✮ Rockstar ✮ || A Lightbrush Fanfiction

Chapter 42 - One More Time

Lightbulb skipped merrily through the halls of the local Walmart, Paintbrush following behind with an empty shopping cart. She looked around the shelves for school supplies, since her first day of senior year would be in a few days. She put off shopping for a while; one: she was too lazy, and two: she just didn't want to.

But her binders from the year prior were hanging on for dear life, so she had to get new stuff eventually; with Paintbrush's money, of course. They had all that cash sitting around in their bank account and barely used any of it, so why not make them buy her stuff? Besides, school supplies are expensive these days, and she was not gonna make her mom pay for all that.

"You don't have to get everything on that list, you know. I just got a few binders, a drawstring, some paper, and pencils, and bought anything else I needed along the way." Paintbrush stopped the cart and leaned on the handle with their arms crossed. Lightbulb searched through the binder shelf, glancing down at the senior supply list now and then.

They rolled their eyes and grabbed five one-inch binders off a nearby shelf. They chucked them in the cart, the plastic clanging against the cold metal.

Lightbulb whipped around and put her hands on her hips, her eyes flicking from them to the cart. "Um, you think I'm just gonna get plain white binders? Do you even know me?"

Paintbrush looked her up and down. "You can customize them, smartass. Get some stickers and put some colored paper on the front sleeve. I'm not paying extra for rainbow colors when I have enough rainbow right here." They pointed to all of her with a raised eyebrow. She wasn't sure if they were referring to her clothes or her sexuality, but she took offense either way.

"Jeez, where's the attitude coming from, prissy pants?" She crossed her arms as well to imitate them, hoping her action cheered them up. Their expression stayed neutral. "Look, let's just get this over with," they murmured, holding their hand out so she could give them the list. She reluctantly handed it to them. She knew something was off considering they were a bit quiet on the way there, but this just proved her theory.

Lightbulb waited patiently as they observed the shopping list, not wanting to press anymore. They finished reading and handed the paper back to her. "Alright, let's go. You don't need most of that, but I can still get whatever you want. Just be lenient."

She gave them a nod and went to another aisle just a few steps away. She bent down to grab some mechanical pencils from the bottom shelf and placed them in the cart. "...Is anything wrong?" She couldn't help but be curious.

Paintbrush looked down at the cart and bit their cheek. "When I left I saw my dad in the kitchen. I- honestly, I locked myself in my room for a few days so I didn't have to see him. God, just seeing his face pisses me off."

A sympathetic sigh escaped Lightbulb. "Did he say anything to you? Or like... did he look at you weird?"

"No..." they fixed their position, leaning on their left leg more than the right. "He just kinda glanced at me then back at the coffee pot. He didn't look mad or anything, he just looked... I dunno, disappointed. It's hard to explain."

She listened to her partner intently, not wanting to say the wrong thing. She knew them and their parents got into an argument, but she wasn't sure what it was about. They only told her that they had a small fight. Now that she was thinking about it, that fight most likely wasn't small considering how it affected them.

"You wanna stay at my house for a bit? I'm sure Mom and Dad would be fine with it if they knew what was happening."

Their lips upturned into a gentle smile as they thought about her offer. "Your mom already knows, I dunno if she knows how much of a trainwreck it turned out to be, though."