*Nate*

It's been a hard season for James Gallo. In just a few short days James will appear before a judge to learn his fate after his car accident killed Malcolm Jones. In two short days he'll find out if he walks a free man or is charged with Vehicular Manslaughter and serves time in prison. His fate is in the judge's hands. And his hope is in his lawyer, Addison Landry.

We are all on edge. So when I snap at Addison, she doesn't take it to heart anymore.

"I swear to God. If you don't have your shit pulled together for this trial I will make the rest of your life hell, you hear me? Absolute hell." I hang up and throw my phone across the room.

"Trisha may be able to buy you a new phone but I can't." Julia huffs and straddles me while I'm leaning up against the frame of her Avalon bed. She lays flat on my chest, and I wrap my arms around her. 

Julia's eyes are puffy from crying thinking about her best friend. James was calm at first while visiting Julia this afternoon. They spent most of their time outside in the garden together. But as the day went on, the more emotional both James and Julia became. He knew his emotions were starting to get the best of him so decided to have Evan take him home.

"I'm glad you're spending the night." Julia mumbles into my chest.

"Me too, doll. I'm glad you have a lock on your bedroom door now." I raise an eyebrow when Jules looks up at me with a smirk.

"Even with our bodyguard right in the other room watching TV?"

"Who that guy? Pay no attention to him." I grin and flip Julia over so I'm lying on top of her.

"You know I love you, right doll?" I study Julia's face with those big brown sad eyes while balancing my weight on my forearms. She nods and lifts her head a little. The first touch of her lips sends that familiar electricity through my body. Her kisses are soft and slow and meaningful, showing me her love instead of using words.

I close my eyes and sink into our kiss more, feeling myself begin to harden against her small frame. I want to go slow and make this sensation last all night, but my body wants the opposite. All my self- control diminishes when Julia wraps her arms around me and attaches her lips to the side of my neck. My heart starts beating faster with each touch of her lips and my hips press against hers.

"Wait." I breathe out. "The door. Lemme lock the door." I roll off Julia and scramble to my feet. I press the button on the new lock and pull the doorknob to make sure it's all set.

Julia kneels on the bed, beckoning me to come back to her. Only a fool would pass up this opportunity. I stand in front of her and watch as she slowly unbuckles my belt. Everything she does is slow to tease me and drive me insane. I swallow hard when her slender fingers unbutton my khaki pants, then unzipper them. But she doesn't pull them down yet. Instead, she pulls my polo shirt up over my head and leans her perfect body against mine while kissing my chest. 

Things get more heated, and I can't tear my eyes away from the sight of Julia's lips traveling down my chest, down my abs, now lingering at the waistband of my open pants. She bats her eyes at me right before yanking my pants down in one shot and pressing her lips to my length.

"Shit." I hiss. She's teasing me in all the best ways right now. Her lips press feathery light kiss all over me before taking me in her mouth, making me gasp again. I gather her hair into a makeshift ponytail and push her into me a little further. God, I want to push her head in all the way, but I know Julia doesn't like that. She wants to go at her pace, not mine, so I let her. The tingling sensation is overwhelming making my entire body ache for this woman. I can't tear my eyes away from what she's doing to me and can't help but rock my hips against her needing more.

I drop from her mouth and the sensation fades away. Julia sits up on her knees with a slight look of nervousness to her.

"I know what you want. I want to but not like .... forced like that time in the shower." 

I know what Julia is saying, and I nod understanding.

"I need to be able to breathe or come up for air or else I'll panic." She explains further.

"How about we go slow. At your pace, darlin. Ok?"

********

*Julia*

I sigh in relief. I DO want to please Nate but hate actually talking about what we like and don't like in the bedroom. It's awkward. But I know he can't do what he did that one time he forced himself on me and lost control. I can't handle that.

"We'll go slow." Nate repeats. "If you want me to stop, just grab my hand or pat my thigh or something to let me know."

I nod and look away from his lust filled eyes, letting my eyes travel down to where he really wants me. But first Nate pulls up my shirt needing me in less clothes. I smirk and strip down to my NON-Avalon cute lacy pink bra and matching underwear. I begin to kiss lower on his abs before pulling him back into my mouth, hearing Nate's breath hitch in approval. He leans over me a little so his hand can glide down my back and grab my ass.

I can tell Nate is holding back and can also tell he is enjoying this. Which makes me enjoy it too. I start off slow, but it only takes a minute before I hear Nate's soft moan. A frustrated moan at that. He, once again, gathers my hair into a ponytail and pushes me in further. At first, I gag when he starts slowly thrusting into my mouth but then begin to get used to the slow rhythm. I know he's resisting and being patient with me. When I glance up at him his eyes are closed, and his head has fallen back in pleasure. He looks down at me and tangles his hand in my hair, applying more pressure so he's down my throat.

"Oh God." It's clear Nate is using every last bit of willpower not to lose himself completely right now and his body tenses up. It's me who actually picks up the pace and when I look up at him to see this wicked smile spread across his face. His eyes are dark and his grip on my hair is tight.

"Tell me if it's too much." He murmurs. I nod slightly and close my eyes, mentally preparing myself for what's to come. He presses his hand on the back of my head and begins thrusting into my mouth. I gag and choke slightly as he hits down my throat but the sounds of his groans filling the air has me wanting to please him more.

So I do. I let Nate lose himself. At first, he seems a little shocked but then when he notices I'm not pulling away, or showing any signs for him to stop, he no longer holds back. He goes wild, thrusting himself deep down my throat with his gaze locked on mine. The look on his face and his hazy eyes let me know he is in complete ecstasy right now. The grunts and moans and panting also hint to the pleasure I'm giving him.

"Jule." He hisses, now slamming into me full force. "Christ." He loses his rhythm which I know means he's right there. To be prepared. Because I do have to mentally prepare myself for the ending and not overthink it. "Oh fuck."

Right when I'm about to chicken out and back away, he lets go down my mouth. Before I can even process it, I swallow, and it's gone.

"Holy shit." Nate is breathing so heavy right now any other time I would be concerned. I smirk up at him knowing that was a job well done on my part.

But his eyes are still dark and wild, and I know I'm in for it now.

He pushes me back on the bed playfully, making me laugh, before yanking my underwear off me and attaching his mouth to my core, making me moan. And oh my god, pleasing him that way was sooo worth it with what he is doing to me right in this moment. This time it's my turn to lose all control as he brings me straight to my high, then seconds later does it again. Fireworks and flames run through my body as I writhe against his mouth, letting out ungodly sounds Paul is for sure to hear. 

When I can't take anymore, he kneels on the bed, pulling me to him while holding my thighs and slams into me, ready for more which I didn't think was possible. I was wrong. After a series of hard thrusts, he lets go and then collapses on me, being the one who did most of the work.

Nate's heart pounds against my chest. I wrap my arms around him and thread my fingers into his hair.

"We're so good together." I whisper in his ear. Because we are. Even though we are like oil and water, we are SO good together.

*******

*Nate*

After last night, both me and Jules sleep in a little. If you consider eight thirty sleeping in. It's not until I get a text from friggen Donovan reminding me Julia still needs to eat breakfast in the cafeteria so they can monitor her food. Because the visitation hours aren't for a few more hours, I can't accompany her.

"Jesus. I have food here. HE is the one who bought me this shit. He's really going to make me go eat in the cafeteria?" Julia is NOT happy about this.

"Just do it and get it over with, Moretti." Paul sips his coffee at the small table.  He has no tolerance for her whining and complaining. 

I watch Julia throw her hair up into a ponytail and drag herself out the door.

"He likes to be in control." I mutter. "He likes having that control over her."

"That's why I keep reminding her to never let her guard down, boss. Listen," He lowers the newspaper that I have no idea when he purchased. Does he pack them in his duffel bag or something? "Are you staying over tonight?"

"I don't think I can. I have an early morning appointment with James's lawyer and then a session in the studio, why?"

"Was just wondering if I needed to invest in those noise reducing headphones or something." He grunts and raises his newspaper up again, making me laugh. Oh Paul. He's just jealous he's not getting any.

"What did Sir Rapist Donovan buy for breakfast anyway?" I begin to raid Julia's cabinets. Jeremy packed them. "He knows she's never going to eat all this shit, right?" 

Paul ignores me.

I pull out a package of bagels and begin helping myself to Dickhead Donovan's food for Julia. Before I even take my first bite, Julia is back in the room. With Dickhead right behind her. He doesn't look pleased while holding her tray.

"You win. Here." He huffs and puts her tray on the kitchen table. Julia rolls her eyes like a child and sits down to eat. "Looks like your fiancé gains enemies out there by the hour."

"What now?" I study the doctor's face.

"Apparently there was a little brawl yesterday in the cafeteria with Michael Maloney and another high profile patient."

"What the hell does that have to do with Julia??"

"The other patient... well..." He hesitates so Julia says it herself.

"The dude said I'm a damn whore who claims rape for publicity. So Mike went at him. Earned himself a busted lip and a few stitches." She says in a nonchalant way though both Paul and I can tell she's hurt.

"WHAT?! THIS? THIS is what I pay for you asshole?!" I yell at Jeremy who takes a giant step back.

"I had no part in this." He confesses.

"NO? You didn't? You fucking ra-

"NATE!" Paul stands up and scolds me.

" Apparently the guy is part of the Jeremy Donovan cult."

"JULIA!" Paul scolds her now.

"Hey, I did nothing wrong." She takes a bite of her eggs and squints her eyes at Donovan. "Eating. See? I'm eating. Want me to measure the exact ounces of my portion for you?"

"You're in rare form today." Jeremy shakes his head. "But you win. Eat breakfast here. I trust these two goons will make sure you eat a sufficient amount." He turns around to head out.

"You know that shit is never going to go away." Julia blurts out and both me and Paul stand on edge now.

"What shit, Julia?" Donovan turns around before leaving the apartment.

"The things people say about me. Because in their head, it's true. It's true until YOU tell them otherwise."

******

After breakfast Julia has to go to her session, and I have to get back to the commune. We say our goodbyes and I let her know I will try to pop in later with Gallo if he is up for it. But we never know with his moods lately. She understood. Julia makes me nervous with how open and blunt she is towards Jeremy though. One of these days she's going to set him off and pay the price. I hope Paul can be the one to reel her in before that happens.

Once home, I see Gallo is actually out of bed and dressed. Trisha is attempting to help him with breakfast, but I can tell it's not going well. Casey ends up taking over.

"Hey mate, how you holding up?" I ask sincerely. Maggie brushes up against my leg, so I lean down and pet her.

"I just want this to be over." James mumbles. "Hey. Do you think your driver could take me to my church at so-some point today? There's no services or anything like that. I just want to go."

"Yeah, man. I can text him right now to have him block off time today."

The sad look in James's eyes kills me. I've never EVER seen Gallo so down and out like this. I fear it's only going to get worse.

Jonah whizzes by me with my medication and then checks my blood pressure.

"Hmm. It's a little high today." He furrows his brows and writes my numbers on a paper towel. 

"I DO own paper, Jonah."

"Yeah yeah. How was Julia today? Anything stressful happen or are you just feeling anxious?"

"A little bit of both. She has a mouth on her with no filter when it comes to Donovan. One of these days he's going to snap."

"SHIT!" Casey jumps up as James begins to seize. "He's got a mouth full of food!"

The dog starts barking and Jonah jumps into action, swiping the bite of eggs from James's mouth and lowering him off his chair onto the floor on his side.

Trisha is now crying which makes Casey start crying as Jonah times the seizure. It wasn't long. Not long at all. Less than a minute but having food in his mouth freaked Casey out because he could easily choke.

I can tell this one rattled her a little. She is heaving while watching the scene play out.

"He had food in his mouth." Casey whimpers as James comes to. Because it was such a short seizure he came to quickly and didn't lose control of his bladder this time.

"He's fine Casey. We got it out." Jonah gives her a look of concern and Maggie disgustingly eats up the food on the floor.

"Mags, gross." James says to his dog.

"See!! This is why he can't go to jail! They can't take care of him!" Trisha storms into my room and slams the door.

"Shit." Jonah knows he's batter up since Casey is still crying. He helps James back on the chair and heads to my room to talk to Trisha. 

"She's right, though." James mutters while I hold up his bottle of water for him to take a sip. "If I have seizures now with this stress, 'magine what it will be like if I'm behind bars?"

"You're not going to be behind bars, ok Gallo? We have another meeting tomorrow morning with Addison. She'll tell us what to do."

*****

*Julia*

"It's your mouth that's gonna get you in trouble, sunshine." Apparently, Mike's new nickname for me is sunshine as we walk out of session together. When Paul can't be with me, Mike makes it a point to be my inside bodyguard. I wonder if Nate pays him too.

Jeremy was running this morning's session, and I had some cocky little comments when it was my turn at the end.

"Oh please. He can handle it." I scoff as Jeremy approaches me.

"My office. Now." He demands while walking by.

"Told ya. Let's go." Mike shakes his head at me.

"Alone, Julia." We hear Jeremy say down the hall.

"Not happening Prickhead!" I yell back.

"Julia... seriously. You're gonna piss him off to the point of no return. To the point he does something..." Mike leans down to my ear. "Physical."

I shudder at just the thought of that and give in, following the doctor down to his office. Mike is right behind me but we both know Jeremy is not going to let him in his office.

"Just....I don't know. Tone it down a little, ok?" Mike advises and I nod as I walk into Jeremy's office. The door is practically slammed shut in Mike's face.

Jeremy paces back and forth the length of the small office while I stand close to the door, now fidgeting with my hands.

"You need to stop, Julia." He glares at me. "It's becoming intolerable."

"What? My sarcastic comments? Oh please, Cara Hollan is full of sarcasm."

"Not in session. She filters herself in her sessions. Or at least tries to. She is there to try and better herself and knows that why most of the other patients are there. You don't take any of it seriously."

"Sorry. I guess I have BIGGER things I take seriously." I squint my eyes at the doctor.

"I bend over backwards for you. Offer you that nice apartment. Let you get away with so much more shit than anyone else here." Jeremy stops pacing and looks at me now. "I do it because I care about you. I want to see you take this seriously. I want you to WANT to heal."

"Sorry pal, I've had too much trauma in my life to want anything." My sarcasm comes out one last time before Jeremy breaks.

"EVERYONE here has trauma, Julia! Not just you. God, you don't think we all have shit? You don't think I've got trauma? Think my fucking life was perfect? The things my father did to my mother- in front of me! Think any child wants to see that?!" Jeremy bursts and falls into the chair to cover his face with his hands.

I stand completely frozen. I pushed Jeremy too far. Any chance I get and feel bold enough, I find snarky comments to throw his way. I had forgotten about his asshole father and some of the things Jeremy has told me during my treatments.

"I just want you to try." He whispers and drags his hands down his face in frustration before putting his glasses back on. "I only expect you to go to one session for the next few weeks while so much is going on around you. But you need to actually pay attention during that one session. And you're not. It's all some joke to you."

"I'm sorry." My voice is no longer bold. In fact, it's weak and barely there.

"Nate pays a lot of money for you to be here. Just please. Try and get the most out of your sessions. Can you do that for me?"

I swallow hard and nod.

"Good. You can go. So long as Paul sees you eating lunch you can eat it in your apartment."

"Um... what do I tell someone if they ask where I sleep at night?" I tread lightly.

"It's fine. We have a certain number of designated apartments for patients who qualify. Just say that."

"Is that the truth though?"

"The truth? No. My grandfather made those apartments for loves ones of people here. So they could be close to their family while they undergo treatment. If husbands come here needing help for their mental illness, their wives and children could temporarily stay in one of the apartments." He explains.

"So why exactly did you cross the line and let me live in one. Especially since you know I'm a permanent resident now?"

"You don't get it, do you, Julia?" He practically scoffs. "You deserve so much more than that apartment. You deserve to live a fulfilling and happy life. Aside from your sarcastic little jabs at me every chance you get, you're this kind, caring, person who doesn't ever judge others. Not Cara, not Michael, not anyone here, even those who are rotten to you. You try to see the good in everyone." His voice becomes smaller. "In me. You give people second, third, fourth chances and never expect anything in return."

Ok. That is probably some of the kindest things anyone has ever said to me. I drop my shoulders but don't step forward.

"If you had the proper training, I could envision you working here. Helping others. You're in a hard season of life right now but I could see that as a possibility for you down the line. You have a lot to offer people." Jeremy looks up at me from his seat. "Don't you get it? There is no one else here like you."

*******

*Nate*

Ren drives me and Gallo to his church after lunch. Evan acts as our bodyguard in case anything happens but I tell him to wait in the car for now. No one is here. The place looks vacant though I'm not surprised since James said there were no services happening today. I help him unbuckle and follow him inside, unsure of where he wants me. But James doesn't acknowledge me in the slightest. He walks right to one of the front pews and sits down, dropping his head in prayer.

I decide to slide in one of the back pews to give him his privacy. I try to pray but always get sidetracked so decide to try again today. I find myself talking to my dad instead. I glance up to see James's shoulder begin to shake a little signaling that he is crying and don't know whether I should approach him or leave him be. What an awful thing for this man to be going through. I wonder how much more James can take before he breaks.

I'm about to find out right now.

The side door of the church opens and at first, James pays no attention. His head is still dropped down. But this man. This very large, built and intimidating looking man begins to laugh when he sees James. This loud and obnoxious laugh that fills the church sanctuary.

Holy shit.  

Joe Gallo.

******