Note: Michael Hodgins and Christine Booth are 18, Peter Hodgins is 16, Jessica and Courtney Hodgins (twin sisters) are 14, and Andrew Hodgins is 12.
The Request
Michael almost didn't hear the ringing of his phone.
The three Hodgins brothers were in Michael's car on their way from the high school to Christine's house. Their parents were working late on a case, so the teens decided to hang out at the Booth house and watch some movies. Christine was already at the house along with Jessica and Courtney, Michael's fourteen-year-old twin sisters.
Michael's twelve-year-old brother, Andrew, currently had the radio blaring a song Michael didn't know the name of. The song all but tuned out the cell phone's quiet ringer. Luckily, Michael felt his phone vibrate against his thigh. While holding onto the steering wheel with one hand, he shoved the other into his jean's pocket to fish out the little device.
"Hello?" he shouted as he answered.
He tucked the cell between his shoulder and ear so he could place his hand back on the steering wheel. He could hear someone say something on the other end, though what exactly he couldn't tell. Michael turned in his seat to glare at Andrew, who was attempting to dance across the backseat of Michael's jeep without removing his seat belt. Michael rolled his eyes and pressed the radio's off button. Andrew continued singing along to the radio, both loudly and off key, for a few more seconds. When he realized the radio had been shut off, he pouted pathetically at his older brother. But Michael had already turned back around around, his eyes on the road as he ignored his youngest sibling.
"Sorry about that," he sighed into the phone.
"No problem," a voice laughed from the other end of the phone. Michael grinned when he recognized it as Christine's, "Is Andy with you?"
"Who else?" Michael asked. Christine laughed again.
"Are you guys talking about me?" Andrew asked suspiciously as he draped himself over the back of Peter's chair. He ignored the scowl his older brother sent of his shoulder.
"Of course not, Andy," Michael rolled his eyes, "Why would we do that?"
Michael then proceeded to tune out whatever it was that Andrew said next. He left his other brother, sixteen-year-old Peter, to deal with the boy while he returned to his conversation.
"What's up, Stapes?"
"You guys are just leaving the school, right?" Christine asked.
"Yeah, why?"
"Jessica, Courtney, and I just realized we're missing a few things for the movie night at my place tonight, and I was wondering if you guys could pick them up on your way over, along with some stuff I need at home."
"Uh, sure," Michael said. He tucked his phone back between shoulder and ear while he reached over the center console. His hand blindly groped until he found his backpack, which was sitting open on the floor by Peter's feet. When Peter saw what his older brother was doing, he rolled his eyes. He swatted Michael's arm away and wordlessly pointed to the road.
"What are you looking for?" Peter asked.
"Paper and pen," Michael mouthed.
Peter nodded and dug around in the backpack until he found a pen and a notebook. He flipped it open to a blank page.
"Okay, Chris," Michael said into the phone, "Let me know what you need."
"Give the phone to someone else," Christine said, "I don't want you writing while you drive. You'll kill yourself."
"It's okay, I'm telling Peter what to write."
The laugh from Christine was not quite the response Michael was expecting. He heard Jessica and Courtney simultaneously ask "What?" and Christine repeated what he'd told her. Now all three girls were laughing in the background.
"What?" Michael asked.
"Nothing, nothing," Christine tried to reign in her giggles, "Okay, so we basically just need some things to eat and drink during the movies. Here's what we need—some soda, just a couple two-litter bottles of something."
"Bottles of soda to drink," Michael relayed to Peter.
"Soda," Peter repeated as he wrote it down.
"Three bags of chips, preferably nothing spicy."
"Bags of chips," Michael said.
"Chips," Peter responded.
"We need one of those packs of paper towel rolls," Christine continued, "Because you boys are so damn messy."
"Pack of paper towels," Michael repeated with a nod.
"Paper towels," Peter wrote.
"And if you could be a doll and pick up a box of regular tampons; that would be great."
"Box of tampons."
"Tamp—What?!"
"Christine!" Michael exclaimed.
He could hear Jessica, Courtney, and Christine loudly laughing on the other end of the line.
"Please, Mikey?" Christine pleaded around giggles, "I won't have time to get them myself until Monday."
Michael moaned and whined while Peter gaped at his older brother from the passenger seat. In the back seat, Andrew was laughing so hard that if hadn't been buckled in he would have been rolling about on the car floor.
"Chris," Michael continued whine. A pout was plastered across his face.
"Mikey," Christine whined back, "Please? Pretty please?"
Before Michael could answer her, Andrew bounced up from the back seat and snatched Michael's cell out of his hand.
"Don't worry, Chrisy! Mikey will take care of it. Anything for you," he told the girl cheerfully. He then shouted "Mikey, watch the road!" when his oldest brother spun around in his seat to try and lunge at Andrew to get his phone back. Peter was forced to grab the wheel to keep them from careening into the curb.
"What's going on over there?" Christine asked as a car behind the guys blared its horn.
"Nothing, we're fine," Andrew explained as Michael spun around to retake the wheel, "We'll see you when we get to your house. We will probably be there in half an hour. Please remember to order the Chinese food so it's there when we arrive. Thanks! Bye, Chrisy!"
Andrew hung up the phone before Christine could ask what the honk had been about, and then tossed the phone into Peter's lap.
"Andrew James Marcato Hodins!" Michael growled. He scowled at his youngest brother through the rearview mirror, "Why the hell did you tell her we would get those things at the store?"
"Because, I'm a good friend," Andrew stuck his tongue out at his oldest brother. He then leaned up between the two front seats. He pointed at the turn that was coming up, "I believe the store is that way," he said with a smirk.
Michael groaned and let his head fall back against the headrest.
This was going to be a long day.
"There's so many...colors."
Both Peter and Michael turned their heads to stare at Andrew, who was staring up wide mouthed at the shelf in front of him. When he felt the tingle of his brothers' gazes, he turned to stare back at them.
"What?"
"So many colors?" Peter repeated, which caused Michael to give a snort of laughter.
Andrew wrinkled his nose at the pair.
"Well, there are."
"You know, maybe we should start somewhere else," Michael suggested as Peter rolled his eyes, "Come on you two."
He started down the isle. He shook his head as he passed by his youngest brother, who was at the moment pulling a face at Peter. When they realized they were being left behind, the two brothers made one more face at each other and then scurried after their oldest brother.
"So, what are we getting now?" Andrew asked as he and Peter jogged up behind Michael.
"I think we'll start with the drinks," the oldest brother replied. He turned to show Andrew the list. Andrew took the piece of paper from his brother and looked it over as they entered the drink isle.
"What kind of drinks?" he asked curiously.
"Non-alcoholic," Michael told him as he snatched the list away. Andrew laughed and reached for the paper, which Michael held against his chest protectively.
"Obviously," Andrew rolled his eyes and tried to leap on Peter's back.
"Children, behave yourselves," Michael's voice was layered with sarcasm.
"Yeah yeah, whatever," Andrew rolled his eyes as he climbed off of Peter's back. Looking around the shelves, Andrew grabbed the first drink he saw—an absolutely massive four-liter bottle of orange soda, "Can we get this?"
Peter quirked an amused eyebrow at Michael.
"Umm," Michael started, "Maybe something a tad...smaller?"
Andrew's face fell, but he put the drink back and found another one. Michael glanced around the bottles that surrounded him, and then he too grabbed something. Something that Andrew was quick to snatch away from him.
"Mikey, seriously?" Andrew asked as he held up the dark green bottle, "Ginger ale?"
"What?" Michael asked, "Christine said get something, she didn't say what. Besides, it's her favorite."
"But—but this isn't a real drink!" Andrew turned to look pleadingly at Peter, who was lifting a two-liter bottle of Pepsi from the shelf.
The boy shrugged at him, "It's not too bad."
"...You two? Have no taste," Andrew declared. He then handed the Ginger Ale bottle to Peter, who glared and tried to hand them back.
Andrew dodged away from him, "Na-ah, you touched them last!"
"Come on Andy, seriously?" Peter sighed, "Grow up."
Andrew simply stuck his tongue out, causing Peter to scowl.
"Alright," Michael tried to draw the pair's attention, "What's next?"
"You know, there really are a lot of colors."
"Hah, see!?"
"Mike, you know better than to encourage him," Peter half admonished his brother as the trio found themselves once again staring up at a wall of feminine products.
Michael sighed, "So, where should we start?"
"With the purple box."
"Andrew Hodgins, don't make me hit you."
Andrew grinned at Michael. He reached up and grabbed a random box off of the shelf. He read the front for a few seconds before asking curiously, "What does it mean 'has wings'?"
Michael and Peter exchanged looks.
"So," Michael drawled, "I see that chips are on the list."
Peter nodded, and with that Andrew crammed the box he was holding back onto the shelf and scurried off and away in the direction of the snack isle.
"You know, we have to get them eventually," Peter told Michael, who crossed his arms over his chest as they followed their youngest brother out of the aisle.
"I know," Michael said, "But I think we should leave it till last."
"And why's that?"
"So we have to carry them around for the least amount of time."
"...Good point," Peter nodded.
Michael allowed himself a smug grin, "I know."
"Hey, guys," Andrew suddenly interrupted the pair's conversation as they reached the much more boy-friendly aisle of snack foods. They found him clutching five large bags of chips in his arms, "How many can we get?"
"Did we act this childish when we were twelve?" Michael shook his head while Andrew grinned up at Peter.
"Uh, just three," Peter said.
Andrew's expression fell, the grin instantaneously becoming a pout. Both Peter and Michael raised eyebrows at the sulking brother, and after another minute of his kicked-puppy act he finally gave up. He placed the bags back on the shelf with a sigh.
"Fine," he whined, "Which ones are we getting?"
"Umm...," Peter answered intelligently. He looked over to Michael for help. Michael shrugged and checked the list.
"I don't know."
"Great," Andrew sighed, "At this rate, we're going to be here forever."
"We wouldn't be here at all if you hadn't agreed to come get those things for Christine," Michael glared at Andrew.
"Yes, we would have," the youngest brother shot back, "You had already told her we would go. I just agreed to the extra items."
"Which is why we're taking so long," Peter pointed out.
"Pffft, Details."
Peter rolled his eyes, and Andrew stuck his tongue out. And Michael felt less like a brother and more like a babysitter with each passing moment.
"Guys," he interrupted their face-pulling match, "Can you wait until we're done shopping before you start that?"
"Why?" they asked in unison.
Michael gave them a flat look, "Just go pick the chips."
Ten minutes and another brawl later, the three Hodgins brothers had three bags of chips in hand. Well, Michael had three bags of chips. Peter had the drinks and so far Andrew still had his hands free.
"Alright guys," Andrew grinned. His two older brothers scowled at him, but he just ignored them, "What are we going to get next?"
"Okay, you're right. There are a lot of colors."
"See, Pete! I told you!"
"...What else do we need?"
Andrew heaved a sigh as he snatched a three pack of paper towels off of the shelf.
"This is so lame," he grumbled as he did.
"Hey," Michael smiled, "At least you two can't get into a fight about which paper towels we should get."
Andrew grinned, "Don't tempt me, bro."
"Wouldn't dream of it," Michael rolled his eyes. He then scowled as Andrew bopped Peter over the head with the paper towel. Peter was about to retaliate with one of his bottles of soda when one of the store employees appeared in the aisle. When he looked over at the group, he quirked an eyebrow at the two-liter bottle of Pepsi that Peter held like a weapon over Andrew's head. Noticing the employee, all three Hodgins brothers gave the man horribly-fake toothy grins and then vanished back into the store's main isle.
"You know, you two are going to get us kicked out of here," Michael told the pair, who were now laughing over what had just happened.
"Maybe we should," Peter shrugged, "Then we wouldn't have to buy Christine's stuff."
Michael stopped walking, a thoughtful look coming over his face.
"Come on, Mikey," Andrew shoved his brother forward again while Peter laughed.
"Yeah, you know if we got to Christine's without the stuff she'd just tease us and send us to a different store."
"This is true," Michael sighed and shrugged a shoulder as the group reached the hygiene products isle. A quick joke was made about this being a place Andrew didn't visit often, followed by another event of paper towels becoming a weapon, and then the pair was once more standing at the shelf of feminine products.
"So...do you guys have any way to...narrow down our choices?" Andrew asked.
"Umm...we want tampons," Peter pulled a face as he said it.
"Gee, thanks," Andrew rolled his eyes, "That only leaves half of the isle left."
"Hey," Peter complained, "It's more help than you've given."
Andrew thought about this for a moment, then shrugged.
"This is true."
"So, what kind do we need to get?" Michael asked curiously.
"Tampons," Andrew told him matter-of-factly. Michael gave him one of his 'you're an idiot looks', but refrained from commenting.
"How about we just call Christine and ask what she wanted?" Peter asked instead.
"Now there's the first good idea I've heard today," Michael reached into his pocket.
"No, we can't do that!" Andrew shouted, "Do you know how lame that would look?"
Michael stared at Andrew for a few seconds, then turned back to his phone and hit the speed dial.
"Chrissy, you're phone is ringing!" Jessica called from where she was sitting on the floor. She was looking through the possible movies for the night's movie get together. Courtney was sprawled out on the couch with Christine half on top of her. With a quick jump off the couch, Christine dashed over to the table and snatched up her phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey Stapes, it's Mike. I was wondering—"
"Mikey! Hang up! We can figure it out!"
"Andrew stop, let me ask!"
"No, give it!"
"Get off!"
"Guys, not in the store!"
"Hit me with those paper towels again and see what happens!"
"Try it!"
"No, don't throw those!"
"Andrew don't take—"
"Hey Chrissy, it's Andy. We're fine and we don't need any help. See you at your house! Remember to order the Chinese food if you haven't already!"
Click.
"Who was that, the boys?" Courtney asked when she saw Christine hang up and stare at her cell.
"Yeah," she answered. She gave the phone a confused look.
Jessica rolled her eyes, "What did they want?"
"...I have no idea."
"Thanks, Andrew," Michael growled and snatched back his phone. He crammed it in his pocket.
"Did you really want the fact that you had to call Christine for tampon clarification hanging over you for the rest of your life?" Andrew asked, "She would never let you live that down. Ever."
Michael glared at him.
"Andy, can you even spell clarification?"
"Can't you two behave for five minutes?" Peter asked, exasperated, "Let's focus, shall we?"
"I think we should just pick one," Michael said with a shrug, "If Christine doesn't like them she can just bring them back, right?"
"I guess so," Peter said.
He didn't make any move to grab a box.
Michael looked at him questioningly.
Peter shook his head.
"They're for Christine," he explained, "You have to get them."
"What?" Michael asked, his expression shocked, "Why me?"
"Cause Christine is your girlfriend," Andrew explained.
Michael blushed scarlet, "She's not my girlfriend."
"Yet," Peter smirked at his older brother.
"Well, she's practically your girlfriend," Andrew amended when Michael glared at him.
Michael tried to come up with a good excuse as to why one of the other boys should have to do it instead but none came. He handed off his armful of chips to Andrew and grabbed the first box of tampons to reach his fingers. He then hurried out of the aisle and to the first register he could get to. His two brother followed.
"Hello, were you able to find everything you were looking for today?" a perky voice asked.
"Yeah, I was thanks," Michael flashed the cashier a quick smile. He did a double take though when he noticed that, to his horror, the cashier was a girl. And she had noticed the box of tampons.
"Aww," she cooed. She grabbed and scanned them, "Are you getting these for your girlfriend? That's so sweet, I wish my boyfriend would do stuff like that for me."
Michael just stared opened mouthed at the girl, who was now blabbering on about how un-thoughtful her boyfriend was. She hadn't even given Michael time to answer her question. And she wasn't done yet.
"Justin!" she shouted to the guy who was currently bagging the trio's purchases, "Don't you think that's sweet? You should buy that kind of stuff for your girlfriend; she would totally love you for it."
"Uh-huh," Justin obviously was not paying the girl any attention as he finished up and handed the bags off to a snickering Andrew and Peter.
"Whoever your girlfriend is, I hope she knows she's got a keeper," the cashier continued to babble, "Your total is 22.47, by the way. You know, cause my boyfriend—"
"Uh, here," Michael interrupted. He handed the girl twenty-three dollars, "Keep the change," he added. He quickly joined Peter and Andrew as they hurried away from the chatty cashier and out of the store.
"I think she liked you, Mikey!" Andrew joked once they were out in the parking lot. He received a withering glare in return.
"Just get in the car," the oldest brother growled.
With a wide grin, the youngest brother climbed into the back of the vehicle while Peter and Michael took their seats up front. Soon enough, the trio was back on the road and on their way to the Booth's house once more. It was a few minutes before Michael spoke again.
"Guys?" he said.
"Yeah?"
"Let's agree now. We never speak of this again. Agreed?"
"Agreed."