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It is all Mason's fault. Well, his cake’s fault. Because everything started with Mason's birthday cake.
Why are there never eggs in this kitchen? Maybe there is an egg monster in addition to the one that eats all the socks in the washing machine, Liam Dunbar muses while rummaging through his drawers. But it’s no use, the result stays the same, no matter how often he pulls out half empty mac&cheese packs and expired bag soups – no eggs to be found.
Pulling his head out of the cupboard he hits his head on one of the shelves and stumbles back with a groan.
“Fuck...” rubbing his already forming bruise Liam slumps off in the direction of his bedroom, putting pants on.
Two minutes later, already half out of the door, he remembers that its Sunday and already after 9pm.
This is already going great... Think Liam, think!
Five minutes later Liam knocks on the door of Mrs. Myers. He has never spoken to her despite living almost next to her for three years now but he has seen too much of Jason and his hockey mask to make friendly conversation with someone named Myers.
Maybe, maybe if she has eggs Liam will consider to greet her in the hallways.
Mrs. Myers doesn’t have eggs. But she does have a baseball bat and Liam may or may not will look though his door hole before leaving from now on.
There is no other choice, Liam has to go to him. Theo Raeken. The new guy who lives in apartment 4C. He is insanely hot and that’s pretty much all Liam knows about this neighbour – until now that was perfectly alright but Mason needs his cake and therefore Liam needs eggs.
He knocks. Nothing.
He knocks again, harder. This time a gruff voice can be heard inside before steps are coming closer.
Seconds later the door opens and Theo stands directly in front of Liam. He wears a soft looking grey shirt and sweatpants, bare toes nearly buried in the fluffy rug he has in his entry way.
“Oh hello, neighbour!” Theo grins at him, “To what do I owe this honour?”
Liam's eyes follow every little movement the other man makes, shifting his weight to the other side, one hand taking through his hair and damn smirk. Did he just talk? Of course he did, you knocked on his door, idiot!
“I... uhm... Eggs!” he finally get out.
Theo looks perplex for a second but he nods slowly.
“Yeah, I am cooking eggs for dinner. How did you know?”
“No!” Liam exclaims, maybe a little bit too loud because his voice echoes in the empty hallway and Theo takes a step back, his hand gripping the door tighter.
“No", he repeats quieter, “you can’t cook your eggs.”
Theo's smile is creeps back on his lips, “Oh yeah, you knock on my door on a Sunday at 9:30pm to tell me that I can’t cook an omelette for dinner? Please", he let’s go of the door and crosses his (impressive) arms in front of his chest, “enlighten me, why shouldn’t I eat eggs tonight?”
If Liam so desperate he would definitely notice the teasing tone but...
“I need them.”
“You need... my eggs.”
“Yes. Listen, my best friend’s birthday is tomorrow and I need to bake the cake tonight so it can cool of properly and nobody in this damn house has eggs!”
Theo actually seems surprised at the explanation he is confronted with.
“Hm”, he makes, “I suppose, if it’s for a birthday cake, I could give you some eggs. Wait here.” With that he disappears back into his apartment just to return with a half full carton of eggs a minute later.
“That enough?”
Liam is stunned. He presses out a “yep, thanks, bye" and retreats faster into his own home than Theo can answer.
As soon as his back is against the inside of his door, Liam let’s out a sigh, both eyes pressed shut to try and keep his brain from replaying this embarrassing first impression over and over again.
Of course it’s no use and so he gives up with a groan and goes to finish his cake. Hopefully Mason knows what a sacrifice his best friend just made for him.
~♤~
This time Theo opens his door after the first knocking. Maybe it’s the fact that it's a regular Thursday evening, barely 5pm, or it's just a coincidence, but Liam takes it as a good sign.
“Hi!” he beams at his neighbour, “look I brought you cupcakes!”
Theo, once again taken aback by his surprise visitor eyes the plate in Liam's hand briefly before guiding his glance back to his face.
“Hello Liam, why did you bring me cupcakes?”
“Well...”, the blond man uses his free hand to scratch his neck as he feels caught, “I wanted to say thank you for the eggs, Mason liked his cake so you really saved me there.”
The suspicion in Theo's eyes lessens. “Oh? Well, that is very nice of you, thanks.”
Carefully he reaches out and takes a cupcake from the plate Liam is still holding, he examines the delicate little cake with excessive white frosting and red sprinkle decor before taking a bite to reveal the equally red batter inside.
A small moan escapes him as the delicious sweetness of cream and cake fills his mouth.
“So you like Red Velvet?” Liam asks, still fidgeting with the edge of the plate as he watches Theo devour another bite.
The dark haired man nods, swallowing his last bit, before answering. “This is amazing, Liam, and you can borrow eggs from me any time when everything you make is that tasty.”
A faint red blush rises to Liam's cheeks and his hand flies to his neck again.
“Well, now that you mention it... There is something I need to borrow from you...”
Theo laughs and the sound still echoes in Liam's head when he is long since back in his apartment, the lent hammer for his fallen picture frame clutched tightly in one hand.
~♤~
It's been two month since that fateful Sunday night and Liam and Theo became good friends over the course of several borrows and “can you help me with"s.
They started meeting up for other purposes than the exchange of household items or an extra pair of hands. One time it was a movie they both liked and ended up watching on Liam's couch, another evening Liam turned up with freshly baked cookies and the newly released video game he knew Theo liked in front of his neighbours door.
It was an easy, nearly effortless relationship and it would have continued to be that way if Liam's infatuation with Theo, mostly based on his obvious physical attributes, wouldn’t have morphed into a full blown crush when he experienced that he was also funny and clever and kind too.
The other man gave no sign of his feelings towards Liam being any more than friendly, but then again, Liam hid his own thoughts too.
~♤~
Liam stands in his kitchen, thoroughly studying the pasta sauce recipe for what feels like the tenth time. As much as he enjoys baking and eating, the actual cooking part of savoury goods is still a mystery to him for the most parts. But this time he has to nail the taste of the sauce because it’s one of the dishes Theo mentioned wanting to try out and he really wants to be good at something they do and impress the other man who seemed to be really good at cooking.
He just stirred everything after putting the onions in the mixture as his door bell rings. Having learned from past mistakes Liam pushes the pot away from the hot stove before hurrying towards his entrance.
It's Theo. A very naked Theo. Well, he is not completely naked, there is a towel around his waist but it's so small it basically doesn’t count.
“Hey, sorry to interrupt you but I have a date in two hours and my shower just broke. Can I use yours?”
Liam's brain stopped working after ‘have a date' and so he just stares at Theo, eyes following a lone water droplet that makes it’s way down Theo's sculptured chest.
“Li?”
Oh right, answering. “Yes... of course you can use my shower.” Yeah, no problem, go shower for that rando you have a date with, guy I have had a crush on for the last two months. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Theo thankfully doesn't know of Liam's internal screaming and he doesn't notice his pained face either because something new distracts him once he steps forward into Liam's hallway.
“Hm.. you are cooking? Smells good!” Theo pushes past Liam and stalks, still only wearing his towel, into the kitchen.
“Wait! Are you making the pasta recipe without me?”
Why does he have to sound so disappointed about that? Liam's stomach immediately fills with heavy guilt. He hurries after Theo.
“No! I mean yes, I am cooking the pasta! But only because I wanted to practice for when we are cooking together!”
A weird look lies in Theo's eyes when he turns back, away from the pot to look at Liam, “Really? That's...” he interrupts himself. “I... need to go shower or I will be late.”
With that he brushes past Liam and disappears into the bathroom, the door closing with a sound click.
~♤~
Theo left. No matter how much Liam wanted to scream his feelings at him and make him stay, he stayed silent and watched the man he loved leave for a date with another guy.
Two hours later Liam eats his (very tasty but very lonely) pasta while watching a generic action movie on Netflix. It doesn’t really matter what's happening in the film because all Liam can see are Theo's eyes, one day green, one day blue, sometimes even grey, watching him; all he can hear is Theo's laughter at one of Liam's lame jokes. I am so fucked.
He takes another spoonful of pasta, at least the food is edible.
The door bell rings for the second time this evening and Liam puts his bowl down.
“Who in their right mind rings on other people's doors this late?” he grumbles under his breath.
Theo. Again. This time thankfully dressed although a little out of breath and with tousled hair, his neighbour stands in front of Liam's door.
“I couldn’t do it.” He says instead of a greeting.
“Do what, Theo?”
“Go out with anyone who isn’t you”, Liam freezes and before he gets his voice back, everything breaks out of Theo, “I thought I could do it. I thought I could just be friends with you and we could hang out and I would find someone other to date, get over this stupid crush. When I sat next to Dave today all I did was comparing the two of you. So, I know that this probably means you won’t want to see me anymore but I need you to know the truth.”
He finishes his rant and stares at Liam breathing heavily, eyes full of hope, and suddenly Liam's words are back and he knows exactly what he has to say.
“Come in.”
“What?”
“Come in, Theo. Mrs. Myers from next door has a baseball bat and I really don't know what she will do with it if we continue this in the hallway.”
Theo steps inside, a wearying glance over to 4A convincing him that being rejected by Liam is better than everything their neighbour could do with her bat.
As soon as the door closes behind them Theo is pressed against it, everything he feels is Liam as the other man uses the surprise factor and his body mass to cage him in.
Then Liam kisses him and Theo, not really processing the situation but well aware of his luck, kisses him back.
It’s a mix of gentleness and the desperation of someone that has waited for this colliding in a passionate kiss.
After what feels like hours Liam pulls back just to lean his forehead on Theo's.
Both of them are silent and they breathe together for a moment, no words are needed for them, except...
“Hey", Liam's voice is gentle, “do you want some pasta?”