He watches Leah as she tears away the wrapping paper of his gift to her. He plays with his thumbs, anxious to se her reaction. She's not going to like it, he thinks. She can get diamonds and cars from her father, love and jewelry from Robert. What can I give her? A drawing. A stupid drawing that I wasted a stupid Sunday on. I didn't even finish the touch-ups, either. I wouldn't be surprised if she fakes happiness for it.
Finally the paper is on the floor, but the present is being held the wrong way. "It's a picture frame," she says. "Thank you." She smiles at him.
She has to be brighter than this. "It's a little better if you turn it around," Chris adds. He flips it around in her hands to show her the picture he had placed in it, a sheet of glass keeping it from harm. He watches her as she looks over the picture, her face not displaying a single reaction. For a moment, he gets lost in the image of her now. The sunlight of the winter day outside bounces of her hair and lights up half her face. Her eyelashes look so long over her eyes as they move over the detail of the painting. Her lips are so plump, so soft. She looks so perfect, and Chris will do anything to get her.
After a couple of minutes, Chris is growing a bit impatient. "Leah?" he says, but no response. He leans over and waves his hand in front of her face. "Are you going to say anything?"
She looks up at him, looking...surprised? "This is, by far, the best picture I've ever seen in my life. Thank you, so freaking much."
Her words take him by complete surprise. They sound of nothing but truth, and he couldn't be happier. The relief of her liking the gift lifts the anxiousness from him, making his body feel lighter and, once again, perfectly fine. Does he let her know that? Hell no. He just shrugs and half smiles. "I didn't think you'd like it that much. But no problem."
She doesn't take as much time with the rest of the presents as she did with his. She'd look at them, smile kindly, thank them, then place them to the side. Chris notices she never places any of them on top of his. It makes him happy to know that his present means that much to Leah, so much that she won't even risk it getting damaged.
"You're another one," Robert says.
Chris tears his eyes away from Leah to look at Robert.
"Took my chances of impressing Leah right out of my hands. How will I ever prove myself an awesome gift-giver."
He shrugs again. "I didn't know she'd like it. It's just a quick drawing." That I spent an entire day on, he mentally adds.
"You must draw like Da Vinci when you take your time," Leah says, putting aside the very last present. "I absolutely love it. You're really talented."
"After awhile in the facility, they finally let me find a hobby of my own. I ended up finding an interest in art and acting."
"Acting?" Riley asks him, wrapping herself in her brand-new fuzzy blanket. "I never would've pegged you as the acting type."
"Yeah, I didn't, either. They used to gather all the prisoners that liked dramatic arts and put on these stupid little shows for the others. Some were pretty ridiculous, some were really deep, and some were remakes of famous plays. I would laugh at them in the audience at how idiotic they looked, then I ended up taking an interest in getting away from the real me for a while."
"What do you mean by getting away from the real you?" James asks.
"On the stage, you're not you. You're someone either similar to you, or completely different, but you're not you. When I was up there a couple times, it was the first time since I was sent jail," he looks at Edward, "thank you by the way."
