Valeriana

37

CWs/TWs: mentioned death

Rae, sad Joel is back. You're welcome :]

.•°*°•.

"Thank you," Scar said kindly as he was handed his grandmother's prescription medicine. He flashed a smile and walked away to find Mumbo buying sodapop and candy at the register. Scar snorted. "Did you at least get some for me?"

Mumbo snickered. "Of course I did," he said, then handed Scar a bottle of Coca-Cola and a bag of Skittles. "What do you take me for?"

"Adorable, that's what." Scar stepped up on his toes to press a kiss to Mumbo's cheek, not thinking at all before doing it. He pulled back and froze. Shit, we're not dating- "Uh..."

Mumbo blinked twice and smiled. "I knew you still loved me," he said before whirling around and walking out of the store.

Scar stood there for a moment, his face red, as he processed what just happened. He hadn't meant to kiss him, but clearly Mumbo wasn't offended and Scar guessed he himself wasn't all that upset either, so... Maybe it was fine?

Scar followed Mumbo and they walked back to his house in relative silence, only talking when something came to mind like little goofy jokes.

"How do you kill a purple elephant?" Scar asked as he began to unlock the front door.

Mumbo snickered. "I don't know," he said, amused. "How do you kill a purple elephant?"

Scar turned the doorknob and swung open the door, then turned around to face Mumbo. "With a purple elephant gun," he said simply, making Mumbo chuckle. "Now, how do you kill a pink elephant?" He walked into the house backwards.

Mumbo followed after him. "With a pink elephant gun?" he guessed, then looked around and frowned.

Scar grinned, then started to turn around. "No, you hold it's trunk 'til it turns purple, then you shoot it with a purp-" He stopped.

His grandmother was laying unconscious on the floor in the living room.

He couldn't help the godawful scream that came from him as dropped the bag with her prescription and rushed over to her. He dropped to the ground next to her, his knees hitting the floor hard, and he started to shake her. "Nana, please," he whispered, tears forming in his eyes. "Don't do this to me, please..."

Everything felt like it was crumbling apart, Scar's entire life was disintegrating in front of him. He could barely breathe. It was like there was a hundred-ton-weight pressing onto him. He wasn't ready for this to happen yet. He still wasn't over his parents.

He shook her again and she opened her eyes a little bit.

"Nana!" he shouted, feeling that weight come right off his shoulders. "Nana, can you hear me?"

She coughed and nodded. "Yes," she said, her voice hoarse. "I'm okay, don't worry. I just got a little dizzy..."

Scar let out a long sigh of relief. "I thought you were gone," he said with a small laugh, rubbing his wet eyes. "Come on, let's get you to bed. I got your medication, so that should help you feel a bit better."

That was the biggest scare of Scar's life.

.•°*°•.

Three Days Later

When Joel came back in to see Grian at the hospital, the boy was busy colouring some pictures in a book Lizzie brought him the day before.