Chasing Blue

#25: Plenty Of Fish In The Sea.

Present

Isabella

I wait outside the Cooper Manor after knocking. I lean against the doorframe, tired and weary of all the explaining we've done in the last two days to the handful of people we refer to as a family. Of all the people, Grace was the hardest case to crack. I lost an entire night of sleep explaining to her how Austin is different from Jacob Miles and Noah O'Connel. It is an understatement to say we wrote it down on paper because at the end of it, it looked like a booklet. When she showed Austin the booklet, he nearly had a panic attack for the first time in his life, but they both came to terms with it. 

My mother wasn't surprised by this situation, but my father definitely was. He was surprised I agreed to the arrangement of a relationship right after senior year. Although I did assure him that I knew what I was doing, silently believing in my head for that to be completely true or at least trying to manifest it. 

The bin seemed to be the easiest to get through to. To my contrary belief, Jason, Liam, and May were completely aware of Austin's terrace plan. They still need time to digest it's already happening but they didn't seem to be troublesome. Aiden, on the other hand, would not stop with his taunts. The whole last two days he's been mocking us every time we come in his sight. Kate, Austin's mother was the most excited of all the people we've told this to. She literally cheered and clapped after hearing this. 

I don't know about Frank but Austin tells me he spoke to his father last night and everything between them is cool. I don't entirely know the definition of cool but I'm hoping it's good. 

Steven opens the door for me. He grins as his eyes settle on me. "Hey, Bella, good morning." 

I hear him tell me as I walk inside. I glance at my watch on my wrist showing thirty-two minutes past twelve. "More like afternoon, Steve." 

"Ah, my bad." He says glancing at the living room wall clock and entering the kitchen. "I was baking muffins and I lost track of time." 

"Ooh," I sniff as I follow him inside the kitchen. "What flavors are you baking?" 

He glances over the mess on the kitchen countertop beside the microwave oven and narrows his eyes at the leftover ingredients. "There's banana, chocolate chips, cinnamon, blueberry cream, and peanut butter in this oven," he points to the oven on the top shelf. "And the bottom one has your favorite, vanilla and butterscotch." 

My jaw drops open at the mention of vanilla muffins. "What are we celebrating?" 

Steven turns around holding a hand blender. It's dripping with thick white cream. His lips curve upwards but do not part. He tilts his head,  his cheeks almost coming in contact with his shoulder. 

He shrugs at me, "It's not every day that Austin Cooper decides to ask out his best friend." I close my eyes and hit my forehead with my hand. Steven bursts out laughing. "Just kidding, Mrs. Cooper was hungry and we decided to bake muffins. Since Mr. Cooper is in town and you kids are staying for lunch, I went a little overboard." 

"Aiden has rubbed off so much sarcasm on you, believe me, Steve, he's not good for your health." I shake my head and toss myself on top of the isle. 

"I don't think it's Aiden who's rubbed off on me, given how much I talk to you more than anyone else in this house, it's definitely not Aiden." Steven chuckles, testing the consistency of the cream he's blending. 

He dips in a spoon and scoops a chunk of it. He hands it to me for tasting. The cream nearly melts on my tongue. The sweetness is perfect, the creamy texture is perfect, and I could already see what an amazing topping it's going to make on the muffins. It just has to cool down for a while and it's going to be a masterpiece.