[A huge thank you to everyone who reviewed! I got the most reviews for the last chapter out of all the ones I posted so far! Ah, it was so exciting. :)
Enjoy this short (but sweet?) chapter!]
Chapter Seven:
"Hey Fang," Nudge said, walking out of her room. I was sitting on the couch, folding the blanket I had used last night.
"Hey," I said, as she walked past me into the kitchen.
"Good morning, Nora," I overheard Nudge say from the kitchen. "Hey Max, did you ever get a chance to get the shampoo we needed after work the other day?"
"Oh man, I completely forgot. Do we need it?" I heard Max say.
"I used the last of it this morning."
I got up off of the couch and walked into the kitchen. Nora was sitting at the kitchen table, her frozen waffles swimming in a pool of syrup. Matt was sitting in his high chair eating dry cheerios off of the tray, and a bowl of cut up fruit on the side. Max was leaning against the counter, her palms behind her. She smiled at me when I came in.
"How do you feel about running some errands?" she asked me.
About an hour later, the five of us were outside of the apartment's garage, loading into Nudge's car. Max had to clean up Nora after her syrupy breakfast, while Nudge got Matt ready to go. I felt bad for sitting around idle, but it was too awkward and uncomfortable to help with Max's children.
It felt strange just to acknowledge that they're actually her kids, even though they are adopted. Most of the time I couldn't bring myself to even admit it. For some reason, I never really thought about Max having a family after we broke up, which I guess what pretty selfish of me, because if that's what made Max happy then she deserved it.
After a quick and somewhat uncomfortable ride to the store, Nudge maneuvered her way expertly through the parking garage to the super market.
"All right," Max said, after she had buckled Matt into the kid seat of the shopping cart. "Let's split up."
Max folded the shopping list in half, and then tore it along the crease. "Do you two want to go with Nora?" she asked, handing Nudge the paper.
"Yeah, that sounds good," Nudge said, and I nodded.
"Ok, come on little man," Max said to Matt, and she pushed him in the other direction.
"Take my hand, Nora," Nudge said, holding out an open palm. She quietly obliged, and I grabbed a cart.
"Ok, first things first. Shampoo, before I forget."
Nudge led us down an isle with Nora one step behind her, looking around. I hung back a few feet, feeling oddly weird about this situation.
Nudge was choosing between two different brands and held both out to Nora. "Which color?"
Nora pointed to the orange bottle, and Nudge smiled. "Good choice." She dropped the bottle into the cart and looked at me. "You ok?"
I nodded, and Nudge looked at me sideways. "If you say so."
Nora took her hand again, and Nudge checked with the list. This time, Nudge matched her stride to mine.
"So what's up with you and Max?" she asked slyly. Nora raised her head at the mention of her mother.
I shrugged. "Nothing."
"Oh come on. You two seem pretty chummy lately."
"Chummy?" I repeated.
"Well, you're being civil towards each other. You haven't argued yet, and if I knew any better I'd be worried."
I shrugged again.
Nudge gave me a long look before pointing me in the direction of the next isle.
"It's nice you know," she started, "that you guys are getting along. She really missed that. She missed you even. I missed you, but you already knew that," she added with a smile.
I swallowed, telling myself not to get too excited. I had missed them too, but that didn't mean anything was going to happen between Max and myself.
"Ok, do you want to pick out some snacks and I'll go get the bread?" she asked me, changing the subject.
"Sure," I said, and she nodded and turned around. Nora was left watching her walk away. She gave me a quick glance, but turning back to look at Nudge, who had turned the corner. Finally, Nora gripped the edge of the shopping cart while I pushed it along.
We made it to the snack isle, and I spoke up. "What kind of snacks do you like?"
Nora shrugged.
I tried again. "What does your mom usually buy?" I asked, stumbling a little over your mom.
Nora pointed directly in front of her to a large selection of pretzels.
"Do you know which kind?"
Nora shook her head.
"Well, what's your favorite?"
"I like the long ones," she answered quietly.
"The pretzel sticks?" I asked, holding up a bag. Nora nodded.
"Ok then," I said, then looked at her for a moment. "I like those too," I added, and smiled at her. I was surprised when she smiled back.
I moved the cart along some more, with Nora still holding on.
"What else do you like?" I asked her.
"Goldfish," she replied.
"Goldfish it is," I responded, pulling another bag off of the shelf.
"And the wrinkly chips," Nora added.
I paused. "Wrinkly chips?"
Nora turned to look at me, her eyes wide. "Yeah, the wrinkled ones. They look like they're folded."
"Folded chips?" I asked again.
"Yeah," Nora said, before walking ahead a little. I quickened my step to catch up to her, knowing Max would probably kill me if I lost her , but she stopped, pointing to a bag of chips above her head.
I pulled them down off of the shelf. "Oh, these," I said, looking at a bag of Ridge's potato chips.
"Yes," Nora said. "See? They're wrinkly."
"They are," I responded, placing them in the cart.
A second later, Nudge was back.
"I picked up some pasta," she said, adding an armful of boxes to the cart. "They were on sale. And I got some cinnamon raison bread," Nudge added to Nora. "Your favorite."
Nora smiled up at her.
"Ok, next up, we need the pancake batter," she said, leading us to the baking isle.
"Let's get the bigger one," Nudge said, and I leaned down to pick it up.
"I can help you," Nora said, grabbing the handle of the carton and pulling on it tightly. We lifted it up together and she sighed heavily when we dropped it in the cart.
"Nice job," I told her, while Nudge gave her a high five.
"Awesome Nora! You lifted that whole thing!" Nudge said, and Nora smiled.
Nora came to stand next to me and she grinned while looking up at me. I smiled back without thinking.
"Ok so, milk is obviously a priority," Max said, pushing the cart inside the sliding doors. She led me to the frozen isle, without looking behind me to see if I was following. There was no doubt she knew I was.
I sped up so my stride matched hers. "Anything else you think we need?" she asked.
"Eggs," I said.
"We have plenty," she said. "I just made some yesterday."
"I finished the last of them this morning."
"That was so selfish of you. Maybe I wanted some," Max said sarcastically, with a smile. "Ok, go get the eggs then, and I'll get the milk."
I politely obliged, and headed to the opposite end of the isle. Walking back towards Max, I watched her contemplating between two different brands. He fingers were on her chin and her other hand was on her hip. She didn't see me as I walked up to her.
I placed the eggs on the seat of the cart, and dropped my hand to Max's elbow. When she didn't flinch, I moved my hand to her hip.
"Fang," she scolded. "Not in public."
I looked, up above her head. "No one is watching."
She shrugged me away. "You know better than that."
"Knowing and doing are two different things," I replied, and she glared at me while trying not to smirk.
"Now, just grab a random carton, and let's get a move on."
"I was trying to pick out the cheapest," she said, not moving from her spot.
"Here," I said, reaching around her. "This one is on sale."
She sighed but I dropped it in the basket anyway.
"What's next?" I asked, gripping the edge of the cart while she steered.
"I don't know…" she grumbled, looking up at the banners on the ceiling noting the different aisles.
"You don't have a list?" I asked.
"Does it look like I have a list?" she quipped. I turned back to look at her, and she was casually glancing down the aisles as we past them. She caught me gazing at her, and glared in my direction. I turned one of the corners of my mouth into a smile.
Max pushed the cart a little faster in order to keep up with me. We walked side by side down the length of the store, not saying a word but being comfortable with each other's company.
"You don't know what we need?" she asked and I shook my head.
Max sighed. "Ugh. Next time I'm going with Iggy," she said, before tossing me a smile, and I narrowed my eyes at her.
"Not enjoying yourself?" I asked.
Max laughed quickly, before placing her hand on my elbow. "I am."
"Good."
"Ok well, anyway," she said, clearing her throat. After almost a year of dating, I had gotten used to the fact that she wasn't the touchy or emotional type. I've always known that though, it was nothing new. I probably would've freaked out if Max had knowing display any public affection.
"I think we ran out of fruit too. We only had rotten bananas left when I ate this morning," I added, turning to go down the produce section.
"Well, that's a start."
"Are blueberries in season? Angel wanted Ig to make muffins," I said, perusing the cartons.
"Ok, we can grab a few," Max said, placing some bananas on the seat of the cart. I watched her as she starting sifting through the blueberry cartons, picking out which ones looked the freshest.
She turned to me all of a sudden. "You can help instead of just watching me, you know."
I was surprised into a small smile. Walking over to stand next to her, we let our elbows bump occasionally as I snuck glances at her from the corner of my eye.
She put the last cartoon of blueberries in the basket of the cart and started to walk away, leaving me standing behind, watching her go.
"Could you hurry up? You have the rest of your life to stare at me. Let's get a move on."
With a slight chuckle, I bit the inside of my lip, slightly embarrassed that she had noticed. Reluctantly as always, I followed her, knowing I would follow her wherever she would go.
"Hey guys," Max said as she came around the corner. "Did you get everything?"
Nudge looked down at the list. "No quite." Then she looked at me and smirked before grabbing Nora's hand.
"Come on, let's finish this list," she said, and pulled the cart away from me, and smiled at Max and me while she walked away.
Max turned on me. "You barely got anything," she complained.
I peered into Max's cart which was half filled with a variety of fruits and vegetables, as well as an assortment of frozen food and milk.
"Impressed?" she asked.
"I would be more impressed if there were more ingredients and less prepared meals," I answered.
Max glared at me sideways, before she started walking. "I've become a champion grocery shopper. My cooking skills need some work."
She smiled back at me and I added, "Well you've certainly improved."
Her smile grew larger. "Thanks."
I nodded in response, as Max stopped in front of the chocolate chip display.
"I'm thinking of making chocolate chip cookies this week," she explained. "Any preference?"
I glanced down at the selection. "Aren't they all the same?"
Max gawked at me. "No," she said. "They are not the same."
She shook her head as she bent down and grabbed a handful of bags. Turning in the direction we were headed, she walked away leaving me with the cart and Matt.
I glanced down at the boy who was being unusually quiet for a baby. He seemed pretty content with his selection of toys attached by a plastic ring, and was gnawing on the end of one. Max had stopped at the end of the isle.
"Are you coming?"
I looked up and nodded, tentatively grabbing the handle of the cart and started to push it to where Max was standing.
"Do we need anything else?" she asked and I shrugged.
"Do you like anything else?" she asked again and I shook my head.
"Well you're easy to please."
"I am," I answered, and she smiled.
"Oh you know what, we should grab some deli meat for sandwiches. I think the last of it went bad."
Max led us down the maze of isles until we got to the back of the store, where she grabbed a number and waited for her turn.
"What do you like?" she said, looking in the glass case.
"Whatever you guys get."
This time she narrowed her eyes at me. "You know, you can have a say in the groceries we buy."
"I'm just a guest."
Max straightened and looked up at me, and I could tell by her eyes that I offended her.
"You're not just a guest Fang. Don't be so stupid," she said, in an annoyed.
I held back my sigh. I was just trying to be polite, especially since the both of them were already giving me so much more than I asked for or needed.
"And you don't need to be so polite either," Max continued, and I looked at her in surprise. "You're staying with us because we want you to, not just because we're trying to be nice. So don't act like it's a burden."
"Max—," I started, but got cut off by the butcher calling out her number. Without a word, she walked up to the front and starting placing her order.
I looked down at Matt, who was still chewing on one of his toys. He stopped biting it when he saw me looking, and with his large brown eyes, he gazed up at me. Bashfully, he smiled before looking down and continuing to chew on his toy.
"He is so well behaved," said a voice for an elderly woman next to me.
I looked at her, and nodded. "He is."
"Not like that one, over there," she said, leaning closer to me and jabbing her thumb in the direction of a whiny toddler clinging to her mother's leg.
"You're lucky you have such an easy going son. My children were terrors."
"Oh, he's not—,"
"I'm back," Max announced unnecessarily, dropping the meat into our cart.
"Oh, I was just complimenting your husband on how good your son was being," the woman said, smiling at Max.
"My who?" Max asked, her eyes bulging.
"I noticed the two of you when I grabbed my number. You seem like such a happy couple. I can tell by your body language," the woman complimented.
I gripped the edge of the cart, looking down at Matt. "What?" Max exclaimed.
"Oh yes I can tell these things. I've certainly had my fair share of husbands," she said laughing. Max stared at the woman.
"Oh, my number was just called," she announced. "Well, it was nice talking with you. And good luck to the both of you."
The woman could've not moved any slower as she pushed her cart in the direction of the counter, leaving both me and Max completely speechless. Not knowing where to look, I focused back on Matt who was still nibbling on his toy as if nothing had happened.
"Well, that was… interesting," Max said carefully, looking everywhere except at me.
"Yeah," I said sighing.
We stood there in the most uncomfortable silence for a few moments, before Nudge and Nora came walking up to us.
"All right, we finished. And it only took us double the time to find you than to finish the list," Nudge said, then did a double take.
"What happened to you?" she asked, and Max just stared at her.
"Nothing," she answered, before grabbing the edge of the cart, and tugging it away from me. "I'm ready to check out if you are."
Max walked away, before Nudge could even respond. She turned on me.
"What did you do?"
I shook my head, and started to follow Max. "I don't know."
[Oh my god, I am so sorry this is so short. Unbelievably short. I think it's the shortest I've written so far. I was thinking about cutting this chapter actually, because it's so short and I'm slightly embarrased to post it but it's important for later on (or at least that's the excuse I'm telling myself).
Anyway. That's the last of my prewritten chapters. tears I have about 5 or so chapters started but none of them are done. I'm trying to not spend over a week without posting, so hopefully I'll be writing. :) ]
