Innocence is what he knows

The mall

I woke up fairly early, it was 7:20 and there was no jump scare to wake me up this time.

Even though I wanted to bury myself underneath my thick sheets I remembered the piece of paper (which had seen better days) on the top of my drawer and I reached for it, my hand feeling as heavy as my eyelids.

I slowly got up out of bed as my tired body did not have the ability just yet to function like normal. On such days like these, I know what I needed. Putting on my slippers I walked down the stairs as quietly as I could, missing all the creaky parts of the stairs, and headed straight to the kettle. I waited until the kettle started whistling a victorious tune or what I could call one as it meant I was one more step closer to making coffee. I was nearly done with making coffee, stirring my brew with a spoon when I heard a sudden burst of the sound of cartoons, it must be Kevin. It was his routine and I best to stay away from it.

I drank the coffee and already felt much better. I don't regularly drink coffee so the effect is even greater but it means I have to pour in the sugar a ton due to the bitter aftertaste. I started humming while going up the stairs, planning my outfit in my head.

"Hi" I greeted Edward who was in the bathroom staring in the mirror. He might have been looking at the scar on the top of his lip. "Everything okay?"

"Yes" he just replied, turning away from the mirror to look for something

"You still want to go outside right? You don't have to unless you want to" I reassured as doubt clouded my judgment. Edward was always so nice to everyone that I really just wanted him to not feel as though he has to agree with everyone even at his own expense.

"I do want to," he said, smiling brown eyes meeting mine and I felt warm, definitely just because he was happy.

"Well we're going to leave in about 20 minutes I just need to get changed and do a few stuff," I said, still slightly taken aback by the feeling in my chest and so I decided to busy myself with getting ready. I changed into some dark slightly-baggy jeans with a belt and a red short-sleeved shirt and brushed my hair. I was pretty much ready to go.

Shoving the wretched list into my pocket, I made my downstairs where Edward was already waiting for me.

"Ready to go?" I asked, putting on my white converses.

"yes" He replied.

*Time Skip*

We were both passing some familiar shops as I wanted to go further out, they have a blockbuster and a pretty big mall you could spend hours walking around in where we are going. I think it would be nice to show Edward that there are more parts than what he could see outside the windows. My mom was thinking of introducing everyone to him when Kim had finally arrived and I guess it gave him a few days to get accustomed to the house.

We finally got to our destination and I parked the car as best as I could, I do have to say I was never that good at that part but I'm always pretty close. I drummed on the car wheel just a little bit before ever so dramatically saying "We've arrived, want to go to the mall before we stop at the grocery store?" He nodded but was a little bit hesitant.

"Don't worry I'll be right with you and we can leave at any time If you want to go"

He seemed a bit more confident in this and I left the car to walk around and open the car door, a little bit role reversed but I don't mind. When we made our way through the parking lot and got closer to the mall I noticed more people and so I wrapped my hand around Edward's arm- just in case, he was worried because of how many people there were. He didn't show much reaction, hopefully, he didn't mind as I didn't feel like letting go just yet.

When we finally made our way inside, I saw his eyes shoot from left to right, taking in the different smells from the samples of perfume in Victoria's secret to the fast food. I wanted to check out the build a bear or the hot topic as I had enough money to spend on both of them, sacrificing a bit from the jar as I planned to find something for Edward. I'm not sure what he would like but if anything peaked his curiosity I could always get it.

On numerous occasions, Edward would have completely stopped to admire a crystal ball and watch the snowflakes swirl around or to watch someone try on sparkling jewelry through the glass or anything else that he found interesting. I didn't mind as his eyes were filled with such childlike wonder it was priceless. I nearly forgot what I wanted to do as I  wanted to entertain the idea of going into each shop and doing a few laps around the mall just for Edward to see everything.

When we had gotten to the build a bear, mainly to browse, Edward had stopped to look at one of the plushies there. It was a dark brown moose with chocolate brown eyes and slightly darker antlers. The moose looked positively adorable.

"Do you want it?"

After a moment of what seemed like a small battle of "should, I say yes or no" for Edward he had finally said yes and we went on the hunt for any accessories.

After a while, Edward picked out a black bow tie for the moose and I paid at the till happily. The employee didn't say much only glanced at Edward two times while printing out the receipt and sorting out the change.

"Have you thought of a name?" I asked, staring intently into Moose's eyes as if he could have telepathically answered the question while we were heading to the grocery store.

"No, do you have an idea?"

"I would just stick with Moose, it's quite cute if you give it some time, or maybe hmm he looks a bit like an Austin or maybe Balto? I'm not too sure"

"I like Moose"

"Moose it is then" I smiled, holding Moose happily as he stared at me with gentle familiar brown eyes.

~~~~

Okay, so Peppers-check 

Onions-check

 Broccoli-check

 Pasta-check 

Cheese-check 

Milk-check 

Eggs-check

 What else? I scanned the list, oh yeah  cans of some fruits and beans, vegetable oil, and ham slices and that's not counting the condensed milk for me and Edward and sweets for Kevin. I had walked up to the aisle with the pasta with Edward when a heard the ring of the bell at the door, signaling someone just entered. 

For a second I stood there as it wasn't exactly someone but it was Derryl, a boy in my class I may have had feelings for before and felt things were a bit awkward between me and him even if he didn't know. I crouched down, leaving a confused Edward still standing next to me. I tugged on the sleeve of his arm urgently as if Derryl seeing Edward would instantly make him realize he was with me. Edward obliged as he crouched down next to me, his hands folding after tapping on the floor. I watched Derryl's shoes walk towards the furthest possible aisle away from ours from the space between a few spaghetti o's cans and felt relieved. 

Edward watched me as I stood up, this time immediately following my lead. I grabbed what I needed hoping I don't need to make awkward conversation with Derryl. I made my way to the checkout, passing the aisle where he was looking at some cereals and of course, he had noticed me.

"Hey Lucy, what are you doing so far out"

"Hi Derryl oh just wanted to visit the mall, Show my friend around" I replied with a polite smile. I had already spent some time trying to find the cheese so I didn't want to come home too late.

"oh okay, well I guess I'll see ya around"

"yeah" I nodded, Edward caught up to me and I notice the look Derryl had on his face. Mostly curiosity mixed in with a bit of confusion.

~~~~~

"Oh I am just so tired from all that," I said placing Moose next to Edward's pillows "But it was really fun"

"Yes"

Right then I heard the door open and the sound of familiar footsteps that walked across the downstairs carpet. 

Kim finally arrived.