Chapter 2.

"So should one cart be for big stuff, and one for small, or one for normal items and one for cold stuff?" Cooper asked, surveying the aisles before them. "One normal, one cold," Buck said. "That way, the cold stuff keeps itself cold, and bagging will be more organized." "Why do they have the store laid out this way? Freezers and dairy to the left, meat on the back, produce and more freezers to the right. So what, we have to traipse all through the store so our milk doesn't spoil?" Jules seemed dismayed at the store's ill-thought-out layout. Beside her, Bridget made a face. "I've been in more than my fair share of grocery stores, but this has got to be laid out the worst of them all."

Buck laughed. "It's a gimmick. You don't want your food to go bad, so you have to go through the store 50 times. The longer you're in the store, the more stuff you buy. Just wait - they'll probably have endcaps filled with stuff we don't really need when we walk to the cold sections." Cooper shook his head. "The fact that you know that..." "Is concerning. Yeah, yeah. I know."

Bridget glanced between the two boys as they laughed. "I don't get it." "It's just another joke about his past," Cooper said. "Past?" "Yeah. Y'know, the whole Juvie thing." "Juvie thing? Buck was in Juvie?" Buck shot Jules a glance. "You didn't tell her?" "I thought she knew! Everyone else at school does!" Jules defended. "Knew what? What's the story here?"

Buck reached out and gripped her elbow, pulling her, and, by association, Cooper and Jules, to the side. "To make a very long story short: For the twelve years between ages 2 and 14, I was raised by my guardian, Mr. Skint. He was a con artist, taught me that bein' a con artist was normal, taught me to be a con artist, and basically taught me that everyone else was stupid and naïve for not being like us." "Oh." Bridget glanced around. "So what happened?" "He left me behind to get arrested because I didn't want to kidnap Katrina."

With that casual statement, Buck turned away and started heading for the aisles. "Did he say 'kidnap Katrina'?" Bridget asked, looking and Jules and Cooper with wide eyes. "Yup," Cooper said simply, following after Buck. "I'll explain later," Jules promised, motioning for Bridget to follow her. "You better."

"So... What are we looking for, exactly?"

"Toilet paper, paper towels, tissues." Buck ticked off his fingers as he spoke. "I never realized how many types of toilet papers and paper towels there are," Jules stated, eyes wide as she scanned the different products. "Yup." Buck crouched down and started inspecting different stickers and labels. "Coop, what's that one say?" Cooper forced himself to stifle his grin as he said, "Let me check." "While you guys get this stuff, we're gonna go get... other stuff," Jules said.

Cooper turned to the girls with a quizzical look. "I thought we were sticking together." "We'll just be in the next aisle over. We just need to get some... girl stuff." "Oh." "Go ahead. Y'all 'ill probably be done before us," Buck said absently. "Okay. We'll be right back." The brown-haired boy nodded and rose, paper towels in hand. He compared them to the ones Cooper held as the girls headed off.

"How did we manage to find and grab all this stuff, and you only got paper towels and tissues?"

Jules intended for this to come out a question, but it wound up sounding like an exclamation as she peered into their cart. Apparently, neither Buck nor Cooper's paper towels had won, since there was a third brand resting there.

"Paper products take a while," Buck said patiently. "But it's just toilet paper. Does it matter which one we get?" Buck opened and shut his mouth a few times before sighing. "Jules. How many times have you gone for groceries by yourself?" "Once or twice, I guess. Why?" "I've been getting groceries by myself since I was seven. I think I know what I'm doin'!"

"Why have you been getting groceries by yourself since you were seven? Is that even legal?" Cooper asked. "Because Mr. Skint didn't want to," Buck shrugged. "Someone had to do it." He decided on a pack of toilet paper and dropped it in the cart. "Alright. Any other kind of paper product y'all need?" "Nope." "No." "I'm good." "Okay. Onto the next aisle then."

The group started for the next aisle when Bridget stopped abruptly. "Trash bags!" "Yeah, they're on the list already," Jules said. "No! Trash bags. They're right there! What kind do we need?" Cooper consulted the list (Jules wondered vaguely when he got it from Buck) and said, "One small box of tall kitchen bags, and one small box of medium bags." Bridget quickly surveyed the selection and wound up reaching for the same box Buck did. "Go ahead," he said, pulling his hand back.

With all the necessary items in the cart, the group once again started off. Buck slowed before they left the aisle. "It's probably gonna get busier the longer we're in here," he warned. "Okay. What's next?" Buck glanced at the signs overhead. "Soaps."

Author's note:

Hi everyone! I hope you're all enjoying the story. This is my first fanfic, so formatting may be a bit strange, but hopefully it'll get better with time lol. I really appreciate feedback, so feel free to drop a comment. Hopefully I do one of my favorite fandoms justice!

Also, I apologize if any of the characters seem OOC. I have a bunch of sporadic "What If's" in my head, so sometimes those versions of characters seep into my stories.