The heat had gotten the best of him after awhile. Hell, all he had been doing was putting clothes into drawers and a few nicer suits into the itty-bitty closet he was provided with.

But he was still sweating.

Shutting the door to his room and making sure he was clearly out of vision from the window, Julian stripped off his clothes quickly. He threw on a pair of comfortable shorts and a t-shirt, sigh of relief breaking from his lips as he let his skin breathe.

Suits were almost normal attire for him, since his life was hectic and he was usually required to look nice ninety percent of the time. But when he had those few days of relaxation, he had a full supply of simple comfy clothes to throw on. When his parents had informed him of this whole situation, those clothes were exactly what he decided to bring.

Nobody knew where he was.

Nobody would know where he was. His parents weren't going to say anything, and he was sure his uncle would never rat him out to the paparazzi either.

It was almost like a small vacation.

Julian peered out the window, frowning slightly when he took in the amount of farmland there was.

Okay - maybe not quite like a vacation. But at least he didn't have to worry about cameras.

"Juley!"

With a small groan of annoyance at the nickname he swung his door open, peering out it and looking at the older man standing at the end of the stairs. "Come down! I'm not gonna allow you to stay cooped up there all day, sorry to say. I could use your help anyway."

With that August turned and disappeared, seemingly heading into the kitchen - but he heard a distinct sound of a screen door opening and shutting. So he figured there was probably a back door.

The brunet stayed where he stood for a moment, hand gripping onto the door frame before he inhaled slowly and made his way down the steps, taking two at a time. He hopped off the last one and landed on the wooden floorboards with ease.

When he finally located the back door he walked through and stopped mid-step, noting the two extra bodies standing there with his uncle.

The other workers? Damn… they did seem around his age.

"There he is!"

Julian quirked an eyebrow at that, almost hesitantly moving forward to stand next to his uncle. A small grunt came from him when his shoulder was grabbed and shaken - of course, in an affectionate manner but god damn he was going to bruise at some of this treatment.

"Juley, these are the workers I was talkin' to you about! This is Derek-" he paused as he motioned towards one of the guys, who flashed him a grin and a silent hello - which he returned with a small nod. "And this is Logan!"

Julian's gaze swept over to the blond, blinking for a moment before he gave him a small nod too, which was thankfully returned. He didn't seem as friendly as the other guy.

"You guys are all about the same age, I'm pretty sure! So I'm hoping there won't be any problems. Juley can provide some extra help if you really need it, but I think I'm going to give him some easier duties. Probably with the animals. So don't worry about those for awhile."

The two boys nodded, small looks of relief crossing their faces. Julian tried not to frown at that - he would probably be relieved too if some work was being taken off his shoulders.

But since he was the sad fellow who was gaining that work, he didn't care much for handing out sympathy.

"Why don't you guys take him out to the chicken coop? Make him get some of the eggs. But show him how, first? I'm pretty sure you've never really done work like this." he stated, directing the last statement at him with a fond smile.

Julian shook his head, lips pressed tightly together as he stayed quiet.

When August left he slowly followed after the other two, stayed a step behind as they conversed between one another quietly.

Usually he was the life of the party, it didn't really take much to get him talking. Most people wanted to talk to him anyway. These guys though… they had no clue who he was, did they? The circumstance was a lot different here. Fame really didn't matter, he was beginning to comprehend that. Still didn't change the fact that he had to do work though.

His nose scrunched up at the smell that hit him the moment they walked into the so-called 'chicken coop'. Caws and clucks met his ears a moment later and he stopped to take in the large birds.

"Have you really never done anything like this?"

Julian flickered his gaze onto - who was this again? It started with a D. Fuck.

"Never really had a need to." he explained simply, shrugging his shoulders.

"It's not that hard! Just watch your feet! They'll peck at them, and it doesn't feel that good." Another clap and shake of his shoulder.

Humming slightly he looked back, watching the guys grab a few things and then carefully slip through the wire gate that was keeping the chickens enclosed.

"C'mon!"

The brunet sighed quietly and carefully followed in after them, brow furrowing as he stepped away from a few chickens that instantly came towards him. They were kind of creepy, in a way. He was never a fan of birds.

"See those little cubbies over there?"

A new voice broke in and Julian let his eyes fall on the blond, nodding silently a moment later. "Some of them have eggs. If they do, pull them out and put them in this basket. It's pretty easy."

Julian moved forward and took the basket the other had held out for him, side stepping a few chickens and quickly working on reaching into the small cubbies and feeling around for eggs. He let out a small curse when a sharp sting came to his leg, stumbling back a bit as one of the chickens seemed to advance on him.

What the fuck? Was he in its cubby or something?

A chuckle came from behind him and he shot them a sideways glare, speeding up a bit and trying to avoid the growing amount of chickens now attempting to chase him away from their eggs. "You didn't tell me they'd revolt against me!" he stated, carefully placing another egg in one of the baskets.

"Why wouldn't they? You are taking their growing baby."

Frowning slightly at the sarcasm and use of 'baby' he huffed and stood straight when he finished. Once again side-stepping the chickens and quickly walking up to the blond, handing him the semi-full basket. Some of them hadn't laid eggs.

"Finished."

The blond smirked slightly and nodded, making his way out of the coop.

The other brunet waved for him to follow, which he did - maybe a bit eagerly. The chickens were still trying to come at him and he was sure there were going to be small peck marks on his shins.

"You know, I could have sworn you were a girl at first. With that name and all."

Julian closed the gate behind him and looked towards the boy who had spoken, shooting him a dull expression. "… What?"

"Juley! I've never met parents who would give their son such a feminine name… but then again your uncle's name is August. I had had the mindset that you were a chick until he said nephew. It threw me off completely!" The brunet grinned, shrugging his shoulders. "Gotta admit I'm a tad bit disappointed. A girl would have been nice around here."

Scoffing slightly Julian shook his head, "Sorry I'm such a disappointment for you." he drawled out, crossing his arms over his chest. "My name isn't actually Juley. It's just some stupid childhood nickname my uncle hasn't been able to drop. It's Julian."

"That makes more sense!"

"So, why's a big star like you out here?"

Julian paused, small look of surprise crossing his face when he looked at the blond. Logan, was it? "… You know who I am?"

"'Course I do. Julian Larson-Armstrong. You're everywhere. In Hollywood that is. Not Carsonville."

He blinked, eyes flickering between the two guys in front of him, looking at him with the same curious expression. So they weren't that sheltered? He suddenly wondered if there were other teenagers around here. He certainly hadn't seen any. Just a massive amount of old people.

"Apparently I'm too stressful to deal with. So my parent's shipped me out here." He couldn't help the slight bite in his words, chest squeezing as a bit of anger surged in him. He was still very pissed about the situation.

"Well, Diva. You're gonna have to get used to all this fairly quickly then."

He shot Logan a glare at the nickname, arms dropping to his sides as he turned his head. "Yeah well… I don't plan to stay long."

"Typical."

His gaze found the blond again, noticing the slight challenge in his eyes. Lips pressing together he turned towards him and gave him his undivided attention - completely ignoring the other guy, who was now giving them both a slightly nervous expression.

"What's 'typical'?"

"People like you couldn't handle work like this if their life depended on it. Raised by nannies and driven around by limousine all their life. You probably feel hopeless out here, because you've never had to do an ounce of physical work. Have you?"

His face fell a bit, but he quickly recovered while he turned his head and began to make his way out of the coop. "You know what… I don't like you." he stated, shutting the door behind him.

He heard foot falls behind him a moment later, but was thankful that it was the brunet instead. He probably would have ended up punching Logan in the face if it had been him. Fucking douche bag - acting like he knew his life.

"Don't listen to him, okay? He has this stupid disdain about people who have literally been handed shit all their life. He's kind of a jerk sometimes."

"No, really?"

He chuckled slightly before reaching out and stopping him from moving on any further. "You'll get the hang of it… okay? I don't know how long you plan to stay, but just… try to find something you like doing. It'll make your day just a little bit better. And Logan will come around eventually. Especially if you actually help out around here."

Julian stared at the other for a moment before letting out a soft breath, running a hand through his hair. "Your name… what is it again? Starts with a D?"

"Derek."

"Right… nice to meet you Derek. I like you."

Derek flashed him another grin, bowing slightly in thanks. "Glad I can be pleasing."