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“Thanks for agreeing to help me with this,” Biana said as she finished spelling the words SORRY FOR GIVING YOU ANOTHER INJURY RIGHT AFTER WE ENDED A WAR with icing. The idea for what to write had been Keefe’s, but all of the baking had been her and Dex.
Initially, Biana and Sophie had been working together on the project of making Fitz an apology cake, since Biana’s vanishing tricks and a few bad ideas involving chandeliers and jokes had ended up leaving Fitz in the Healing Center overnight. But when it became abundantly clear that neither Sophie or Biana were good bakers, Biana had invited Dex over to help her make her perfect apology gift.
“Of course! I love baking,” Dex said, and it was clear from the joy in his eyes when he talked about it that he was being genuine. “It’s a science. Like alchemy. And I quite enjoy alchemy, so…”
“Makes sense,” Biana agreed as she surveyed their work. “Wow, this looks amazing! I feel bad that I didn’t actually do very much of it.”
“You wrote the message,” Dex pointed out.
“Yeah, which is the ugliest part of the cake,” Biana pointed out. “And the exact wording wasn’t even my idea. Sophie messaged Keefe for inspiration.”
Dex laughed. “Yeah, it does sound like Keefe, doesn’t it,” he agreed. “But it’s not ugly at all. I think your frosting handwriting is very nice,” he said, and even though his tone was very unserious and they were talking about her handwriting of all things, it still made Biana blush.
Dex was just so silly. She’d never had this much lighthearted fun with anyone. While he was perfectly capable of being just as much of a menace as Keefe, his sweet unseriousness whenever they hung out together had started to make Biana spend extra time around him. And… she had a tentative feeling she might know what that meant.
“Well, hopefully Fitz accepts the apology,” Biana said as she dusted off her hands. “Though he’ll probably annoy me even more than usual as payback.”
Dex smirked, and Biana glared jokingly as he started laughing. “I’d honestly pay to see what he comes up with.”
“You’re such a traitor.”
“You did put him in a cast right after we managed to return to normalcy in the Lost Cities,” Dex reminded her.
Biana rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Well I baked him a cake.”
“I baked him a cake.”
“Hush, you.” Biana opened a cabinet, grabbing more of their sugar and flour. “Baking is making me want something sweet. Wanna make cookies?”
“You mean you want to watch me make cookies,” he teased, but he already was moving to accept the offer. “Well of course. Anything for my lady.”
He winked at her, and that was that sometimes flirtatious attitude that had started to shine through sometimes. It made Biana stop in her tracks and blush from head to toe. When had Dex Dizznee taken the Sweep A Girl Off Her Feet potion? Because as much as Biana wasn’t sure what to do with the information, it was working.
Dex grabbed a mixing bowl. “So… what kinds of things do you think Fitz will do as payback?” he asked as he began to combine the ingredients.
Biana rolled her eyes. “You know, the normal stuff. He’ll probably sneak into my room and hide one of my favorite things. Probably a makeup product. He’s always being a menace about that stuff. And he’ll probably tease me about matchmaking ten times more than he usually does.” Biana groaned when she realized how true that was. The last thing she needed was more matchmaking teasing from Fitz. It was already unbearable.
“Matchmaking?” Dex asked, so nonchalantly that it was conspicuous. He focused his eyes on his mixing, but it was clear that he was interested in what Biana was going to say next.
Biana didn’t know what to think about that.
She hoped her brain wasn’t drawing false conclusions, because what she said next might give away the feelings she’d been trying to ignore for a while now.
“You know. The fact that I decided not to register, and all,” she said, holding her breath as she waited for Dex’s reaction.
Dex dropped his spatula. “You’re kidding.”
“I’m not,” Biana confirmed. “I used to think a lot about who would be on my lists and dream about having a Winnowing Gala. And some part of me might miss that. But I already know I’m not going to be interested in anyone on my lists,” she said, carefully watching Dex’s reaction.
Dex picked his spatula back up and returned to mixing the already thoroughly blended ingredients, going back to his method of not making any eye contact with her. “What makes you so sure?”
Well, you might as well go for it, Biana, she told herself, taking a steadying breath. Dex had been super sweet to her for months now, occasionally flirting with her in a playful manner that reminded her of Keefe, and just now he’d definitely shown interest in her thoughts on Matchmaking. She was never going to get a better cue for this. “Because… I already know who I want,” she said slowly, “and… he isn’t registering.”
Dex set down the spatula calmly this time, looking up to meet her eyes. When he didn’t say anything for a second, Biana panicked, worrying she was going to ruin their friendship, but then Dex finally opened his mouth and Biana anxiously awaited his response. “Biana… this guy… you’re sure you’d never want anyone else. So much so that you aren’t going to even pick up match lists.”
Biana nodded her head firmly. “I’m confident. I pay a little bit of attention to boys,” she said, blushing a little, “and I’ve never met anyone like him. I know I never will.”
Dex took a step towards her. “What if that guy majorly lets you down? What if you try to be together and it just doesn’t work?”
“That would never happen,” Biana said confidently. “But even if it did, I could always register later.”
“What if your family… disapproves?” Dex asked tentatively.
“They won’t.” Biana was at least sure of that. “But even if they did, ask me if I’d care.”
“Would you?”
“Absolutely not.”
Dex seemed to be searching for the right words to say next, and Biana knew at some point one of them had to just come out and say it instead of talking around it like they currently were. “This mystery guy,” Dex said slowly, “didn’t just happen to help you make an apology cake for your brother, did her?”
Biana saw the moment Dex stopped breathing.
“However did you manage to guess that,” Biana said coyly, stepping towards him. “I wonder if you can guess what he’s doing right now.”
“Uh… baking you cookies?”
“He was,” Biana agreed as she took another step. They were so close now that their noses were almost touching, and the fact that Dex hadn’t immediately backed away and fled the room when she’d confessed gave her a boost of confidence. “But I might be distracting him a little,” she murmured before she leaned in and kissed him.
It wasn’t the first time Biana had kissed a boy. Years of party games and dares and trying to make her crush at the time jealous (which was… an odd thing to remember now that he was dating her best friend) had given her lots of experience with little pecks on the mouth. But she’d never kissed anyone like this.
Like a promise.
Like some final seal on fate.
Like she wanted him and everything that came with his life.
And it was amazing.
Biana pulled back just slightly, checking to see his reaction. “Was that okay?”
Dex sputtered. “I—okay—hang on,” he said, flushing red. “I can’t even think. Yeah, that was okay,” he said as he gathered himself. “Like, way more than okay.”
“Good,” Biana giggled, keeping her hands on his shoulders to stay steady. She was sure her grin was so wide she looked like an idiot, but she didn’t even care. She hoped she looked absolutely loopy with love. She hoped Dex could see just how giddy he made her.
What was even better was how happy Dex looked too. Especially when he hesitated right before kissing her again, like he was deciding if that was okay to do. But when he did, Biana forgot about literally everything else in existence, letting the world narrow down to just him and her, his lips on hers, his flour-covered hands on her waist, hers running through his hair. The way he somehow managed to pull her closer to him, even with how close they were already standing. The way he tilted his head to kiss her deeper, and she responded in kind.
No one else existed.
There were no Lost Cities. There was no world.
Just them.
When they finally pulled away, slightly out of breath, Biana giggled. “Wow,” she whispered. “You’re amazing. Words don’t even exist to describe you.”
“Somehow,” Dex replied, “your way of telling me you didn’t know what to say managed to be more poetic than anything I could ever manage to say.” He seemed to be studying her with his eyes, like he couldn’t even believe she was real, and it made her heart soar.
They finally separated fully, and Dex made his way over to the half done cookie batter. “I should probably mix in the dry ingredients,” he said.
“Well, when the cookies are done, I guess I’ll get to compare,” Biana teased. “See which tastes sweeter—the cookies or you.” She watched him intently as he poured one of the mixing bowls into the other, loving the sound of his laugh. He was so… well, she still didn’t have any words, and she doubted she would any time soon. “I’d bet my entire birth fund it’s going to be you.”