Standing on her tiptoes, Shay stretched her body as much as possible, just to have her fingertips lightly brush the sides of the box. Frowning, she tried again, jumping a little this time and winced as her butt made contact with the floor.
She lay on the floor, cursing the genes that left her vertically challenged, a frown adorning her pixie-like features.
"Now what's got you so bummed?" His voice itself, lightened her mood slightly as she looked up at him, smiling weakly.
It quickly evaporated as she glared at the box that was perched high up on the shelf, tempting her to push the whole thing over.
"Oh, you little munchkin. And here I was thinking that someone had died."
"Look at the box, look at it. It's mocking me Jakey, it is mocking me." She sighed dramatically, laying her hands across her forehead and eyes.
Chuckling slightly, he shook his head and reached forward, grabbing the box with ease.
"So what's inside?" He peered over her shoulder and into the box.
She shrugged, reading aloud the faded words scrawled across the side: Old Stuff.
"How specific of you, sweetie."
"That's what it says on the box. We'll never know it's contents. Unless, maybe ... just maybe. No, I don't think we should ... but maybe, maybe we can ... Oh I don't know, OPEN THE FREAKING BOX."
He rolled his eyes at his girlfriend's sarcasm, before pulling her onto his lap and tearing open the box. Inside, he found old books, scraps of paper, photo albums and other memoribilia from their childhood. Shay's eyes lit up as she dove forward, grabbing a photo album. Flipping through it, she leaned against his chest.
Each picture held another sweet memory Jake could only wish they could relive. Every once in a while, his chest would shake with laughter as he watched Shay scrunch up her nose at her old photos, clad in braces and an awkward smile.
"I was such a geek," she sighed, dropping the album back into it's box.
He kissed her cheek, not bothering to correct her as he reached out for some pieces of paper in the box.
Among them were movie ticket stubs, Shay's old drawings, homemade birthday cards and a tiny folded letter.
Almost immediately the drawings were snatched from his hand. Frowning, Jake tweaked Shay's nose as she stuck her tongue out at him.
"That wasn't very nice." He mused, feeling a smile come on his face. She rolled her eyes, leaning back on his chest. Kissing her forehead, he slipped the letter into her pocket.
Smiling widely, she traced the drawings lightly with her finger. Shay really missed those days, when the only problems in that little seven year old brain of hers was what colour the flowers should be. It'd been more than a dozen years since then.
Fresh out of college, Shay had only just gotten a taste of the adulthood problems. Remebering the boy behind her, she thanked God for bringing a guy like him into her life. He made it so much easier.
"Hey Jakey, what's this?" Shay asked, holding up the pink envelope with scribbles at the front she recognised as her own.
He came out of the bathroom, a towel slung around his hips, looking absolutely gorgeous.
"What was that, babe?" He asked, his voice still husky.
She gulped before moving her eyes back to his face. "Huh, what?"
Jake chuckled, ruffling her hair. Slipping on a shirt and pants, he walked back to her looking as dazed as ever. Taking the envelope from her hands, he parked himself on the couch.
