Thanks to Music [complete]

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

Julien's POV

After the show, as she was ranting about how hot Chris Hemsworth was and how Natalie Portman's looks should be illegalized and how she wished she had Tom Hiddleston's smart mouth, I secretly delighted in her voice, feeling as though I hadn't heard it for so long. With her rambling, I easily, smoothly led her to the location of my first gift.

At the watch shop, I purposely ignored the red-cheeked Asian chick who was so checking me out, and asked with the necessary politeness for the watch I booked yesterday. To be honest, the idea to get her something only hit me two hours before the mall closing time, and I probably pissed off a lot of the shop owners who were getting ready to close. That was when I remembered her...umm...watch, if it could even be called that. So I strode into the closest shop and cast my eyes about for the perfect thing. It didn't even take me long to settle for the Casio watch. It cost me 400 something but if she liked it - which I hoped she would - it'd be worth it just to see the look on her face.

Her scrunched up nose and furrowed eyebrows made me adore her even more, and I knew she was just bursting with anticipation. I took my time taking it out of the shop, the box still closed, taking note of her twitching fingers. It was hard to supress my laugh, but that didn't mean I couldn't smile. As we got closer to the railing, her face was almost red. Honestly, it was funny, but I sobered up.

Just as she was about to spotaneously combust, I opened the box, and watched her face light up. Damn, that was heaven. I watched her nervously as she reached out and stroked it with her finger with an unreadable expression on her face. Surprise? Shock? Disgust? Oh, dear God, please let it be anything but disgust.

She was quiet for so long, I was going to pull a Jamie and start rambling about how I'll take it back and everything, getting more panicky by the second. Then she exhaled slowly, and I saw the wonder portrayed in her eyes. "How did you know this was the one I wanted?" she asked breathlessly, not taking her eyes off the watch. I have to admit, it was a damn pretty watch.

My insides lit up with a hundreds of candles. She wanted this? I thought joyfully, hoping I didn't accidentally voice my thoughts. This was the one she wanted? Oh, I still have taste. But the thought that pulsed through my mind and ignited firecrackers was, I still know what she likes. It gave me such a joy that I almost didn't answer.

Carefully, I unbuckled the fragile old watch that served as her memorial timepiece and set it in her hand. Despite my dislike of that watch because it...well, it just wasn't my style, I knew how much she treasured it. As I slipped her brand new one that fit perfectly onto her wrist, as sparky bolts of fire tickled my skin where I touched her. I watched her stare at it appreciatively, lifting it up to the light where it shone, smiling like a little schoolgirl. I could almost imagine her in a white and black uniform with small red ribbons tying up pigtails, but this was so not the moment.

Instead, I smiled. I still knew how to make her happy, how to make her smile. That was all that mattered for now. I never really spent anything on anyone. Family didn't count, I always got them something for their birthdays and Christmas. Most of my soundtech and instruments were mine, as were the rents I paid for the use of higher class recording rooms. On girls, most to most a lunch. Even though this watch sucked up quite a bit of my money, the look on her face was more than worth it.

Suddenly she threw her arms around me. It startled me, threw me off balance even, but I managed to stand my ground despite the cheeky desire to fall backwards and have her on top of me instead. "Thank you so much," she said into my chest, tickling me and warming me at the same time. I lit up like fireflies at night. "Thank you."