Shopping

Don't forget to hit that ★

The aroma of coffee fills the kitchen, I'm already sipping on my cup when Veronica waltzes in. "Hey bro." she grabs a cup and pours herself some brew, then adding her favorite creamer.

"Hey sis." Veronica has really grown into an incredible woman. Strong, talented, and kind. Her and Chase share a bond like something I've never seen. Even what I thought I had with Melissa doesn't even compare to what they have.

"You excited for today?" she turns and blows on top of the mug.

"Most definitely. I can't wait to sleep on a mattress again."

She laughs, "Yeah, that futon's shit."

"I never told you thank you."

"For what?" her dark eyebrows furrow together in confusion.

"For putting up with my shit, for taking care of me, for being there for me." I rattle off all that her and my family have done for me.

"Victor." She places her mug on the table, "You are my brother. I love you. Even when you were being an asshole. I will always be here for you, and I will forever have your back."

I place my mug on the table and cross over to my baby sister and wrap my arms around her small frame. She embraces me back. "I'm gonna miss seeing you." Her words are mumbled into my chest, but I understood them.

"You can come over whenever."

"Good because I'm using that pool of yours."

I laugh. "Sure sis." I place a kiss on her head and release her. Just then Chase enters the kitchen, "Hey Victor." He greets me before moving to Veronica, her face lifts and he goes in for a kiss. Wanting to give them some privacy, I remove my phone and check for any messages. But have nothing from anyone I care about.

"Victor do you want something to eat before we leave? I can make a bagel quick?"

"Sure, V. I'd like that." I send her a smile and she gets to work on making us bagels. Even one for Vance who finally strolls in scowling.

"Morning sunshine." Veronica sings. Vance grumbles his reply.

After we eat, it's time to get moving and literally move. I have a small storage unit that is currently housing the few items I kept. Veronica drives my car to the house, where our parents will meet her and bring her to the storage place. Chase takes me to pick up the small box truck and we all meet up. With my parents, brothers, and sister it doesn't take long to have everything loaded.

It's nearing one, and we're spread throughout the main space. It's seriously lacking....everything. I have a recliner, tv stand, and the tv. That's pretty much it. I'm not overly concerned about a table, there's a small counter space to add stools where I can sit and eat. My mother is currently cleaning the kitchen space, my father is out back on the deck with Vin and Vance. V and Chase are on the recliner.

"I'm starving." Vaughn whines from the floor in my living room.

"Yeah. I'll order some pizzas."

"Pepperoni!" Vaughn shouts.

Just as I'm about to look up a number for a local pizza place, my phone starts to vibrate in my hand. Jade's name lights up the screen and my lips lift on their own accord. I jump up and move towards the foyer, hoping to be far enough away to have some kind of privacy.

"Well finally." I answer jokingly.

"I'm out front stud, come help." The faint click let's me know she hung up. Well then. Shuffling closer to the door, I glance out the side window and sure enough, there's Jade's car. Whipping open the door, I jog down to meet her. She pops up from the backseat at my arrival, three pizza boxes in her hands. Her hair is piled on top of her head and she looks incredible in a tight top and shorts, I notice a tattoo peeking out from the hem. "There's drinks in the trunk." She informs me and pulls my attention away from her legs.

"You are a life saver." I inform her as I move to her trunk, popping it open and taking in the contents. There's a case of water, red Gatorade, and beer. I stack them and lift them up, shifting them to my left side and closing the trunk. "You ready to meet the whole family?" I inquire as I move towards her.

"Well half of them already love me." She winks with sass.

"That is true."

As soon as we cleared the front door Vaughn yells, "PIZZA!" and rushes to us. "Who's the hottie?" This makes Jade laugh.

"Vaughn this is Jade."

"I like hottie. Hey handsome."

"Oh I like her." Vaughn eyes me.

"Take the pizza from her dingus." Jades lips quirk and Vaughn removes the pizza from her hands. I place the drinks on the counter, and my mom turns around. "Ma, this is my friend Jade. Jade this is Ma."

"Mrs. Russo, it's a pleasure to meet you." Jade greets Ma so formally it's funny. My mom smiles wide, "Please call me Vivian, I obviously failed at teaching my sons manners." Ma eyes me, then whips the hand towel at me.

Chase and V join us. "Hey Jade," Chase greets her warmly and Jade smiles at him then looks to my sister. "Chase it's so good to see you!" Jade moves to Chase to hug him then turns to V and hugs her. I can see her startled expression but it morphs into affection soon after. V glances at Chase then moves into his side, his arm pulling her snugly into him.

Vance, Vin and my father enter. "Jade! My favorite bartender!" Vance booms, "What are you doing here?" he glances at me then moves to Jade, pulling her into a big hug.

"Feeding you goons." She responds.

"Oh I knew you were the one." Vance jokes. Vin greets Jade, I introduce her to my dad, and we all dig into the pizza. We all remain in the kitchen, using the counters as a makeshift table. We manage to polish off all 3 pizzas, my counters are covered in bottles and napkins.

"So, um, where's all your stuff?" Jade asks glancing behind her at the empty dining space and living room.

I shrug, "This is it."

"Dude this is seriously sad."

"Right?" V chimes in next to her.

"Okay. We need to go shopping!" Jade suggests and V is all over that idea, shouting out her approval. They continue on talking about places to go, not even bothering to ask me. I mean it's not a big deal to me, it's just me going to be living here. I don't need anything fancy.

"Okay. We're going to Ikea!" Jade straightens and claps her hands.

"Welp I'm going home!" Vance chimes in, crumbling up his napkin and tosses it at V, who tosses it back at him. Ma moves around gathering the trash and empty bottles, cleaning up.

"Yep. I'm out too." Vaughn announces.

"Alright guys, thanks for your help!"

"Anytime bro!" Vaughn holds out his fist for a bump. "Later hottie! Hug for the road?"

"BYE VAUGHN!" I yell. He holds up his hands and moves to the door.

"I'm not afraid of you." Vance moves to Jade, she squeaks as he picks her up in a bear hug. "You be good to my future wife!" he points to me. Vance got jokes.

V moves to Chase wrapping her arms around his waist, "Can we borrow your truck?" He smiles down at her, his arms embracing her. "Sure, as long as Victor is the one driving it."

V huffs, "I can drive your truck just fine!"

"Babe you can barely see over the steering wheel, and while I love to see you drive my vehicles, the last time you drove my truck you backed into a pole." She tries to move away from him, but he holds onto her then smothers her with kisses. I glance away from their disgusting display of affection. Jade starts talking, "Ikea has tons of options and they're relatively cheap."

"Alright" I shrug. Ma pats my shoulder as she takes the trash out to my garage where I placed the garbage bins.

"We can get you a comfy couch, a table, some stools for your island. That should be good for now. We can always go back another time if you need something else." She rambles on, her eyes on the ceiling in thought. I can't help but like the way she's saying WE. She looks at me, "Sound like a plan?"

I smile, "Sounds like a plan." Ma washes her hands then comes to me, "Okay Victor, we're going to get going." She grabs my face, pats my cheek and lays a kiss on it. "Love you my sweet boy."

"Love you too ma." She smiles wide and turns to Jade, pulling her in for an embrace, "It was lovely to meet you Jade."

"You too Mrs. Russo." Ma gives her a look that makes Jade laugh, "Sorry Vivian." She corrects.

Chase tosses me his keys as he catches a ride with my parents, I make sure I have my wallet and we head out the door. V jumps into the back cab and Jade sits up front, immediately messing with the radio and settling on some rock.

The drive to Ikea is about an hour and I have no idea what to expect but the girls swear it's "amazing". Jade and V talk the whole way there and you'd never know they just met today. I'm quiet but I enjoy their chatter and the drive went quick.

The parking lot is full, forcing us to park far from the entrance. As we walk across the lot Jade turns to me, "What's your favorite color?"

I shrug, "Blue?"

"You sure? You don't seem so sure."

"I don't know."

"Okay. What color was your old couch?"

I cringe at the instant memory popping in my head, "Brown."

"Figures." Jade shakes her head. "So plain. You have this beautiful open space, you need a pop of color and not brown." She rambles and it makes me think of her red couch.

"Whatever you say."

Stepping into Ikea was like a different world. Wide open, high ceiling, and a shit ton of furniture. Jade and V lead me through makeshift living rooms, most of them stark white or dark without color, at least that's what they say. I just find myself touching the soft looking pillows. I didn't even realize they had left me until I heard V shout my name. "Where the hell are you?" I yell out looking around the area. V pops her head from the next room across from where I stand, "C'mon we found the perfect set up!" her head disappears and I make my way over to them. The room is set up nicely, a white marble coffee table placed in front of a bright blue sectional. Jade and V have made themselves comfortable on said sectional. Jade raises her arms, "Well what do you think?"

I plop in between my sister and friend, immediately sinking into the cushion, "oh, I like this."

"Right? This would look so great in your place." Jade offers.

"Yeah, I even like the table."

"I do too." V agrees, "And your TV up there." She gestures in front of us with her hands.

"Alright ladies, I'm sold." They both clap excitedly and then lean over me to high five each other. Jade gets up and circles the sectional then snaps a picture of the ticket, she does the same with the coffee table. What the heck is she doing, she notices me watching her and my face must display my confusion.

"Getting it's locations so we can find it to buy." She explains. "Okay, so we need kitchen stools yet. Did you want to look at anything else while we're here?" I shrug in response.

"Oh you need a table!" V chimes in.

"No I don't."

"Yeah, you do." She argues.

"For what?"

"What If you get a girlfriend she wants us to come over for dinner?"

I scoff, "I'm not getting a girlfriend anytime soon Veronica." V eyes move to Jade quickly and back to me, "You don't know that." Knowing what she's insinuating. As much as I like Jade, and if this were any other time in my life, I'd be trying to make us more than friends. Jade is amazing, and I am so messed up, a relationship is the last thing I need to worry about. "Yeah, I do. I don't want a girlfriend. I'm not legally divorced yet."

"But in the future...." V mumbles quietly, her facial etched with worry and pain. I grab her hand and pull her into me. I feel bad that she's hurting because of my fucked-up situation. "Then I will worry about that then." I place a kiss on her head.

"I like Jade." She whispers.

"I do too." I agree and squeeze my little sister tightly. I glance up into the empty space, I have no idea when Jade left us and what exactly she all heard. Regardless of not wanting a relationship, I will make sure she remains in my life. "C'mon let's go pick out some stools."

We ended up spending six hours at Ikea, including time at the food court devouring their infamous meatballs. These girls enjoyed spending my money way too much. Kitchen gadgets, stools, a new couch, pillows(that I got to pick), décor and a hefty payment later, my truck is filled with things I apparently must have.

"Can you drop me off at Chase's?" V asks from the back.

"You're not gonna help me with all this stuff you made me buy?"

"Sorry, I'm tired."

"Psh. I can't believe you. Leaving me high and dry, I'll remember this!"

"Oh my gosh, stop!" she laughs and swats at me, then snuggles into the seat.

"That's fine, me and Jade got this." I look to her, "Right?"

She purses her lips, "I don't know—"

"Oh no, you're helping me!" I point my finger at her and she laughs. "I don't care if I need to keep you all night!" Her eyebrow quirks up and my mind instantly floods with naughty thoughts.

"Alright" she sighs.

They both pass out on the drive home, leaving me to my own entertainment. By the time I drop V off and get back to my place it's close to ten o'clock. Jade promised she got her second wind and would help me put together the furniture.

We ended up ordering out to our favorite late night taco place, and had a makeshift picnic on my living room floor.

"Oh my gosh, I remember you driving that loud Mustang!" she laughs reminiscing about high school. "That car was sex on wheels."

"Yeah, she was fun."

"What happened to it?"

"Eh, I smashed it into a tree."

"What?" her eyes widen, "No way! That's so sad."

"Yeah, unfortunately, I slid on some black ice."

"Damn."

"That was a sad, sad day."

"Your whole family's always been into cars?"

"Yeah, it's something we all definitely bonded over."

Jade looks away, her face sad, "That's really cool. That you guys have that."

"Yeah, it's been awhile. I was more focused on my career and future, I stopped going out to the track and traded in my car."

"Welp, now you really have no reason not to go again. Hang out with your family and bond over cars."

"You're right! I miss the late nights hanging out in the garage, the adrenaline of racing..."

"I've never been to the track..." Jade says shyly.

"What?" There's no hiding my shock.

She shrugs, "I don't know. My uncle was always busy with the bar, taking care of me, my friends weren't into the car scene. I've always wanted to go but didn't wanna go by myself."

"Well let's change that! Let me know the next Friday you're off, I'm gonna take you!"

"Can I race?"

"You want to race?" I can feel my eyebrows shoot upward.

"Yeah. It seems intense and exciting."

"Can you drive a manual?"

"No."

"Well we change that too!"

"Really?" her eyes widen with excitement.

"Definitely. I'll teach you." I think on it for a second, "I think for your first race though, you can ride in the passenger seat."

She bounces up and down in excitement, "Hell yes!"

I laugh at her excitement, and love that she's that happy over something I once loved to do. It thrills me, and hits me in the chest. I clear my throat and start gathering our empty wrappers. "Alright, Let's get some of this shit together."

Hours later three stools are built and placed at the island, my new blue couch is situated behind the marble coffee table. Jade and I are laying on my new fluffy rug, and in this moment I am so happy to have purchased this.

I groan, "My back hurts."

Jade yawns, and slaps my chest, "Ya old man."

"Yeah, yeah." I lift my head to look at the clock on my wall, " Damn. It's definitely pass my bedtime."

Jade laughs, "I'm normally just getting off of work but I'm exhausted."

"Thank you for your help, I really appreciate it!"

"No problem. I actually had fun." she sits up and stretches her arms upward, allowing her shirt to show a silver of her stomach. She yawns again, quickly placing her hand in front of her mouth, "Oh man, I better get going."

"You should stay." I blurt, her eyes meet mine, "It's late, you can sleep in my bed." I offer.

"And where will you sleep?"

I pat the couch, "I'll break this baby in."

"Are you sure because honestly, I'm dead tired and I rather not drive." Jade says honestly, and I really like that about her. Her honesty.

"Of course!"

"Thank you." I get up and take her to my room, brush my teeth and grab an extra blanket. "My shirts are in the top drawer, make yourself at home." I move to the door and her voice stops me, "Thanks Vic. Goodnight."

"Night Jade."

So first, I want to thank everyone for the support. It truly means the world to me. I am sorry that it took so long to get you this chapter, it was not my intention but life is pretty abnormal as I'm sure it is for most. I work full time 6-7 days a week (3:30 to 11pm), then I homeschool my son from 9am to 2pm. Most of my writing time was done in the morning after "waking up" but now that free time is spent helping my son or doing chores since most of my weekends are spent working. Please be considerate and understanding when you are getting aggravated that I haven't updated.

On top of my hectic schedule, my grandfather passed away earlier this month. I have not been able to see him since March due to covid restrictions and well his overall health of him and my mom mom. I have handled it well for the most part. He lived a wonderful long life but my mind was not in writing.

Nothing extremely pivotal happens in this scene and I struggled with getting it to flow properly, when that happens sometimes it takes time. But it's just a small step in their relationship forming slowly, I hope I am properly displaying that.

ALSO I have never been to an Ikea lol so please do not be afraid to correct me on how Ikea works. I did some googling and asked questions.

I hope you all are doing well and staying safe. I absolutely LOVE hearing from you and reading your comments. They are EVERYTHING! The next chapter is partly written so I'm hoping to finish that up tonight! *cross fingers*

I need some new music, what is your current favorite song?