Snippet #1937793

James laughed, not his usually cocky, I am the best HA HA! laugh, but a deep one that hurt his ribs. For some reason, the look on her face... the feeling that she seemed happy to have come was like a light in his heart that lifted up all the weight he had been feeling earlier. While he felt anxious about what was to come, and a little cold, all he could do was laugh. Coughing to try and get control of himself, he flashed a bright smile through wobbly lips that still tried to produce that proud laugh, "I am glad... I spent weeks trying to prepare this for you." He let slip before he realized he did. Oh... He wished he could take back those words because they made him feel vulnerable and desperate. He felt like a child hopping his mother would tell him good job and give him a kiss.

Shaking his head, he offered her a towel that was hanging on one of the Christmas light strands. "Here... You might catch a cold." Well, that was true... but so could he. James really said it to buy himself a few more seconds before taking the final plunge that made him feel like he was about to throw up his heart and trample on it. He knew he was not the most... well... transparent person as he kept most people at a distance as it was easier that way, so he only hoped she got the message because he knew he would never be able to say it out right. While he felt like a coward, the idea of telling Ray he liked her terrified him to no end, what made it worse was the fact that there was a good chance she might just brush this off as him having a 'weird' James moment.

Slowly reaching into his wet pocket, his fingers enclosed around the chain of the amulet, and he took a breath, "Here's your present..." His voice died off as he mentally counted to force himself to do it. Three.... Two.... One... One... Damn it!... Closing his eyes and holding his breath, he pulled it out. The aquamarine locked within the white gold swung down freely from the chain. The aquamarine was an intense dark sea blue that seemed to suck the light around it into itself. "Happy late birthday." James let out it a rush.