A Shitty Welcome Home x Reader Fanfic

Ch. 12: helping Howdy

That butterfly didn't leave your mind. It's wings... the pattern on them. As strange as it was, maybe you were overthinking it. Yeah, definitely. "Morning (Y/N)!"

You see Eddie waving at you as he jogs by with a bunch of mail. He's always busy, isn't he? You wave back as he jogs out of view. Maybe you can help him one day, and then he could finally catch a break. You make it to Howdy's and open the door, causing the bell above to ring. Howdy pops his head up from behind the counter and greets you.

You greet him and walk in to browse through everything, wondering what you might be missing. You probably weren't even missing anything, but it was better to be safe than sorry. As you look through the various products, Howdy comes up next to you and starts filling the empty parts of the shelf. Maybe Howdy could use a break, too. You turn your head and notice the crate he's holding under two of his arms, while the other two grab and stack more merchandise onto the shelves.

You couldn't help your jaw from dropping a bit at the size of the crate. That thing could easily crush you if you ever attempted to pick it up. "You alright there, neighbor?"

Howdy stared down at you with a bit of worry. It took a few seconds for you to respond. "Yeah, it's just... how in the world are you holding that so easily? That's gotta be like, I don't know, 90 pounds??" you asked, pointing to the crate.

Howdy went from looking worried, to surprised, and then amused. He just laughed and shrugged. "I must have gotten used to it by now. I doubt it's around 90 pounds, though." You looked at the crate and then back at him. "Can I try?" you asked.

"Pardon?" he looked at you, confused. "The crate. I want to see if I can hold it." you said. Howdy seemed hesitant but leaned down and slowly handed you part of the crate. Even though he was still holding onto most of it, you could feel how heavy it was. There was no way you could carry it. "Want me to let go?" Howdy asked, still holding onto half of the crate. "Nope, I change my mind. It's too heavy..." you say in defeat.

Howdy chuckles and grabs the crate fully again before standing up to his full height. It's no wonder he can lift heavy objects. He's about 8 feet tall from the looks of it. He also looked a bit tired. Running the shop alone must be exhausting. With that, you had a new goal in mind: helping Howdy out. Even if you couldn't lift a crate, there were other ways you could help out. You weren't busy today after all, so why not?

"Need help? I could help you out around here." you offered. Howdy looked a bit surprised and declined your offer. "Oh, I couldn't possibly accept! It wouldn't be right for me to make a customer help out with the shop. That's my job after all..." Howdy replied, setting the crate down.

"You aren't making me, though. I'm the one offering. You look tired, Howdy." you said. Howdy glanced at his reflection on the store window and saw what you meant. He did look a little tired. Not only that, he FELT tired. He needed the help, but it was his shop. He should be able to run it on his own.

"Pleaseeeeee? I really want to help out." you asked again. "Neighbor, it's my shop, and I'd hate to -" he paused, looking down as you attempted to convince him with puppy dog eyes. You were doing a terrible job, which made him laugh again.

"Well, how am I supposed to say no to that? Alright, I'll let you help out, but only with the easy stuff. Nothing too hard, got it?" he asked, crossing his arms. "Got it!" you smiled.

Howdy left and came back with a broom for you to sweep with, which you happily took. Looks like you had something to do today after all.

The rest of the day, you swept, cleaned the windows, dusted the shelves, and chatted with Howdy or whoever walked in. At one point, Wally snuck in and just stared at all the apples on display until Howdy kicked him out, which confused you (what was that about?). Other than that, the day seemed pretty normal.

By the time the sun started to set, you felt pretty sore. If you felt this sore after doing simple tasks, you could only imagine how Howdy felt. For your help, Howdy let you pick a few things from his shop to take home, so you picked some of your favorite snacks and drinks.

"Thanks for the help (Y/N)! I really appreciated it. See you soon!" Howdy smiled, waving bye to you. "No problem! I was just glad to help out. Bye!" you waved back. You make your way back home as the sky grew darker, yawning every so often.

You open your front door, put everything away for later, and plop down on your bed. Jeez, all that work sure got you tired. It lasted all day, too. At least you had something to do all day, and you also helped out a friend. Nice. Now to...wait...till tomorrow. You wondered what.....tomorrow would.....bringggg............

You fell asleep.

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a small note:
I know I complained about the butterfly drawing, but I take it back. 😰 this one took a lot longer and is probably the first and last time I draw an actual character from welcome home. it's hard drawing so many limbs...

also, updates are gonna be slow for a while longer (probably until the school year is over). i didnt have time to proofread either. thanks for being patient!

👁🦋👁