They raced through the shopping centre, Rayla darting around shoppers and Callum struggling to keep up.
"Ok, no time to argue." She grabbed him by the wrist. "I have the important task, toilet paper. You're on dry and canned foods. We'll sort toiletries, fruit and veg as a united front."
"Em, ok." He blushed at the feel of her hand on his skin.
She looked back at him. "Callum, this is serious. We might not get back out. We need supplies to keep us goin' for two weeks. At least. I can't have you being all sweet artist boy and givin' up the last Mac and Cheese or what have you."
He rolled his eyes. "I think everyone is panicking a bit too much."
She dragged him forward. "Yes, they are, but everyone is panickin' which means we have to panic, or we're stuck eating nothin' but lentils for the next two weeks." She turned and glared at him. "I am not eatin' nothing but lentils for two weeks, Callum."
He blushed at the proximity. "Ok! Fine!"
She nodded and they resumed their dash to the supermarket.
"See you in the toiletries aisle." She glanced back at him with a determined nod.
Callum sighed, making his way around similarly rushed shoppers. He had no idea how they got tasked with getting the supplies for the share house, but he was decidedly not happy about it. He grabbed a cart and made his way to the pasta aisle. He was shocked to see how busy it was and how empty the shelves were. Not wanting to get caught out, he grabbed a few bags of whatever was left (penne) and moved on to the sauces. There was a bit more variety left there, and he grabbed whatever caught his eye, before moving on.
The chaos of the pasta aisle put him on edge, and he elected to proceed straight to toiletries so he could at least have Rayla for backup before he made his way to Mac and Cheese Land.
He frowned at the empty aisles before something caught his attention.
Though the barren shelves, he spied Rayla making her way to the toilet paper. The aisle was thronged, and she was clearly having trouble getting to her destination.
God, she was gorgeous.
In a way, he hated sharing a house with her. It was hard living with someone you had hopelessly fallen for while they remained wholly aware. Every day he was around her, surrounded by her, while she remained completely ignorant to how he felt.
She just saw him as the weird dorky art student who shared her house.
There was no way she would ever look at him the way he looked at her.
She dodged around the ramblers in the aisle and reached the toilet paper with a satisfied grin. He laughed at the triumphant little dance she did as she snagged the last packet.
Forty-eight rolls.
They could relax.
She turned, grinning and almost collided with an elderly man pushing a walker.
"Oh, sorry." She stepped back to give the man room.
He smiled at her, nodding. "No problem, young lady." He turned back to the empty shelves, his smile faltering.
Callum felt his heart drop at the look on the old man's face.
He looked around bewildered. "Em, do you know if there's any more, em," He gestured to the empty shelves, glancing back at Rayla.
"Em, I don't know." Rayla looked around. She spotted a store worker with a scanner and approached him. "Em, do you have any more toilet paper?"
The young man frowned at the forty-eight rolls clutched in her hands. "No. That's it."
She blushed. "It's not for me. It's for this gentleman."
The worker glanced at where Rayla had gestured and his face softening a little. "Still no, I'm afraid."
"Ah, thanks." Rayla smiled awkwardly at him. She looked at the elderly man and then stepped forward, offering him her toilet paper. "Here."
He held his hands up. "Oh, I couldn't, young lady. You look after yourself." He smiled at her, but Callum could see he was concerned.
"No, no, honestly, it's fine." Rayla dumped the toilet paper on his walker and backed away. "I was gettin' extras just in case, we don't need them." She smiled genuinely at the man and then turned on heel and raced away.
Callum felt his heart swell. They most certainly needed that toilet paper if all five of them were supposed to manage two weeks stuck inside but he was so glad Rayla gave it to that old man.
He turned to see her walking up the toiletry aisle, looking thoroughly miserable.
"Hi." He smiled at her, wanting her to know he thought she did the right thing.
"All the toilet paper is gone." She snapped.
"Eh, that's not-"
"I'm sorry, ok." She grabbed a bunch of soap and threw it in the cart. "I don't need to hear about it."
Callum frowned at her. Why was she hiding the truth? "It's ok, Rayla, I-"
"Let's just get this over with and go home, ok?" She took the cart from him and pushed it away.
They did the rest of the grocery shopping in tense silence. Callum was still overwhelmed by the number of people and lack of options but Rayla moved efficiently, quickly adjusting when an item on their list wasn't available.
Still, she seemed preoccupied with her supposed failure to get toilet paper.
Callum wanted to tell her he had seen what happened and he wasn't not angry. He was touched, in fact. It was such a selfless gesture, especially in these trying times.
They packed up the car and slipped into their seats.
"I never want to experience that again." She sighed, leaning back against the headrest. "If it's still crazy when we next need supplies, Soren, Claudia or Marcos can sort it. We've paid our dues."
"Agreed." He snorted, grinning at her.
He felt his phone vibrate and noticed Rayla jump a little too. There must have been a message on their group chat. Rayla pulled her phone out of her pocket and frowned at the screen as he glanced at his own.
His eyes didn't really read the message from Claudia, as he considered his next move.
Callum bit his lip, deciding to be bold for once. "Though, I guess if I had to do another Apocalypse shopping run, I'd want to do it with you." He blushed at his confession. It's nothing too forward and there's harm in testing the waters…
Right?
She glanced up from her phone and he was encouraged by the blush in her cheeks. She looked away quickly, biting her lip. "You should reconsider." She frowned. "I couldn't even get toilet paper."
He narrowed his eyes at her. "Really?" He wanted to give her the opportunity to be honest.
"Obviously." She rolled her eyes, poking him in the arm. "Don't hassle me about it."
Callum grabbed her finger, pulling it closer. "Liar."
Rayla flushed pinker. "What?"
He shook his head, leaning forward. "I saw what happened." He smiled at her softly. "You gave that old man the last packet of toilet paper."
She flushed crimson. "Don't you dare tell anyone." She hissed.
Callum rolled his eyes, laughing. "It was sweet! Why-"
She grabbed him by the t-shirt, leaning forward. "I mean it, Callum. Soren will never let it go." She narrowed her eyes at him, pulling him closer. "Do you know how much protein he eats?"
Callum wanted to say something clever or witty, but it seemed like the connection between his brain and his mouth had short circuited. Her face was inches from his own. He could feel her breath ghosting across his skin.
Something changed in Rayla's demeanour and she blinked, the harsh looking falling from her face. She swallowed and her eyes drifted to his mouth momentarily, a pink blush blooming on her cheeks.
Callum's heart raced. Hoping he wasn't misreading the situation, he took a shaky breath, then leaned forward to kiss her.