Just an idea about where Avery may have taken Juliette on a date after episode 16. It also has a continuation of the "money" issue between these two, which I actually thought was a really realistic thing for them to have brought up.
I don't care what they're offering
How much gold they bring
They can't afford what we've got,
Not even the king
(Not Even The King: Alicia Keys)
She shuffled through her closet exasperated. How was it that she had so many clothes, and still nothing to wear?
Avery had told her to dress down, and she really did not know what that meant to him. She wished he was here, so she could at least look at what he was wearing and dress herself accordingly. But he insisted on showering and getting ready at his own place.
She knew why. He was hell bent on the whole 'equal relationship' concept, which he seemed to be pretty comfortable with. She, on the other hand, seemed to be clueless in every way as to what was appropriate and what wasn't. There was a clear learning curve to being in a serious relationship, and she was way off the mark. Catching up to where he was seemed like an impossible feat sometimes. She sat on her bed, staring mindlessly at her closet.
Why was it wrong for her to pay for dinners? Why did he tense up last week when she bought him that leather jacket that she knew was perfect for him?
She pushed her questions away. Considering she had messed up the mood of their last date, she was going to play by his rules this time. Even if they didn't fully make sense.
She swallowed her nervousness and got up, shaking her limbs. This was Avery. This was the guy who had seen her at her lowest; she had never been embarrassed or nervous in front of him before, even when they were strangers.
Standing on her toes, she reached up on her upper shelf for her blue jeans and plain t-shirt, pulling them on quickly. Looking at herself in the mirror, she quickly took off the t-shirt again and pulled a low-cut red lace shirt on instead.
Just because he knew her didn't mean she couldn't still try to keep him on his toes.
She pressed a bit of makeup on her face, running eyeliner over her lids. As she looked in the mirror one last time, she heard the front doorbell ring.
She quickly made her way into the hall towards the doorway, swinging the door open.
"You know you have a key, is there a reason you are ringing the doorbell?"
"Figured I could be formal about this and ring the doorbell instead." She felt his eyes look over her hungrily. "Are you trying to kill me?" She felt his eyes rest heavily on her cleavage.
"I'll take that as a compliment." She smirked proudly. "You don't look half bad yourself." Truth be told, he looked damn sexy in his dark wash jeans and black button down shirt.
"Red is officially my new favorite color." His shut the door closed with his foot, placing his hands on her hips lightly, running his finger on the bare skin exposed right above her low rise jeans.
She brought her face close to his, placing her mouth centimeters from his. "So. Are we leaving anytime soon? Or do you wanna continue this?" She licked her lips, practically running her tongue across his bottom lip. She closed her eyes, waiting for him to move forward.
She felt him squeeze her hips a little, before moving back. "I think we should go. Otherwise we'll never leave."
She opened her eyes, mouth dropping. "Are you kidding?" She was buzzed by his proximity, grabbing on to his belt loops to pull his hips closer to hers.
"Yes." He was tortured, but adamant. "Please let's go before I change my mind."
She stuck out her lower lip in a pout. "Are you sure?"
"I'm sure." He replied with a small smile, kissing her pout away softly. "But first…" He trailed off, pulling out an object from his back pocket, dangling it in front of her face.
"A blindfold." She stated incredulously. "Are you sure we're not staying in?"
"You need to get your mind out of the gutter." He smirked, stretching the blindfold out. "I just want to keep where I'm taking you a surprise."
"Really. A surprise." Her heart skipped a beat as he stood behind her, trailing his hands on the back of her head to tie the cloth over her eyes.
"That's not too tight is it?" He asked, pressing a soft kiss to the side of her neck.
"It's fine." She replied, a bit annoyed but also curious as to where they were going. "I swear Avery, if I trip over something along the way…"
"Relax." She heard him laugh in response. "We're just walking to my truck right now. And don't worry, I won't let you fall."
The double meaning behind those words hit her heart hard, as he grabbed her hand and carefully led her to the car.
They drove comfortably in silence and made light conversation, as she tried to figure out through sounds where he was taking them.
The truck shook a little; they were going over bumpy terrain. "I hear gravel." She let out curiously. "Are you taking me horseback riding?"
"Do I look like I would be taking you horseback riding?" She heard him huff. "Stop guessing. I don't want you to be let down if your idea is better than where I'm actually taking you."
"Are you taking me to a graveyard?" She teased him. "Are we digging our graves tonight?"
"Dear lord, you cannot handle a surprise, can you?" His voice came out rough, but she could hear the playfulness behind it. "And digging our graves? How morbid are you?"
"I just don't like not knowing." She crossed her arms defiantly, until she felt his hand reach for hers, pulling her arms apart.
"We're here." Even with her blindfold on, she felt the truck make a u-turn, and reverse slowly before parking.
"Can I take this off now?" She stated anxiously. "I wanna see where we are."
"Alright, since you can't seem to wait any longer…" She felt his hands pull apart the knot behind her head, letting the blindfold drop.
She looked at her surroundings and all she saw was tall trees and darkness.
In confusion, she looked over at the driver seat to see that Avery had already gotten out. Pulling open the door, she saw his figure heading towards the flatbed of his truck. "Babe, are you sure we aren't in a graveyard? I was just joking about digging graves but…"
"Will you just come over on this side?" She heard him call, making out his figure climbing up on the flatbed from where she was standing.
As she crept carefully towards the opposite side of the car, the scene in front of her stunned her still.
There in the distance were the bright lights that glowed familiar, yet flashed with an almost cruel excitement. It welcomed and scared her at the same time, like they always did.
She found her voice. "Is that…"
"Yep." She saw him nod. "That right there is downtown Nashville." He gave her his hand, helping her up on to the flatbed with him. She sandwiched in between his legs, pressing her back against his chest as he positioned her head in the crevice of his neck. She draped her hair over his shoulder, leaning in so her nose rubbed his jaw lightly.
"It seems so small from here." The entire city from this vantage point was just a thumbprint of light. And yet her heart still called out to it.
"I know right?" She felt his chest rumble a bit. "It really puts things in perspective up here."
"How did you find this place?" She craned her head sideways to look up at him.
"Right before I joined your tour, I was having a pretty hard time getting gigs. Burning your masters can do that to you." He sighed, and she gripped his hand in response. "I was broke. Like real broke. I didn't have a place to stay, no family here and no family back where I was from. So I used to come up with my truck and sleep here. But some nights I would just stare at the lights, and pretend I could hear some of the music going on down there."
"You used to sleep up here?" She looked around at the dark land around her.
She felt him nod. "Wasn't too bad actually. Nobody seems to know about this place. I haven't seen many people around these parts."
"Why'd you bring me here?" She asked, even though she knew. He was showing her a new piece of him that he kept hidden away. Sometimes it felt like he knew everything there was to know about her, and he was uncharted territory.
"I just thought you'd love it." He pressed a soft kiss on the side of her head.
"I do." She nodded quickly, unable to take her eyes off the bright lights in front of her. From where they were sitting, it was a clear birds-eye view of the city, unobstructed. She could almost see where the Opry was from here. "I do love it."
"I'm glad." He sighed in relief, letting his hands trail on her upper thigh.
"Were you nervous I wouldn't like it or something?"
"I hoped you would." He revealed carefully. "I just… I can't give you what your probably used to on dates, and so I figure I'd try to win on creativity here."
There it was. The money issue again.
"Why is that such a big deal to you?" Normally, she would have spit it out in an annoyed tone, but it seemed that the atmosphere up here was too sacred to bring that in. Her voice remained soft and calm.
His body stiffened behind her; she could feel it. "What do you mean?"
"I mean," She continued carefully, "Every time I even touch my credit card, I feel your guard up." And his anger towards her trying to get him on her Edgehill deal was on the tip of her tongue, but she knew from the way his body had backed away from hers he had heard her thoughts loud and clear. She turned her body around so she faced him, laying her legs over his.
"I told you, I want an equal relationship."
She scoffed. "Explain the details of that please. Because last time I checked, both people are allowed to pay for things in a relationship. Don't start that sexist crap with me."
"I'm not having a male complex here." He looked at her carefully.
"Then what?" She implored. "Unless you are embarrassed of me, I still don't fully understand." She wasn't a stranger to not having money, and he of all people knew that.
"Babe." His voice was calm and loving. "I'm not embarrassed of you. Or your money. I just don't want that to be a factor in this." He motioned between the two of them.
"I don't want to have to feel guilty about buying you things." She shared honestly.
"And I don't want you to feel like you have to give me things in the first place."
"Why not? Didn't Scarlett ever buy you anything?" His silence remained a confirmation, so she continued. "Exactly."
"This is different."
Her heart dropped sharply in her stomach, but she continued. "If she is allowed to buy you stuff, why aren't I?"
"Because Scarlett doesn't have a net worth of $55 million dollars."
She jerked back, stunned. "You looked up my net worth? What the hell?"
"I didn't mean it like that." He moved forward again, but she put her hands out as a barrier. "I just meant, I don't want you to feel like you have to give me things to keep me around just because you can. I don't need things."
She crossed her arms, silent.
"And by the way," he edged even closer to her, "Scarlett may have bought me some things, but we were far from an equal relationship." A tiny part of her jumped at that statement. "I had all the power there, and I didn't treat her right."
That was a revelation to her in a big way. She always pictured Scarlett and Avery as the model first loves you see in movies. The notion that they could have been anything other than perfect was a bit jarring.
He continued. "I think I knew Scarlett was easy to walk all over, and I used that to my advantage sometimes, even though I loved her." He placed his hand over hers. "I don't want you to ever feel like I'm taking advantage of you."
"You're the only man who hasn't." She stated honestly. How could he not see that?
He put his hands under her knees, pulling her as close as he could towards him, until their chests were touching. "I don't wanna be those other guys. I don't want you to ever see me as the guy who used you to get a job, or who only saw you for what you can give me."
"I could never see you like that." She shook her head and brought up what she knew might be better left unsaid. "I would have never thought you were using me if you had let me sign the Edgehill contract for us."
"If I was the reason you were permanently attached to Jeff Fordham again, I would have never forgiven myself." His jaw tightened. "And you would have eventually resented me for being the reason you were miserable there."
She didn't know how to fully answer that. Would she have resented him?
"Sometimes," she replied honestly, "I feel like you give me too much, and I don't nearly give you enough in return." He made her a better person. He was the guy there for her whenever she needed him from the moment he had stepped into her life. It was like a debt over her head she could never repay.
"You gave me your heart. You let me into your world." He entwined his fingers in hers. "I don't want anything else."
With her back towards the city lights of Nashville, she pressed closer to the man who had changed everything inside her, opening her mouth to his for him to explore. Her face fit perfectly in his hands. Her body fit perfectly against his.
Pulling away, she sighed into his chest. "I still hold I should be allowed to buy you a few things. Sometimes."
He sighed in resignation. "Fine. Once a year."
"Once a year?" She pulled back, offended. "Am I your girlfriend or Santa Claus? How about once a week?"
He looked queasy. "How about once a month?"
"Fine. But that doesn't include meals." She saw his reaction and quickly continued. "And if you tell me I'm only allowed to spend a certain amount on meals Avery Barkley, I will walk home right now."
He smirked at her before giving her a lingering kiss. "You know, you're really sexy when you get hot-headed."
"And you are clearly trying to change the topic." She wrapped her legs around his waist, both sitting upright. "You're lucky talking about me is my favorite topic."
He threw his head back a little and laughed. "You're lucky it's mine too." His hands ran down her shoulders, tracing the end of the v-neck shirt she was wearing.
Her stomach grumbled loudly, breaking the moment.
"Well, it looks like you're hungry?" He bit his lip, trying not to laugh, removing his hands from her.
"I can wait." Her hands ran up his chest, but once again her stomach betrayed her with a loud grumble again.
He pushed her hands off him. "I think your stomach is saying otherwise." He got up, jumping off the flatbed towards the front seat.
"You brought food?" She called out, trying to see over the top of the truck towards where he was.
He came back into view with a large brown bag, lifting himself back up on the flatbed next to her. "I did. Figured we would get hungry out here eventually."
"What's in the bag?" She said excitedly. Her stomach hadn't been lying; she was starving.
"Well, I got myself Chinese takeout," he pulled out the container, setting it aside, "And for you, I got a garden salad."
Her heart dropped as he handed her the container.
"Thanks." She said weakly, grabbing the unappetizing salad. She opened it, grabbing the plastic fork, shuffling around the leaves. She popped a tomato in her mouth, trying not to think about how good his food smelled.
She looked over at Avery, who was just staring at her, holding back his laughter.
"What are you smirking at?" She huffed.
"You look like you're in pain." He actually let out a laugh this time. He put down his own food, reaching into the bag again for another container similar to his. "I may have also gotten you takeout."
Her jaw dropped. "Seriously? Why would you do that to me?" She closed up the salad quickly, putting out her hand expectantly for the takeout container.
"I've been around you long enough to get tired of you ordering a salad and then picking off my food." He handed over the takeout container for her to snatch it out of his hand.
"You're the worst Avery."
"What?" He replied innocently. "I thought it was funny."
Despite her mock anger, it hit her that this was something she could get used to.