I blinked. Once. Twice.
He… remembered?
The scene on the bus flashed in my head: the way he caught me reading, the way his voice brushed low when he said, “That character should’ve done this instead.” And how mortified I was that he was reading over my shoulder.
And now this?
I ran my fingers over the embossed letters on the cover, tracing the gold as if it were fragile. “Y-you—” I started, my voice barely above a whisper.
He glanced up finally, his expression unreadable.
“I figured…” he said slowly, pausing to clear his throat. “You like reading. You looked—uh—really into it last time. Thought you’d like a… another one? A physical book.”
Another one.
Right. Like this wasn’t the most thoughtful thing anyone had done for me all year.
“Thank you,” I said, smooth, no stutter, voice barely above a whisper.
He leaned back against his chair, rubbing his jaw, as if he were trying to hide how awkward he felt.
“It’s supposed to be a good one. The woman at the store said it’s, uh… ‘romantic and emotionally devastating.’”
That earned the smallest laugh from me
Emotionally devastating.
He really picked that.
Honey meowed from the floor, brushing against my leg as if it was nudging me to say something, do something.
I looked back at Joshua, really looked this time: the messy hair, the sleeves rolled up, the faint nervous twitch in his fingers as if he wanted to say more but didn’t know how.
“…It’s perfect,” I whispered finally, hugging the book to my chest.
His eyes flickered up at that, and for the first time all night, he smiled.
Not the smirk.
Not the forced grin.
A small, real, almost shy smile.
I looked down, tracing the edges of the cover, that fluttery ache still caught in my chest, when he finally spoke again quietly, like he didn’t want to ruin the moment but couldn’t stop himself either.
“Try to finish it,” he said, eyes still on the faint light flickering off the Christmas tree. “Before… you know.”
I looked up. “B-before?”
He shifted in his seat, jaw tightening, as if the words themselves tasted bad. “Before the time’s up.”
Oh.
Right.
Before my arm heals.
Before I go.
