Through the Photographer's Lens

This is the first chapter of a series that will focus on milestones in Juliette and Avery's relationship and how they deal with a paparazzi attention. I needed to write something light after the last few angsty stories I've written (and after reading the latest spoilers). This did the trick. It will probably be about 3 chapters long. Enjoy. It's all sweet fluffiness!

Please review!

Juliette Barnes' new mystery man

Arriving at LAX in a simple t-shirt and jeans, country superstar Juliette Barnes, who has recently rebounded from a slew of scandals to once again sit at the top of the country charts, walked hand in hand with a mystery man on Tuesday night.

The pair, obviously a couple, didn't speak to photographers as they made their way to the waiting SUV.

Having previously been connected to NFL star Sean Butler and media mogul Charlie Wentworth, the man in the leather jacket is an unknown.

Our team has done some digging and can reveal the identity of the man to be songwriter and producer Avery Barkley. The two have a history, according to our Nashville insiders. The sources say that the couple is a common sight around Music City, and have been almost inseparable since they started dating almost a year ago.

No comment has been made by Barnes about the relationship.

Avery finished reading, rolled his eyes and tossed his iPad on the coffee table in front of the sofa where he sat. Looking out the window, he saw the sun rising over the Southern California skyline. Sure it was gorgeous, but he really couldn't stand Los Angeles. The paparazzi that had greeted them at the airport was one of the main reasons.

"Hey!"

The sound of Juliette's voice pulled him from his thoughts, and he looked up to find her walking into the living room wrapped in a big fluffy robe. "Morning, sleeping beauty." She leaned down for her good morning kiss, and he gladly obliged. "The way you were snoring, I thought you might sleep til noon."

"I do not snore!" she said as she stood upright and placed her hands on her hips with feigned annoyance.

He snickered as he looked up at the death glare she was shooting at him. "You put truck drivers to shame. How a sound like that comes out of such a tiny person, I will never understand."

She plopped down at the end of the sofa, grabbing a pillow and tossing it at his head. "You're mean."

"And, yet, you still love me," he said with a wink.

"Yes, I do." She grabbed the iPad he had been reading earlier. When she saw the story, she groaned and shook her head. "How is this news? Us walking through an airport? And who is their source?!"

He shook his head. "Doesn't matter, babe. We knew staying in LA, rather than going straight home, that this might happen."

"I know." She put the ipad down and scooted closer to him, kissing his cheek. "It's a good thing you were holding my left hand, or else they would have gotten a glimpse of this thing," she said, holding out her hand and looking at her ring finger with a smile on her face. Even after a week she still hadn't gotten used to seeing the antique ring sparkle on her hand. She had told him not to worry about a ring when they first discussed marriage. He had surprised her with the gorgeous vintage piece that she found out had belonged to his great grandmother. It was stunning and fit like it was made for her. "Then it would have been a whole different story."

He wrapped his arms around her as she lay her head on his shoulder. He looked down at her and could tell that something was bothering her. "You know, we don't have to hide it."

"I know ... It's been easy so far," she said with a sigh. "I just want to stay in that bubble."

He took her hand and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. "We've been in Hawaii for the past two weeks. Of course it was easy. But we can't stay hidden away forever."

A soft pout appeared on her lips and she glared at the iPad as if it was the reason people were interested in her love life. "I just ... When it does come out, the whole world is going to want to know all about the details and when the wedding is and I just want to keep everything simple and private. Quite frankly, it's none of their damn business."

He laughed at her stubborn streak and the whine in her voice. "Then you can tell then that when they ask." He decided it was time to change the subject. "So what is on your agenda today?"

She stood up and walked over to where the room service menu was sitting on a counter. "Glenn will be here at 11 and we've got phone interviews until 2. Then I've got a skype interview with Billboard at 3. After that, I'm clear." She turned back to him and smiled "We should go to dinner."

He raised his eyebrows at the suggestion. "You want to risk another media frenzy?"

"No," she grinned, clearly with an idea in her mind. "But we can get away with it if we get out of the city a bit. Maybe go up to Santa Barbara? Nice quiet romantic dinner near the beach, then maybe we can walk around a bit?"

"Sounds great."

They stepped out of the restaurant and out onto the sidewalk. It was a perfect late spring night and with the breeze blowing in from the Pacific Ocean nearby, the air was almost cool. Juliette snuggled into Avery's embrace, both for warmth and stability, as they had both indulged in a few glasses of wine during dinner. It really was the peace they were looking for and reminded them both of their vacation in Hawaii where they had been completely anonymous.

They were just half a block from where Bo was waiting with the car, when it happened.

First one photographer, then another with a video camera appeared seemingly out of no where from the street beside them. Three more appeared in front of them and a few more came up behind them. The flashbulbs were blinding and the barrage of questions about them annoyed them both and Avery felt Juliette tense up beside him. They both remained silent and continued to navigate the sidewalk. He kept a hand on her back and moved casually to the outside of the sidewalk, putting more distance between her and the photographers. Bo had seen the commotion and was quickly beside them to guide them the rest of the way to the car.

"Oh my God!" she said in shock as she placed her head on his shoulder after Bo slammed the door. "That was not supposed to happen. What the hell are they all doing this far outside of LA?"

Avery shook his head, still seeing spots in front of his eyes from all the camera flashes. "Someone must have tipped them off. Could have been the waiter or the hostess, who knows. Are you okay?"

She nodded. "I'm fine... Just surprised." She glanced down at her hands and froze. "What do you think the chances are that they didn't get a picture of my ring?"

"Ummm." He hesitated, knowing that it was probably the thing they had come for. It was the one thing they were trying to get a photo of for attention grabbing headlines. "Maybe they didn't get a clear one," he shrugged, knowing how unlikely that was.

Juliette rolled her eyes, and he could see that she was upset. "So much for keeping it to ourselves. I'll call Rayna when we get back to the hotel, warn her that the label might get some calls for comment. You'd better call your family."

He nodded, not really looking forward to that. He looked into her eyes, trying to reassure her. "It will be okay. We will deal with that later. For the rest of the trip back to LA, for the next hour and a half, it's just us." He leaned in to kiss her.

She pulled back, pushing her hand against his chest, her eyes suddenly full of lust. "Hold that thought for just a second." She leaned back and pushed the button that closed the privacy screen between them and Bo in the front seat, both of them ignoring the soft chuckle that the bodyguard let out as the screen rose. She leaned back over to Avery. "Can't waste a whole hour and a half," she whispered as she moved onto his lap, her fingers toying with the buttons on his shirt, the hem of her skirt moving north with his hands close behind.

They had hardly been back at the hotel five minutes before the chaos started. Juliette had just set her purse down when phone buzzed. It was a text message from Maddie Conrad: "It says on twitter ur engaged?! :)"

"Damn it," she muttered, rolling her eyes at how fast word had spread. She figured she had a couple of hours. "Cat's out of the bag," Juliette called to Avery from the master bedroom of the suite.

He appeared in the doorway, surprise on his face. "You called Rayna already?"

"Nope, aparently the gossip sites were on top of it. They already have it up." she said as she pulled the pictures up on her phone. "And yes, the picture is clear and the ring is front and center. Maddie just texted me. I'm sure I will get a call from Rayna soon, though."

"What are they saying?"

Juliette Barnes engaged to producer boyfriend?

While no official confirmation has come from Juliette Barnes or her publicist, all appearances indicated that the superstar will be taking a walk down the aisle at some point in the near future.

Our cameras caught Barnes and her producer boyfriend Avery Barkley in Santa Barbara earlier tonight, where we are told that the pair enjoyed a romantic dinner at an upscale restaurant. The vintage diamond ring on her finger caught the light as they walked to their waiting car.

We have reached out to both Barnes' publicist and her record label, Highway 65 and are awaiting response.

Whether she actually makes it down the aisle this time, is something only time will tell.

"Of course they bring up Sean," she grumbled, loudly tossing her phone on the nightstand by the bed.

"It will be okay, babe," he said reassuringly. At that moment, Avery's phone started to beep. He barely had time to see who had sent him a text before a call came in. He grimaced and looked up at Juliette as he answered. "Hi, Mom. ... Yes, I did. I told you I was going to. ... I'm sorry I didn't give you a heads up. We were just keeping it between the two of us ... no we weren't hiding it from you. ..."

Juliette chuckled as he walked out of the room, clearly getting a talking to from his mother. She sighed, thinking about what her own mother would say about all this. She'd probably be in love with him too, she thought to herself. Glenn let himself into the suite into the suite at that moment, already on the phone, and she knew he was talking to her publicist. A single wave to her and he continued his conversation.

Her phone soon joined back in the chaos, buzzing against the wood of the nightstand, and she looked down to see Rayna's name pop up on the screen. "Hey, Rayna. What's new?"

Juliette heard a scoff from the other end of the line. "What's new? You tell me." The country legend sounded tough, but it was obvious that there was a smile on her face. "No heads up about this?"

"I'm really sorry," she said. "The pictures were taken less than two hours ago. I thought I had more time to call you. Glenn is working with my publicist on a statement for the media."

"That's good," Rayna paused and her voice took on a softer feel. "Look, honey, don't worry about this. It's not a scandal. It's a happy thing. Sure, you've caused a bit of a media frenzy, but it's okay. You should be excited!" Juliette smiled, grateful for Rayna's support as she heard Maddie and Daphne in the background begging their mom to put the phone on speaker. A few clicks later and Rayna spoke again. "We're all here, Juliette. The girls wanted to say hi."

"Hey girls!" Juliette said, genuinely glad to talk to them.

Maddie wasted no time begging for information. "How did he propose?!"

"Yeah, tell us!" Daphne echoed.

"Well ... " Juliette paused, thinking through her answer. "We were on the beach at sunset. It was just the two of us and he got down on one knee and asked me. It was really romantic."

The story was met with an "awe!" from the girls who then started quizzing Juliette about the wedding details until Rayna finally sent them on their way to get ready for bed since it was late. Taking the phone off speaker, she quietly called Juliette on her story. "When you get back to Nashville, I want to know the real proposal story."

She couldn't believe Rayna caught on to that so quickly. Laughing, Juliette admitted there was more to the story. "Yeah, I wasn't going to tell that with your 9 year old listening."

"Good call! I'll talk to you soon."

She giggled as she hung up, at the same time Avery walked back into the room looking a little worse for wear. "What's wrong with you?"

He paced around a little bit, clearly overwhelmed after talking to his family. "Well I had to make my mother stop crying even though she is very excited, then my dad gave me the third degree of course. Then mom got back on the phone and started talking about wedding plans. You'll have to call her tomorrow, by the way," he added. "Then I hung up and had mulitple text messages from my sister."

"Which one?"

"All three!" Juliette couldn't help but roll her eyes as he continued. "Andrea was not happy to find out that I got Nona's ring, Allison was just like dad, as usual, and Ada couldn't have been more excited."

Juliette smiled at the mention of Avery's twin sister. "She always has been my favorite." While she hadn't spent too much time with any of them, Ada had spent a week with them earlier in the year and the two had become closer. His older sisters and father were a whole different story. Juliette really did like Avery's mother, though she felt like the older woman worried a little too much about her baby boy.

"Me too," he smiled, "but don't ever repeat that! Did Rayna call?"

"Yep. Bucky is working with the team on a statement for the label to send out after Glenn sends ours out." She got a mischievious look on her face before continuing. "Then the girls got on the phone and wanted to know all the details about how you proposed." She could barely keep from laughing as she watched his eyes go wide.

"You, um, didn't tell them, did you?"

"Of course I didn't!" she said with a roll of her eyes. "You think I'm going to tell my boss' 9- and 14-year-old daughters that, in reality, we were both completely naked in an outdoor tub surrounded by bubbles when you proposed?" she winked at him as she moved to take off her shoes. "If anyone asks, it was on the beach at sunset and you got down on one knee. Classic and romantic."

"I like the reality better," he said, walking over to her and wrapping his arms around her from behind.

She turned in his embrace and pressed her lips to his. "So did I," she mumbled into the kiss, "but that really is for just the two of us."

"Yep," he responded, still kissing her while moving her slowly toward the bed.

Across the room, a throat was cleared loudly. Juliette pulled away from the kiss, looking over Avery's shoulder at her manager standing in the wide open doorway. "Can I help you?"

"Sorry," Glenn said, not the least bit embarrassed at what he had interrupted. He was used to it after a year. "But I just got off the phone with your publicist and we decided to hold off until the morning to send out a short statement. Let people specutlate overnight, then just put it all out there in the morning."

"Sounds great. You can just shut the door on your way out," she said impatiently and without a hint of subtlty. She watched as they shut the door, then looked back up into her fiance's eyes. "Now where were we?"

It's official: Juliette Barnes to wed producer boyfriend

Juliette Barnes' publicity team has put out an official statement regarding the story that broke last night when Barnes was spotted wearing a diamond ring on her left hand while leaving a restaurant with her beau in Santa Barbara.

Official Statement:
"Juliette Barnes and Avery Barkley are pleased to announce their engagement. The couple has known each other for nearly two years and plan to wed within the year and are asking for privacy during this time."

Looks like wedding bells are set to ring for the Nashville-based pair. No word on when the nuptials will take place, though our sources are saying that late fall is the likely timing of the planned event.

Congratulations to the pair.

So ... that's one milestone. Is the wedding next? Review and let me know your thoughts.