He sniffled and stilled. "Wh-what?"
"It was too much to process," I answered. "I sat at some bar and saw the footage from Florida on the news. And I laughed."
Julian didn’t say anything for a while, and that was okay with me. As long as he didn’t pull away, he could be quiet all damn night if he wanted.
A low murmur traveled through the gardens as the Eiffel Tower began sparkling with millions of flashing lights. The blanket had fallen off my shoulders at some point, so I grabbed it and fanned it out over Julian's and my legs.
"You're not upset with me?" There was nervousness in his tone, his voice soft but scratchy from crying. "I would understand if you are."
"I have no reason to be upset with you." I leaned back, my hands supporting my weight on the lawn. "Are you pissed 'cause I laughed?"
"Of course not. It's actually quite common to laugh instead of cry when you've lost someone."
"I know." I smiled and kissed the top of his head again. "And considering you spent years hiding a part of you, it's no surprise your mind went there first."
He turned his head and buried his face against my chest. "You sound like Dr. Kendall."
I chuckled quietly. "Don’t tell her that. She'd be offended."
"No way." He tilted his head and sent me a brief smile.
Seeing his face, I stroked his cheek and brushed away the last remnants of tears. "Beautiful." I dipped down and kissed his forehead. "I'm glad you told me everything, Julian."
He sighed and closed his eyes. "I feel weird about it. I still beat myself up over it, but I've been told it can take a while to condition a new behavior." He extended a hand over my leg and uncapped his soda. "I honestly thought you were going to be angry with me. And this last month…you've been so fucking nice and affectionate…"
I could fill in the blanks. I'd tried to get closer to him, and he'd been thinking, "If only you knew the truth." No wonder he'd been a skittish animal. But I did know the truth. I knew a shitload about Julian, and this didn’t change anything. Not negatively, anyway.
"Noah?" He raised himself up a bit and faced me.
I leaned forward and playfully nipped at his nose. "What's up?"
He smiled and shook his head. "I love you. That’s what's up."
"Jesus." I choked. I hadn't expected that right at this moment. I'd kinda known it was around the corner… But fuck me sideways, he was hitting the feels with that one. "Come here, baby." I yanked him closer and kissed him hard. Knowing he felt the same was in-fucking-describable. A rush more intense than I'd experienced before. "I love you, too. Like you wouldn’t fucking believe."
Julian moaned something unintelligible into the kiss and locked his arms behind my neck.Chapter 19
Two weeks later
"Cut!" I barked out. Turning to my script supervisor, I removed my headphones and asked what'd gotten her fucking panties in a twist.
"I went through the footage of the scene this leads up to, and we need to change the order of the canvases," she replied in a rush.
I glanced across the street where Sophie and the man playing April's brother were holding three large canvases, which April had painted for her son. Each one had a theme. In toned-down graffiti, using muted colors instead of flashy neons, April told her stories topic by topic. Love. Betrayal. The future. Dreams. Lies. Conspiracies…
Her misguided legacy.
"What're you waiting for?" I asked. The clock was ticking.
While the script supervisor scurried off to correct the error, I spoke to Lucia about her taking a second unit to do flyover coverage next week. I'd work almost exclusively with April's brother and ex, so it should be a quiet one, and I could manage without Lucia.
"Noah!" I heard Tennyson call.
"Yeah?" I turned around and saw him by the trailers. "What's up?"
"I need a minute of your time."
Had to be serious for him to interrupt shooting, so I made my way over, and he opened the door to the trailer Sophie used.
"I got off the phone with Asher a little while ago." He headed to the seating nook and adjusted a laptop so I could see the screen. "The West Coast is up, and this is spreading like wildfire."
I scanned the headline of a gossip site, my chest tightening with anger.
"Director of Sophie Pierce's new movie finds love with his nephew!"
"Oh, fuck." I drew a hand over my hair and pulled out my phone. "I can't believe this. We gotta call it a day to do damage control." As my blood started to boil, I texted Julian to get his ass in here. "Motherfucking…" My jaw tensed, and I nearly hurled the phone at the nearest wall.
This could set Julian off. He hadn't told his grandparents. He and I weren't even official yet, having decided to tell our closest once filming was over.