Work Text:
Soos hummed a cheerful tune as he mopped the Mystery Shack before opening. Holding the place together was harder than he thought, with how easy the Great Mr. Pines made it look. Between keeping everything clean and learning how to be a salesman, Soos had never felt so proud of himself. He’d even managed to go three months without knocking over any of the stuff Dipper had labeled “hazardous” before going back to California. (The kid wanted to get rid of said stuff, but Mr. Pines, in his infinite wisdom, said danger would bring in more customers, and Soos was not one to deny an old, enfeebled man his last wish as a tourist trap manager.)
Speak - or rather think - of the devil, the desk phone started ringing, and Soos figured it must be Mr. Pines, since he was usually the only one who called that number.
So he was certainly surprised to hear Melody’s voice on the other end.
“Hey, Soos,” she began, sounding awfully tired.
“Hi, Melody. Why ya callin’ the work phone?” Soos asked. She typically only called his cell phone.
“I thought it’d be more appropriate, since my message is for Boss Soos, not Boyfriend Soos,” she said casually.
“And, uh, what does ‘Boss Soos’ need to know?” he asked again.
“Just that I can’t come into work today. I’m feeling a little… ukh leh leh ,” she answered, a hint of pain in her voice.
Soos’ brow furrowed as he held the phone closer to his ear. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just sick. Should be better by tomorrow. No biggie,” Melody assured, but Soos wasn’t convinced. A look of determination crossed his face.
“Hold on. I’m coming.”
“No wait, don’t-” Melody started, but Soos had already hung up. He snatched up the keys to the golf cart and strode out of the shack, slamming the door behind him.
…
When Soos arrived at Melody’s house, he went straight for her bedroom window, since it would just be cruel to make her walk to the front door. He peeked in to see her lying in bed, though he couldn’t tell whether she was asleep with the way she was positioned. She looked exhausted though. Limp and weak, her pretty hair in tangles. A plastic bowl was sitting next to her bed, filled nearly halfway to the top with a worrying amount of puke.
Soos rapped on the window, hoping to wake her up. About fifteen seconds in, Melody started to stir. She slowly pulled herself up to a sitting position, pressing her palm to her forehead. She turned her head to the side, and spotted Soos waving at her. She rolled her eyes but still shot him a small smile before getting up and stumbling to the window.
“I told you not to come,” she half-teased, once the window was open.
“What? I’m gonna let you be sick alone? You’re kidding, right?” He struggled to pull himself through the window but still refused the hand Melody offered. No need for her to hurt herself.
Melody’s eyes creased a little. “Really, Soos, I’m gonna be fine, I’m just-”
“Dude, you threw up. You could have neccovirus,” he interrupted.
She let out a small laugh. “You mean norovirus?”
“Yeah, that. The stomach one.”
“No, it’s not that,” she answered, still smiling slightly. “I’m not really ‘sick’ sick. I’m just hungover.” Her cheeks flushed a bit after her confession.
“Hungover?”
“Yeah,” she said, shutting her eyes for a moment and wincing in pain. “I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t’ve had so much to drink on a work night. But…I was out with some friends, and I didn’t want to be buzzkill and…you get the idea.” Her eyes went wide when she noticed he was still in his work uniform. “Shoot! You must’ve had to close the shack because of me, huh? I might just be the worst employee in Mystery Shack history.”
“Who cares about the shack?” Soos replied, without missing a beat. “Pretty sure I’m talkin’ to Girlfriend Melody, not Employee Melody. And when Girlfriend Melody’s hurting, Boyfriend Soos’s gotta to do somethin’ about that.”
She gave a bright smile and finally let Soos wrap an arm around her and lead her back to bed.
“Now, what do you need? Water, ice pack, a lullaby from Abuelita?”
Again, Melody laughed a little. “You really think your abuelita’s gonna drive over here to sing a lullaby to an adult woman?”
“Dude. Abuelita loves you. If I call, she’ll come running,” Soos answered.
“As sweet as that sounds, I think I’ll pass on the lullaby,” Melody chuckled. “But…I could use some toast.”
“On it,” said Soos, with a look of intense determination. “I won’t let you down, Melody.”
…
After fifteen minutes (five spent on the actual toasting; the other ten spent struggling to turn on the unplugged toaster and testing to see if the microwave would work), Soos returned to Melody’s room.
“Hey, Melody, I got your-”
He looked up to find her in tears. She quickly grabbed the edge of her blanket and dabbed at the corners of her eyes.
Soos set the plate of toast down at the foot of the bed and went to his girlfriend’s side. “You alright?” he asked. “Does it hurt?”
“No,” Melody answered, smiling. “I’m just tired…and happy because I have the best boyfriend in the world.”
“Oh. Phew! You had me worried there for a second.” He grabbed the plate again and
handed it to her. Again, she smiled.
“Thanks.”
“Yeah, no problem, dude.” He glanced over at the still-full barf bowl on the other side of the bed. “Guess I should get rid of that.”
Melody followed his eyes toward the rancid, chunky mess. “Oh, no. You don’t wanna do that yet. I’ll take care of it later. You can go back to the shack.” But Soos had already made his way across the room.
He took the bowl outside and dumped it in the trash can, but not without spilling a little on his shirt. He tried to wipe it off as best he could, but some of it lingered on his shirt. Abuelita was gonna have a rough time getting that one out.
Melody noticed as soon as he reentered her room. “Did ya have some trouble with it?”
“No,” Soos lied, trying to seem capable for his girlfriend. “Okay, maybe a little.”
Melody put a hand to her head, partly from pain but mostly from guilt. “Great. I made you close down the shack and now I’ve ruined your shirt.”
“Dude. Seriously. It’s fine. I’ve got, like, fifty different copies of this thing.”
Melody sighed. “That’s good. But…honestly, Soos, sometimes I don’t feel like a real adult.”
Soos climbed up onto the bed and scooted over close to his girlfriend. “What?”
“Like…I’m not responsible enough. I knew it was a work night, and I shouldn’t’ve been drinking, but I’d told myself I’d be fine, and now look where we are.” She leaned onto Soos’ shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her head. “Y’know the girls in my high school used to tease me for not getting my driver’s license early enough, and going to Hoo-Ha Owl’s on the weekends…and I knew they were idiots, but it still kinda hurt, y’know?”
Soos narrowed his eyes. “Melody, of course you’re an adult! You take care of yourself, you’ve got your own house…and you’re the hardest worker the Mystery Shack’s had in a while.”
Melody laughed a bit. “Really? I’ve been way lazier there than I was at my last job.”
“Definitely. And you’re talking to the guy who won Employee of the Month last summer.” He lightly stroked her shoulder, as she breathed out into his chest. She didn’t say anything in response to his assurance, but the light smile showed she was feeling better. Soos grinned.
After a few minutes, he finally broke the silence. “So, you wanna pop in a movie?”
Melody stretched out a bit, pulling herself upright again. “Actually, I think I’m gonna take a nap. You can go back to the shack if you want. Or you can wait in the living room for me to wake up, I guess. Not sure why you’d want to, but…” she winced as the pain in her head surged from the change of posture.
Soos looked at her sympathetically. “You sure you’re gonna be okay here?”
Melody nodded. “Yeah. The hangover should be gone by the end of the day anyway.”
Soos smiled. “Okay. Guess I’ll go then.” He moved to climb back out the window, before turning back. “Oh, and call me if anything happens.”
“Okay,” Melody agreed. “Thanks again for the toast.” She paused for a moment, then added, “And the cuddle.”
Soos’ face lit up, with a bit of redness appearing in his cheeks. “Of course. See ya tomorrow.”
Melody waved back, before Soos finally climbed out the window and ran back to the golf cart.
And as he drove back to the Mystery Shack, he thought of how nice it was to take care of her, and silently hoped he’d get to do it again soon.