Love from, Hell

That evening, Julie's dad decided to barbecue steak for dinner. Even though he was cooking it outside, Julie could smell faintly the wonderful marinade upstairs in the den. She and Malcolm were watching Jaws and Julie was beginning to sympathize with the shark a little as she smelled the steak cooking.

When her dad called them down for dinner, Julie leapt eagerly and went downstairs, Malcolm following her. They all sat down at the table and after muttering quickly about how fantastic it looked, tucked in. Ken made great steak.

"So what did you two do today? I barely saw you at all this afternoon," Heather inquired.

Julie swallowed her steak and looked at Malcolm. As always, he was completely calm and didn't glance her way, giving her the option to tell them what she wanted them to know. Julie got caught up watching his eyelashes as he looked down at his plate.

"Julie?" her mother prompted curiously.

Julie looked away from Malcolm to her mother. "Oh. Um, we went to the skate park and then we went down by the dam. We took the dirt bike out there and that was fun," she said. Julie was pretty sure her mother would have a heifer right at the table if she knew that Malcolm had been racing.

Julie looked at Malcolm. "Right?" she said to him, wanting him to confirm her story.

Malcolm glanced up at her, his blue eyes surprised. He looked at Julie's mother and father. "Right," he agreed quietly and then smiled.

Julie's mother smiled warmly back.

As her dad was taking seconds, he looked up at Julie with a knowing look and glanced from her to Malcolm and then back to her. "So Jules," Ken began, casual as could be, scooping mountains of mashed potatoes on his plate. "How was that party?" he asked and looked up at Julie.

Julie swallowed her peas a little painfully. "It was fine dad. Oh, um, this girl Connie, I went to school with, she's getting married," she said.

Heather looked up, surprised. "Really? So young huh?" she said poking at her steak. "When is she getting married?" she asked.

"Um Saturday. She gave me an invitation, actually," Julie admitted.

Heather looked up again, looking interestedly at her daughter. "Wow! Oh Julie, you'll have a nice time. Ken, do you remember your cousin Miranda's wedding? They had white roses floating in crystal bowls. It was so beautiful. Do you remember?" Heather went on a nostalgia trip, looking encouragingly at her husband.

"Hmm. Our wedding was the best though," Ken mumbled, shoving more steak in his mouth.

Heather hid a smile at her husband then looked back at Julie. "Anyway. You'll have a wonderful time," she said, and looked at both Julie and Malcolm, including them both in the 'you'.

Julie's eyes flashed up to Malcolm and then looked back down at her steak, keeping the rush of emotion down. Malcolm pulled his signature move and seemed to be unaware of the people around him.

"Before you and Malcolm disappear tomorrow, Julie, I'm going to take you shopping and get you a dress," Heather decided.

Julie was about to protest out of habit- she found shopping to be sort of a chore- but held her tongue, since she didn't have a nice dress to wear. "Ok mom," she mumbled.

Julie looked up at Malcolm when her parents were distracted back to their dinners and each others' days. He'd laid his fork and knife carefully on his plate, in a fashion indicating he was finished his meal. His arms were folded in front of him on the table.

Suddenly he looked over at her. "Are you finished?" he asked her quietly.

Julie nodded, deciding in that moment that she would be. Malcolm surprised her by picking up her plate along with his, mumbling a quiet but still coherent 'excuse me', and took it out to the kitchen. He returned to finish clearing the table.

"No, no, Malcolm, dear. Don't you worry about that," Heather interrupted, touching his arm in protest.

Malcolm looked at her. "Are you sure?" he asked her, his voice ringing with soft politeness.

Julie's mother waved her hand. "Of course. You two go on," Heather dismissed.

Julie hopped out of her chair and followed Malcolm out to the kitchen. "Do you want to finish Jaws?" she asked. T

hey began ascending the stairs in sync, but Malcolm fell a step behind, letting Julie ahead of him.

"Yes. If you'd like to," Malcolm said.

Julie smiled to herself. "That was amazing how we got out of kitchen duty," she commented as they reached the landing.

Malcolm glanced down at her and his mouth pulled up into a half smile. Julie's heart beat sped up.

"Hmm. Just for tonight," Malcolm told her.

Julie's suspicion that Malcolm had managed to cleverly duck them out of the task was confirmed and she smiled more. "Well, anytime you don't want kitchen detail, you go ahead and get us out of it," she allowed him.

Malcolm smiled at her again. Julie plopped down on the futon and Malcolm sat silently next to her. She hit 'play' on the DVD.

The next morning, Julie woke up very early. She climbed out of bed groggily, guessing that both her mother and Malcolm would be up already. But when she went downstairs, she didn't see either of them. It was even earlier than she'd thought. Julie peered out the kitchen window. The sun was rising and its light was making the dew on the grass sparkle. Morning fog had all but disappeared. Julie felt that warm swell in her chest, her biological clock telling her unnecessarily that she was up early.

She heard the soft steps finish descending the stairs. Julie turned in time to see Malcolm before he saw her. He was running a hand through his hair, smoothing it, she supposed, from sleep. The gesture was staggeringly attractive. He looked up at her, and his expression was surprised.

"Morning," Julie mumbled shyly.

Malcolm slid his hands in his pockets and walked into the kitchen. He leaned against a counter, looking at Julie. "Good morning," he replied quietly.

Julie looked back out at the yard, although she really wanted to keep looking at Malcolm.

"You're up early," he commented finally.

Julie looked back at him. "Yeah. I wasn't sure what time it was," she said.

Malcolm waited, his eyes searching her face.

"I wanted to get shopping over with," Julie admitted.

A small smile formed on Malcolm's lips. Julie smiled back, blushing slightly.

Malcolm continued to look at her… and gradually the look changed. It turned from his usual curiousness into something else. Julie felt chills as Malcolm's blue eyes gazed into hers. Although he was a few feet away, Julie felt compelled to continue staring at him, as though he were directly in front of her and she couldn't look away.

Malcolm's eyes were boring into hers and Julie suddenly saw the vulnerability in them… the guard was down. Julie tried to grasp at some thought, wondering what was going on in his mind – what was always going on in his mind. His blue eyes shifted from merely staring to searching, darting around deeply as he looked at her, as though he was searching for something too. Julie shivered- the only response her body could come up with.

"You're cold," Malcolm observed and, without seeming to think about i,t took off the hoodie he was wearing.

Although it was Kyle's sweater, the fact that Malcolm had worn it made it special. Julie couldn't do anything but continue to gaze at him. Malcolm slid the hoodie over her shoulders. Julie blinked, knowing that the warmth she felt in the sweater had been generated by Malcolm.

"Thanks," Julie whispered.

A louder patter of slippers came down the stairs, breaking the moment. Julie looked away, disappointed and wishing her mother had chosen to sleep in a little longer.

Heather came in the kitchen and looked surprised to see Julie, but not Malcolm. "Well good morning! Julie, you're up early," she commented kindly.

Malcolm was looking away, out the window at the backyard.

"Good morning Malcolm," Heather said to Malcolm.

"Good morning Mrs. Ennis," Malcolm said so softly Julie wasn’t sure he'd said it.

Julie's mother made coffee and looked leisurely through a newspaper. Julie sat down at the table, hugging herself discreetly inside the sweater. Malcolm sat at the table too, studying the grain. Julie watched him, wishing he would look up at her, but then glad that she could stare at him and he wouldn't look back. She watched, surprised, as he lifted one of his hands from his folded arms and began tracing the pattern of the wood grain very delicately with his long index finger. Julie had a fleeting desire to feel that touch on her skin, and flushed at the thought.

After breakfast, Julie got dressed and then headed resignedly to the car, Heather cheerfully swinging the sedan's car keys as she followed her daughter. Julie sat in the passenger seat and her mother turned on the car and tuned the radio station to a music channel and began humming along with the soft rock. Julie looked back up at the house. She was pretty sure she could make out Malcolm standing in the front bay window, watching them drive away.

The actual shopping trip took a shorter time than Julie had been anticipating. Julie settled on a dress quickly and although her mother, the epitome of indecision, went back and forth between three dresses for Julie, she finally agreed on the white eyelet one Julie had picked. After they bought the dress, they went to the food court for lunch.

When they were sitting at the table, opening their dishes of sushi, Heather looked casually up at Julie before taking a sip of coke.

"So. How are things dear?" she asked her daughter, trying to keep the interest out of her voice.

Julie glanced, amused, up at her mother then looked back down at her sushi. "Things are good, mom. How are things with you?" she asked pointedly and popped a roll of sushi in her mouth.

"Oh they're good. We miss you and your brother… but it's nice to have you home Julie," Heather said warmly.

Julie smiled at her mom.

"And it's nice to have Malcolm too," Heather continued.

Julie sipped her own coke, nodding casually.

"Julie?" Heather asked.

Julie looked up at her mother, widening her eyes innocently.

"I've noticed you and Malcolm have gotten… quite a bit closer than when you first arrived," Heather said.

Julie swallowed, panicking slightly. "Really?" she said, frowning lightly, as though that were strange.

"Julie," Heather said again, more firmly this time. "How exactly did you two meet?" she asked, and this time didn't bother to hide her curiosity.

Julie pushed up her sleeves, noticing now where she got her own curious streak from. "Well… actually… I sort of met him the night before I called you." she confessed, not wanting to dive into the gory details.

Heather made a disapproving face, remembering Julie's past lie.

"I'm sorry I lied mom. But I knew you'd be… frosty towards him if you knew that I hardly knew him. Plus, Malcolm… he was a good guy. He got me out of a jam and then when I needed a ride, he gave me one, no problem," Julie said and then cursed herself, realizing she was partly lying again. But at least this was on the truthful path.

Heather made a face and then sighed. "Oh Jules…" she said but then smiled. "So what kind of jam were you in?" she asked conversationally, and sipped her coke.

Julie paused. "... um… well there were just some rowdy guys at the party and Malcolm set then straight was all," she said. She'd never realized the full dramatic extent of her and Malcolm's first meeting: it was pretty unbelievable.

Heather appraised her daughter, munching on her sushi. She swallowed. "He is a gentleman," Heather commented.

Julie nodded, even if Malcolm sometimes had a strange approach to gentry, it was true.

"On the quiet side though," Heather said constructively. Only a parent could create a flaw in Malcolm.

Julie hid her smile.