three of a kind.

18.

December 16, 1989

Christmas approached us more swiftly than we'd first anticipated, and since it was our first christmas living together we wanted to make it special. lyle and erik were the only people in jose and kitty's inheritance, so we'd come into a significant amount of wealth by default. we had made plans to visit the fashion valley mall the night before, as it was certainly a place filled with a lot of our core memories.

as the months dredged by, the weight on our shoulders only grew heavier. i began to see their faces in everyone's, i had no part of the murders yet they haunted me the most. erik had horrid episodes of night terrors, which continued to keep me up night after night. lyle's only coping mechanisms were silent, he refused to talk to either of us and we didn't ask. much like kitty, lyle drowned his emotions in lavish shopping, so it was my last attempt at doing something nice for him. 

"are you ready?" i called from in the bathroom, finally finishing my outfit for the day.

"yeah!" lyle called back, obviously chewing the last bites of his breakfast by the muffled sound of his words. 

i giggled, setting my makeup brushes next to the faucet as i pulled the bathroom door open. 

"whewww." lyle catcalled as stepped out behind the bathroom door.

"damn." erik uttered under his breath. 

i rolled my eyes, "oh calm yourselves, it's just a shirt."

erik's eyes widened, "is that what we're calling it now?"

"tell me you at least got that 70% off." lyle commented, pulling at the hem of my shirt before sharply releasing it.

i huffed, yanking my shirt back down. "are you done yet?" 

the boys nodded, smiling to themselves as they gathered their belongings off the table.

we made our descent down the stairs, jogging toward's kitty's mercedez that we'd been driving. i was eager to start the day, the shenanigans we always got into at the mall were sitcom material. it always felt a little off, driving their cars and spending their money; it was innocent though.  we weren't doing it to spite the two, though we easily could've been. it was never the intention, it was just a distraction. 

"well," lyle began, not taking his eyes from the stretch of road on front of us, "what does everyone want for christmas?"

a time machine. 

"there's a necklace i've been eyeballing but it's expens-"

"done." lyle cut me off, smiling in my direction, "erik?"

he pondered in his thoughts for a moment, seeming to have the same initial thought i had. "i dont know yet, i'll see." 

lyle shrugged, turning on his signal as we pulled into the mall parking garage. 

we all jumped out, i linked arms with erik as we began the walk through the mall. the san diego building was ginormous, the layout offered little shade as you walked from section to section. the open sky was above our heads, the breeze gently blowing our hair out of place.

erik and i got lost in conversation, poking jokes at each other as we walked around. something grabbed lyle's attention from another side of the mall, causing him to stop in his tracks. 

"what?" i questioned, trying to follow his gaze. 

"c'mere." he responding, grasping onto my hand and pulling me along to whatever had him fixed.

i looked back to erik who was jogging trying to keep up as we weaved in between other patrons, he was just as confused as i was. 

lyle stopped dragging us along by the rolex stand, intently scanning each selection of pristine watches. "which ones do you like?"