CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
( WALMART )

     CARMEN LEANS INTO the backseat. She glances at Aurora, who bounces around happily in the passenger seat. Raising a questioning eyebrow, she decides to ask about the random shopping trip.

"Is there an actual purpose to this spur of the moment Walmart trip?" Carmen asks, catching her attention.

"Yes," She replies, nodding her head. "We are dangerously low on gummies."

"They're extremely important to human survival," Jonah adds.

Once the car in parked, Carmen hops from Jonah's corvette, watching as Aurora hisses over the bright light. Taking Jonah's sunglasses, she slides them on with a smirk.

"I look fabulous."

"Beautiful," Carmen agrees, closing the car door. "PIGGY BACK RIDE!"

She jumps on Jonah's back, which surprises him. Zach is bewildered, glancing around as he had braced himself and was prepared for her.

"I want one, too!" Aurora yells, jumping onto Zach's back, just as Callie does the same to Jack. "Onward, my noble steed!"

Jonah chuckles as Carmen locks onto him, holding on for dear life. "Don't drop me, please."

"I won't," He promises, holding onto the back of her knees.

"We're going to need three buggies," Aurora declares, glancing over at the shopping carts.

Jumping from Zach's back, she hops onto the back of one of the carts. Carmen, on the other hand, makes no move to get off of Jonah's back. Instead, Jonah grabs a cart, placing her gently into it.

"I'm tired," She complains, curling up in the cart.

"Is there anything specific that we're looking for in here?" Callie asks.

"Nope. The plan is to divide and conquer," Aurora explains. "Caramel and Jonah will go one way. You and Jack will go another. Heroine and I will go get food."

Everyone looks at her, seemingly confused.

"When did we agree on this?" Jonah asks.

"Just now," She shrugs. "Lets go, Heroine. Chop chop."

Zach sends one last look to Carmen, watching as she waves at them. Then, they're out of sight, and Jonah turns back to the cart where Carmen sits.

"So, what do you want to do?" Jonah asks, standing in front of her.

"I want some coffee," Carmen says, pointing at the Starbucks booth not too far away from them.

"Okay."

---

"So how are things with you and Aurora?" Carmen asks Jonah, sipping her caramel mocha frappuccino.

He stops throwing stuffed animals into the cart for a moment, furrowing his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," She sighs, "Have you kissed her yet? Or bought her anything?"

"No . . . " He trails off, scratching the back of his neck. "Should I?"

"I'd start with buying stuff," Carmen says confidently, standing up in the cart. She holds her arms out, Jonah letting out a chuckle as she jumps into his arms.

Then, she jumps down, strolling further into the toy section. She stops in her tracks, hopping into a large bin of gigantic teddy bears- ones that look exactly like the one Zach had gotten her.

She hops back up from the bin, holding one of the teddy bears. Seeing as it is bigger than her, she has to glance over its shoulder to see Jonah. "I think this is a great start."

"A teddy bear?"

"She asked for one at my birthday party, remember?" She jumps out of the bin, handing him the teddy bear with her good arm as she gets back in the cart.

"Okay, so what else do I need to do?"

"Buy her food," Carmen states as he sits the bear next to her. "But seeing as she is with Zach in the food aisle, I wouldn't start today. She's probably wiped the shelves out by now."

Picking her coffee back up, she leans into the teddy bear. "Any more questions?"

"Yeah, actually," Jonah says, propping his arm up on a shelf full of stuffed animals. "So what's going on with you and Zach?"

"What?"

"Hasn't he . . . told you anything yet?" He shifts on his feet, trying to be obvious with his word choice.

"No," Carmen tilts her head. "Why?"

"I just thought that- nevermind," He waves it off, changing the subject. "Do you want any more stuffed animals before we meet up with the others?"

"Nah," Carmen shakes her head with a grin, staring at the piles of stuffed animals around her. "I think I've got enough at the moment."

---

"Zach," Jonah begins, staring at the shopping cart. "I thought I put you in charge of at least attempting to control Aurora's habits."

"Don't worry," Aurora smiles. "He encouraged it."

Jonah sighs. Zach, however, wasn't listening to the conversation. Instead, his attention was focused on Carmen who was still sitting in the shopping cart, sipping her frappuccino that Jonah had so generously bought for her.

She smiles at him, but her eyes were swayed as Aurora gasped.

"Who's is that?" She questions, running over to the giant teddy bear.

"It's yours, Jonah picked it out," Carmen says, winking at him.

"Thank you!" She squeals, jumping up to hug him. He sends Carmen a thankful smile, of which she returns.

"It's no problem. Now lets go pay for all of this."

Aurora hops into the front of a cart, her legs dangling over the side. Carmen only watches in silence as she does so, tossing her now empty Starbucks cup into a nearby trashcan.

"Do you think you have enough gummies?" The man at the cash register asks, examining the nearly seventy boxes of gummies.

"No," Aurora tells him. "We would've gotten more but the supply ran out."

The bored man barely cracks the smile. "Your total is $452.78."

The six of them reach for their wallets, all prepared to pull out cash. Zach, Jonah, and Jack all wave away the girls' offers to pay, taking care of it themselves.

Carmen jumps from the shopping cart, linking her good arm with Aurora's as they leave the boys to carry the many bags.

"Lets wait on the boys outside," Aurora suggests, tugging Carmen out of the automatic doors.

Small barks are heard as soon as they step foot outside, capturing both of their attention. Carmen and Aurora immediately rush over to the box full of tiny puppies that sits in front of a smiling woman.

"Oh my gosh," Carmen coos, picking up a brown pug from the box. "You're the most adorable thing I've ever seen!"

She cradles the puppy in her arms, of which it lets out a happy bark.

"Look, Caramel!" Aurora squeals. "They're so cute!"

"You can have one if you want," The woman tells Carmen.

"How much?" Carmen asks, petting the puppy softly.

"No charge," She replies with the wave of her hand.

"Jonah!" Aurora yells, waving the group over. "Can we get a puppy?"

"Of course," He replies, bending down next to her. Zach does the same to Carmen, asking which puppy she wants

"This one," Carmen says immediately, showing him the pug in her arms. "I love him already."

"I want that one," Aurora decides, picking up the solid black puppy, before looking at the woman. "Are you sure you don't want any moment for him?"

"I'm positive. They're all yours."

Zach then helps Carmen rise to her feet, his arm wrapping around her waist as they begin to walk back to Jonah's car. "So, what are you naming him?"

"Dobby."

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