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“Come on, Remy. I’ll hold your hand the entire time.”
He rolled his eyes, but did in fact grab my hand in a tight grip.
I was laughing hysterically as the doors slid open, cut off by his pleased exclamation about the Starbucks inside.
“Aww, Remy. I’ll buy you one of those Frappuccinos you love while we walk the aisles.”
“You’re mocking me, but it sounds like a perfect idea to me,” he said lazily.
And that’s what we did.
It was a small moment of normalcy, something I knew I would treasure in days to come. As a kid growing up, I’d dreamed about doing normal things like that, walking the aisles of a store with my boyfriend, or even normal parents. Remington’s comments were ridiculous as he marveled about the fact that you could get oat milk and high heels in the same store, but they were just what the doctor ordered.
Sometimes it felt like I was suffocating. Like The Demon had reached out and grabbed my throat and stuffed my head into a bag.
Sometimes, in the quiet moments, I did feel like giving up. Like admitting defeat and turning myself in for whatever my father had planned for me.
Drinking my dirty chai as I looked at children’s toys was just what I needed.
“Okay, what does your brother like?” I asked as we stared up and down an aisle with hundreds…if not thousands…of toys.
“Um…he wasn’t really allowed to play with toys with Senator Assface. But I would sneak random ones in. I think he would probably like anything, honestly. He’s not a spoiled asshole like me.”
He said it self-deprecatingly, but I wondered if he really thought that about himself, or if he could see what I saw in him everyday.
“Love you,” I murmured, pressing a kiss against his cheek. His features softened as he stared down at me.
“Love you too.”
I didn’t think I was ever going to get over the fact that we said that now. And so easily. Once upon a time, I hadn’t thought I was even capable of love. Now look at me. Declaring my love in an aisle of Pokemon characters.
How the mighty had fallen.
We bickered back and forth about what to get him until Remington said, “fuck it,” and bought ten different items. He once again gasped in shock at how easy it was to get gift bags there as well, and then we were checking out, walking out to a storm darkened sky to head to the party.
“Hope it isn’t a pool party,” I mused as raindrops hit the windshield.
“I’m not sure what the theme is,” Remy responded, sounding lost in his own head.
My phone buzzed. It was Cain.
Are you being a good girl?
I snorted and shook my head.
Always, I responded.
“What are you laughing about over there?” Remy asked.
“Just Cain being an overbearing bastard.”
“Shocking.”
We turned down a street into a neighborhood draped in tranquility, where towering leafy trees formed a natural canopy, their branches reaching towards the heavens. The lawns were all meticulously maintained and children were already playing in the front yards despite the fact that it was sprinkling.
It looked like a little slice of heaven.
“This is where your aunt lives?” I asked, admiring the charming houses. It wasn’t a stuck up neighborhood like where Remington’s father had lived. But it was a nice one, one you would want your kids to grow up in.
