Chapter Twenty One

Julian had his face propped up on his hand, watching his boyfriend sleep peacefully next to him. He knew it was rather creepy to be watching him sleep but seeing Nova so calm was something rare.

He let out a soft sigh before moving a hand to brush back Nova's dark hair. "Gosh I love you," Julian mumbled to himself.

"I love you more," a quiet and raspy sounding voice said.

Julian smiled happily as he saw Nova's eyes open, them being a little teary from sleep. "Hello there," he said as he watched him rub his eyes with both hands.

"Hi," Nova whispered as he dropped his hands from his eyes. He scooted closer to Julian and wrapped his arms around his waist, burying his face into his neck.

"Someone still sleepy?" Julian asked with a small chuckle. He felt a nod of Nova's head against his neck and Julian let his hand fall into his hair, tangling his fingers around it. "Do you wanna stay in today then?"

Nova pulled away from his neck a little and blinked sleepily while shaking his head slowly. "No, I still want to go out. I just need a minute to wake up," he put his hand over his mouth and yawned softly.

"You can sleep a little while longer if you want," Julian said as he leaned down to press a kiss to Nova's forehead. "I'll go see if I can get Mark to order us some breakfast."

Nova yawned once again while saying, "okay." He sat up when Julian got up from the bed to search through his suitcase for some clothes. Julian almost never unpacked his clothes when they got to a hotel.

Julian picked out a pair of jeans and a short-sleeved black t-shirt. As he pulled the shirt over his head and then his jeans up his legs, Nova called out his name, making him look up from buttoning his pants. "Yes?"

Nova bit on his lower lip and then gave him a shy smile, "can I have a good morning kiss?"

A grin spread over Julian's face and he walked back over to the bed, leaning down toward Nova who had reached his hands up. Julian felt his soft hands slide onto either side of his face and he closed his eyes, pressing his lips gently to Nova's. They moved their lips slowly in sync and Julian felt him slide his hand to cup the back of his neck.

Pulling away slightly, Julian traced lips over his boyfriend's jawline and then down his neck slowly, listening to the way his breathing became slightly uneven. Then he felt Nova's hand tighten on the back of his neck and Julian smirked against his skin, pulling back.

Julian pecked Nova's lips and watched as the photographer opened his eyes up and looked at him questioningly. "I said I was going to get breakfast."

Nova groaned quietly and let out a small huff which made Julian laugh. "Okay,"  Nova said with a small smile on his face.

With one more kiss to Nova's forehead, Julian turned to walk out of the room, going over to the door and opening it to see the last person he wanted too. Jack.

Julian's features bent into a glare at the blonde who stood in front of him. "What do you want?"

Jack ignored Julian's clear disgust in him being there as he said, "I was looking for Nova. I heard he had a rough time yesterday and wanted to make sure he was alright.

Julian didn't trust this for a second but just leaned back against the doorway, crossing his arms. "He's sleeping, and he's fine. You didn't need to come to check on him."

"Well since you were the one who put him in that situation I'm honestly surprised he isn't angry with you."

There was a frown on Julian's lips as soon as Jack blamed him for what happened. It's not like he wasn't aware it was partially his fault for Nova being swarmed like that. "I know, but I also didn't know the paparazzi were going to be there. Mark and I are very selective about telling people where we are for that specific reason."

"Apparently you didn't try hard enough this time," Jack said with a patronizing smile.

Julian narrowed his eyes and scoffed with a shake of his head, "what are you, my parent scolding me? He's asleep and I'm going to get us breakfast before taking him out today. So, if you can please excuse yourself from our doorway so I can happily get on with my first day off in a while it'd be great."

Jace snorted before stepping back from the door, "so arrogant."

Julian rolled his eyes as he shut the door behind him, "yes, I am the most arrogant person in the world." Not wanting to spend another moment talking to Jack, Julian turned the opposite direction and walked off toward Mark's room.

~

Nova had managed to drag himself out of bed before Julian had gotten back. He could hear him as the door to the hotel room opened and shut. "Breakfast should be here in fifteen minutes at the most," Julian's voice called out through the room.

Nova ran his fingers through his messy hair, not bothering to run a brush through it as he called back, "okay!" There was a knock on the door and he smiled to himself hearing Julian on the other side of it.

"Can I come in?" Julian asked teasingly. When he opened the door he pouted at the sight of Nova being dressed. "Well darn should've got here quicker."

Nova shook his head, his smile getting wider, it was something he's been noticing a lot lately. He was starting to smile more. "I think you can deal with me having my clothes on for more than ten minutes."

"Uh excuse me?" Julian raised an eyebrow as he tilted his head. "I wasn't the one who initiated the second time last night."

At this information, Nova felt his cheeks burn a soft red. "Shut up," He mumbled pushing Julian away from him playfully.

Julian just laughed and wound his arms around Nova's waist, pulling him closer. "Make me," he said while resting his forehead against Nova's. He watched as his boyfriends hazel eyes flickered to his lips for a second before looking back into his.

"Maybe I will," Nova said softly as he leaned in. Just as Julian felt his lips brushed his he felt Nova pull away and he opened his eyes with a little glare on his face. "After I find where you put my glasses last night."

Julian groaned softly tilting his head back toward the ceiling. He inclined his head, watching as Nova bent down on the floor, looking through scattered clothes. "I thought I put them on the nightstand?"

"I thought you did too," Nova said with a little bit of humor in his voice. He got on his stomach to look under the bed and Julian shook his head with a small smile.

"We'll find them before we go," Julian said reassuringly before moving to help him. He pulled back the sheets and ran his hands all over the bed, searching. He picked up a pillow and smiled wide, "found'em. You're lucky they weren't crushed," he said as Nova stood up.

"Then you'd have to lead me around today by the arm," Nova joked as he put on his glasses, blinking to adjust his eyes.

Julian just gazed back at him, the smile never leaving his lips as he said, "who said I wasn't doing that already?"

Nova tried to keep himself from blushing but was thankfully saved from answering by a knock on the door.

"Coming," Julian called out, walking over and opening the door to the worker who had their breakfast for them. He thanked the guy and closed the door back before turning to Nova and practically sung, "food!"

Nova rolled his eyes playfully at Julian's tone but he secretly loved how silly and not serious his boyfriend was. It made him feel comfortable around Julian. As they ate Nova couldn't help but just watch as Julian dug into his eggs, finding that something as simple as him eating made him happy.

After looking over a few things and some small arguments the couple decided to spend their day off much in the way they had all those months ago when Nova first joined Julian's team. Walking along the boardwalk, both of them were disguised this time however, they had to be even more safe than usual now since Nova was now known to the public. Even Nate was in disguise, following them from a few paces behind, to make sure they were safe.

Just like Julian tried to tell his old management countless times, his fans were crazy about Nova. He'd gotten constant notifications from twitter talking about how cute he and Nova were as a couple and how much happier he looked now.

It was true though. Julian was much happier now since he was allowed to come out with Nova. He looked towards him now, a little sad he couldn't see his eyes behind the sunglasses.

Nova, feeling his stare looked back and smiled softly. "Yes?"

"Nothing," Julian said while returning the smile and squeezing his hand. "So, what shop do you wanna go to first?"

Letting his eyes flicker to the various stores lining the pier, Nova bit on his lip. He wasn't really sure where he wanted to go. He then saw one store and he gasped softly, tugging on Julian's hand immediately.

He already had Julian's attention once his eyes lit up. "What, what?" Julian asked with a chuckle.

"Let's go there!" Nova pointed in the direction of the shop.

Julian looked in the direction of his hand and grinned, "I didn't think you would be one for animals." He turned and started walking in the direction of the pet store.

"I love animals, well, to an extent," Nova said with a shy smile. "I don't really like big dogs or reptiles or anything."

"Not even turtles? Everyone likes turtles."

Nova wrinkles his nose up shaking his head as they got closer, "I guess they're okay..."

Julian chuckled and dropped Nova's hand so he could hold open the door for him. "You're so cute."

Nova blushed a little but just walked inside with Julian right behind him, looking around at everything. He looked over and saw some people some of the animals out.

Julian noticed the way Nova's eyes shined and didn't even give a second thought before moving to get the attention of a nearby worker. When the worker gave him a weird look it didn't bother him, considering he still had his sunglasses on inside.

"Can we get an animal out?"

The worker nodded slowly and said, "of course sir, which one?"

Julian looked back at Nova who had already walked over to the cats to look at them. Nate wasn't far from him. "The calico one with black and brown fur." He could already see Nova letting the small kitten play with his finger through the cage.

He walked over to his boyfriend and couldn't help but smile when he heard Nova cooing to the small cat. "Someone loves kittens," Julian said chuckling.

Nova rolled his eyes and looked to Julian smiling. "How can anyone not love something this cute?"

"Are you ready to get her out sir?"

Nova looked at the worker curiously before Julian said, "yes please, thank you."

Nova then looked at Julian with bright eyes and said, "I get to pet her?"

Julian chuckled with a small nod, "and hold her, and play with her. We can be here all day if you want," he shrugged his shoulders with a slanted smile.

Nova couldn't help it and pecked Julian's lips almost like it had now become a habit to him. When he remembered when they were in public he flushed dark red in his cheeks and started apologizing when people gave them weird looks.

Nate watched the couple from a distance with a hidden smile on his face. Along with Mark, he'd secretly been waiting for the couple to go public from the beginning.

Julian laughed softly and gave him a swift kiss to his lips as the worker came back out holding the kitten, she stopped for a second to give them privacy. "It's okay, you don't have to apologize for kissing me, babe."

Nova about melted where he stood when Julian called him that. He quickly recovered when he saw the worker waiting with the cat. He gasped softly and said, "she's so adorable."

Julian took his hand into his own and squeezed it affectionately as they were lead into a small pin for the kitten to run around in.

"I got you a toy, just in case you wanted her to play with something other than your shoelaces," the worker laughed and carefully handed the kitten to Nova since he seemed the most excited to see her.

Nova cradled the kitten in his arms gently. She couldn't have really been for than a few months old. "You're just so cute," Nova gushed. He didn't mind when she scratched him a bit, the cat probably wasn't happy with strangers handling it. Nova sat on the floor with his back resting against Julian's knees as he set the kitten down on the floor so it could walk around.

The little kitten looked up at the couple as Nova held out the toy toward it, a little stick with a feather on it, and it immediately started pawing at it.

Nova giggled softly and moved it around as Julian watched him with a goofy smile on his face. He never imagined that just something as simply watching someone would make him feel so happy.

Julian thought about something Mark had said earlier and said without thinking, "have you thought about marriage before?"

He watched as Nova froze and looked up at him with wide eyes. "W-What?"

Julian cleared his throat and smiled sheepishly as he took the feather from him to play with a kitten as he said, "sorry, that was probably out of the blue huh?"

"You think?" Nova chuckled nervously scooting so Julian could move down next to him to be closer to the ground. "What made you think of it?

Julian shrugged, just watching the kitten bite at the feather as he twisted it around. "What Mark said the other day. Now that we're allowed to be with each other in public it could be a thing to think about you know?"

"Maybe, but I think we have a while before that don't you?" He reached down and picked up the kitten carefully and sat in his lap, smiling when it settled down as he petted it.

"So today isn't a good day to propose?" Julian joked and Nova shot him a look with a raised eyebrow.

"If you were to propose to me right now I can't really say that I'd be happy."

Julian snorted and said, "so I guess you want it to be a big extravagant thing?"

Nova shook his head and looked at Julian with a shy smile, "no, I just don't want it to be public. If you're going to propose, I want it to be just for us, no one else."

Julian groaned throwing his head back, placing a hand over his heart. "There's way too much cuteness going on for me right now to handle."

Nova laughed and grinned looking down at the kitten, "I know, she's adorable right?"

"Hey, I was talking about you too you know."

"I know, I know," Nova said rolling his eyes. He looked down to the kitten again and sighed, picking her up and nuzzling her cheek. "I wish I could keep her."

"You could, I don't think it'd be a problem," Julian said.

Nova thought he was joking but when looking at Julian he could see how serious he was. "I don't know if the cat would be comfortable though.  I mean we travel by plane a lot."

Julian let his hand fall down to the cat and scratched behind both ears. "I know but you seem to really like her."

Nova bit on his lip, thinking, "I don't know."

"Come on, she could even keep you company if I ever have to do like interviews you don't want to go to. Plus, I've heard cats can be good emotional support animals like dogs."

Nova held the kitten close who looked up at him with bright green eyes and meowed sweetly.

"Oh, she's just begging for you to get her," Julian reach over and took the kitten, holding it front of his face. "Get me, Nova, look how cute I am, though not as cute as Julian," Julian said in a high pitched voice.

Nova giggled and took the kitten back and she butted her head against his chest, purring. "Okay, okay, but, I wanna ask Mark first."

Julian made a face and cleared his throat with a sheepish smile as he said, "can't we just get it and surprise him?"

"Yeah, I wouldn't do that if I were you," Nate said as he walked by to go over to the dogs.

Julian pouted his lips and grumbled, "fine, fine." He pulled out his phone to call Mark and Nova continued to pet the kitten that might be his. He started to list some possible names to himself when a flash from the corner of his eyes distracted him. He looked towards it, but whatever it was it was gone the second he looked at it.

"Come on Mark, we'll both take care of it and we can even try to find a trainer or something for it so it's not all over the place. Yes, there are trainers for cats."

Nova giggled as he listened to the conversation and Julian sent him a playful glare. He quickly hid his smile and waited for him to be done.

"Okay, okay," Julian said letting out a sigh. "Yeah, we'll be coming back after lunch. Alright, bye."

"So are we getting her?" Nova asked looking to Julian.

"Well, he didn't technically say yes, but he didn't say no either. So we're getting her," Julan finished with a wide smile.

Nova sighed and said, "I know I shouldn't, but she's so cute that I can't resist getting  her."

Julian kissed his cheek and quickly stood up and got a workers attention so they could go through the process of adopting the little cat.

Usually, Nova wouldn't make such a rash decision but with Julian, he felt like he could be more adventurous. Even if that adventure involved something as simple as getting a pet together.

~

Nova was a little hesitant about Nate leaving them to take Smudge, which he affectionately named, back to the hotel.

"We'll be fine Nova," Julian said as he squeezed his hand. "No one knows where we are, everything will be okay."

They were currently sitting in a little diner by the beach for lunch and Nova kept flickering his eyes around every few seconds like he expected someone to jump out to get them. "No one knew where we were the last time but we still go swarmed."

Julian looked at his boyfriend with a scrutinizing gaze and noticed the way he held himself. Nova's shoulders were hunched inward and one glance to his fingers was all it took for Julian to make his conclusion.

"You didn't take your meds today did you?"

Nova moved his eyes back to Julian's just as the waiter sat their food down in front of them. He thanked the waiter and still avoided answering the question by shoving his grilled cheese into his mouth.

"Nova," Julian repeated sternly.

Nova swallowed his food and looked into Julian's concerned eyes. "I may have forgotten to take them today..."

"You know you should take your medication every day, last time you didn't you almost passed out from getting too overwhelmed. I don't want you to be like that again," Julia said softly reaching out and resting a hand over Nova's.

"I just feel safe whenever I'm with you that I thought not taking the one day we'll be together all day that it would be okay," Nova said pushing his fingers between Julian's.

Julian frown softly and rubbed his thumb gently over the back of Nova's knuckles. "Nova, disorders don't work like that, you should know. Just because I make you happy and calm doesn't mean that your anxiety disorder goes away."

Nova looked at their joint hands and said in a small voice, "I know, I just, I wish it would go away. I don't like that I'm this person who can't stand in crowds and not freak out. I don't like that I can panic so easily."

Julian brought Nova's hand closer to him and kissed the back of it gently. "I know baby, but I don't mind being here for you during those times. Whatever you go through you don't have to go through it alone anymore okay? I'm here. I love you."

A gentle smile worked it's way across Nova's face, "I know."

Julian laughed and smiled as he said, "you're not gonna say it back to me?"

Nova pretended to be confused and said, "I just did."

"You're so lucky I love you so much," Julian sighed and leaned forward, pressing his lips to Nova's gently.

Nova smiled against his lips and kissed him back, mumbling, "I love you more."

Julian pulled back and pecked his lips once more. "I don't want to let you win but I don't have enough into me to fight you on it."

Nova let go of Julian's hand and stole a fry from his plate and popped it into his mouth before Julian could stop him. "I'm fine with winning."

"Yeah, well I'm not if it means you steal my food," Julian huffed out a breath before scooting his plate closer to himself. "Eat your grilled cheese."

Nova giggled but relented and started to eat his own food before he saw a flash from the corner of his eye again, one like earlier. He looked toward it and didn't see anything again, frowning softly to himself.

This, of course, caught Julian's attention and he tilted his head while watching his boyfriend. "Hey, you okay?"

"I keep seeing this flash-" Nova cut himself off when he saw a person with a camera start to take pictures of them through the window and his heart stopped in his chest. "Julian," his voice rose in pitch.

Julian instantly became alarmed and followed his gaze to the window where another person had joined the other and he swore under his breath. He got up and grabbed Nova's hand looking around quickly, trying to figure something out. He went to the front where his waiter was with some other waitresses who were all trying to figure out what was going on.

He ran up to them and spoke quickly, "look I don't have time to explain but is there another way out of here?"

"Why are paparazzi here?"

"Are they here for you?"

"Oh my gosh, who are you?"

Various people called out questions but Julian's waiter ignored them and said, "through the kitchen, we'll try to keep them from seeing you go."

Julian thanked him and didn't look back as the waiter went over with the rest of the staff and started to pull the curtains closed.

"How are we getting out of here?" Nova asked holding tight to Julian's hand as they ran through the kitchen, much to the cooks' surprise.

"I'll call Mark, he can get a car here in no time," Julian said breathlessly as they ran through the back door of the restaurant and tried his best to stay clear of the front. "In the meantime, we run."

Nova just followed after his boyfriend, trying his best to keep up as they ran hand in hand.  Julian taking his phone out of his pocket and pressing a few buttons before putting it to his ear.

"We need to be picked up now."

"Where, I'll have it be there in ten minutes," Mark didn't even need an explanation from Julian. The singer sounded panicked and that was enough for him.

Julian told him quickly and then they both stopped in front of a random shoe store on the pier. They both panted and tried to catch their breaths before speaking.

"They'll be here soon," Julian finally managed to get out. He turned to Nova and immediately took his face into both hands, looking over him concerned. "Are you okay?"

Nova's heart was beating a mile a minute, but he didn't know if it was from running or from his anxiety. He guessed both. "I'm fine," he said softly.

Julian knew he was lying and just wrapped his arms around him and brought him into a hug. "I'm so sorry Nova, I'm sorry," Julian repeated over and over.

Nova clung onto the back of his shirt, clenching his fingers around the soft material and burying his face into Julian's shoulder. "It's okay, this isn't your fault," he said muffled into Julian's shirt.

"I don't know how they keep finding us." Julian let his hand stroke Nova's hair gently.

A thought came to Nova's mind and he didn't know why it didn't come to him before. He knew it should've been obvious. He pulled back from Julian's shoulder and barely got his first word out, "Julian," before someone called out to them.

Julian looked towards the voice and let out a breath of relief at the sight of Nate. "Come on," Julian said grabbing Nova's hand and pulling towards the bodyguard.

Nova chewed on his lower lip and just kept his thoughts to himself as they both climbed into the SUV and settled down in the seats as Nate got in the driver's side.

"I feel bad for leaving you two alone. I thought it would be safe," Nate cursed himself as they turned out of the pier and drove back towards the hotel.

"You couldn't have known they would find us. I'm confused as to how they are," Julian furrowed his eyebrows as he kept an arm around Nova's waist.

Nova looked up at Julian and decided it would be best to just come out and say who he thought it was. He tugged on his shirt to try and get his attention. "Julian, I think I know who it is."

Julian looked at him curiously and said, "who?" Then he saw the look in Nova's eyes and tightened his grip onto his waist. "I'll take care of it."

Nova was confused to what he meant but they had gotten back to the hotel and Julian was out of the car with him and they were walking inside before he could even think. He saw Mark, Cassie, and Jack waiting in the lobby for them.

"Julian, what happened?" Mark asked with concern clear in his tone.

Nova saw the look in Julian's eyes as he saw Jack and saw them darken.

Before he could blink the next thing he knew was Julian's hand forming a fist and flying out to punch Jack in the face.

Hello, I hope you guys are having a good New Years Eve or New Years whenever you see this. I hope 2018 was kinder to you all than me. I'm not gonna lie, this year was the worst of my life. I have no excuses for why I haven't been updating other than the simple fact that I've not been in the best place mentally lately and am still trying to find the drive to continue doing what I love. Thank you to all who are patient enough to wait. I can't tell you how much it means to me

- Jocelyn xx