Sweet Little Birds (BxB Romance, Completed)

Bonus Chapter: The Great Pumpkin Cake Race

Happy Halloween everyone! As has become tradition here is a spooky (but mostly sweet) bonus chapter for this story.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Robin asked, unable to hide his skepticism.

Smack dab in between stylish modern townhouses and utilitarian apartment complexes, an old Victorian building dwelled. By the entrance, stood statues of what looked like screaming gargoyles, making visitors know that they weren't welcome. The windows were unnaturally dark as if a supernatural black fog lurked inside, and the ornate towers seemed to reach into the clouds above, from where a light drizzle fell.

"That's what the map shows," Tyler shoved his phone in Robin's face. It did indeed look like the pin on the map, marking their goal, was positioned right in front of them.

"Are you sure you're not holding the phone upside down again?" Robin remembered their quest to find a fancy gay bar with supposedly incredible fruit drinks a few weeks ago. Tyler had assured him the place was just around the corner for three hours. At least they had stumbled upon a secluded gazebo to make out in during their barless trek.

"I never make the same mistake twice," Tyler declared confidently.

"Why would a cake shop be located here?" Robin's gaze darted to one of the towers, which was surrounded by black entities. Perhaps birds or bats. While Robin was fearful of both, he still preferred them to more sinister alternatives.

"I don't know," Tyler groaned, shoving his phone in his pocket to put on rainbow-patterned mittens. "Maybe they're short on money." He gave Robin a playful pat on the back. "Come on, we need to be the first ones there to win the cake!"

The allure of cake was what had led them to the haunted-looking house. A social media post that morning that announced the Great Pumpkin Cake Race had caught Tyler's attention. The coveted prize was, of course, a delicious cake. Robin had been unable to say no when his boyfriend asked for assistance in solving riddles to figure out the coordinates of the secret cake shop where their sweet reward would be waiting. At this point, they had dedicated the better part of their Saturday to the task.

Robin threw a suspicious look toward the building. Was that a white shadowy figure in the window? "Is it really worth going in there..." he mumbled. "Just for cake, I mean?"

"It's not just any cake, Robby!" Tyler draped himself across Robin's back like a backpack. He placed a wet kiss, which almost turned into ice in the chilly fall air, on Robin's cheek. "It's a TikTok cake! It has like ten million views."

Elaborate cakes that imitated everyday items were Tyler's newest obsession, following on the heels of binging every season of The Great British Bakeoff and watching YouTube videos of the creation of life-size chocolate sculptures. Many were the occasions when Tyler should be studying but Robin instead found him admiring cakes that looked like sneakers or car tires. Robin had also on a quite frequent basis been woken up with the words: "Robby, look at this cake!"

"So what is this cake supposed to look like then?"

"A carved pumpkin!" Tyler let go of Robin to gesture in the air, demonstrating the size of the pumpkin cake. "But it's filled with butternut pumpkin cake with pumpkin spice latte frosting! And there's these like tiny candy spiders embedded in the cake itself. It looks super cool!"

Robin didn't know if butternut pumpkin cake with pumpkin spice latte frosting and tiny candy spiders was tasty or not. He was more of a vanilla cake with vanilla frosting kind of guy. But if this cake was what Tyler wanted then Robin would make sure Tyler got it.

"Let's find you that cake then." Robin found Tyler's hand, figuring that with him by his side, he could brave any ghosts. A quick peck on the cheek confirmed it was the right choice.