Darkness

Cake

September approached quickly. And with September came Scott's birthday, a day Avi was almost more excited for than Scott himself. He had asked both Esther and Mitch to help plan a big party for him and it was hard for him to contain his excitement when he thought of the big surprise he had for his boyfriend. 

They had spent the last weeks looking for a new place to live, somewhere that wasn't as spacious and open as Scott's house but definitely bigger than Avi's apartment. The bearded man had invested more time into his music and with the help of a friend of Scott's he had just finished recording his first demos, he definitely needed more space for his guitars and creativity and the baritone was slowly drowning in clothes. 

The man stopped by at his house once a week, maybe even less, just to make sure that everything was alright, sometimes either dropped off or picked up some things but other than that they stayed at the basses place. He was too scared of having Avi near the rather large and open staircase. 

Avi bit his bottom lip as he carefully felt for the hot pan resting on the baking sheet in the oven. He was in the middle of making his boyfriend a cake for his birthday the next day and wanted to use the time while Scott was at work. The bearded man was wearing two thick heatproof gloves Esther had ordered for him once he had told her about his plan and reached around the square pan to take it out of the oven. It didn't feel hot on his hands and he managed to put it down quickly. 

It already smelled delicious and Avi was excited for Scott to see the cake. He opened the window to let some of the hot air out, turned off the oven and patted the counter for his phone. 

"Cake smells delicious! Feels just right, I hope he likes it!" he typed, asked his phone to read the text out loud and then sent it to his sister.

The man vacuumed the whole apartment, changed the bed sheets and did the laundry before he started decorating. They would have a calm morning with a big breakfast at home, the fridge was filled and Avi had already prepared the pancake batter that was now in a squeeze bottle, then Esther and Mitch would take them to a near by café they sometimes went to for lunch and after that it would be almost time to drive to Scott's place for the party. 

Avi smiled lightly to himself. Scott deserved a big party more than anyone else. He had put himself last for months, cared for his boyfriend when he wasn't able to do it himself and neglected his own mental and physical health more often than Avi was comfortable to admit. But now it was time for him to be spoilt and taken care of, now that Avi was confident enough to take matters into his own hands. 

Before Scott got home Esther stopped by to pick up the finished cake to take it to the house. Avi had opened the windows and the door leading to the balcony to get the smell out of the apartment and he was now standing in front of the stove and carefully fried potatoes. The salad was already on their plates at the table in the living room, next to a bowl with crispy roasted chickpeas to snack on his sister had dropped off. Avi had a soft spot for crispy chickpeas and especially the ones the young woman made were always on point and delicious. He had forgotten to ask about the baby - Esther and Darien were trying to have a baby - but when he heard the door opening he forgot about all that and started to smile. 

"Scotty!" 

The man chuckled. "Avi, hey. How 'r you? How was your day?"

"Great! Really good. Nothing happened, played some guitar, sang a little..short walk. Made dinner. Hope you're hungry?"

"Yes, always hungry." Scott slipped out of his shoes, put them away and walked over to his boyfriend. He hugged Avi from behind and presses a soft kiss on the spot right over the tip of his left ear. "Hello. Missed you. And I saw crispy chickpeas on the table.." 

Avi couldn't help but grin. "Yeah, Esther stopped by, they're really good. Missed you too. Can you get plates? Food is done. Maybe beer if you want to? In the fridge. I got some today."

"You went to the store?" Scott asked surprised as he reached for two cans of Blue Moon. 

"Yeah! I just asked someone there to help me get the beer and that's it. It was easy and felt kinda good to do it myself? I mean, I was kinda nervous but nothing bad happened."

The baritone nodded, smiled and put the beer on the table before he reached for plates and plated the pan fried potatoes. "I'm proud of you. And thank you for making dinner, I am starving."

"How was it at the studio though?"

"Great! We got lots done and I don't have to go in the day after tomorrow, which means a long, free weekend for us. The new real estate agent called me, by the way. Jason. He wants us to come and look at a house on Monday. It's in Malaga Coves, Palos Verdes Estates, right by the sea. There is a park in walking distance, a cafe..post office, grocery store. That and there might be something near Huntington Beach, but he doesn't know yet. Would you like being close to the beach?"

Avi shrugged and followed his boyfriend to the living room. They sat down, cracked open the beers and started to eat. "I guess? It depends. I haven't been at the beach in quite a few weeks, I think I would prefer the house in Malaga Coves as of now."

"Yeah, me too." Scott reached for his fork. "Let's eat first and then I can describe to you what it looks like. He sent a few pictures."