A little background for this story, it is set early on, as I don't think Matt would buy something like this gift later in their relationship.
I also wrote this because Janglyspur and I decided that there is just too much angst around here and that we needed something really mushy. However you prolly won't see mushy until the end. This was also written in honor of St. Valentine's Day on Thursday Please enjoy.
Disclaimer: I don't own 'em. You know who does.
The Gift
Matt Dillon looked up and blinked his bleary eyes. He felt like he had just fallen asleep but looking out the window he knew that wasn't true. He just wanted to get back to Dodge and back to Kitty. She didn't know, there was no way that she could, that he was bringing back something special for her from this trip.
In fact, Matt had suprised himself when he had stepped into that store and then walked back out craddling the package under his arm. He had never been one much on giving gifts to people, usually didn't have the money to give them either, but when he had saw this particular item sitting in the window of that little Wichita store, it seemed to call to him to take a closer look.
After stepping into the store Matt had felt as out of place, like his hands and feet were much to large and if he touched anything it would instantly break. Kinda like I feel when I'm with Kitty sometimes. He thought to himself and smiled. He moved slowly towards the item he had seen in the window before he was approached by a clerk.
The girl couldn't have been much older than Matt or Kitty themselves and Matt gave her the appreciative glance of a taken man before returning his eyes to their browsing over the shelves full of items.
"Can I help you sir?" the girl asked. The man that had just entered her father's store was tall and skinny and seemed awfully out of place.
"Uhm, I'm looking for a gift, for uh, for someone special." Matt said, suddenly unsure of himself.
"Well who is she? Your mother, your sister, your sweetheart?" the girl asked. It would be easier to help this gentleman if she knew who he was buying a gift for, so she watched his reaction to each mention of any type of woman in his life. She watched as a deep pink blush crept up his neck at the mention of the word sweetheart and grinned. "Is she pretty special to you? Your sweetheart, I mean?" the girl asked. She always had the most fun with young men coming to buy gifts for sweethearts.
Matt gave the girl a dumbfounded look, surprised that she knew who he wanted a gift for without him saying a word before simply saying "Yes."
The girl turned around then and said, "Well, I see you were looking at this music box, it's pretty."
Matt nodded in agreement. Still feeling unsure of himself he said, "I guess, that's kind of what caught my interest." He left his eyes downcast as he said this.
"Well it's a nice music box, sure but what about something else?" The girl asked. She led Matt to a shelf full of picture frames and trinkets. "Any girl would like something like this."
Matt looked at the things on the shelf and nodded in agreement. "Yes those sure are nice, but.."
He couldn't finish his sentence because the girl interrupted him again, "How about jewelery? All girls love pretty jewelry."
Matt followed her toward the large display case in the front of the store. There the girl showed him a wide variety of jewelry, all things that Matt knew that Kitty would be thrilled to receive, especially from him. He let his eyes stray for a moment to the rings, and felt the sudden urge to go over and look closer.
As much as he wanted to keep Kitty safe, he still had the urge to put a ring on her slender finger and make her Mrs. Matthew Dillon, but that was a secret that would remain in his heart.
The girl store clerk stood close by, but didn't say anything more as Matt continued to look for the perfect gift for Kitty. She always thought that men were funny. They always seemed so confused when she presented them with the assortment of trinkets, jewelry, and other fine gifts that her fathers store contained. It just seemed to overwhelm them, and most for at least a moment looked lost and confused.
Matt had to admit he had never seen such an array of trinkets, not even in the store in Dodge. He wondered what it was with these bigger towns that they needed all these novelties. Still here he was lookin' around and probably lookin' like a fool. He looked up and found the girl still patiently waiting for him to make his selection and then back down at the case in front of me. Sticking out a long finger, he pointed and said, "I'll take that one miss."
The girl reached into the case and pulled out the selected item, "Is there anything else I can get ya Mister?" she asked.
Matt looked back over at window and to the item that had first given him the courage to step into this store. He nodded to the girl and stepped back to the window picked up the item and returned with it to the counter.
"Will this be all for ya mister?"
"Yes'm." was Matt's response.
The girl totaled up the bill on her piece of paper and looked at Matt. "That'll be two dollars mister. Would ya like me to wrap these things up?"
Again Matt only nodded as he dug deep into the pocket of his dark dress pants for two dollars. Then as an afterthought he said, "Would you please put the smaller item inside the larger one before you wrap them up?"
The girls smiled and nodded and set back to her task of wrapping up Matt's purchases.
When Matt stepped back out on the boardwalk he felt like a different man and as he headed to the stage depot he knew that he wouldn't be able to get back to Dodge fast enough.