They take Gators stuff, his dog and his tarantula and start the drive to the hospital where they pick up Gator's younger sisters, then they continue to Minnesota. Within a few hours, they arrive to Dot's house and drop her and the twins off. "Can we come visit tomorrow?" Indigo asks.
"Sure, hon." She says.
"Alright, see ya Dot." Indigo says.
"I'll be by tomorrow, okay guys?" Gator tells his sisters. They nod. "Alright, bye-bye now." They give him little waves goodbye.
"Bye, guys." She says, giving them one last hug before going inside with the twins. Gator and Indigo continue to drive to her house, less than a 20 minute drive from Dot's house. By the time they arrive, it's very late at night but her parents stayed up. She knocks on the door. They open it. "Hey, guys!" She says, giving them hugs.
"Hey! How are ya?" They ask her.
"Uh..." She looks at Gator. "Today's been eventful."
"Who's this?" Her dad asks.
"This is Gator... My uh..." She looks at him.
"Gator Tillman. I'm her boyfriend." He says, shaking her dad's hand.
"Charlie Gerhardt, pleased to meet you." Her dad says, shaking his hand enthusiasticly.
"You got a boyfriend, hon?" Her mom asks, excited.
"Uh, yeah, I did." Indigo says, smiling. "He uh, he's been through a ton and he kinda needs a place to stay... I was wondering if he could stay here for a little while?" She asks.
"Of course he can!" Her mom says.
"Oh, thank you so much." Indigo says, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Thank you, I really appreciate your hospitality." Gator says.
"Of course." Her dad says.
"I'm Noreen." Her mom says, shaking Gator's hand as well. Gator smiles a little.
"Nice to meet you both." He says. We take Gator's stuff inside, as well as the dog and tarantula. Indigo explains Gator's situation to her parents while he's getting settled in and then she heads up to see how he's doing.
"Hey, everything okay?" She asks him.
"Yeah, your parents are nice. I like this place too, it's nice." He says, gesturing around the room.
"Yeah, this is my old room, hasn't changed since highschool." She laughs.
"A little girly, but I like it." He chuckles.
"You know, I've been thinking about something lately." Indigo says to him.
"Oh yeah?" He asks.
"Yeah, it might not be the best time to tell ya this but... I was thinking of selling the bar and you know... Moving back here, to Minnesota." She confesses. She had been thinking about this for a while, a long time before the Gator situation but after he had called himself her boyfriend and things felt more serious, she wanted to make sure they could still date if she were to be a few hours away. She had always wanted her own restaurant and the bar was only supposed to be a temporary thing to save up enough funds.
"Well... We might be movin' a little fast and whatnot but to be honest with ya... I don't want to go back to Stark County. I mean, I'll have to go back for the trial obviously but... I need a fresh start, Indigo." He says. She looks at him, confused. "I'm sayin' I'd like to stay here with you. I mean, not move in or anything like that yet just... Get a place around here." He tells her. She smiles.
"I'd love that." She says. "I actually want to get a place around here too but I can't really afford it yet. Especially if I want to open my own restaurant, which I do. That's been a dream of mine for a while now." She says.
"Well I mean, I've kinda got ahold of some cash recently, plus I have some savings left over from the past few years... Maybe I could help ya out?" He asks. By 'got ahold of some cash' he means Munch's cash.
"Seriously? I couldn't take it, Gator... Really. It's sweet but... I just couldn't." She says, looking away.
"Oh, come on, I don't have anything I need to spend it on." He says, touching her arm softly.
"Are you sure? I mean, will you have enough money for you?" She asks.
"Well... I was thinkin' I could just sleep on the couch until I can get a place of my own." He says.
"So basically... We're not moving in together we're just... Moving in together?" She laughs.
"Yeah, I guess so... Sorry, forget I said anything." He laughs.
"No, actually, I think it's a good idea.. I mean, we've known each other for 6 years, we probably should've started dating sooner honestly and... With all the crazy shit over the last few days, why not do this too? I mean, to hell with it! Yeah, we love each other, let's move in together!" She exclaims. He laughs.
"Okay, then!" He says. They sit in silence for a little while.
"So um... See ya in the morning?" She asks.
"See ya then." He says as Indigo gets up. "Hey, Indigo." He calls and she turns around. "I love ya." He says. She smiles.
"I love ya too, Gator." She says and blows him a kiss before walking to the other room to sleep. The next morning, they eat breakfast head over to Dot's place.
"Hey, guys, welcome in!" Dot says, greeting them. They walk in and see Dot's husband, Wayne, her daughter Scotty, Lorraine, Dot's mother in law and Gator's sisters, Jessica and Maude. Everyone gets introduced and Indigo hangs out with Gator's sisters while him and Lorraine talk. A little while later, he comes into the living room, looking excited.
"Hey, Indigo, I got a job!" He tells her.
"What? How?" She asks, surprised.
"Lorraine, uh, Dot's stepmom said I could work for her and uh yeah I took the job." He explains. She hugs him.
"That's wonderful! Jeez, I mean you were out of the job for what, one day?" She laughs.
"Yeah, I guess so." He laughs too.
They spend a couple more hours there with Gator's sisters eating oatmeal raisin cookies before heading back to Indigo's place. When they get back, Charlie asks to talk to Gator. They sit down on the couch while Indigo and Noreen are in the other room.
"So, this might be a little personal... But I just wanted to talk a little about your situation and all. You know, I'm a Gerhardt. Our families are similar in a way. From what I've heard, your dad sounds like this uncle I had... Dodd. So, uh, in a way, I know what you're going through, kid." He tells Gator. Gator nods. "So if you need somebody..." Gator knew about the Gerhardts. Everyone and their mother did. They had quite the reputation across Minnesota and North Dakota.
"Thanks." Gator says. "You know, I see where she gets it from." He chuckles. Charlie gives him a questioning look.
"Who?" Charlie asks.
"Your daughter, she likes helping people. You raised her well." He says. Charlie smiles.
"Thank you." Charlie says. Gator nods and Charlie leaves the room and Indigo comes in.
"What'd he say?" Indigo asks, sitting down next to him
"Just tellin' me he'll be here if I need it... I see where you get it from." He says, putting an arm around her. She rests her head on his shoulder. She laughs.
"Yeah." She agrees. "So, it looks like everything's gonna work out, huh?" She asks.
"Looks like everything's gonna work out." He agrees, giving her a small kiss.
