𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘱 ~ 𝐦𝐚𝐱 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝

Chapter Thirty Five

Chapter Thirty-Five
soup aisle

Addison leaned into the cart, quietly humming along to the upbeat overplayed pop song. Max walked beside her, fingers brushing against the cereal boxes.

Steve, Dustin, and Robin had gone to the other end of the store for bread, ham, and other things to make sandwiches with. Divide and conquer! As Robin had put it. Max stopped in front of a row of cereal, Addison following suit and turning away from the cart to her girlfriend.

"You think he likes this?" Max asked, looking from the off brand cereal box to Addison.

"Hm." Addison took the box from her hands, gently shaking it (she liked the sound it made) and flipping it over. "There's a maze on the back, keep him occupied."

Max laughed at that, imagining the metal head focused on finding the end of the maze, tongue sticking out in concentration.

Addison turned around to toss it in the cart, jumping when a hand caught it, stopping it from landing beside the YooHoos.

"Addison, hey there." He said, examining the box in his hands. He hummed to himself, eyes flickering between the two girls and the box. Max instinctively stepped closer to Addison, eyes narrowing. "I pegged you for more of a Cocoa Puffs type."

"Uh.. Hi, Jason! No, I am. But these aren't for me! They're for my- my mom. She's sick, you know?" Addison laughed nervously, praying that

"What are you doing here alone?" He asked, finally looking away from the box. He paid Max no attention, eyes solely on Addison.

"She's not alone." Max interrupted, hands resting on the handle of the cart. "Look, we're kind of busy, so can you-"

Her sentence was cut off as Jason roughly grabbed the end of the cart, effectively stopping it from moving. Addison's heart jumped, eyes searching Jason's face.

Resentment lingered in his eyes, unchecked wrath threatening to creep through his cool exterior.

"You're friends with Dustin. Aren't you?" His voice was deadpan, though his eyes showed a flurry of emotion. Addison felt a twinge of fear strike her heart, quite the opposite of how she had felt the other night when she'd been introduced to him.

"Yeah, of course, I'm friend with Dustin." Addison said, titling her head to the side.

"Good. Have you seen him? Maybe you can tell me where he is."

"No. We haven't." Max interrupted.

"I was talking to Addison, she can speak for herself. Can't she?" Jason's lips quirked up, "Or are you her keeper?"

"I haven't seen him." Addison answered quickly. "I'm sorry."

"I'm not." Max said, glancing at the people passing through the aisle. "Look, her mom is really sick. So, we need to get going-"

Jason roughly pulled the cart towards himself, prying the handle from her hands. Addison gulped, hands growing shaky as anxieties. "Sick people don't drink YooHoos."

"Those are for me! YooHoos are my favorite, you know." Addison laughed nervously. "Well, actually. It's hot chocolate that's my favorite! I think it could fix any problem, but that's more of a mindset and, I don't know, the- the warmth that.. you know.. it, uh, gives off! Especially sharing it with someone, not the same cup. No, I need my own cup and I need it to myself."