How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You

2| Domesticated

They got to the grocery store in twenty minutes. For Phil, those were one of the shortest twenty-minute periods of his life.

"Phil!" A warm voice greeted him as the two cadets walked in. "I haven't seen you for so long!"

"Hey, Margaret," he said awkwardly. "Um, you too. How've you been?"

May looked between the two of them in amusement as she walked up to him with a basket.

"Oh my gosh, is this your girlfriend?" Margaret asked excitedly. "Hi! I'm Margaret! I'm the cashier and- Oh my gosh, you look so cool! I love your jacket! Are you two back in town for the holidays?"

Phil nodded shortly. "For Christmas with my mom, and New Year's with May's family."

"Your name is May? Like the month?" Margaret looked at May with starry eyes. "I've heard so much about you! And you're actually so cool. And you're so pretty!"

"Thanks," May said with a small grin. "I like your shirt."

"Oh, this old thing? It's my mom's." Margaret stretched over the counter. "Am I holding your shopping up? I probably am. I'm going to go back to Times now." She waved cheerfully as they walked away.

May handed Phil the basket as she picked stuff off of the shelf. "That was... interesting, to say the least," she noted.

"She was my little buddy in high school from when I was twelve until I graduated. She's a little..." Phil grimaced. "Bouncy? Energized?"

"My mom says that I act like a squirrel on crack!" Margaret called.

May smiled. "There you go." She glanced at the list Phil had hastily written before they left, squinting. "Is this- does this say turkey?"

"Do you want it to say turkey?" Phil asked, picking up a packet of herbs.

"Depends if you're good at cooking turkey."

"Well, Mom taught me how, so I think I'm fairly okay." Phil led her into the produce aisle, holding up a bundle of carrots and a sack of potatoes in either hand. "Also, what kind of Christmas would it be without a turkey?"

May shrugged, grabbing the potatoes from him and putting them in the basket. "A good or bad one, depending on how bad the turkey usually is." She picked up a box of cookies and dropped it in as well. "Please tell me at some point in your life she taught you how to make apple pie."

"When I was eight?" Phil picked up a few apples, breathing them in deeply before settling on them. "I was mostly the decorator though."

May shook her head as they wandered into the meat section. "Pre-cooked turkey, though? To save time?"

"Yep." Phil put it in the basket and surveyed the almost overflowing scene before him. "You think we should've gotten a cart?"

"We'll be fine."

The two of them paid and left with May holding onto the groceries on her lap as they drove back.

"You think we passed?" Phil mused as they entered the house.

"What, our field exams?"

"Yeah," he said, pulling the stuff out of the bags carefully. "If we did really well, we could be agents next year! How crazy is that?"

May chuckled. "I'm ready for some action," she said. "Operations exams get boring after a while."

"What do you do?" Phil asked curiously. "You've never told me."

"That's because they're a secret, Phil," May said, exasperated.

"I told you about Communications exams!"