"You know what I'm thinking?" Julie asked Tim.

It was Thursday night and the pair was cuddled together in front of Tim's television, an action movie playing in front of them. Instead of a couch, they were lying together on a pallet made of blankets—Julie had affectionately come refer to their evening's at Tim's as "camping in" due to the lack of furniture in his apartment.

"What were you thinking?" he asked, his fingers running absentmindedly through Julie's hair.

"Maybe you should get some furniture," she suggested.

"But then," he said, "I won't be able to cuddle with you on the floor."

"Tim, you don't even have a kitchen table or proper dishes. And wouldn't it be nice to have somewhere besides the floor to watch Sports Center after you get home from practice?" she argued casually. They had eaten dinner on paper plates tonight for the second time this week. It was a shame that his beautiful, Upper East Side brownstone was void of furniture.

"Jules, you know I hate shopping and I have furniture," Tim countered, sounding a bit like a little boy whose mom was forcing him to eat vegetables.

"You have a bed and a TV."

"Well, what else do you need?"

"Tim," Julie said, pleading with her eyes for him to see reason.

Finally, he conceded. "I guess I do need some basics."

"You do," she agreed.

"Wanna go Saturday?"

"Wait, how did I get drawn into this?"

"Well," Tim paused, "you are here a lot, I don't want to buy stuff you can't stand the sight of. Plus, if you go then it can be assured that I buy things that are...appropriate."

"Appropriate?"

"Yes, appropriate. Nice furniture, not Lay-Z-Boys and beer coolers. I mean, you saw the house Billy and I lived in in Dillon; I'm not exactly an interior designer or anything."

She giggled. "Well, neither am I."

"But you're a chick," he explained. "Shopping is like...in your genes."

"Well, I guess that is true," Julie admitted.

"So, Saturday?" Tim asked.

"Saturday," Julie confirmed. "You want anymore popcorn?" She stood from the floor and walked into the kitchen with the now empty bowl.

Tim shook his head no. "I'm good."

"Beer?" she called from the kitchen.

"I'm gonna need it to start preparing myself for Saturday morning."

–

"What about this one?" Julie asked as they wound through the third furniture store of the day. Already they had been shopping for a solid three hours and the only purchases Tim had made were an entertainment center, dishes and silverware, and a chair.

Tim scrunched up his nose. "Too dark," he said in reference to the sofa she was standing in front of.

"I think it comes in other colors," Julie said, exasperation evident in her voice. "Just try it out."

Sighing, Tim fell back onto the sofa; he was bored with this whole shopping bit and was about an hour away from giving Julie his credit card and telling her to choose something she knew he would like and head to the closest bar for a beer.

"This is nice," he said, allowing his head to fall back and closing his eyes.

"Here," Julie sat next to him and handed him a few swatches of fabric, "do you like any of these."

"That one," he said, pointing to a light beige swatch.

"Are you sure? Is that, like, the theme you want to go with? Light and airy?"

"Jules," he pleaded, "I don't really care as long as it's comfortable."

"Then I think you should go with the darker shade. It's more rugged-like."

"Rugged-like?" Tim asked with humor in his voice.

"Yeah, I mean don't you want your home to feel, I don't know, homey or something? More West Texas than Upper East Side?"

"I guess so," he hadn't really thought about it before to be honest. She did make a good point, he realized. Tim wanted his home to be somewhere he could escape to, somewhere he was comfortable with.

"Yeah," he nodded, this time an image of what he wanted his home to look like flooding his thoughts. "Definitely the darker shade," he confirmed.

"So, then you're settled on this one?" Julie asked just to make sure.

Again, he nodded; in his mind, he was trying to figure out how Julie had been able to envision what he wanted before he had.

He ran his hands through his hair. "Yes."

"So, sofa, check," Julie said, mentally checking off the things he still needed in her head. Really, he only needed a few more large items—a dresser and a kitchen table and chairs—and a lot of small items like lamps and end tables.

"I think we need to take a break," Tim said. His head had fallen back against the sofa he had closed his eyes again.

Julie sighed, she just wanted to finish shopping. It was making her tired and Tim kind of cranky; she could tell it definitely wasn't his cup of tea. In Tim's defense, he had warned her that he didn't enjoy the activity.

"Come here," he pleaded, eyes still closed, as he extended his arm across the back of the couch.

Giving in to his pleas for a break, Julie allowed herself to settle against him, her head in the crook of his shoulder as his arm curled around her.

"Maybe a break wouldn't be so bad," she said as she cuddled up against him.

"I told you," he whispered in her ear She giggled quietly, allowing herself to truly relax as all thoughts of necessary household items slipped from her mind.

"Excuse me, but you aren't allowed to sit on the furniture for an extended period of time," a sales associate spat while hovering above them.

Julie instantly stood, followed by Tim. "Sorry, uh, who do I need to see about purchasing this sofa and having it delivered?" Tim asked after gathering his thoughts.

"That depends," the man said in a snobbish tone, "on where you are having it delivered."

Tim rattled off his 5th Avenue address, eliciting an eyebrow raise from the sale associated. Quickly, his tone changed. "I see, well let's head up to the office and get this taken care of."

–

"I need a drink," Tim exhaled as they exited the final store of the day.

He had successfully purchased everything that Julie deemed necessary to make a home livable, all to be delivered by the end of the week.

"Me too," Julie agreed. Her feet were aching, her head hurt, and her shoulders were completely tense.

"No tequila," Tim said immediately, only kind of joking.

"Deal," Julie said with a chuckle.

A few blocks down, they came upon a bar that Tim identified as 'his kind of place,' so they went in and settled at the bar, both ordering beers.

"Thanks for coming with me today Jules," Tim said after drinking half of his beer in one sip.

"You're welcome, though once you finally decided what you wanted you really didn't need me."

"I wouldn't have known what I wanted if you hadn't helped," he informed her.

"Really?" Julie hadn't noticed that she had made such an impact.

Tim nodded. "You're whole 'rugged-like' comment gave me inspiration."

"Well, I just know you would have hated the colors you were starting to settle on," she said, shaking her head as if to prove her point.

"I know," he admitted, "you realized what I wanted before I did."

She grinned. "I guess I did."

Their conversation quieted after that, both enjoying their cold drinks and the opportunity to sit and relax after a long day. Still early, the bar was quiet enough that they could both allow their thoughts to wander.

"So, I've been thinking," Julie said halfway through both of their second beers.

"Uh oh," Tim tensed, worried that it would lead to another shopping adventure.

"I promise no more shopping," she assured him as if reading his mind. "But I was thinking, maybe after you get all of your stuff delivered you could have Jay and Erin over for dinner or something, kind of like a housewarming thing. They could bring Noah, I'd help you cook if you wanted."

Tim pondered this. "I'd like that."

"So would I," Julie grinned.

A/N: So, thoughts? Ideas? Likes/dislikes? Let me know! Thanks again for reading!