[⋆˙🔦⟡] vanessa oneshots

shopping

Mike and Vanessa go out to buy christmas decorations for the house! Could be seen as a part 2 to "forever," although it's a timeskip. :))

P.S. I don't celebrate christmas, so some parts may be awkward :(( !!

─

"It's really, starting to get cold." Vanessa lets out a breathy laugh on the way outside, the sky turning dusk, following suit behind Mike as he locks the front door. Luckily, Abby is having a sleepover at her friend's house, he thinks. "Where are we going?" She asks, eyeing the other, "Eh, the mall. I need to buy decorations for the house." He shrugs, opening his car door, plopping down on the driver's seat. "I can help with decorating. Better be a quick one, though. I'm freezing." She chuckles, getting in the passenger seat. "You can use my jacket." He replies, turning on the car heater. She blinks, head turning to face him. "No," He shakes his head, as he thinks about the right word to say, "I mean, if you want to."

"Yeah, alright." She nods, still grinning, as Mike takes off his jacket. Everything seems to be funny, or at least enjoyable for this woman. He hands over the jacket to her, gladly accepting the fabric from his palm of hand. "Christ, is everything in your closet dark?" Vanessa asks, holding up the grey jacket, waiting for a reply from the dark-haired security guard, noting that he's still wearing a sweater below that jacket. "Not really." He starts the car, and she adds another question. "What about your favorite color?"

"Orange."
"Like the sunset?"
"Like the sunset."

"Huh." Vanessa gazes at him for a short moment. He shivers, from the cold, and from her stare, burning on his skin. "I oddly expected that." Now turning her head away, facing the window, eyes fixated on the road. "Yeah, of course you would." Mike lets out a snort, both hands on the steering wheel as the car starts to move. He focuses his attention on the road and can't help but shift his eyes towards her, already in his jacket.

"You?" He says. "Your favorite color, I mean."

"Definitely blue." She responds without thinking, her hand resting on her cheek, still looking out. "Yeah, why?" He slightly nods in acknowledgment. "I don't really know why, I really like it, though." He makes a mental note of that in his mind, knowing what color he'll get if he ever gets her a gift. Is it too early for that type of stuff?

He slouches his body a bit, his facial expression contorting to a slightly more upset one, eyebrows furrowing. He doesn't even know why. But it relaxes upon seeing the blond. "Grey looks great on you." Her lip curls into a smile, letting out a small chuckle at his compliment. "Well, thank you, Mike." His heart skips a beat at the mention of his name. He shifts in his seat. He looks at his jacket, worn by the blond one more time, but then he realizes he's paying much more attention to Vanessa.

Vanessa Shelly, he thinks.

"You should pay attention to the road."

He finds her eyes fixed on him.

"Oh, right."

Her lips purse into a smile, they pass Abby's school, the local supermarket, houses stacked besides eachother, each of the places decorated with colorful hanging lights, christmas trees, that upon further careful examination, are only from plastic. "It's beginning to look a lot like christmas." Vanessa smiles at the sight, eyes lighting up with what Mike could describe as sheer happiness, and he takes in the sight, the pure joy that she radiates, and he feels warm. Definitely from the heater and the layers of clothing on his body.

The first christmas with someone other than his family.

"Do you reckon Abby will make a snowman?" She asks. "Yep. She makes them every year." He smiles at the memory, knowing that Vanessa will join them this year after everything they went through. "That's sweet." Vanessa moves her hand to the radio, turning it on. "Mind if I play something?"

"I don't mind."

She fiddles with the buttons, finding the right channel, occasionally only stumbling to static sounds playing. A familiar instrumental starts to play.

I'm just gonna keep on waiting
Underneath the mistletoe
I won't make a list and send it

Mike guessed it was somewhere in the middle of the song. "That'll will do." Vanessa leans back to her seat. "They play this every year, every day, now that it's almost christmas. The mall, as well." He lets out a grumble. "I don't blame them. I like this song." She shrugs.

Cause I just want you here tonight
Holding on to me so tight
What more can I do?

"You might actually be right." He mutters, not wanting to prove that she's right, but by a miracle - or bad luck. Vanessa heard him. "See?" She smirks in triumph, crossing her arms, satisfied with his admission. Mike's too busy parking the car to even notice. He reaches for the pocket of his pants once the car's fully parked, pulling out a list written on a paper, now wrinkled, that Abby usually uses. "That's a lot." Vanessa steals a glance at the paper, letting out a sniffle, probably from the air. Mike thinks as they both get out of the car.

They enter the newly-opened mall, greeted by a christmas tree, decorated with hanging flashing lights, garlands, and a golden star on top of the tree. Mike shudders at the sheer size and the overwhelming lights shining on his face. He did work in a mall before, but it's a relatively small one, very few visitors, it was bound to be closed down anyway. It's a surprise when Vanessa takes ahold of his arm, dragging him to the nearest department store. "Don't get too distracted, won't you?" She lets go. "Give me the list." He reaches out his hand to her palm, handing her the paper with the almost unintelligible handwriting. "Horrendous handwriting, by the way." She gives a snarky comment, teasing Mike.

In a spin of events, somehow. Vanessa's now the one leading the whole shopping ordeal. They buy the things on the list one by one, noting some of the absurd ones, including 5 porcelain elves. For some reason. With Mike following suit behind her, carrying the totebag he had bought with them. "Mike." There's a pause between her sentences, as she's contemplating her words.  "Should we get ice cream? After this?" She stops in her tracks, turning around to face him. "I don't see why not." He only shrugs, and Vanessa smiles. "Great, then."

─

Mike lets out a sigh upon walking out of the store. He eyes the totebag full of the ornaments and a blue rabbit figure he bought impulsively. "Hey, uh, just so you know, I'll repay you sooner or later." He offers. "No need for that." Vanessa interjects his words.

"I feel bad."
"I'm doing this to help, Mike. I don't want to be a burden in your house."
"You aren't a burden. Just having your presence is enough."

Vanessa grins at his response. "Then you won't mind me rambling to you 24/7?"

"I mind. Actually." He decides to go along. "Then let me pay. And you don't have to repay me." Mike hesitates for a moment, but if it's what she wants, then he surely can't change her mind. "Fine."

"I'm paying for the ice cream, though." He offers. "Alright then." She doesn't seem to mind. He shifts his eyes all over the place for no reason before continuing, "And, uh, this." He pulls out the boxed blue rabbit figure from the totebag, carefully handing it to the blond, watching as her expression changes to a delighted one. "Thank you." She holds it with care, examining the figure with interest.

And this christmas, Mike thinks he might actually be head over heels for once.