2 | Shrinking

1.03

The next day, at about mid-morning, Samantha and Scott left their apartment and made the short walk to the thrift store that she had told him about. Scott was astonished at first at not only the size of the store but the selection as well. Samantha grinned at his astonishment and excitement, before leading him further into the store and towards the children's section.

They perused around there for a while, Samantha suggesting items to Scott for his daughter. He turned down a lot of them. Apparently, none of them were just right for Cassie, although she didn't know what that meant because the things she suggested were things that any little girl would enjoy. But she didn't voice her confusion to Scott. Cassie was his daughter, after all. If anyone would know what she would like, it would be her father.

What only amplified her confusion was when Scott picked something up off the shelf with a big smile on his face.

"Here, this is perfect," he said.

"That?" Samantha questioned.

"She'll love it," Scott confirmed.

Samantha's brow furrowed as she looked at the small toy in her friend's hands. It was a squirrel, maybe, or some kind of small woodland creatures and covered in brown fur, or what was supposed to imitate fur. The problem was, the toy was the ugliest thing that the blonde had ever seen. Why a little girl would ever want such an ugly toy, she couldn't fathom.

"Are you sure?" Samantha asked.

"Of course," he assured her.

"Alright," she agreed hesitantly, "let's go pay for that... thing."

Scott gave her a smile and they headed toward the counter. The weird toy earned them a bizarre look by the cashier, but Scott gave her a smile, clearly proud of his purchase. It was cheaper than Samantha had thought it would be, but the store had probably been trying to get rid of it for a while.

When the toy was paid for and placed in a bag, the pair left the store. They made their way to the closest dollar store from the thrift store to get a small gift bag to out the toy in. Then, with the small toy in a gift bag, Scott and Samantha went to the diner by their apartment before he would depart for his ex-wife's house.

"Are you nervous?" Samantha asked him as they ate.

"I mean, a bit, yeah..." Scott admitted, "I haven't exactly been invited."

"It'll be okay," she assured, reaching across, putting her hand over his arm and looking him in the eyes. "It'll all work out, don't worry."

Scott seemed to visibly relax. "Thanks, Samantha."

"No problem," she told him with a smile.

"Would you, uh," Scott muttered, now avoiding her eye and playing with his fries, "maybe wanna come with me?"

Samantha blinked, wondering if she'd even heard him right. "What?"

"You don- don't have to go, I just thought that since you helped me find the gift that you—"

"I didn't think you'd want me to—"

"You're my friend, why wouldn't I want you to—"

"I wouldn't want to impose on—"

"No, you wouldn't be imposing—"

"If you want me to come, then, I mean—"

"Of course, I—"

"Alright!" Samantha exclaimed, just wanting them to stop interrupting and talking over each other. "I'll go."

Scott was beaming. "Oh, you'll love Cassie! She's the best."

"You're not biased, of course," Samantha joked.

"No, of course not," Scott said.

They finished their meal in relative silence and Samantha tried not to think about what she had just agreed to do. Going to her housemate's ex-wife's house for their child's birthday that Samantha herself had only ever heard about seemed like much too awkward a situation. She hadn't really been thinking though, she just wanted to stop arguing with Scott about the event. And it wasn't like she and a valid excuse to not go or get out of it now that she had agreed.

Samantha was tempted to try and come up with some family excuse to be able to leave and not go. Then she thought about Scott's face when she agreed. How big his smile had been and how happy he was that she agreed to go with him. She thought of how disappointed he would be, what the look on his face would be if she told him she couldn't go anymore or if she gave him some excuse.

There was no good way of getting out of this.

When they finished eating, they paid for their meal and then made their way back to their apartment. It was from here that they would head to Scott's ex's house. They had a little bit of time before leaving as they were going to be borrowing Luis' van to get there.

At home, Samantha changed into one of her nicer tops and redid her ponytail to make it nicer. When she came out of her room, Scott gave her a curious look.

"Did you change?" he asked her.

"Yeah," she said, playing with the edge of her shirt, "I didn't think my ratty old band tee was exactly the appropriate attire for a kid's birthday party."

"Well, I thought you looked nice," Scott said.

Samantha's cheeks warmed and her heart started beating a little faster. "Are you saying I don't look nice now?"

"What? No, I—" Scott stuttered, clearly thrown off guard. A smirk grew on Samantha's face. "You still look nice, I- I think."

"Thanks, Scott," she said, her cheeks getting even warmer.

Before either of them could say anything further, the door opened and Luis walked in. Samantha was able to breathe a little easier.

"Wassup?" Luis said.

"You got the keys?" Scott asked as Samantha grabbed her bag.

"Sure do," Luis said, tossing the keys to his friend.

"Don't destroy my apartment while we're gone, got it?" Samantha warned Luis, pointing a finger at him, but unable to keep the smile off her face.

"Yeah, yeah, don't you worry, Sam," Luis responded.

With that they departed and Samantha wondered just how bad this whole thing was going to go.