*James*

I slept half the day away. I think I was both physically and emotionally exhausted. I didn't wake up till almost five in the evening.

"Hey pal, you must be hungry." Jonah notices I'm awake while he's flipping through the channels on TV, trying to find anything unrelated to Nate and Julia.

I sit up and stretch a little. Maggie is right next to me on the couch wanting attention, so I scruff her ears up the way she likes.

"Yeah, a little."

Jonah nods and gets up to help me with dinner.

"Where is everyone?" I look around the quiet apartment. Jonah begins to cut up a chicken breast for me and plates it with some brown rice and veggies. Then he pours me a glass of lemonade.  

"Paul went to the Marriott for something. Casey is downstairs working out. Nate and Trisha are at the studio working on some big project." Jonah shrugs as we sit down.

Due to the stress of the day, the second he puts my fork in my hand, it drops.  My cheeks flush in embarrassment, and I try to pick up the utensil with no luck.

"Sorry." I mumble and try again.

"Here, let me." Jonah takes the fork from my hand and begins to feed me. I feel my eyes begin to water when I open my mouth to eat. This is humiliating. I'm fucking regressing not getting better.

"James." Jonah shakes his head at me and continues to feed me. "You're stressed out. This is going to happen from time to time. Your body is telling you you need rest. I'm a nurse and hired to take care of you. That means feeding you and helping you with any and all tasks needed." He picks up the napkin and wipes the tears off my face. "It's the whole reason I became a nurse. To help others. To take care of people.

"D-do you know how hard it is for a 37-year-old man to come to terms with needing to be fed? It's embarrassing." I sniff and take another bite from the fork Jonah holds out in front of me.

"I'm not gonna lie. No. I don't know how you must feel. To be honest, brother, I'm just glad you are alive. I will spoon feed you, wipe your ass, do whatever you need so long as you are alive. You've had too many scares and near-death experiences, James. I'm just praising God and grateful that you are sitting here at this table with me right now." Jonah smiles at me and puts everything into perspective for me. 

He's right. God, he's SO right.

*****

*Trisha*

Nate and I spent five, yes five hours in his room of the studio working on the task at hand. Researching and calling tree farms that would deliver six, yes six trees overnight. Then finding a decorator willing to decorate all of them to Nate's liking at six in the morning. But money talks and when you hear the name Nate Hollan, you know the job will be well worth it.

Nate wanted specific themes, and specific intricate designed ornaments for each tree, being very particular and detail oriented. It's just how he is. The man is in love, and he gets like this when he wants to go above and beyond. I'm usually the one who has to help. But I don't mind because we worked on the project together. Nate didn't just throw a job at me and expect a miracle. He wanted to be part of each and every step. So, I got to spend five hours in a room with my best friend. What's not to love about that?

"I can't believe this is going to work!" Nate's British accent comes out a little thicker with his excitement. It's now ten at night and Ren is waiting outside the studio to give us a ride back to the apartment. I close my laptop and rub my weary eyes. We both get up off the couch at the same time and he pulls me in.

 Nate's smile is beaming at me.

"Thanks Trish. Really."  He pecks my lips and wraps his arms around me which is nothing we haven't done a trillion and one times but I felt a little spark I shouldn't have. I push it to the back of my head and try to ignore it.

"You owe me a spa day." I smirk.

"I owe you ten thousand spa days, angel. Julia is going to go ballistic."

******

It's barely eight in the morning when Nate comes into James's room and wakes me up. I slept in his bed with him last night and swear to God checked his pulse about three hundred times throughout the night.

"Trish. C'mon." Nate whispers and pulls my arm.

"You're kidding right now.......right?" I groan but get out of the warm bed.

Nate had to be awake early for the decorating team and is now all wound up. He drags me into the living room and shows me decorated tree number one.

"You are insane, you know that? And the things you make me do!" I yawn but my eyes light up at the sight. It's beautiful. I'd die if a man did such a thoughtful thing for me.

"Do I not pay you well, Miss Banks?" He raises an eyebrow right as Casey comes out of the bedroom.

"Oh my God!!!" Casey exclaims and then goes and wakes Jonah up which in return wakes James up, who comes out of his room rubbing his eyes. Paul also now comes out of his room.

"Wow. ok." He grumbles and heads right to the coffee. Typical Paul.

"Aww, cmon. Paulie. You love it." I smirk but Paul shows little to no interest.

"Festive..." Jonah yawns. "Can I go back to sleep now?"

"Oh Stop, Scrooge." Casey pokes him in his abs. "It's beautiful Nate! I didn't think you were going to decorate. With all that's going on." Mini Julia practically skips around the tree looking at all the ornaments and lights. 

"This is important to Julia."

"Julia...as in Julia at the Avalon? The one who doesn't live here?" James scoffs and I have to laugh at that.

"She told me Luke never let her get a real tree. They always had a fake one. She gave me one job. Even though she isn't here to enjoy it she told me I needed to put up a real Christmas tree. So, ..." Nate begins.

"Who?" I glare at him.

"Sorry, Trisha hired out, and the crew came this morning while you guys were sleeping. P.S. you guys are all very heavy sleepers, you know that?"

James softens his face, and his shoulders fall. He nods and looks at the tree. "She's going to love it."

"Paul. Get dressed and take me to the Avalon." Nate demands.

"It's eight in the morning. They aren't going to let you in this early."

"They will, trust me. I want to be there for when Julia wakes up."

*****

*James*

Once again, Hollan one ups me. Even with my best paycheck, I could never afford to do something like that for Julia. I never used to compare myself to people, but with Nate, I just can't help it. He has everything I could only dream of having, including the woman I love. 

Sometimes, I wonder if maybe I could have tried harder to win Julia's love. But that's not the case. It's not the case because Julia DOES love me. This was never a contest of who loves who more. She said it right from the start that she loves me just as much as she loves Nate. But a choice had to be made.  Someone would have to lose.

Nate is always The Winner.