Page 2 of Margins

“Yeah, I mean, a lot of these are in great condition, but I—” Alex makes a face and lets his gaze fall back to the book still in his hand. “I wasn’t really planning to stop by, so there would be a limit to how much I can carry home.”

“Not a problem. I mean, unless you’re just lying about that to get out of buying anything, which is totally fine,” Hoodie laughs, the scratchiness of it suggesting that his voice rarely works this hard so close to sunrise. “But if you do want some of these, I’ve got a bunch of duffel bags around here and you can go wild. Or I’ll hold on to everything if you want to pull up a truck like that guy.”

He gestures over to where Dresser Man has loaded his newfound treasures into the back of a rumbling pickup truck—in addition to the dresser, it looks like he might’ve grabbed the bed frame too—but then Hoodie nudges Alex’s arm with his elbow, and Alex can only assume he’s being teased.

It’s been a while since anything in his world has felt quite that light.

“Yeah, no, um, a couple of bags would be great. You can just add them to my tab.”

“Nah, not charging you for the bags. Be right back, though.”

He disappears into the open garage, and Alex begins to stack all the books he wants to buy for Cassidy, plus a handful for Elena. When Hoodie returns, they start packing them up, Alex careful to keep a running total even if Hoodie doesn’t seem all that bothered. And as long as he’s got a way to carry everything now, Alex grabs a couple of the board games, too.

“Not enough time to play all the ones we already have, but I guess it won’t hurt to have more, right?”

“Hey, if you want to add to your chaos by helping me unload mine, that’s fine by me,” Hoodie laughs. “You have kids?”

“Just my daughter. She’s nine,” Alex answers. “You?”

“Nope, those were here from when my niece and nephew were younger.”

They get everything zipped up, and Alex lifts two straps onto his shoulders before looking around to see if there’s anything else before he goes, his eyes lingering on the vinyls until his words are quick to make him seem braver than he is.

“Can I give you some advice?” he asks Hoodie.

“Sure.”

“Keep all those albums. Or I mean, if they’ve got terrible memories attached to them, then maybe don’t. But otherwise—” he trails off and shrugs, his fingers curled into a fist only long enough for it to feel good when he relaxes again. “I don’t know. Music is a big deal and I think it’s usually worth keeping if you can. Even if you can get most of it online now.”

“Sounds like the voice of experience.”

Alex thinks back to all the ways music has hurt and healed him, especially recently. “Yeah, I guess so.”

Hoodie frowns. “Slight problem, though. The record player that was inside with the albums broke a while ago, and I don’t have one at my place.”

“Wait, you don’t live here?”

“Oh, no. I wish. No, I’m just helping out. I’ve got a little condo like half an hour from here. I’d probably take a few more things with me if I had the room to keep them.”

Alex nods, aching with the reminder that he has far too much room. “Well, I’m not really one to be talking then, but a record player isn't hard to get, and you should be able to store the vinyls easily enough. If you decide it’s what you want to do.”

“You know, you were already my best customer of the day just for buying up all these books,” Hoodie says. “But now that you’re dispensing life advice, I feel like maybe I should throw in a free coffee grinder or something.”

“Okay, first of all, I don’t think you can call anyone your best customer when you probably started this thing an hour ago at the most. Second, if you did have a best customer, I’m pretty sure it’s the dude who just carted off old bedroom furniture for you.”

“That guy was grouchy and taking that stuff off my hands was the very least he could do,” Hoodie argues. “You're—well, you aren't grouchy grouchy. I’m guessing you just need more sleep, more coffee, or more of both.”

“Like you?” Alex asks, nodding at the travel mug Hoodie had been clinging to when he first arrived.

“Yes, exactly like me. So maybe I’ll give you the coffee grinder and wish you all the best.”

Alex laughs. “I’ve got every possible coffee contraption at home already—part of my ongoing quest to be a little less grouchy, I guess—but thank you. I think I’m all set with these.”

“If you insist.”

A young couple has arrived, already pointing excitedly at a few different things, so Alex and Hoodie come to an agreement about the price of the books and games quickly enough, and Alex offers some kind of wave goodbye before he turns to leave.

The fog is gone, and every logical part of him screams that it’s only because the sun has made itself known.

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