*Trisha*

James has been relocated and set up in the bedroom of Julia's Avalon apartment. IVs, Catheters, and all. How Donovan made this one happen is beyond me. Do I agree with this? Not at all. James will get the best care in a hospital with plenty of nurses and supervision, not a fucking mental institute with some nut flying off the handle every other day taking care of him. sorry but it's true. She fucking busted a nurses lip and gave her four stitches during one of her manic things!

Yet Jeremy Donovan, who is clearly obsessed with that nut who flies off the handle every other day, took it upon himself to find a way for James to come back here.  He will do anything for Julia. Even if it's pulling strings or some kind of bribery in order to make her happy.

Nate is no better. Instead of taking the weekend off and actually sleeping in his own bed, he stayed at the Avalon with Julia. That pissed me off but I kept it to myself.  I took over his entire bed for the weekend, wishing he were in it.  I don't mean it in a sexual way either, though sex with Nate is pretty outstanding. I mean for him to be able to relax. Sleep in. Rest his mind. But nope. Not if it takes time away from Julia.

If anything the weekend was MORE stressful because of the long day yesterday, moving James from the hospital to the Avalon. Never mind his actual body but all the equipment and monitors and supplies. Again, this shouldn't be happening.

The only thing that makes any of it a little better is knowing Paul is there. A stable man with a good head on his shoulders. He won't let Julia fuck anything up  when it comes to James. He'll put her in her place and step up and care for James himself.

And now, here we are, bright and early. From the moment we get into that SUV Tour Day number one begins. It's five in the morning and I'm starting the coffee, knowing we need to be out of here before eight. The aroma slowly begins to wake Evan and Jonah up. A brick being dropped on Casey's head won't wake her up so she'll be the last one to get out of bed.

"Mornin'." I hand both Evan and Jonah mugs of hot caffeine and grab one for myself before we all sit on the couch and try to wake.

"Normally on tour day number one I'd ask if everyone is excited but obviously I'm not going to do that today." I frown.

"Well, maybe not excited....with all that's going on here. But.... looking forward to getting away is. There were rough patches but all in all me and Case had a lot of fun while on the tour." Jonah assures me and I exhale.

"Good. I think it will be ok once we're gone. Sitting on that plane. Getting waited on hand and foot." I laugh. That doesn't REALLY happen. Maybe for Nate it does since he's the "Main Attraction" but for me- this is my "busy season" at work.

"This is my busy season for work." Evan says exactly what I was thinking and sips his coffee  like he didn't just read my mind.

"I agree. But still fun." I add. 

All of a sudden, Jonah's bedroom door swings open and out comes Casey, in her pajama shorts and t-shirt, bouncing down the hall full of energy. It's five in the morning! What the hell?

We watch her skip towards Jonah with excitement and plop down right on his lap.

"Guuuyysss! It's tour day!! Tour day number one!!" Casey exclaims and gives Jonah a big fat kiss on his forehead making me laugh a bit.

"Are you excited honey?" Jonah smirks.

"Ummm-- yeahh?!" Casey says. "This is what we've been waiting for!"

At least someone is genuinely excited. I relax my shoulders and smile.

"Ren, Nate's driver, will swing by to pick us up first. Then we'll head to the Avalon for Nate before driving to the airport. The private plane? Already cleaned, stocked, and ready to go. The catering company is there now, setting up meals for us."

Hearing it out loud, feeling the realness of it, everyone's mood lifts a little more.

"I ordered extra food knowing you." I point to Jonah and tease. '

This is finally happening. We are FINALLY going back on tour!

****

When Ren pulls up we all pile in to the large SUV. Jonah, Casey and Evan take the far back and Nate and I will take the middle row. But to my surprise, When I swing open the door of the SUV, there's one other person already sitting in it.

"Mila!" I exclaim, caught off guard. "I didn't realize you were riding up with us. How are you?" 

I try to be welcoming towards the girl but in the back of my head I'm thinking - Nate is going to have a fit- 

"Si, yes..um... Management changed plans. I picked up first.  Is ok??"

"Of course it is. I get it, believe me. Management is always fucking around with everyone's schedules." I say as we all pile into the car and begin driving off. " Are you excited for tour?"

"Si!" Mila clasps her hands together with excitement. We make small talk for a little while before Ren pulls around the Avalon building to pick up Nate.

"Okay, we'll just be a few minutes...just saying our goodbyes. Stay here."
There is no way I'm making Mila go into Julia's apartment. Jonah and Casey exchange looks before nodding in agreement. Mila understands and pulls out her phone to keep her busy.

A knot in my stomach forms once we are inside and it hits me,  we are going on on tour, without Paul.  Casey and James quickly going into the room to see James. while Paul hides behind his newspaper.

"Hey, sexy." I pull the paper away from the bodyguard and sit down next to him sit the kitchen table. "Guess this is it. You sure we can't change your mind to join us?"

"And leave Julia and James behind? Not happening, Banks." Paul smirks over at me. "Besides, you guys have Evan. He's good, Trish. Real good."

"I know." I sigh. Paul is right. Evan is sharp. Always ahead of the game, just like Paul. The guy practically has a photographic memory, some genius-level recall, like he could recite Webster's Dictionary cover to cover if he felt like it. And, let's be honest, he's easy on the eyes. But so is Paul.

I'm still nursing a bit of bitterness over Paul, though, how he shut me out after confessing his love for Julia... While he was dating me. We never really talked it through.

"Are we good, Trish?" Paul bringing it up first catches me off guard. For a moment, I just stare, thrown by the unexpected shift.

"Yeah, old man. We're good." I smile. Paul stands as I do and pulls me into a hug. I melt into him as always, a twinge of lust tightening in my stomach. We were good together. But if Paul is in love with Moretti, there's no point in trying to rekindle things.

But we'll always be good. I grew up with this man. From the time I was 18 years old, trying to wrangle Nate the way management expected, to now, Paul has been a constant presence for all of us. A bit of drama with Julia isn't enough to shake that. And over the last year, he's taken care of me, protected me, stood by me when I was at my worst. I owe him more than I can ever say. Respect isn't even the right word for it. It's deeper than that.

Because somehow, through it all, he put up with me. Me AND Nate. And that's a lot to put up with.

I feel Paul take in a deep breath and rest his chin on my head. I imagine him closing his eyes and breathing in my scent like I do to him "Make sure Nate behaves." 

"I'll try. It may be a hard task. Mila Giovanni is already in the car." I say softly so only he can hear me and feel Paul stiffen up. 

"Fuck." He grumbles. Jonah and Casey come out of the room so I pull away from Paul and head in to say goodbye. Julia and Nate come out to give me a little privacy.

I sit down next to James and take his hand. "You know, if you really didn't want to go on tour with us, you could have just said so. Going into a coma is a little.... excessive." I try to joke, hoping James can hear me. A hard lump forms in my throat and tears sting my eyes. "Promise me you'll wake up soon? Before we come back?" 

I lean in and rest my face against his neck and shoulder. James still carries the faint scent of his cologne. Julia takes excellent care of him; that much is certain. Right down to his cologne he puts on every day. She knows his routine like the back of her hand.

"We all miss you. I miss you, 'James The Receptionist.'" I wait a second, pretending James answered back and called me, "Trisha The Assistant." Just like old times. But the room remains silent. I kiss his soft lips but they don't respond, which makes me cry a little harder. 

The last time James was in a coma, there were moments...small but undeniable...when he responded, giving us glimpses of his presence. A hand squeezing back, or furrowing his brows. And how his lips instinctively puckering at a kiss. This time, there's nothing. No flicker, no reaction. Just stillness. His body remains, but it feels like James is... gone. Empty in a way I can't explain. Could the damage be so severe that there's nothing left of him to reach? No consciousness tethered to this body? Could he be completely brain dead?

I try not to think like that, give James a few more pecks on his lips and head out to the SUV. Nate is saying his final goodbye to Julia so I climb into the vehicle to give him some privacy. Both him and Moretti are a mess.

Finally, Nate walks to the car door and opens it. When he notices Mila has already been picked up, his shoulders sag in disappointment, unable to mask his emotions, and turns back around to Julia. He rushes back to Julia and holds her again, saying something we can't hear, before he comes back to the car and slides in next to Mila.

"Ciao, Nate." Mila rests her hand on Nates leg. "Stai bene?"

I know a little French here and there so lean over. "She's asking if you are ok."

"I'll be fine." Nate turns and looks out his window the entire ride, so Mila can't see his tears. 

But I can see his tears and it's heartbreaking.

******

*Trisha*

I have a feeling Nate is disappointed with Mila's reaction, or lack of reaction, when we board the plane. Even Casey, Jonah and Evan still show a spark of excitement as we make our way in and they've experienced this already. But Mila just smiles politely and has a seat. This is no big deal in her world.

"I had forgotten how amazing this is!!" Casey takes Jonah's hand in hers and squeezes it. I smile at her slightly. At least they are both still excited over the little things in life.

I head to sit next to Nate like I usually do, but Mila beats me to it, taking my chair and holding Nate's hand. Ok.... no big deal. She doesn't know any better and really only knows Nate. I bite my tongue and sit behind them as we begin to take off.

Once we are fully in the air and the seatbelt sign turns off, Nate makes his way back to his private bedroom, leaving Mila behind. Strange. I wait about ten minutes, watching Mila look back at the door and frown a few times, before I walk over to her.

"Mila, make yourself at home." I encourage her and takes Nate's seat.

"Sta bene?" She studies my face.

"He'll be ok. There's a lot going on." I try to make light of it.

Gavin, the hired cameraman who looks to be fresh out of college, sits across from me.

"Hey, so... I guess Richard and the team working on the Safe Haven music video would like some footage of Mr. Hollan and," The kid nods to Mila. "Miss Giovanni, traveling together. Do you know when he will come back out?"

"Should I go check on him?" Jonah enters the conversation. Maybe Nate will talk easier to Jonah. He seems to open up to him often these days.

"Yeah, if you don't mind..." I answer and we watch him make his way back to the private bedroom. He knocks a few times before Nate finally answers. Jonah squeezes in before I can see Nate's face and then closes and locks the door behind him.

Some more time goes by before I begin to get worried. Is this because Mila is with us? Is it Julia? James? Why is Nate distancing himself like this?

I look over at Gavin who is cleaning the lens on his camera, patiently waiting and decide to head down to Nate's room. Jonah comes out and the door closes behind him. He sees me heading that way and shakes his head.

"What's going on in there?" I ask. "Gavin is waiting."

"You need to tell the guy he is under the weather, not feeling well or sleeping or something, Trish." Jonah answers. "There is no way. Not today. He's been crying for the last hour nonstop. His eyes are puffy, red and irritated. It will certainly be noticed on camera. You can't hide it."

"Fuck. Seriously? Why the hell is he upset? Aside from the obvious we can't control of course, James."

"You're kidding, right?" Jonah gives me a look to end there. So I do. With a huff I approach Gavin and Mila while Jonah heads over to Casey who looks concerned.

"I'm sorry guys. Nate is under the weather today. We're gonna let him sleep for a bit and get the camera footage for traveling another day. We will have plenty of opportunities."

"No problem at all." Gavin is very easygoing about it which I appreciate. He puts his equipment back in the case and moves on. "Hey, Miss, Giovanni. Can I make you a plate of food?" He offers, politely.

"No. Thank you." She frowns and looks back at the door. Then closes her eyes to try to sleep. I make my way over to Evan who gives me a look.

"What is happening in there?" Evan asks, lowering his fork full of salad.

"Jonah said he's a crying mess." I whisper. "I'm not sure if it's Julia, Mila, James...who knows."

"Probably all of the above. But I saw the way Julia looked when she realized Mila was in the car." Evan whispers back. "She looked devastated."

"I saw it too." It's not often I feel bad for Moretti but in that moment I did. Because I remember the way Nate treated her when he was with Mila. Nate was a complete ass. This just brings all that shit up.

I decide to follow Mila's lead and close my eyes, trying to get as much rest as I can before we land. There's no need to entertain Jonah and Casey...they've got each other. Evan the bodyguard, knows the drill and takes advantage of this time to catch some sleep too. Gavin? I don't know, man. Poor kid wasn't even invited.

*****

I wake up to the low hum of the plane and glance around the cabin. Casey, Jonah, Evan, and the camera guy, Gavin, are huddled around the table, locked in a game of 500 Rummy with a deck of cards they found. Mila, slouched in her recliner, has somehow managed to switch the iPad settings to Italian. Whatever she's watching doesn't seem to hold her attention though, her expression screams boredom. Nate's motherfucking door is STILL closed. He didn't come out and spend time with Mila once, did he? That prick!

Angry at his childish ways, I grab my phone and text Nate. [ I can't believe you spent the ENTIRE flight locked up in that room.]

[ You can't believe it? Really Trish?]

I huff at his response. [Grow up, Nate]

[Bite me]

[Can you please come out and join us? We are going to be landing soon. Richard expects you to be on the front page of the news, breaking the internet by being seen with Mila.]

[He'll get over it. Maybe this will teach him a lesson. I'm no longer his puppet.]

[Sorry sweetie...by contract you are. At least for now. And it's not Mila's fault. So stop treating her like it is. She's in the same boat you're in] I slam my phone down, catching Mila's attention. She raises a brow at me and I roll my eyes and shake my head.

"Nate e immaturo" I sigh but kinda proud I still remember a little Italian after all these years.

"E perche sono qui, non e vero?" She asks a question but I don't quite understand what she said and she notices right away. "Um... because I come... si?"

I frown and see Mila straighten her posture. Her jaw tightens just enough to make it seem like she doesn't care. But she does. Of course she does. Everyone wants to feel wanted where they are.

"I talk to Nate." Mila furrows her brows like she is on a mission and gets out of her recliner. I don't stop her. Nate's being an ass. Giving Mila the silent treatment is plain out rude and something she doesn't deserve. So I let Mila knock on Nate's door.

He can be the one to tell her while he's avoiding her.

*******