salem cackled once she caught sight of tavia. she had flour in her hair and red and blue pancake mix on her t-shirt. ironically, her t-shirt was white.
at least the pancakes were done.
"you're the fucking american flag!" salem cried breathlessly.
tavia was about to retaliate when they heard their apartment door unlock. their eyes widened in unison. salem shooed tavia away so she could change her shirt.
"holy shit it smells good in here!" matt's voice sounded throughout their apartment, causing salem to giggle.
"you should thank your girlfriend. she made the pancakes." salem said as she washed some bowls.
"speaking of my girlfriend, where is she?" matt asked.
"she'll be out in a minute." as if on cue, tavia appeared, tugging on the hem of her t-shirt. her hair was tousled from rushing to pull her t-shirt over her head.
she greeted matt with a kiss on the cheek and a quick little breathless, "hey."
meanwhile, salem slightly jumped when an arm snaked around her waist.
"calm down," ciarán's low voice chuckled. "it's just me." salem's eyes met his, crinkling slightly due to her wide smile. "you want me to help?" he offered.
"i'm good. thanks for offering, though."
"where are y'all's utensils?" ciarán asked, his eyes scanning their messy kitchen.
salem nodded to a drawer to her left as she dried off her hands.
tavia got four glass cups and set them on the table, while salem looked through their fridge for something to drink. she finally settled on orange juice, hoping no one brushed their teeth too recently.
she set the carton down and took a seat next to ciarán.
"why didn't you guys make waffles?" matt suddenly asked.
tavia's eyes narrowed. "you know exactly why."
matt was confused, but then he took one glance at a blue pancake and burst out into laughter. "y-you guys could've made blue wa—"
"shut it, matt." tavia scolded, causing salem to let out a quiet giggle.
"can you guys shut up and eat already?" ciarán said through a mouthful of food. during all the commotion, ciarán had been shoving forkfuls of pancakes into his mouth. "this is fire." he said, causing everyone at the table to laugh. it seemed like that was the only way he knew how to compliment something.
tavia and salem ate peacefully, while ciarán and matt ate like pigs.
"slow down." salem said, putting her hand over ciarán's and making him put his forkful of pancakes down.
ciarán looked at her, his cheeks full with food. "my bad, it's just so good." his words sounded muffled.
salem rolled her eyes. "you still sick?" she asked, to which ciarán shook his head. instead of letting him take his next bite, she took his fork and shoved it into her mouth.
"hey, you have your own plate!" ciarán protested.
salem shrugged, "i'm still gonna steal your food regardless."
ciarán's bottom lip jutted out, as he looked from his plate to hers.
"don't you dare." salem warned.
ciarán tried to grab ahold of salem's fork, but her reflexes were faster. she grabbed ahold of his wrist, stopping him in the process. her eyes met his and she glared at him, but ciarán was unfazed. she could be scary, but right now was not one of those times. she actually looked cute right about now, and he chuckled.
"it's not funny." salem grumbled, dropping ciarán's hand.
"then how come you did it to me?"
salem opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. when she least expected it, ciarán shoved a forkful of pancakes into her mouth. she let out a muffled, surprised squeal.
matt and tavia just watched silently as this unfolded before them.
"what the hell?!" salem covered her mouth as she spoke.
"maybe you're eating too slow." ciarán countered.
salem looked over at tavia, "tav, what are your thoughts?"
tavia put her hands up in defense, "don't get me involved in this."
salem huffed, continuing to eat her pancakes.
once everyone was done, salem and ciarán offered to do the dishes.
"you really don't have to help me." salem said, looking up at ciarán.
"you think i'm gonna let you be a loner while you do this?" he scrubbed at a dirty plate. "besides, the both of us can get this done in half the time. then, we can do whatever we want together."
a small smile tugged at the corners of salem's lips. "stop being so goddamn cute." she mumbled.
"what was that?" ciarán smirked.
"nothing." she said quickly as she set a plate on the drying rack. "wanna help me pick out what to wear at the pool party?" she asked, knowing ciarán would agree voluntarily.
"fuck yeah." ciarán now seemed eager to finish the dishes, scrubbing at them hastily.
"calm down." salem mimicked his words from earlier.
once they were done, salem grabbed ahold of ciarán's hand and led him to her room.
ciarán looked around at how neat her room was. there were photos of her and tavia on the wall, and string lights that went from wall-to-wall.
"your room reflects your personality." ciarán said as he sat down on her bed.
"is that a good thing?" salem bit down on her bottom lip.
"yeah, it's cute." he looked around in awe at her room.
salem opened her closet doors, revealing most of the clothes she had. she sifted through her clothes, until something caught ciarán's attention.
"is that my flannel?"
salem pushed apart her clothes, finding his flannel on a clothes hanger. she took the hanger out of her closet and held it against her body. "do you want it back?"
"you can keep it. it looks cuter on you." he said, causing salem to turn toward her closet, in an effort to hide her blush.
she found her swimwear, which consisted of three two-pieces and two one-pieces.
"remember that deal we made?" salem said, growing enthusiastic.
ciarán let out a fake cough, "i think i'm still sick."
salem narrowed her eyes, "but you said you weren't sick?" she raised an eyebrow.
"i don't wanna get into the pool, though." he whined, causing her to roll her eyes.
"fine. merlyn and i will be having a great time without you." she said, crossing her arms.
"no!" he cried.
"cici, it's a pool party." she sat down next to him.
ciarán pouted, "but i don't wanna get into the pool."
salem pursed her lips, "how about i spend half of my time with you, and the other half with merlyn?" she suggested.
"i want you to genuinely have fun." ciarán said, which made salem grow soft.
she put her head on his shoulder, "anytime i'm around you, i'm already having fun."
a/n
the brits provided us with so much content (except for ian and romil content, smh) and now we're back to starving again. they all looked so good, but did y'all notice merlyn's shoes??
