Avery heard Nytin quickly move off the couch, and his footsteps became louder and louder as he walked back nto the kitchen before joining her by her side, “Yes? Did you need something, Starshine?”

A soft smile spread across Nytin's lips as he stared down at Avery, who nodded, “Mmhm, would you like to try the filling before we pop it in the oven?”

“It would be an honor,” Nytin spoke softly, “Let me wash my hands first.” He began rolling his sleeves back up when Avery stopped him in his tracks, holding up a large spoon with a single apple on it. He stared at the spoon for a few seconds and felt his face heat up as Avery opened her mouth to speak.

“Too much work,” Avery giggled a little, “Ah.” She held up the spoon to feed Nytin, waiting for him to open his mouth.

Nytin was flustered for a few moments, but then he chuckled and shook his head before moving forward, allowing Avery to feed him. The moment the apple filling hit his tongue, his eyes practically shone like stars, “Mm!”

“Do you like it?” Avery hoped it was to Nytin's liking. She didn't want to let him down after how excited he’d been to try it.

Nytin nodded his head quickly, “Yes!” He quickly calmed down, clearing his throat, “It's delicious. I may need just one more bite.”

Avery felt her face heat up at Nytin's excitement, “Really? I only changed the recipe a little. I'm glad you like it.” She moved and got another spoon, once again feeding Nytin the filling, who happily allowed Avery to feed him. “Are you sure it doesn't need anything?”

“No, whatever you added made it absolutely perfect—the right amount of sweet and savory. Honestly, I can't wait to try it when it's finished.” Nytin moved closer to Avery ever so slightly, staring into her eyes warmly. “Do you need me to help you with anything?”

He was disappointed, to say the least, as Avery shook her head. “Nope, I want to make this for you…” She stared at Nytin with a complicated expression on her face, completely embarrassed. “Guys…you guys…” she quietly added, looking away.

Nytin stared at Avery and swallowed the lump in his throat, “I-I see…” He rocked back on his heels slightly, rubbing the back of his neck, “Just let me know if you need me for anything, anything at all.”

Avery looked as if she were plotting something, slightly glancing at him from the corner of her eyes. "Don't be surprised if I take up that offer later. There's a good chance I’ll need an escort to my apartment.” She turned around and poked Nytin's chest with her finger, sticking her tongue out playfully.

As Avery spoke, Nytin’s eyes seemed to dilate, and he practically melted into that small touch from Avery. He kept his eyes locked onto hers while a large smile was plastered across his face, “I'd be happy to take you home.”

He leaned against the counter and continued to banter with Avery almost flirtatiously. He watched her continue making the dump cake, focused on ensuring it was perfect. Nytin eventually moved to sit on a stool in the kitchen. He watched Avery grab a large baking pan and pour the apple filling into it. Then, he evenly distributed the cake mix onto the apple filling and placed the butter slices on top to finish it.

After a long while, Nytin couldn’t help but feel lonely. He knew Amirah and Blaire were there, but the person he truly wanted to spend time with was Avery. She had shot him down every time he’d offered her assistance. He soon began watching her with a saddened expression, longing for another conversation. He wondered if he could do her hair again or maybe convince her to leave early, and then they’d be alone, free to talk and laugh together.

Amirah and Blaire looked at each other with raised brows. Nytin looked like a lost puppy, abandoned and alone, but he really seemed to just want attention—Avery's attention.

Amirah gently guided Blaire to their bedroom and closed the door behind them. “Babe…we gotta ask him!”

Blaire quickly nodded, “Oh yeah, big time.”

“But how are we gonna do it so Avery doesn’t hear? We can’t make things awkward, y’know?” Amirah began to explain, “If Nytin does like Avery, then we can’t ruin his chances…or maybe even hers.” 

Blaire closed her eyes and crossed her arms, “Mmm…why don’t we just sneak Nytin over here? We can tell Avery we were just…making sure he was good or something…or wait until she’s in the bathroom or something.”

“She’s too smart for the first one, and the bathroom one may not give us enough time…” Amirah crossed her arms. Suddenly, her eyes widened as she hit her palm with her fist, “Avery hasn’t really napped today! We can wait until she falls asleep, put her in her guest room, and there's our window!”

Blaire grinned mischievously, “That's a great idea. I'm sure she’ll be knocked out after dinner, and we can interrogate allllll we want…” She laughed, “This is gonna be so good!”

Just then, they heard a small knock and Nytin's voice, “Are you two alright? Avery wanted me to come check on you two. The peppers are finished, so we can all eat now.”

Amirah opened the door, startling Nytin, who had a bit of flour on his face, “We’re fine. Sorry for disappearing like that.” She motioned for Blaire to leave the room, “Also, you got a little bit of…flour…on your face.”

Nytin touched his cheek and smiled a little, “I’ll…be right back.” He turned around and speed-walked toward the kitchen. “Did you think I wouldn’t notice? Come here!”

They heard Avery scream before laughing, and Nytin laughing alongside her. Amirah and Blaire quickly went over, and Nytin had smeared flour on Avery’s face while she tried to swat his hands away. “This is unfair! You’re targeting the visually impaired!”

Nytin managed to get a little more on her face before letting her run away, “Yet somehow you managed to sneakily get flour on my face? I figured something was amiss; you can't see that far!”

Avery’s cheeks turned red from laughter. “You’re the one who kept trying to steal more filling before I put it in the oven.” She then noticed her two best friends waiting for her, “Oh! You’re back! Let's eat while the dessert’s baking in the oven.”

Blaire excitedly began setting the table for everyone while Amirah served their plates, and Nytin got everyone something to drink. Avery quietly checked up on the dessert, which smelled heavenly. She took a fork and tapped the top of the cake. It wasn't quite ready yet, so she moved back and walked over to the table, where everyone was just sitting down.

Amirah grinned, “Okay! Time to eat before it gets cold and the cake burns.”

They all began chatting over dinner, complimenting each other on their dishes. Blaire was the only one who did not speak; she was too focused on her food to give compliments, and everyone else figured she was heavily enjoying it anyway.

Blaire finally took a chance to catch her breath, “Nytin, these pepper things are so good! Oh, and you, too, Avery.” She took another bite, making a mess of all the ground beef stuffed inside the pepper, but as it fell onto the table, she picked up the pieces and put them on her plate.

Nytin smiled, “Thank you. My sister, Fyiari, taught me the recipe, but I changed it to my liking.” He was eating his salad but had picked out the onions Amirah had put in, “I do quite enjoy this salad, though. The flavors blend very well together.”

Amirah giggled, “You picked out all the onions, though.”

Nytin couldn't meet her gaze, averting his eyes and laughing a little. “I will admit, raw onions are something I prefer to avoid in salads... “

Avery tilted her head, “Really? How come in just salads?”

“Well…they overpower everything else in the dish, in my opinion, it's kind of like adding too much salt into something. They’re still good, but it's a preference of mine.”

In reality, Nytin didn't want his breath to smell when going to speak with any of the women there, especially Avery, who had a much better sense of smell than any of them there. His stomach twisted at the very thought of Avery scrunching her nose up or backing away from him due to bad breath.

Blaire raised a brow, “I thought I was picky?”

Avery spoke up, “Well, actually, Nytin would still eat the onions, just not in a salad.” She took a small sip of her water with a smile. “You wouldn’t eat the salad unless you picked out everything but the lettuce.”

“Yeah, well…I don't think that's fair because lettuce is what makes a salad a salad, so-”

Beep…Beep…Beep

Blaire was interrupted by the obnoxiously beeping oven, demanding that it be opened and the timer turned off. Nytin was almost instantly out of his seat and in the kitchen, searching for the oven mittens.

Avery chased after him with food stuffed in her cheeks and tried to pry it out of his hands first. “Mm! Mmhn!” She tried to chew her food before talking to Nytin, who just grinned cheekily.

“Hm? What's that? You want me to grab the cake?” He got away from Avery, who just started to laugh, accepting her defeat and swallowing her food.

Nytin happily took his long-awaited dessert from the oven, taking in a deep, satisfactory breath of the sweet cinnamon apple scent that immediately filled the room stronger than before. He was practically drooling as he placed it on top of the stove to allow it to cool. “It looks delectable.”

Avery smiled up at Nytin, “It smells really good. I just hope it tastes like how it smells.”

“Well, you made it, so I'm certain it's delicious no matter what.” Nytin’s eyes were practically twinkling as he gazed at Avery. “Although I do think it would pair well with vanilla ice cream.”

Amirah spoke up from the dining room, “With whipped cream too!”

Soon, Amirah and Blaire had also gone over, and Avery began to serve everyone a generous helping of cake, ice cream, and whipped cream. She decided to be a bit fancy and sprinkled a mixture of brown and white sugar to top it all off. 

“Bon Appétit.” Avery chirped proudly, handing everyone their own plate. She'd served Nytin a helping for two people, and Blaire couldn't help but feel that Nytin’s looked ever so slightly better than everyone else's.

Nytin gratefully took his plate from Avery. Avery had put a tiny heart in the corner of the whipped cream, but it was a little crooked and sloppy. Nytin thought this was adorable and couldn’t help but stare at it for a few seconds, a fluttery feeling enveloping his stomach. 

The quartet soon was quietly eating their dessert in the living room while watching a festive movie. Amirah leaned against Blaire on the couch while Avery and Nytin sat together on the loveseat, whispering about the film.

Nytin was trying to describe the movie to Avery as it happened, but she was beginning to get lost, “Wait…so…the burglars broke into the house…again?”

Nytin looks troubled. “The child boobytrapped his house, so every time the burglars tried to get in, they failed—oh, they got in…” He began explaining how exactly they got into the house and the traps set for them as they tried to run after the child. 

Avery's head spun as she tried to imagine the scene, but she slowly began to understand and enjoy the movie more. Now and then, she’d ask Nytin what was going on, trying to guess what was going on from the sounds and conversations of the characters. Nytin happily answered Avery, but eventually, she stood up and set her plate aside, excusing herself before going into the bathroom.

Instantly, Blaire slightly turned up the television, and the couple inched closer to Nytin, who was confused, “How come you made the movie…louder…” he trailed off as the two quietly whispered amongst themselves briefly before Blaire turned to him quickly, startling him, “What are y-”

“We have a question.” Blaire cut him off. They were short on time before Avery came within earshot, “But you gotta tell us the truth.”

Nytin hesitated briefly before gesturing for Blaire to continue, “Alright then, I will…what is the question?”

“So, like… what's going on with you? Do you have feelings for Avery?” She lowered her voice slightly, “Y’know… feelings.”

Those words rang throughout Nytin's mind over and over. Feelings…? For Avery?  He was at a complete and utter loss for words, not knowing how to answer, so he simply stuttered what he could, “N-no…I don’t…”

Amirah crossed her arms. “You can't even say it with a straight face.”

Nytin’s face turned almost entirely red, “I’ve only known St– Avery…for a little over a month, I couldn’t possibly have any…” his voice lowered, and he averted his gaze,  “...romantic feelings towards her…”

Blaire grinned cheekily, “I fell for Amirah the second I saw her, and you’ve been with Avery for the majority of the time lately.” She crossed her arms and gave him a devious smile. “Plus…look at yourself, dude. You look ready to faint.”

Desperate to defend himself, Nytin began to ramble, almost frantically, “I…well… that's true, but I only…” He let out a slightly frustrated noise as he struggled to explain his actions, “It’s an odd question to ask, is all…it caught me off-”

“Shit! Avery, did you hear all that?”

Nytin’s head instantly jerked over to where the bathroom was. However, Avery was nowhere to be seen, and the moment he’d realized he had been had, his cheeks burned brightly, and a scowl quickly flashed across his face as he looked at Blaire, who was laughing to herself. 

Panic flashed through Nytins’ mind at the very thought that Avery would stop being his friend. He couldn't lose Avery, not to something like this. He was scared that, being her best friend, Amirah would tell Avery everything, giving her the wrong idea about the situation, and then she would treat him differently. They wouldn't go out anymore. He wouldn't be able to braid her hair or cook with her, enjoy sweets, and teach her how to dance, or —no, they wouldn't stop being friends. He didn't have feelings. He just cared for her, platonically, as good friends and nothing more. 

“This conversation stays between the three of us.” His voice was low, but the two women could tell he was serious.

Amirah quickly agreed, “Of course! We were just curious, is all…with the puppy dog eyes and the blushing, it's cute!”

“What’s cute?”

Nytin felt his heart drop. Avery had come out of the bathroom but had only caught the end of Amirah's sentence. “Uhm…I was just…we were just…” Nytin struggled to find an excuse and looked at Blaire, practically begging her to fix what was happening.

Blaire quickly swooped in, “We were just talking about how excited he was for the dessert you made! He’s eaten like half of it already, and Amirah just said it was kinda cute because Nytin was a little embarrassed about it, but we told him not to worry.”

Avery looked like she was questioning Blaire's words for a few seconds. Her brows furrowed as she tried to decide whether Blaire was hiding something or telling the truth, but soon, a smile spread across her lips.

“Oh! Well, then, I agree. It was kind of cute. There's no reason to be embarrassed,” She walked over to him and sat down again. “We all have our moments.”