By time I got home I decided I wanted to bake a cake to take to Seth's. So I cleaned up and took over the kitchen. I put on some music, put my hair up, and started rummaging for ingredients.

"So this is how you really do the cooking?" I heard from behind me. I have my head stuck inside a cupboard looking for the back up cocoa.

"I don't know what you mean by that." I said.

"I'm sorry I can't hear with your head two feet in a wooden box and the music is a personal concert." He said.

I sighed and pulled my head out. "I said 'I don't know what you mean by that'." I repeated

Carter turned down the music from my phone. "You really go into your own world while cooking huh? The music is a nice touch." He pointed at my phone.

I don't know why but as I recognize secondhand serenade playing through the speakers I blushed and turned my head pretending to look for the cocoa still. My cheeks are so warm it's hard to hide it.

"Music helps me feel better in any situation." I said.

"I agree, me too." He said.

"So what do you plan on making?" He asked.

"My chocolate cherry cake if I have all the ingredients." I said and caught eye of the cocoa in the corner hiding. Little bastard I finally got you.

"Oh yum! Can I help?" He asked.

As I was pulling the cocoa out I froze and looked at him in shock. "Help?" I questioned with no emotion. I had to see if he was serious before I reacted.

"Yeah? Unless you don't want company or it's not a two person job kinda thing that's fine." He said shrugging. I watched trying not to laugh at how he awkwardly backed away from me.

I closed the cupboard and set the cocoa on the counter above my head. "You know you don't have to babysit me right? Like I'll call for you if I need help? You don't have to worry I know my dad is probably putting pressure on you but really he's just worried about me and I get that but you don't have to be because I'm gonna be fine." I said.

"I'm here as a friend not a nurse." He said.

"Oh okay well then can you help me off the floor cause it was really hard to get down here." I said trying not to make eye contact. I heard him chuckle but he stopped himself. He stepped closer, He offered me his hands. I took his hands and together we pulled me up while I use my legs for balance and leverage.

"Wow that actually almost felt normal." I said. I feel light and airy. Like I could jump and skip and run. I took a step toward Carter in excitement and my legs wobbled and my ankle almost buckled but Carter was still holding on, he pulled me up before I could fall onto my ankle. I looked at him in shock at the swift movements. I was instantly lost in the deep blue eyes in front of me. So... interesting.

"I... I think I'm too use to my crutch." I spoke in what meant to be a normal tone but it came out in a whisper.

"It's time to get rid of the crutch and practice without it." He said not taking his eyes off me. I wasn't sure if either of us have blinked yet but if we did it was perfect timing. Those blue eyes look like hurricanes and I could feel myself get sucked in, my legs are weak and my heart is racing. I can feel the storm blowing in.

"I agree" I said trying to pull myself back to reality.

"You can help me bake the cake." I finally said remembering what we were originally talking about. I tried to calm my nerves I have no idea what is happening to me right now. I feel so... distracted.

"What's first chef?" He asked and for the first time I looked away from his eyes only to see his lips form a smile.

"You have to wash your hands." I answered I'm now watching the emotion in his face, how he is suppressing an emotion I so badly want to know what it is.

He lifted his hands to our eye level. "I think we both do." He revealed that my hands were still in his, I didn't let go. But neither did he.

All of a sudden my hands began to sweat and a wave of guilt spread across me. I let go of his hands and stepped back. What am I thinking? I've lost my mind. It's like I have no control over my body what the hell.

"What's wrong?" Carter asked with concern.

"Uh nothing sorry, you're right I need to wash mine too." I said walking over to the sink.

We silently washed our hands while 5 seconds of summer played in the back ground. I tried to let my mind think about the music and not my best friend who I'm thinking looks super fucking hot but I can't be thinking these things.

"You can preheat the oven to 350 while I get this set up." I told him.

"Okay." He walked over to the oven. I continued to what I was doing which was setting up the ingredients so we could see them all.

When I was finished I turned to see what Carter was doing cause he hadn't come back. He was staring at the oven..

"Car?... What's wrong?" I asked. I walked up next to him and seen his thinking face. He was zoned out, an eyebrow was slightly furrowed, and his lips in an straight line.

"How do you set it? I pressed the bake button and did the temperature but then what." He said pointing at the oven with his whole hand.

"To save time you can just ask me next time. You just have to press the bake button again. It's weird I know, some ovens are different." I said and set it myself just to show him what I meant.

"Ooh okay. Sure thing." He said.

"Okay while that preheats we get to the mixing. Which I set up everything so you can do it yourself because I think it would be fun." I told him and turned him around and lead him to the large island in our kitchen.

"So I'm sure you understand what everything is so I'll just give you the measurements." I told him while I sat across from him in a stool.

"Do I get an apron like yours?" He asked.

"Oh uh I don't have another.. but you can wear mine since your doing the baking this time." I smiled and got back off the stool.

"Perfect! I don't want to get all dirty in flour." He joked. I took it off and gave it to him. When he put it on I couldn't stop smiling. It's too small and the fact that the bottom has ruffles made it perfect.

"It works. It covers a majority of me." He nodded.

"Looks great." I couldn't hold back a few giggles. I couldn't stop looking. "Can I please just get a picture of this because Hunter isn't gonna believe me." I said.

"As long as no one else sees then we're good." He said.

"I can't make promises on that." I said.

"Fair enough" He shrugged.

I shook my head but pulled out my phone anyways. I took a picture of him and then he thought it was a good idea to do one with the bowl and whisk too.

"Okay let's not get too embarrassing because this apron is not for you." I told him putting my phone away.

"Fiiine but I had a couple ideas." He sighed.

"Believe me I'm saving you from a life time of embarrassment of a whole baking themed photo shoot." I said.

He thought for a second. "Yeah that's true. Thanks." He said.

I just smiled and laughed lightly.

"Okay so let's start with flour." I told him sitting back down.

~~~~

Sooner or later Hunter came in to see what we were doing.

"No way Carter is a baker noww." Hunter said sitting in a stool next to me.

"I know right, he's got two cakes in the oven." I told Hunter.

"I'm making frosting." Carter said showing Hunter inside the bowl.

"Can I try?" Hunter reached in for a dip. "No!" I pulled his arm back.

"Afterwards you can lick the bowl. Not while the frosting is still in there." I said.

"I thought the cooks ate when they were cooking?" Hunter said.

"We'll you're not the cook are you?" I said.

"Shit" Hunter said as if he was trying to trick me and failed.

I raised and eyebrow and shook my head "I'm sure I can bring you guys back a piece but I need this cake untouched." I said.

"I'll try to hold back my urges." Hunter said.

"Thank you." I told him.

"I think the frosting is smooth. Now we finish the filling?" Carter asked.

"Yeah it just needs to be mashed and add a little sugar." I said.

"Baking is fun, now I understand why you do it. It's like a game." Carter said.

"Baking fun? I think the only part that is fun is the eating." Hunter said.

"You should try it's actually fun. See I get to smash cherries." Carter said pressing the Cherries into the bowl with a 'potato' smasher.

"Lame. I'm going back to play the game." He said getting up and walking to the door.

"Suit yourself." Carter said.

"At least I can still hear jades music out here." Hunter said.

"I know I'm a good Dj." I smiled.

"Getting better" Hunter said while walking out.

"Better?" I pouted. I turned to Carter and he nodded agreeing with Hunter. "Damn it's not my fault you have different music taste. All I can do is shuffle all my genres." I said

"I'm just kidding I actually don't mind anything you've played so far." He said.

"Thank you." I said.

~~~

Once the cakes were all cooled off from out the oven and I took a quick shower. Carter came back and helped build the cake.

"One cake and then a layer of cherries and second cake then frosting and more cherries." I told Carter.

"Okay that sounds more like a show me kinda thing." He said.

"Just scoop and spread." I said. I laid out the first layer of cake for him and handed him the bowl of filling.

"Just start a little at a time, you can always add more. Make it a nice thick layer though." I told him.

"And don't get it on the outside? This sounds too difficult maybe you should just do it." He tried to hand me the bowl back but i shoved it back into his arms. "Just try first." I told him.

He sighed and scooped a little bit onto the cake. "Carter your gonna need more than that" I said.

He scooped more and of course ended up spilling it over the cake. "Alright just let me see." I bumped him with my hip to get him to scoot over but he didn't. "Wait no i can fix it" Carter said blocking me from reaching.

"Just don't ruin the actual cake because we don't have time to make more." I said.

"I know i know" He said.

I stood there patiently for a minute. "Tada!" He showed me the cake with the second layer on top. "Oh okay, great job." I looked closely at the filling in the middle. Looks thick enough and he cleaned the edges. "Looks perfect." I told him.

"Yay, I'm excited. Now frosting." He grabbed the chocolate frosting he made.

"You're pretty good at this. You don't even need my help." I said.

"I've just picked up a couple things from helping at the bakery." He said.

"Oh yeah..." I said remembering.

"It was no problem helping out especially since you always helped out at the video store. My parents might hate you but they love saving money.." He said spreading the frosting around the sides.

"Yeah I kinda like to pretend they don't exist so I don't hurt your feelings about how I feel about them." I said and poked his side and he jumped a little.

He chuckled "I wish they did the same about you." He said.

"What do they say about me now? That I've lost my fucking mind and I'm gonna-" I quickly fell into anger and Carter put his hand over my mouth. I just stared at him in shock because I was not expecting it at all.

"You know I'm not gonna tell you what they said. They have no right to have an opinion on your life. Don't worry no matter what they say we won't stop being friends they couldn't change my mind." He said letting go of my mouth and poked my nose while smiling.

I didn't say anything and he went back to decorating the cake. I watched him for a moment, his dark brown hair covering his face when he leaned sideways.

"They think I'm using you.. don't they." I said.

He stopped moving and sighed. He turned to me "They don't think anything." He said.

"That's true." I rolled my eyes.

He didn't say anything. "They did say that?!" I asked again. He avoided eye context and faced the cake. "Carter!"

"It doesn't matter! They don't know you like i do. I know you're a good person. And what could you possibly use me for anyway?" He said.

I raised both my eyebrows at him. He rolled his eyes. "They said you were just stringing me along, but they also think you and Hunter have a thing so i wou-"

"They whAT!? They think I'm some whore don't they?" And then suddenly it hit me. It's the video.. "They saw the video? When? Last year? Or recently?... What else did they say?... What did they say about my baby?... What did they say when I was in the hospital?" I stepped closer to Carter with each question so I could see every crease in his face while I questioned. His reaction just got sadder and sadder by question, I felt like I was reading his mind. I knew every answer as I asked.

Carters parents are no treat. They have sticks shoved so far in their ass they think the world is built around them. They never wanted they're perfect son to hang out with a lunatic and a crackheads son. "You know my parents only listen to the gossip..." Carter spoke "-plus everything has been by my own choice. I thought I was over you and moved on but when the accident happened I couldn't help but think about all our memories together and it brought up old feelings. I could never think you were stringing me along you have never showed feeling towards me in that way and i don't take my parents opinions seriously because they've proven to be wrong on many accounts. You shouldn't care about what they think. They're just as washout as the rest of this town." He put his hands on my shoulders so I would look him in the eye. "Seriously Jade you've been through so much no one could understand what you're going through but you. But I can say as one of your closest friends from over here on the side lines you're doing just fine. The outside world don't know the context of your life and that's okay."

I felt like I was looking into his soul. His hands were warm on my shoulders, I felt goosebumps rise and my body temperature go up. I don't know what to say. He was right, I have to stop letting peoples opinions effect me. They don't know what I've been through or the exact details of my life. "I'm sorry that got out of hand so fast." I sighed.

"It's okay. I understand your frustration." He said letting his hands drop to his sides.

"I think it's time we finish the cake." I said.

We finally put the finishing touches on the cake and celebrated Carters first homemade cake by his self.

I then finished getting ready and packed a overnight bag. Afterwards I went to the living room to watch the guys play some new game the video store just got in. They are running through the woods but I'm not sure why.

"Hey Carter could you drive me to Seth's after this?" I asked.

"Yeah sure." He said not looking away from the tv.

"You sure you don't wanna stay and try out this new game with us? It's kinda fun once you know how to survive." Max said not looking from the tv either.

"Thanks Max but I think I'll spend a romantic night with my boyfriend instead." I said.

"Ew why'd you have to say it like that? A Romantic night? Are you in a novel?" Hunter said making a face.

"Maybe I will be. And that could be the perfect line. The perfect amount of cringe." I said.

"No one says those things. Not even in books." Max said.

I narrowed my eyes at him even though he couldn't see me but I knew he could feel it. "Considering I just said it has already proven you wrong sir." I said.

"You're strange. You don't count." Max said.

"Hey!" I gasped. I couldn't hold back a smile though. "You're not wrong but I count for something." I said.

"You count to me Jay don't worry." Hunter told me.

"You're just as cringey as I am." I told him.

"Exactly, We run our own shit." He said.

"Hunter you're going to die if you don't pay attention." Max said.

"Fuck" Hunters avatar is drowning.

"I can't find any more bananas." Carter said.

"I think there's monkeys, I seen something in the tree earlier." Max said.

"What why wouldn't you say that earlier?" Carter asked.

"I don't know I didn't think they would steal the bananas." Max shrugged.

"I'm dead." Hunter sighed. His avatar going deeper into the water.

"I think we gotta fight the monkeys... They're stealing our loot." Max said.

I watched as they both went in for the monkeys and got beaten to death with bananas. "We'll that took a turn." I said.

"That was not expected" Carter said.

"I think next round we could build a raft.." Max said. You can tell he was the one who picked the game.

"You guys play a few rounds without me while I take Jade." Car said getting up.

"What makes you think we don't want to go with?" Hunter asked.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Car said.

"Why not?" Hunter asked.

"You're just dropping me off." I said stating the obvious.

"Which means it'll only take a second." Carter said.

"We could stop at the store on the way back and get some snacks." Max said.

Carter narrowed his eyes at Max but only for a brief second. "Fine, but everyone-" He looked at Hunter "-under their best behavior." Hunter slowly grew a smile on his face.

"Uhhh maybe you should stay." I joked.

"I'm a good boy I promise." Hunter said

"Not in California you're not. You're a college boy now Hunter. A college bad boy." Max poked at hunters sides.

"Haha! Stop! Okay wait noo" Hunter jumped up and pointed his fingers at Max. "Just to keep the lady's ears clean we're not gonna talk about these things." Hunter said.

"Hey! I think we can fairly say I have the right to know what's going on as much as these two! I wanna know about your college adventures even if they are just about sleeping with girls or whatever it is." I said.

"Another time.." Hunter said.

"I'm holding this against you Hunter don't forget I use to get into some trouble myself." I told him.

"I do forget." Hunter crossed his arms eyeing me as if he idolized me.

"Who are you." I shook my head at him.

"Okay we better get going." Carter said.

"You're right." I went into the kitchen to get the cake.

"You know it's only like six fifteen right?" Carter said when I got back.

"Yeah I thought It wouldn't hurt to show up early." I shrugged. "Plus I don't want this cake to melt. And there's no room in our fridge." I said.

"Okay" He shrugged.

"Can someone grab my bag? I don't trust any of you with the cake." I said.

"Sure." Hunter grabbed my bag and hung it over his shoulder.

"Don't forget to bring us back some slices cause I really want to try my creation." Carter said as we walked out the door.

"Don't worry I won't forget. I'm sure we won't be eating this whole cake anyway." I told him.

Till Next Time! Xx