivan's Tap and retrieve him. I can NOT ask Jonah to do that for me. He's just as much of a recovering alcoholic as I am. And I'm certainly not going to make Casey or Trisha do it. Trisha dealt with Drunk Dave enough. I don't want her going into Sully's to deal with Drunk James. 

"I really don't think this is a wise idea, Nate." Jonah doesn't want me going into a bar.

"Fine, you gonna go get him? He's not coming out on his own I can tell you that much." I say while texting my driver to come get me.

"What if someone recognizes you? You'll be all over the news for going into the bar."

"Wouldn't be the first time." I grab my baseball cap while waiting for Ren to come.

"I'll go with you. I won't go into the bar unless you need me to. But you better make it quick. Go in, grab James, pay his tab and get both your asses out of there, got it?"

"Yes sir."

****

We pull up to the familiar pub and I suddenly feel like I may need to chicken out. But I can't. I've gotta go get Gallo before he drinks himself into oblivion. All I can do is hope Mac has shut him off.

"You sure you want to go in there, Nate?" Jonah can tell the color has drained from my face.

"No. But this is the type of shit I need to be able to do."

"No. No it's not. I'm on two years and can't step foot into a bar. That time you made me get you was one of the hardest days of my damn recovery."

It feels so long ago but it really wasn't that long ago. I almost threw in the towel and sat in my booth with a shot of whiskey in front of me. I made poor Jonah come to the bar and save me, later finding out he wasn't at the point in his recovery to be able to handle something like that yet.

"I'll be quick. If I'm not out in fifteen minutes send in reinforcement. Ren, that's you old man." I joke to the quiet driver who chuckles. I pull my hat way down and head into what was once my favorite place to go and blow off steam. Or get a blow job from Natalie.

The fiery redhead is the first to notice me. And also notice me breaking out into a sweat just standing in the doorway of the bar. The dark atmosphere and the smell of booze tempts and teases my senses.

"Nate." Natalie stops in her tracks. I haven't seen the beautiful girl in a long time and my dick twitches to remind me. "I'm going to assume you are not here for a drink. I'm not serving you alcohol." 

"Here to grab your drunk cousin." I scan the place and see James at the far end of the bar throwing back another shot of whiskey.

My body is on fire wanting the poison and I know I need to get out of this place soon before I slip. I rush over to Gallo, now breathing heavier being so close to everything I want and can't have.

"Let's go, Mate." I take the empty shot glass out of James's hand.

"You can't be in here, Hollan." James looks up at the TV showing his face and shakes his head. If I didn't know any better, I would think this man is as sober as can be with no disabilities at all. It's so crazy how he is wired now.

"I know. So let's go."

"I'm not done."

"You're done, Gallo. C'mon. I have to go to The Avalon and drop clothes off to Julia. Let's go." I throw a hundred-dollar bill on the counter for Mac and James laughs.

"My drinks are free. He's my uncle."

"Yeah, that's to pay him for babysitting you. C'mon. Seriously. I can't be in here." My voice falters a little when I see the whiskey behind the counter.

James finally looks me over and sees the beads of sweat forming on my forehead. He sees my trembling hands. He nods, knowing how being here is affecting me and follows me to the exit.

"Nice seeing you, Nate." Natalie winks and James rolls his eyes at his cousin. Once we are outside, I bend over and drop my hands to my knees, trying to suck in as much fresh air as possible.

Jonah gets out of the car and pats my back while I regulate my breathing.

"Deep breaths, brother. You're ok."

I did it. I passed the test. I won.

I won that battle with myself. Just barely but still... I walked into the bar sober and walked out sober.

*****