*Trisha*

It's been three days since Jonah talked to or seen Nate. He is good at holding grudges. But I can't blame the guy. Nate can be an ass sometimes. Jonah doesn't put up with his bullshit.

"This is really happening." Casey turns up the volume on the TV while Jonah hands her a cup of coffee.  The news about Mila joining us on tour has hit the papers.

"Oh, it's happening." I shake my head, watching it all unfold from the comfort of Nate's couch.

"Have you talked to Nate at all?" Jonah asks.

I can tell he wants to know how his patient is doing without actually reaching out to him. I don't blame him for giving Nate the silent treatment. What I don't understand is why Nate is giving ME the silent treatment.

"No. I tried calling a few times, but he's ignoring me right now. He's trying to prove a point or something since I never go to the Avalon."

"Tell me again why you don't visit him? You go there anyway," Evan pries from the kitchen counter while sipping his coffee.

"Listen, it's bad enough I have to go there for my counseling, then to have to bump into Dave occasionally.... I rather not."

"I didn't know you went there for counseling." Casey raises a brow, and Jonah cocks his head to the side. At that moment I realize only Evan was aware of my appointments with Jeremy.

"Please tell me you don't-" Jonah doesn't need to finish his sentence. I know what he's asking, and he knows my answer.

"I don't have a choice. No one else could get me in and as much as I hate the prick, Jeremy Donovan is a smart doctor. I need to do this. I've been having some.... issues... since the accident." I rather not go into details. They know I have panic attacks when driving. I don't need to tell them I also sometimes wake up with nightmares too. "Please don't tell Nate. We will be gone soon. I just want to get a little help until then."

Both Jonah and Casey nod. They get it. They also know I don't want to stress Nate out anymore and this would for certain worry him.

"What's going to happen with this whole Mila thing?" Casey quickly changes the topic for me and continues watching the news. Nate's tour schedule is currently on display as well as ticket sales that have skyrocketed even further since fans have heard Mila will be his plus-1.

"I guess she's going to travel with us.  Take Moretti's place.  I'm not sure what Richard has up his sleeve just yet. I can't tell if he wants this to be another PR stunt where they are to be a couple or just part of filming the music video." I explain. "It will be weird having her with us but to be honest, Mila is actually really nice and fun to be around. Thanks to her baseball player boyfriend she's learned more English so there isn't as much of a communication barrier like before."

I can tell Jonah can read me like a book right now by the way he is looking at me.

"Fine. And less drama. Is that what you want to hear?" I roll my eyes.

"Not less.  Different drama. She got into Nate's head. He started drinking when he was with her. And the way he treated Julia, Trish, it was awful. Don't forget how he was." Jonah huffs.

"I'm sorry.  I'm a little lost here." Evan admits. He knew some stuff but not all. After Jonah and Casey filled him in, as well as reminding me how bad things got, Evan lets out a dramatic sigh.

Nate was a different person. PR stunts, lying to your fans who adore you, lying to yourself... it all got to Nate. It's not him. He hates that damn shit. All he wants is to write songs and sing up on that stage. Not all the other bullshit management piles on top to make things hard. Then, when things started feeling real to Nate, when it was no longer a PR stunt but genuine emotions being involved, everything fell apart. Nate fucked up, got a DUI and Mila wanted no part of it. She left him without so much as a goodbye at the time.  Her own management team ended the relationship with her best interests in mind, whether Mila liked it or not, and send her back home to Italy.

I know Nate would never admit it, but he was heartbroken.

"Speaking of drama..." Casey's eyes are glued to the reporter on the news.

The dark, handsome well-known middle-aged reporter, Gideon Grey, drops some major breaking news.

"Well, Caroline," Gideon looks to the blonde bombshell reporter sitting next to him. "Looks like things could evolve between America's heartthrob and the Italian supermodel while touring together, seeing as Mila Giovanni is currently single."

My eyes widen hearing this.

"What did he just say?" I ask, even though I heard it clear as day. My breathing becomes a bit heavier as I stare at the enormous TV in Nate's living room.

"She broke up with that MLB baseball player from L.A." Casey answers.

Mila is single. Just in time to go on tour with Nate.

********

*James*

"Can I ask you a question?" Lindsay holds my hand while we sit outside in the garden and watch our dog play in the grass.

"Go for it."

"Have you told Julia about...you know...us?"

I drag my hands down my face and shake my head. Me and Lindsay aren't ones to label things. We certainly haven't labeled "us" even though we have spent almost every day together lately.

"It's complicated, Linds." I avoid eye contact and focus on the blades of grass under us instead.

"You still love her, huh?" My Barbie Doll friend rests her head on my shoulder and looks out in the distance.

"I'll always love her. That will never change. Just like I'll always love you." I nudge her with my shoulder a little making her smirk.

"We were good together for a while there, huh?" She reminisces.

"We are good together now too."

Lindsay lifts her head off my shoulder and gazes at me. Shifting, I turned to face her. 

"I travel too much for work, James. That was part of our problem before. Our schedules made it almost impossible to see each other. We became bored with one another, remember?"

"I remember." I kiss her forehead. "My schedule is pretty open these days." I laugh at the fact I'm here at The Avalon, unable to leave the premises being under house arrest. 

"Sorry. I didn't mean it like that..." Lindsay frowns. "I just, I love you. You know that. I don't want to compromise the friendship we have now."

 I know what Lindsay is saying. Even though we broke up on good terms, we took a break from eachother for a good six months after. We were both hurt. Lindsay and I were serious. Probably the most serious relationship I had ever been in. There were no hard feelings just broken hearts and it was hard to accept we couldn't make it work in the end.

"You will never lose me as a friend, Lindsay. You know that. No matter what ends up happening." I nudge her again and smile. "I'm friends with ALL my exes, remember?"

That gets her to laugh, and she lightens up a little.

"I just wish I could be the one to take care of you twenty-four seven, the way you need. But with work and traveling and-"

"Linds. You're overthinking." Something she tends to do sometimes. "Let's not put a label on us right now, ok? We've both been through a lot. God knows, I almost didn't make it. Let's just enjoy...this." I look around us. The sun is shining bright. Maggie is running around happily as me and this beautiful woman sit together in the grass. 

"I'm alive. Slightly brain damaged but I'm alive. I'm free, under home confinement but not in jail. These are the things I have to remind myself when I get a little down and out. I'm blessed to even be sitting here in this grass, even IF it's on the grounds of a detox and mental health facility."

Hearing that, Lindsay's eyes water and she wraps her arms around my neck, drawing me in closer. Her soft lips press against mine in a heartwarming and meaningful kiss. A kiss that turns into a bit of a make out session on the grass of The Avalon.

****

After spending the morning with Lindsay, knowing she would be traveling to Chicago for the week, I sit in Julia's apartment reminiscing of all the good times me and Lindsay have shared. We ARE together. We both know that. We don't need to label it. And I don't want to bring it up to Julia either. There's no need to right now and currently Julia seems to have enough on her plate. The latest being that Nate has moved out of her apartment. Something I had no idea he was thinking of doing.

Apparently neither did Julia.

"So he just left?" Julia looks around the living room to see Nate's bags are gone and the cot is made. Dr. Donovan had to be the one to break the news to her.

"He's right down the hall. Next to my place. This will be good for you both. Now you can focus on your stuff, he can focus on his."

"Bullshit!" Julia shouts. "This isn't how things were supposed to turn out! Nate will be on the road before you know it. With Mila Giovanni of all people! Between her and Trisha next to him, he'll forget all about me! I only have so long to see him. I'm not ready to let go! Why can't anyone understand this?!"

All of a sudden, Julia has this huge meltdown. She tears apart the cot, throwing the pillows and sheets all over the place and pushes the cot so it tips on its side. Julia begins kicking the damn bed over and over again. She's pissed and for good reason. It sounds like this decision was made behind her back. It also sounds like a decision that Nate didn't make for himself. I have a feeling Dr. Donovan and Dr. Tremont played a part in this. They are trying to separate the two so it will be easier once Nate leaves for tour. Understandable but Julia's not having it right now.

"Julia!" Paul exclaims as he swiftly wraps his arm around her waist, effortlessly lifting her off the ground.

"Fine! You want us not to be near each other? You got your fucking wish!" She screams to anyone who listens and tries to wiggle out of Paul's grip.

"Julia, calm down." Jeremy says in an even tone while I grab Maggie and head to Julia's bedroom. Mags gets too nervous when Julia gets like this.

Sometimes, I get too nervous when she gets like this too. I don't know how to handle her. It seems only Nate and Paul do these days. All I can currently hear while petting my dog is Julia screaming and crying. She really loves Hollan. It used to hurt me, but I've become immune to it. I know full well you can love more than one person. I know she loves me. She's not IN love with me but she still loves me. We're best friends. That will never change. I just wish there was a way I could help her when she gets like this. Instead, I run away.

I would run and hide when I was little- when my parents would fight and my mom would scream, and cry and I run and hide now when Julia spirals out of control. Some things never change, I guess. Joe would call me a coward. Therapists would call it smart. I call it survival mode.

Time goes by before Julia's cries lesson and the apartment falls quieter. The bedroom door opens, and I turn from the chair by the window to see Paul. And then behind him stands Nate of all people, holding sleeping Julia in his arms.

"Did they have to sedate her??"  I ask, seeing how out of it she is.

"No." Paul answers but says no more.

"She cried herself to sleep." Nate explains while laying Julia down on her bed and grabbing a blanket to put over her. 

"So now what?" I ask while petting Maggie.

"Now Nate needs to follow through. Move into the apartment." Paul crosses his arms over his chest. He's putting his foot down. I had a feeling he's had enough of Nate and Julia's shenanigans considering she chose Paul. I'm used to that shit with her. Paul won't have it.

"This isn't going to fix anything; it'll only make it worse. Each day that goes by is another day closer to my departure. Don't you get it? She only wants to spend time with me knowing it's limited. That's all this is." Nate explains. I get that too. I can understand where everyone is coming from and am for once glad I am not in the middle of this one.

"Why don't you at least try."

All of us divert our eyes to the doorway to see Jeremy Donovan standing there.

"Give it one week," He continues. "Maybe she will get used to it and things will fall into place. If it doesn't work, come back."

I hate the man and the things he has done to my best friend, but he makes a good point. Maybe this will be good for both Nate and Julia. It will for sure be good for Paul who deserves all of Julia's attention since he is the chosen one. Again, I stay out of it and say nothing. 

Instead, I sit back to see how all this will pan out.

******