Afterward (A Veneer prison story)

The Mall

Veneer woke up to Ritz cuddled up in his arm. He carefully sat up, not moving his arm so Ritz wouldn't wake up. He grabbed his phone with his free hand and scrolled on it until Ritz woke up. 

"Good morning." Veneer smiled and moved his arm. 

Ritz yawned and pushed his hair out of his face. "Morning." 

"I still can't really believe what happened last night, it doesn't seem like Floyd to do that."  

"Yeah, do you think Branch and John Dory made him?" 

Veneer shrugged. "Probably, they're probably still scared of Velvet. But I would be too." 

"I guess, they still shouldn't have broken into your house, though." 

Veneer sighed. "I just wish that they would stop being scared. Velvet doesn't want to go back to jail, and everyone knows that she can't sing." 

"It is kinda a dumb thing to be scared about, and if the person who got kidnapped  has already forgiven you guys." 

"Ugh. Now I'm just hungry, do you want to go eat?" 

"Sure," Ritz said while getting up. 

They walked downstairs into the kitchen, where Veneer's parents were standing. They were drinking coffee and talking. 

"Did you two sleep well? We heard some noise downstairs," his mom said.

Veneer looked over at Ritz and laughed. "Yeah. Floyd, John Dory, and Branch broke in through the window." 

Veneer's dad put his cup down and looked at them. "What did they do?" 

Veneer and Ritz sat down at the island. "They broke in through the window. They wanted to make sure Velvet wasn't trollnapping anymore." 

Veneer's mom frowned. "Why didn't you come and tell us?" 

"It was fine. They weren't trying to hurt us."

"Well still. Do you want to report it?" 

"Not really. I don't want them to get angrier." 

Veneer's mom took a sip of her coffee. "Okay, but if it happens again we're going to." 

"Okay," Veneer and Ritz both said. 

Veneer stood up and turned to Ritz. "What do you want to eat?" 

"Umm... I don't really care," Ritz said while shrugging. 

"Come on, we have pancakes if you want them." 

"Sure." 

Veneer's parents walked over to the living room while Veneer walked over to the cabinet. He grabbed the pancake mix and a bowl. Ritz came over and grabbed water.

While they were making the pancakes, Velvet came downstairs.

"You guys better be making some of those for me. After last night I don't think I can do anything." 

"You're lucky we made extra batter," Veneer called back at Velvet. 

Velvet walked into the kitchen and sat down. "You would have made me some anyway." 

"Yeah." 

Veneer and Ritz made the rest of the pancakes while Velvet went on her phone. They all talked about the night before and what they would do if they saw the trolls. 

Velvet sighed and put her head on the table. "I need something to do today. I don't want to think about Floyd anymore," she mumbled. 

"Do you guys want to go somewhere?" Veneer asked.

"We could go to the mall," Ritz suggested. 

Velvet lifted her head up. "Yes please. I need to go shopping right now." 

Veneer put some pancakes on a plate and walked them over to Velvet. "Okay, let's go after we eat." 

Veneer and Ritz grabbed their pancakes and sat down by Velvet. They ate and talked. When they were done eating, Ritz and Veneer went upstairs to get ready. 

"What are you gonna wear?" Veneer asked Ritz. 

Ritz pulled a pink shirt and baggy black jeans out of his bag, "Probably just this." 

"Okay, what should I wear?" 

Ritz walked into Veneer's closet and looked around. After a while, he brought out a magenta long sleeve and his black cargo pants. "What about this?" 

"Omg. Thank you." Veneer got off his bed and grabbed the clothes from Ritz. 

Veneer walked into the bathroom and changed. He opened the door and called Ritz in to do their makeup. 

After they were done, they went downstairs to leave. Velvet was sitting on the couch. "Are you ready to go," she asked. 

"Yeah," Veneer said while walking towards the door. 

They said goodbye to their parents and walked out to Veneer's car. Velvet didn't get her car back when she got out because she had bought it with the money they made when they were famous. 

Ritz got in the passenger seat and Velvet sat in the back. Veneer thought it was strange that she didn't try to fight for the front seat, but he wasn't complaining about it. 

They drove to the mall, singing along to Ritz's music the whole way. Veneer parked in a spot near the front and they all walked in. 

After window shopping for a while, they stopped at the food court. Veneer got a smoothie, while Ritz and Velvet got coffees. 

They sat down at a table near the store part of the mall. While they were talking, Veneer looked into the Hot Topic and saw Floyd working. 

"Uhh... you guys might want to see this." 

Velvet rolled her eyes. "What." 

"Look at the Hot Topic." 

"Ugh, the emo store?" Velvet said while turning around. 

Ritz's mouth fell open. "Is that Floyd?"