Eric suddenly found himself standing in the middle of the massive kitchen armed with nothing but a frilly blue apron that just had to say, “Kiss the cook,” which didn’t go unnoticed by Kayden as he was smirking at Eric the moment he entered the kitchen. 

“What?” Eric snapped. “Roth gave it to me!”

Kayden rolled his eyes as his smirk faded into a genuine smile. “Of course he did.” 

Eric grumbled a bit but couldn’t find the words to retort back. To be honest, he was still a little shaken from what happened earlier but he was doing his best to hide it. He wasn’t sure if he was doing a good job since Kayden wasn’t the easiest person to read.

He figured he was since Kayden tossed him a rather large metal bowl and seemed relaxed despite what happened thirty minutes ago. 

“What’s this?” Eric demanded as he set it on one of the shiny marble countertops. 

“A bowl,” Kayden stated in a serious voice. 

Eric rolled his eyes. “Yes, I can see that. But why do I have it?” 

Amusement lit Kayden’s eyes as he said, “We’re baking a cake, Eric. Why else would we need a bowl?”

“How silly of me for not reading your mind,” Eric shot back, fighting hard to keep his blush at bay. 

Ignoring Eric’s jest, Kayden asked what kind of cake he wanted to bake. Eric responded with a chocolate and strawberry cake and that settled the matter.

Within minutes, the kitchen was filled with the soft sounds of cooking. 

Eric would never admit this out loud, but it was relaxing to get in the kitchen and start making things. It had been his way of coping...with them. Shaking his head to clear it, he thought about all the things he wanted to ask Kayden.

None of them were simple segways from their current state of silence but that didn’t mean Eric didn’t want to ask. 

As if sensing Eric’s hesitation, Kayden nudged him before cracking an egg open. “Something on your mind?”

Eric opened his mouth and took a deep breath in before letting the air back out. “No, nothing.” He cringed inwardly as he heard the dull sound in his voice. 

Kayden heaved a sigh, not sure if it was okay to bring this up. He continued mixing ingredients as he spoke, “I’m truly sorry about not recognizing you, Eric. You were just a kid the last time I saw you. The last I heard was that you were doing well with your new family.”

Eric let out a snort at that. He didn’t want to stay mad at Kayden and it was becoming harder to stay mad. He knew he was being ridiculous. “It’s just...when I came back—” He shook his head and began again. “My imagination got the best of me.”

Kayden stopped what he was doing and watched as Eric oiled down a cake pan. He had a lot of emotions running through his head but was happy that Eric was talking to him instead of at him. 

“What did you imagine would happen?” Kayden asked in a soft voice. 

Eric fidgeted back and forth as he set the now oiled cake pan down. “I thought you would immediately recognize me.” 

Kayden suddenly understood why Eric had been so upset and rude when they had “met” yesterday. Part of it could be that he was just a hormonal teenager that had been through a lot, but Kayden was willing to overlook their first meeting now that he understood the situation better. 

“Real life isn’t always all that it’s cracked up to be,” Kayden muttered as he finished mixing the cake batter. “You can always talk to me, Eric, whenever and about whatever.” 

Suddenly tired of being serious, Eric said, “When you say whatever are you telling me I can start randomly asking why there are dragons in the sky and that we need to ready the knights?”

Kayden’s eyes widened in humor as he let out a loud and warm laugh, remembering back to when they used to play pretend. 

“If that makes you happy, why not?” Kayden smirked as he pushed Eric aside to fill the cake pan with batter. 

Eric tried his best to ignore the warm tingles in places where Kayden had touched him and asked another question to distract himself. “I get wanting to help children, but why are you so passionate about it?”

Kayden’s laughter faded as he registered what Eric asked. He hid his face for a second as he popped the cake in the oven. When he stood to face Eric again, his face showed no discomfort about the topic. 

“It’s always hit or miss on how a child will turn out from being in the system. Whether that’s a few months or few years, no one can determine how it will affect a child. I guess when I ran into my dad, it really showed me that there were still kind people in the world.” He frowned a little before continuing, “Because of that, it made me want to be that kindness for other unwanted children.”

Eric looked at Kayden as a blush threatened to show. “How are you not bitter about everything?” 

Kayden raised amused eyebrows as he met Eric’s eyes. “I was bitter for a very long time, Eric. It wasn’t until I met my dad that I slowly stopped. I was the definition of moody teenager before I left the orphanage.” 

Eric found that hard to believe. 

Kayden suddenly ruffled Eric’s hair and said, “Don’t look like that. My experience doesn’t diminish yours, Eric. You’re allowed to feel angry about what happened.”

Eric looked up to meet Kayden’s surprisingly gentle eyes before finding himself pulled into a warm embrace. Without his permission, his arms reached around Kayden and held on tight to him as he relished in the warmth that surrounded him. 

“I don’t know what you went through, but I’ll always be here for you.” Kayden whispered just above Eric’s ear. 

With his throat suddenly tight, Eric could only nod and tighten his grip on Kayden. He felt his face flush as Kayden held him tighter. 

It wasn’t a romantic gesture by any means. Eric knew that, but he couldn’t help but wonder what this hug would have felt like had it been something more. 

After a few minutes of just standing there, Kayden pulled away and smiled down at Eric. “It’s a good thing we baked a cake.”

Eric felt his face stretch into a genuine smile as he nodded his head. 

The two worked in silence once the cake had finished baking and they decorated it with icing. Both lost in their thoughts but happy with each other’s company. 

Eric felt the pressure gripping his heart relax just a little as he watched Kayden eat a piece of cake. His feelings of resentment that had formed from Kayden not recognizing him had all but evaporated into air. 

For the first time in a long time, he was looking forward to the future.