Jeans and a few other things[Jeremiah&Joseph]

[mugs]

"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry!" Charity gasped when he tugged the strings. He shrugged with a look on his face that plainly said, "What's done is done."

He clapped Joseph on the back lightly.
"You're good to go, little brother. No one could tell the difference. I even got the blood off your hair."

He put the supplies away and grinned up at Charity's awed expression.

"I'm impressed- I couldn'a done tha'...."

"Well, it is what it is. I bet if the situation called for it, you could do it. Most people can only face their fears when they're forced to, so if it had been a real emergency, I'm sure you could have done something. I'm just blessed to not have a problem with blood."

[josephmarshall]

Joey slid his feet underneath him and rose off the ground slowly. He felt a little dizzy and his head still throbbed, but he didn't fall over.

"Are ya alrigh'?" Charity asked, looking pointedly away from the stitches.

He rubbed his face again, humiliated that his eyes were still watering. He nodded slowly as Jeremy put away the supplies.

"You're good to go, little brother. No one could tell the difference. I even got the blood off your hair."

"Okay. And yeah, Charity. I'm alright," he said, scowling inwardly as his voice cracked. The force he had put on his throat in the effort to refrain from yelling had taken it's toll.

[CHARITY NELSON]

Charity bit her lip and sighed a little in relief when Jeremiah pronounced that Joseph was done and all sewed up and cleaned up. She wasn't sure what to do now- but she'd be buying the jeans, since she'd somehow managed to scrape up the knee of them. Oh well, she might as well just buy the other pairs she'd been planning to try on, since she knew they would fit, she had just wanted to try out the styles. Not that she thought they would look bad on her, Charity was lucky that way- she looked good in just about anything. However, some things looked better than others. No matter.

She watched as Joseph shakily got himself to his feet, seeming to waver a little once he got to the point of fully upright, but he managed to stay standing. Charity then followed suit, though her wobble was decidedly less pronounced, which was understandable considering the fact that she hadn't just had her head cut and stitched up on the floor of American Eagle. What a traumatic experience.

She looked over at Joey, raising an eyebrow, as if doubting him, but she wasn't going to argue. She just scooped up Jeremiah's shirt she had dropped and went to change back into her normal clothes quickly. When she came back out, she bought the pants and the shirts, then went to scoop up all of her own bags- she wasn't letting Joseph or Jeremiah carry them- they'd both been through so much in the short half hour or so since they'd run into each other.

[mugs]

Jeremiah watched his brother get to his feet, then nodded, satisfied when Joey didn't tip over again.

Charity changed quickly, then bought her pants and the shirts they had tried on.

She scooped up all the bags and before she could escape without letting the boys notice, Jeremiah lifted the bags off her left arm, escorting her while carrying them.

"I don't think so. A lady shouldn't have to carry all these by herself. Especially when she so graciously bought clothing for us and helped with a crisis," Jeremiah smirked, as Joey walked up.

[josephmarshall]

Joey looked around for the shirt he had been hiding, only to come up short. She must have gotten it after all.

And so she had. She was purchasing it merely a few minutes later. Joey rolled his eyes as she gathered the bags together.

Jeremy informed her that they were not about to let a lady carry all her bags around when she had bought them something.

Joey agreed, taking the bags from Charity's other arm, escorting her as well.

"Come on. It's the least we can do."

[CHARITY NELSON]

Charity couldn't believe it. No sooner had she picked up her bags than suddenly her arms were empty and were linked on either side with Jeremiah and Joseph, "I- wai- Wha- Why? Why Can't I carry m'own stuff?" She looked up between Jeremy and Joey, trying to reach for the bags. "Joey, you just had your head cut open, you don' hafta be a gentleman righ' now!" She then turned her attention to Jeremy, "An' a brick would'a been more helpful than me. Trust me." She shrugged and reached for the bags he was holding as well, but having one of them on either side made it difficult to try and steal the bags from either of them.

So, she was reduced to pouting and trying to get her way from the two guys who were obviously larger and stronger than Charity. She shook her head, "You know, I'm not sure I can be friends with you two anymore.... You stress me out too much. I might get premature gray hairs. I can't have any of that now, can we?!"

[mugs]

"I- wai- Wha- Why? Why Can't I carry m'own stuff? Joey, you just had your head cut open, you don' hafta be a gentleman righ' now! An' a brick would'a been more helpful than me. Trust me."

Jeremiah threw back his head and laughed. Sometimes Charity was so stubborn.

"Charity, this is just the way we were brought up. We're gentlemen. Even thought Joey has conformed to Americanism," Jeremy joked, winking at his brother. "And I'm sure you would do fine."

She pouted for a while and finally said, "You know, I'm not sure I can be friends with you two anymore.... You stress me out too much. I might get premature gray hairs. I can't have any of that now, can we?!"

Jeremiah grinned, "Yeah, I don't know how you'll deal with us. You'll start lookin' like Mum. She always looked really tired after taking me and Joey out."

[josephmarshall]

"I- wai- Wha- Why? Why Can't I carry m'own stuff? Joey, you just had your head cut open, you don' hafta be a gentleman righ' now!" Charity insisted, trying to get the bags away from him and his brother.

Joey smiled impishly, "Aw, come on, Charity. This happens all the time! Heck, just last week Jeremiah stitched my ankle! And maybe I want to be a gentleman. If you keep resisting, I'll tickle you."

He wasn't joking either. Their older sister, Angela, even complied to Joey's wishes when he threatened with tickling. He could tickle enough to have your sides aching from laughter hours after the ordeal.

"You know, I'm not sure I can be friends with you two anymore.... You stress me out too much. I might get premature gray hairs. I can't have any of that now, can we?!"

Joey stared at her, his eyes wide and horror struck. Not be friends? But she had to be his friend!

Joey instantly sank to his knees on the hard tile and gave her the most adorable puppy-dog face he could manage.

"Please don't leave me. I'll be sad if you don't want to be my friend.."

[CHARITY NELSON]

Charity rolled her eyes, "Well, would it kill ya t' stop fer like, an hour?" She shook her head, "Honestly...." She bit her lip and made one last ditch attempt to get her bags from Jeremiah and Joseph, though it proved, yet again, unsuccessful. With a sigh, she resigned to let them carry the bags, "I don' think I would do fine. Bu' wha'ever." She shrugged a little, then laughed.

"I don' wanna end up lookin' tired!" She smiled though, then stopped as Joey was suddenly on his knees. At first she thought he had fallen, but she raised an eyebrow as she realized that he was looking up at her with the big, sad-eyed puppy dog face. He thought she was serious?

Charity pat Joey's cheek a little, softly, "I never said I didn' wanna be friends. Jus' tha' I'm no' sure if I can handle it." She was teasing. But still she couldn't let him think she wasn't kidding. "Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere. I was kidding."

[mugs]

"Well, would it kill ya t' stop fer like, an hour? Honestly...."

Jeremiah smiled at her. "Yes. Yes it would."

"I don' think I would do fine. Bu' wha'ever."

Jeremy rolled his eyes. She had no idea. When an emergency situation presented itself, nearly anyone could overcome a fear to act. Heck, that's how he started.

Joey had fallen on the playground when Jeremy was watching him. With no other adults around, what was he to do? An eight year old had possibly sprained his wrist and it was a long walk home. Jeremiah had taken his shirt off and wrapped it carefully around Joey's arm, using some long sticks as a splint.

Jeremiah wanted to slam his head into a brick wall when Joey fell to his knees. How thick could you get? Joey really never understood when people were teasing about such things. His child-like spirit often caused misunderstandings such as this.

"Sorry about him.." Jeremiah whispered to Charity, "He's just.. ah.. immature, really."

[josephmarshall]

Joey stared up at Charity, his eyes big and worried.

Hang on... what was he..?

"I never said I didn' wanna be friends. Jus' tha' I'm no' sure if I can handle it." Charity said, placing her hand on his cheek gently.

It became apparent that she had only been teasing. He felt like a lunatic. But her hand was really soft. And her smile was really pretty too.

Joseph's face flushed and he stood quickly, looking away from her.
Why had he gotten to his knees and begged her to stay? He felt deja vu from his childhood, when he had said similar things to children who had threatened to end a friendship. But he wasn't a child anymore. So what was going on? And he knew that she was kidding. He shouldn't have reverted to what he had done when he was younger.

"Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere. I was kidding."

Joey nodded, glancing shyly at her. How completely embarrassing. She must think he was such a weirdo.

[CHARITY NELSON]

Charity laughed, "Fine, fine... Jus' don't die. I couldn' handle tha', fer sure. I mean, head injuries are bad, deaths are worse." She smiled a little as Jeremiah then started to explain about Joey, and she shook her head, "'S not necessary. It's kinda sweet." She pat Joey's cheek then, looking up as he finally stood up. Yes, she had been kidding. She couldn't just stop being friends with them, it just wasn't how she worked.

She looked up at Joseph then as he seemed to realize she had been joking and was incredibly embarrassed about it. She shook her head, poking him in the chest, "Hey, I was kiddin'. Don't freak ou' abou'it." She watched him for a second, then sighed, "D'ya wanna git a pretzel, guys?" Okay, so she really was stuck on this pretzel thing. Even though she probably wouldn't eat anything. She was still recovering from her panic attack from earlier, but she just wanted to get a pretzel for some reason.