Once Bitten, Twice Shy

10

The pair returned to the house at quarter past two. They had taken a detour on the way back and stopped at an ice cream van, adding an extra half an hour onto the trip. That, along with the time Anne spent running around the shop discovering new things, added up to a much longer amount of time than they had initially agreed. When they unlocked the door to the house, Anna was waiting there to greet them with an amused look on her face.

"Your in trouble." She warned, before Jane appeared behind her with a look that could kill. "Better explain quickly" Cleves sniggered, racing up the stairs before Jane could start on her too.

"What do you two have to say for yourselves?" Jane did not look impressed. The first lesson Cathy was given when she got there was don't upset Jane, and by the look on her face, things weren't looking good. She could see Anne to her left, fighting to keep a straight face, and had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep herself from cracking a smile. Anger didn't suit Jane, she looked more like a grumpy chipmunk, but Cathy decided it was best not to let that slip at a time like this.

"W-well you see the line was ridiculously long. Like crazy... yeah, they were low on staff, so half the customers were packed into like two checkouts. It took an hour just to get to the front of the queue." Cathy lied through her teeth, hoping her poker face was believable.

"And your phones?" Jane narrowed her eyes "Five missed calls?!" There was an angry vein, slightly protruding out of her forehead and Anne nearly cracked when she spotted it. She let out a strangled whimper, disguising as a cough, and used all her strength to keep the laugh in.

"Shit I didn't know it was off!" Jane raised her eyebrows "Fuck! I mean shit! SHOOT!" Cathy scrambled to redeem herself. Lesson two: Don't swear in front of Jane. This was all too much for Anne, she collapsed against the door in a fit of giggles, snickering to herself and wheezing for air while Jane looked like she was about to flip. Her irate expression only seemed to fuel Anne's amusement and Cathy could only stand and watch it all unfold. Thankfully Aragon came rushing into the hall, dragging Jane away with her before she could unleash her wrath on the girl.

"Boleyn. Parr. Your on thin ice." She begrudgingly followed Aragon- who looked, herself like she holding back a chuckle- into the living room, and the girls dragged their bags into the kitchen, supressing their giggles as they went.

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"What's all that about?" Kat had heard the commotion downstairs and asked Anna when she came racing into the room sniggering to herself.

"They blanked Jane's calls." Anna replied, trying to catch her breath.

"Oh god help them." Kat laughed.

"What you watching?" She flopped onto the end of the bed on her back, peering over to Kat's laptop.

"Haven't decided yet." She hummed. "Any ideas?" With that, Cleves scooted up the bed and threw an arm around the girl's shoulder, pointing out every show she saw while Kat scrolled through.

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Down in the kitchen, Anne had already made a mess of putting away the shopping. She thought it would be a good idea to collect as many items as he could in her arms, and then throw them simultaneously at Cathy to see how many she could catch. However, she made the mistake of including a box of eggs in that pile, which brought them to their current situation.

"Okay, you get a cloth while I take care of the shell." Cathy laughed, trying to scoop up the rogue egg that had covered the floor. "Quick, before Jane impales us with her knitting needles."

Anne had been a mess of giggles since the moment they'd arrived home, she'd never felt like this before, apart from maybe with Kitty on an especially silly day. This side just seemed to come out of her when she was around Cathy, like she knew how to make her let loose.

She did as Parr said, collecting a cloth from the sink and running it under the tap, and when Cathy passed her to get to the bin she flicked a handful of water at the girl's face, watching her flinch away from it with a laugh.

Cathy gasped in outrage and turned to her with a glint in her eye. She looked between Anne and the broken shell full of raw egg in her hand, Anne realised what she was thinking and immediately dodged out the way, Cathy chasing after her in a fit of giggles.

"Ew ew ew ewew!" Boleyn squealed in protest and grabbed a loaf of bread from one of the bags, using it as a shield against the threat of goop. Cathy let out a laugh and tossed the rubbish into the bin, washing her hands and getting Anne back instead with a spray of water in return.

"Ok, we actually need to put this stuff away." She looked at the pile of shopping in front of them with a sigh. "Otherwise Jane really will murder us."