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“Chocolate chips.”
Andi handed him the bowl and Cyrus poured them into the batter.
“Macadamia nuts.”
She did the same with the bowl of crushed nuts.
“Blueberries.”
Andi hesitated, hand hovering over the third bowl. “Are you sure this would be a good combo? I mean… chocolate and blueberry at the same time…”
Cyrus pouted. “But it has to be symbolic! T.J. and I met because of chocolate-chocolate chip muffins and we got together because I made him blueberry macadamia muffins! This is symbolic!”
Andi chuckled before giving in and handing him the bowl. “I’ve never had a combination muffin like this before. It’s… unique.”
Happily, Cyrus added the blueberries into the mixture and began to stir it with a wooden spatula. The batter looked pretty good. And it didn’t smell too terrible. The blueberry scent was tart, combining with the sweetness of the chocolate and the nuttiness of the macadamia.
“I hope he likes it,” he stated, feeling a bit of worry and anxiety creeping in.
Andi’s gaze softened. “He will, don’t worry,” she said, kindly as she watched Cyrus pour the batter into muffin tins. “I think T.J. will love anything you make for him.”
His chest swelled with affection. “You think so?”
Andi nodded. “I know so.”
Opening the oven door for him, she watched as Cyrus carefully slid the pan inside before closing it again.
Cyrus clapped. “Now that the muffins are baking, it’s time for phase 2!”
Andi flashed him a confused smile. “Which is?”
He grinned. “I need a basket.”
T.J. hummed as he walked to his locker, in a good mood. In fact, he often found himself in such a good mood, lately. For the first time in so long, life seemed to be going well for him. He wasn’t failing math, his teammates listened well to him, he had no enemies (that he was aware of), work was going great, and his love life was like a fairy tale dream come true.
How could he not be in a good mood?
As he took out his books, he heard footsteps and felt a presence behind him. He turned around.
Cyrus was standing there, beaming. “Hi,” he greeted, sweetly.
T.J.’s heart exploded with warmth at seeing that smile. “Hey,” he returned, wrapping an arm around him and pecking his forehead.
His boyfriend giggled. “Happy one week anniversary!”
Wow, had it already been a week? T.J. still felt like it just happened yesterday. He was still wondering if he was going to wake up from the best dream of his life.
“I have a surprise for you!” Cyrus continued before revealing what he had been hiding behind his back: a small woven basket.
T.J. peeked in curiously. “Muffins?” he asked.
Cyrus blushed. “I know it’s only been a week since we got together,” he said, shyly. “But, I wanted to do something special for you.”
With those words, T.J.’s heart swelled with affection and then the daunting reality that he didn’t even consider a one-week anniversary as something worth celebrating. He felt terrible all of a sudden.
“Cy, I'm sorry… I didn’t get you anything…”
It had only been a week and he messed up his relationship already?! How pathetic was he?!
To his surprise and relief, Cyrus just shrugged, still smiling. “It’s okay.” He raised the basket, slightly. “You can make it up to me by having one.”
Chuckling, T.J. nodded and reached into the basket for a muffin. “Is this chocolate-chocolate chip?” he teased, remembering their first meeting.
“It is! With blueberry and macadamia nuts. A combination of both our favorites and… the reasons why we’re together now.”
T.J. didn’t think it was possible that he could fall for Cyrus even more yet there he was, wanting nothing more than to plant one more kiss on the other boy. But, PDA probably wasn’t a good idea right there in the middle of the hallway.
Instead, he said, “Thank you”, unwrapped the muffin, and took a bite.
A combination of sweet and tart exploded in his mouth and it was the most…odd… flavor that T.J. had ever tasted in his life. But, strangely, it wasn’t terrible.
“How is it?” Cyrus asked him, looking anxious.
T.J. finished chewing and swallowed before giving him a smile. “It’s good.”
“Really? You’re not just saying that? I mean, you lied to me about the ones I made before.”
“I didn’t lie! They really were good!” T.J. insisted. “They were just… difficult to chew.”
The first time Cyrus tried to bake for T.J., the muffins ended up dry and hard. T.J. ate them all up, anyway…as long as he had some hot cocoa to soften them up with. Yet, he had fond memories of those muffins. That was the first gift Cyrus had ever given him, which gave T.J. the confidence and bravery to confess his feelings and ask him out. If it weren’t for those muffins, they wouldn’t be together now.
Cyrus pouted so T.J. took another bite of the muffin to appease him.
“See? I love it, really.”
His boyfriend narrowed his eyes suspiciously at him before deciding that T.J. wasn’t lying so he beamed again.
“I’m glad! I asked Andi to help me out, this time.”
Well, that explained why T.J. could chew these just fine. Wrapping up the muffin again, he placed it inside his locker for him to finish later before taking a step towards Cyrus and taking one of his hands.
“I’m really happy,” he stated, looking into those pretty brown eyes.
Cyrus gently squeezed his hand back. “Me too.”
They stood there for a moment, lost in each other’s eyes.
T.J. really wanted to kiss him.
“Hey, guys!”
Simultaneously, they both turned their heads to see Jonah with a hand up in greeting.
“Oohh, muffins!” the dimpled boy stated. “Can I have one?”
Cyrus looked T.J. in question. He nodded in approval, figuring it was nicer to share.
Happily, Jonah reached into the basket and took a muffin, unwrapped it, and took a bite… and immediately made a face.
“Wow, this is sour,” he stated.
Cyrus’ mouth dropped open, offended, before looking accusingly at T.J.
“I like them, I swear!” the jock defended.
His boyfriend harrumphed.
Meanwhile, Jonah realized his mistake and immediately tried to fix it. “But they’re a good kind of sour! Um… Gotta go! See you, guys, later.”
And with that, Jonah sped off down the hall, muffin still in hand.
Cyrus turned to T.J. with a pout now. “Are you sure you’re not lying?”
Screw what everyone else thought about PDA. T.J. pulled him in close, wrapped his arms around him, and planted a sweet kiss on his lips. Immediately, Cyrus relaxed in his hold, eagerly pressing back.
T.J. had to force himself to break the kiss so he could press his forehead against Cyrus’.
“I’m not lying,” he stated, sincerely. “I love the muffins and I’m really happy you made them for me.”
His boyfriend’s lips quirked into a smile. “Really?”
“Really. And to prove it to you…” T.J. briefly pulled away to take the muffin basket. “These are all mine now and no one else can have them.”
With determination, he began to shove basket into his locker, sideways. Of course, it wouldn’t fit. How could it? But that wouldn’t deter T.J. No way.
Behind him, Cyrus began to laugh. “Okay, okay, I believe you. Please don’t destroy the basket, I borrowed it from Andi.”
With that, T.J. stopped and turned back around. “Can I still have the muffins?”
Cyrus smiled. “All yours! And because I anticipated this…”
He reached into his book bag and took out a paper bag. One by one, he placed the muffins inside before handing it to T.J., who took happily took it and placed it in his locker. Then, he grabbed his half-eaten one and one more from the bag before turning to Cyrus.
“So…we still have twenty minutes before the first bell,” he stated with a grin, offering him his free hand. “Want to have breakfast with me? We can celebrate our one-week anniversary. What do you say, Underdog?”
Cyrus nodded, eagerly as he slipped his hand into T.J.’s outstretched one.
Walking hand-in-hand, the two headed for the cafeteria.