𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋

𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕖𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥

 You slammed your hands against the tall blue counter of the Blockbuster Video, startling Randy who was standing on the other side, scanning through an inventory booklet. He looked peeved for a second before looking up through a stack of returned tapes and recognizing you. 

"(Y-Y/N)! hey-"

"Bride of Chucky. Now."

He ran a hand over the nape of his neck timidly and chuckled. "Yeah, yeah. Slow your roll."

You reached up and made grabbing motions with both of your hands as he ducked under the counter and jumped back up, the black tape case in his grasp. As soon as it was transferred into your arms, you hugged it tight to your chest and closed your eyes in content. "My sweet, sweet child," you hummed. "Mama's gonna bring you home."

Randy looked on, bemused with the sudden distraction from work. "How much again?" you asked, still cradling the movie to your chest. There was no way you were letting it out of your sight until you could get home and pop it into the VHS player. He shook his head with a lazy smile. "Nah, don't worry about it. I covered the expenses."

"Randy," you cooed. "You didn't have to do that."

He shook his head quickly from side to side. "I wanted to. 'S not like I have a girlfriend to blow my paycheck on or anything like that."

You bit the inside of your cheek, very much aware of the heat rising to your face. Randy quickly licked his lips and leaned his elbows further across the counter. "I heard about that Halloween party. You game?"

"Mhm," you hummed, reaching over to spin the small candy rack absent-mindedly. "Told my parents that I'm sleeping over at the Riley's. They'll think I'm safe with Deputy Dewey hanging around."

Once again, he reached around to thread his fingers through his short hair, eyes dragging back and forth between you and the countertop. "Did you, uh," he paused, gulping. "Were you-were you planning on going with anyone?"

You stopped spinning the tiny rack and looked up at him, one eyebrow raised with a teasing half-smile. "Just Tatum. Why?"

Randy gulped and opened his mouth halfway to say something when suddenly you felt a pair of arms reach around and grab your waist from behind. You squealed as they hoisted you into the air quickly before dropping you back down to your feet. You would have been alarmed if it weren't for the strong smell of Old Spice invading your nose coupled with the deep chuckle that you recognized immediately.

Stu leaned his chin down to balance on the top of your head. You could feel him smile as his arm wrapped around your shoulders and began swinging you idly back and forth. "How's my favorite girl?" He purred, tugging playfully at your hair.

"I'm good," you replied, sluggishly trying to bat him away. "Better than earlier, at least."

He chuckled and you could feel it rumble in his chest which was pressed into your back. "That's good. You're still on for the party, right?"

You nodded, your smile widening with excitement. Since yesterday when he first convinced you to come to his little Halloween get together, you'd been on the hunt for your costume. You and Tatum were even going to take a trip to the pop-up costume shop in town later this week. "Yeah, I wouldn't miss it."

"Perfect," He purred, beaming down at you. You nearly blushed under his gaze. No matter how affectionate he was toward you, you never quite got used to it. Thankfully, Randy cleared his throat and grabbed your attention away before the red on your cheeks became too noticeable.

The boy behind the counter looked between you and Stu with a deadpan expression. His arms were at his sides, thumb tapping almost impatiently at his hip. Another lighthearted chuckle sounded behind you and you could feel Stu cocking his head to the side, chin still resting against your hair. "Why hello there, Meeks."

"Stuart."

You pressed your lips together in a thin line, anticipating the argument that was about to break out. There was always tension brewing between the boys in your friend group but most times you could chalk it up to immaturity and teen angst. This time, it was probably both.

With a shrug, Stu squeezed his arms tighter around your significantly smaller frame, encapsulating you completely. "I don't mean to break up what must've been a lovely conversation," he said. "But someone, not naming names, might've tipped over the rack of Baywatch tapes in the back."

You groaned and reached up to nudge him in the shoulder. "You're a big boy, Stuey. Go clean up your own mess."

Randy shook his head and pushed off of the blue countertop, making his way around to lift up the half-door that seperated him from the rest of the store. "Nah, I'll do it. Knowing this asshole, he'd probably make it worse."

You both watched as he huffed and puffed his way around the counter before slinking off between two waist-high aisles. With a nudge from Stu, you began following after him at a humorously slow pace.

Sure enough, there was a massive pile of Baywatch tapes strewn across the floor near the back of the store. As you approached, you saw that Randy was already on his knees, collecting them into short stacks. As gently as you could, you weasled your way out of Stu's arms and took one sweeping look across the store.

At least half of the student body was loitering around, flipping through the shelves and lounging against the walls in small tight-packed groups. It had gotten significantly louder since you entered the store only five minutes prior. "Jeez, is it always this packed?"

"It's two days before Halloween," Randy called out over his shoulder, putting to himself as he reached under the shelf to grab at a runaway tape. "We're having a run in the mass-murder section."

Stu snickered as he watched Randy clean up his mess. You made a note to swat him on the arm before bending down and using your free hand to stack up the nearby tapes into a pile. Randy looked up at you gratefully. "Thanks."

"Are you done working early enough to make the party this weekend?" You asked. Sure, you probably should have cleared that with the host first, but the party was technically in your honor, so you probably had some level of authority over the invitation list.

"Yeah-yeah, totally!" He exclaimed a little too quickly, sitting back on his heels. "I'm off early because of curfew."

Only offering a half-nod in reply, you handed him the stack of tapes you had accumulated and rose to your feet, tucking Bride of Chucky under your arm so that you could wipe the dirt off of your pants. "That's great," you said, slowly backing off in the direction of the exit as casually as you could. "Hey, if I don't get home within the hour my parents will freak. I'll see you both this weekend?"

Randy only nodded frantically, a gulp forming in his throat. Stu shot you a thumbs up paired with one of his famous smiles. "Remember that it's costume-required, sweetheart."

You tilted your head back and laughed, sending him a thumbs up of your own. "Got it!"

With your favorite movie in your hands, you pushed open the glass door and walked right off, not thinking anything of the disaster you were leaving in your wake. 

 (A/N: This is sort of delayed because of school but I promise promise promise that I will have this completed in time for Halloween. I hope you all enjoy the story so far! I'll probably have another chapter out sometime this week but I get my wisdom teeth out this Friday so maybe not. I'll edit this chapter further at a later date but if you see any grammatical errors plz lemme know. Love you all!)