Chapter 10 OMG!!! I can't believe it!! Maybe I'll actually finish a story for once! YAY

You know the drill so please enjoy!!!

Dinner could've gone any better, Kai decided, and made a mental note to thank Ray and Mariah for blackmailing him into putting this together. They'd eaten at Oliver's earlier, before the usual Friday night rush hit the combinaton French cafe/European restaurant. The tiny white Christmas lights wrapped around the tree branch jutting out from one of the restaurant's walls had flickered in Julia's eyes, making them sparkle. Christmas already? Where had the time gone?

She'd dressed in her usual colour tonight, black, though this time it was accompanied by a white V-neck, long sleeved shirt under her patchworked overhall jumper. The getup gave a bad-ass attitude to her already punk demeanor. The part that had him lifting a brow, when she'd answered her door at four o'clock sharp, had been that she wore knee-high boots of black and white that matched.

She appeared to be a cocky little chick from head to toe. Kai knew differently, and took into account that her hard outer shell was beginning to crack when she was around him. Her side of the phone call, when he'd called to ask her out, had been proved that fact.

He was also beginning to better understand this deal she'd been willing to make... Her three nights for his three wishes... She was into some serious reflection about her job with gAl-gEARL and has wanted to see herself though the eyes of an outsider, check out the view from someone who had no stake in the company. He has a nagging feeling that what was going on with Julia was more than keeping to Judy's straight and narrow. He just couldn't yet put his finger on what it was. Though he's come close a couple of weeks ago when he'd had her cornered and vuneralbe in her office.

When he'd arrived at the open house, Julia's been hiding out in her office, something he knew for a fact wouldn't sit well with the boss. But she'd seemed too caught up in whatever she'd been thinking to care. And then she'd blasted out of nowhere with all that crap and cocky attitude. One minute she was lashing out like a rabid mut, and the next she was cowering away from him like a scared puppy. Someone had hurt her badly, and it was clear she thought he was going to push her back into that situation again.

It would be a cold day in hell before that happened. In fact, he'd wanted to do anything but hurt her. He'd almost come undone just watching her face that day. One more of those breathy shudders on her part, and he wouldn't have been responcible for his actions.

No... She wasn't the tough cookie she'd been trying -for as long as he'd known her- to convince everyone, including herself, she was. He saw the scared little girl she trapped behind her walls. Her scars went deep, maybe just as deep as his went... and that terrified him. He was falling for someone as mess-up as he was had him wanting to run scared. Too bad Kai Hiwatari never ran from anything... because he wanted to right now more than he ever had...

Her outer shell wasn't the only one starting to fall.

The film retrospective started at seven, and with the theatre being right down the block from the restaurant, they'd been able to relax, and enjoy one another's company during dinner... the way a couple should relax and enjoy when out on a date. This surprised both of them. It wasn't too often Julia found herself interrested in what her date had to say, and Kai found he wasn't glancing at his watch wonder how long he had to wait before he could ditch the latest chick Ray, Tyson or Max'd tried to set him up with.

And this was a date, no matter how much she reminded him this was just part of their three-for-three deal. Julia might've complained that dinner, a movie, and back to the bedroom was a lousy idea of a good time, but Kai was planning to make sure he proved two out of three could make for a hell of an evening given the right company. And hopefully, she thought he was the right company...

Slipping into the theatre's seat, he glanced beside him at Julia's dimly lit face, her eyes were still closed. Before he knew what was happening, Kai found himself riding a power wave of emotion that had nothing to do with lust, and everything to do with the beautiful woman sitting beside him. He'd never felt this way about a woman before... He'd never let himself feel this way about a woman before... So what was so special about Julia Fernandez that she'd been able to find a place in his heart without even trying?

He shook his head, pushing that thought to the back of his mind. He would deal with it later. Tonight was all for Julia... Not for gAL-gEAR... Not for her career... Not for her potty mouth... Or her problems with Emily Tompson... Tonight was for the woman she was... The woman who needed to be reminded of everything she had to offer a man besides her knock-out body.

'Can I open my eyes now or are you going to keep me waiting all night?'

Kai caught himself laughing, actually laughing! He's forgotten he'd told her not to look at the theater marguee, the notice of times and listings or the movie posters hanging in the lobby. He'd even kept his hand over her eyes part of the time, just so he knew she wasn't peeking. It was possible that she'd heard the ads and knew exactly what she was about to see. If that was the case she was doing a bang-up job of hiding her excitement. He knew how much she loved this movie.

Julia's lashes fluttered and swept up, her gaze wide and expectant. Kai relaxed a little, and smirked. She moved her head back as if to pull him into focus when what she really wanted was to see those dimples he got when he smiled. 'Having me dependant on you gives you warm fuzzies doesn't it?' His smirk grew into a wide, devilish grin. 'I would think clinging females would be a major pain in the ass for you.'

'They are.'

'Careful Kai.' She warned. 'Your mother's female. Show a little respect to the poor woman!'

Impossible, considering he'd never known his mother... But that was a subject best avoided. 'Give me popcorn.'

She slapped his hand away when he reached toward her lap. 'You said you didn't want any popcorn! That's why you bought the Moca-Chocolate-Fudge Ice-cream!'

Yeah... but that was before the bucket of popcorn had been sitting were it was sitting... 'Changed my mind.'

'Humph.' She muttered, then shushed him as the lights went down and the curtain rose.

When the original preview trailer for The Philadelphia Story began to play on the screen and Julia got her first glimpse of Jimmy Stewart, Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant (her idol), she seemed to forget all about Kai's hand sneeking into her popcorn tub. She didn't even appear to be breathing. She didn't move a single muscle, even the ones it took to blink, and Kai would've noticed if she batted an eye. His gaze was focused on her face, not on the black-and-white action of the trailer. And then she smiled a killed smile that hit him right where it hurt.

She was beautiful! A fact that he'd realized for as long as he'd known her, but for some reason had never fully appreciated it until the past few weeks in her company. Even now, with only the flickering film for light, he could see what he'd been missing.

It was her vulnerability that was doing him in. The soft edge to her hard insistence on continually busting his chops -and those of anyone who dared to butt heads with her.

She tried so hard to be tough. And she was tough. He'd seen her play volleyball. He'd seen her stand up to Em. But he also saw what he imagined her girlfriends saw... the traits that drew their loyality, affection, and solidified the friendships that had endured not only the years, but the stresses and hardships of childhood, working together, and building the business of gAL-gEAR.

Those were the traits that brough him back even after it seemed she'd whacked him off at the knees. He'd never had any woman do that to him before... It was a hard blow to his pride. Damn... she had a lot going for her... She also had just as much, if not more, going against her. He couldn't help but think that her attitude about men was to blame for it all... more specifically, it was the man who distoryed her fath in the oppoiste sex that was to blame.

He needed a strong woman at his side, and Julia never failed to show him she was just that, but he didn't need to fall for a woman struggling with as much baggage as he was.

Tyson was the one who went for damselss in distress, not him.

A soft noise brought his attention back to the movie. An Affair to Remember... He thought the marguee had said that's what this one was. Apparently a classic, though he wasn't much into these old productions. He turned to Julia, figuring she'd know, and found that she'd grown prefectly still at his side, her hand hovering over the bucket of popcorn in her lap, her eyes wide and unblinking as she stared straight ahead. And then he heard it again, a cross between a sniffle and a sob, so tiny, nearly imperceptible. He had not seen the hitch in her chest he might no have realized she was the one who was crying.

Wait...

Julia was crying?!

What the hell was there to cry about?! Oh, he wasn't up to dealing with a crying female. Nope. He found it hard enough to deal with his sister when she'd cried as a infant! What was he supposed to do with a grown woman bawling her eyes out?!

He didn't have to wory for long because she cuddled into him and tucked her head into the crook of his neck. Awkwardly, he shifted in the old-fashioned seat and leaned toward her, slipping his arm around her shoulder as he did. She was cold, that's why she cuddled. He rubbed his palm up and down her thinly covered arm. She only cuddled deeper into his side.

The sappy movie was to blame for the crying coming out of nowhere! What else could it be? ...Not that he'd paid much attention to what was going on between Cary Grant and the actress on screen. But now it looked like someone had died, and there was an old lace shawl that meant something to Grant's chacter...

Kai brough his lips close to Julia's head and whispered. 'Sorry.'

She looked up, her expression one of confusion, her eyes wide and wet and intoxicating in the inconsistent lighting thrown by the film. 'For what?!' Her question was mouthed more than spoken.

'The movie's making you blubber.'

'Don't be an idiot!' She reached over and cupped his jaw, her soft touch at odds with her name-calling. 'I'm blubbering because I love this movie! It's sad and romantic and... sappy.'

Romantic he didn't know about, since he hadn't been paying much attention to the story unfolding on-screen. But even now what was happening with the movie was nothing compared to what was happening here, with Julia's nose nuzzling the skin just below his ear.

It was a soft nuzzling. A gentle brush of her warm skin to his cooler, rougher cheek. He shivered at a touch from her slightly parted lips, she cuddled even closer. 'You're missing the movie.' He muttered.

She murmured something in responce but he couldn't hear it.

He pulled back to look into her eyes, to see if she'd stopped crying, if she was using his cheek to hide her tears, or just as a toy for her lips. If he hadn't been sitting against the wall, with a dozen legs between his seat and the isle, he would've popped up and out for a soda he didn't need. What he saw cracked open, with frightening ease, his vow to avoid all damsels in distress. It bashed his resolve to leave her at her front door at the end of the night. Damn, he was in trouble...

As it was, he couldn't pull his gaze away from her face. And when she raised her head, her eyes questioning, her lips trembling and seeking, he lowered his mouth to hers. It was the frist time they'd kisses like this, and he knew he'd remember it forever because she tasted like salt and warm buttered popcorn.

They'd once shared a kiss meant for show while under the influence of wise-cracks, a dare, and too much tequila. But this wasn't that kiss. This kiss was real, possessing more true intimacy than the sexual encounters they'd shared.

Her lips were soft and tentatively searching, as if she wasn't sure he'd want to accept the sweet offer of her mouth. As if she was afraid he'd turn her away. Had some other man turned her away from the love she was so clearly seeking?

He'd never known a woman so contradictory, so confounding, or a woman he wanted to kiss more. He settled his mouth over hers and answered her unspoken question. The kiss was nothing more than a brush of contact, a moment of simplicity and innocence. But it stabbed Kai in the gut with its sharp insistence that simplicity and innocence weren't what they appeared to be when it came to Julia Fernandez.

Julia had never been innocent. He knew virtually nothing about her past, but he tasted her strong desire to be wanted, her deep, piercing need for acceptance. And he knew, as her tongue tocuhed his lips and her mouth opened under his, he knew.

It didn't matter that she claimed to know men, that she professed to have experience in relationships, that she said she knew all about romance. Kai knew better. He knew the truth. Her mouth told him the difference. With the gentle, rubbing press of her lips to his, and the tender caress of her hands as the bunched into his hair, her mouth told him.

She was simply looking to be loved.

The Phiadelphia Story is an amazing movie, even though it was created in 1940. It made me laugh so hard, and An Affiar to Remeber is just as good. You'll cry though it. T.T I love it so much. If you everh have the chance to watch it, please do.

XD Kai's a popcorn thief! YAY! LOL

Well I hope you all enjoyed the tenth chapter. Next time... things get a little tense at the gLOWING gIRL conpetition...

Dong-Chun-Mei