Chapter 8: Silly Little Details

Junie took a little more care in getting ready that evening. Callie's reminder to do something special was weighing heavily on her mind. She didn't like to wear make-up unless one of her cosplays called for it, but she put on just a tiny bit of eyeliner and some lip gloss that night. She chose a simple, but cute button-up cream-colored blouse and white slacks.

As was her ritual each day Kian came to pick her up for their daily date, Junie waited outside her apartment for him, standing on a street corner. She had yet to invite him into her home and she couldn't really explain why. There were a number of reasons, but she didn't know if there was really a main one. She was embarrassed by how messy her home was, but she knew deep down that wasn't a huge reason.

Junie straightened and smiled widely when Kian's silver car appeared from around the corner. Kian often complained that his car was hard to find in parking lots because of its common color. He attempted to remedy the issue by putting old 90s cartoon stickers on the bumper. As soon as his car was within reach, Junie opened the passenger side door. Kian liked to get out and open the door for her, but Junie didn't want him doing that today, already on edge because it was her birthday. She felt her nerves building up at the thought that she was going to have to try to act extra normal to not raise suspicion.

Kian was moving to open his door when hers flew open. His eyebrows raised, but he offered her a grin that didn't quite reach his eyes. "I like your outfit. You're cute."

She bit her lower lip and looked away before forcing herself to meet his gaze and smile at him. She climbed into the car carefully, suddenly self-conscious. It was a terrible thing that happened whenever she was paid a compliment, suddenly she became very aware of every movement she made, feeling as if she was on display.

"I just felt like dressing up a little bit today," she said as they pulled away from her apartment. She glanced at Kian from the corner of her eye to gauge his reaction, but his face was unreadable. Her eyebrows furrowed and then went up when she saw that he wasn't wearing one of his usual graphic t-shirts. He was wearing a short-sleeve white and blue button-up. This was odd for Kian, who loved his t-shirts and gray jeans. They were similar in that way, preferring to dress for comfort rather than looks.

Kian caught her look. "I guess I decided to dress up a little as well." He had a strange tone to his voice, almost thoughtful.

She laughed a little awkwardly. "Maybe we should go to the opera or something," she teased. She frowned when he didn't share in her laughter. "Is something wrong? Did you not have a good day at work or something?" She finally turned to get a good look at him to see that he seemed a bit tense, his shoulders tight and his hands gripped firmly onto the steering wheel. His lips were taut, and his dark chocolate-colored eyes stared straight ahead but seemed to not really see anything in front of them.

"Work was fine," Kian said curtly. Junie could tell this time by his tone that he wanted to say something else, but he seemed to bite his tongue.

This was new territory for Junie and she was at a loss as to how to proceed. He was upset, that much was obvious, but she didn't know why. She decided that she would have liked to not be pushed on the matter if she was in his place, so decided it was best to just change the subject. "So, where do you feel like going today?"

Kian pursed his lips. "I'd like you to choose where we go today."

His response might not have seemed out of the ordinary, but for the past week, Junie had been able to convince Kian to choose their destinations. When he would try to get her to choose, she would just stubbornly insist that he made the decision.

Junie had a bad feeling that she knew what this was about but pushed the feeling away. She laughed nervously. "You know I don't really care where we go. And besides, you always have such good ideas on where to go."

"Please, Junie," Kian said, his voice serious. They were at a red light, so he turned to look at her and she was shocked by the almost desperate expression he wore. "Please choose somewhere. Just for today."

The bad feeling returned, stronger this time. She swallowed. "Why?"

The light turned green so Kian focused his attention back on the road. His hands tightened even more on the steering wheel. "It just feels like.." he paused for a moment. "It just feels like the birthday girl ought to choose how to spend the evening."

Silence filled the car. Kian looked at Junie awkwardly, but she had shifted so that she was facing away from him, looking intently out the window. She knew he'd have to strain to hear the words that left her lips when she finally spoke.

"I'm going to kill Callie."

Kian glanced over at her in alarm, hearing the way her voice trembled. "Don't be mad at her," he said as gently as he could. "She just really wants you to do something special today, and to be honest, so do I." He then turned suddenly into a residential area and pulled over, shifting the car into park before taking his seatbelt off so he could face Junie fully.

"She still had no right to tell you," Junie snapped, eyes flashing angrily. "I told her not to tell you, very clearly." She turned her angry eyes on him and her face immediately softened.

Kian looked like he had been slapped, his eyes wide. "You really didn't want me to know your birthday that badly?"

Junie turned in her seat so she could look him in the eye. She swallowed. She wasn't used to keeping eye contact with people, and she found Kian's bright eyes made her very shy. She forced herself to keep his gaze though. "It's not that exactly. It's just that the only ones who know when my birthday is are my parents and a few other family members."

Kian didn't look like he was at all soothed by this fact. He furrowed his thick eyebrows. "Why were you so against me knowing your birthday?"

Her face flamed under his intense gaze. She felt her shoulders lift in a shrug. "I don't know," she said, looking away. "I'm just a private person, I guess." She jumped when Kian's fingers found the side of her face, turning her head so she was once again looking at him.

He was smiling that soft smile. "I guess I've learned that since meeting you," he said with a light chuckle. "I feel like you've learned a lot about me, but I hardly know anything about you. Birthdays kind of feel like the bare minimum I should know about you by this point."

Junie felt Kian's fingers getting cooler and she realized with a start that it had to be because her face was heating up, and heating up fast. "I just never really celebrated my birthday, y'know?" she said quickly, feeling as if she was rambling.

"I get that," he murmured. He let out a sigh. "I'm sorry that my knowing upset you, but can you really blame me for wanting to get to know you better?"

Junie bit her lip and she shook her head, knowing that she couldn't really argue with that point. She completely understood since she'd spent the past couple of weeks wanting to learn everything there was to learn about Kian. Even silly little details like the names of his elementary school teachers were of great interest to her.

"I want to get to know you better too," she admitted in a quiet murmur. She swallowed, wanting to pull away from Kian's touch, but also wanting to feel the warm tingling in her chest forever.

Too soon, Kian lowered his hand and put his seatbelt back on. "So, you really don't know where you want to go?" He gave her a sideways glance, but he had a teasing smirk on.

Junie smiled too, glad that their dark mood seemed to be lifting. "I can try to think of somewhere if you really want me to."

Kian was already pulling into the road before Junie even had her seatbelt all the way on. He grinned at her. "No need. I know where to go."