AN: Took forever, but here it is. I hope it's satisfactory. If not I'll just redo it. :P

Thanks to all of you who've reviewed so far! Tellin' me that I can take all the time I need! That's so nice! ^_^

Disclaimer: Nope.


G is for Girly

"Thank you, Jericho," Kole murmured, stepping away from him in the quietest manner possible.

Thanking him for the date failed to lift the dark aura that had eclipsed her boyfriend sometime between the last two dates and this one. He had arrived with it and it had remained unresolved all night, which deeply unsettled Kole.

His blood boiled. "You don't mean that," he signed. His movements were animated by his frustration, and Kole shrank back at the display.

"But I am thankful!" she insisted, tears rushing to her eyes. They shimmered, alerting Jericho to their presence.

Expression lightening, if only a little, Jericho tried again to look at things from Kole's perspective, through her teary eyes. Had he done something to justify her aloof behavior? Was he being the irrational one? She'd been cold to him all month, presumably without reason, and he despised her for it. Well... he didn't despise her, since he had the sneaking feeling that the cause of her stiffness was someone else. Acting all cold and indifferent wasn't the way Kole operated when left to her own devices. So who had marshed her mellow? Had he done it?

Trying to unravel the mystery was hard given what little evidence Jericho had. He'd do something sweet like buy her flowers or hold her hand, but she'd have none of it! Yes, she'd take the flowers and let him hold her hand, looking grateful for the attention all the time, but then, without warning, a gloom would darken her pretty face. Passivity -near passive aggressiveness- would win over her gratitude. Her cheek would rid itself of all color; her arm would hang carelessly, her fingers limp and unresponsive.

"Are you mad at me for something?" he asked candidly.

Surprised by the question, Kole blubbered, "Oh, no! I just-" she sighed.

"What?"

"I don't wanna look dorky in front of you..."

Jericho almost laughed, though his eyes did bug out of his head a bit. Dorky? It was laughable!

"How-" He smiled. "How would you have looked dorky?"

Kole sighed again, more heavily than before. Hesitating, she admitted, "If I showed you how much I love hanging out with you and getting presents from you, and for you, and how much I like being with you, then..." She began to rage, "I'd always have this stupid smile on my face and I'd giggle all the time and you'd think I was dorky!"

Jericho couldn't help it that time. He dropped his head and began to laugh.

"Jericho..." Kole whined, "don't laugh at me like... like I'm stupid."

Craning his head and arching an eyebrow, smile turning into a cocky smirk, Jericho signed, "You're just a girl." Before Kole could cut in with a question like "what do you mean?", Jericho straightened up and explained himself. "All girls are self-conscious and afraid they might look weird in front of someone who might make fun of them. Maybe not all the time, but in front of a boyfriend? Probably, yeah. You aren't even confident to begin with, so I get why you think I think you're dorky. You probably see yourself as a dork, don't you?"

"Don't...!" Kole seemed to be at a loss for words. Her eyes flitted from him to the ground and back.

Letting both eyebrows raise, Jericho strode toward her. Any precious personal space that had once stood between the two lovers was lost. "Don't what?" he challenged.

"Ask stuff like that..." She looked away.

"Because it's true?"

"No! I'm not a dork because I don't do that stuff! I don't giggle or blush anymore, so I'm not weird around you! I'm cool and calm and collected!"

"Kole, I'm asking because that is weird. Not blushing? Are you even Kole anymore? Because the Kole I fell in love with blushed alot."

Embarrassment bloomed across Kole's cheeks. "I do blush, just not when you're around."

"OK, stop that. Blush more. Throw me a bone so I know what I'm doing right." Jericho shrugged, as if that were the easiest thing in the world.

For Kole, it would be. It was a great strain filtering her emotions so that only the ones that she wanted to show would appear on her face and in her actions. But blushing and smiling had always come to her as easily as rage and fury ignited Hot Spot. Quite easily.

"Thanks, Jerry," she mumbled shyly. Gone was the threat of tears, and her happy smile bounced back. What relieved Jericho to no end, though, was the warm hug that she gave him.

With her head tucked comfortably under his chin, Jericho mouthed, "Now that was a proper thank you."


AN: For the longest time I had no idea what to do for this letter. GAH! Now I have something! :D I kinda rushed through it, but I think it's understandable. I think it flows too, but I might be wrong... Eventually the story gets muddled, like, after the tenth edit.

If you like it, let me know! Thanks for reading!