Tonny x Julia Fanfic

Emotion

Tonny was struggling to focus on his work after waking up in Julia's bed. His cheeks burned and he couldn't spare himself the embarrassment of stealing glances at Julia any time she walked by.
Maybe it was because of the way she sauntered as she walked, head and shoulders head high, she seemed so confident, so self assured. Or maybe the way her braid caressed her back as it swayed, the way her eyes glittered when she smiled, the way she always knew what to say.
She was a goddess. She'd fallen from out of the sky, her skin kissed by a thousand stars. A child of the moon, she would stare into the darkness and wish she could return home. Tonny wouldn't let it happen. That creature in the attic wouldn't take her, no matter the cost.
Her soul would never reunite with the sky. He would protect her— he'd vowed to. At first it was a silent promise, but now it was spoken. There was a real danger he had to face. The contact.
Five months, he reminded himself. Anxiety mingled with his admiration and love for her. Every moment he thought of her was a torrent of swirling emotions that he couldn't escape. At least, not until Julia was free from her contract. No, not a contact, a curse.
Life felt so shitty, so strange. Sure, friends had come and gone, but the loss of Mr. Finnegan at his own hands... it broke him. And then the accident happened...
He didn't have a comfortable life. He never had. Being ringmaster of the circus was tumultuous, he knew that. He just never would have expected all of this. He never expected a girl to shatter his world.
But, as he reminisced, he noted that Julia didn't really shatter anything. She was the building blocks of everything he did. Every waking moment, she was on his mind. Whether she be a clear train of thought, or a faint image burned into his retinas... she was always there.
A wash of euphoria swept over him, the circus performers were his family. He'd protect them. He had to.
"Tonny? Tonny?"
He turned, a jolt of terror making his heart skip.
"Uh- yeah?"
"I said your name a hundred times!" Julia complained.
"Got a little lost in thought, sorry." He mumbled, sheepishly scratching the back of his neck.
"It's fine. I just wanted to ask, if you wanted to, uhm... perform together again?" She asked hesitantly.
Tonny paused. His heart sank. Memories seemed to flood his brain, taking anything he could say and washing it away. His mouth felt dry. The dagger in his eye- it was almost palpable again...
"It- it's okay if you don't want to. I just... thought it might be nice to try again."
Her eyes glinted with guilt, and his emotions felt like they were tugging him two different directions. On one hand, he wanted to do anything he could to be closer to her. On the other, all he could think of was running away, hiding from anything and anyone that reminded him of that day. Man up, Tonny. He took a deep inhale and held it, trying to ignore his pain.
"Yeah, as long as you don't stab me again." He teased, but it was a pathetic attempt to lighten the mood.
Tension hung heavy over their heads, and any attempt to have the chemistry they had before seemed futile.
"I don't plan on it." She replied, not meeting his eyes.
She scuffed her shoes against the floor. Tonny fiddled with the collar of his shirt. Neither party knew what to say or do, so they stood in awkward silence.
"I, uh, I'm gonna get back to Kamille. She said she wanted to show me some designs..." He said, fumbling over his lame excuse.
"Oh, yeah, sounds great. I'll see you around?"
"Yep, when we practice our act!" He called over his shoulder, shuffling away quickly.
Why was he such a mess? He hadn't been this nervous around her since the day the accident happened. What changed? Maybe he had gotten too comfortable with her. Surely, waking up in someone else's bed was awkward enough.
Or maybe he wasn't just comfortable. He could feel his liking for her surging back, and he kept trying to swallow it down. Bad memories tainted his love for her with guilt and suffering. He needed to ask someone for advice, and, unfortunately, he knew just who to ask.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Dotty! I need to talk to you." Tonny said, a touch of urgency in his voice.
"Oh- is something the matter?"
She turned away from her conversation with Bob, notes of concern on her face.
"Well- it's not... it's about Julia..." he admitted begrudgingly.
A smirk made its way onto Dotty's lips. She swallowed back a chuckle.
"Go on, then."
Tonny looked up at Bob, and the other man gave a soft shrug.
     "... I need some advice. It's gonna be hard to explain, but her contract is different from ours."
     Tonny almost regretted the words that poured from his mouth. His throat felt tight and a bitter taste stung his tongue.
     "Well, she signed it with Sahed. It's not that complicated." Dotty chuckled, half to herself.
     "No- no. She didn't sign it with Sahed, nor me. But the important thing is that she's limited on her time here."
     "What do you mean?" She inquired.
     "She only has five months left, unless she fulfills her contract."
     Dotty and Bob exchange a dubious look.
     "Are you sure? It could be another trick." He suggested.
     "I assure you, it's not."
     Dotty narrowed her eyes, clasping her hand around her lover's.
     "I'll be right back, Bob. I think this talk needs to be private." Her tone was colder than usual.
     The pair turned a corner, and huddled together, speaking quietly.
     "Here I thought you were gonna ask for relationship advice, and you're telling me her contract has an expiration date?"
     "Unfortunately, yes. And, to make matters worse, I don't know what the contract entails." He lied.
     Telling Dotty about the whole murdering him portion of the contract would only complicate things. He contemplated just leaving things there and walking away, but something compelled to stay. Maybe it was a flame of protectiveness growing inside him, but whatever it was, he had to finish what he started.
     "But," He interrupted Dotty before she could speak, "I never said I didn't want relationship advice."
     Despite his soft, begrudging tone, Dotty almost jumped for joy.
     "Well then, I think it's about time you tell Julia how you feel."
     "I know, I know. I've waited too long."
     "Then make the most of the time you have." She said with an almost motherly voice.
     Tonny blinked at her. She smiled back, placing  his hand in hers.
     "Tell me, how afraid are you of how she'll react?"
     Tonny took his free hand and scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.
     "Well- I guess I am scared that I'll ruin everything. I really want to get everything off my chest, but if we only have five months together, I don't want them to be spent trying to mend something that wasn't broken."
     "If you can forgive Julia for an attempted murder, she can forgive your honesty." Dotty soothed, her thumb running across his knuckles.
     He gave her a gentle smile, his head tilting to the side. There was no reply, but there didn't need to be. It was decided. Anthonn "Tonny" Gremminger was going to confess his feelings to Julia Lazarette.