hometown glory - wroetoshaw [✓]

EIGHT

[fourteenth of october 2019]

AFTER SLAVING AWAY AT THE STAND MIXER in the corner of her kitchen for a grand total of 40 minutes, she had the muffins cooking in the oven and was taking the now clean and dry clothes out of the dryer in her utility room. she folded them neatly and placed them in the spare wicker basket she had from a christmas present from her mum one year. it felt a bit extra and she felt like she was going to over the top, her friends would envy the effort she is putting into a simple thank you gesture but she felt he was deserving of a big thank you.
while waiting for the muffins to be ready she slumped onto her sofa, picking at the jelly sweets she left out in a little bowl from last night, and watched some episodes of her new favourite cheesy reality show - drag race uk. she was obsessed with cheryl hole to the extent of having her twitter post notifications on.

she gave the muffins a light dusting of icing sugar which made them look very pintrest-esque and she was convinced all the middle aged mothers obsessed with that app would be envious. so there she stood, carefully organising them in the wicker basket; it was as if she had never been more delicate in her life and the perfectionist inside her decided to make an appearance.
off apollo trotted into her bedroom, finding her fathers old adidas jumper she stole when vintage clothes were 'in' again and some black jeans and set off to harry's house before realising - she didn't take note of the address. so had to send him a quick text.

apollo -
this is a bit random but just go with it please, what's your address? x
15:33pm
also hi btw, sorry for not messaging you yesterday i just had the girls round and explained everything x
15:33pm

harry -
oh apollo don't apologise! it was completely fine i was just hoping you were okay
15:35pm
it's ** **************, *********
15:35pm
oh and the postcode is **** ***, bc sometimes satnavs take you to like the other side of the river and thats completely wrong
15:36pm
i wont ask why you're asking but i'm a bit on edge now
15:36pm

apollo -
its all good things don't worry about it
15:37pm
i'll be seeing you in 12 minutes depending on current traffic x
15:37pm

harry -
see you then x
15:39pm

the flat hadn't had a proper clean in a while, and now harry was faced with the task of doing it alone all in 12 minutes. he shoved any rubbish he could find into a bin-bag and dumped it by the bin in the kitchen, shoved some glasses in the sink and picked up any clothes from his bedroom floor. he doubted the possibility of them going into his room but it was a habit he could've inherited from when he was younger and his mother asked him to tidy his room before guests went over. it was a precautionary measure so to say.
he debated getting the hoover out but decided against it, they didn't really have 'proper' guests over at their flat, just their good friends who didn't care about the messiness so it felt like they could get away with it. but this was the first time in a long time somebody not in their direct friendship group was there so he felt the need to make it presentable.

he finally finished faffing about and almost jumped out of his skin when the buzzer for the door sounded, he picked the phone up and told the girl to come up and pressed the button for the downstairs door to open. before heading down the set of stairs to the door to their flat.
the blonde boy was surprised to see a rather large brown wicker basket before the freckled girl he was expecting to see. "whats this?" he exclaimed in shock and took it all in, seeing what looked like homemade goods and some clothes inside of it.
he stepped to the side to allow her into his house that she could just about remember the layout of. "once we get upstairs i'll explain it." she nodded, taking her shoes off and saying a semi-proper hello to him.

up the stairs they went and she placed the basket down on the kitchen island, "this is a thank you, it's not much but i didn't know what to do but i thought i should get you something after all that you did." she smiled at the slightly taller male in front of her who looked shocked but appreciative, eyeing up the chocolate cupcakes which they could both admit did look very appetising.
he was struggling to string a sentence together through his thoughts, "you really didn't have to but i do appreciate it apollo, i wasn't expecting this at all," he went straight for a chocolate cupcake which made her laugh and also reach in for one, she hadn't seen a grown adult more happy to have a cake like he was in a while. "these are amazing-" he spoke while chewing which caused him to cover his mouth to hide his chocolate covered teeth. "thank you again though, also i think you're the only person to ever return a hoodie after i've leant it to them so thank you for that too." he chuckled and saw it neatly folded as if it was on display in a shop.

she swayed back onto the balls of her feet, hoping it wasn't too extra but she didn't really know how to put her praise into words so she did it through the next best thing, being a gift. "i did have to though didn't i. nobody can say what would've happened if i didn't drag you into the shitty situation with me so i cannot thank you enough and i owe you one massively." she finished with a smile and gave him a half hug which he returned. they both nodded at each other and harry moved over to the kettle before offering a tea which she gladly accepted.

she noticed he put the milk in before the water and gasped, "what is it?" he was concerned as the only noise coming from the room was the tv turned fairly low down on some sort of gameshow.
apollo pointed at the cup with just milk in at the moment, "you put the milk in first too?" she was surprised as she would always get rinsed by practically everybody she knew for her 'strange' way of making tea. but it was the way she taught herself when her grandma sent her to make a milky tea with two sugars and she hadn't looked back since.
he laughed and responded with, "of course i do, i'm not stupid." earning a smile from the girl who stood some inches shorter than her that lingered longer than she realised.