My Buddy Archie [3]

65..

I pushed the cart up and down the aisles, trying to remember all the stuff Connie told me to get from the market. I knew I should've written it down the second she started talking. What the fuck is kale? It's weird ass lettuce. Why does she always have to look up weird vegetables to try? Did she say I should get Sun Chips? I don't know. I'm going to assumed she did.

I dropped two bags into the cart and went on my way. As I continued down the aisle I realized I was surrounded by baby food. Something deep in my chest ached as I looked at all the different types. A part of me wanted to buy one—just one—not that it would have some magical effect on Connie and get her pregnant, but still. Our lack of success was bumming me out too.

Sighing, I went on shopping before getting out of there and heading towards the pharmacy to get something for headaches. Archie says he gets them every now and then, and of course Connie has a panic attack, so I decided to finally just get medicine for it. When I was walking towards the checkout line, I thought I saw someone familiar.

"Carol?" I asked. When she turned around I smiled a little. Weird running into Liv's daughter at the pharmacy. "Hey!"

"Hey, Niall. How are you?" She grinned.

I gave her a quick hug then stepped back, "I'm good. How are you? Liv good?" Her smile slipped away and my heart dropped. I haven't heard from Liv since my wedding. She tended to drop off the planet, but the way Carol's face just dropped made me worry.

"She's alright," she fake smiled. "You'll have to give her a call."

"Oh...okay."

"See you, around." Then she just walked off.

I stared after her, a bit confused and a bit worried, but I made a mental note to call Liv later. Carol was weird. It probably was nothing and she was just being cryptic for no reason. Still, I should call Liv. I hope everything's alright.

When I got home, I put all the food away then went upstairs to grab my computer, but I skid to a halt when I saw Connie still in bed. I walked towards her and put my hand on her forehead, testing for a fever.

"Connie, what are you still doing home?" I looked at her phone on the nightstand, seeing she has four missed calls from Gemma and Iris. "Connie, angel." I shook her a little. "Connie."

"What? What?"

"I thought you had to work today? Why are you home?"

"I do," she yawned. "I don't have to be there yet."

"Connie, it's almost eleven."

There was a beat of silence before she shot up, looking at me with wide disbelieving eyes. "What?!" She screamed before jumping out of bed. "Oh my god. Oh my god!" She ran over to the closet and yanked it opened. "How did this happen? Oh god, I'm going to get in trouble. Fuck. Fuck!"

I could hear her choking up as she kept scolding herself and got dressed. Honestly, I didn't give a fuck about her job. Right now, I'd rather her just stay home. Connie doesn't sleep in unless she's sick, and even that's rare. I hope she doesn't have the flu again.

"Okay, I'm—I'm going now. Um. Can you pick Archie and Jonas up? I don't know if I'll have to stay later." She circled around the room, hopping as she pulled her heels boots on. Still, in a hurry, she still had on a nice outfit. "Thank you so much for waking me up. I'll see you tonight." And she rushed out of the room.

"Don't stress out!" I called.

"No promises!"

——

I practically hung out with Kim and her and Bucky's dog Alphonse all day. Kim had the day off too, so why not? I also got the sense she was kind of lonely with Bucky in Korea. She's been handling it like a champ though. She joined all these support groups for the army, and started working out herself. I knew she was just trying to keep herself busy when she wasn't working, but sometimes I see her walking into her house, and it's just obvious how much she misses big stupid Bucky.