"You're such a joy to be around."-
"Well, you're a pain in the arse."
Jordyn had no idea that befriending the lovely idiot who broke her locker would turn her life upside down. But here she was, amidst bionics, secrets and life-threatening dangers...
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TW: descriptions of trauma, thoughts of death/suicide, mental health and breakdown
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It was good to fall back into her usual routines. Today Joe had been finally out in public again, no longer fearing she might impale someone by accident. There had been a few close calls during her initial training sessions. But despite learning to control her bionics, she was more than happy to have Chase by her side.
It was quite a pleasant shopping trip, actually. She found that they had a similar taste in their groceries. In hindsight, she should have known he opted for the healthy option in everything. After all, he was the one who always wrote her a specific shopping list for his diet.
Exiting out of the hydroloop, Joe grabbed four bags and took the lead. Their laughs slowly faded when their gazes met with a queue.
Before any of them could voice the confusion, or even recognize the source to be Douglas, they heard a loud whoop and cheer. Turning around, Adam, Bree and Leo walked up to them.
"Back from shopping already?" Bree spoke up first, her hands halfway to one of the bags, only to be swatted away by Chase.
Leo's eyes flicked between the pair and he let out a groan. "Everything will be healthy now."
Joe's brow rose. "Who do you think did the shopping for the last few months?" As the response came in a grumble, she grinned and hummed. "There you go."
"I think you're focused on the wrong thing." Adam nudged him and nodded to Joe. "Look who's doing all the heavy lifting." The boys laughed, Bree obviously biting back a smirk of her own.
Joe looked down at the four bags, then Chase's two. Shrugging, she retorted, "I would have taken all if he didn't insist on carrying at least these two."
Unbeknownst to her, and the others, Chase was very much aware of what his actions were achieving. A few weeks ago, Joe was too scared to lift anything, too scared her arms would give out, flare up in pain or her bionics glitch. He wanted her to regain confidence in her arms' physical strength - in any way possible, may it be so simple as letting her carry the groceries.
He shrugged the comment off and instead went forward to meet with Douglas. "Hey, what's going on here?" His siblings followed behind, dropping the topic and focusing on whatever was happening with the queue of bionic students.
Leo was quick to pop up behind Chase, sensing an opportunity to land a joke. "Doing a price check on bionic kids?" Having put down the groceries, Joe rejoined them and chuckled.
Douglas stayed silent and grinned, continuing to scan the students in silent. Instead, Adam picked Leo up on the concept. "Ooh, I wonder how much I'm worth."
"Well," Chase exclaimed beside Joe, grinning, "we could sell you for parts and find out."
Adam shrugged, keeping a stern expression. "Alright. Well, just don't sell the part that does this!" He took a swing and punched Chase in the arm, hard. It drew a painful cry from Chase.
