semi-automatic ; j.d

sixty eight ; painting nails

"josh, it's like coloring. stay in the lines."

his eyes draw up through his eyelashes, giving mia an annoyed look. "well maybe i like making my own lines," he says back with a matter-of-a-factly tone.

mia sighs with contempt. "that's now how it works, jishwa."

"what - are you the painting nails expert or something?" sasses the cherry haired boy while the nail polish brush in his hand creates a vertical line of rose gold down mia's index finger.

"well no, but i'm pretty sure the polish isn't supposed to be halfway down my knuckle."

josh lets out a heavy sigh before moving on to the next nail-her ring finger. "it's a work in progress. it's art."

"you're art," she shoots back and with her other hand, the one not being painted, she boops his nose. this makes his expression change into a broad grin, the skin by his eyes crinkling until the iris's of brown become like tiny beads.

"your birthday's coming up," says josh with a nonchalant tone, though mischief lingers in the under layers of his voice. "the big two-one, huh?"

mia slowly nods her head. the way he said it makes the brunette girl wonder what he's leading up to. "mhm. eleven days."

of course he already knows that crucial fact. "i was thinking," he begins whilst his eyes carefully stay attentive to mia's fingernail. "that maybe we could do something really fun. like go on a trip."

"a trip?" mia repeats while her eyebrow raises. "to where?"

josh makes an awfully cute gesture of shrugging his shoulders. "no where. everywhere. we could go on a road trip and just spend the day driving." he knows that mia loves long car rides, loves the scenery and the openness of adventure.

"i'd like that," says the brunette with a small smile.

josh seems pretty proud with himself, and it shows on the cheeky smile playing at his lips. "cool," he replies under his breath with a satisfied nod of floppy red hair.

it's quiet between the two of them as josh goes back to painting - er, attempting to paint - mia's nails. like always, the record player is spinning some ambient, acoustic vinyl with its soft melodies drowning out the silence and fitting the silence as perfect as a good pair of shoes.

the aroma of a candle, in the scent island margarita, saturates the room with a sweet and citrus lingering aura. josh finds it sort of hilarious that his fiancé ( yes, he still grins every time he realizes mia's engaged to him ) burns candles in the heat of the summer.

"m'kay," tsks josh while twisting the top of the nail polish bottle back onto its container. he sits back, leaning up against the side of the bed, and inspects his work.

mia glances down at her messily painted nails. of course its nowhere near perfect, but it's not an absolute train wreck, either. as far as boys painting nails go, josh isn't the worst.

"would 'cha look at that, they don't look like complete shit," she says observantly while her eyes scan back and forth over her hands. "i'm kinda proud."

josh rolls his eyes with a heavy scoff proceeding the movement of his eyes. "you're welcome."

mia carefully pushes herself up from the carpeted floor, making sure not to smudge her newly-done nails. after walking the short distance over to the record player, she plops back down in front of it and goes to turn over the vinyl.

"can you put on self titled?" asks josh from his spot on the floor. he absentmindedly runs his fingers through his wild, messy locks that are getting too long to be styled in their usual way, so they just kind of flop in a heap on top of his head.

she answers with a nod and carefully removes the current record, slipping it back into its sleeve. after setting it back into the bin of disorganized music, she starts sifting through to find the desired album.

josh crawls over to mia and stops right behind her. "number eight," he suggests as he sees her finally locate the record and pull it out of its sleeve. he puts his legs on either side of her and lazily drapes his arms around her small waist. with intention, josh starts to pull her into him.

"gimme a sec," mia pleades, a soft giggle escaping her lips as she meticulously sets the needle of the record player on the third line of the black circular vinyl. the quiet sound of static is audible for only a second before tyler's melodic voice echoes through the speakers.

"oh, ms. believer

my pretty sleeper

your twisted mind

is like snow on the road.

your shaking shoulders prove that it's colder,

inside your head, than the winter of dead."

she turns her head in order to glance back at josh, whose awaiting stare meets hers.

"i love you," he says delicately, the words as sweet as honey and as soft as silk.

mia finds herself leaning into his embrace, the same embrace that hugs her close and allows her to rest her head on his shoulder. "i love you, too. and i might love you a little bit more if you sing to me."

so he does. and although his voice isn't as absent of flaws as the recording of tyler's is, mia finds herself closing her eyes and enveloping herself in josh's arms. he's always warm. that's something she finds incredibly comforting about josh, that no matter what he's always warm, his body radiating heat. like her own personal sunshine.

a slow kiss is placed on her shoulder before josh sets his chin on top of it. he feels her body relax against his, feels her small hands slide into his, feels the affirmation of the gesture.

he finishes the rest of the song, his voice a mere whisper of melodies. once the sound emitting from the record player shift into a new song, josh waits for her to say something. but she doesn't.

what she does, however, is let out a deep exhale. this signals the fact that she's now asleep.

josh somehow manages to lean to one side without disturbing mia and then he takes the needle off the disc, returning it to its resting position.

"c'mon, babygirl, let's go to bed," cooes the male while straightening out his sitting position. mia, however, stays leaned back against his chest, eyes closed with long lashes brushing her high cheekbones and her full lips barely parted.

after a faltering second, josh decides to carefully stand up while scooping mia into is arms and cradling her to his chest.

she whines protestingly and pushes her face against him, fingers grabbing at his tee shirt. a few incoherent, sleepy murmurs pass by her lips as well.

"shh, s'okay. i got you," he promises with a soothing voice while moving a few steps over to their bed. he lays her down slowly and waits until she moves over towards the wall ( a.k.a her spot ) before laying down beside her. the white blanket that rests in a messy heap at the foot of the bed feels soft in josh's hands as he pulls it up over both of them.

he decides to take advantage of the position and moves so that his chest is up against mia's back. being able to spoon mia happens on one of three occasions of her mood - sad, sleepy, or sick.

like every night he spends with her, josh finds sleep incredibly easy, and soon he's knocked out cold with the affirmation of the sleeping girl he's cuddled up to bringing him peace.