Elizabeth has been, yet again, kind enough to give Julia a place to stay. Even if it is just a small cabin, Julia is always so grateful for all that her friend does for her. The only downside is that she has to stay on the small, dusty couch. She once got up for a drink at around midnight and a spring got stuck to her nightgown, luckily no one was there to see, but she was still embarrassed as well as angry. After all, it was her favorite one, lime green with black lace at the edges that graze her knee and cap sleeves. She got it a few months ago and the first time she had worn it was the night Barnabas had called her Julia for the first time. Not "Madam" or "Doctor Hoffman".
Julia has to buy her own alcohol because Elizabeth doesn't want her drunk around the children, as she cannot sit in her room and drink anymore. Julia doesn't have much money so she buys as much as she can get when she has money. She stashes most of it under her couch, and keeps the rest in the fridge.
She had just gotten back from the mansion, it was around 10:45 when Julia decided to go take a bath and change into her pajamas. After downing a small glass of gin, she pulled her pajamas out of her small suitcase and walked to the bathroom and knocked on the door.
"What?" Carolyn's voice called from the other side of the door.
"Oh, Carolyn, will you be long? I need to get cleaned up for bed." Julia replied, leaning on the door frame, then turning to rest her back on the wall.
"Uh, depends on what you call 'long'." Julia sighed when she heard the shower start, sliding her back down the wall and burying her face in her knees, on the verge of drifting off into a deep sleep right there on the dusty, wood floor.
"Ah, Julia, there you are." Barnabas' voice caused Julia's head to shoot up, and she was suddenly wide awake.
"Oh, yeah. Just waiting for the bathroom." Barnabas bowed his head in understanding.
"You seemed to have left your jacket in Victoria's car." He lowers to Julia's level on the floor until he is kneeling in front of her and he takes the balled up nightgown out of her hands to wrap her jacket over her shoulders when small flask and a pair of red lace panties that were wrapped in the nightgown fall to the floor. Julia's face turns bright red and she lets out a mix between a laugh and a sigh. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry, Madam."
"Nah, it's okay." They both try to pick up the fallen items when their hands meet and they look up at each other. Barnabas begins to lean in, ready to kiss her.
"Wooow, that's embarrassing, Julia." Carolyn laughs, standing above them, her blonde hair wet from the shower. At this point, both of their faces are red. Carolyn walks into the room she shares with her mother and shuts the door, still laughing.
"Ha, well it probably shouldn't have happened anyways." Julia says, standing up to walk into the safety of the bathroom.
"Julia? I feel so awful that you have to sleep on that couch, if you would like, you can rest in my room. The bed is far too big for only myself, anyway." Barnabas' offer stops Julia dead in her tracks.
"That's very kind of you, Barnabas, it really is. But are you comfortable sharing a bed with me, what with your relationship with Vicky?" Julia doesn't turn around, she only stares down at her feet which lack shoes but are covered by tights.
"I'm sure if Victoria was in a similar situation she would understand. It isn't like we will be doing anything that we would regret, we both have far too much respect for each other. Correct?"
"Yeah. Correct. Okay, sure Barnabas." She turns to look him in the eyes and smile. "Thank you."
Julia shuts the bathroom door and falls back against it, letting out a heavy sigh. In his room, Barnabas does the same thing, hoping he was right about only resting.
Barnabas is already laying down in his bed when Julia walked in. Her red hair was soaking wet as well as the back of the black fabric of her nightgown, the silk and lace slightly stuck to her skin. She pulled down the sheets of Barnabas' bed and climbed in, a black strap sliding down her shoulder. Barnabas shifted slightly and Julia decided that he was, in fact, asleep. Barnabas was facing the wall, so naturally, Julia faced the other way and took another few minutes to adjust to the bed.
"Comfortable yet?" Barnabas whispered over his shoulder, startling Julia.
"Oh, uh, yeah." Julia let out a small giggle and pulled the covers up to her neck, shivering. The one thing she hated about Maine- the winter months. It's January now and she can't be any colder than she is right now. "Barnabas?"
"Yes?"
"Would you mind if, um, I'm really cold right now and uh-" Julia is cut off by the sudden movement and Barnabas' hand resting on her shoulder.
"Are you warmer now?"
"Yes, thank you." At least three minutes later, Barnabas was asleep. Ten minutes after that, his arm slipped around her waist. Only two minutes after that, Julia was also asleep. They were both comfortable.