The Winner

Let em go

*Julia*

I feel like I'm suffocating. I pace back and forth in the small hotel room. What have I done?

Was it really all or nothing with James? Choose him or let him go completely? Not even be friends?

My heart is pounding so hard and fast. He just... left.

No more walks through Griffith Park. No more late nights in the lobby. No more bad karaoke or slow dancing to my favorite song. No more resting his head on my lap while I play with his hair. No more sunrises on the beach.

No clothes in his dresser or toothbrush next to his.

No more James.

I just lost the one stable person in my life. The one person who I could talk to about anything and he'd never judge me or make me feel bad. He never yelled or got mad. He saved me. He drove away instead of letting me walk into that hospital. He took me to his home and showed me his world. His perfect, simple world.

I lost my only friend. I made a huge mistake.

I slide down the wall until I hit the floor and cover my face. I cry so hard I can barely breathe. I sob. I never wanted to hurt James. He's been through so much pain in life. I never wanted to be the one to make him cry.

Not James. He's James. He's one of the good ones.

It wasn't supposed to end like this.

*****

*Nate*

I sit idle in my car in the hotel parking lot. I watched James go back in, but I suddenly have an uneasy feeling about it. Like I should go up and check on Julia just to make sure James is making things right. What if she shut down on him? He doesn't know how to handle that. He doesn't know how to take care of her.

I make my way up to the 4th floor and stand in front of her hotel room. Do I knock? Do I just let myself in with my key? Is Julia even in there? I watched James go in, but it seems strangely quiet outside her door.

I tap the door with my knuckle a few times. Nothing.

"Jule? Are you in there?" Flashback of me not being there for her in Boston flood my mind. Walking into the dark, quiet hotel room to find her in the bathtub, unconscious. I knocked again, but still no response. No one is answering the door. James should have come back up here to talk to her. Where the fuck is he?

I decide to take my key out and swipe it to unlock the door. I slowly open it, not sure what I'm walking in to just yet. I mean...this IS Julia and James and I KNOW what they came here to do for the last time.

The lights in the room are on. I almost didn't even notice Julia at first. She's on the ground against the wall holding her knees up to her chest with her head in her arms. Crying. Not crying. Sobbing.

I close the door quietly and walk over to the broken woman who's best friend walked out on her and never came back. Fucking Gallo. I'm gonna kill him. He led me on to believe he was coming back up here to console her. He never fucking did though, did he? That sonofabitch.

I kneel down in front of Julia. She's crying so hard with her face down, she has no idea anyone is in the room. I pull her body in to mine and embrace her, wrapping one arm around her body and the other holding the back of her head to my chest. I rock her from side to side a little and kiss the top of her head before resting my chin on it.

"Shhhh. You're ok." I hold her so tight. "It's ok, doll. I've got ya." I whisper in her ear so she knows it's me. So she knows she's not alone in this. Eventually she wraps her arms around me and buries her face in my chest.