Nick and Luke were not on the best terms at the moment. When you're living with someone, fights are inevitable. They fought before- always butted heads over something stupid- but made up. Usually, it was less than a couple hours before the two lifelong friends were back to goofing off and playing rounds of Mortal Kombat, but it felt different this time. They still spoke; they had to as housemates, but it had been three days and you could cut the tension with a knife.

It had been during those three days, and the confrontation with Kenny, that Nick had an epiphany. This life of slacking, boozing, and waiting for the next big break was something he couldn't do anymore. It had been fun in their early twenties, but downright sad at nearly thirty. He vowed to never become his father, but when he looked in the mirror every passing day, all he could see was him.

Nick shared a lot of traits with his old man; he had his bright, piercing blue eyes, slightly crooked nose, and lanky, awkward body (which his dad had lost due to eating fast food and heavily drinking every day. When Luke had found some of the few pictures of his dad in his younger years that weren't ripped up, he mistook Nick for him. Apparently, he didn't just share a physical appearance, but fate as well if he didn't get his act together. God, he could see it now- he and Luke would be driving in their beat up jalopy down the streets of Las Vegas or Atlantic City, trying to hit on young blondes, and looking like Carl from Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Luke could go down that route and lose his pretty boy status, but not Nick (he wasn't even attractive to begin with). He wasn't going to be balding, greasy, and wearing wife-beaters like his dad. That would kill Pete.

Uncle Pete had tried so hard to keep him on the right track, treated him like the son he never had, and all he got in return was a lazy, piece of shit for a nephew. He did everything possible to keep Nick from becoming his father. It hurt to know his uncle no longer trusted him- no longer believed in him- but Nick understood. How much can you invest and sacrifice before having to throw in the towel? How much support can you give when you know your nephew is scamming, lying around, and boozing all day? He'd make Pete proud again, though. He'd make his mom proud, too. She never asked for much- just for him to be happy with whatever he was doing and grandkids, though the latter was always said in a sarcastic tone. He wanted kids, so it would kill two birds with one stone. She would honest to God get her grandchildren and know he was finally at peace. He just wished she'd be around to see them grow up and for them to know the wonderful woman she was.

But, he'd tell his child all about her. He'd tell them stories of how his mother abandoned her dreams to raise him, how she could do anything if she put her mind to it, and how much she loved them. They would grow up with the belief that their grandmother was always watching over them.

Nick wanted the marriage his parents never had- the family he never had. He would be the dutiful, doting husband and the loving, present father. There'd be no screaming, no abandonment, no domestic abuse, no shaking newborns because their colic kept him up all night… Yeah, his old man did all of that, including the last one. It had been the last straw for his mother, who promptly filed for divorce and lived with Pete for a month or so before finding an apartment.

No, Nick wasn't like his dad…

He'd never hurt anyone; not his lover, or animal, and especially not a child… Not the person who someday would love him and he would love back… Not the little boy or girl who would look up at him with large eyes, thinking that he knew all, could do all, and never doubted for a second that he loved and would protect them with every fiber of his being.

Luke referred to his mindset as 'baby crazy', but Nick honestly couldn't have given a fuck what he thought at this point. He still loved the guy, though. Luke was his brother. Just… If he wanted to fuck up his life, fine, but Nick wasn't going down with him. Not anymore.

Hopefully, once school starts up and Luke gets his first couple paychecks, they wouldn't be eating ramen noodles and pre-made, microwaveable dinners anymore. Nick didn't know how long Luke would last in there; no way was the other man ready to handle teenagers. He probably thought he was going to be the cool teacher or something, always cracking jokes and treated as one of the guys by the students. Yeah, that would go down well. Teenagers were like piranhas- once they smelled blood in the water, weakness of any kind, they would tear you apart until you were nothing but a husk. They knew an ass-kisser when they see one. God, Luke was going to leave that place a broken man. The only people worse than high schoolers were middle school students.

Hey, but if by some miracle he did manage to last, maybe Luke would also get his shit together. Nick hoped Luke could hold the job. If they didn't get a good meal in them soon, they'd be dead of heart disease… or liver failure. Currently, he was trying to sort their coupons at the supermarket, hoping he could find a bargain. God, he probably looked like one of those crazy couponers that you saw on TV. Luke had tossed him a huge stack- having gotten into the whole couponing craze last month- and told him to go wild. He must have spent hours cutting and organizing them.

Too bad most of these were either expired or a total waste. Nick couldn't get jackshit with these! You can't eat tampons and toilet paper! Actually, the toilet paper was useful…

He eyed the produce aisle longingly. September couldn't come soon enough. Nick would have the biggest salad! Oh, maybe he would save up and buy a new grill and make some burgers! Burgers made out of actual meat and not that artificial, frozen shit. He was tempted to buy some of the bagged organic salads until he saw how expensive they were. It would be so much easier to eat healthier if all the good stuff didn't cost a fortune.

Fuck it, they were having Spongebob Mac & Cheese tonight. Luke probably wouldn't complain, he ate everything. That was the best thing about having him for a roommate. He tossed two boxes into the cart and began to make his way to the checkout aisle, not paying attention to his surroundings. It was a horrible habit of his- it plagued him during his school years- and his gaze wandered to the different snacks on the opposite shelf. Oh, man, they brought back Hi-C Ecto Cooler?! Holy shit, he lived on that drink when he was a kid!

Luke would understand…

Absentmindedly turning his cart around, he raced over to the beloved juice pouches, ignoring the box he just ran over. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to pay for it. It made a loud crunch that could only mean it was broken-

"Ow, fuck!"

Nick's eyes nearly pop out of their sockets when he realizes he didn't run over a box, but someone's foot. Oh, Jesus, of course, it would be him… He was such a fucking idiot!

His victim was staring at him, eyes narrowed as she cradled her foot, she bit her lip, struggling to hold back another cry. All of a sudden, it felt like it was over a hundred degrees (even though he was close to the frozen food aisle), and Nick messed with the collar of his t-shirt. He couldn't even keep eye-contact with her.

She knitted her brows, pursed her lips, and cursed under her breath. "You going to just stand there, asshole, or are you going to apologize for ripping my fucking toenail off?"

Nick thought she was overreacting at first until she moved her hand away to reveal that not only were they bloody, but yeah, the big toenail on her left foot was gone. Like, it was completely detached and on the floor gone. Oh, no! His jaw dropped and he took off his cap to run a hand through his hair. Was he going to be sued? Shit, he couldn't go to court!

He stops himself when he sees that her lip is quivering and her eyes are welling with tears. Jesus, he felt terrible. "Oh, God…" He muttered as he knelt down to inspect the damage. There was a moderate amount of blood streaming down her foot and onto the tile floor. "I-I'm so sorry."

"The one day I decide to wear flip-flops and this happens," she whimpers, groaning when he got too close. "Fuck, this really hurts!"

Nick slowly took her foot out of the flip-flop and inspected it. With the weight of his cart, he could have easily broken a bone, and just wanted to make sure nothing else was wrong. Her feet and toes were so delicate and tiny… Some blood got on his fingers, which would normally make him queasy, but he tried to brush it off. Nick needed to find a way to stop the bleeding. Luckily for them, they were in a supermarket.

He pulled his cart over and pulled out a roll of paper towels. It wasn't perfect, but it would stop the blood flow just enough to not leak through the wrappings that would need to be put on. "I'm so fucking stupid," he muttered, placing a piece of paper towel down.

The girl's breath hitches. "You know, you don't have to run over cute girl's feet to get them to notice you," she weakly says with a smirk. Nick pulled his hat down as his face turned fifty shades of pink. "Saying hi is a good introduction… usually, doesn't end with blood and a ripped off toenail."

Was she hitting on him? No way. Nick bit his lip. "Y-Yeah, sorry…" He mumbled, fidgeting. He placed more towels down and held her toe tight- things couldn't be more awkward right now. Hopefully, an employee would handle the rest, so he could get the hell out of there and never return. Luke was on grocery duty for now on.

"It's fine," she replied, "I'm Molly by the way."

"Nick…"

She smirked. "Well, Nick, has anyone told you that you need to watch where you're going?"

"Uh… Yeah…" He lifted up the now soaked paper towels and sighed. It would probably take a few more minutes before the wound stopped bleeding, but it needed to be disinfected. God only knows what germs the wheel of that cart carried. "I'm going to need to get Neosporin. Here," he helped her down, "you should sit. You're putting pressure on the toe when you're standing on it- it's making it bleed more."

"You've done this before?" Molly asked.

Nick nodded and rubbed the back of his neck. "My uncle broke his toenail during a fishing trip- he dropped a cooler on his foot. It didn't rip off like yours, but it bled a lot. We had to take care of it until we could get back to land…"

She stares up at him, paying attention to every word he says, and Nick can't help but notice how intense her eyes are. They're a dark blue unlike his; they could pass for several other shades and even black, but at this angle they were navy. Before, he swore they were indigo. "Uh, are you just going to keep staring at me, or are you going to get the Neosporin?"

Nick jumped. "Shit, yeah," he said, before running off, quickly scouring the other aisles for the disinfectant. It took him a bit- the cleaning, pet, and bakery aisle obviously didn't have anything- but he eventually found Neosporin on the other side of the store by the pharmacy. Luke knew the layout of this place better. Nick snatched it off the shelf, not worrying about paying for it and made his way back.

An African-American couple with their toddler quickly walked by and cringed. Nick could see a small crowd of people standing at a distance and gawking at the scene; it was bystander effect. Either they were too disgusted to do something, or they felt as if the situation was under control- probably more of the former than the latter. Molly sighed in relief when Nick knelt down and uncapped the Neosporin.

"Thank God," she began, motioning towards the crowd. "These guys have been staring at me for the past five minutes." She winced. "One of the employees came by right after you left and was getting a first aid kit. I think they want a show..."

"Hopefully, he comes back soon," Nick replied, "I'm going to need to wrap this." One of the men watching had his phone out and was ready to call 9-1-1. "An ambulance wouldn't waste it's time getting you, sorry."

"Hey, I'm walking out of here," Molly grimaced while he put the disinfectant on. "Damn, that hurts," she murmured.

"That's a good attitude to have." Nick hoped that the employee would come with the first aid kit soon. The crowd muttered amongst themselves anxiously, unsure of what to do. It wasn't an everyday occurrence for someone's toenail to be ripped off, and odds were they had no idea what to do. It looked serious with the amount of blood on the ground and the paper towels surrounding the two. Nick didn't blame them, honestly. "I'm really sorry for this."

"Whatever," she shrugged, "shit happens." She eyed his cart and smiled. "So, you got kids?"

Nick's eyed widened. "Oh, I-I… No…" He bit his thumb.

"Oh, I was going to assume you were with all the Spongebob Mac & Cheese in your cart."

"No kids," he shook his head, "this is just dinner for the next couple nights."

"Bachelor pad, huh?" Her genuine smile turned into a mischievous smirk. "Just you and your bro's, huh?"

Nick didn't respond and pulled his hat down.

"Hey, I feel you," she said. "I'm from Savannah, but I've been living with my girlfriend's down here for the past couple years. All we eat anymore is instant ramen and energy drinks."

"Breakfast of champions," he smiled.

Molly laughed. "Yeah, but it's not like you can afford steak and shit when you're a college student on a budget. I just graduated from UGA, and I was all excited to eat an actual, decent meal, but now I'm stuck paying student loans. Fuck that."

"I only went to community college," Nick replied, "it's cheaper. What did you major in?"

"I've got a degree in nursing, but I'm thinking about being an EMT. It's more of my speed. What are you doing?"

He froze. "I… Uh… I'm a small business owner." Molly cocked her head to the side and furrowed her brows. Damn it, she didn't believe a word he said. "My roommate and I had a business together, but it fell apart."

Yeah, fell apart because of scamming old rednecks.

"Oh, that sucks."

"Yeah, but I'm thinking of maybe going into the police department."

It was a decision Nick pondered on for a while now but never brought it up to Luke… yet. Given the state of their relationship at the moment, Nick would have to wait a while and allow time for them both to calm down. He'd cross that bridge when he got to it. Luke was guaranteed not to react well and Pete would surely have a heart attack. His useless degree in automotive machinery and body work would never give him a well-paying job.

Besides, the more Nick thought about it, becoming a cop wouldn't be too bad. Sure, he wasn't the quickest or bravest guy in the world, but if he was working he might as well be helping people. When his dad was home, and the abuse was bad to the point the cops had to be called, they were always good to him growing up. The officers in his small town knew him by name and even brought him small candy. There were tons of kids like him somewhere- in worse conditions- whose visits from the police were the only positive interactions they had with other people.

If he could make one child's day just a bit brighter by showing he cared and understood what they were going through, then he was doing something right.

Molly hummed. "Looks like we're both in the business of helping people… Truthfully, I was going to just patch myself up, but I'm glad you're here."

He rubbed the back of his neck and felt some heat in his cheeks. The sounds of loud panting, squeaking, and the cheers of the crowd (which Nick had long forgotten was there) both get their attention as a lanky, graceless clerk slid into view, nearly knocking over a display. In his hands were the first aid kit.

"Hey!" the young man cried, running to them. "Sorry, it took me so long!" He paled at the wound and the nail on the floor. "Oh my God…"

"Can you hand me the bandage wraps?" Nick asked.

The worker gave a shaky nod. "Uh… Yeah…" He slowly opened the container and tossed the wraps over. "Woah, that looks… that looks not great. Do you need me to call an ambulance?"

"Don't bother," Nick and Molly nearly said in unison.

Ben, which was the name on his nametag, puts a hand over his mouth and looks away. If he watched any more, he probably would've fainted. The blonde rolled her eyes and smirked. "Make sure not to make the wrap too tight," she instructed as Nick began to bandage her foot. "You'll cut off the circulation and I need to wash this when I get home."

"I'll try not to," he nodded.

Her breath hitched when the wrapping touched the spot where her nail used to be. "I'm going to be high as fuck on painkillers for the next couple days."

"I don't blame you-"

"You gotta make this up to me, Nicky-Boy," she shut her eyes and bit her lip. "Don't think that you fixing me up means you're off the hook."

Nick frowned, beginning to get irritated. What else could she want? He already apologized; he even changed the wound for her! "What else do you want?" He snapped.

It came out a little harsher than he hoped because she was taken aback quite a bit. Molly huffed and scowled, "Wow, rude!" He immediately felt guilty when she responded with a murmur. "I was just going to ask if you would have breakfast with me…"

Oh, fuck! Oh, he fucked up! Nick mentally hit himself and groaned. Luke always was better at taking hints and winning girls over, not him. Most women didn't take an interest in him; he was just Luke's ugly friend. For the first time, this good looking girl notices him, is interested in him, and he fucks it up.

Nick, why are you such a fuck up!?

"I-I'm so sorry!" He cried and tried to bite his thumb. Of course, he forgot his fingers were covered in blood, and soon he was spitting and gagging. Molly's brows raised- her mouth in an 'o' shape- and she froze. Ben quickly turned around to gawk again before seeing the toenail and gagging himself.

"Nick?"

"Oh, fuck! I didn't… Jesus Christ, I would love to go out with you- I mean- if you would still want to… I'm such an asshole, fucking hell!" He cursed under his breath at his sheer stupidity. There was no way she would ever go out with him. Why would she pick a guy like him after he was so rude to her?

She slowly stood up, brushed herself off, and softly smiled. Nick's heart seemed to stop. "Does Monday morning work? There's a Starbucks not too far from here, my friend Sandra works there."

"I-I… I'd love to," he grinned, sighing in relief. "Yeah, that's awesome!"

"Great, I'll see you then!"

They exchanged numbers and Molly limped away; before she went out of view, though, she turned and waved at him. Nick meekly smiled and waved back. Hey, he may have gotten a shitty dinner, but he got Ecto Cooler and a date! Best shopping trip ever! Luke was officially off grocery duty.

His phone buzzed. Speak of the devil, he just got a message from the man of the hour. Nick rolled his eyes. What could he want?

Casanova: duck just got the shit slapped out of him on WorldStar lmao XD

Vanilla Ice: what? i mean i'm not surprised but seriously?

Casanova: yeah, here's the link!

Casanova: some girl in a baseball cap is just killing him out there its amazing!

Nick's jaw dropped when the video played and the sounds of loud, hard slaps and cheers came out his speakers. Oh, shit he was. Damn, she was brutal.

He didn't know what the kid did to warrant it, but odds were he definitely deserved it.

A/N: Ah, Nick's grocery adventures are going down while Duck is getting his ass beat. Yes, Javier actually put it on WorldStar and perhaps Duck will be the universe's Shovel Girl or something... The aftermath of that will be next chapter. This chapter was originally going to have that, but it felt out of place with Molly and Nick's scenes, so I dedicated a whole, long-ass chapter to it.

Nick is the smoothest motherfucker out there, damn.