The Luckiest

Chapter 26: Grocery List

"Wait wait, stop!"

"What, Sassy Max?"

Spinelli froze the shopping cart, waiting for Maxie to catch up with him. He hadn't even realized she was so far behind. Hobbling a little, Maxie wiggled over to him, the strappy sandal on one of her feet hanging loose around her ankle. Spinelli couldn't help but laugh at the way she moved as she hastily tried to catch up with him.

"What happened?" He pointed at her shoe and she grumbled, grabbing hold of the front of his shirt as she drew near so that she could balance herself.

"The stupid strap came undone! Cheap knockoffs…never again."

Maxie tried to fix her shoe but had a hard time bending properly without losing her balance. Spinelli stood prone as she gripped onto him, amused. People passed by the couple, staring at the cursing blonde. Spinelli smiled apologetically to an old woman who breezed by throwing a glare as Maxie exclaimed something not fit for public appearances.

He contemplated helping her, but Spinelli found that she was pretty ridiculously amusing in her current state. A laugh escaped him that he regretted painfully when Maxie swatted his chest.

"Hey, hey, hey! I can't get my shoe on because you're first yet-to-be-born is blocking my view and making it very hard to bend. Don't you dare make fun of me!"

Spinelli rolled his eyes at her words. He snuck an arm around her waist to help her balance a little, dragging her out of the way of the supermarket's entrance over to a corner of baked goods so they could be stop being an obstruction. Maxie protested, saying she didn't need his help.

"Shhh Scene Maker."

"I'm not making a scene!"

Spinelli just laughed and dropped down to the ground, eyelevel with Maxie's tanned legs that peaked out from her fuchsia sundress. It horrified him a little that he knew the difference between fuchsia and purple, but that was what life with Maxie Jones involved, knowing the subtle differences in colors. He silently thanked the Strappy Sandal Gods for tricky footwear that allowed him to gander at her stems with the primary purpose of chivalry.

"Slip your foot back in it properly," Spinelli ordered, unwrapping the twisted straps from her ankle. Her small foot wiggled into place. Glancing up at Maxie quickly he caught her 

biting her lip and smiling down at him. That sort of look would not help him focus on the task at hand so he broke her gaze quickly. Delicately buckling the strap, Spinelli tried to focus on the task at hand without his hard drive frying as he touched her delicate skin. He finished, brushing his fingertips up her calve as he stood. Maxie was pouting a little, obviously joking, and he couldn't help but get goosebumps knowing she was his.

"I could've fixed it myself."

Spinelli brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes, suddenly wishing they were back in his room tangled up in the blankets of his bed together. He settled on pressing a kiss onto her forehead, tugging her back over to their abandoned shopping cart.

His grandmother had requested they make a trip to the town grocery store since she didn't have enough food for the three of them. It was a little odd driving back into the old town of Oakfield…subtle changes to the scenery rattled his brain. He hadn't expected it to stay the same old town from his teen years, but it was different to be confronted with your past. They had passed the high school he attended, the park where he used to smoke weed, a rundown arcade he haunted a lot in his spare time.

Now they were strolling through the small grocery store that he used to shoplift orange sodas from. His grandmother didn't believe on "splurging" on his soda fix when he lived with her, so…desperate times, desperate measures. Spinelli couldn't properly guess how much bottled goodness he had slipped into his messenger bag back in the day. As he and Maxie made their way down the soda aisle, Spinelli felt all grown up as he placed a liter of his favorite drink into the shopping cart, for the first time ever paying honest cash for the product in that store.

"I want some fruit punch."

Maxie reached up for the red drink, standing on her tiptoes to grip bottle on the highest shelf. The bottled slipped from her hand, going splat on the white tiled floor, red liquids shooting in all directions.

"Oh crap!" Maxie exclaimed, stepping around the growing puddle. "I made a mess."

Spinelli watched the red and cringed, feeling nauseous.

"Spinelli?" Maxie asked gently. He must have looked as sick has he felt because she gently rubbed down his arm, concern etched in her eyes. Clearing his throat, he tried to find his voice, blocking out the image that wanted to race through his head.

"I …I don't like the puddle," Spinelli replied lamely, waving a hand in the direction of the red. He sighed. At least he didn't want to shrivel up in a ball…

"It's okay, Spin. Really. Just…focus on me."



Spinelli nodded, closing his eyes as she wrapped her arms around him supportively. Her warm round belly pressed into his waist. This was a lot better than shuddering alone. Maxie ran a hand down his back soothingly. Briefly kissing his cheek, she leaned back from their embrace, her blue looking back at him concerned.

"I'll go get a person to mop it up, okay?" Maxie spoke gently. "Just stay here and catch your breath."

Spinelli nodded as she grinned a little and trotted away. He would always wonder how she managed to do that…that thing where she accepted him.

……………

Maxie headed for the cash registers, hoping find someone that could help clean up the mess she made. She tried to hurry. Spinelli was all alone back there. It would be horrible if she returned to him and he was slipping away. Something told her he could do this on his own, get through that fear.

"Hey Sweetie, looking for something?"

Maxie froze and spun around and came face to face with a burly troll of a man. He was tall, blonde and young. The troll man looked as though he was a high school football player gone pudgy and soft—obviously once very beefed up but hadn't paid much attention to his physical looks in a long while. Maxie took a few steps back out of instinct.

"Err…I spilled a drink on aisle nine…"

The troll man winked at her. "No problem little missy…"

He walked behind a register and grabbed a bucket and mop, winking at her again. Maxie grinned through her disgust at the fact that this guy was raking his eyes over her as if she were a piece of meat. Since when do I not like being checked out? Since Spinelli? Huh. Odd.

"Roll out!" Troll-Man said, waving for her to follow him. Maxie shimmied alongside him, apologizing profusely in order to cut the awkwardness between them.

"Seriously, don't worry about it, doll. Cute girl like yourself…I'd be honored to help you out a little."

"Um. Yeah…"

"You new in town?" He questioned as they strolled past the baked goods. Maxie counted the aisles that distanced her from Spinelli and wished this weird stroll was over.



"Um."

"You know, I could show you around…" Mitch winked, wiggling his eyebrows. Maxie fought back the urge to vomit as his pimpled face contorted suggestively in her direction. He wouldn't be so unattractive if he wasn't trying so hard to impress her with his lame pick up lines.

"That's sweet…but….I really don't know you."

Troll-Man froze in the middle of the aisle and pointed a finger to his name tag. It read 'hello, my name is MITCH'. Maxie smiled the fakest toothy grin she could muster and gave Mitch-Troll-Man a thumbs up.

"Oh look, pretzels," Maxie snatched a bag from the shelf behind her and started their walk again. She took bigger steps this time, hearing the sloshing of Mitch's bucket of water growing farther and farther away from her as she turned down the soda aisle. Spinelli was leaning against the shopping cart staring off into space but instantly lit up when he saw her.

"A guy with a mop is right behind me," Maxie explained as she hurried over to him, scooting around the juice on the ground. Spinelli's eyes widened as she drew nearer, looking over her shoulder.

"What?"

"Well if it isn't Daaaaamian!"

Mitch-Troll-Man screeched mockingly as he turned down the aisle, freezing by the jugs of lemonade. He leaned on the mop, grinning wickedly. Maxie could almost feel the daggers Spinelli's glare was throwing Mitch's way brush past her hair. She froze in between the two, backing into the shelves as the two men stared each other down like an old west duel.

"Mitch." Spinelli spat. Maxie tried to figure out what was going on but knew better than to ask. Obviously he and Mitch knew each other, and it wasn't pretty. Something told her not to say a word.

"I thought I ran you out of town," Mitch sneered. He gripped the mop tightly, taking few slow steps forward.

"I never ran from you."

"Sure did. Me and Braden scared you good."

"I think you mean 'Braden and I scared you'. At least, that would be the intelligent phrasing."



"Still a grammar geek."

"And…You're still a tool." Spinelli shrugged his shoulders lightly as if pitying the burly troll in front of him.

Maxie chirped up. "Um…Could you just mop up the mess?"

Mitch grinned at Maxie, taking a few more steps forward. "Just a second, baby."

Spinelli looked from Maxie to Mitch and back again, horrified. She shrugged, confused. Obviously Mitch hadn't grasped the concept that Maxie was actually with Spinelli. Or, perhaps he had and he just didn't care. Spinelli flushed red with anger at the idea that this particular man was hitting on her.

Mitch spun the mop around in his hands. "So, tell me Daaamian…whatcha doin back in Oakfield?" He spoke in a singsong voice that made Spinelli audibly grind his teeth. Maxie held back, observing.

"Buying orange soda. Two for one special."

"You know, they canceled my football scholarship because of what you did," Mitch barked, the grin falling fast from his pockmarked face. Spinelli took a step forward, clenching his fists.

"Mitch…you mean what YOU did to ME," he hissed.

Mitch shot him a rude gesture and looked at Maxie. "Since you're new to town, babydoll, you should know that this hick right here can get you good weed and good grades, but boy can't get a girl to save his life. Pathetic son of a bitch. Sorry, sweetness, didn't mean to cuss like that."

"Spinelli…what is he talking about?" Maxie blurted. She had been focusing so much on Mitch that she had forgotten Spinelli was still there. He was seething. Maxie inched towards him, afraid she was going to have to hold him back from the guy.

"Oh…Sweetheart…don't tell me you know this guy already?" Mitch frowned. "See, this scum--"

"Shut up, Mitch. Screw you and your history lesson." Spinelli pushed his hair out of his eyes nervously.

"What, Damian? Don't like the truth? You punk ass. See, he used to tutor chicks in high school for cash, but we all know it was so he could score with them."

"I didn't try to score with them, Mitch. I think you are thinking of yourself…always inviting a different girl to one of your football games."



Maxie decided to take action. She didn't understand at all what was going on between these two, but she couldn't just stand there and let Troll-Man gang up on Spinelli. Sashaying over to him, Maxie wrapped her arms around him tightly. Mitch's eyes popped out of his head as if someone had hit him extremely hard.

"I don't appreciate you talking to my husband like that. Thanks." Maxie found Spinelli's hand.

"Oh babydoll, please don't tell me you are with Damian here?"

Spinelli smiled big. "Mitch…sometimes people move on with their lives…marry hot blondes…and sometimes people become store clerks at the Oakfield SuperMart."

Maxie couldn't help but laugh at being called a hot blonde by Spinelli. See, she liked that kind of blatant flattery.

"Hey, babydoll," Maxie gazed up at Spinelli with a sort of theatric love, emphasizing 'babydoll'. "Let's ditch Mitch, okay?"

Mitch took a few steps forward, right into the fruit punch. In an instant he had slipped and fallen hard on the ground, splashing in the juice, his mob and bucket clanging around beside him. The bucket waters splashed up and onto Mitch's pants. For a second, no one said anything. Maxie felt Spinelli shaking and realized he was holding in a laugh. He couldn't hold it for much longer and burst forth a great laugh until he turned red in the face. Spinelli grabbed Maxie's hand and tugged her and the cart down the rest of the aisle, stumbling over his own feet as his laughter took hold of him.

Maxie pulled on his sleeve when they made their way down the bread aisle. "What was that all about?"

Spinelli wiped tears of mirth from his eyes and sighed. "Oh…That's a long story."

"I want to know."

Gripping the basket to gain enough strength to stand on his own, Spinelli paused. "Well…like he said…I used to tutor these girls in high school. They'd pay me or get me primo weed…something like that…"

Maxie glared. "And you WERE trying to score with them."

Spinelli shrugged and rolled his eyes. "Not really…and I wasn't exactly what they'd be interested in anyways…But Mitch's girlfriend, Denise started asking for help…and he thought I was sleeping with her or something…"



Tossing a bag of dinner rolls in the cart, Spinelli seemed to shift in attitude. He wasn't laughing anymore. Pressing his hands into his eyes, Spinelli seemed years away. Maxie ran a hand down his arm.

"What happened?"

"He beat the crap out of me…got a concussion when he hit my head against the wall in the senior hallway. The school pressed charges…I guess they took away his scholarship."

"You guess?"

"I got the hell out of Oakfield as soon as they handed me a diploma. I didn't stick around for the fall out."

"I'm so sorry Spinelli…" Maxie pulled him to her. Spinelli kissed her temple.

"I didn't leave because of him. I left because I wanted to. Like I said…he didn't scare me away."

Maxie swayed him a little. "You just wanted to leave?"

"And I'm glad I did…" Spinelli muttered by her ear. "It's been insane in Port Charles…and you are probably the craziest thing that's happened to me…but…What's life without a little crazy?"

"Normal?" Maxie pondered, snuggling into his chest.

"Yeah…who needs that?"

Spinelli pulled away, kissing her swiftly. "Can you believe THAT guy was Mr. Popular? I mean…how many times did he call you 'baby'?"

Maxie laughed. "I thought he was going to offer to be my baby daddy." She jumped on the end of the cart. Spinelli rolled his eyes and pushed them forward.

"Hey…I didn't get my fruit punch!"

………….

A/N: Sorry…not the best update…and I know it's been two weeks…I had finals, moved back home, and then lacked creativity. Hope you can forgive me. Reviews do inspire writing though.

Next Chapter: Spinelli and Maxie go into the attic.