He was still next to Talia when his phone dinged. He saw it was a text from Natalie and he looked around before he looked at it.
Im in room 12.
"She okay?' Talia asked, though she didn't look up from the paperwork.
"yeah" he said, "just an update"
"You okay?" she said.
"Same old same" he said.
"You going to see her tonight?"
From across the room, Antonio tapped on his desk three times. That was their sign that meant they had to talk. John got up to go to the bathroom, Talia got up to go to the locker room. It was their usual routine.
John swept the restroom once he got in. Antonio came a few minutes behind him, and he locked the door behind him.
"First thing – you okay? How was last night?"
John shook his head, "Natalie is in rough shape. She shouldn't be alone. Her dad threw her under the bus. Jared is making moves on her, it's just a mess"
"Do you know how Jess is doing?"
John shook his head, "I haven't seen her but – it seems bad"
Antonio nodded.
"Um, you should know, Natalie got kicked out of her moms, her dad won't even look at her. She's staying at the Angel Square Hotel" he said, "I don't think I'm being watched after hours, but if I am – "
"I don't think so, either" Antonio said, "maybe bring Talia home? For appearances?"
John nodded, "Yeah, maybe" he paused, "but um, what did you need to talk about?"
"Ramsey said he had a side project coming that would make him some money. Asked me if I wanted in"
"Think it's big enough?"
"Yeah" he said, "the way he asked it, he told me not to tell anyone. This is it"
John nodded.
"I don't think I can tell Talia"
"Why?"
"He said she'd take the fall" he said.
"We can't keep her in the dark"
"I know" he said, "but she's got to take the fall convincingly. I don't know if she can do that if she knows"
John nodded in agreement. Talia was a good cop, but she didn't have the same experience the two of them did. This undercover thing was hard on her, and she was struggling with it in a way neither of them understood. This might not be a thing she could lie about.
"I'll tell her something is coming" John said, "but we don't know what, you've noticed Ramsey's making odd calls"
Antonio nodded, "thanks. I hate pawning her off on you like this"
"I know" he said, "believe me, I don't like either, but this is what we gotta do"
"Here's hoping its over soon" Antonio said, and he headed out first.
John took a minute to himself. Talia was going to be hurt that Antonio ditched her, and then he was going to ask her to spend the night in the Angel Square Hotel. And the worst part was, she was going to say yes to help them all out. He hoped when all this was said and done, they all got some time to themselves.
The end of the day hadn't come fast enough. John and Talia left together, and then of course, Eddie tailed them. John took the most obscure route to Angel Square and lost Eddie. Talia laughed at his commentary, and in the event, they were being watched, held hands on their way in. Once they were safely in John's room, they dropped hands and got some space between them. John was stressed because he hadn't managed to tell Natalie what this plan was, and he didn't know how she was going to take this with everything else. He pulled his phone out as soon as they were inside.
"We all clear?" Talia asked while he texted.
"I think so" John said, "I don't think Eddie'll come back. I don't think he was doing it on Ramseys' orders. And he's off duty now"
"What an idiot" Talia said.
"Yeah" John said absentmindedly, trying to text Natalie and listen to Talia at the same time. But what was he supposed to tell her? That his fake girlfriend was in the room and it was okay – he was at a loss.
"What's wrong" Talia said.
"Huh?"
"You're – anxious or something"
"I, um" he started but they were interrupted when Natalie opened the door without knocking, a six pack in hand.
"I saw your car in the lot, I realized I probably couldn't go to the corner store, so I walked to the-" Natalie stopped short once she saw Talia in the room, "oh, sorry, I- "
"Natalie, don't apologize" Talia said, "I'm just your cover"
"Cover?" Natalie looked at John.
"I can't be sure Ramsey isn't watching me" he said, "I don't think he is, neither does Antonio, but –"
"Eddie tailed us here. We lost him, John is a erratic driver, but-" Talia said.
"I didn't realize – last night – um- " Natalie stammered. She didn't know what she could or couldn't say right now. What a mess.
"Last night, all I wanted to do was get to you" John said.
"We covered for him. Ramsey sent us out to investigate late at night, all three of us, to test us or see if Antonio could handle it or something. Antonio and I did the paperwork and added John's name" Talia said, "I'm so sorry for everything, Natalie. We saw the tapes, it wasn't your fault, I don't know why-" Talia stopped talking to her when she realized the two of them were just looking at each other, like they were having a conversation without ever talking.
"thanks" Natalie said, after a pause, but she was still looking at John, "but I'm fine. I've been on the outs before. I can do this"
"I have no doubt" Talia said, "um, listen, I'm good, I can do this for however long you two needs" she said.
"Thank you" Natalie said
"Yeah, seriously, thank you" John said.
Natalie looked to John, "What do you think? Should Talia stay down here, or should she go up to my room?"
"I'm sure you'd rather have the clean sheets" John said, and he smirked.
"It's room twelve" Natalie said, "once you go up the steps, its right on the right" she handed Talia the key.
Talia nodded, "Got it. I'll come down in the morning?"
John nodded, "seven thirty"
Talia nodded, "have a good night" she smirked and walked out the door.
Once the door was shut, John took her in his arms. Natalie thought about walking in here and seeing Talia and jumping to all the wrong conclusions. And now they were here, in their place, where they'd made a home, like nothing had changed.
"You look pretty" he said softly.
Her heart melted just a little. He was still the same. She sighed, "I saw her – I'm sorry, I thought – "
"I should have warned you" he said, "I just – I didn't know what to say"
"I should have thought about having a cover" Natalie said, "it was smart, you were tailed. If they're watching through the window, they'll see a red head in both places. It was smart"
"I wish I could take credit, but it was Antonio's idea" John said, "I just – I didn't care with all this – "
"I'm so happy to be here" Natalie said.
"What happened today?"
"My mom can barely look at me. She believes what Jess told her. My dad is blaming me like he didn't know. Bo and Nora don't get it. Roxy wants to talk, but – "she shook her head.
"I'm so sorry Natalie"
"Can we just order in and drink the six pack and pretend things are normal?" Natalie said, "I know I have to wake up tomorrow morning. I know that Talia will come and I'll have to sneak back upstairs. I know all that. I just want to forget tonight"
John pulled back a little, looking her in the eyes. She was tired. Exhausted, even. She really needed this.
"Sounds great" he said, "Rodi's or pizza?"
"Rodi's?"
"You got it"
Morning came too fast. She woke up to the sun hitting the sheets and a cup of coffee being place next to her. She sat up to John gently sitting next to her. The sheets clung to her probably because she'd fallen asleep sweaty. She felt the remnants of last night on her skin, and it brought back a million memories of waking up like this.
"Hey" he said softly.
"Hey" she said, "thanks. I didn't hear you get up"
"You must have been tired" he said.
She took a sip of coffee. It was the blend she liked, which meant he'd either kept it or not used it in the last few weeks, "I was exhausted"
"What's next for you"
"Nash's funeral is today" she said.
"Natalie, do you think that's a good idea? Jess wouldn't even see you yesterday"
"I'm going to go late and leave early. She won't know. But someday she's going to need to know that I was there. And you know, he got my sister through some bad stuff. I gotta pay my respects"
"I know I can't talk you out of it" he paused, "Just be careful. You're walking into a room of people that hate you right now"
"I know" he said, "but they've hated me before"
"And I know how much that hurt you"
"You weren't there"
"But you've told me. And I know you. And you're hurt enough – "
"Not nearly as hurt as she is" she said, "and I still got you. That's more than she's got"
"I wish I could go with you" he said, "I wish I could do – anything – "
"Let me come back tonight? Let me pretend for another night this isn't happening?"
"You got it" he said, "but I don't see how that's going to help"
"First thing that's helped so far"
He tucked her hair behind her ear, "This'll all end soon"
"How much longer til Talia shows?"
"a few minutes. I wanted to let you sleep"
"That was sweet" she said, "but I should get dressed. I probably made her feel uncomfortable enough last night"
"She and I are uncomfortable all the time" John said.
"I'll just be a minute" she said as she got up and headed to the bathroom.
He sighed. She was going to walk straight into the line of fire and she was going to do it alone. He knew she always acted first and thought later, but he wished this was all different. That he could support her for real. Not just offer her an escape at night. It felt selfish and it felt fake. He again swore to himself that this would all end soon. She came out of the bathroom and almost instantly, they heard the knock at the door. He looked reluctant to return to their life, so without any hesitation, she grabbed her coffee again and opened the door, greeting Talia warmly.
"Coffee?" Natalie offered, heading towards the kitchenette.
"You have a coffee maker in here?" Talia sounded surprised.
"That's all Natalie" John said.
"When he lived here by himself it was "she just shook her head.
Talia laughed.
"hey" he said, "I make the coffee"
"I know you can make coffee" Talia said, "He has one in his office"
"I know" Natalie said, "I got it for him. A long time ago" she awkwardly ducked into the kitchen to attend to the coffee.
"I'm sorry" Talia apologized to John, "I didn't know"
John shook his head and Natalie reappeared with a second mug, "yeah, he sent me on so many coffee runs under the guise of being his secretary, eventually I just set him up" she paused, "had to get all my schoolwork done and he was slowing me down"
"He does drink coffee all day long" Talia said, "I'd be so jittery"
John shrugged, "thanks again for doing this"
"It's the least I can do" she said, "You want another night tonight?"
"If it's not too much to ask" Natalie said, "I just – " she didn't bother to finish that sentence. Talia already nodded as though she understood, "well, then, thanks" she paused awkwardly, "I'll get going. I know you two got to get to work"
"We all miss you down there" Talia said.
Natalie nodded, "I miss it, too. Different times" she paused, "thanks again" she told Talia, and then stole a kiss from John, "I'll see you later"
"Please be careful" John said.
"Always" she headed out the door, her favorite coffee mug left behind. He didn't know why, but he stared at the coffee mug for too long.
"You ready?" Talia asked.
"Um, yeah" John said, and he moved all the mugs to the sink.
"Good night?"
"Yeah" he said, trying not to seem over anxious.
"She seemed happy. Happier than I would have expected, anyway"
"The funeral's today. She's going to go" he told her.
"I'm sorry, John. I'm sure that's tough. I'm sure you want to be there for her. I'm sure you and Nash were – "
"We weren't" John said, "but, I mean, no one deserves that. And she's going to torture herself over this"
"You'll get to be there for her tonight. And however many nights you need after that."
"I really can't thank you enough"
"You'd do it for me and Antonio, if the shoe was on the other foot"
John just nodded. They headed out.