The Sound

Epilogue - 7

Jules groaned and shifted herself on the couch, setting her head on my lap. I looped her hair around my hand, pulling it off her shoulders. She let out a sigh of relief and closed her eyes.

"I'm miserable," she sighed. I grinned and took her hand, squeezing it.

"Oh, really? You've haven't complained once all day about it," I teased. She opened one of her eyes angrily.

"I haven't stopped sweating for hours. I fucking hate summer," she seethed. I beamed down at her, absolutely delighted to see this awful side of Jules.

It seemed that my bright, kind, sunshine-y, find-the-good-in-everything girlfriend had one weakness – summer heat.

This last week had been particularly bad with a heatwave that had come through, and while the heat made Jules finicky and fussy, this heatwave had made her downright mean. Mean like the kind of mean I could be. Snarky and sarcastic, even biting at times.

And I loved it.

I don't even think I had ever really heard her curse before this week, and it was as delightful and funny as when a toddler cursed. She had gotten so bad that Mr. Mullin had pulled me aside one morning and asked if I could keep her at my trailer until the heat wave passed. I agreed, not just because I would always do anything to spend as much time as possible with Jules, but also because of how entertaining this side of her had been.

I twisted her hair gently into a knot on her head, and I took a rag that I had dampened earlier to dab her forehead. She sighed happily, her face not as contorted as before, and I leaned down to kiss her forehead softly. She pouted again.

"Quit being nice to me, it makes me feel worse for being such a bitch," she whined. I barked out a laugh and pulled her closer to me, kissing her face.

"Are you kidding? You're making me feel a little better for how awful I can be," I teased between kisses. She finally gave me a smile, and I pressed my lips to hers gently. She opened her eyes, glaring up at me.

"You have it easy – boys get to just take their shirt off, and immediately cool off," she snapped. I smiled and dabbed her face again.

"I never said you had to keep your shirt on, pretty girl," I flirted before kissing her again. She turned bright red, trying to stay angry.

"Don't try to cheer me up," she hissed, making my smile grow even more. I pressed the cool rag to her collarbones, smirking at her.

"Who says that would cheer you up? I think you being topless would make me downright jovial," I teased, waggling my eyebrows at her. She sneered at me.

"You're lucky I love you as much as I do," she retorted angrily. I grinned, absolutely smitten with her.

"Right back at you, pretty girl," I quipped, kissing her again. She frowned at me, and I brushed some stray hairs out of her face. "What's wrong now?"

"How are you being so nice to me? I'm being a nightmare," she pouted. I smiled at the girl who I had been in love with since I was thirteen, wondering if Seventh Grade Eddie would be as taken with Surly Jules as I was.

"You are so easy to be nice to and love on," I insisted, wiping the sweat from her brow. "Especially because I'm the one who is normally like this."

She smiled a little wider and sat up, twisting towards me on the couch. I leaned back, setting my arm across the back of the couch. I grinned at her as she set an arm around my neck and splayed one of her legs across my thighs. She set her head back on my arm, and I started to play with her hair, making sure I kept it off her shoulders. She reached out and set her hand on my chest.