This Life ? (J.C)

Joy made her way down the hall to her room. She swayed slightly, but not because of her inebriated state, she was tired.

She had confessed to Ryan what she had done two years ago. She wasn't expecting him to fall in Julian's favor; she didn't expect him to believe that Julian had a right to know—two years after the fact.

She couldn't think of a reason to tell Julian the truth. It would only complicate things. No matter what Ryan said, she saw no point in telling Julian of what she had done—what they had done.

"Hey, wait up-" Julian sprinted down the hall, exaggerating his arms in running motion as he jogged. He slowed when reaching her side; his bottom lip clamped between his teeth with a smile and hazy eyes. "What are you doin'?"

Her brows furrowed. "Going to bed?"

"It's eleven thirty." Julian spoke with narrowed eyes, observing her skeptically.

"Yeah, it's my bedtime." Joy tucked her hair behind her ear, watching Julian lean against the wall beside the door. He tapped the panel of the frame with his knuckles, chewing his bottom lip in an attempt to keep from smiling too wide. "What?... What is it?"

"I wanna show you something." Julian spoke deep.

Joy's eyes shifted below his belt, catching a glimpse of his zipper before dragging her sight back to his doe-eyes. "I don't wanna see it." She smirked.

Julian chuckled, pushing himself off the wall in a slump. "C'mon, it'll only take a minute." He waved Joy to follow, making his way down the hall toward his own room.

Joy did a double take, glancing back and forth between her room and Jules—contemplating on turning him down. The truth was, she'd be wide awake once she crawled into bed. But did she trust herself to be alone with him?

He said it'd only take a minute. Joy reminded herself as she strode in Julian's direction, following him into his room.

He shut the door behind her, making his way to the bed. Joy stood at the foyer, keeping her eyes on his back as he bent over, reaching into the nightstand. His crouched position revealed the bare flesh of his lower back—she could see a small bruise just above his waistband.

Julian sat on the edge of the bed, holding a small navy blue box. Her brows meshed in confusion, staring at the item in his hands. He scratched between his nose and lip with a sniffle, holding out the small box to Joy. "Here."

"Wha- what is it?"

"Just open it." He smirked as Joy took the box. He leaned back, bracing his weight into his palms.

She wasn't sure why, but she felt uncomfortable. She opened the box; her brows relaxing when seeing that it was a necklace—a small treble clef as the charm. She smiled; her eyes darting back and forth between Jules and the piece of jewelry.

"You got me a necklace?" She laughed nervously. "Why?"

"Today's your birthday." Julian spoke matter of factly, sitting up with his elbows on his knees.

"You... you remembered my birthday?" Joy stared at Julian in disbelief.

"Yep. I picked it up at some thrift shop in Australia last year. It looked like you- something you would wear. I remember you used to wear that black wired choker. I thought this looked better; more classy." Julian winked.