Two of a Kind (Vance Hopper)

Chapter 9.

     The two of them wandered down the stairs to the kitchen. Kitt walked over and sat down on top of a counter as the other started to look through the cabinets to see what options they had. She took the time to look around the house, seeing a lot of liquor bottles and beer cans thrown around. The house had definitely seen better days in the past, that much was clear. She noticed a couple of framed photos hanging on the wall, but they were clearly from a long time ago. The boy in the pictures couldn't have been more than around 5. He seemed happy in the photos, and very clearly loved. He noticed her looking at the photos, studying them almost. 

      He stormed over to the wall where the photos were hanging and gently took them down, placing them face down on a shelf nearby. He wasn't ready for that conversation. He hated letting others know what he had lost. He avoided looking at the girl on the counter as he walked back over to the cabinets and continued to look. She furrowed her brows at his actions, but she knew better than to ask. He hadn't pushed when it came to her hometown and she wouldn't push when it came to this. It was only fair, but she was still incredibly curious about what was going through his head. She looked over at him as he cursed, slamming the door closed. 

      "What's wrong?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at him. He huffed and walked over to lean on the counter beside her. "There's not shit to eat here," he responded, rolling his eyes. She shook her head at him before hopping down and going to look in the cabinet that he had previously searched. She found that it was pretty bare as he had said, but she did find a box of cookie mix. She grinned and pulled it out, shaking the box at him. He raised an eyebrow at her, almost questioning if she actually wanted to make fucking cookies. 

     "Come on, it'll be fun," She begged, putting the box on the counter before turning and moving to the fridge for the ingredients. He rolled his eyes but moved to grab her a bowl to mix the cookie dough in and a baking sheet. He put it on the counter for her and opened the box of cookies. "Cookies sound good as fuck right now anyways," she teased, smirking at him. He gave a soft chuckle at her before moving out of her way, leaning on the counter. 

     "If you say so," he replied, shrugging as if he really didn't care. This entire situation was weird to him. She was weird. It was beginning to get under his skin. He didn't know how to act with her. Usually he was rude, angry, but he didn't want to be with her. He was lost in his thoughts, watching as she began to put the eggs in the bowl with the dry ingredients. 

     She could feel his eyes on her, watching her every move, but she didn't really care. She knew that it was kind of weird to randomly decide to bake cookies in his house, but she was hungry. "I do say so. Hey can you pre-heat the oven? To, uh, 400 degrees," she asked, reading the temp off the box. He huffed but did as she asked. He smirked as he watched her eat some of the cookie dough, shaking his head at her once more. He decided to try some as well, walking over and snatching some of the dough on his finger. Kitt smacked his hand lightly in response, earning a glare in her direction. 

     "The fuck was that for?" He asked, flipping her off as he ate the cookie dough on his finger. His eyebrows shot upwards at the flavor. Maybe she was right, cookies did sound good right now. "You ate some too, dipshit," he complained with no real heat to his words. He was slightly annoyed, but he wasn't as angry as he usually would have been. The entire situation was confusing, but he didn't hate it. At least, not yet. 

      She gave a soft laugh and flipped him off as well. "I'm the one baking, I'm allowed to eat the fucking dough, Pinball Boy," she teased, moving to put the dough on the baking sheet. She heard the beeping of the oven that told her that it was finished heating up. She filled the sheet before putting it in the oven. She heard the front door open but didn't think much of it. Vance on the other hand stood up, looking a little worried about what was about to happen. He reached out to her and pulled her closer to him, glaring in the direction of the kitchen doorway. 

       She was ready to hit him for grabbing her, but froze at the look on his face. She turned her head to look at the doorway just as an older man walked in. He looked like a mess. He obviously hadn't shaved in awhile, his shirt covered in grease stains and oil. He stared at the two of them for a moment, anger coming across his face. "I see you brought one of your whores home," he spat at Vance. A look of disgust came across her face as she realized that this was his father. She looked up at the blonde beside her who looked like he was ready to commit murder. She grabbed his arm, stopping him as he started forward. 

     "She's not a whore. Why the fuck are you here?" He hissed, venom dripping off of his voice. She held onto him tighter as his father walked further into the room, closer to them. She glared at the bigger man, already hating everything about him. His father grabbed the closest thing to him, which happened to be an empty bottle of Vodka and threw it at them. She gasped as the bottle shattered on a cabinet door next to them. Vance pulled her behind him, staring down his father. 

      "Don't fucking lie to me, boy. I'll come home when I want, you got that?" His father bellowed out. The tension in the room was suffocating as Vance stayed silent, just nodding yes in response. His father seemed satisfied with his answer and paused before leaving the room. The blonde waited for a moment before he moved, giving the girl some space. She didn't say a word and moved to check on the cookies, making sure she had set a timer. 

     "Don't go anywhere in this house without me," he finally spoke, leaving no room for arguments. She just nodded, agreeing with him. She definitely wasn't going to argue about this. She swallowed thickly, nerves slowly calming down as they waited for the cookies to finish baking. She hadn't expected the day to go like this. It was a lot to take in. So much had happened today, but she couldn't help but think it was worth it.