Young Writers Society

Naya was packed and ready in less than five minutes which was hardly surprising since she only had a few clothes and toiletries on her. Julian called a taxi and a few minutes later they were inside the vehicle.

“Where to?” asked the driver.

Naya answered before Julian could. “Massachusetts Avenue, please...”

“What?” Julian growled. “No way are we going back there!”

“I have to say goodbye to Eric first,” Naya explained. “He risked everything to tell us the truth-”

Julian scoffed. “Yeah, only because I threatened to kick his ass!”

“Regardless,” Naya responded. “He’s my friend, I owe him that much at least...”

She could feel Julian glaring at her from the corner of her eye but she really couldn’t care less today. It was her birthday. She could damn well do whatever she pleased.

Once they reached Eric’s apartment complex, Julian miserably stayed in the taxi while Naya walked through the building taking the elevator to the familiar door of Eric’s apartment.

She knocked twice and then waited. Several seconds later, she heard the door being unlocked before it opened wide. Eric appeared to have just woken up. His hair was dishevelled and he was still in his pyjamas. Bless him, he looked so adorable.

“Did I wake you up?” asked Naya sheepishly.

Eric gave her a lazy smile. “It’s cool...” he stepped aside to allow her to come in.

“I can’t,” Naya explained. “Julian’s downstairs waiting in the taxi...we’re leaving...”

Eric’s facial expression suddenly turned sad. He nodded understandingly. “How are you feeling?”

Naya shrugged. “After finding out that my parents are drug-traffickers...?” she swallowed hard. “I feel like complete crap...”

“I’m sorry you had to find out like that...”

“Don’t be silly, Eric, you have nothing to apologise for,” Naya said. “If anything, I should be the one apologising. I said some really awful things to you...”

“You wanted to know the truth, Naya, I don’t blame you...”

She gave him a half-smile before pulling him into a small embrace. “Thanks for everything...” she said before releasing him. “Hopefully when this all blows over you could come to California sometime...”

Eric gave her a sad smile. “Yeah, I’d like that...”

Naya nodded. “Bye, Eric.”

“Bye, Naya, make sure you keep me posted on what’s happening with you.”

“Will do,” Naya said before walking away.

“Oh, and happy birthday...” Eric called with a smile.

Naya turned to face him as she stepped inside the elevator. “Thanks,” she smiled back, as the doors finally closed.

She was lit up like a fire fly when she came back and sat down in the taxi. Truthfully, it annoyed the hell out of Julian. Not her being happy, but her glowing like Eric had tickled her ear... Less that an hour later they were in a brand new hotel room, and this one was nice, very very nice.

"Finally! We're in an actual place we can call a hotel." Naya smiled, her eyes dashing looking at everything.

Julian slid the card key into the door, and the light blinked green and the door opened. The only good thing that happened today. He really needed a massage or a cold pool to cool off. When the door opened their stuff was already in the room. The bagage man, he assumed. Julian opened his duffle bag and pulled out some swim trunks. He pulled off his shirt and threw it on the ground before walking into the bathroom and changing. When he walked out, he was only wearing swim trunks.

"Where are you going?" Naya asked, she was laying on the only bed in the room.

"Why, I'm going to the pool, my dear." He said smiling.

Naya waited until Julian left for the pool area before looking around the hotel room. Sure there was only one bed which sucked, but apart from that the place was just awesome. There was a huge beautifully decorated lounge, a proper kitchen, even a dining area and a small balcony outside the bedroom.

Naya was on cloud nine. She hadn’t felt this happy since...well...a very long time! Even Julian seemed to notice her good mood as he came out of the bathroom in his trunks. Naya had to pretend she had something on her top to avoid looking at his bare chest. Damn him, couldn’t the guy just take his shirt off after he got to the pool?

After he left, Naya slowly unpacked her things before ordering room service for lunch. She didn’t know what Julian would fancy, so she figured she’d head up to the pool area to ask him so his food would be ready by the time he got back.

The pool area was indoors and fully heated to block out the cold December weather. Inside, there was hardly anyone there except for a few women floating around the pool or lounging on one of the chairs. Naya spotted Julian in the far corner. He hadn’t gotten in the water yet, instead he was preparing his towels and having a drink.

Naya approached him. “I’m ordering room service, is there anything in particular that you want?” she asked with a smile.

He stared at her for a while. “Why the hell are you so happy?” he asked, completely ignoring her question. “What did Eric do, slip you some happy juice?”

“Oh, ha-ha...very funny...” Naya rolled her eyes. “We just said bye to each other, that’s all...he’s a very sweet guy...”

Julian scoffed before draining his glass. “Sure...”

“It’s true,” Naya continued. “Eric’s kind, caring, considerate, loyal-”

Julian looked slightly irritated. “Alright, I get the picture!”

Naya couldn’t help but carry on seeing the look on his face. “He’s also funny and charming and-”

“Say one more word,” he threatened her.

“And you’ll do what exactly?” she mused.

“Something you’re not gonna like.”

Naya shrugged with a smile. How bad could it be? “Hmm...I forgot to mention he’s cute too-”

Before she could even finish her sentence, Julian grabbed her like she was a feather and threw her over his shoulders.

"Julian? Jul…JULIAN! PUT ME DOWN!"

Naya kicked and punched him in the back furiously, yelling out curse words and death threats.

"I did warn you,” Julian said, keeping a firm hold over Naya's waist.

“WHERE ARE YOU TAKING ME?"

Julian smirked. “For a little swim..."

"I swear to God, Julian, if you don't put me down right now I'm going to make sure you can never have children...ever!" Naya yelled, punching Julian in the back once more.

But her pleas fell on deaf ears. Before she could even prepare herself, Julian had thrown her into the water.

Julian was very pleased with himself. He had thrown her into the pool and stood on the sidelines waiting for her to pop out of the water and start squeaking. Not less than five seconds later she jumped up and sputtered. Her mascara was running down her face, her hair was slicked back and her clothes were soaked.

"Not having children? Fine by me, sweetheart. I don't ever want to have children." He smiled. He was serious, but he was enjoying this too much.

She closed her eyes, balled up her fists and screamed. "Julian!" It was magical.

It took Naya several minutes before she could compose herself enough to come up with a way of turning the situation around slightly.

“Oh my god...” she spluttered, rubbing her eyes furiously. “Julian I...I-I-I can’t see anything...my-my eyes are s-s-stinging...”

She could just about make out Julian’s eyebrow quirk with restrained amusement.

“Don’t be such a drama queen.”

She was going to have to go for something a little better than that. She purposely ducked her head under the water and popped her head back out desperately. “I-I can’t breathe!”

Now, Julian looked a little worried. He knelt down to her level and put out his hand to grab her.

“Here, take my han-”

That was all Naya needed. With one pull, she grabbed at Julian’s ankles and yanked him into the pool with her. Julian stayed under for a while before shooting his head back up with a smile.

“Was that supposed to be your way of getting back at me?” he asked with a smirk. “I was going to get in anyway, remember?”

Yeah, she hadn’t thought about that. Damn it! She shot him the most evil stare she could given the fact that she was soaking wet, before attempting to get herself out of the pool. Her clothes were completely drenched and weighed her down so much that she had to hold on to whatever she could in order to heave herself out.

“One day,” she whispered dangerously, water dripping from every inch of her body, “can’t you just leave me alone for one fucking day?” she wiped her face with her wet hand and and turned on her heel. “ASSHOLE!” she growled furiously up at the heavens before charging out of the pool area, blinking furiously as the water trickled down into her eyes. She was so angry she didn’t even notice all the people she passed staring at her as she made her way back to her hotel room.

Once inside, she let out a frustrated cry before pulling off her clothes like they were infected. Her cardigan was so wet it seemed stuck to her body like glue. With great force, she heaved it off and hurriedly began wrapping her now shaking body in a warm dry towel. Some great birthday this was, she honestly started to feel like the most unlucky person in the world. She had no family, no friends, no cake, just an annoying husband and a pile of wet clothes. Cheers God.

Quiet pleased with himself. That's how Julian felt, and it couldn't get any better. She was mad. So what? She couldn't take a joke. Much worse could have happened. Here she is bitching and whining about everything that could possibly go wrong. Which, not in their favor, it had. It could be so much worse. Julian got out of the pool and he found his way to an empty spa. Where he sat down and splayed his arms on both sides of the tile.

Maybe he should go and make sure she was okay? No, it would be playing into her manicured little hands. Julian felt millons of little thoughts go through his mind, and yet he couldn't think of anything to say. He heard a splash and look up. A woman, who looked about Naya's age sat down across from him. She smiled.

"Hello." She said, politely.

It took a couple moments for Julian to respond, still thinking of Naya. "Hi." He said, not in a serious tone but not in a playful tone.

The woman was very petite, her hair was long and blonde. She was wearing a red bikini. Her eyes were big and brown. Her lips were perfect. She looked like she was sent from Heaven. "You look very lost in thought." She said. Then, continuing on. "My name's Maggie."

Julian smiled. "I'm Julian."

After her body warmed back up again and she was dressed in some dry clothes, Naya ordered her food and ate it out in the balcony of the hotel room. She’d always loved balconies, strange, but true. Her grandfather’s golf resort had hundreds of them and whenever he’d have Naya over for Easter he’d set her up in the room with the largest one which had the most amazing view. Naya remembered sitting in the balcony for hours with a bucket of Ben & Jerry’s just looking out at the magnificent view.

After she finished her meal she was surprised and a little disappointed that Julian hadn’t come back yet. She knew he obviously didn’t give a shit about how angry she was, but it still wasn’t like him to stay out of the hotel room for so long. They were supposed to be keeping a low profile after all. The problem was she really didn’t want to go after him, especially after he threw her into the pool, but she didn’t want to be all alone in their hotel room either. Sad to admit, she felt safe with Julian around.

So, with her tail in between her legs she headed back down to the indoor pool area...only to find Julian cosying up to some random blonde...

Julian didn't know why but he felt like he could talk to this woman. Which, was weird. He never talked to anyone. Ever. About anything. She seemed like she was the kind of person to get people to open up. The problem with these types of people is usually they don't care, or they just want to pass time. Maggie seemed like the type of person who wanted to know, and she seemed genuinely interested. Something was very different.

"What do you do for a living?" She asked. Sipping a drink that a pool boy gave her.

Julian wanted to tell her the truth, but he wasn't stupid. "I'm in banking."

She smiled, she looked down and batted her eyelashes. "That seems like it would need a lot of concentration, and you'd have to be good at math. I was never good at math." She shook her head.

Julian had woman throw themselves all over him, because, they knew who he was. She didn't. At least, he didn't think she did. "What about you?"

She smiled, showing her white, straight teeth, identical to Julian's. "I'm a model for big companies."

Julian nodded. "That would mean you'd have to keep your body very fit."

She threw her head back and laughed. "Well, you do a very good job at keeping yours... Very nice."

Julian heard someone clean their throat, very rudely. He looked up and his eyes connected with Naya's.

Naya was far from happy to say the least. It was perfectly fine for her to flirt with boys but there was something really irksome about seeing Julian do the same with girls. It was like a knot in her stomach, a fly buzzing around her face; basically it was irritating and the fact that this blonde was really pretty didn’t make her feel any better. She looked like a million dollars whilst Naya was still dressed in Wal-Mart.

She walked up to the pair of them and cleared her throat pointedly, stopping their conversations. She wanted to lash out like a jealous girlfriend or something, that was the plan anyway, but once Julian looked up and locked eyes with her she found that she couldn’t do it. It dawned on her at that particular moment that they weren’t actually together, sure they were married and all but they weren’t a real couple. Truly she had no right to be jealous or stop Julian from talking to any girls, even if she was (maybe) starting to have feelings for him....

Biting her bottom lip she looked back at him, hoping that he could see it in her eyes, but he said nothing, so, swallowing hard she threw all caution to the wind. She figured she should just have fun with it. She threw Maggie a death stare before softening her gaze towards Julian despite the fact that it was him she really wanted to kill.

“Hey babe...” Naya said with a smile in the sweetest and most sexiest voice she could muster. She knelt down to Julian’s level and wrapped her arms around his neck lovingly before kissing him on the cheek. “Who’s this?” she asked him sweetly, glaring at the blonde.

“Hi, I’m Maggie,” the girl smiled putting out her hand.

Ugly name. Naya completely ignored her. Instead, she lovingly leaned her head against Julian’s before speaking. “So...” she smiled at him still in her seductive voice, “are you planning to come back to our hotel room anytime soon because I’ve got a surprise for you...” she made it as suggestive as possible for a reason.

Oh, God. Yes, Julian was a man. Yes, Naya and Maggie were both very attracitve. No, Naya was beginning to have feelings for him. He saw the hurt flash across Naya's face. It had stayed when she stared at Maggie, but when she stared at Julian she made it go away. Like the emotion was completely unwanted.

Julian looked up at her, her arms still around his neck. "Babe?" He said as if he didn't believe her. He felt his eyes dart back to Maggie.

Maggie smiled. "Your married." She didn't sound disappointed or too surprised. "You're very pretty." She said, looking at Naya.

Julian noticed that Naya glared Maggie's way. "Thanks." It was like a brushed off gesture. "So... You coming to the room?" she asked.

Julian gave her her a look of stone. He waited... "Sure, Angel." He said as if the word tasted bad.

Julian said goodbye to Maggie. She seemed to have really enjoyed his company. In fact, he had really enjoyed hers. She was gorgeous. He wondered what exactly what Naya wanted. He quickly dried off. His hair was completely dry and yet, curly. He followed her into the room. When they were both in the room, Julian shut the door, and braced his back against the door. Leaving Naya in the middle of the room. Acting all innocent. Innocent my ass.

"Alright, what do you want." Julian asked, he said it like he spoke the words every day. He crossed his arms over his chest.

She stared at him. She was obviously very very very upset.

"C'mon, I don't have all day."

Silence.

"Bark. Speak. Speak, words." He said, he was starting to enjoy this too much.

Naya bit her bottom lip. Telling Julian to come back to the hotel room had just been a way of keeping him away from that blonde. Naya hadn’t really put much thought into what would happen after.

Julian just stood there staring at her like he had better things to do with his life. She’d even noticed a slight look of disappointment on his face when he had to leave Maggie which made her feel...sad... and that angered her above everything else.

There was silence in the room for a reason. For such a small and frail girl, a whirlwind of emotions were now running through Naya's body. She didn’t know how, when or why she started having feelings for Julian, but the fact was she was having them and she couldn’t deny them to herself any longer, mainly because she’d felt it. When she saw him with the blonde it hit her like a slap on the face. At the same time she hated herself for feeling this way. Apart from one or two occasions, Julian had never really been that nice to her, or shown her any compassion or kindness whatsoever. She was tired of fighting him, constantly worrying about his temper and keeping her guard up around him. She’d had one serious relationship in the past and it was unpleasant. She swore she’d never be with someone like that again and here she was having feelings for that very same person’s elder brother.

She was more than aware of how pathetic that made her. She’d never been insecure and self-conscious until Jace and Julian came into her life. With them she was a live wire, a raw and exposed bundle of nerves.

“I-” she began, swallowing hard. Her mouth was dry.

Julian continued to just stand there and stare at her.

“I’m gonna be honest with you,” she finally spoke, making sure her voice was confident. “I didn’t like seeing you with...whatever her name was,” Naya knew her name she just didn’t want to say it.

Julian said nothing for several seconds before suddenly Naya saw his eyebrow quirk up with restrained amusement.

“Were you jealous?” he asked, although it was clear he knew the answer anyway. Damn it!

Naya scoffed and twiddled her curls in a ‘whatever’ kind of way in an attempt to hide her self-consiousness.

“Oh, please...” she pouted, “don’t flatter yourself...I was just...” she thought long and hard over what to say. She had to be careful. She couldn’t tell him the truth, he clearly didn’t feel the same so she’d only be left feeling humiliated. “I was just worried that...if you talked to her for too long, she’d recognise who you were and we’d both be screwed...”

That response would either work or blow up in her face.

His eyebrows went up. It wasn't shock, it was more of a are-you-kidding, look. He didn't say anything. She was jealous. For some reason a bigger sense of pride panged at his chest. She was jealous. So he just decided to go along wth whatever she was saying.

He shrugged, his arms still crossed over his chest. "You're right, she could have recognised me."

She stared at him. Waiting for him to say something else. He noticed she kept trying to swallow a lump in her throat. It just wouldn't go down, he was afraid she was going to choke.

She swallowed again. "And?"

He picked up his duffle with one hand, and headed to the bathroom. He didn't answer her. He closed the door and changed into jeans. He opened the door and saw her sitting on the edge of the bed. She seemed sad, yeah well Julian wasn't exactly the happiest person either. They had been out of their house for about two weeks. It was insane. She looked at him like she wanted to say something but she was holding back.

Julian sat, his back to her. He put his elbows on his thighs and rummaged around in his bag for a shirt. "Just say it, would you?"

There was a pause. "Say what?"

He exhailed. He was irratated. He was sick of the emotions. He was frusterated with her mood swings. First she doesn't want him. Then she does. Then she doesn't. Then she gets pissed when he talks to another woman. Make up your freggin mind! "Whatever you are holding back. Either your going to talk, or I'm going to leave this room and not come back for a while. The choice is completely yours. I won't ask you anymore."

Naya sat where she was, her heart beating viciously in her chest. She was torn; torn between wanting to tell Julian how she really felt or keeping quiet about the whole thing. After all maybe she was just confusing her feelings with something else. Maybe she didn’t really have a soft spot for Julian, maybe it was just her getting used to him because they’d spent all this time together. But that didn’t explain the inner sadness that she felt when she saw him with the blonde...it was jealousy...

But she knew that admitting her feelings would be pointless. He couldn’t love her back, he’d told her that himself so Naya would just be wasting her time and creating an unnecessarily awkward situation for the pair of them if she said anything.

Their hotel room was completely silent now. So silent, she could hear the staff walking up and down the corridor outside, she could hear the television from the room next door as well as the cars driving past outside. God, she wished she hadn’t brought him back here.

Suddenly Julian angrily stood up from the bed and headed for the door. He looked really irritated.

Naya looked up, her heart still pounding. “Where are you going?” she asked, her voice was a little shaky.

“Out,” he muttered angrily, “you’re obviously not gonna say a damn thing, so I’m not going to sit here and waste my time!”

He was just about to open the door when Naya got to her feet and stopped him with her hand. “No, wait...” she said.

He paused for a moment before turning away from the door to face her. Naya bit her bottom lip with nerves and looked up at him, staring into his piercing green eyes trying her best to show him how much she really cared for him and liked him. She could feel Julian analyse her eyes down to the core. Her heart pounded furiously. They were both now so close she could practically smell his cologne...

He stared into her eyes, not letting his guard down. They were pretty close, and for a second it felt like nothing else really mattered. It felt the walls were closing in. He then realized, that her hands were on his chest. It felt like that was it. He needed to leave before something happened, that they might both regret. He didn't want to hurt her, when she had already gone through so much with his brother.

She got on her tip toes and started to lean in, and closed her eyes. She reached enough to touch his lips. He wasn't sure this was the best idea to do this. She was insucure. He could tell because she made no other movements. He started to kiss her back, then realized this didn't solve anything. He pulled away and turned around, and wiped his mouth. He heard her walk over, and had a feeling she was lifting her hand to touch him.

"Don't." He said, it was not shaky. It was firm and full toned.

She let out a frusterated sound. "Now who's the one who can't make up their mind?"

"I just don't think you know what your getting yourself into." Julian finished. He pulled on a black shirt, and pulled on a black leather jacket. He didn't even look at her. He threw a couple of hundred bills on the cherry wood dinner table. For her food.

"Julian." She said, her voice cracked.

He stopped, still not looking at her. "Don't wait up." He said, and headed for the door, once again...

Naya’s heart sank as she watched him leave. He didn’t even look at her, he just pulled on his jacket and walked out, slamming the door shut behind him. Naya couldn’t even stop him, like a fool she just stood there and watched him go. It was as if her world had just collapsed in front of her. It was as if she’d lost her ability to speak. How could she have been so foolish to think that this could work, that they could work?

She turned away from the door and fought with every fibre of her being to hold back her tears.

She should’ve never listened to her heart...

She should never have given in...