While hanging out together, the four of them sneak into a birthday party to steal all the snacks. Thanks for all the support, I hope you guys enjoy the one-shot! ;)
Tord loved Christmas.
The snow. The carols. The decorations. The food. The mood. He loved it all.
Although in the past he used to spend the holidays in his home country with his father and the rest of his family, going back each year and being reminded of his loss made his heart ache more and more. This year Tord was excited to spend his first Christmas among his friends.
He and the others were over at Matt's house. Tord was absolutely enchanted by the Christmas decorations sprawled about the grand mansion.
Tom didn't share his enthusiasm, however. The boy pretended to ignore the jolly mood and act as though this was a normal day like any other.
They spent the great majority of the day playing video games and chatting up in Matt's room. When it was nearly sundown, they decided to go out for a little walk together around the neighborhood, and see the rest of the decorations around town.
The streets were clotted with big piles of snow, and bulldozers were clearing up the roads. There weren't many people out and about at this hour, but the few ones they've come across were building snowmen, sitting at the porch drinking hot cocoa, and even a group of kids singing Christmas carols.
Tord smiled. He could almost pretend he was back home again.
He wondered what it would be like to show his home country to his friends and have them over for a visit.
They continued walking, laughing and chatting, when they turned around the corner into another street. Up ahead, a group of small children were sprawled about the sidewalk and drawing the streets with crayon. On a nearby house, Edd and the gang noticed a house with balloons, bright lights, and a lot of people gathered in the yard and running in and out of the home.
"Oh, I recognize some of these kids." Tord spoke up. "I babysat them one time. I wonder what they're doing here?"
"Yeah, it's so weird for kids to head over to other kids' houses and celebrate a holiday together today of all days." Tom said dryly, voice dripping with sarcasm.
Edd elbowed him lightly. "Don't be like that. Let's find out!"
Curiously, they approached one of the kids. A little girl no older than five was scribbling on the street alongside her friends. Edd smiled and ducked down to her eye level.
"Hello! What's with the party you have going on in there?"
The little girl perked up. "It's my birthday party. My birthday is the same day as Christmas!"
Tom shook his head. "Poor child." He murmured quietly. He couldn't imagine sharing his birthday with this wretched holiday.
"Really? That's so cool!" Edd clearly didn't share the same sentiment. "Can we head inside and celebrate too?"
"Sure!" The little girl piped up excitedly.
"Thanks! Happy birthday!" Edd said as he led his friends inside the house.
"Yo, what are we doing here, Edd?" Matt inquired nervously. "We don't know any of these people. Maybe we should just go."
"Relax! We got the birthday girl's permission."
"Edd, she is toddler." Tom reminded. "She would probably allow anyone who asked her in. Even a burglar."
"Well here's the thing you guys," Edd murmured knowingly as he peered around the room full of people. "Birthday parties are usually stocked full of nothing but good snacks. And in a time where there's nothing but Christmas food everywhere, we may just hit the jackpot with this one. Aha!"
His gaze landed on a table on the far corner of the living room. There was a buffet with food of all sorts being served. Traditional Christmas meals like turkey, mashed potatoes, and mushy peas. But his eyes quickly skimmed over them and fixed on the assortment of snacks next to them; cake, chips, sodas, cookies, cupcakes, popcorn, and best of all a chocolate fountain.
His mouth started to water at the sight.
Edd turned to his friends, who all shared the same expressions as him. And a genius, malevolent plan started to form in their minds, and they all smirked knowingly.
No one said anything to them as they approached the table of delicious goods; presuming them to be children of some of the other guests there. They waited innocently until there was no one near the buffet to witness what they were about to pull off next. Following Edd's lead, they each took two paper plates. On one plate they got only Christmas food. Not a lot but just enough to make for a decent meal. But on the other plate they stuffed it full of whatever snacks they could get their hands on.
They stole all of the snacks from the party.
Giggling, they quickly took a seat on one of the tables. They placed the Christmas food in front of them, but hid the plates full of snacks on their laps so that no one would notice them eating and they could enjoy them at ease.
"I can't believe we've actually done this." Tom breathed, giddy with excitement.
They started to eat. Edd, Tom, and Tord ate their snacks at lightning speed; competing with each other to see who would eat their fill the fastest. Matt, on the other hand, ate his snacks deliberately slowly to savor the flavor and enjoy his food at his own leisurely pace.
"Ha! I win!" Edd shouted, his mouth stuffed full of snacks. He choked mid-sentence and started to hack and cough.
Suddenly, a throat cleared loudly right next to them.
The four boys looked up nervously to find a woman towering over them, her expression cold with fury. "My daughter told me you four took all the snacks from the buffet and hid them under the table, is it true?"
When she said that, Tord looked beyond the woman toward the front door and saw the little girl they spoke to earlier; peeking from around the corner, grinning at them. Tord's heart dropped. Did she set this all up?
"No." Edd replied like the liar he is.
"Pull out your plates then." The woman, who they guessed is the homeowner, demanded.
One by one, the boys had no other choice but to pull out their plates. On the bright side; Edd, Tord, and Tom's plates were all clean and empty, so they were all in the clear. But on the down side, Matt was the only one with snacks still on his plate.
The woman glared at him. "You!" She growled. "You dare steal from me?"
Matt cowered away, edging closer to Tom for safety. "I-I just took a few snacks, I swear." He blurted out.
The woman scowled. "Where are your parents?"
"At home." Matt answered.
"Who are your parents?"
"You don't know them, and truth be told even I never met my dad."
"Who are you four? I don't know you, and yet you dare come into my house and steal from me?!"
Tom grimaced. "Steal is… a very strong word."
"You four stole from me. I bought these snacks with my own money for my daughter." The woman said. "And if you don't leave right now I will call the cops."
Tord resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Call the cops? On a bunch of prepubescent teens that were about to leave anyway? Like the cops don't have better sh#t to do with their time. They stole snacks, not her freaking car.
But Matt was clearly shaken up by this confrontation and Edd wasn't the type to call people out on their bluff, so they very quickly got out of there.
"She raised her voice at me!" Matt sniffled. "No one has ever raised their voice at me! And she thought I was the only one who stole from her!" He pressed his hands to his face, his eyes welling up with tears.
"She was a b#tch about it, Matt." Tord told him. "She's not worth the guilt or tears."
Matt let out a sob and buried his head in his hands. Tom patted him on the back awkwardly.
"I'm so sorry, guys." Edd apologized. "I thought we could have fun and get away with it without bumping into any trouble but I nearly got us arrested."
Tord scoffed. "As if she would've actually called the cops on us! Even if she did, I hardly think stealing candy would warrant an arrest."
"Even so, I am sorry. Especially to you, Matt. We're all to blame for this, not just you."
Matt trembled. "I don't wanna go through this sort of thing again." He said. "Getting into trouble at school is one thing – I am already used to it and can handle it. I can always count on you guys and my mother to get me out of it. But actually stealing? That's too far, even for us."
"I think so, too." Edd nodded. "Let's forget about today and keep our adventures simple, shall we? No need to get into unnecessary trouble by going a step too far. We're lucky we got out of this one with just a warning. Next time might not be as lucky."
They walked back to Matt's home just a few blocks away. While Edd and Matt conversed a few feet ahead, Tord fell back in step with Tom.
"Today was fun, wasn't it?" He asked, leaning closer.
Tom hummed and nodded.
"It's a shame the others got spooked so easily." Tord went on. "With a little bit of better planning we could've gotten away with it. I wonder if they would feel different about this little mishap of ours if everything had gone our way."
"I don't think so." Tom said. "Matt and Edd have this… unshaken sense of righteousness that weighs heavily on their conscience. Inoffensive adventures at school are one thing, but spreading out into the rest of the world is another. They would never agree to stoop too far."
Tord glanced at him. "What about you?"
"What about me?"
"How do you feel about all of this? You've been pretty quiet so far."
Tom sighed. "Honestly, I am just tired of all this Christmas sh#t being shoved in my face." He admitted, and then reluctantly went on. "But… I actually kind of enjoyed the thrill stealing those snacks gave me. Like I could do anything and never be stopped."
"I felt the same way!" Tord murmured. "I think it's a waste of opportunity on Edd's part not to step up our game. We could do so much more if we put our minds to it."
"What are you saying?" Tom looked up at him.
"What if we carried on by ourselves, Tom? Let's seek this thrill out together. Just you and I. The others don't need to know. We already have our own little secret. Let's go one step beyond!"
Tom pondered his words for several heartbeats. "I would like that! But we have to have some limits, too." He warned. "We won't harm anyone, will we?"
"No, of course not." Tord reassured. "Just stealing here and there. Maybe pull off some pranks while we're at it. But we won't ever go out of our way to hurt anybody, okay? You're in?" He held his hand out.
Tom shook his hand with no hesitation. "I'm in."
Tord smirked. "Excellent."