Chapter Text
Rolfe really just wanted to get the hell out of there.
Him and Fatz were on closing duty for the night. Since Fatz doesn't take as long to finish up packing up his stuff, he's able to get out sooner.
Rolfe, on the other hand, has to deal with Earl, has to deal with his extra clothes, all this, all that.. It was tiring, and something he never liked doing. He still did it though.
Out, with the restaurant's keys in his hand and a backpack filled with the shit he always brought to Showbiz on his shoulder, he went, heading to his car. He pulled out his own keys as soon as he got out of the building itself, a small 'beep!' coming from his car as he unlocked it. Soon, he was inside, and he let out a good sigh.
Man, he was really not feeling it today. He woke up late, had to rush out the door, the fur on top of his head all frizzled up and not tidy due to waking up late. Kids seemed more loud, more obnoxious today, making Rolfe wonder if their parents allowed them to have their own cup of coffee to help them also "wake up". He should probably just stop thinking and drive home already.
Rolfe turned on his car, pulling out of the parking lot ad quickly as his car allowed him to. He headed towards the exit, when, unexpectedly, a small somebody was suddenly lit up in his headlights.
No, this was literally a small somebody who made him hault on his brakes. This was a child pulling along a wagon filled with some shit she owned, causing Rolfe more confusion than he needed to deal with that night. The child must've also noticed too, as she stopped, her eyes- from what Rolfe could tell -wide and shining brightly.
"What the..." Rolfe muttered under his breath as he got out of his car as quickly as possible, rushing up to the kid, who now seemed even more freaked out.
"Why are you- Where are your parents, actually?" Rolfe figured that they were probably staying in the nearby motel, and the kid had just wandered out while they were sleeping or something.
"I-I don't know..." The young girl mumbled. A long horse ear flicked, and she seemed close to tears. Rolfe was now stressing out.
"I-" Rolfe huffed, "Are they in the nearby motel?"
"The ne- There's a motel nearby?" Okay, so the girl didn't know the area.
Well fucking shit.
"Alright, uh... Where do you come from? You come from the nearby neighborhood over there?" Rolfe pointed in a direction somewhere behind the restaurant, the young horse also looking in the direction quickly. She shook her head as she did so.
"I come from Kentucky. My mom is still living up there though, and I don't know where my dad is." She explained. What she had said ended up leaving Rolfe in.. Shock.
How the fuck did this young ass kid get all the way down here, in Florida? And from Kentucky, too?? The amount of time that would take for her to walk would absolutely kill her- literally.
"Where am I exactly?" She then asked.
Rolfe sighed.
"Florida," Rolfe, trying to stay as calm as he can, explained, "Basically the theme park capital of the world, kid."
"Oh." She blurted. She looked around the area.
Rolfe let out another stressed sigh.
"How old are you, and what's your name?" Rolfe asked. He noticed how the kid's eyes literally went from kinda calm to bugged out, looking... Way too alerted by an idea she had.
"Are you gonna force me to go into foster care? Or, even... Are you gonna make me go live with my mom again??" Her voice shook with fear, her wide blue eyes watering. Rolfe quickly reassured her that no, no he wouldn't do that to the poor young girl, he just wanted to know her name and age.
Rolfe soon came to find out that the kid's name was Annabelle, and she was like, 10. She was fucking 10. Rolfe would've said that she looked like a malnourished seven or eight year old, but no, this kid was just so malnourished that she looked that young. Maybe the height she was could've given off an older age for her, but Rolfe's also seen some tall kids in his time as a stage performer for children.
"Well, uh..." The air around the two became awkward as crap. Annabelle looked at him with those blue ass eyes she has, and Rolfe...
"How about I take you home?" The young horse's eyes lit up with excitement. She agreed, and Rolfe and her packed her things (and the little wagon she had) in the trunk of his car, and both got in. Rolfe made sure she was buckled well, and soon, they were off.
○○○
Jesus christ, what in the actual hell was Rolfe getting himself into.
He had this random ass kid, sitting at his counter, munching on a sandwich and some plain salted chips he had prepared for her, the kid making it seem like this was the first thing she's eaten in weeks.
Well, maybe the first proper meal she's had, but still.
Rolfe didn't even have a room open for her- Yeah, he had a two-bedroom house, but he was using the other room as more of a storage room for the random bullshit he collected. He'll just have to have her sleep on the couch, if he actually planned on letting her live with him.
Well... He would have to.
Fucking goddamnit!
Rolfe looked down at Annabelle for a few seconds, noticing the way her ears would flicker every minute or so. He never really met a horse before, so... This kind of spiked his curiousity.
Looking at her fur and hair a bit closer, he could tell that she hadn't had a proper wash in a bit. It was difficult to estimate how long it's been (as there wasn't much of a scent Rolfe could smell, even with the fact that his nose is fucking strong as shit), but it definitely wasn't in the past few days.
So he decided to ask about this.
"Hey, kid," Rolfe began, getting Annabelle's attention, "How long has it been since you washed yourself?"
She started at him, confused. "I mean, I went swimming in a lake a few hours from here a couple days ago."
Rolfe nodded. So, that's why she didn't smell like much. She didn't smell because it seemed as if she washed the stink off of her when she took a swim in the lake.
Oh.
"So... I think, tomorrow and the day after, I can take them off from work and we can get you situated so you can stay here." For the second time that night, her eyes lit up with a sense of excitement any ten-year-old would have.
"Really? You're letting me stay?" Annabelle asked.
Rolfe nodded.
The sound of Annabelle's tail swished through the air, and she got up from the barstool she was seated at so she could eat at Rolfe's counter. She threw her styrofoam plate out, then stretched, groaning a bit in the process. This indicated to Rolfe that maybe the youngster was ready for bed.
After all, she's probably had a long and busy day of walking around, scavenging for food, and.. Rolfe wouldn't know what this kid actually did.
"Alright kiddo," Rolfe hummed, quickly glancing at a clock just for it to read 10:00 PM. "I think you should probably start heading to bed now."
A short yawn was his answer.
Rolfe went to his bedroom, taking off a couple of pillows from the side of the bed he didn't sleep on. He then brought them out to Annabelle, soon going back, this time to his supply closet, and pulled out a blanket or two just for her. He brought them back out to her, soon noticing that she had already gotten comfortable on the couch.
The wolf couldn't help but start down at her for a few seconds. Wow. He really gotten himself into some bullshit this time, and he really didn't know what he was doing.
He was just... going, with what his gut told him to do, really.
Rolfe unfolded the blanket, laid it upon her, and said goodnight, soon turning out the lights in the living room and heading to his bedroom.
He'll just have to call in sick tomorrow.