Coffee and Cigarettes

It was Christmas Eve. I had bought gifts for all of my friends and family in advance, so shopping was no issue, but Libby wasn't and still isn't that great of a planner and so we had to go last-minute shopping at the local Galleria in order for her to finish up in time.

I never really knew it, but that girl can shop like the wind.

"Oh! Victoria's Secret! My mom needs new pajamas!" she exclaimed, grabbing my hand while simultaneously plowing through a crowd of last-minute shoppers such as herself. Inside the store, nearly everything was gone, so Libby grabbed the first thing she saw that was her mother's size, and then we got in line. I almost thought she'd have to pry the pajama set out of someone's hands. It was that crazy.

"It's perfect," she said with a smile, looking at the red pajamas with different snowflake designs on it. "Red is my mom's favourite colour."

I nodded blankly. The entire day had been like this. Libby would go off in ten-minute monologues, and I would nod and then we'd move on to another store.

Eventually, Libby got tired of talking to herself and so she tried to talk to me. "Are you okay, Morgan?" she asked quietly as we sat down on a bench.

I shook my head. "No," I sighed. "But you know, I think I'll be okay. I'm very slowly coming to terms with it, but...it's still scary, you know?"

Libby nodded. "I don't want to weigh your problems down with my own, but I think my parents are going to get a divorce."

My head shot over to her direction. "What? What happened?"

Libby shrugged nonchalantly, as if she didn't even care. "I saw it coming a mile away," she answered. "They've been getting really distant lately...they've been fighting a lot, usually over me, and I don't really know the exact reason, but all I know is that their marriage is probably going to end soon. Sometime after Christmas, since they don't want our families to have to deal with all the stress of a divorce."

I blinked a few times and sighed. "Oh, man..." I shook my head. "I can't believe it. Your parents have been married for nearly twenty years. Something must've triggered it."

"Yeah," Libby agreed. "But I have no idea what it was." We sat there twiddling our thumbs and swinging our feet for a minute or two before I got up.

"Come on, you've got a few more stores to go to. Let's try to be happy, it's Christmas," I said with a small smile.

Libby grinned. "Okay. Let's go to Hot Topic, I want to buy Mikey a new beanie."

I rolled my eyes. "His closet is full of beanies. He definitely doesn't need another one."

She shrugged. "Spirit of the season, silly. Might as well grab something for Frank while we're there."

"Have fun with that."

Libby raised an eyebrow in my direction. "Uh, I was talking about you."

"...Me?" I questioned. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh come on, Morgan," Libby smirked. "You know that you wanna catch Frank underneath the mistletoe."

My face probably went as red as Santa's jolly ol' suit and Libby burst out laughing. "I didn't say anything!" I cried desperately.

"You didn't have to," she giggled. "That look on your face was priceless. Come on, I'll help you find something to get for him."

We walked to Hot Topic and Libby was greeted by the cashier. They were pretty close friends, so sometimes Libby snagged discounts. But only sometimes.

"Hey Lib," Brian said from the cash register. Brian was probably around twenty-five years old, already married with a daughter on the way. Nice guy, don't let his three facial piercings fool you. Those would be snakebites and nose ring, in case you were interested.

"Bee-ran!" Libby grinned before giving him a hug. "How's Liz and the baby?" She said the word 'baby' with the longest drawl I've ever heard.

"Two more months," he said, smiling from ear to ear. "I can't believe I'm going to be a daddy."

"Aww, that's awesome," Libby cooed. "Anyway, back to the point, I'm looking for a beanie for my boyfriend and Morgan's looking for anything for a special guy she's got in mind."

Brian eyed me and wiggled his eyebrows. "Ah, Miss Bryar, someone special this holiday season?"

"...No," I mumbled, fumbling with the hem of my coat.

He chuckled. "Grab some stuff. It's Christmas, I think I'm allowed to give you guys a, uh," he coughed. "Seventy percent discount."

Libby screamed and pounced on Brian. The entire store stared at her.

"Uh, uh," Brian stuttered, "she's my niece. Gave her a...car for Christmas. Just came to say thanks! Get off me, dear."

I snorted.

Libby and I wandered around the store looking for something to buy. Libby eventually found two beanies: a gray one with a red and black stripe and one with Jack Skellington on that weird hill from the Nightmare Before Christmas.

I was sifting through a pile of Black Flag t-shirts after Libby had paid for the beanies when I heard Frank's voice. Grabbing Libby's wrist, I flew and hid behind a shelf.

"What's wrong? It's just Frank and Gerard," Libby hissed, tugging her wrist out of my grip.

"Doesn't matter, I don't want them to know I'm here," I muttered hastily.

"What are you going to get?" Frank asked Gerard as he slurped from his soda.

"Something for Mikey, Libby, Morgan and Bob. I got your present and Ray's already." Gerard immediately went to the beanies. "Maybe I'll get him a hat."

Libby's eyes narrowed.

"Or not," Frank smirked, swatting the hats away. "He was way too many. Get him a coat or something."

Gerard shrugged. "Alright." He wandered over to the coats and grabbed a black one with an over-sized collar. "Perfect," he grinned. "If he pops the collar up, he'll look like a nerdy Dracula!"

"Yeah, perfect," Frank snorted.

"Maybe I'll get this hoodie for Morgan," Gerard said. "What are you getting her?"

"Nothin'," Frank shrugged. "I don't want to give her the wrong impression."

Gerard raised an eyebrow at him. "What do you mean, wrong impression?"

He shrugged. "I don't want her thinking I'm interested. I don't want to date her or anything. I just want to...I don't know, fool around a bit."

I looked over at Libby in despair. She gave me a mournful look before saying, "One second. I'll handle this."

"N-No, Libby, don't--" I tried to stop her, but she had already gotten up and was on her way to where Frank and Gerard were standing.

"What's your problem?" Libby snarled, her hands placed firmly on her hips. Frank glanced at Gerard nervously as I observed from my hiding place.

"What are you...talking about?" Frank asked cautiously as Gerard sighed and picked up three different hoodies in various sizes and went to the counter to pay for his purchases.

"I heard every single word you said, you malicious worm!" she practically screamed. By now, she'd gotten the entire store's attention. Brian finished helping Gerard, then propped his elbows on the other side of the counter to watch the verbal brawl. Of course, he was grinning ear-to-ear.

"You were eavesdropping?" Frank asked suspiciously.

"You said it loud enough for the entire store to hear, Iero," Libby growled. "How could you even say that? You're attempting to take advantage of Morgan? A-And for what, so you can be...gratified? I'm sorry that I know you. You're pathetic. I cannot believe you're such an asshole!"

"Well I'm sorry if I don't like her in that way, it's not my problem that she's a whiny little girl who's constantly complaining about how hard her life is!"

Libby stuck a finger in his face. "If you even knew what she's going through right now, you'd take that back, you dipshit."

"Profanities won't make me change my mind," Frank retorted, folding his arms over his chest.

Out of nowhere, Libby reared back her fist and punched Frank right in the jaw.

"What the fuck!" Frank yelled angrily. "What's your problem?"

"Come on, Morgan, we're out of here," Libby called to me. I rose from my hiding place as Frank watched me with wide eyes.

"Morgan, wait..."

"Save yourself. I'm out of here." I pushed my way past him and nodded to Gerard and he gave me a small grin back.

As we walked out of the store, Libby started to giggle. "That felt pretty good," she grinned.

"Remind me to never piss you off," I laughed. "Come on, let's go to Collin's."

But little did we know, that day was about to go from bad to worse. When we got to Collin's, we were greeted by the ugliest, most horrifying sign in the world.

On the front door of the cafe was a sign that read: OUT OF BUSINESS.