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Noah stared at the piece of paper in his hand. It was a stupid thing to get annoyed by, yet Noah was. The paper had recently been pulled out of Geoff’s cowboy hat and it had the name of the person for whom he was a holiday helper. The name on the paper was Tyler.
Seriously, this was going to suck. Tyler was someone Noah didn’t know much about the hobbies of. He knows the jock was into sports, but he knows nothing about sports. How is he supposed to make something he’d like?
To top it off, Noah’s pretty sure Tyler thinks he’s weird or something because he keeps staring at him all the time, spacing out, and commenting on random things. Like how nice his shampoo smelled. Or how neat his handwriting was. One time he complimented him on his sweater vest.
So, Noah walked to the bathroom to splash water on his face, hoping to clear his mind. Okay, so he has to make something homemade for a guy who probably thinks he’s weird within a week. He can manage that right? Like, he can just make him a card right?
Yet somehow, he can’t bring himself to make him a card. Tyler’s a nice guy. He’s thoughtful, sweet, and earnest to a fault. Sometimes Noah feels good just being around him. He deserves more than a card right?
Noah shook his head. Why does he care so much? Why is he making his job harder? Noah doesn’t like hard things, and he’s extremely lazy. So why is he making more work for himself? Noah honestly can’t figure it out.
He spent the next few days trying to decide what to make Tyler. Maybe he could make him a ball? Or perhaps he could put together a book of sport facts he’d looked up on the internet. He could put together a first aid kit.
None of these felt right to him. The worst part was that he’s pretty sure Tyler would be happy with any of these. He’s not a hard person to please. Yet Noah wants to put something special into his gift. He wants to give Tyler something with a personal touch. He doesn’t know why. He just knows that he wants Tyler’s face to brighten into the goofy smile that makes Noah’s stomach turn in a strangely good way.
Noah sighed, and decided to look at his bookshelf. Sometimes reading the titles would give him inspiration. He ran his eyes over each spine, begging his mind to give him something, anything to work with.
Then his eyes landed on the cover of one book in particular. The book had been given to him by his grandmother and he used it quite often. It was a cookbook. Noah was good at cooking. Baking in particular was something he enjoyed, though he would never admit to such.
Baking was very personal. No one’s food tasted the same, and you put your heart into it. Maybe he could bake something for Tyler. He picked up the book and began to look through it. What could he make? What would Tyler like?
Noah wasn’t entirely sure, but eventually he found a recipe for chocolate cake. Cake was something extremely customizable. You could decorate a cake with whatever you wanted. And if he made it from scratch it would be better than anything one could get from the store.
What if he made cupcakes? Noah doesn’t know much about sports, but he does know what the different balls look like. He could make six cupcakes and decorate each one with a different sports ball. Surely Tyler would like that?
Having finally come up with a present he felt Tyler would enjoy, Noah decided to relax the rest of the day. The next day he went to the store to buy all of the baking supplies and a box to put the finished cupcakes in.
The day before they were to give each other their presents Noah baked the cupcakes and decorated them. The hardest part of said decoration was making black icing for the soccer ball, and the lines on the basketball. The tennis ball and Baseball were simple. The volleyball was a little harder but he managed it. The final cupcake was a dodgeball. Noah winced at the memory of the times he’d been pummeled in gym class.
He boxed the cupcakes and wrapped them. Now he could only hope that Tyler would like it.
When he woke the next day he felt jittery. Would Tyler like his present? Noah really wanted him to. He doesn’t know why he cares so much but he does. The lead up to the party felt like it took forever.
Noah arrived at the party and took a deep breath. Okay. Now was the time. He approached Tyler and handed him the present. “Here.”
Tyler swallowed. “You, you’re my holiday helper?”
“No, I gave you a present for no reason.” Noah snarked. Tyler blinked cluelessly. “Yes, I am.”
Tyler looked unreasonably excited about the present. Which Noah supposed matched his own feelings. He feels like he can hear his heart pounding in his ears. He almost felt like holding his breath with anticipation. He swallowed as Tyler unwrapped the gift, and when the jock saw it…
His face split into that goofy smile that made his stomach squirm. “Noah, I love them! Did you make these?”
Noah felt mildly defensive. “Yeah, what of it?” He huffed.
“I didn’t know you could cook! These look like they could come from a bakery!” The jock beamed.
“Of course they do.” Noah smirked.
“I just can’t believe it.” Tyler smiled. “I can’t believe you, of all people are my Holiday helper.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” The cynic asked, remembering how strange Tyler acted around him.
“I uh, it’s just…” The jock stumbled over his words.
“Just what? You can’t believe someone so weird would be able to bake?” Noah asked, feeling defensive again.
“No… I don’t think you’re weird. It's the opposite actually.” Tyler whispered.
“I don’t follow?” Noah frowned.
“Noah, I’ve been crushing on you for about two months now.” The jock admitted.
Noah’s brain felt like the blue error screen that popped up on his computer. He couldn’t quite believe what he had heard. He couldn’t process it right away. Tyler…liked him? Like really, really liked him? Once the words finally managed to pierce through the blanket of confusion, a strong warm feeling grew inside him. With a start Noah realized this was why he’d cared so much about Tyler’s gift.
“I don’t think I realized it until now, but I think I’ve been crushing on you too.” Noah admitted.
Silence between them, and then Tyler pointed up. A familiar plant hung over them hanging from a string of garlands. “Did you know?” Noah asked.
“No dude! I swear it wasn’t there before!” The jock said. He looked down at the floor sheepishly. “But since it's there now…do you wanna…“
Noah leaned forward, his lips connecting with the jock’s own in the chaste kiss.
It was short, but it felt amazing. When they pulled apart, Noah smiled.
A loud cackle resounded from almost right next to Noah’s ear. He winced as he saw Izzy running off. “I told you! I told you they were into each other! Geoff, you owe me fifty bucks!”
The two of them looked at each other and burst out laughing. “I guess we know who put the mistletoe there.” Noah noted.