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Jelly

The next morning, Lucas got up before I did. When I woke up, I could hear him making breakfast in the kitchen. I went into the kitchen to find him scrambling eggs and cooking sausage.

"Good morning," he said.

I walked up behind him and put my head on his back.

"Hey. How'd you sleep?" I asked.

He shrugged, "I always sleep better when you're there, because then I'm not worrying about you," he answered.

I smiled.

"Where is everyone?" I asked, wiping down one of the counters and rinsing out a bowl.

"Farkle took Riley to the garden to find flowers she wants for the wedding. Josh went for a run. Zay's in the gym," he said, "They'll all be back in the next few minutes for breakfast, though."

I nodded, yawning, "Yeah, Riley was really excited about the theme. She said that for her bouquet she wanted white and pink, pink for mine, white for Farkle's boutonniere, and a bunch of roses for the arbor."

He smiled, "Our garden is waaay out in the woods. Zay and I put a big fence around it. It's massive. There are a bunch of raised beds, and almost every species of flower you can think of."

"Who would've thought," I said, smiling, "That a bunch of macho werewolves were into gardening."

"Yeah. We're softies," he said, laughing.

Just then, Zay came downstairs. He was shirtless, as they usually were. He was out of breath and glistening with sweat. He flopped down at the table and dried his face with a towel slung over his shoulder. Josh came in the kitchen door seconds later, also shirtless, also sweaty, but beaming.

"Good run?" Lucas asked as Josh passed him.

"You know it," Josh said, clapping him on the back.

Josh sat down next to Zay and Lucas tossed a plate of toast on the table. I figured I would be helpful, so I put the jelly on the table. Speaking of jelly, who would've thought that there were so many kinds. Lucas and the guys have an entire shelf in the fridge dedicated to jelly: strawberry, blueberry, peach, grape, raspberry, blackberry, lemon, watermelon, caramel, cinnamon, coconut, banana, apple, chocolate, pineapple, pear, fruit punch, vanilla, kiwi, orange, mango, pomegranate, plum, maple, cherry, and grapefruit. And when I say I put the jelly on the table, I mean I put all the jelly on the table. All twenty-six flavors.

Farkle and Riley ran in the kitchen door holding hands.

"Sorry, guys, lost track of time," Farkle said, sitting down at the table with Riley next to him.

"Just in time," Lucas said, setting the scrambled eggs and sausage on the table.

Riley was staring at Zay and Josh curiously as they slathered their food with different kinds of jelly. I watched Lucas do the same. He put a concoction of blackberry, pomegranate, and pear on his toast, and then put a glob of plum on his sausage. Josh was mixing watermelon jelly with his eggs, and Zay was making a sort of sandwich with banana jelly on his toast, some eggs, a glob of raspberry jelly, and bits of sausage. Even Farkle was slathering both sides of his toast with vanilla and kiwi jam.

They all seemed to notice our curiosity at the same time.

"It's a werewolf thing," Farkle mumbled, jelly on his chin. We all burst out laughing. 

"Did you find any flowers you liked, Riles?" I asked, eating my jelly-less sausage.

She nodded enthusiastically, "Mmmm-hmmmm. Farkle found the perfect flower for his boutonniere, and I found all of the flowers for your bouquet!" she cried , beaming. I smiled back.

"I have an idea of what we can do today..." Lucas said, smirking.