Body Guard

Laughing I shook my head, "We are too much on the same page. Neither of us wins in that case. You kissing me to distract me, me only kissing you if you do a work out. All bad."

I could see the wheels turning in her head. "What are you thinking about?"

Julie:
I looked down at my covers at his question and shrugged as I picked at a loose thread in the blanket. "I don't know," I said. "I just don't want you to leave," I told him. I was fighting sleep and he needed to rest too, so it was only a matter of time before he went to his room. Sure, I slept better when he was closer, but the truth was, everything was better when he was closer. Now that I had a taste of this new dynamic, I wasn't ready to let it go.


I looked up at him and tried to be reassuring. "But I'm not rushing anything. I get that we're taking it slow." I said. My smile turned sheepish and I shrugged. "I didn't realize I was clingy until just now, I guess."

Her words were appreciated and I leaned forward to brush a kiss onto her forehead after it. "Thank you." I murmured. Settling back I considered it for a time, staring off into space. Would it be bad to stay the night here? Dating hadn't even been a factor in the past when she'd come crawling into my bed after a bad dream.

It would be different, and perhaps a bit too soon. But one night surely wouldn't hurt right? "You only get clingy when you are cold or have a bad dream." I smiled at her then turned it to a smirk. "Are you asking me to sleep in your bed tonight? How vulgar of you, what would they say? What would people think if an innocent person like you was found sleeping beside a ruffian like me?"

Julie:
I smiled back and rolled my eyes at his words. He was hardly a bad influence. In fact, he followed rules better than anyone I had ever met. If anything, I was the bad influence.

"No..." I shrugged. "I'm not asking you to sleep here," I said, trying to sound offhanded and nonchalant. "Although is it cold in here?" I asked, grabbing his hand and gently tugging him closer. "And you know what? I think I'm gonna have a bad dream tonight," I said.

I shook with silent laughter as I fell down beside her on the bed. "Hm. I'm a bit warm personally. Don't know about you but too many kisses really gets the blood flowing." With a dramatic sigh I shifted until I had my head on one of her pillows and was comfortable beside her. "I suppose though if you are going to be having a bad dream I could stay at least for tonight."

Julie:
I giggled and turned on my side to face him. "Well that's your choice, I had nothing to do with it," I lied. I had all but forced him to stay. "I'll try not to make you too warm," I said, but I leaned forward to press my lips against his cheek anyway. I was a walking contradiction today.

I laid my head down on the pillow and smiled at him, truly happy he was staying. "Thank you," I whispered, all joking aside.

"I'm pretty sure I'll be too warm regardless. You like sleeping under half a dozen blankets when you get cold." I got warm easily anyway, normally I'd just shed a piece of clothing until nothing was left. Was something I only ever really did when I stayed in the servants building. Rarely when I stayed in one of Jule's guest rooms.

If I was going to be sleeping beside her...well it would be amusing to see her reaction if nothing else but perhaps awkward as well.

Julie:
I smiled and pulled up the covers he mentioned. “We can turn on the ceiling fan if you want,” I offered, settling into the blankets and peeking at him over the top of the sheet.

Eyeing her plethora of blankets I sighed and got out of bed to go turn on the fan. I walked a bit stiffly, my back still ginger and unhappy. I returned and peeled back the covers to slide underneath beside her.

Between the covers and the pillow my head was resting on, it just felt like I was surrounded by her. I could smell the remnants of her perfume in the fabric, the softness of the sheets she loved. All of a sudden I felt nervous by laying here with her just inches away. My heart beat picked up as well and I pressed a hand to my chest willing it to try and calm down as I rolled onto my side to face her.

Julie:
I watched him get in the bed and suddenly his face changed. I frowned and reached out to smooth his hair down. “Whats wrong?” I whispered. He was holding his chest like he was in pain and it was making me nervous.

I looked at her sheepishly before answering, "I can't remember the last time I slept in your bed. I'm so used to you joining me in mine." I laughed softly at myself and shook my head. "I wonder if this is how you get. Soft sheets, just the smell of you all around me. Got a bit nervous all of a sudden."

Using the hand at my chest I took her hand and kissed her palm. "i'm being silly. Nothing to worry about."

Julie:
I smiled softly and shrugged. "You don't really make me nervous," I told him. "You mostly calm me down," I told him. I was nervous all the time, unless I was with him. It seemed it was the opposite for him. "When you were in the hospital, when I could sleep, it was in your bed," I confessed. I knew exactly what he meant about the smell.

“You slept in my old room? Surprised you even went up to it.” I was calming down now. Just chatting like this took my mind off of it, the banter of it. After a moments consideration I scooter closer. The foot between us was now six inches.

Julie:
“Why would you be surprised? I always sleep in your bed after a bad day,” i said. It would make sense that I slept there after what happened. I felt him move a little closer and I wanted to cuddle up next to him, but he had already said it was too warm in here. I didnt want to make it worse.

"Fair, I mean I don't doubt it. Just you almost never came to visit me when I actually lived there. And I don't want to hear about how I was always over anyway." I could tell there was something she wanted. The what I couldn't tell, so I decided to guess on it. Leaning forward I pecked her lips, a brief but soft kiss.

Julie:
I smiled after his soft kiss. “Was that my goodnight kiss?” I asked. I could get used to him being here every night and I had to be careful or else he would spoil me.

"Well...it was more for my own enjoyment, but honestly I suppose it could be." How slippery of a slope this was. And yet I pushed a bit further. Reaching out I hooked an arm over her waist, giving the faintest of tugs to see if she'd scoot closer.

Julie:
I smiled again at his response and almost closed my eyes when I felt his arm slide around my waist. At his gentle tugging, I happily scotted closer and cuddled up onto his side. I rested my head on his shoulder and wrapped an arm around him.

The exhaustion was catching up with me and I whispered a goodnihht before falling asleep.

I held her against me, smiling softly. I didn't know how long I laid there, letting the minute amount of light I had to study her face as she slept, slowly though I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. It was nice cradling her against me as I drifted off.

Julie:
I woke up in the morning feeling warm and comfortable. I sighed, my eyes still closed and curled closer to the warmth. As I started waking up, I remembered that Cody had slept in my bed and a small smile took over my mouth as I blinked my eyes open. I lifted my head off his chest and took in his sleeping face.

I wanted to kiss him awake, but it was rare he slept in and i didn't want to ruin it. I would have stayed, but the bathroom was calling me. I slid out of his arms and out of the bed. I padded quietly to the bathroom and when I was finished, I went to the kitchen to start the coffee.

I quickly opened the door to grab my mail from the bin. Someone on staff usually beought me anything that was mine and left the rest for my father.

I sorted through it and stopped on a hand written letter. It was odd to see. Most of my mail was official business and anything from fans or civilians went to a P.O box that was sorted through my staff. Whoever sens this had to have my address.

Frowning in confusion, I turned the envelope over and ripped it open. I pulled out a single, folded piece
of paper. Before I could open it, more pieces of paper fell out and scattered on the counter. They were photos. From last night.

Photos that hadnt been in the paper. They were from a completely different angle. Some of us dancing, some of us sitting. One of me, alone, before Cody arrived and one of just Cody.

I felt my insides get cold as I flipped over the paper to read it.

We didn't get a chance to speak at the carnival. We look forward to our next meeting

I stretched out in the bed, groaning as I did so. My body registered Jules's absence first. Blindly and half asleep I pawed around the bed for her. Unable to find anything just by reaching I cracked open my eyes and peered about.

She wasn't on the bed. Bathroom maybe?

I glanced towards the bathroom but the door was open and I didn't hear any sounds coming from it. Frowning I sat up slightly still staring blankly at the door.

Not the bathroom. Maybe she fell out of bed and was on the floor? It had happened before.

Slipping out from under the covers I crawled around the edge peering down. On my hands and knees I looked around her room. Three places she wasn't. Groaning I climbed off the bed and rubbed my stomach as I went looking out in the living room.

"Jules?"

Julie:
I heard movement coming from the bedroom and without even thinking, I collected all the pictures and slid them to the bottom of the pile of mail. My heart was beating a mile a minute and I knew I didn't want him to see that note. This was how he got hurt in the first place and I couldn't let it happen again.

The only problem now was that I was sure the fear and anxiety was written all over my face and Cody had the tendency to read my like a book. In fact, my hands were shaking as I remembered the words written on the note.

I turned around towards the sound of him walking into the living room and struggled to think of a reason for my behavior.

"I'm in the kitchen," I said, as soon as I heard his voice. I bit my lip hard at the shaking in my own voice and walked to meet him in the living room. "I...had a bad dream," I lied. I couldn't remember a time when I outright lied to him. Sure, when we were kids, there were little white lies here and there, but this was serious.

I blinked at her while my brow slowly furrowed. She had a bad dream? Usually that meant she sought me out and wanted comfort. Rubbing one eye with one hand I extended the other making little grabby motions.

"I figured since we are dating you'd be more inclined for me to help with those. Not less. Boyfriend means I get to do more than just hold you after a bad dream. I get to kiss you too. Probably makes for a better cure all." I fought and lost to a yawn as I gave her a sleepy grin.

Julie:
I didn't smile at him, even though he couldn't have looked more adorable, rubbing his eyes, clearly still sleepy. I didn't smile, but I did walk over and grab his outstretched hand. "I didn't want to wake you...but maybe I should have," I told him. Now that my hand was in his, I was sure he would be able to feel it shaking. "Do you wanna get some more sleep?" I asked. It was still early.

Tugging her closer I let her hand go and pulled her into a tight hug. "You can always wake me up when you have a bad dream." I murmured softly. She was trembling. I had felt it in her hand, and a bit in her body as I held her.

I was wide awake then. Something was wrong, and she was doing her best to hide it. Now that I was awake I played back her words in my head. She was too casual about it, there was no smile. A hundred different little things that said something was wrong.

"Let's go back to bed. You don't have to tell me about your dream alright? Just know I'm here for you. I'm not going anywhere. The worst you have to worry about is if I get sick and my nose gets plugged up. Then you get to deal with me snoring." I didn't look at her face as I led her gently back to bed. I didn't want to read what might be on there. She was entitled to her secrets, and I trusted her. She'd tell me eventually if it was important.