a/n: The ao3 title for this would be 'the one where Kayden makes mozzarella sticks at 1 in the morning and Elias unironically uses the word horrendous'. It takes place 7 years after the first book and contains extremely minor spoilers for the first book, but no spoilers for any unreleased books. I'm calling this the Newhaven AU, you'll understand why when you read it, but it's safe to say that a lot of domestic oneshots for Kayden and Elias (and probably the rest of the THL cast) will probably be written in this universe where they have their cute little apartment and they're happy and in love and everything is right with the world because there is a hole in my heart that needs to be filled by anything other than more unrequited pining (Yes I am writing fanfiction about my own book because I'm as sad as everyone else that they only got one kiss at the very end. Just because I wrote the story the way it needed to happen doesn't mean I'm happy about it). So, I hope you all enjoy the next 1,300 words of fluff, playful arguing, and absurd amounts of cuteness. I wrote the entire thing with a stupid little smile.
It was the middle of the night and Kayden was lying awake, staring at the ceiling in the dark. It'd either been ten minutes or an hour since he'd woken up, he wasn't entirely sure, and he couldn't remember why exactly he'd woken up either. From what he could remember, his dream had had something to do with a forest and a leprechaun, but everything was a blur after that.
When he'd first woken up, he'd tried to just curl up in Elias' arms and drift back off to sleep, but as the minutes wore on and the drowsiness of just waking up slowly wore off, he realized it wasn't going to be so simple.
It also didn't help that he was hungry, but he didn't want to get up and fix that because he'd insisted that all he wanted for dinner was leftover breadsticks from Olive Garden, and at the time that was all he wanted, but Elias warned him that if he didn't eat something of substance then, he'd probably be hungry later. So here he was, because Elias, like his stupid pretty blond hair, had to be perfect and right about everything.
Kayden moved his gaze to his boyfriend sleeping next to him, a small smile tugging at his lips as he gently pushed a strand of hair out of his face. He might've been annoying at times, a bit too cocky at others, and always incredibly stubborn about which brand of coffee he preferred to buy, but Kayden loved him, and honestly, he couldn't imagine he'd want him any different.
The redhead sighed softly and finally relented, being careful not to wake the man beside him as he rolled out of bed. He carefully tiptoed down the steps of their spiral staircase to the kitchen and opened the fridge to look for something to eat.
Finding an apartment that fit both of their needs was a bit more than difficult. Elias didn't want to live anywhere too loud, but Kayden wanted to live somewhere walkable. Elias didn't want a big empty space, but Kayden loved open concept layouts. Elias wanted brown walls while Kayden wanted gray. The list went on. However, they didn't disagree on everything. They both wanted lots of books, a comfortable bed, and many large windows. In the end, they settled for a loft in the town of Easthaven, which was a small town, but it had a library, a few coffee shops, and thrift store or two.
Kayden decided to make the mozzarella sticks that had been sitting in the freezer for almost a week and sounded like the perfect midnight snack. He was careful about closing the freezer slowly and taking out the baking sheet as quietly as he could, though once the oven was finally preheated and he was ready to slide it in, his hand slipped and he dropped it.
The sound of metal clanging against the porcelain tiled floor rang throughout the apartment as Kayden cringed, jumping a bit at the noise. He sighed and lost all hope of Elias somehow sleeping through it when he heard steps coming down the stairs a minute later. He turned around to see his boyfriend looking very tired and somewhat annoyed as he ran his fingers through his messy hair.
"What the fuck was that?" Elias asked, his words a bit slurred as he glanced down to the frozen mozzarella sticks on the floor next to the baking sheet and the open oven. Kayden was expecting him to be mad, but instead he just smirked a little. "I told you you'd get hungry."
Kayden pouted a bit and sat down on the floor, starting to pick up the mozzarella sticks and put them back on the pan. "I can't believe I'm gonna have to throw these out..."
Elias raised a brow as he leaned against the stairway with his arms cross. "They're probably fine. I cleaned the floor like..." he glanced down at his watch. "Seven hours ago? God, it is one in the morning...but yeah, you can still eat them."
"Sorry for waking you. I really tried to be quiet," Kayden said, standing to his feet to set the tray in the oven.
Elias just smiled one of his genuine Elias smiles and took a step closer to him. "I know, Kay, it's alright," he said softly, lifting the redhead's chin to kiss him. "I'll promise not to be annoyed, but only if you let me have some of those."
"Mmm, only if you make hot chocolate," Kayden said, grinning against his lips.
"I thought you were the one who woke me up," Elias said with a soft chuckle.
"Yeah, but I want hot chocolate, and it always tastes better when you make it."
"Alright, fine, but you are not waking me up before eight today for any reason whatsoever," he said, ruffling Kayden's hair. "I don't care if it's snowing outside."
Kayden scoffed. "That was one time seven years ago."
"Two times actually, but the first time you made me get up and decorate with you," Elias said as he put the kettle on.
"You're never going to let it go, are you?" Kayden asked with a soft smile.
Elias wrapped his arms around his waist from behind and set his chin on his boyfriend's shoulder. "Mm, no, probably not," he said before he pressed a gentle kiss to Kayden's neck.
"Asshole," Kayden murmured in an affectionate tone.
"Forever and always."
Elias peppered kisses up Kayden's neck, loving the sound of his soft giggles and meaningless protests to stop distracting him while he was trying to focus on getting the marinara sauce into a dipping bowl. Eventually though, the kettle went off and he had to pull away to pour the water into mugs with hot chocolate mix and heavy cream. He also always added a swirl of whipped cream to the top, mostly because he knew how happy it made Kayden.
Once the mozzarella sticks were finished and the hot chocolate had cooled a bit, they sat down on the couch together with their mugs and the plate of cheese sticks on the coffee table. When Kayden bit into the first one, he groaned quietly, remembering how good they tasted. Elias chuckled and took one off the plate.
"For the record, this still does not suffice for dinner, and I am going to make sure you eat something healthy for breakfast tomorrow," Elias said, giving him a pointed look and Kayden just rolled his eyes.
"You're not my mom."
"I know I'm not. Your mother is horrendous," Elias murmured as he took a sip of his hot chocolate.
Kayden giggled softly. "You sound so British when you say that."
"Do I?"
"Yeah, and you say 'brilliant' weird," Kayden said as he rested his head on Elias shoulder.
"That's because my dad says 'brilliant' weird."
Kayden picked up his mug as he cuddled up next to the blond. Their lives weren't ideal, Kayden hadn't spoken to his mother in a year and Elias had cut off everyone in his family except his sister the moment he left for college, but they had their friends, and their apartment, and they were happy together. Kayden put up with Elias' workaholic tendencies and pushed him to try new things, and Elias was patient with Kayden and showed him what he was really capable of when he had the confidence. They didn't agree on everything, in fact, they could hardly go a day without bickering over one thing or another, but at the end of the day, they still loved each other, and that was why when Kayden accidentally woke Elias up in the middle of the night because he wanted mozzarella sticks, Elias couldn't find it in himself to be mad at him. He might've teased Kayden over the whole thing, and he'd probably bring it up again in three years, but he still fell asleep on the couch cuddled up with him, murmuring a 'good night' as he kissed the top of his head, and he'd still love Kayden in the morning when he insisted that black coffee was a well-balanced breakfast, and he'd love him every minor inconvenience and tiny dispute after that.
