I don't own Home Alone

Enjoy!

Twenty minutes seemed to fly by as the last customers got up from their booth and headed home for the night. Finally, I thought they were never going to leave! Amy thought as she walked over to the table and gathered the cash and all the dishes that were scattered throughout. She hurried to the diner's kitchen and set the dirty dishes in the empty sink. At least one of the other waitresses would take care of that. After the number of customers that she had to serve, she could use a good night's rest.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Anne," she said to her coworker as she took off her apron and stuffed it in her bag. Taking her coat off the rack, she threw it over her frame and then walked to the diner's booth where Marv had been waiting for her.

During the last minutes of her shift, Marv had tried to keep himself busy without interrupting her or any of the customers. One customer, a mere young boy, had sat down on the booth next to Marv, demanded a glass of milk, drank it without stopping to catch his breath, and went on his way. Another customer had not been happy with her meal, and she had demanded a refund of her money. Jeeze Marv had thought, who knew that this place would be filled with tough customers.

"Ready to go?" Amy brightened as she approached Marv.

"About time," Marv joked as he took a hold of his bag where the rest of his belongings were.

Amy looked down at the bag and pointed at it. "What's in there?" she asked him.

"This?" Marv asked as he held up the bag onto the counter. "Just some things that I took with me. Mostly clothes and a deck o' cards." Playing solitaire had proven to be a good pastime during his nights in jail and it had made it easier for him to go to sleep.

Amy peeked inside and nodded her head. "I see," she said, "I think we ought to take these down to the laundromat. Especially this get up too." She motioned to the clothes that he was wearing, noticing that it had some stains on it. Maybe a new outfit was in order unless he was attached to this one. "There is a small clothing store below my neighborhood. We can head over and get you something for the time being."

"Oh no," Marv protested, "you don't have to do that. I'm fine with what I have."

"Don't be silly Marv," Amy said, "I think this is a perfect opportunity to start anew. You wouldn't want to wear these clothes that haven't been washed who knows how long?" She reached inside the bag and pulled out a shirt that had a hole in it. "Right?"

Hearing her argument, Marv realized that she did have a point. Whoever had caused that hole in the shirt, had its way of telling him that he should at least try to find his way. "Can't argue with you there," he said as he took the packet of playing cards and stuffed them in his pocket.

"Then we better hurry before it closes," Amy said as she motioned for Marv to follow her out the diner.

The air had gotten slightly colder at this time of the night than when Marv was let out of prison. It was enough to raise goosebumps on their skin and he wondered how Amy wasn't cold in that waitress outfit that she was wearing. "Do you do this all night?" he broke the silence by asking her that question.

"I take the bus on occasion, but only when it's too cold," Amy said. "But I don't think it's too bad tonight. "

"Are you kidding?" Marv said, "I can practically see my breath! How much farther are we?"

A light chuckle escaped her lips when he voiced his complaints. "Only a couple of blocks. You know, I try to keep myself distracted whether it's from the cold or…just my thoughts. I like looking at the Christmas decorations. Just look at how beautiful this is," she said as she pointed over at a store window and saw the holiday display that had been put out. It was a little Christmas tree decorated with various ornaments that varied with the colors of red and white and little snowman that was set right next to the tree. It didn't seem like much of a decoration, but to her, simplicity was always beautiful.

Marv's eyes wandered at the plain display. It wasn't anything to look at and he didn't know why she was so amazed by it. "You like this?" he asked her.

"I do," Amy answered her, "I like anything related to Christmas." She looked over at him and almost fought the urge to let out another giggle when she took notice of his perplexed facial expression. "Come on," she said as she pulled onto his sleeve and made their way down the street.

After the two passed two more blocks, Amy and Marv suddenly came upon the small clothing shop. Upon their entrance, they were welcomed by the bright fluorescent lights and the loud Christmas music that played throughout the store. A feeling of pure delight pierced through Marv when he heard the Christmas music. In prison, he would catch a bit of the holiday music here and there, but it had been so long since he was fully exposed to it.

Amy pulled away from Marv's side and walked over to a clothing rack and searched through the clothes that were available. She looked over her shoulder at Marv, who was fascinated by some Christmas decorations on display, and eyed him up and down. Considering his height, he needed large articles of clothing. She walked around the clothing rack and picked out what she thought was the proper fabric and color for him. "Marv," she said as she walked over to him, "try these on." She held her arms out in front of her. "Quickly before my arms fall off."

He didn't know what it was, especially when it came to women in shopping, was that they had this tendency to either quickly find what they were looking for or take their time. In this case, he was glad that Amy was quick enough to choose, otherwise they would be spending the whole night here. "Uh sure," he said as he took the clothes from her. "Aren't we supposed to pay first?"

"No," Amy chuckled, "we'll pay for whatever clothes you want to take with you. Go on, try them on and I'll tell you how you look like."

She had the reaction of a little kid who had received lots of gifts for Christmas. Whether it was the fact that she had someone to break the monotonous routine or that someone whom she considered as a friend to spend the holidays with, Marv thought that it was endearing to see that reaction out of her. "Alright, alright, I'm going! You had better not disappoint me with your choices."

He headed inside the fitting room and began to try on the clothes that she had picked out for him. With each clothing that he tried on, he came out of the fitting room to see if she approved of them or not. In the beginning, it was a serious matter until they had turned it into a game and secretly laughed between one another. Amy found it funny how this situation compared with Harry's. Whenever she would help him shop for his clothes, he was not at all helpful with what he wanted and would always complain and roll his eyes whenever he would have to try anything on. As for Marv, it seemed like he was having an enjoyable time doing an activity that the majority did not like.

"I look like the Grinch with this get-up!" Marv exclaimed when he wore a green colored shirt that was decorated with white fabric around the collar and the sleeves of the shirt. "No way am I wearing this!"

"Yeah, we don't need any Grinches this year," Amy said, "try another one on."

The curtains covered the fitting room and suddenly they flew open when Marv walked out in a pair of black pants that were held by a belt and a blue checkered shirt. "How's this?" he asked as he held his arms out and looked at the getup.

She was silent for a moment as she took the in the details of the clothes that he was wearing. They fit his frame very well as opposed to the other clothes and he looked…well she was not going to distract herself with that now. "Blue is really your color," she agreed with a nod of her head, "what do you think?"

Marv turned around and looked at his reflection. Aside from his unkempt hair, which he was going to do something about it soon enough, it was like he was staring at another man in the mirror. "I like it," he said to her.

"Then I think we can both agree to get it," Amy said. "We'd better hurry. I think the store will be closing soon."

Marv helped Amy with the clothes that they were going to buy and walked over to the cash register. As the clothing retailer began to scan the clothes Marv whispered, "you think we can afford all of these?"

"Don't even worry about it," Amy assured him with the smile. With the money that she had tried her hardest to save and the number of tips that she got at the diner, she could loosen her grip just a little bit especially when it came to helping a friend. When the retailer totaled the sum of the clothes, Amy did not even blink an eye and handed the cashier the cash. She took the bag in her hands and handed one over to Marv. "Well, that was fun," she smiled.

"I don't know how to thank you for this," Marv said to her.

"You don't need to," Amy said, "I'm taking care of you until you get yourself settled. Now come on. Let's go before we freeze!"

At least the walk to her apartment wasn't as far as Marv had thought. She lived on the third floor of an apartment complex. The inside of the building was warm, much to his relief, and once he entered her apartment, he was shocked to see how small it was. The living room and the kitchen were close to each other, and a wall separated the kitchen from the bedroom.

"It's an apartment for one," Amy said as she threw her house keys on the dresser and took off her coat, "but I think we can manage for now. Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?"

"I think that burger should hold me for the night," he said as he indicated that he was full by placing his hand on his stomach.

"Now the question is, is where will you feel comfortable sleeping? The floors are not that great, believe me." She looked over at the couch and motioned with her head. "Good thing I got a hide-a-bed with the couch. There are nights where I want to be with the television on." She went over and pulled out the bed that was neatly hiding within the couch.

"Sounds a bit lonely," Marv commented and the moment he said that he regretted it. He looked at the expression that passed over her eyes, but she hid it with a small smile.

"Seinfeld makes great company," she said to him as she walked over to her bedroom and came back with the bed covers and a pillow as she neatly set it out for him. "Come on try it. See if you're comfortable."

He could feel the sleep hovering in his eyes as Marv walked over to the hide-a-bed. He was ready to collapse onto it but the moment that he sat down, he felt as if the bed was pulling him inside and all the wanted to do was stay there. "It's perfect," he said to her.

Amy smiled as she looked over the work that she had done. A warm home and a comfortable bed were enough to make any guest feel welcomed and happy. "If you need anything don't be shy," she said to him.

"When have I ever been shy?" Marv asked her.

Amy playfully shrugged her shoulders at him. "I don't know," she said, "but I have seen some moments when you were with us in Chicago during those first couple of weeks. Have a good night, Marv," she said.

"You too Amy," he said to her, and she turned off the lights of the apartment.

Ah yes…this bed was not at all like the one in prison and there was not a draft that he felt inside this small apartment. The falling out that had happened between her and Harry, Marv had been concerned that she would have a hard time finding herself considering how much she loved him, or from what he had seen. However, if she was able to put herself back together, he felt that he should have the same strength as her.