Love Again

10. A Mountain of Scones

Before long, it was Sunday morning and Lane found herself waking up to her alarm. She was not the biggest morning person, but as she silenced the sounds of her phone, the anticipation of what the night may bring her pulled her out of bed. Mooch walked up to her, meowing to let her know he was starving before trotting into the kitchen. She followed him, chuckling at the fact that he had her trained as she put his food in his bowl. As he happily ate his breakfast, Lane wandered into the bathroom, turning on some music before getting ready for her day.

Once she had gotten out of the shower, Lane pulled on some sweatpants and her favorite college hoodie before pulling out a pink knit cropped sweater and light blue jeans for her date that night. She had checked the showcase out online ahead of time, learning that this was more of a casual event through a quick google search. She would opt for comfort and, more importantly, warmth for her date as she had learned quite quickly that the winters could be brutal. As she finished laying out her clothes, her phone started to ring.

"Hello?" Lane answered after seeing it was Brandy.

Brandy laughed into the phone, "you sound chipper."

"You can tell that I sound "chipper" after saying one word to you?" Lane asked quizzically.

Brandy let out another chuckle, "I have a sixth sense. Didn't you know I can tell what anyone is feeling before I even speak to them?"

"What's up?" Lane smiled at her best friend's antics.

"Oh, nothing. Just wondering what you're up to today," Brandy spoke with a tone that Lane couldn't quite place.

Lane tried to figure out what Brandy might be up to but failed, "nothing really. Hey, don't you have date night tonight?"

"I do, I do. But Andy and I thought it might be fun to have some friends over. And by that I mean I told him at 2 AM that I wanted scones and now there are 1 million scones in my apartment," Brandy said in all seriousness.

Lane couldn't help but laugh as she heard Andrew grumble about how it wasn't that many. "I'll be over there shortly. Give me like 20 minutes, it's a bit of a walk."

"Oh nonsense. Theo is on his way now," Brandy said like she knew something.

Lane began to wonder if Theo had cracked and told her. She couldn't blame him, Brandy was a hard person to hide things from. "Why would he be coming here?"

"Who do you think told Andy to keep making more? He's been here since 7 AM. He has so much nervous energy, something about how he went to bed at like 7 PM last night and couldn't go back to sleep. I told him to come pick you up for scones and coffee," Brandy sighed as if she had been dealing with a toddler for the last 4 hours.

"Um, okay, yeah. Do you have an ETA on when-," Lane was interrupted by a knock at her door, "nevermind, he is already here."

Brandy laughed, "see you soon."

Lane quickly ended the call before opening her door to see Theo standing there with a glint in his eye. "Hey! I mean - hi. Come on in, I just need to change and get my shoes on and grab a few things."

"No worries. Mind if I sit on your couch while I wait?" Theo smiled at her, noticing Lane's nerves.

Lane nodded quickly, "of course! Give me 5 minutes."

With one more nod to the man in front of her, Lane made her way to her bedroom, making sure the door was closed before changing into her outfit she had chosen earlier that morning. She pulled her hair out of her ponytail, letting the red waves fall to her shoulders before combing her fingers through it to style it slightly. As she walked back out to the hallway to slip on her boots, she noticed Theo on the couch with Mooch ... on his chest? She laughed quietly at the sight.