Body Guard

Julie:
I let him pull me into his arms and as soon as my cheek touched his chest, my eyes filled with tears. I was scared, but I also felt guilty for lying to him. I knew this would be bad if he found out. Keeping this from him was way beyond anything I had ever done. When he pulled away, I thought he would take one look at my red eyes and demand the truth, but he didn't look at me as he spoke.

I crawled back into bed and turned my face immediately to bury it in his chest. It was worse because he was being so sweet about the nightmare. I lifted my head to softly peck his lips. "I'm sorry," I mumbled, hoping it came across as an apology for my behavior.

My concern grew even after we were laying in her bed again. It wasn't helped when she pecked my lips and I briefly felt some wetness brush against my face during it. And then she apologized. This was more than just a simple dream. Had something gone wrong? Was she regretting us?

I drew in a breath and raised my head up higher than hers to brush my lips over her brow. "It's okay Jules. Take a breath. I'm here alright? I'm not going anywhere."

Julie:

I could hear in his voice that I wasn't doing a very good job convincing him that everything was alright. I should have have just told him as soon as I saw the letter, but the lie had fallen out of my mouth before I had time to think it through.

If I told him, he would have to do something about it and that thought scared me more than the letter itself.

I could feel myself starting to tremble again and I forced myself to calm down. If it really had been a bad dream, I would have run right into his arms and let him make me feel better. I tried to do that now, just pretend it was a dream. I pressed myself closer to him and squeezed my eyes shut.

When the trembling resumed I rubbed her back and began to murmur soft little words. I rambled my way through memories, reminding her about our adventures and fun little moments that I could remember.

While I spoke I tried not to let her tears get to me. Tried not to let my worries get to me. Things were different now, and I didn't really know what else changed between us. My biggest worry is she regretted what we'd become.

Julie:
I listened to his soft words and let myself go still in his arms. His hands on my back relaxed my tense muscles and I wrapped my arms around him to curl closer. If I got any closer to him, I'd be literally on top of him. My face was pressed in the spot where his shoulder met his neck and my arms were tightly wound around him.

My eyes were getting heavy again so I closed them. I had been so proud of myself, waking up early and getting out of bed. But now? I never wanted to leave the safety of these sheets.

It took more effort than I expected but I pushed the lingering doubts and thoughts out of my head. This wasn't the time. I was so used to dealing with such things in private that after I pushed it away it managed to stay out of my head.

"So I have a question. Five or so years ago, when we went to that formal dinner thing. Did someone really spill wine on you? Or was it you? You didn't want to go in the first place, hated the dress, and I was actually for once not fully paying attention." A smile curled my lips. It was a half-lie. I'd caught enough of what happened to know the truth. But maybe it would help get her mind off of it.

Julie:
I sniffled and answered his question without thinking. "I spilled it on purpose," I told him, softly. "I didn't wanna go in the first place and I figured you and dad couldn't make me stay if I ruined my dress," I shrugged against him. I pulled away from him a little to wipe my eyes and then look up at him questioningly.

"Although I find it hard to believe you weren't paying attention," I told him.

"Ah, so I was right." I mused more to myself than her. "Oh I was paying attention....somewhat. There was also some gossip happening closer to me. Something about twins dating the same man without each other knowing. And being angry with each other over it rather than the man playing them." I waved a hand absently. "They were being really...harsh in their insults to each other."

I smiled at her, "I did notice you were standing on your own with a wine glass. And when you came up to tell me about what happened you didn't have one."

Julie:
"Well it worked. You let me leave," I said, remembering the day well. I had been dreading the event for weeks. I didn't have anything I wanted to wear and my father would not budge on the issue of my attendance. I had even tried swaying Cody into 'accidentally' getting lost on the way there but it didn't work.

"I wasn't even old enough to drink the wine, so I don't know why no one questioned why I was holding it."

"I mean, it's never really been an issue for you to have alcohol since you were about sixteen. And all of these fundraisers and gala's and what have yous never seem to care how old the person is. Benefits of being important perhaps?" I shrugged then trailed a hand down her side.

"What ever did you end up doing with that dress anyway?"

Julie:
"I threw it out as soon as we got home," I told him, shifting so I was no longer holding onto him for dear life, but rather comfortably laying in his arms. I knew exactly what he was doing, asking about past events and stained dressed.

And it was working.

I took a deep breath that was steadier than any other I had taken since opening the mail and let him comfort me, even though I felt guilty that he didn't know what he was comforting me about.

I turned my head to press another kiss to his cheek in thanks for once again, handling me. Even though the situation was scary, nothing had actually happened yet and I would be able to somehow handle it before things got serious. Perhaps I could tell Greg and then Cody would never be involved.

Cody:

I wasn’t sure how long I spent talking to her. Too long probably, but with enough poking, prodding, and effort I saw the sun come from behind the clouds. I heard some laughs, I found her smile again. And before the sun rose we had dozed off in each other’s arms.

It could have been exhaustion, it could have been just the comfort of each other’s company. But when my eyes finally opened I squinted at the sliver of sunlight poking through the curtains of Jules’s bedroom. A yawn split my lips and I looked down at the soft form still in my arms. Her back was pulled against my chest and I flexed my arm gently under her head to get some blood back into my fingers.

Julie:

I woke up to a gently nudging on my head. I blinked my eyes open, trying to clear the fog. I had a very dull headache, probably a tribute to the tears from the night before and I rolled over to face the source of the movement.

"Hi," I said, softly. Fearful of morning breath, I sat up.

I was glad he had spent the night again. I knew that things were still so fresh between us and we had agreed to not move too fast, but I had clearly needed him.

And without question, he was there.

It would be easy, after I had calmed down, to fully explain the source of the breakdown, but I still wasn't sure it was the right move.

“Good...morning?” I blinked and frowned up at her a moment. It could have been afternoon for all I was aware. Reaching up I touched her cheek, tracing a little pattern on it for a moment before letting my hand drop back down to the bed. “You don’t look like someone who was crying last night. And yes that’s a compliment. Your eyes aren’t even red.”

Julie:

I leaned my face into his touch for a moment before he pulled away and then I stretched over the bed to grab my phone.

I was glad I didn't seem to be puffy from the crying. "Well that's probably because we slept in so late," I said, looking at the time on my phone. It was well into the afternoon. Granted, we had gone to bed sometime in the early morning, so it wasn't like the sleep was undeserved.

I dropped my phone on the bed and grabbed his hand. "Thank you for yesterday," I said, softly. I would have kissed him, but again, morning breath.

“What better use can I be than cheering up someone I care about?” I murmured in response. “But enough about last night, it’s now today. Brand new day with brand new things to experience.”

With a grunt I pushed myself up to a sitting position then off the bed and onto my feet. With a lackadaisical stretch I made my way into her bathroom. Once inside I paused and peered about then turned around and walked back out. “Not my bathroom. Probably shouldn’t shower here.”

Julie:
I watched him get up with a smile. I wasn't exactly sure what the brand new day would bring, but it felt better than yesterday. When he walked into my bathroom, the smile turned amused. "You can shower wherever you want, but your hair is gonna smell like strawberries if you stay here," I joked.

I got up after him and walked past him to get into the bathroom when he walked out. "I actually want my hair to smell like strawberries, so I'll be in here for the next fifteen to twenty minutes," I told him before smiling and shutting the door.

I stripped out of my clothes and turned the water on to heat up. I made quick work of my shower and got dressed in something comfortable.

Sometime between waking up and finishing my shower I decided that I just couldn't keep the photos from Cody. It wouldn't be right. Now it was just a matter of working up the courage to tell him.

"Strawberries huh...not a bad smell actually." I stared at the closed bathroom door until I heard the shower running. With a shake of my head, I retreated to my own room and the shower within. My clothes were left in my hamper, and as I stood under the water I picked up my shampoo and gave it a tentative sniff. It smelled of nothing distinctive, just clean and fragrant.

Snorting I focused on finishing up my shower. There was nothing wrong with floral and fruity I decided by the time I finished. At least the scents and names made sense. Winter cool body wash didn't bring to mind winter really. And the shampoo didn't even bother with a name.

By the time I was dressed and enjoying a cup of coffee in the living room I had gone through all of my things, inspecting the smell and the names. In one hand I held my mug, tentatively taking a sip of the boiling liquid while my other hand held up my cologne so I could read the label.

Julie:
I made quick work of showering and brushing my teeth. I dressed in a clean pair of jeans and T-shirt, before meeting him in the living room. He was sipping coffee and reading a bottle of something I couldn't see when I walked in.

I went past him to grab a mug of my own and filled it with the warm liquid before adding a little too much cream and sugar.

I sat down on one of the stools near the counter and shifted the pile of papers that was on top of it. I knew the photos were at the bottom of the pile because that was where I put them last night. "Whatcha doing?" I asked, delaying the conversation.

"Trying to figure out what Noir is actually supposed to smell like." Shaking my head I set down my cologne and joined her at the counter. "I think I may have gone a bit overboard checking out what my stuff smells like. I've come to the conclusion that the makers of anything mens have no idea what to call it and so just make up a name that sounds interesting."

Julie:
I couldn't help but be amused at his random quest to smell his things. "Well alright then," I said, with a laugh. I took a sip of my coffee and then turned my body to face him.

"I think we should probably talk about what happened yesterday," I said, sobering up. I looked down at the cream, swirling in my coffee. Anything to not look at him right now.

"I didn't want to tell you, but it's also not something I can really keep from you," I told him. I shuffled the papers around the counter and pulled out the photos. I slid them over until they were in front of him and then stopped. "These came in the mail yesterday." I said.

I raised an eyebrow as I peered from her face that was practically turned away from me and her hands as they fiddled with a stack of papers. When the photo's were slid towards me I set down my coffee and asked with a light tone, "What's this?"

As I flipped through the photo's my expression hardened slightly. "You got these in the mail?" They were pictures of us. At the dance, chatting, even our hidden kiss in a back hallway. "What else came with it?" This couldn't be it. Not unless she'd planned this as a surprise or something. But a sinking feeling in my stomach was telling me other things.

Julie:
I watched his face as he registered what the photos meant. These weren't photos that were in the paper. As he flipped through the pictures, I stopped him on the last one, plucked it from his hands, flipped it over and then handed it back.

In a scribbled handwriting were the words that had frozen my insides last night.

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


We both knew exactly what happened at the carnival.

Slowly I set the picture down and leaned back in my chair. Staring at the words I read it again and again. "Have you told anyone about this?" My voice was tense, retrained.

The carnival flashed through my head, a dull ache spreading through my back. They were back, there were more of them. Who had wanted to kidnap her and why? For what reason? Ransom? Desire? Did it even matter?

"Shit..."

Julie:
I looked from the pictures to his face and back again. "I didn't tell anyone," I assured him. I had never seen Cody anything but calm, cool, and collected, and his reaction was freaking me out.

"You don't thing that maybe someone heard about what happened and the carnival and thought this would be a funny joke?" I asked, trying to think of all possibilities. "Should I call Greg?" I figured it it was really as bad as I thought it was, alerting my body guard wasn't a bad idea.