Be My Companion

Julian

I placed my phone to my ear and waited anxiously for the ringing to start. Alexis slid his hand into mine and squeezed it for comfort. After two rings, Vanessa answered the phone sharply.

"Jules! You can't disappear on me like that for days! Where have you been?"

"I had to get my mind off things," I said sternly.

"You can at least give me a heads up message that you're alive!"

Usually, I was receptive to Vanessa's sharp and catty tongue, and if anything, her brashness made me laugh. But now, after knowing that she blackmailed Alexis, all I could think of was the betrayal and the hurt I felt at her hands.

"Can you get over here any time soon?" I tried to keep my voice as cool as possible.

"Good idea. Give me half an hour. We have things to catch up on."

"See you then."

I hung up the phone without saying goodbye and slipped it back into my pocket.

"Are you okay, my love?" Alexis asked me.

"I will be."

"Let's go take our luggage into your room and just sit down," Alexis suggested.

He tugged me to my bedroom - our bedroom - and we lazily wheeled our luggage off to the side. Alexis leaped onto the bed and sat with his back against the headboard with his legs spread.

"Come here, my love," he whispered.

Silently, I climbed onto the bed and turned my body around before collapsing into his embrace. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed me on the top of my head.

Even though I was usually the big spoon when we cuddled, and there was little I loved more than holding Alexis, there was something extremely comforting knowing I was held and sheltered by my future husband. It was a sense of warmth and belonging that I don't think I'd ever felt before.

Alexis was home for me.

"I know it hurt you, and trust me, it hurt me too," Alexis whispered in my ear. "But I'm here now, and I'm not going anywhere. No more secrets or skeletons in the closet.  Nothing will tear me away from you, okay Julian?"

I nodded my head. Feeling Alexis surround me was the only reassurance I needed to know he meant every word.

"I love you," he said softly.

I closed my eyes and let out a deep sigh, completely melting into Alexis.

"I love you too, baby."

Feeling so comforted and safe, I kept my eyes closed and sank into Alexis as he began softly humming to himself. With one arm firmly wrapped around my torso, he began gently running his fingers through my hair with his other hand, pausing every now and then to kiss me on the top of my head.

The comforting feel of my fiance stroking the strands of my hair, coupled with the fatigue of almost 18 hours of travel, sent me to limbo between being conscious and asleep. My mind was clear, and nothing else existed in this world besides Alexis and me. The sound of someone buzzing the apartment didn't even bring me back to consciousness.

"My love," Alexis's voice sounded like honey. "Wake up."

My eyes refused to open. I was too comfortable being wrapped up in Alexis to entertain the idea of waking up. I felt him press his lips against my temple and heard him giggle softly.

"Come on, Julian. We have things to do."

---

Alexis

Feeling Julian's weight on top of me as I cuddled him and soothed him to sleep almost acted as my own anxiety blanket. Which was ironic considering the conversation we were about to have made me feel extremely anxious.

I didn't agree with what Vanessa did at all, and I couldn't honestly say I was her biggest fan during the time I knew her. However, I understand why she did what she did, and I knew that Julian's best interests were always her top priority. And I never wanted to be the reason why anyone lost their job, regardless of the circumstances.

Julian slowly sat up and let out a deep breath.

"Let's do this," he said.

"My love?" I called out to him softly.

Julian turned to look at me with a tired smile on his face.

"Why don't you take some time to talk to her by yourself first? I'll join you later when you're ready."

Julian pushed his lips together as he contemplated my suggestion, but he finally relented and nodded his head. I watched him push himself out of bed and straighten his clothes before he left.

After a while, I heard Julian pull the front door open and the unmistakable sounds of Vanessa's shrill voice and sharp clacking of her stilettos echoed throughout the apartment.

"What have you been up to?" Vanessa asked him.

"Just took a quick trip to clear my mind of some things." My poor fiance sounded so strained.

I got up and tiptoed towards the door to hear them better.

"I have some things I want to discuss with you, but you called this meeting, so I'll let you go first," she said.

"So Lex left me a couple of weeks ago in the middle of the night and flew back to Melbourne." I was intrigued that Julian decided to take this path in the conversation.

"Oh I'm so sorry to hear that," Vanessa said.

If I wasn't mistaken, she actually sounded sympathetic. And I knew her award-winning performance was only going to piss Julian off even more.

"You know, I've never loved anymore more than I've loved him." I could tell in Julian's tone that he was trying very hard to restrain himself.

"I could tell," she responded.

"That's why I immediately flew to Melbourne to find him, because I can't do life without him."

"Oh."

Vanessa sounded rattled. Now I knew why Julian took this clever route.

"Good for you," she continued, returning back to her confident persona.

"I was extremely lucky to be able to find him and talk about everything."

"Lucky you."

She sounded rattled again. She knew she had been caught out.

"And we spoke about everything, Vanessa, including about how you blackmailed him into leaving me behind my back."

I waited to hear a rebuttal or response from Vanessa, but the room stayed silent.

"Baby?" Julian called out for me.

With a deep breath, I came out of the bedroom to join my fiance. Vanessa looked up at me like she had just seen a ghost with her mouth slightly parted in shock. Julian patted his leg and I dutifully sat in his lap.

"You saw how happy I was with Alexis, and you still chose to tear that away from me," Julian spat. "I am prepared to face the backlash of coming out, Vanessa, and I am okay to brave it. This was not your decision to make!"

"Jules..." Vanessa began.

"Drop it, Vanessa! You tried to take away the one thing in the world that means more to me than football!"

I wrapped one arm around Julian's frame and rubbed his shoulder in an attempt to calm him down.

"I know about the photos and the videos you tried to blackmail him with, and I don't care. He was drugged and he was raped, and the fact that you are willing to leverage his own trauma against him shows me the type of person that you are." I could feel Julian's shoulders rising and falling with his anger.

Vanessa sat stunned, completely at a loss for words.

"I can't fucking look at you anymore, Vanessa! You make me fucking sick!"

"Jules, wait..."

"You're fucking fired, Vanessa. Get the fuck out of my house!"

---

Julian

My blood was boiling; I felt almost every muscle in my body tense as I looked at the woman who betrayed me sitting casually in my own home. Alexis's soft touch, rubbing circles in my shoulder, was a soothing reminder that I was doing this for the right reasons.

"W-wait..." Vanessa's facade had finally faltered, and for the first time in my life, I had seen her become human.

"I'm done, Vanessa!" I exclaimed.

"Hold on." Alexis, who had been silent up to this point, broke the conversation between Vanessa and me.

"No, Lex, I want her out," I said.

"I know you do, but don't you think I have a right to say how I'm feeling?"

Vanessa looked petrified at the thought of Alexis saying how he felt, which made me grin inside. But I knew my strong, outspoken fiance better than he probably knew himself. It was best for everyone if he spoke his mind.

"Of course, baby. I'm sorry."

I wrapped my arm around Alexis's waist and pulled him closer to me. I definitely needed him a lot more than he needed me at this point.

"Alexis, look, I really am sorry about how everything went down..." Vanessa said.

Alexis simply raised his hand at her, and she stopped dead in her tracks.

"I know why you did what you did, Vanessa, and I get it. I worked in the media; I know how PR works and that sometimes the best decision isn't always the right decision." The fear in Vanessa's face had slowly disappeared. "I don't agree with what you did, because like Julian said, I have never loved anymore in my life more than I have loved this man, and I am willing to give everything I have at a chance to be with him, and you tried to take that away from us."

Alexis slid his hand down my arm wrapped around his waist and interlaced his fingers with mine.

"At the end of the day, you are excellent at what you do Vanessa, and you're probably too good at what you do," Alexis said. "You can have Julian's best interests in mind, because that's what I'll always keep first as well, but you have to remember that Julian is human, and so are you. What may not be the best business decision could very well be the best personal decision, not just for Julian, but the both of you."

Vanessa nodded her head, and a look of sorrow washed over her face. "I agree."

I cleared my throat. "Vanessa, what you see in front of you now is just a small percentage of the love that I have for this man. I have never been this happy, this satisfied, this fucking content in the place I am in my life as I am right now. I'm willing to give it all up if it means being with Lex."

"I understand," Vanessa said with another compliant nod.

"This isn't your decision to make. It's your job to assist me, not control my life," I said with a nod.

Alexis squeezed my hand. "I'm not going to control what Julian does with someone on his payroll, but at the end of the day, I don't want to see you lose your job over this."

Vanessa stared up at Alexis in awe. She couldn't believe that, after everything she had put him through, that he was still standing up for her.

"Are you sure, Lex?" I whispered.

Alexis nodded his head and turned to kiss me on the cheek.

"Alright then. Excuse me, baby." I shifted Alexis's weight off me and stood up to my feet, keeping my gaze on my publicist sitting across from me. "I'm coming out, Vanessa, and I need you to set up a press conference so I can do this in one quick swoop. I'm ready to tell the world about who I am, and who I'm going to marry."

Vanessa looked like she had tears in her eyes when she realised she wasn't going to lose her job after all. She swept her hair behind her ear and nodded her head.

"You're engaged?" She sounded genuinely excited for us.

"We are," Alexis replied with a smile.

Vanessa threw her hands over her mouth before quickly regathering herself.

"Of course, Julian. I'll get right on it. I should be able to have something for you by tonight."

"Thank you Vanessa," Alexis said warmly.

Vanessa nodded, turned to leave, made it three steps towards the front door before pausing. She looked over her shoulder with a look of appreciation on her usually steely face.

"Thank you for giving me a second chance," she said. "I may not deserve it at the end of the day, but I will make sure I work twice as hard to consider what's best for you professionally but also personally from now on."

I nodded slightly. "We need to work together, not against each other."

"Of course," my publicist replied.

Vanessa cleared her throat and made her way to the exit, shutting the front door behind her.

Alexis let out a big sigh and twirled into me. I encircled him with my arms and squeezed him tight, inhaling his sweet scent.

"That was tough," I whispered.

"I know," he said. "But we got through it together."

Alexis turned his back to me and threw his hair over one side, exposing his neck to me. I leaned down and started gently kissing him on his smooth skin.

"You know, baby," I said, leaving one last kiss on his neck. "I think what just happened is why I fell so hard in love with you."

"What do you mean?"

I smiled. "I was absolutely ready to fire her, no questions asked. But you saw the light in this situation, and showed her an incredible amount of compassion that I didn't think she deserved. You have a kind, beautiful, gentle soul, and I am so grateful that I get to spend the rest of my life with you."

Alexis spun around in my grip and hooked his arms around my neck. He stood up on his toes and kissed me sweetly.

"I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you, Julian Ambrose."

I pressed my lips against his again, our tongues just teasing each other in a deep, passionate kiss.

"Mmm," I hummed.

Alexis pecked my lips once more before standing on top of my sock-enclosed feet.

"Dance with me," he whispered.

---

Alexis

After taking the lead and spinning me around the room, Julian dipped me low, his hand on the small of my back.

“Baby,” he said with a fake gentleman voice.

I threw my head back with laughter, which was replaced with a holler of shock as he pulled me back upright with ease.

“Can I ask you something fairly serious?” he asked.

“You can ask me anything you want,” I replied.

Julian pressed his lips together and looked around the room as if he was trying to find the right words to say.

“Julian?”

He let out a deep breath and looked down into my eyes. “Would you consider taking my last name?”

I blinked at him. “Alexis Ambrose?”

Julian looked nervous. “Yes, but I don’t want to force you into it. I know you’re very independent and I will support you with any decision you make. I just like the idea of you taking my last name when we get married.”

I stared up at him in silence as I considered the idea.

“Baby?” he mumbled.

When I didn’t immediately reply, he shook his head.

“Forget I said anything.”

“Julian, shush.”

Julian’s mouth snapped shut. I braced my hands on Julian’s broad shoulders and stood on my toes so I could get as close to him as possible.

“Would it make you happy if I changed my last name?”

He nodded. “Very much so.”

Suddenly, I began laughing at the fairly simple concept of changing my last name for Julian.

“What’s so funny?” he questioned me.

“It’s just going to be so funny when I share the same initials as Alcoholics Anonymous considering my professional background.”

Julian’s face lit up when he realised what I had just implied.

“You’ll do it?” he asked me excitedly.

“Of course I will.”

Julian picked me up in his arms and swung me around in the air with the biggest grin I had ever seen on his face. When he had finally slowed down, I wrapped my legs around his waist and hooked my arms around his neck.

“Baby, you don’t understand how happy this makes me!”

“I can see how happy it makes you, which makes me feel even better in my decision.”

Alexis Ambrose. I liked it. And I’m sure when it became official and I started using it, I would like it even more.

“I love you so much,” Julian said, looking up at me with those beautiful eyes of his.

“I love you too, Julian.”

I leaned down and kissed him on the lips, resting my forehead against his.

“I’m crazy about you, Lex. I will never get tired of holding you.”

I peppered more kisses on his lips before tracing a line across his jawline and down his neck. Julian’s soft moans and breathing increased as I nipped and sucked at the tender skin across his collarbone.

“Lex…” he breathed.

“Yes?” I whispered cheekily.

Julian grinned. “If you don’t stop that, I’m gonna…”

I captured his mouth with a kiss before he could finish his thought, thrusting my tongue deep into him.

“Go on then,” I whispered. “Make love to me, Julian.”

Julian’s eyes darkened, and before I knew it, he had laid me down on the sofa and climbed on top of me.

“I fucking love you, Alexis.”