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Upon waking up, I notice two things in rapid succession. The first is that the clock on my bedside table shows a bright red 3, as in 3 in the morning and way too fucking early to be woken up by the loud crash of pots and pans. The second thing that filters through my sleep drunk mind is the heavenly scent of baked chocolate.
I don’t even have to look to my side to know that the walking disaster that I call a boyfriend is having one of his late-night breakdowns. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I'm woken up nightly with baked goods. It’s just that Remy has been known to stress bake and with finals right around the corner, it doesn’t surprise me that he has likely been woken up from a nightmare and decided the only thing that will make his problems go away is his mother's chocolate chip cookie recipe.
Another crash followed by muffled swears leads me to sit up with a sigh and, against my better judgment, I throw on some pajama bottoms and make my way out to the kitchen.
I wish I could say the sight that greets me is new, but I would be lying. I quietly make my way to the sofa and observe, curious to see what happens.
It looks like I’m not the only one who was woken up by my little ball of stress. One of our other roommates, Carter, seems to be sitting on the counter eating chocolate chips straight out of the bag listening to a red-eyed Rem mid rant.
He’s speaking low enough that I can’t hear what he’s complaining about but based on the indignant face he’s making I would hazard a guess that it’s something to do with his supposedly evil English professor.
My gods, I love seeing him like this. His eyes are alight with fury and brown curls dotted with flour, seemingly getting wilder by the second. I grab the scarf we like to use as a wrap from the back of the sofa and hide my face in the soft fabric with my knees to my chest.
I’ve only recently realized what I was feeling was love for the idiot, but I have known him and our other two roommates almost my entire life. Despite watching him grow up, I will never get tired of seeing that mischievous light enter his eyes as he verbally spars with Carter.
The green of his irises is only made more vibrant from the remnants of his earlier tears and even with his puffy face and ratty t-shirt, he is beautiful. I could watch him for hours, but as flour starts flying, I decide it’s probably time for me to step in.
With his full attention on Carter in front of him, I’m able to sneak up behind my boyfriend and put my arms around his waist which gets him to let out an adorable little squeak.
“What did this kitchen ever do to you to make it so messy, hm?” At the sound of my voice, he goes boneless in my arms and rests his head on my chest.
With a soft smile he tries and fails to hide, Carter hops down from the counter and goes to put the second batch of cookies in the oven. He lets out an entirely unconvincing yawn and while making his way back to his room, he says “If you guys are gonna be sappy, I’m off to bed. Later losers.”
As soon as he's out of sight, Remy turns in my arms and looks up at me, moving his hands to the back of my neck and running his fingers through my hair.
“Hello Jamie,” he says in barely a whisper.
“Hello love,” I whisper back after briefly brushing my lips across his, “Would you like to talk about it?”
He hides his face in my chest, and his curls tickle my nose. I breathe him in and soothingly run my hands down his back.
“Not really no. I just want to go back to bed to be honest.” I squeeze him for a second longer and pull back to look him in the eye and run my hand across his face with what I’m sure is a very soppy expression on mine. I watch as his eyes seem to get heavier by the second even as his face splits into a breathtaking grin.
“Of course, darling. Why don’t you go ahead and lay back down, I’ll take the cookies out of the oven.” I pull him up for one last kiss and then give him a bit of a push in the direction of our room. He rolls his eyes but goes without argument, stealing a handful of chocolate chips on the way out. As he walks away with an overexaggerated sway to his hips and a teasing grin sent over his shoulder, I think to myself that I would do anything for that man.