Paris, Juniper decided, was significantly more dangerous when accompanied by a billionaire.
Not because of crime.
Because of escalation.
It started innocently enough.
Juniper woke late in Reggie's absurd hotel suite buried beneath approximately fourteen pounds of linen bedding while sunlight spilled across the balcony overlooking the Seine.
For one blissful moment he forgot:
- capitalism
- emotional attachment
- The Sanctuary's planned Sedona intervention
Then he rolled over and found Reggie already awake beside him working on three different screens at once in black silk pajamas like some kind of evil corporate prince.
Juniper stared.
"How are you simultaneously terrifying and deeply moisturized."
Without looking up, Reggie replied:
"Discipline."
Juniper narrowed his eyes.
"That answer made me spiritually violent."
Reggie finally glanced over.
And paused.
Because Juniper had apparently slept tangled in one of Reggie's shirts again.
Hair messy.
Sleepy eyes.
Gold necklaces crooked against bare skin.
Reggie looked at him for one dangerous second too long.
Juniper noticed immediately.
"Oh my God," he whispered dramatically. "You're obsessed with me."
Reggie returned to his laptop.
"You're talking before coffee. That's brave."
Three hours later they wandered through Paris like:
- one emotionally chaotic art student
- one billionaire discovering feelings against his will
Juniper was having the time of his life.
Everywhere he looked:
- flower stalls
- tiny bookstores
- cafés spilling onto sidewalks
- impossibly stylish strangers smoking philosophically
Meanwhile Reggie walked beside him in a charcoal coat and sunglasses looking like he owned several governments.
Which honestly:
he probably did.
Juniper stopped suddenly outside a tiny vintage shop window.
"Oh my God."
Reggie nearly walked into him.
Inside the display sat the most beautiful jacket Juniper had ever seen:
midnight blue velvet with gold embroidery curling across the sleeves like constellations.
Juniper pressed both hands dramatically against the glass.
"That jacket understands me emotionally."
Reggie glanced at it once.
"Do you want it?"
Juniper laughed.
"No, Reginald, it's probably like two thousand euros."
Reggie opened the shop door.
Juniper blinked.
"Oh my God. No."
"You want it."
"That's not the point."
Reggie looked genuinely confused.
"It seems exactly like the point."
Ten minutes later Juniper exited the store carrying the garment bag in stunned silence.
"This is not normal behavior," he informed Reggie weakly.
"You liked it."
"You can't just buy people emotionally significant outerwear."
"Why not?"
"Because then they develop attachment issues."
Reggie slid one hand casually into his coat pocket.
"You already had those."
Juniper gasped.
"That was psychologically targeted."
And the horrifying thing was:
Reggie was getting better at this.
At teasing him.
Reading him.
Understanding him.
Which was becoming deeply dangerous to Juniper's emotional stability.
They crossed a bridge over the Seine while Juniper rambled about artistic longing and Pisces intuition.
Reggie listened to every word.
Actually listened.
Like Juniper's thoughts mattered.
That alone felt intimate enough to ruin lives.
"Oh!" Juniper said suddenly. "I need a notebook."
"For?"
"I had an idea."
Reggie immediately looked around.
Within seconds:
- security appeared seemingly from nowhere
- someone made a phone call
- a luxury stationery store opened privately despite being visibly closed
Juniper stopped walking.
"...What."
Reggie looked back calmly.
"You needed a notebook."
Juniper stared at the private shopping experience unfolding before him like a hallucination.
"Reggie."
"Yes?"
"That man just unlocked a store for us."
"Yes."
"Because I wanted to write down a poem."
"Yes."
Juniper grabbed his own face dramatically.
"This is how supervillains court people."
Reggie's mouth twitched.
Inside the shop Juniper wandered in awe while an elderly French employee presented journals like sacred relics.
Juniper picked a dark green leather notebook hesitantly.
"This one feels right."
Reggie nodded once.
"It's yours."
Juniper looked up sharply.
There it was again.
That strange tightening in his chest.
Because nobody had ever treated his little thoughts like important things before.
Not like this.
Not instantly.
Outside again, Juniper looked down at the shopping bag and muttered:
"You're ruining my life."
"Seems dramatic."
"You flew me to Paris overnight."
"You wanted to see the Louvre."
"That's not a NORMAL SENTENCE."
A group of girls across the street suddenly gasped.
One pointed.
Then another.
Juniper froze.
"Oh no."
Reggie sighed softly beside him.
Phones appeared instantly.
Whispers spread.
"Is that—"
"Oh my God it IS him—"
"Who's the guy with him?"
Juniper looked at Reggie accusingly.
"You forgot you're famous."
"I never forget."
"Then why are we walking around like lesbians in a Nancy Meyers movie."
Before Reggie could answer, one girl approached nervously.
"Mr. Vale?"
Reggie's entire demeanor changed subtly.
Colder.
Sharper.
Public.
Juniper noticed immediately.
"Yes?" Reggie said politely.
The girl glanced between them excitedly.
"Are you guys together?"
Juniper opened his mouth instantly.
"No."
At the exact same moment Reggie said:
"Yes."
Silence.
Juniper turned slowly.
The girl looked like she might faint.
Reggie remained completely calm.
Juniper stared at him in absolute betrayal.
"EXCUSE me?"
Reggie looked down at him.
"You said no very aggressively."
"Because we are NOT together."
Reggie considered this.
Then:
"Hm."
"Hm WHAT."
But Reggie just placed one hand against Juniper's lower back gently and guided him forward through the crowd.
And Juniper hated—
absolutely hated—
how naturally he leaned into the touch.
By sunset they ended up beside the river eating pastries from a tiny bakery while Paris glowed gold around them.
Juniper sat on the stone embankment with his new notebook in his lap and the velvet jacket beside him.
"This whole trip feels fake," he admitted quietly.
Reggie sat beside him.
"Why?"
"Because people like you don't usually notice people like me."
Reggie looked genuinely puzzled.
"Juniper. You're impossible not to notice."
That hit hard enough Juniper forgot how to breathe for a second.
The city shimmered around them.
Boats drifted below.
And for one terrifying moment—
Juniper forgot entirely about:
- The Sanctuary
- astrology
- polyamory
- emotional freedom
Because sitting beside Reggie Vale in the fading Paris sunlight felt dangerously close to belonging to someone.