if young love is just a game then i must've missed the kick-off
Prompt: “But the frosting looks so much more appetizing on your cheek.”
If James had to make a list of everything he thought he might have seen when he walked into the common room after his tutoring session ran over, Lily standing over a half-decorated cake with flour in her hair and frosting on her nose wouldn't have made the top ten. And yet, there she was, piping bag in hand and tongue poking out the corner of her mouth, bent over a two-tiered, red and gold cake.
"What's this?" James asked, setting down his bookbag. Lily jumped, evidently too deep in concentration to have heard him enter, then smiled.
"Happy birthday!" she said, spreading her arms wide, the piping bag leaking unnoticed onto the floor.
"I thought you hated baking," James said as he walked around the table to see the section she was working on. It said "Happy Birthday Jam".
"I do, but today is an important day." Lily turned back to the cake and began to quickly finish James' name.
"A Tuesday?"
"Your first birthday as my boyfriend," she corrected, setting down the frosting.
James grinned and wrapped his arms around Lily. "Your boyfriend," he repeated. "I'll never tire of hearing you say that." He dropped a kiss on her forehead then asked, "Is it good?"
"I've been too scared to try."
James laughed and grabbed one of the forks off the table to try a bite. "Delicious, of course."
"I wouldn't say 'of course'. 'Luckily', maybe. 'Thank Merlin', perhaps."
"Hush," he said as he swiped a fingerful of red frosting off the cake and smeared it on Lily's cheek.
"That belongs on the cake," she admonished, still in his arms and gazing up at him.
"But it looks much more appetizing on your cheek," James said before licking it off. Lily laughed and pushed him playfully before grabbing a napkin and wiping at her face. "Besides," James continued, "smashing cake in your girlfriend's face is a birthday tradition."
"That's a wedding tradition," she corrected.
"You're right. Let's get married, then."
"We can't get married, we're still in school."
"Fine, I'll ask again in three months," he said, pulling her back into his arms.
"You think we'll still be dating three months from now?" she asked, burying her face against his jumper.
"I think we'll still be dating a year from now."
"That's good," she said, her voice muffled, "because I sort of love you."
James stilled, then pulled back to look her in the eyes. "You sort of love me?"
Lily bit at her lip, then said "Sort of, definitely, tremendously. Take your pick."
"You love me tremendously?"
Lily nodded. "You seem shocked."
"I wouldn't say 'shocked'. 'Awed', maybe. 'Definitely also tremendously in love with you', perhaps."
Lily smiled. "Good, glad to see my cake won you over."
"Oh, no, that cake was full of egg shells. But I love you anyway."
"Egg she-?!" Lily began to say, but James cut her off with a kiss. He loved her, she loved him, and nothing - not even egg shells - could come between that.
But, just to be safe, he'd bake the cakes from here on out.
I cannot tell you how relieved I am that you weren't convicted. Seriously, you have any idea how living across the street from a murderer can affect housing prices?
You're going to go through life thinking that people don't like you because you're a Black. And I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, that that won't be true. It'll be because you're an asshole.
