Chapter 14 - Pancakes

A/N: If you are still reading this story, I am amazed and exceedingly grateful to you. If you’ve just discovered it, I will warn you of my very sporadic updating. If you’d like an explanation, you can finish this rambling author’s note.

If you’d rather not be bored I’d suggest you skip to the story.

Basically, when I started this story, there was actually stuff occurring in my life. And when it ended, I kind of lost the inspiration to write. I tried but nothing worked the way I wanted it to. I’m notoriously bad at not finishing what I start, but I promise that I’m going to finish this. It’s pretty much my new goal in life. ) I kind of have a plan for it now, which helps. So thanks for waiting and reading. I appreciate it.

Chapter 14 - Pancakes

As soon as we slipped into the house, I remembered - my parents were upstairs. Seth was headed to the kitchen table, but I placed my hand on his arm.

“Seth, my parents...” I was trying to decide what they would say; would they be mad, incredulous, or merely curious? I wasn’t sure. Seth just shrugged, a calm look on his face.

“We can be extra quiet,” he answered, taking my hand and pulling me into the kitchen. He bent his head to my ear, whispering, “I can be quiet if you can.” I rolled my eyes, but let him lead me to the stove. “Madam, your griddle awaits.” His goofy grin made me laugh out loud, and he placed a finger over my lips. “Tsk, tsk; your antics will awaken the sleeping giants.”

I stared at him blankly. “My antics?”

He just chuckled and sat down at the table. “I’m hungry,” he whispered loudly.

“Whispering across the room is hardly helpful, Seth.” I teasingly scolded.

“Fine then,” he answered, a smile in his eyes. “I’ll find the chocolate chips.”

When we finally finished, the kitchen was a complete disaster. Cooking was always messy business for me, and cooking with Seth was even worse. I surveyed the damage: there was batter everywhere - the floor, cabinets, and the countertop were all covered in splatters of the golden gooeyness with chocolate chips dabbled throughout. We had used four frying pans, and one of them was coated with the burnt remains of Seth’s first and only pancake. Spatulas were scattered around the kitchen in various places, bowls alongside them. Everything seemed to be dusted in flour.

I was afraid to look at my clothes.

Seth slid his arm around my shoulders, chuckling. “Oops.”

“Yeah, oops is right. It’ll take us forever to clean up this mess...” I grimaced, stepping away from Seth to gather a few of the spatulas and bowls. Seth went straight to the sink and the soap, plugging the drain and blasting hot water.

“I’ll wash, you dry,” I said, placing dirty dishes in the sink. When I went for the dish rag next to the sink, Seth jumped in front of me, grabbing it first. “Hey! Totally called it,” I called, staring up at him and reaching for the rag. He grinned and acted like he was going to relinquish the rag, but instead dipped it into the soap bubbles. I backed away as he brought the bubbles close to my face. His grin grew as he dabbed at my nose.

I glared at his pretty face, reaching my own hand into the soap. But when I went to throw the fluffy bubbles at him, he caught my wrist. The bubbles slid to the floor.

“You had flour on your nose...” He smiled; I glared back. And then a plan formed in my head. Revenge was sweet. I stood on my tiptoes and leaned closer, never breaking eye contact. My lips grazed his, and he closed his eyes. Perfect. I grazed the top of the foamy bubbles and splashed them onto his shirt.

Seth’s eyes flew open.

“You had flour on your shirt,” I grinned mischievously and snatched the rag from his hands. I pulled two dish towels from a drawer and plopped them in his outstretched hand.

“Thanks,” he answered. “But you realize this is war...” I stared back, eyebrows raised.

“Bring it.” Who knew shamelessly flirting could be so much fun?

Cleaning up took awhile, especially because we were constantly throwing bubbles at each other. I was surprised the racket didn’t wake my parents. After I practically dumped a whole bowl of soapy water on Seth, he admitted defeat and started to dry all the rinsed dishes waiting for him.

After everything was put away, I pulled Seth into the living room and handed him the remote. Pride and Prejudice called to me from the side table.

“I’m gonna read, okay? Feel free to watch whatever.” I plopped onto the couch, and he slid down next to me, slipping his hand over mine. I started reading, but he didn’t turn on the TV. “Aren’t you going to watch something?” I asked.

I didn’t want to bore him, but I had to focus on something else, and reading was a sure distraction. Our relationship was already moving a little to fast for my tastes. We were slowly slinking back to a place where the party and the rumors hadn’t happened. I wanted to forget all of that in once sense, but there was still a small part of me saying slow down, Kate.

He stared back at me intensely before answering. “You.” I blushed and started to protest, but he just shook his head. “Carry on.” He motioned to my book with his free hand. It was so hard to read knowing he was staring at me, but I forced myself to look away and concentrate on my book.

So there we sat, on the couch, side by side. It felt right. And even though that small part of me was reminding me of all the horrible things that could come out of this, my heart was singing. I removed my hand from his at one point, and he glanced up at me.

“I have to turn a page,” I clarified.

“Oh,” he answered, chuckling softly. I was just about to place my hand back into his when he turned to me and pulled my on his lap. My back was against his chest, his arms around me.

“Let me be your page-turner,” he explained, taking the book from my hands. I was still confused.

“But how will you know when to turn the page?” He laughed again.

“I guess I’ll have to read it to you, then.” I leaned my head against his shoulder as his gentle voice began to whisper the story in my ears. I had always preferred reading to myself, but somehow Seth reading to me was so much better.

a/n: I will try to update more soon; I know this is extremely short. Thanks for reading, and, if you’ve got the time, please review.