Head Over Heels ✓

33 / summer nights

july, age 23

The tantalising smell of freshly baked banana bread filled the entire flat, wafting from the kitchen to the sitting room where Lucas sat with a print-out of the eighth chapter of the manuscript he was working on, unconsciously chewing the cap of his red pen as he scanned the pages. The rich, doughy aroma pulled him out of his concentration, going straight to his head along with the gentle scent of Earl Grey tea that grew stronger as Asher's footsteps got louder.

"Ok, here we go," he said as he backed into the room with his arms laden. He set don two plates of hot, moist banana loaf and a couple of steaming mugs of tea. "I made a cream cheese frosting too. I know that's more of a carrot cake thing, before you say it, but it's fucking delicious so I don't care." He licked a dollop of frosting off his thumb. "Ooh, not too shabby. That's pretty good."

"It looks it," Lucas said, his mouth watering. He set his manuscript safely to one side, away from crumbs and splashes, and he pulled over a mug and a plate. "Mmm, smells incredible. I can't believe you just made this."

"Mmhmm, with my own two hands." He wiggled his fingers and grinned. "My own very clean hands," he added, dropping down next to Lucas on the sofa. "God, if I may say so myself, this really does smell fucking incredible. Is it good?"

Lucas took a bite of the perfectly soft bread and groaned as he chewed, licking a smear of frosting off his lip. "Phenomenal," he said. "Who knew you were a baker?"

Asher tapped his nose. "So much you don't know about me, baby." He held a straight face for all of a second before he took a mammoth bite of his bread, shaking his head. "Who am I kidding," he muttered. "You know me better than I do." He stretched out his legs to rest his heels on the coffee table. "We had brown bananas and a whole bunch of cookbooks." He shrugged. "Figured I'd give it a shot."

"Well, you shot very well."

Asher winked. "I always do."

"Do you have to make absolutely everything dirty?" Lucas sipped his tea, the perfect heat with the perfect amount of milk. Sometimes Asher played dumb in the kitchen but he knew exactly what he was doing: it was merely laziness that held him back.

"Hey, you have always known what you were getting yourself into. I am my mother's son after all."

"Your mother's a terror," Lucas said. "You are too. A terror who knows his way around a banana, apparently."

Asher guffawed. "Oh my God, come on! You say I'm dirty but you're the one handing me the set-up on a silver platter!"

Lucas gave him a coy smile, holding back a cheeky grin. He took another bite and slipped his hand onto Asher's knee. "I know you know your way around a banana," he said, his voice low. He kissed Asher's cheek. "After all, this is really good banana bread."

Asher's grin widened. "You are such a fucking tease," he murmured, kissing Lucas with the sweet spice of his tea on his tongue. He moved his plate to the coffee table, adjusting his position to kiss Lucas better, cupping his cheek in his hand and knocking his glasses with his nose. Pulling away an inch, he said, "You're not as innocent as you look."

Lucas shrugged and smiled, reaching for his tea. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said. Asher groaned and flopped back onto his side of the sofa, a grin on his lips.

"Look at you, Mr Coy," he said. "Under all this, this clean that you've got going on, there's a dirty Lucas hiding inside somewhere. He's just buried under a mountain of bleach and sponges and wet wipes."