BLEACHED

3: Annoying but Delicious

"Yeah, spent all day drinking coffee because the caffeine was the only thing not insulting me about my embarrassing greeting with you." She shrugs her shoulders as she reaches for the handle once the car comes to a stop.

"Just be quick, I'm exhausted." Domen sighs out in defeat as he leans back into his seat and reaches a hand to stroke his temple. "I said be quick. Why are you still in here?"

"Oh, I thought you would say more. I'll just go." She smiles, stepping out and into the open. Enjoying the free air embracing her.

Almost like a small gap of freedom from the guilt trapped inside her, weighing her down.

She slowly glances into the car only to step back in freight at the menacing glare Domen is giving her, clearly telling her to be quick about it.

She gives him a small smile before walking away from the car and towards the little gas store lit entirely with bright white flood lights that nearly burn her eyes out.

She uses her hand to shield off the light the closer she gets to the entrance.

Once she steps in, the soft slight orange light welcomes her, calming her down a bit as she scans the small store, noticing the different assortment of snacks, canned food and beverages: She glances towards the counter and notices the old woman staring at her with raised brows.

Almost seeming surprised for an odd reason.

"Are you open?" Lavender asks with a raised brows, feeling confused at why the woman didn't greet her when she walked in, being the only one there.

"The sign says otherwise." The woman simply shrugs her shoulders as she slowly gathers her long thick grey hair to the back of her head and keeps it there with a small black ribbon. "Take what you want, honey, we don't have all day."

Lavender slowly nods with pouted  lips as she turns towards the shelves of snacks and the small deep freezers close to the window. She glances at each item, unsure of what to even get when her eyes drop down to the small ice-cream popsicles in the freezer right at the top. She slides the lid open and grabs two of them before closing it back up and heading back to the counter.

"I'll get these." She smiles as she drops them on the counter, getting the old woman to drop her dark eyes down to the items before glancing back up at her .

"Unless you're pregnant, you possibly can't tell me you walked in here, dropping down from a car that expensive to buy two popsicles" the woman says as she grabs one of them and holds it up to her "Come on, we have the bigger tubs of ice-cream, why don't you grab that? It's really good with a romantic setting and some strawberries, that we also have, frozen but fresh. Sit in front of a large screen TV and enjoy some defrosted strawberries and cold ice-cream with your husband over there. Perfect for a long day of work."

Lavender chuckles lightly as she stares at the woman as she explains, only to then realize she is being serious and isn't scanning her popsicles. She gives a small laugh as she nods as though in agreement to the woman before reluctantly walking back to the fridge, at least now having spent a little more time just buying ice-cream with the perfect excuse.

She reaches into the fridge and pulls out the large tub of ice-cream and grabs a small zip lock bag of frozen strawberries before walking towards the counter, only to frown when she notices the woman scanning the popsicles.

"Wait, wait.... I thought I was getting the tub of ice cream?" Lavender asks as she places the items on the counter while staring at the price on the cash register. "You said-"

"Come on, you can't tell me with a car like that you can't buy extra popsicles." She chuckles out with a small smile that Lavender frowns to as she watches her scan the rest of the other items before placing them into a shopping bag. "That will be-"

"Keep the change." Lavender hisses as she slaps the money on the counter before snatching the bag and storming out of the store, annoyed she's spent so much on some expensive ice-cream that she can't finish alone.

All she wanted was the popsicles.

She angrily stomps her way to the waiting car where she finds Domen staring at her with a clearly displeased expression with his hands crossed at his chest.

She opens the door and jumps in while trying to keep the contents in the bag from turning upside down.

She closes her door and sighs out as she leans back into her seat and runs a hand through her hair before glancing at him.

"Aren't we going?" She asks as she notices he hasn't started the car yet.

"You clearly didn't use the restroom. I saw you just buying things in there." He grits his teeth, getting her to widen her eyes as she stares at him, knowing too well she had forgotten to go to the restroom. "Are you being serious right now? I waited for you to buy things?"

"I thought you would like some ice-cream. I was being nice for you. You looked tired." She says as she reaches into the bag and pulls out the ice-cream Popsicle and stretches it out to him. "Eat it before it melts. It's really good. It's also chocolate flavored and I bought you and Evette a tub of ice-cream, it's great for romantic gestures where you can both sit in front of the TV and watch a romantic movie with the lighting set perfectly."

"I don't recall asking for your tips." He rolls his eyes as he ignores the icecream she is handing him as he starts the car, only to suddenly find a hand reaching over to the keys and turns the car off before leaving with the keys. "Come on, I'm getting really annoyed with you right now."

"First of all, this cost a lot of money, so please, have it." Lavender says as she holds out the ice-cream pop once more. "I'll give you the keys after you have even just one bite."

Domen leans into his seat as he reaches a hand into his hair and gathers a fist full of hair as he clenches his jaw, visibly restraining himself from saying anything unpleasant.

He glances out of his window as he brings his hands down to the steering wheel and clenches onto it tightly, revealing a few veins pressing against his skin to Lavender who widens her eyes as she knows he's growing red.

"I.... I'm sorry." Lavender says as she quickly holds out the keys to him. "I just... I thought..."

Domen shifts his gaze down to her and eases his shoulders as he slowly softens his expression, noticing how nervous she is getting, from her slightly shaking hand down to her cracking voice.

He lets go of the wheel and leans into his seat as he reaches out for the Popsicle on her laps.

Her eyes wide when she noticed him actually opening the wrapper of the ice-cream pop before placing it into his mouth, hardly saying anything as he turns his gaze out of the window while he eats.

A small smile spreads on her lips before she turns away and unwraps the other ice-cream pop.