This Side of the Mirror: Wyatt - 2. Chapter 2

When I walked back into my house, still residually happy from ten minutes ago, I saw Tim at the table with a box of pizza in front of him.

“Hey,” I said, flopping down on the chair and folding my legs underneath me. “What type did you get?”

“Hawaiian,” he said, giving me a smile. “I know it’s your favorite.”

“Thanks,” I said, putting the two bags on the table, taking a slice, and digging in enthusiastically.

“You went to the bakery?” Tim asked, confused.

I nodded, shrugging a little. “Mom said she dropped the bread she bought, right? I figured it’d be nice for her to come home to more of it.”

He nodded, understanding. “Where else did you go, then?”

“Nowhere,” I said, not understanding.

“You took longer than Mom usually does, starting from closer than she does,” he said, raising an eyebrow playfully. “You can’t tell me you walk that slow.”

I laughed. “I stayed there,” I said. “I was talking to Felix, and we made the bread together.”

“Felix? That’s their son, right?”

I nodded. “He was the only one there, so we screwed around a bit. It was fun.”

“Nice,” Tim said, nodding as he ate another slice. I finished off mine, leaving the last slice for him, and grabbed the smaller of the two bags.

“Here,” I said, bouncing slightly with excitement. “We made these, you can have one when you’re done.”

“Oh, awesome, thanks! Maybe it’s a good thing you’re on bakery-duty now,” he joked. “You bring back better stuff than Mom does.”

I laughed. “I had nothing to do with that, to be honest,” I said.

“What do you mean?” he asked, his forehead wrinkling.

“Felix made me take these,” I said, indicating the bags. “It was all free.”

“Huh, I like Felix already,” Tim said, grinning.

I shrugged. “Yeah, he’s nice,” I agreed casually, internally begging my face not to betray me with a blush. “What time did Mom say she’d be home?”

“Umm… in about two hours,” he said, checking his watch, and then grimaced. “I’ll probably be asleep by then; I was up forever last night, and I’ve been tired all day.”

“OK,” I said. “I’ll tell Mom you said welcome home.”

“Why?” he asked. “She’s been gone for like four hours. She’s gone more than that every day for work.”

“It doesn’t matter, a lot has happened and she’s lucky to be back so early.”

He shrugged. “Tell her if you want, then,” he said. “I don’t think it would make a difference, but it wouldn’t hurt.”

I nodded. “Anyway, I’m gonna go have a shower; I feel like there’s enough flour in my hair to make a whole other loaf of bread.”

Tim waved absently, picking up the last piece of pizza and beginning to eat it, and I headed upstairs, peeling off my clothes and glasses as I went.

Almost an hour later I stepped out of the shower feeling refreshed and sated, and also having a much easier time thinking about things other than Felix and how we’d been accidentally – on his part, at least – bumping against each other while in the small bread room together. I headed to my room, not bothering to dress except for my glasses, and picked up my phone. There were a few texts from various people, and I responded to them absently, saving Lana’s for last.

You home yet? it read. Text me when you are.

I called her number and waited until she picked up. “I’m home now.”

“That took forever,” she commented.

“Yeah, I was hanging out with a total hottie,” I said, grinning.

“Hanging out as in…?”

“We made éclairs and bread.”

“You mean he works at the bakery? You’ll see him again?” She asked, happy for me.

“Next Wednesday,” I answered, unconsciously bouncing with excitement.

“Wait a minute, did you just say éclairs? You actually remembered something like that?” She asked incredulously.

I paused, not knowing how to respond, and she laughed, delighted.

“You TOTALLY like him!”

“What, one word sticks with me, and therefore I want his dick?” I retorted.

“You’re not denying it,” she pointed out.

“…No, I’m not,” I agreed reluctantly.

“Yay!” she cried happily, her grin – even if I couldn’t see her, I knew it was there – infecting me, “Tell me all about him tomorrow, K? I’ll come over after school, and we can go somewhere private.”

“Sure,” I replied, grinning again. “See you then!”

“Yeah, bye!” she said enthusiastically, and my phone beeped at me to tell me the call was over.

I tossed it to the other side of the bed, throwing on some board shorts, and then wandered downstairs to be ready when Mom came home, smiling the whole way.

__________

When Wednesday had finally come around, I’d been going crazy. Lana must have told me to calm down a thousand times before we even left school, and I was pretty sure she’d been glad to get away from me when we split up on our way home. That had been about ten minutes ago, and I was just walking into the driveway now. I threw the door open, tossing my books onto the counter carelessly, and hurried up the stairs to grab my wallet. As soon as I had it, I jumped back down the stairs, excited, and left the house again, walking towards the bakery. My hope was that by getting there at quarter to three or so, the shop would be empty except for Felix again. It wasn’t that I’d try anything, just that I liked the idea of having him to myself.

I arrived almost perfectly on time, but I was disappointed to see a few customers and an older man, who I assumed was Felix’s dad, in the store too. It wasn’t nearly enough to kill my happiness, but it did take the edge off my excitement, which was probably a good thing.

Felix looked up from icing a delicious looking cake as the bells announced a new arrival, and he grinned when he saw it was me. “Hey Wy!” he said happily, waving me over. “Dad,” he said, looking over at the older man. “Can I…?” he indicated the counter, miming lifting it up for me.

His dad raised an eyebrow. “Let a customer behind the counter?”

Felix nodded. “This is Wyatt, Annie’s son.” He waited hopefully, and finally his dad smiled and nodded, sighing dramatically. “Thanks!” Felix said, grinning at me and holding the counter up. I ducked under his arm, taking in the smell of his clean body, a faint soap, and delicious smells from whatever he’d been making since he left school. He winked at me as I straightened, a slight grin on his face.

“Told you that’d work,” he whispered, and I returned his grin, amused.

“Hey Wyatt, nice to meet you,” Felix’s dad said, distracting me. “I’m Mike. I’d shake your hand, but…” he nodded to his dough-covered hands, and I laughed.

“It’s fine,” I told him, smiling. “Nice to meet you too.”

Felix directed me to the sink as Mike started back in on whatever the ball of dough was going to become. I washed my hands while he continued with the cake, and when I was done he led me into the bread room again.

“Wanna help again, or should I do it?” he asked, turning to me.

“I’ll help, if you don’t mind,” I said, smiling excitedly.

“Awesome,” he said, and we started in, his ass already pressing against my hip for a second as he reached for some dough.

I couldn’t help a grin. If I got to do this every day, I’d love to be a baker.

________

We finished much quicker this time; we spent less time playing around, and now that I was more familiar with everything, it was easier. We’d only taken about forty-five minutes, by the time we’d put the dough in the oven and washed off. I followed Felix back to the table he’d been at when I arrived, and he picked up a bag similar to the one we’d used for the éclairs, except that this one looked to be filled with icing instead of cream.

“Sorry,” he said. “I’d let you help with this one, but it has to be perfect. You did really well with the éclairs, but we should play it safe.”

“No worries,” I said absently, more than content to simply watch and be fascinated by his fluid, graceful movements as he put the icing on. The perfect swirls and curves he was creating held me enrapt, but my eyes flicked to his hands for a second as he paused to adjust his grip.

He has nice hands, I thought idly, my gaze moving back to the icing as he started a new line. His hands were tanned, and his fingers were strong yet graceful. I’d never really noticed hands, of all things, but I liked his.

I looked up as he finished the icing, realizing more time had passed than I’d realized, and he laughed at the look on my face.

“You were pretty intent there,” he teased.

I blushed. “Yeah, I do that sometimes,” I admitted. “I usually can’t focus, but sometimes my attention just snaps onto little things like that and you could yell at me without disturbing me.”

He smiled. “Oh. Well do you like it?”

I looked down at the cake, seeing the whole thing for the first time, and I felt a giant smile spread across my face as I realized what it said.

Get well soon, Annie! It read, and it was covered with little designs.

“It’s awesome,” I said, turning my smile to him only to find him already returning it. “How much do I owe you for it?”

He gave me a playfully annoyed look. “Not this again,” he said, laughing. “This one’s from us, you don’t owe us anything.”

“But-”

“No buts,” he warned, the corner of his mouth tweaking up. “If you want to pay for something so badly, pay for the bread.”

I shook my head, laughing softly. “OK, but when you guys go bankrupt, you’ll know why.”

“It’s not like we do this often,” he said, amused. “Now c’mon, let’s check the oven.”

I followed him into the back again, very deliberately keeping my eyes off his ass, and we found the bread almost ready. We both leaned against the wall, settling in to wait, and Felix looked over at me.

“So,” he said. “How’s your mom?”

“She’s doing well,” I said, giving him a grateful smile. “She’s off work today, but other than that and her inability to make it here, it was a normal day for her. The wheelchair is barely even slowing her down.”

“Good, it’s nice to hear she’s not unhappy.”

I nodded, agreeing, and we pulled the bread out and put it on the rack to cool. Felix boxed up the cake as we waited, and then turned back to me.

“Getting anything else?” he asked.

I glanced over at the pastry counter, unable to resist. “Yeah… maybe three of those square chocolate croissant things,” I said, eyeing them. “I love those.”

Felix burst out laughing, pointing at the pastries I meant. “You mean pain au chocolat?”

I shrugged. “Yeah, those.”

“Sorry,” he said, trying to calm his laughter. “I’m not making fun of you or anything, I’ve just never heard them called that.”

“It’s fine,” I said, amused. “I’m used to it. Unless something has my attention, I won’t remember it; my mom thinks it’s hilarious how I forget things like that in minutes.”

Felix nodded. “It is kinda funny,” he said. “Oh well. Three square chocolate croissant things, coming right up.”

I stuck my tongue out at him, making him laugh again, and he handed me the bag. I paid him, and he disappeared into the back and came back with the bread. He handed it to me and lifted the counter, and I slipped underneath, holding a bag in each hand. Mike came back out to the front just as Felix was handing me the cake, and I grinned mischievously as I had an idea.

“Hmm,” I said, looking at the cake. “I don’t think I can carry all this. Do you deliver?”

Felix raised an eyebrow, looking at my almost-empty arms, and I winked for him to play along.

“Hey Mike,” I said. “Do you mind if I steal Felix to help carry the cake? I don’t want to risk dropping it.”

Mike laughed, the too-innocent looks on our faces tipping him off about what I really meant. “Sure,” he said. “It’s not like you needed to come in anyway, Felix. You can leave whenever you want. Just bring your phone, OK?”

We grinned at each other and Felix ducked under the bar, taking the cake from me, and we left the shop.

“You sneaky bastard,” Felix teased, and I grinned.

“I didn’t expect it to be that easy,” I said. “What did he mean when he said you didn’t need to come in anyway?”

Felix shrugged, embarrassed. “It wasn’t my night to work, I just came in 'cause you mentioned seeing me again today.”

“Oh,” I said. “I just didn’t consider that you wouldn’t be working, I wasn’t trying to make you give up your free time or anything.”

He smiled. “Don’t worry, I knew that… I just wanted to hang out.”

I grinned at him. “Does that mean you don’t need to head back immediately?”

He shrugged. “My parents are happier if I’m not walking around the city after dark, but generally I can go wherever I want, as long as I give them notice.”

“Sooo… wanna hang out?” I asked excitedly, turning to him hopefully.

“Definitely,” he laughed, and we continued on to my house, chatting easily about random things the whole way.

“Hey Mom!” I called, opening the door. “I’m home!”

“Hey honey, I’m in here,” she answered from her office. I waved Felix in, grinning, and kicked off my flip-flops before following her voice. Felix took a little longer to get his running shoes off, so I dropped the two bags on her desk happily while I waited for him.

“Mmm,” Mom said. “The bread smells delicious. We should buy more just to hang it around the house,” she joked.

Felix smells better, I thought absently, and he appeared in the doorway.

“Hi Annie,” he said, looking at me for directions on where to put the cake. I nodded towards my mom.

“Oh, hey Felix!” she said, pleasantly surprised.

“Here,” he said, handing her the box. “This is for you, from everyone at the bakery.”
She opened it up, a huge smile crossing her face as she saw the cake. “Thanks so much!” she exclaimed, pulling him in for a hug. “I’m flattered, I mean, a cake? Make sure to thank your parents for me, too!”

“No problem,” Felix said, smiling back. “It was the least we could do.”

“Well like I said, thanks. It means a lot,” she told him. “So, what’s in the second bag?” she asked, turning to me. “More éclairs?”

I shook my head, grinning. “Nope, stuck with my favorite,” I said, opening the bag to show her. “The éclairs were good, but the pain au chocolat is amazing.”

Mom’s eyebrows shot up, and I looked down at the bag, wondering if something was wrong with it.

“Did you just remember what they’re called?” she asked, disbelieving.

I snorted. “Yeah, Felix told me like, twenty minutes ago.”

“Still,” Mom said, looking at Felix. “I’ve been trying to teach him what they’re called forever now, and you managed it on your first try. I think you’re a good influence on him,” she joked. “You’ve got his attention, at the very least.”

We all laughed, but I was starting to get uncomfortable with where this was going. They really didn’t need to know just how much he had my attention; who I liked was none of their business.

Well, maybe it’s kinda Felix’s business, but that doesn’t mean I want him to know.

“I’ll leave these in the kitchen, ‘kay?” I said, holding up the two bags. Mom handed the cake back to Felix, nodding, and we dropped it all on the counter.

“Want anything to eat or drink?” I asked, throwing the fridge open and scanning its contents.

“Oh, the Dr Pepper looks good,” he said, and I tossed him a can, grabbing one for me too. Neither of us saw anything else we wanted, so I shut the fridge and led him up to my room. I kicked the door shut when we were both inside before turning on the PS4 and jumping onto the bed happily, pulling my legs up beneath me Indian-style and bouncing excitedly as I flicked through the PlayStation menu.

“Hmm, what do you want to do?” I asked, glancing over at him. “There’s Netflix and a bunch of games on here, and there’s tons we could do minus the PS4 if you want. We’ve got tons of board games, card games, whatever.”

“Oh, COD, wanna play that?” he suggested, picking up a case.

“Sure,” I said, tossing him the other controller and moving over so he could take a seat beside me. “It’s already in there.”

His scent wafted over me as he sat down, and I had to resist the urge to pounce on him and bury my nose in his chest. Underneath the delicious smells of the bakery was his own scent, and I almost blushed when I realized that my craving to have the source of that smell in my mouth had nothing to do with pastries.

I distracted myself by navigating through the menus, setting up a game for us, and I only let myself notice him again when the match was connecting. He was leaning forward in anticipation, his elbows on his knees, and he glanced over at me and smiled. We both looked back to the TV as the game started, and then we began to play, chatting idly the whole time.

We started off on a bit of a winning streak, but it quickly became apparent that it was more thanks to luck – and our teammates – than any skill on our part. Neither of us were particularly good, but we had fun, even when the guy who’d been practically carrying our team left and our winning streak died off.

When we finally shut off the system and went downstairs for another drink – our throats were dry from talking and laughing so much – it was already dark.

“Oops,” Felix laughed. “Didn’t realize it was this late already. I guess I’ll text my parents, if they’re done closing up they can pick me up.”

I shook my head. “No, c’mon, my brother can drop you,” I said, leading him back upstairs. We walked into Tim’s room, and I jumped onto his chair when I saw he was lying on his bed playing on his phone.

“Hey Tim,” I said, spinning around a few times on the chair. “Can you drive us to Felix’s?”

“Sure, but you’ll owe me.”

“You won’t ever have to walk to the bakery to get bread,” I offered, grinning at Felix as the chair’s revolution put him in my field of view. He seemed surprised that Tim was lying there in his boxers, but he got over it quickly and returned my grin happily.

“Fine,” Tim laughed. “Just let me get dressed.”

He stood and walked over to his closet, pulling on some sweatpants and a t-shirt, and then we all walked downstairs. We quickly said bye to Mom, and then Tim grabbed the keys and we got in the car, bantering playfully as we drove.

After a minute, the back seat lit up as Felix told his parents he was on his way back, and the glow reminded me.

“Shit, I don’t have my phone,” I realized, patting my pockets. “Oh well. Want me to give you my number, and you can text me whenever?”

“Sure,” Felix said happily, passing me his phone. I swiped right, and then promptly passed it back so he could type in his passcode. When he gave it to me again, I added myself as a contact, returning it when I was done.

“Oh, I’ll warn you in advance, 'cause it pisses a lot of my friends off: I forget my phone all the time, so if you’re not getting an answer you know why.”

He laughed. “I’m in the bakery a lot, so I don’t answer quickly either. You don’t have to worry about that bothering me.”

“OK, good,” I said, but then our conversation was interrupted by the need for Felix to give directions.

It turned out he lived right across from the bakery, so I teased him about midnight snacks before he left, earning a cute laugh for my efforts. It had me smiling the whole way home, and going into my room only made me happier. It still smelled faintly of him; not so much his own smell, but since he’d come straight from the bakery a little of the scent had stuck on my sheets. It was nice; the occasional deep breath made me think of him, and it wasn’t overpowering. I stripped my clothes off, tossing them in the laundry basket, and then set my glasses on the nightstand before flicking the light off and curling up in the thin sheets. I took a deep breath as I settled in, and I smiled. With this smell, I could almost imagine that he was sitting just on the edge of my bed, leaning in to touch his lips to my hair…

Needless to say, my dreams that night were all good ones.