Electric Love ⇒ Heartstopper [ON HOLD]

08 → Chocolate Cake

♪
'Chocolate Cake'
♪

"No!" Tao exclaimed as he landed on Charlie's property.

Charlie laughed. "Hand over." Tao handed him the money. "Thank you," he said with a grin.

They had been at this game for a while; Elle, Issac and Gabriel all bankrupt.

"It's nearly midnight, can we please call it a draw?" Elle asked, doodling on Gabriel's cast.

"No, because I'm clearly winning. I just have unlucky rolls," Tao argued.

"With that logic, I'm winning but I just have a spending problem," added Gabriel, earning a grin from Isaac who was pretending to be asleep.

"No, I'm winning because I have more money," Charlie retorted, motioning to his money.

"No, the winner is the superior businessperson and that is me."

"No, I'm the superior businessperson seeing as I have more money, which is the goal of Monopoly," Charlie argued back.

"Ooo, the capitalists are fighting," Gabriel whispered to Elle putting a brief smile on her face.

"Oh, whoops," Issac interjected, knocking the board of the corner of the mattress. Gabriel snickered.

"Draw?" Charlie asked.

"Draw," Tao replied, defeated.

"Thank god," Elle exclaimed, capping the lid of the sharpie.

"So," Charlie began, pausing for a moment. "I was thinking of inviting Nick to my birthday thing on Saturday. I really want him to come but I don't want it to be awkward or weird since you don't really know him, well, apart from Gabriel."

"No, it wouldn't be awkward," Elle replied, glancing at Tao. They shared a look that Gabriel couldn't place but no one must of noticed it as no one said anything.

"I assumed he was coming anyway," Isaac commented with a grin on his face.

"Okay. Good."

imogen.h.001

Hey beautiful
Heard about your dog
So sorry :/
How are you doing?

Weeping on my bed

Are you doing anything right
now?

Weeping on my bed

Then I'm coming over
I'll be there in 20 minutes
Need to stop at the shops
first

For?

That's a surprise ;)

The front door opened, revealing a puffy-eyed Imogen in an oversized hoodie. "Aw, love," Gabriel stated, pity in his voice, immediately hugging the girl. "Hopefully this will cheer you up slightly," he said, motioning to the carrier bag he was holding.

"What's in it?" Imogen asked as she invited the boy in.

"Happiness," Gabriel commented. "Well... kind of," he continued as the girl led him to the kitchen. Gabriel began to unpack the bag.

"Baking ingredients?"

"Okay, so... whenever me or my sisters were upset my mam used to bake a chocolate cake. She said it helps release serotonin and dopamine but also because chocolate is just a top tier cake flavour," Gabriel paused, trying to scan Imogen's face for a reaction. "I know it might sound silly but it did help and I got to spend time with my mam."

"What changed?"

"Huh?" Gabriel wasn't sure what she meant.

"You said 'used to'," Imogen explained.

"Oh, she died a few years ago," he replied awkwardly, the girl surprised by his answer. Before she could answer, Gabriel cut in. "But me and my sisters still carry it on. Anyway, what do you think of chocolate cake?"

"Sounds good to me," the girl smiled before rooting through her cupboards for a scale.

An hour and a half later, Gabriel and Imogen were in the girl's room watching Tangled and eating the chocolate cake they had made.

"Thank you for this," Imogen suddenly broke the silence.

"No problem," Gabriel replied. "Anything for you."

Imogen turned back to the film, trying to hide her grin from the boy sitting next to her. This moment was perfect. Imogen thought she would stay like this forever if she could. Nick crossed her mind. Sure, she did have a crush on him but couldn't imagine a moment like this with him. Every time she tried, Gabriel plagued her thoughts but she didn't mind. She didn't mind until she was reminded of Jasmine with her glares and ominous messages.

She couldn't hurt Gabriel, right?

Maybe this moment wasn't so perfect.

"What do you want?" Celina called out, annoyed, as Gabriel knocked on her door. Currently she was the only one in the room as Juliet was at a friend's house.

Gabriel opened the door and spotted his sister lying on her bed, scrolling on her phone. "I bring a peace offering," he informed, revealing a piece of chocolate cake.

Celina offered a small smile and motioned for her brother to come in. Gabriel sat beside the girl as she sat up, passing her the cake.

"Thanks," she said, quietly. She opened her mouth to speak once again but closed it, unsure how to word it.

"You worried about 'the announcement'?" Gabriel asked, receiving a sigh from the 13-year-old.

"If it is what I think it is then..." Celina paused, "then there's gonna be a lot of arguing."

"Yeah," Gabriel replied. They all guessed what the announcement was about- marriage. Yet, they were all too scared to admit it.

"I don't want her to replace mam," Celina stated, truthfully, leaning into her brother's shoulder.

"She never will," Gabriel began. "Jenifer is aware of it. She cares for all of us and would drop anything just to help."

"I know," Celina said sadly. "I just want her back, I don't want to forget her," her voice was now just above a whisper. Gabriel brought the girl into a hug.

"No one could forget a person such as her."

♪

Hi pretty people!

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See you next week :)

- Bubbles