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Mike may or may not have spoiled Jeremy rotten during their relationship, both when they were dating and before. Anytime Jeremy even referenced mildly liking something, it was in Mike’s cart. The first time it happened, Jeremy assumed it was a one-off occurrence, and boy was he wrong.
“Feel how sof-soft this blanket is, Mikey,” Jeremy said, grabbing Mike’s hand and moving it to the plush green material. His stone face stayed as he ran his hand along with the fabric.
“It’s fine,” Came the expected response. Mike in public and Mike alone were two completely different people. Jeremy shrugged off the interaction as they continued through the Target aisles.
The next day, when Jeremy trudged through the front doors of his childhood home, exhausted and completely drained from his afternoon shift at Freddy’s. He bounded up the stairs of the small home and opened the door to his tiny room to see his window open and lights on. Confused, his eyes scanned the room and noticed the familiar green plush resting over the end of his bed and a haphazardly written note.
here’s the blanket you wanted, hope you like it
-mike
Jeremy smiled at the note and felt his heartbeat just a little faster. Mike had climbed through his window twice before, once during a panic attack, and the other after a particularly hard nightshift that left Jeremy in complete anxious shock. Grabbing the note, he shoved it in a box that had everything else Mike-related in it. That blanket remained on his bed for the remainder of the time he lived with his mom and then migrated to their shared room in Mike’s apartment.
Jeremy thought that was the end of it, but it did not stop there. Any mention of an object he wanted would magically appear on his bed or Mike would just hand to him.
“Remember that waterbottle you wanted? It was on sale, don’t read too much into it,”
“Can I bor-borrow a ten? I’ll pay you-you back at-”
“Just put the whole thing on my card,”
im sorry you had a bad day. you said you were craving chocolate so here
-mike
“You know how you left your amazon cart open on your laptop?”
“I’m goin-going to lit-literally kill you.”
i bought and hung up that bulletin board you wanted above your desk. if you try to pay me back ill kill you
-mike
Jeremy hated when Mike bought him seemingly everything in the world because he didn’t need all the material things for his happiness. He wouldn’t lie and say he didn’t love the gestures, but he felt bad all the time like Mike was trying to keep him around by using material objects and things.
“Okay I real-really need to talk to-to you about this,” Jeremy said curling up further into the green blanket with Mike crossed-legged on the bed.
“What?” Mike said resting his chin on his hands.
“Do you buy-buy things bec-because you’re worried I’ll leave you-you?”
Mike started to laugh in response, which was not what Jeremy had intended.
“No, dumbass, I just like buying you things. If I was trying to keep you around I wouldn’t act like myself around you,”
Jeremy sat there halfway in shock and also thinking about what Mike had said.
“Act like yourself? A total-total douchebag?”
“ Exactly, ”
Jeremy rolled his eyes and couldn’t help the laugh slip out, Mike’s facelifted upon hearing one of his most favorite sounds.
For months the brunette brainstormed ways to make it up to Mike, trying to find anything he could do. It started without him even realizing when Mike was not having a good week.
The nightguard sighed and sunk into the leather chair. His eyes moved to the empty chair next to him and felt his demeanor lower yet again. Although he basically forced Jeremy not to come in the rest of the week, he still missed the boy’s presence. He had to take a second glance when he noticed the chair to be less empty than he thought. A grey tin wrapped in tinfoil with a blue ribbon tied in a bow on top and an index card with “MIKE” written in a nice handwriting. Mike flipped the card over and read the, unlike his own, easily legible note.
I wish I could be there with you, but you insisted! I made these last night, hope you like them.
-Jeremy :D
Mike’s usual frown faded away and a small smirk replaced it. He pocketed the note and lifted up the tinfoil to see what he made. After lifting up the tinfoil he gave a small laugh to himself.
I tell the fucker one time I like brownies and this?
After working all day and eating basically nothing (besides the lunch Jeremy’s mom made for him), he scarfed down one of the pastries in a few bites and felt like his world had been altered. Was it the fact that his longtime crush had given him the sweets that made them taste so good? Maybe, but he was already in too deep with denying his feelings that he wouldn’t ever admit it. He felt a little more happy than usual to be doing the nightshift, and by morning most of the brownies were gone.
Mike became addicted to anything and everything Jeremy made, and Jeremy loved that he could finally repay Mike in some way. The two seemed to have an addiction to each other, in more ways than just attraction, and they loved it. Mike kept every note Jeremy left on his treats, and Jeremy kept a note of everything Mike had ever bought him. Neither one knew until they moved in together, and they liked it that way.
Mike tried to figure out why he loved to give the brunette everything he'd ever dream of (besides the fact he was hopelessly in love with him which he was absolutely not, thank you very much), and he remembered how grateful Jeremy was for everything in his life. Big, small, whatever Jeremy treasured and valued everything. Mike related to Jeremy's rough childhood and teen years, but Mike's family (although greatly fucked up) always had an abundance of cash, which was something Jeremy couldn't even fathom. Although Mike wasn't rolling in the dough after he moved out, he still wanted to give the boy everything he lost. He wanted to make Jeremy feel special and loved and like he was doing everything he could for the other.
Jeremy couldn't help but wonder why baking was his way of giving back to Mike. It was no surprise he was a stress baker and although he loved doing it, it wasn't often something that Jeremy would do for others besides special occasions. The one thing Jeremy had as a kid was a mom who loved to cook and bake. His childhood was littered with memories of cinnamon rolls, and homemade pasta and gingerbread cookies so much so that he thought home cooking was normal. Mike never really experienced that, as his parents weren't around, and if they were it sure as hell wasn't with him. Jeremy wanted to give him something that came genuinely from his heart; something he made himself and that was personalized with a note each time. He wanted Mike to feel special and loved by making something he could enjoy that he never got as a child.
The pair treasured each other deeply, and that was enough.