Call it Fate, Call it Karma

Bickering

I was woken up the next morning by Albert, who had a stupid smile on his face.

"What's so funny?" I croaked, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

"Guess who's on the couch."

Without responding to him, I jumped up out of bed with a huge grin on my face and whizzed out of the room at light speed. I yelped as soon as I entered the living room, waking up an exhausted looking Julian. "Jules!"

"Hey?" he yawned, scratching his head with a slightly confused look.

After all the happiness and relief of seeing him had quickly faded, the anger set in.

"You told me you'd be back 'soon'! Soon isn't supposed to mean the next fucking day!" The whole time I scolded him he sat there with a smirk.

"Mhm." he nodded his head every time I'd ask a sarcastic rhetorical question.

"This isn't funny, Julian! I was worried sick." I fell down onto the couch beside him. "Gosh, I could hit you right now!"

He shrugged. "Can't say I don't deserve it."

"What the fuck were you even doing?! Where were you?"

"I went back home."

"To that shithole?!"

"No...home home." he said, making me freeze up. "I got my car back! Can you believe it? My dad didn't sell it like I thought he would! It was just sitting there, right where I left it!"

"You travelled all the way back there to get your car? Julian we live in the fucking city! Your car is pointless! Nikolai's even thinking of selling his van soon!"

Julian shrugged, not phased at all by my little info session. "I also snuck in and grabbed heaps of money and a few other things." He leaned over the back of the couch and pulled out a guitar that I recognised to be a shiny Fender Mustang with a crimson body and a pearly-white scratch plate. I'd learnt a few things from Albert about guitars, so I was somewhat familiar with a lot of the Fender models. Julian pushed it onto my lap with a bashful smile. "Happy late birthday, Jade."

"No way!" I gently gripped it by the neck and examined it, my mouth wide open in awe. "Didn't Kurt Cobain play one of these?"

Julian nodded.

"Julian, I can't take this." My smile faded into a frown. "I'm sorry. I really appreciate it, but it's too nice. I don't deserve this."

"Oh, you deserve this alright!" he exclaimed. "In fact, you deserve better! Just do me a favour and take it...please?"

"Juuules!" I whined, feeling guilty if I were to accept it. "Don't make me." I pouted.

"C'mon! Remember how I said I'd teach you to play? You're gonna learn on this!" He said, looking so genuinely excited.

I squeezed him in a hug and planted friendly kisses all over his cheeks. "Thank you so much!"

"I tried looking for something signed by fuckin' Joey Ramone or whoever you like, so we could be even, but then I saw this guitar in a shop window and thought about how you said you wanna learn guitar and I just had to get it, man."

Incredibly flattered by his speech, I held back a squeal of delight. "You're so sweet, Jules!"

"Oh, no fuckin' way!" Albert rushed in with a grin as his eyes landed on my new guitar. "Jules, I can't believe you actually went through with it!"

"You knew about this?!" I jumped up and lightly slapped Albert, gripping the guitar in my other hand. "You knew about him leaving and you didn't tell me! I was up all night worrying!"

"He said he'd kill me if I ruined the surprise." said Albert as he took the guitar from me to gawk at it.

"I'll kill you myself! Right here, right now! You lying little prick!" I hissed, trying to snatch back my guitar which Albert had held high up above his head -- much too high for me to reach. "Give it back!"

Albert laughed at me. "Think I might have to be the first one to play this baby!"

"Never!" I squealed. "If you do so much as to even pluck one string before I do, I'll cut your hair while you sleep!"

"You'd never do that 'cos you love my hair so much!" he continued to tease. He was right though...I adored his crazy mess of curly hair for some reason, but I wasn't about to admit it. It was fun to braid, okay?!

"Asshole!" I hissed.

Julian sat with an amused grin, sparking up a cigarette as he watched us bicker back and forth. "I love you guys."

A/N: will be putting out another chapter later today or tomorrow bc this ones a bit shitty sorry :)