*Trisha*

Nate's publicist Elliott and I both follow Nate back to the dressing room of the studio. I can't tell how he thinks that interview went by how quiet he's being but I  personally think it went great. Maybe he's still pissed at me for springing this on him last minute.

 Nate plops in the chair in front of his hair and make-up artist who we've known since we all started out as teenagers, Holly.

"You know what to do." He sighs.

"Yes, sir." She says with a bit of sarcasm. Of course she knows.

She begins to take off his make up and wash his face. Both me and Elliott sit on the couch and I study his face through the mirror.

"Why do you look disappointed? That was a great interview. You did well, Nate." 

"You think that went well?!"He looks back at me, forcing Holly to stop what she's doing. "Tell me, Trisha. How long did he spend talking about the album in comparison to my personal life?"

"They're always gonna pry, you know that. This is Los Angeles, remember? Your whole existence will always be on display for all to see and pick apart." Elliott answers for me "You've given them a lot to talk about this year, Nate."

God there's so much more shit that goes on that the media DOESN'T know. 

"Ok, Well I'll leave you to the rest of your day. I think you did great. I didn't have to step in once. For once, Mr. Hollan, you made my job easy." Elliott stands and straightens his tie, nods and is gone.

Once he leaves I slouch down a little.

"You mad at me?" I watch Holly finish putting the moisturizer on his face and begin to pack up her supplies silently.

"Trisha. You should have told me about this interview. You booked me for an interview with E.T. without telling me. I get to the studio like planned and see the camera crew and production team setting up the friggen backdrop. I mean. I SHOULD be mad at you. But no, I'm not mad."

"You wouldn't have followed through with it if you knew about it." I confess.

"I know. That's why I'm not mad at you. So, what is next on the agenda?"

"Band practice, Playboy. You have a half hour before band practice."

* * * * *

*James*

"James, please. She's not feeling well. Just let me feed you this time." Jonah tries but I want Julia.

 It's been three weeks and nothing has changed for me. I'm not getting any better. But neither is Julia. She's spending more and more time in bed. Depressed. Even though her leg is healing well, and she only has to use a walking boot with no crutches, she's not doing well. She knows that her time at the Avalon is quickly approaching, and she'll have to see that damn doctor. 

If she's taking care of me, she's getting her mind off her own shit. It forces her out of bed. And I only want her anyway. She's the only one who knows how to do everything right.

 But she's spent two full days in bed, only getting up to care for me. so if I have to put up more of a fight to get her out of this depressed state she's in, then so be it.

I hear the velcro of the boot as Julia straps it on to get out of bed. She walks out and sees me distraught. She sees  Jonah picking up pieces of Mac and Cheese off the floor. She sits down at the dining room table next to me

"He's all yours. I tried." Jonah continues to clean up. "But James, you're hungry. Soon, you're going to need to let us help you."

I pay no attention to him. I look at Julia and put my hand on her cheek to let her know I know she's not well. Of course I know. She rests her hand on top of mine.

"I'm ok." She lies but I shake my head no. I know her better than anyone. I also know she's an awful liar.

"Let's eat." Julia drops her hand and picks up the bowl of mac and cheese but I frown and leave my hand on her cheek. Stop lying to me, Julia. Talk to me. You're not ok.

"I'll be ok." She  says again. I sigh and give in to her, mainly because Jonah is right. I'm starving and being stubborn. I really do need to eat. I open my mouth when she puts the spoon near me and let her feed me.

"Speaking of eating..." Jonah stands up and throws the paper towels away. "Breakfast was a fail for you, Julia. How about some lunch?"

Now it's her turn to frown.

*****

*Trisha*

"You're stalling, Playboy."  Me and Paul sit in the now empty studio watching Nate tune not one but all his guitars. We finished practice, and the band left over an hour ago.

"No. These needed to get tuned properly." He raises an eyebrow at me and flashes a smile my way. He doesn't want to go home. Not yet. Reality waits for him at home. I can't blame him. His reality is stressful. Especially with the way Julia is the last few days. She barely gets out of bed.

"You need a weekend away. Leave this city. Go home to London."

"You say that all the time. It's not that easy."

"Sure it is. You hop on a plane. You leave."

Nate's phone vibrates and he pulls it out of his back pocket. He takes a deep breath while reading the text.

"Alright. You win. We can leave." He says. Which means, Jonah must have updated him on the day and it wasn't a great one. Now he feels obligated to go home and help.

"Great. I'll make everyone dinner." I offer. Last thing I want is to go back to my own place tonight.

"Fair warning, princess. They're not having a great day." 

"What else is new..."

*****

Once home, we look around the apartment. The place is clean. No one is in the living room.

"Looks uneventful to me." Paul sits down on the couch and grabs the remote as I head straight to the kitchen.

Maggie comes running out to greet us.

"You need to pee, don't you?" Nate looks down at the dog and sighs.

"I'll take her." Casey comes out of her bedroom, just showered, ready for her shift. We are all finding ways to stall, aren't we?

"Thanks, Case." Nate heads to his room to check on Julia and I roll my eyes at Paul who smiles.

I open the fridge and see a huge Chicken Pot Pie  already made with instructions written on the top. Jennie made dinner for everyone for tonight. She must have stopped by to visit her brother today. At least five out of seven days there is a Gallo girl here at some point.  And none of them come empty handed. We have so much food in this house I haven't needed  put in a grocery order in over two weeks. And that says a lot when you've got people like Jonah and Paul here eating all the time. 

I follow the directions and heat up the oven. It will take a good half hour to  bake but I hear the shower running which means either Nate is taking a shower, or Julia. or both. A twinge of jealousy hits me thinking about that but I push it out and turn the TV on, handing Paul the remote. 

"Find something. Anything." I say. "Anything but Golf."

Paul laughs and puts on one of my favorite shows. Law & Order. He watches reruns with me every night at home. 

We don't talk about Dave. Paul doesn't even bring it up. Dave still texts me and I still ignore. I still tell no one. Paul doesn't make me feel bad about that night either. How I keep letting Dave back into my life. Or almost...until Paul intervenes. I don't know what my issue is but I will always have a place in my heart for Dave. I feel like I should have helped him. He needs my help. And I'm turning my back on him. Or, well, Paul is turning my back on him.

I guess I do need Paul. Whether or not I wanted to admit it. I needed him to do that for me. I can't seem to do it myself.

We watch a full episode while the food is cooking and Casey finally comes back in with a very tired pup. She ran today. Casey is a runner like me and James and she tired the dog out just in time for dinner. She gets out the dog food and refills her dish and gives her clean water. This dog is so spoiled between all of us. And because Lindsay had the dog for so long while James was in a coma, she is ok with Maggie staying here for awhile before requesting her turn with her dog. She knows the dog is a good therapy dog. Not just for James. For everyone under this roof.

Once I plate dinner. Casey helps James in the bathroom and then wheels him out to eat. But James wants nothing to do with any of us. He sits at the dining room table and puts up a fight when Casey tries to get him to eat. His frustration with everything brings him to tears which is always hard to watch.

 Because it's James. James was always a happy guy. Always positive. And now... Now his body doesn't work the way he needs it to and he is very emotional which makes me believe that maybe his mind doesn't always work the way he needs it to. No one gets mad at him. Not one bit. Because we all know we would be a million times worse than him if put in his shoes. The doctor says he's actually doing really well and all this is normal and to be expected. It just hurts to see him like this.

Both Nate and Julia come out of Nate's room. Both with damp hair.

Nice.

I sigh and look away.

"You're just in time." Casey frowns. It's dinner time, and James isn't having it."

Tears fall out of those big blue eyes and stream down his face, which always makes him look that of a child.

"It's chicken pot pie, James. You like that. Jennie made it for you for dinner tonight." Nate smiles, but James lowers his head, embarrassed to be emotional in front of Nate. That breaks my heart. Especially because if anyone knew the REAL Nate, knows he cries.  Sometimes a lot. He's been through a lot and only cries in front of very few... me being one of them.

"It's fine. You guys go eat." Julia walk over to James and sit next to him. He drops his forehead to her shoulder. "It's ok."

Casey serves Nate a helping as well and heads back to James's room. Me and Paul also sit at the dining room table to eat our dinner. We never used to use this table. Ever. And now I think we all use it more than the last three years. In a weird way. We feel like family when we do this. A very weird, dysfunctional, unhealthy family.

"See? I'm gonna eat too. We'll have dinner together." Julia says and James nods, lifting his head. She wipes his tears for him and begins to feed him.

After a few bites, James shakes his head at her and tics his chin a little towards her plate. He's not gonna eat more until she starts. We all try to not pay attention to their interaction.

"I will. I promise." Julia tries to feed him again but he raises both eyebrows and shakes his head again.  

Like always, Julia struggles with her anorexia. When she's depressed the way she is right now, it's ten times worse. I watch her look down at her food and back up at James. She starts to overthink it and all eyes are on her now. James puts his hand on her cheek to let her know he knows she is struggling which is think is sweet.

Nate stands in the kitchen pouring his drink but also waiting with concern for Julia to start eating. It seems like the first few bites are the hardest for her. Once she starts eating she is fine.

I also notice when she picks up her fork her hand still shakes a little. She's still dealing with her detox but not nearly as bad as before. Bet she will never pop a pill in her life after this ordeal.

"Jules, it's gonna get cold." Nate says while leaning against the counter, sipping his tea.

Julia begins to eat and in return, James begins to eat. The both eat together. She takes a bite, then feeds him a bite. It's actually kind of heartwarming to watch how she takes care of him and how he responds to her and only her. 

God I must be getting my period.  I'm calling this heartwarming?? Good grief.

James gives her a grin and clumsily touches the side of her face.

Nate observes, and I can't tell what he's thinking. But I know, even though James gives everyone a hard time, it's just because he's frustrated. You can't get mad at him.

Just as Julia gets up to clean up their plates, her phone vibrates on the table. This time, James sees her phone. And apparently, he can read just fine.

I see the way he's looking at the phone.

"It's fine. James. Leave it." Julia says while grabbing his plate off the table. Who would even be calling her that would be of concern to James. Her ex husband?

Suddenly, catching us all off guard, James grabs Julia's wrist, making her drop the plate which then shatters on the floor, gaining everyone's attention.

Paul is the first one to stand.

"James. I said it's fine. I'm not gonna answer it."

He shakes his head with an angry expression plastered on his face while staring at the phone.

"James." Julia leans down to whisper but we can all hear her. "Let go."

Instead of letting go of  Julia's wrist, he stands up and yanks her so she's behind him. Like he's shielding her from something. Or someone. Then he swipes EVERYTHING off the dining room table in one swift move. Mine and Paul's food, Julia's phone, and a vase of fresh flowers all come crashing to the floor to break into pieces.

"I said it was fine! Now let go! You're hurting my wrist!" Julia yanks her hand free glares at him. I've never seen her get mad at James. Ever. She's really in a bad place mentally right now. "What the hell, James!"

Everyone is standing, Paul is ready to intervene, and Casey runs out of the bedroom to see what the issue is.

"I don't answer him when he calls! God James. He calls every single fucking night but I don't answer."

"Julia, who calls?" Casey asks

"Jeremy. Ok? Every single night. I don't answer."

Wait. What?  Did she just say Dr. Donovan calls her every single day??? The man who raped her?

"James, I don't answer."

"Wait. Jeremy tries to get ahold of you every single night?" I look down at her phone on the ground near her feet. "Can I see your phone?"

Julia hands me her phone and I scroll through it, feeling the color drain from my face. God he's just like Dave. JUST like Dave. And Julia.... Julia is just like me.

"Nate," I look up at Nate. "He calls her every single night. Multiple times."

"I'm aware..." Nate drops his shoulders.

"I mean, can't THIS somehow be used against him? Isn't this harassment?"

I hand the phone to Paul, and he scrolls through the missed calls. Seeing Jeremy's name multiple times every night since Julia left the hospital.

Paul studies the phone before responding.

"Certainly doesn't look very professional on his end. It's a start in the right direction."

James furrows his brows at Julia, then points to his own wrist and back to her angrily. No one really understand what he's doing. No one but Julia. She looks at where he's pointing on his own wrist. I look over and see something I've never really noticed before. It looks like that of a perfect circle of a scar. Fuck. A cigarette burn. His fucking asshole father, Joe.

 James is pointing to the cigarette burn his father scarred him with, and then pointing at Julia. He's trying to tell her something. And she apparently understands because her eyes fill up with tears.

He was trying to protect her. He shielded her from the phone. From her abuser.  Holy shit. He may not be all there but James was trying to protect Julia from answering Jeremy's call. He knows more than he lets off.

"Yes. He hurt me. But not anymore." Julia hugs James. "I'm ok." 

She's not ok. We all know she's not ok.

James knows Julia is not ok.

*****