Could It Be?

Chapter 10 ~ Stay

Chapter 10 - Stay

I awoke to the sun glistening over the sea wrapped in a blanket. Hmm, this wasn't here last night. Johnny must have gotten it out of the bag during the night. I loved it here and I didn't want to move as my head was resting on his chest. I looked up at him and he was such a beautiful sight. The way the sun shined of his tanned skin, the way streaks of red glimmered throughout his dark brown hair. He looked peaceful, happy. I let out a big sigh as I laid my head back down on his chest, listening to his heartbeat as tears rolled down my face. It was Sunday and I didn't want it to be the end of this beautiful story of him and I. I felt Johnny's hand rub my back, "Good Morning." I couldn't look up, as I knew my tears would flow even harder. Too late, Johnny heard me trying to hold them back. He wrapped his arms around me tightly, "Stay, Julie. Please stay. I need you here with me." I stood up suddenly and walked towards the ocean, not looking at him. I couldn't. And there, I lost it. I dropped to my knees, water surrounding me, and let the tears flow. I was shaking from the heartbreak that engulfed me when he came from behind and held me in his arms, tightly, lovingly. He kissed the top of my head but said nothing, he just held me. Why did this have to be so hard? My heart wanted to stay but reality wouldn't let me.

I turned towards him and found his eyes filled with tears as well. Hell, we were both crying messes but that also showed me how much this relationship had developed in such a short amount of time. I never thought I would find myself falling for someone I literally just met a week ago. The best relationships come from ways unexpected and in this case, it certainly was unexpected, everything that has happened was unexpected! Johnny held me close to him. "I almost don't want to go back to the house because that is just more time lost. More time with you." I looked up at him with wet eyes and kissed him softly. "Don't go, please don't go." This man was trying hard to not fall apart but I could see it was a losing battle for him. I said through my tears and shaky breath, "I have no choice...my kids need me." Johnny kissed me on the forehead, "I would never get in the way of you and your kids, but my heart can't let you go, it doesn't want to let you go. I need you in my life." "How do we do this? I agreed to try, Johnny. But I just can't see how." Johnny gripped me so tightly and did not let me go for what seemed like hours. My heart was breaking, like a piece of paper slowly ripping in half. "Don't give up on this, on us, please."

As we made our way up the drive back to the main house, we noticed many people at the house. "What is going on?" "I'm not sure but we will find out." As we walked into the kitchen, many familiar faces greeted us, Alex, Mark, Grace, Stephen, but there was also a new face I had not seen before. Everyone was looking at us strangely. Oh crap! We both looked a mess from being on the beach all night! A chuckle escaped Alex, "Looks like you two had some fun last night." I rolled my eyes and laughed along with Alex. The mood was still gloomy, and I noticed many newspapers spread out over the kitchen table. "We have a problem here, Johnny." A well-dressed man approached him with a few different newspapers. I could feel the energy change in the room, and I looked up at Johnny who was trying to suppress his emotions. I could feel him tense up. I looked down at the newspapers he was holding. Pictures of Johnny and I were plastered all over the covers! Pictures from our night at the award show after-party. "Julie, this is Vince, my publicist." Vince looked at me and smiled. "You both realize what this means, correct?" Johnny pulled me into a side hug. "Let the press say whatever they want." "You know it's not that simple Johnny. We've been through this before." Been through this before? I didn't know what to say or do. "I'm going to freshen up." I started walking off but before I got to the staircase, Johnny had gone in front of me and stopped me. "Please don't let this scare you away. The press can be unrelenting and invasive. I will protect you with everything I can. Just please don't let them cause you to leave me." Leave me? Those words broke my heart. I looked up at him and it broke my heart even more to see him hold back his tears. I cupped his face, holding back my own tears and kissed him gently. I didn't know what to say, so I said nothing as I made my way up the stairs. As I got to the top, I glanced down to see Johnny with his head down, wiping away a tear as he made his way back into the kitchen. It broke my heart. This wasn't the first time this has happened to him, and I could tell it was something that affected him deeply. I made my way to the bathroom as the tears rolled down my face.