By the ti they got back to the house, the kitchen was already loud.
Luke sat at the counter eating chips directly from the bag despite Claire specifically buying them for later.
Phil was trying to explain Bluetooth speakers to Jay using entirely incorrect terminology.
And Haley imdiately appeared the second she heard the front door.
"Did you get the good chips?"
"No," Claire answered while setting grocery bags down. "We decided to suffer instead."
Haley ignored the sarcasm and imdiately started digging through the bags anyway.
Then paused.
"You two were gone awhile."
Claire looked up instantly.
"There was traffic."
"There were lemons," Gael added.
Haley narrowed her eyes slightly.
"…That sounded suspiciously coordinated."
"It's called groceries," Claire replied while unpacking vegetables.
"Sounds fake."
Gael hid a smile while Haley continued studying both of them for another second before stealing a bag of candy from the counter.
Phil noticed imdiately.
"Ah! The providers return."
"That sentence makes us sound like hunters," Claire muttered.
"You did bring snacks," Luke pointed out.
"Fair."
The kitchen settled into overlapping conversation after that.
Jay complained about parking apps.
Phil defended "smart refrigerators" like they were a human rights issue.
Luke attempted to microwave garlic bread without supervision and got banned from the microwave again within minutes.
Normal evening.
At one point Haley slid beside Gael near the counter and leaned lightly against his arm.
Quietly.
Possessively enough that he noticed.
"You okay?" he asked under his breath.
"Mmhm."
But she stayed there.
Close.
Then Gloria walked in.
And imdiately noticed the atmosphere because, of course, she did.
"Well," she said slowly while looking between Claire and Gael, "this feels interesting."
Claire visibly froze for half a second.
Haley looked suspicious instantly.
"What does that an?"
"Nothing," Gloria answered too smoothly.
That alone guaranteed disaster.
Gael grabbed plates from the cabinet before things could spiral further.
Unfortunately, Phil chose that exact mont to speak.
"You know ..." he announced while opening sparkling water dramatically. "Claire and Gael grocery shopping together actually makes weird sense."
Claire stopped moving entirely.
Haley's eyes snapped toward her mother.
Then toward Gael.
Luke looked delighted imdiately.
"What happened?"
"Nothing happened," Claire answered way too quickly.
Too fast.
Everybody noticed.
Even Jay lowered his beer slightly.
Phil blinked once.
"…I was talking about organizational compatibility."
"Oh," Haley said slowly.
The room relaxed slightly.
Except Gloria, who looked seconds away from laughing into her wine glass.
Then Luke ruined everything.
"Wait," he said while pointing between them, "were you guys mistaken for a couple or sothing?"
Absolute silence.
Claire stared at him.
"How did you even guess that?"
Luke looked genuinely confused.
"Because you're both acting super weird."
Phil nearly dropped his drink laughing.
"Oh my God, that did happen?"
"It was one woman," Claire replied imdiately. "For like three seconds."
Haley stared directly at Gael now.
"You got mistaken for Mom's boyfriend?"
"That sentence sounds significantly worse out loud," he muttered.
Gloria turned away trying to hide laughter.
Jay looked deeply entertained for the first ti all evening.
anwhile Claire looked ready to exile herself into annoyed.
"It was a misunderstanding," she said firmly.
Phil wiped tears from his eyes.
"This is the best dinner conversation we've had all month."
"You are enjoying this too much," Claire muttered.
"A little, yes."
Haley still hadn't moved away from Gael's side.
If anything, she leaned closer afterward.
Then she looked toward her mother again.
started smiling.
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