A Second Chance.

Chapter 17

~Jo~

My alarm goes off at 8am. I get out of bed and head for a quick shower, as I have things a few things to do this morning.

I get out of the shower after a few minutes. I wrap a towel round me and head out of the bathroom.

I start gathering up my belongings and start packing my cases. As I'm packing, I remember that I still have to tell the others that I'm not flying back to LA today.

'Shit', I say to myself as I also remember that I was going to message my manager last night about rescheduling my flight. I grab my phone and send her a quick text.

I finish packing my cases and get dressed. I decide it best to tell the others in person that I'm not back with them today. So I decide to head to Castelle's room.

I nervously knock on the door.

"Hey Jo, come in. What's up?" Castelle asks.

I walk into her suite.

"I wanted to let you know, that I'm not, I'm not gonna fly back the US today with you guys" I say nervously, pulling at the sleeves of my jumper. "I, erm, I"

"Jo, you don't have to explain yourself and it's totally up to you, what you do" Castelle says and touches my arm, as to reassure me.

"I just didn't wanna seem rude and like, just not show up for the flight" I tell her

"Don't worry about it"  she smiles at me  "So..."

"So.........what?" I ask

"So, you and Hero, I'm guessing, you two are"

"Yeah" I say biting my lip and looking at my feet.

"About time. I remember watching the two of you the whole time in Bulgaria and I couldn't get my head around why the two of you weren't a couple"

"Really?" I ask

"Really. I'd have to constantly remind myself that what I was seeing wasn't real. That the two of you were only acting. But your chemistry was, is insane..... The bond you two have...... The way Hero looks at you, even when you're not looking at him"  she explains

"Is it that obvious?"

"I mean, people know that you two are close but I don't think they know how close. I think,  that being the director and seeing everything that was rehearsed and shot, I have a better idea, so to speak" she tells me

"Can we keep this a secret.....Just for now" I say to her

"Jo, I wouldn't tell anyone. It's not my place or any of my business"

"Thanks Castelle" I say and give her a hug "We just want to keep it between ourselves for now"

I've always felt that I could trust Castelle and I know I can trust her not to say anything.

I head back to my room and check my phone. I have a message from my manager, telling me that she's working on changing my flight and a message from Hero, giving me his address.

I reply to Hero, telling him that I'll can't wait to see his house later.
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~Hero~

I walk around my house for like the 10th time, making sure everything is tidy and clean.

I'm so excited to show Jo, my first home. I've lived here for just over four months now and I've had my family and friends over but this feels different somehow.

After another quick walk round, the doorbell rings. I walk along the hallway and open the door.

"Hey" Jo says with the biggest smile on her face

"Hey. Come in. Here let me take that" I say taking her case 

I close the door behind her and spin her round and kiss her.

I take then her hand. "Ok, let me show you around"  I say slightly excitedly.

I show her around downstairs first and then I grab her case and we head upstairs. I put her case in my room and tell her that there's a wardrobe in the spare room, if she wants to hang anything up.

"Ah, thank you" she says and kisses me softly on the lips.

"Also, do you mind if I do some laundry" she asks

"No, of course not. Glad to see you're still not paying the hotel to do your laundry" I joke

"Never. Like who really pays $5 per sock" she jokes back.

"I'll leave you to unpack. Do you want some tea or something?"  I say

"Yeah sure, tea sounds good"

I head down to the kitchen and make us some tea.

Jo joins me minutes later with some clothes in a small bag. I show her where the washing machine and detergent is.

We sit it the kitchen drinking out tea, while we wait for the washing machine.

"So, what do you want to do today?" I ask her

"I don't mind. Maybe we can go for a walk somewhere?"

"How about, we have a walk round here and then tomorrow we can go to Hyde Park or St James' park or something " I suggest

"Sounds like a plan" she says and takes a sip of her tea

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~Hero~

After our walk around my neighbourhood, we stop off at the supermarket and pick up a few things for dinner.

Jo has decided that she wanted to make us dinner, as a little thank you for letting her stay with me. I tried to tell that it wasn't necessary but she wouldn't have any of it.

While Jo makes the dinner, I pour us some wine and hand her a glass. I sit on stool and just watch her.

I wish we could do this more often. We've been lucky to be able to spend most of the last two weeks together. But soon she will be going back to LA and it will be weeks until we see each other again.

I know having a long distance relationship will be hard but we've done it before and this time I'm gonna make sure it works out.

She turns round and catches me watching her.

"What" she says with a smile

"Nothing, just admiring the view"  i say as I lick my bottom lip

She smiles at me and dishes up the stir fry she's made.

She walks over to me with the plates and sits on the bar stool next to me.

"Bon appetite" she says

"Thank you" I say as she places the plate in front of me "This looks so good" I tell her

We eat dinner and she asks me all about my house and how long I plan to stay here. I ask her how long she plans to stay in London and she tells me that she's staying until the end of the week and that she would stay longer but she has a few work meetings next week.

After dinner, we head upstairs to bed.

Jo grabs her toothbrush and pjs and heads Into the bathroom. I get undressed and climb into bed and turn on the bed side lamp.

Minutes later, she enters my room, turns off the light and climbs into my bed. She snuggles up to me and wraps her arm around me.

"Goodnight" she says and kisses me

"Goodnight" I say back.

I turn off the lamp and put my arm around her.

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Thanks for reading another chapter!

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xoxo