*Trisha*

"What the hell is going on over there?"  I ask.

Never mind Nate admitting himself to the Avalon, once Jonah told Casey- who told me- that he was also spending the night there I had to call Nate to see what is happening.

"You wouldn't understand, Trish."

"How long do you think you will be staying? We have a meeting with Leslie to go over the tour. You know..... your Around The World tour you should be in the middle of right now?" I look down at my laptop at our agenda for the next two weeks, trying to shuffle things around to fit everything in.

"Well aware and I'm not sure yet, put it all on hold."

"So Jonah is definitely spending the night there with you?"

"For tonight, yes."

"Why do I get the feeling you are low-key withholding information from me??" I squint my eyes like Nate can see me through the phone call. He's hiding something. I can tell.

"Listen, they are going to adjust Julia's medication. She hasn't been sleeping well at night and has been going through a lot. That's all. Jonah wants to be here in case something happens. Plus, you know Jonah. He finds this shit intriguing."

"Julia's mental health? He finds crazy people intriguing?" I scoff.

"Casey is fine with Jonah spending one night here...why do you care so much?"

"Jonah was hired to care for you, Nate. Not Moretti." I remind him while multitasking and typing an email.

"You're not fucking serious, Trish, are you? Jonah has been hired BY me with MY money for whoever needs medical care in our core group. You included. I believe your behavior suggests a need for a mental evaluation, lately." He bleeds sarcasm.

The line goes dead. Did he just fucking hang up on me? 

"Motherfucking Bastard Child." I huff and Evan's eyes widen from across the dining room table. "May I help you?" I give him a dirty look.

"You kiss your momma with that mouth?"

"No. She's dead, remember?"

Evan tenses up. I can't quite recall if I ever mentioned that to him, and now he feels awkward.

"Sorry." I wave him off. "It's just...not everything revolves around Julia. Nate has responsibilities. He drops everything for her."

"I sense jealously."

"You sense someone who has a shitload of work to do and needs her boss to actually step up to the plate and get things done for a change!"

The bodyguard doesn't know what to say to this nor does he want to get involved.

"Fuck it." I slam my laptop closed and look around the room. "Let's do something."

"Like what?" Evan asks. Casey glances over at me from her book.

"C'mon guys. I need a break. Let's go.... I don't know. Let's do something fun. Let's go bowling or something."

"Are we back in middle school?" Casey laughs a little.

"Please. You're barely out of middle school. C'mon. I don't want to work anymore. I don't want to be here. Bowling could be fun!"

Evan shares a look with Casey and they both shrug. 

"Nate Hollan is paying me to go bowling? Sure, why not." Evan chuckles. Casey smiles and puts her book down before responding.

"Nate Hollan is paying me to go bowling too." 

******

*James*

Trying to discuss things with Julia can be hard sometimes. Some days she is a chatterbox willing to give you her life story and other days she won't budge.  When Jeremy found out she's having a hard time with her PTSD nightmares, he sprung into action. But we are ALL nervous about even slight changes in her medications. She's a lightweight, pills affect her big time.

"I really don't want to start messing with my meds." Julia is nervous about how she will react to the changes made. "I'm fine. I don't need much sleep anyways."

"Experiencing disrupted sleep patterns at night will take a toll you, Julia." Jonah is in nurse mode with both of us now. He talks to her while simultaneously measuring Nate's blood pressure. "You've already attempted the sleep study so we know it's your PTSD. Do you want to talk about what specific dream keeps waking you up?"

"No!" Julia snaps, shifting moods quickly

I watch Paul walk over and stand behind Julia, wrapping his arms around her waist and leaning in to whisper something in her ear. He's comforting her. They sway slightly and I turn away, not really wanting to see Julia be close with anyone but me.

Our thoughts are disrupted by a knock on the Avalon door. Jonah answers it, then looks at the clock and nods.

"She really can't be late." I hear Jeremy say. 

"I can take over for you, Julia. You have to go now." Jonah announces and Julia frowns, knowing where she has to be now.

"How long is this charade going to last?" Nate asks the doctor.

"I'm not sure, to be honest. But Katherine's not fooling around. And it's not just Julia this affects." Jeremy responds in a nervous tone.

"She needs a different fucking hobby."  Nate retorts as Paul and Julia leave the apartment. Once gone, Jonah turns to Nate, which gets my attention.

"Hey, now that they're gone, I need to bring this up." 

"What now?" Nate barely listens to him speak while flipping through the tv channels.

"This Friday you were scheduled for your.... you know.."

"No, I don't know unless you tell me."

I raise my eyebrows, wondering what this Friday entails.

"Spit it out already."

"Vasectomy. You have your appointment to get your Vasectomy."

Jesus. I spit out my soda accidentally when I hear this and Jonah stops stirring the pasta to help me.

"Nice, Gallo." Nate rolls his eyes at me.

"Sorry, I wasn't prepared for that."  I laugh but it fades quickly. I know Nate. I also know Julia can't have kids.  I also know how long it took me to get an appointment for my Vasectomy.

"Wait. You and Julia JUST broke it off... how long ago did you make this appointment? Were you planning on cheating on her? She can't have kids." 

"Nooo. It's complicated, ok? We had agreed we were taking a break once Tour resumed. Just while we'd be apart from each other. I knew she'd fuck around with you."

"And you were planning on doing the same...." I groan.

"Anywaaaays- as I was saying." Jonah inhales sharply. "It's the right thing for you to do, but now that you're in here I need to figure out if I need to reschedule."

"Just tell em at the front desk. They let you leave for medical shit. They did when my sister needed her wisdom teeth out. She just required an Avalon nurse to accompany her."

"Don't tell Julia." I shake my head.

"Why not? She chose Paul. Not me." Nate resumes watching TV like this is no big deal. It is.

"Yeah, just don't. She is still in love with you, you dope. She's gonna take it the wrong way. This one will sting. And God, do us all a favor and don't hook up with Mila Giovanni again either."

I would do anything in the world to not see Julia like that again. She was a mess. No, she was more than a mess. It broke me to watch her suffer the way she did.

Nate better fucking be smart this time around and stay away from that supermodel. It WILL tear Julia apart.

******

*Trisha*

I might as well quit my job. Why not? Nate practically is. He's been beating around the bush all week with me. He eventually confessed his plans to me over the phone. Dropping one big fat bomb on me.

"You're not serious, are you?" I stop the treadmill and stare at Evan who is on the bench press. When he hears the tone in my voice he stops lifting weights and sits up.

"Trish, I need to do this. I need to get my act together before tour." Nate continues.

"Nate, you are literally telling me right now you admitted yourself to be an Avalon patient until we leave??? Why don't you fucking admit it. You're not trying to get your act together. You're just trying to get closer to Moretti while you are still here!" I pinch the tension between my eyes thinking of all the ways I need to rearrange Nate's schedule- AGAIN. All the people I need to call to cancel for him AGAIN.

"Not true and you know it." He retorts.

"Stop and think about this. Ask yourself if you are really doing this for the right reasons. Because I think your real intentions are trying to win Julia back or something. Don't forget I've known you since you were sixteen years old. I know everything about you. You're doing this for the wrong reasons."

This time it's my turn to hang up on Nate. God, I can't win with that man!

******

*James*

"Rise and shine." 

I hear the familiar voice and open one eye.

"Hi!"

"What time is it?" I ask and roll over to my other side. "And why are you here?"

"It's eight and I wanted to come see visit you. Not like I can call you or anything." 

Right. I can't really use a phone. I rub my eyes and groan. But the smile on Lindsay's face to start my morning makes me smirk and sit up. I had forgotten Lindsay is a morning person. She's up by five running on the treadmill to start her day. Me on the other hand...

I let out an obnoxious yawn and raise my arms over my head to stretch.

"God the sight of you without a shirt on never gets old." Lindsay checks me out and I cock a brow at her. That's not the only thing in attention. She looks down and raises her own brows now.

"Oh yeah?" Lindsay gazes down at my morning wood and I shrug. "You're like a teenage boy, you know that? C'mon. I'll help you get dressed."

"I can tell you what you could help me with...."

"Later." She pulls my arm, forcing me to get out of bed. I had also forgotten how much energy this bubbly Barbie has. "I made pancakes for everyone!"

"Ok ok ok.." My stomach growls and Maggie lifts her head from her doggie bed when she hears the noise.

Lindsay takes over everything Julia would do for me. She's still learning but I see her watch Julia, taking mental notes on what I can and can't do. It's a process that is always changing. Some days my coordination is great, other days, especially days when I have a seizure, I can't do shit for myself and frustration takes over.

Today is starting off to be a good day. Lindsay barely has to help me get dressed. My coordination is on point, and I feel pretty good. She serves me pancakes while Dr. Donovan presses on about Julia meeting with Trevor. I don't know why she doesn't like him. He's a great therapist! But no one can judge Julia for her hesitations after the things she has been through. She may always have trust issues when it comes to doctors.

"Do you think you're ready to have a therapy session with Trevor today?" Jeremy pushes the subject on Julia again while he logs her meds into my chart. Lindsay helps me with my coffee and breakfast and pays no attention to the conversation. Paul watches Jeremy like a hawk.

"It's a waste of his time. I don't know how you people think I can miraculously open up to some stranger for counseling. It doesn't work like that." Julia huffs.

"He is no longer a stranger, Julia. You're making excuses to get out of it. And if I recall, you opened up to me just fine the very first day..."

"Yeah, look where that got me." She sneers. "Anyways. There's nothing new to talk about."

Paul and I exchange glances and both exhale loudly. 

"She's still having nightmares that keep her up. The change in meds didn't do anything." Paul crosses his arms while leaning against the kitchen wall.

"Jule, were YOU going to tell me this at some point? I'm messing around with your meds trying to find what works... but unless you talk to me and let me know these things..." Jeremy speaks softly and shakes his head.

"I am NOT talking to Trevor about my friggen dreams."

"Well, you need to talk to someone, babe."  I put my fork down and rest my hand on hers. "You haven't slept through the night in over a week now."

"How about this..." Jeremy stands up."It's nice out. Why don't we go outside, you and me, and talk about this specific topic? If you're not gonna open up to Trevor yet and you won't talk to these two," he gives in and pauses but ends the sentence there. 

Paul looks on edge now and it's noticed. Jeremy raises his hands a little.

"You can even stand there and watch us the whole time without listening in to our session. Trevor is using my office right now and there's nowhere else to go."

"Fine." Julia gives in and heads outside with the doctor while Paul watches his every move.

"She's got a lot to work through huh? Poor thing." Lindsay frowns.

"Yeah, she'll get there though." I answer, hoping to God eventually Julia will heal so she can move on with life.

 I've been working with Trevor and taking these courses with him to possibly be a counselor to help others. I haven't told Julia this and I hate keeping anything from her but I don't want to make her feel like I'm bettering myself and she's still stuck in a rut with no improvement. If only she had a few goals to look forward to achieving. Right now, she has no detoxing patient to care for, Lindsay has been helping me more and more when she is around, and I think Julia is feeling a bit lost without a purpose.

The knock on the Avalon door prompts Paul to answer so I take his place to watch over Julia outside with Dr. Donovan while Lindsay is on the floor playing with the dog. Nate walks in and the second he sees Julia is out there talking to the doctor, he freaks.

"Why the hell is she out there alone with him?"

"I've been watching them, boss." Paul explains.

"What are they talking about?" Nate peers out and studies Julia with Jeremy.

"Something about the nightmares she's having, I think. She won't talk to me about them." I answer right as they end the conversation and Jeremy stands. I think Linds may be uncomfortable around the doctor because she stands up, tells me she has a few errands to run and says her goodbyes right as Jeremy walks into the apartment.

"It looks like their therapy session went better than mine did." Nate mutters and I raise a brow. Maybe his sessions with Trevor aren't going as well as he had hoped. Though I know Nate well enough. If he doesn't hear what he wants to hear he shuts down.

"Ok well, I have another patient scheduled soon." Jeremy announces to anyone listening.

"Wait. What the hell were you two talking about out there?" Nate asks. "You can't just have some therapy session with her out there and then say nothing."

"Actually. That's part of my job, Nate. In counseling sessions, the discussions are confidential..."

"I thought you wanted to step back and have her talk to Trevor?? What changed?" 

"Nothing has changed. I will still make myself available to Julia until she is comfortable talking to Trevor. I'm not going to just go and ditch a patient who is in need of therapy." He pauses and heads to the door. "And Trevor was busy... with you."

Jeremy exits the apartment and right as Nate is about to head outside to talk to Julia, Paul beats him to it. We both watch how Paul comforts Julia and I have to look away. Nate clutches the back of the kitchen chair and closes his eyes. He looks like he may pass out.

"Are you ok? Sit down." I demand and Nate sits down at the kitchen table.

"Yeah. Just my shit heart acting up." He answers. 

"Should I go get Julia?" 

"No." Nate frowns. 

Now I'm not saying I have gotten over Julia. Maybe I never will. But I am starting to move on. I have the perk of being her best friend so have that going for me which Nate doesn't. But I have a feeling he is taking this Paul/Julia thing much harder than he lets on. The stress is gonna kill the guy if he doesn't let her go.

Julia is moving on. Eventually Nate will need to as well.

****