Author's Note: Holy crap guys I swear I'm not dead! This holiday season has been completely nuts and I wasn't able to keep up with updates. I hope everyone had an awesome holiday no matter which one it may have been. Now without further adieu let's get back to it.
"Fuckin hell dude I'm freezing my balls off", Lars grumbled as he walked beside me, "Why the fuck are we doing this again? Normally I'm all for a day off school but this is a long ass walk and there's snow up to my dick." He was exaggerating of course, I mean yeah it was fucking cold but the snow was only knee high. It was currently a little before seven in the morning on the last school day before Christmas break. Having just gotten off another work shift I had the brilliant idea of saying fuck school and walking to Walmart. After my fluffy epiphany about family on Thanksgiving I figured I should get people Christmas gifts. It was way too early to try and call Greg for a ride and besides he'd probably tell me no and that I needed to go to school. Dude has clearly spent too much time with Rose, her by the books attitude was wearing off on him.
"Quit yer bitchin fuckboy we all know you ain't got much down there to lose", I growled through chattering teeth. "You're the one who wanted to come along and get out of Baxter's bullshit quiz. I ain't makin you stay", We rounded another corner and I could finally see the trademark blue and white sign in the distance. There were no large chain stores in Beach City proper, the mayor banned them to protect the town's fragile economy. To get to Walmart Lars and I needed to walk nearly three hours towards the highway on ramps. Snow was making it slow going we had gotten nearly three feet in three days and flakes were already falling again. The sight of the sign restored some warmth to my numb legs, "No way in hell we're walkin back. I'll call Greg or somethin once I got everything I came here for gettin bitched at for skipping school is still better than that damn walk."
"Amen to that", Lars agreed picking up his own pace to match mine, "No fucking way I'm walkin back in this shit. As it is you owe me big for going this far with your crazy ass, I mean seriously who the fuck does this?" Shrugging I continued to trudge along doing my best to ignore how my wet jeans were sticking to my legs. Half frozen we finally made it inside the store only to find ourselves awash in a sea of holiday madness. People were fucking everywhere you looked and the noise immediately set my teeth on edge. I'm not sure what I was expecting given that it was two days before Christmas and I was i a major retail store but it sure as fuck wasn't this. Only reason I didn't just nope the fuck right out of there was because we walked three fucking hours through the fucking snow.
"Alright man here's the plan", I muttered as I shoved my way towards the little rack that held carts. "We're gonna go Mad Max on these mother fuckers, no hesitation, no mercy got me? Once I get everything I need I'll call Greg and, provided we haven't been trampled to death by then, you and I will nom on some sammiches. Good plan, great plan", Basket in one hand and arm link with Lars I made my way into the throng. Screaming kids, by the gods there were so many screaming kids all begging for useless shit. My grip on Lars was pretty much the only thing keeping me from punting the whining tots into orbit. Thankfully I didn't plan on getting anybody anything terribly large because there was no way I was guiding a cart through that crowd. What should have been maybe an hour of shopping took close to three thanks to the crowds. I swear like 90% of my time was spent just waiting in line, I mean seriously why the fuck did they only have two registers open?
Four shopping bags later a sour faced Lars and myself were sitting at the store's little cafe waiting for Greg to come get us. My aged guardian didn't seem t all surprised that I was skipping school since I normally come home after work. To his credit though he wasn't pissed off, if anything he seemed confused as to why I hadn't asked for a ride. Sometimes it was hard to believe the guy was pushing forty with a wife and kid. Ignoring the gut and massive bald spot Greg acted like a typical dude in his late teens to early twenties. After my food was done I got in line to have my gift wrapped by some local animal charity place. The line was fucking huge but at least it killed time until my ride showed up and it was for a good cause.
Greg showed up just as the little old lady finished wrapping the last of my gifts. His face was redder than usual, "Hey you two", he huffed fighting to catch his breath. "The parking lot here is a zoo, I had to park way in the back, I hope you're up for a walk." Lars and I groaned in unison as we followed out the closest thing we had to an adult. On top of the long assed walk we had just to get to the van we then had to deal with trying to actually leave. I let Lars ride shotgun choosing instead to lounge in my usual spot in the cargo area. Lulled by the dulcet tones of honking horns and revving engines I found myself soothed to sleep.
In the middle of some weird ass dream about rising dough coming to life and attacking the city I was jolted awake. "Steven bomb!", The excited voice echoed off the sides of the van while Steven himself thumped into my chest. Disoriented all I could do was lay there while the excitable little boy pinned me down. Curly black hair was pushed in my face while tiny, but deceptively strong, hands held my shoulders down. "One, two, three", Steven yelled like an announcer from the wrestling shows Amethyst and Jasper watched. "Ding ding ding, and the crowd goes wild, Tiger Millionaire has defeated the monster that is the Howling Fury. What an upset folks", I pushed myself into a sitting position keeping Steven in my lap. He was grinning from ear to ear, "I told you I'd get you one day Wulfie."
I opened my mouth to deliver a witty retort but was cut off by the looming shadow of a fuming pink haired woman. "Skipping school Wulfenite", Rose's voice had an edge to it that I really didn't like, "Really? Out of everyone I expected you to be more responsible than this", Her dark eyes glittered with fury, "Do you know what could have happened if you got caught? Did you even for one minute consider how worried we might be when you didn't come home from work? Get to the barn I don't even want to deal with you right now", Yeah she was pissed. I didn't bother arguing or trying to defend myself I mean what was the point? She was right, I hadn't considered that anything could have gone wrong or that they would be worried. Head down and bags in hand I made the walk of shame through the snow to the barn. Steven made to follow me but one sharp look from his mother was all it took to freeze him in place. Compared to the packed store or the cramped space of Greg's van the barn just felt lifeless. Body heavy with shame I stripped off my wet clothes and traded them out for some relatively clean ones. My legs burned from the stupid long walk and the skin was red from my jeans chaffing. Solace was found beneath my gray sheets enveloped in their warm embrace, at least they never judged me.