1- She loved him for his attentiveness
"Can I ask you something?"
Julian looked up from his cookies.
"If I had really wanted to go ice-skating..."
"I would have gone with you." Julian stated simply.
"But you hate it." Liz tilted her head to the side.
"But you love it." Julian smiled.
Liz couldn't help smiling back. His smile had always been infectious.
"Oh, I almost forgot." Julian turned to the other side and started looking for something in his bag.
Liz frowned a bit wondering what it could be.
"Happy one year." Julian smiled and handed her a box. It wasn't big, but it wasn't that small either.
"What is this?" Liz looked at the box and back to her roommate for a second before opening it.
"Remember when you said the coffee table was lonely?"
Liz nodded. She was actually surprised he remembered. She had been rambling in a very sleepy state.
"I figured maybe we could get some daisies to keep it company. After all, they're the friendliest flowers."
"This is great, thank you." Liz smiled and kissed his cheek.
- She loved him for being reasonable
Julian made himself comfortable with his head on her shoulder, as she stroked his hair lightly.
"If they keep fighting, they'll get to the no return point."
"Your brother and your sister won't get there."
"How can you be so sure?" Julian kept staring straight ahead.
"Because they love each other. And if that's not enough, there's you and your parents. They wouldn't do a thing to hurt any of you."
Julian breathed slowly and took a second to think about what she said.
"You're right." Julian said "They can't even face Mom whenever they aren't on speaking terms."
Liz nodded. Mrs. Parker was a lovely woman, but she was the only person on Earth who could make Audrey squirm.
"So, are you okay?"
Julian looked up at her and smiled "Yeah."
"That simple?" Liz smiled back. Have I mentioned it's impossible not to smile back at Julian?
"That simple. Sure, I hate when they argue. Everyone does, but they'll figure it out, so I don't have to worry about that."
She felt him relax after that and felt better too.
- She loved him for his selflessness
The ladybug mug magically appeared in front of her.
Well, not so magically. In less than a second, Liz found Julian sitting next to her.
She took the mug with a soft smile and sipped the hot chocolate.
"You should be sleeping. What are you doing?"
"Keeping you awake." Julian answered "What's the test about?" he rubbed his blue-green eyes.
"Really, Julian. You had a pretty long day, you should sleep." Liz insisted.
Julian shook his head lightly "I'm fine. Tell me about the test." he asked again.
Liz stared him for a second.
"But there's one condition." he announced.
"Yes?"
"Once you're done explaining it to me, you're going to sleep."
"You know that's not gonna happen." Liz shook her head lightly.
"Alright, let's try again. Once you notice you're too tired to keep studying, you'll go to bed."
"Okay." Liz nodded.
- She loved him for being present
"It's us." Liz swallowed hard.
"It'll be over before you notice it." Julian assured as they followed the nurse.
Liz sighed, taking her seat, and extended her arm to the nurse.
Julian took her free hand. "Think about something else." he instructed.
"How can I think of something else when that woman is about to..."
"Take a small blood sample." Julian interrupted. Liz could be overdramatic when she was scared.
"With a needle." Liz pointed out.
Julian kissed the top of her head and sat next to her, on another stool.
Liz sighed and buried her face on his neck.
"We can watch You've Got Mail after this." he suggested. It was one of her favorite movies, it was a good shot to get her mind off the needle.
"Or do something else, your choice." Julian stroked her hair "There's this new flower shop Audrey told me about. They have more daisies than she could count. And you know how obsessive Dey can be from time to time."
Liz chuckled.
Before she noticed, it was over. Liz had the round band-aid on her arm and was on her way.
"It wasn't so bad, was it?" Julian asked.
"No." she smiled "But it would have been terrible without you."