Through Pain of Heart or Loss of Mind

CC and I walked a few blocks from the bus that was parked outside the venue the band would be playing next in a few days. The mall was a large complex that sat in the middle of the town. It's big white structure and half mirrored glass stood out among some of the other rugged structures around it.

"Alright, what should I get her?" CC asked with almost desperation.
"Honestly, nothing really expensive." I told him. "More often then not, it's the little, cheap gifts that mean the most."
"Like what?" CC asked.
"Okay, What's is her favorite color?" I asked him as we walked into the sea of people.
"It changes monthly, but usually always goes back to pastel green." He said.
"Okay. So you could do something, like getting her a teddy bear in pastel green, and put something you usually wear on it." I told him.
"That's not a bad idea. I usually wear bandannas, as a bracelet or headband or sticking out the back pocket of my jeans." He laughed.
"Put it on the teddy bear." I said giving him a there-you-go hand motion.

I found a directory a little ways into the mall and looked to see if they had a store that might sell stuffed animals. My face lit up when I saw Build-A-Bear on the diagram of the top floor.
"There!" I said excitedly and pointed.
"Build-A-Bear?" CC cocked an eyebrow skeptically.
"Yep! Let's go!" I told him. When he hesitated I grabbed his wrist and pulled him up the escalators.

The walk to the store, CC kept moaning and groaning, and saying that we were going to be the only adults in the store, and he hardly looked friendly in his black skinnies and leather vest. I rolled my eyes and ignored him, and walked in excitedly.

"Hi welcome to Build-A... Bear?" The person greeted, looking up from the desk and giving a weird look. CC turned and gave me a strange look.

"Thank you." I smiled. I guess I didn't look like I belonged there either, but shrugged it off. I looked over to the wall that had all the different bears. "Look!"

"That's the perfect color." CC nodded.

After some embarrassment on his part and my enjoyment of it, we walked out the door and headed to the food court.Up a head I saw a group of girls staring wide eyed by the entrance to the food court. I elbowed CC.
"What?" He asked.
"Fan alert." I told him, giving a nod in front of us.
CC looked up from his phone and saw them, giving the girls a smile. They all blushed and and squealed excitedly.

"Excuse me." One girl said walking up to us.
"Hey, hows it going?" CC asked.
"Good. Can we get a picture with you?" She asked shyly.
"Yeah! Absolutely!" CC handed me the box with the teddy bear in it. I stood back a bit and let CC be with his fans.

"What are your names?" He asked them.
"I'm Rachel, this is Beth and Mara." She said.
"Awesome to meet you girls." CC said. He noticed they each had a bag that looked to be from Hot Topic. "By me anything good?"

"No," The girl Mara with yellow blonde hair laughed.

"Aw, man!" CC said giving a snap of his fingers.

After a few minutes CC excused himself and the girls said their goodbyes, and he joined me on the sidelines. I gave him a smile and shook my head. CC just shrugged his shoulders.

"So how long have you and your girl been together?" I asked a ac after we sat down with lunch.
"A bit over a year," he said.
"Oh," I said.
A year and she's still so insecure? I didn't want to say anything but to me, that was a giant red flag.