Sour Candy | T. Drake ✔

[32] Cookies And Kisses

Tim didn't bring that night up ever again almost as if it never happened. He had had to leave early that morning because he had to be at Wayne Tech but he dropped by in the evening, knowing that Dora would be worried about him and he wanted to put her at ease.

It was another weekend and Tim was learning to bake cookies with her at that time. By then he had gotten considerably better at controlling his temptation to finish up the batter or the sugar.

"And now you have to cut cookies out of the mold like this," she demonstrated, pressing the mold onto the mound of dough she had flattened on the counter.

"Okay let me try," he took the mold and cut the cookies carefully, with the first few turning out slightly messy but then he got the hang of it as he cut the rest properly.

That once, Dora was standing behind him, her chin resting on his shoulder just like he used to do so with her so often.

He tilted his head to look at her, blue eyes sparking in mischief. "Spider monkey," he stated and watched her dissolve into laughter, her arms pulling him closer as she nestled her head in his neck.

He turned his attention back to the cookies and picked them up one by one, aligning them onto the baking tray neatly.

When he was done, Dora let go of him as she rolled up leftover dough into a mound and flattened it out again, "the best part about making cookies is that no dough goes to waste. We can roll it up and use it over and over again until there's nothing left."

"Nice," he hummed, picking up the mold again, "mind if I do the honors again?"

She kissed his cheek lightly before leaving to check whether the oven was preheated to the right temperature to put the first baking tray in or not, "the counter is all yours."

She returned to see him setting another tray of cookies, noticing how he had perfectly aligned each row. Tim was a painstaking perfectionist, making sure that he did everything (be it as minor as just setting cookies) in a specific way.

"That one seems off center," she remarked teasingly, watching his gaze snap towards the cookie she had pointed to.

He analyzed it closely, eyes narrowing then turned back to face her, "nope, it's not."

"Really? What if I push it to the right just a tiny fraction..."

However, before she could touch the cookie, he had taken her wrists in his grip, pushing her away from the counter, "you said the counter is all mine, Dora. No touching my cookies."

"Oh so it's your cookies now?" She teased, a playful smile lighting up her face.

"Yup. My cookies," he repeated, letting go of her hands at last.

She had noticed the intense flicker in his blue eyes just before he had pulled apart, making her slightly disappointed that she didn't even get a kiss from him though he had been so close.

Her lips puckered into a tiny frown as she watched him turn back to the counter without another glance. Though he knew the expression that had taken over her face very well.

"Stop teasing me and stop being so damn cute," he breathed, keeping his attention on the cookies.

"Why? Can I not tease you and be cute at the same time?"

"You can. But it drives me insane when you do both at the same time," he mumbled.

She locked her arms around him again, chin resting back on her shoulder, "oh really?"

"Dora please..." He aligned the other tray as well, keeping his head down.

She turned silent at that as if the words had stung. She nestled her head again in his neck and a very faint smile crept up on his features in response but neither said a word for a while.

"Timmy, are you angry at me?" Her voice was extremely soft as she asked, a slight waver of uncertainty lacing her tone.

He paused at that, brow raising in alarm as he tilted his head to look at her, "no, why?"

"I just thought..."

"Sweetheart, how could I ever be angry at you?" He left the tray and turned towards her, taking both her hands in his own, blue gazing softly into her coffee-brown irises.

"I don't know," she replied, looking up at him with an uncertain gaze.

"Why are you so insecure?" He breathed, leaning closer to her as he held her hands against his chest, his lips brushing over her entwined knuckles. "You remember, I'm the one who gets weighed down by pessimism, not you. You were the light that pulled me out of my darkness, Dora. Why are you letting the darkness consume you instead?"

Her eyes swept over him, taking in the pristine features; those wide blue eyes, perfect jawline, fluffy brown hair that fell over his forehead from one side, and rather kissable soft lips that tasted like tangerines with a hint of sweetened coffee.

Seeing him before her made her eyes water and she retrieved her gaze immediately, looking down at her hands that were still interlocked with his.

"Dora, talk to me," he insisted pleading her with his eyes, "tell me what you're thinking that has made you feel pain even though you were quite happy earlier."

"It's not what I'm thinking right now," she mumbled, "it's what I can't stop thinking about."

"Tell me."

She took in a deep breath before speaking, "I don't deserve you."

Silence washed over them and Tim looked at her as if shocked, "what?"

"Don't ask me to elaborate. Please."

Tim's features drew together in a frown as he looked at her intently, mind racing as he thought about how to convince her that as usual, she was getting worried for all the wrong reasons.

"And what makes you think that?"

"I said I won't elaborate," she refused again.

"Alright then, let me rephrase the question. Do you think I deserve you?"

She gave no reply, a tear falling down on their entwined hands.

"Do you think I, with everything I've put you through, am the one who deserves better?" His look had turned intense again and he kept her hands closer to him, not letting her turn away from him.

"Tim..."

"Bottling everything up inside us is never gonna make things better," he resumed softly, loosening his grip on her hands as he pulled her into a soothing embrace.

"But... But..."

He leaned closer and kissed her, fingers cupping her face tenderly. Her eyes fell shut as she let herself melt in the moment, savoring the sweet and sour taste of his lips against her own.

He kept kissing her until her tensed body relaxed in his arms. When he finally pulled apart, her eyes fluttered open to look at him as if dazed.

"I've long since stopped thinking about what I or you deserve. All I know is that you're the one I want to spend the rest of my life with," he smiled at her, eyes softening sincerely, "and that's all that really matters."

Her lip quivered as she flung her arms around him tightly, a light chuckle escaped him when her lips connected with his again. "You know that's exactly what makes me think that maybe..."

However, he knew what she was going to say next and didn't let her complete the sentence, "nope. Not a word on that again. You and I are perfect for each other, that's it."

She nodded, a smile breaking out on her face as well, "as you wish."

"Hey, isn't that my line you're borrowing?"

She laughed and he felt a wave of relief wash over him, "guilty as charged."

***