Handle With Care

Shopping

It had taken us about half an hour to get to town, and luckily, during that amount of time, I managed to relax a significant amount. Granted, I still held Elric's hand like the world would come crashing down if I let go.

When the town first came into my view, I was a bit surprised. I had been expecting a fairly large and fairly modern town, buzzing with cars and wrought with large buildings. But what I was met with, was instead a much more tranquil town, with the shops and buildings fairly miniscule, and close together. Almost old fashioned.

As Elric drove slowly into town, I looked around. The sidewalks weren't crowded with people, like I expected, but instead only had handfuls of people, usually in pairs of two or three, and who all seemed to respect the other people's space.

The streets weren't buzzing with cars, either, but only had a few here and there driving past us. Other cars were parked next to the sidewalks.

I exhaled in relief, thinking that this trip wouldn't actually be so bad.

Aside from the comfortable amount of people, the buildings were all decorated in small circular lights, strung close together, and ranging from yellow, to white, to blue, to red, and to green colors. The lamp posts that lined the streets were strung with the same lights, and there were tall pine trees covered with ornaments and tinsel every few blocks or so.

As Elric looked for a place to park, I noticed more and more familiar Christmas decorations strung on the windows and doors of the small shops, and those, all together with the aesthetically pleasing snow, gave the entire town a very cozy atmosphere. My grip on Elric's hand had loosened, though only a bit. I was still a little tense, whether I liked it or not.

A few blocks in, Elric pulled up into an empty space next to the sidewalk, and turned the engine off while everyone unbuckled their seatbelts. Tajax slid open the door on his side, and the four vampires piled out onto the snowy sidewalk.

I took a deep breath, looking over at Elric uncertainly. He was already looking at me, and smiling warmly as he caressed my thumb with his own, a gentle look in his eyes.

"I picked our home very carefully, sweetheart," he told me softly, and it didn't take long for me to figure out what he meant by that statement.

After what had happened to his sister, I was sure that when Elric decided to rescue others and create a family, he would choose a place that inhabited nice people, to avoid the same tragedy Lorelai inflicted on him from happening again. He wanted to make sure his family would be happy.

I nodded in response, curling my fingers around his hand more securely. At my gesture, he lifted our hands, and kissed the back of mine, to which I blushed, and he chuckled.

"Come on, we have quite a few stores to go to," he told me, before opening his door. My hand slid out of his, and I turned to open my own door as well. I awkwardly stepped out onto the sidewalk, the chilly air hitting me like a bucket of water.

As I closed my door, Elric came around the front of the car, instantly walking up to me and taking a hold of my hand again. Catching my eye, he leaned towards me and pecked my cheek, which made another blush flare up along my cheeks. I hoped that passer-bys didn't think ill of the action, if they saw it.

"Alright. Clothes or presents first?" Elric asked the others, turning his attention to them. The four stood waiting beside the van, their hands in their pockets, and puffs of air leaving their lips or noses as they breathed the chilly air.

"Clothes for whom?" Esther asked, quirking a brow, and Elric tilted his head in my direction as an answer. At the same time, Jasper and Esther widened their eyes as big grins spread on their faces, and they jumped excitedly.