Borrowed Time

Chapter Ninety Eight

Getting Shelby and Micheal to go and hang out on their own so that she could have the hotel room to herself was harder than pulling someone's teeth without novocaine... Actually, she was pretty sure that that would be less painful and time consuming than what she was trying to do right now.

Luckily, they were nearly out the door. Finally.

"Are you sure you're good here alone?  You're welcome to come with us, you know." Micheal said, giving her one last worried look.  He'd been trying to convince her to tag along so that she wouldn't be alone in the hotel room for the better part of an hour while Shelby did her makeup, but Juliette wasn't going to cave for a number of reasons.

One, she'd promised Shelby that she'd let them have a little date without coming with even though she'd insisted that it wasn't needed and that they would be fine just doing group things.  Two, she wanted to take a nap alone and maybe use the giant fancy shower and three... Esme had sent her multiple audio clips and photos, and she had yet to look at any of them, but she was desperate to see what was on them.

Shelby exited from the bathroom as she finished putting her earring in and smiled, leaning down to press a kiss to Juliette's cheek before straightening up again.

"Yeah, we love having you with us, it's always good to spend time with you, Jules." She said, and Juliette chuckled, shaking her head with a smile.  She knew that Shelby really meant it, that she liked spending time with her... But it was going to be good for them to have some time alone... It'd be good for everyone to have some time alone or doing something not as a group... And what Juliette wanted to do was probably the one that needed a group the least.  She wanted to be independent so that she could see the private things she'd been sent, was that such a bad thing.

"No, I'm okay, really. I'm probably just gonna take a nap or something, nothing serious that you'll be missing." Juliette insisted, not wanting to disclose that the second that they left she'd be pulling her phone out and scrolling through the messages that Esme had been sending her... She'd been trying hard not to look at them, to make sure that she sent tame texts to break up the photos... But god, it was hard... She wanted to admire them, she wanted them to know just how fucking sexy they really were, they deserved to feel desired.

"Okay... Well, you'll let us know if you need anything, right?" Shelby asked, and Juliette sighed and nodded.  She was fine, but she understood their concern... She hadn't always been someone that could be trusted with being alone, but she'd gotten a lot better, they didn't have to worry anymore.  She was legally no longer a danger to herself or others.

"Guys, relax. I can be alone in a hotel room with myself, I'm not fourteen anymore, right?" She asked with a chuckle and they glanced between each other, seeming a little wary.  C'mon... She was the only one who was actually an adult out of the three of them... Sure, Shelby had less than a month, but still... Micheal had to wait until March... It was funny how they both sort of acted like her parents... Kind of.  Like they wanted to take care of her in a way that she'd never received... Well, a way that she'd received that had gone away because her mother lost the energy to care for her when she got sick, which was not her fault.  She tried her best.  Her father should've stepped in a lot more.

"Right, but we're still checking in." Shelby sat on the edge of her bed, taking her hands in her own as she looked at her. "After all, it's vacation-."  No.  Well... Yes, it was.  But no, she wasn't letting them weasel their way out of this, she had things she wanted to do that they could not be here for, that would make it entirely too awkward... And it would be fucking creepy to touch herself around her friends without explicit consent.