Authors Note: I thought of this story mainly when I was obsessed with baking pies. Since I never really have time to bake them, or that many to share them with, I just put all my obsession into this work-a-holic blond. Hope you guys enjoy!
-Saturn
"You aren't going with him?" Charlie asked. Max snapped back to reality with that. Thankfully he had only been talking with Ed like that for a minute or two, or else Charlie would probably be thinking that Max had lost it. Charlie had turned back to the stove he was on and was back to dancing with the ingredients.
"No, I figured I'd help you a little bit," Max answered. Someone had to make sure that he was going to keep eating throughout the day anyway. And the chefs were already busy doing their own thing.
"You know," Charlie gave him a small smile. "You don't have to hang out with me all day, every day. I can be by myself perfectly fine. You should go hang out with your friends some. They probably miss you."
"But you are my friend," it took all Max had in him not to say mate. The one thing that everyone understood about mates was that once you found yours, you became infatuated with them. Sometimes it would only be a short amount of time, like a honeymoon faze, before you would go back to hanging out with other people. Other times you would only want to hang out with that person.
Like Sam.
It was responsibilities and duties that typically kept mated wolves from staying that way. The pack would usually give them a week to enjoy their new love before they would get them back to their jobs. It worked for most. Tyler and his mate are a crazy power couple, and they are fine with being a part most of the day as long as they sleep in the same bed. Ed and his mate can sometimes go days without each other, as Ed's mate is set on her career and sometimes has to go on trips for school. But Sam was hooked to Leah like a Rockstar to drugs. They could barely get Sam to do anything with them.
Max wasn't entirely sure where he was going to end up with Charlie. But he knew that he didn't want to give anyone the feeling that he had when he realized that Sam wasn't going to want to hang out with him. He would at least try to make time for his friends and family.
Just not right now. He still had to figure out a plan for right now.
"Well, thanks," Charlie said. "But we've only just met, and, I guess, only just became friends. You don't have to hang out with me all the time."
Max had a feeling that even if he wound up being like Sam with his mate, Charlie wouldn't let him ignore his friends or family.
That only made him love him more. The wilder part of him wanted to just claim him already. To mark him and say that he was his and no one else's for the rest of eternity. But that would only scare him off. And Max didn't need anything working against him at the moment.
"I'm usually alone anyway," Max shrugged. He picked up a peeler and set to work on the apples. "They've all got families of their own to care for."
"Ah," Charlie nodded, "Even Ed?"
"Ed doesn't have kids yet, but his wife is in college right now and he does all the chores and errands for her."
"That's really sweet of him," that beautiful smile came to his face again. "I'm guessing you're the only one not married then?"
"As single as can be," Max replied. He was a little distracted from the conversation by the apple that he was trying to peel.
Why are apples so hard to peel? He wouldn't be surprised if Nick and Katy were laughing at him behind his back because he couldn't peel a damn apple.
"Here," Charlie gestured for Max to give him the peeler. He didn't laugh at him or anything, like everyone else was most likely doing. He must have seen how frustrated Max was getting. "It's easier the faster you go. As long as you be careful around your fingers. These peelers are pretty sharp."
Max watched in amazement as Charlie peeled the apple perfectly in a matter of seconds. Charlie tried to hand the peeler back to him, but he refused.
"There's no way I'm going to be able to do that."
"You can't get better at something if you don't practice," Charlie put the tool in his hand. Small sparks connected through their fingers with even the smallest of touches. "I was horrible at this the first time I tried."
"I can't imagine you being horrible at anything," Max muttered. It was more of something that was meant to stay in his head, but it slipped out faster than he could stop it.
"Really?" Charlie laughed. "I'm not talented at much, to be honest."
"I doubt that," Max said.
They worked in peaceful silence after that. There was still plenty of noise from the other chefs working around them. But that noise seemed to disappear when Max was with Charlie. Charlie was the only person Max could really feel peaceful around. Most of his life he had lived all wound up and ready for action. Charlie helped him calm down and enjoy the moment.
Aldi had given Max quite a lot of counter space to work on. And it was in one nook of the kitchen that the workers didn't really go in too much. It was almost like they were in their own little bubble.
He was enjoying this more than he thought he would.
"So, no girlfriend, huh?" Charlie asked. "You seem like the type of guy that all the ladies would fight over."
"Fight over?" he raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
"Yeah," Charlie laughed. "A real lady's man."
"You have high expectations of me," Max shook his head. "I only had one in high school. And that was a dumpster fire." He hated whenever that was brought up. It's not like she broke his heart or caused him all this pain, it was just...cringey. As most things in high school were. There were lots of embarrassing moments in everyone's childhood, and that was one of Max's.
"Really? Just one?" Charlie put some berries in one of the giant pots he was using. "How long ago was that?"
"I'm 21 if that's what you're asking," Max had played these word games with Ed enough to be able to figure out what he was trying to ask. It was nice to know that the blond was curious about him as well though. Max would take it as a good sign.
"Oh no, I wasn't trying to sound rude," Charlie looked at him with apology written all over his face.
"Don't say you're sorry."
"Why?"
"Because I'm not offended," Max gazed into those meadow-like eyes again. "And you apologize way too much for something that's usually not your fault."
"Sorry," Charlie laughed, "It's just something that happens when you work in customer service for as long as I have." He moved closer to him to help him peel the apples. The rest of the things he was doing was apparently already done. Once Max had peeled them, Charlie started to take the core out and cut them into slices. He did it with such perfection and confidence. Max was surprised Charlie wasn't a cook at that restaurant. He seemed so comfortable in the kitchen.
"It was just a silly high school relationship," Max explained. "At first, I thought I was in love with her, then I realized that it was more of a physical relationship rather than a serious one. I broke it off with her once she started to get controlling. It was beyond annoying." He felt like he had to tell Charlie his past. If he had any hopes of starting a relationship with him, he was going to have to do it the honest route.
Maybe he was gay back then. He remembered being so excited to finally go all the way with her. But, when he did, he never felt satisfied. He just thought it was because she wasn't his mate. He tried to stay with her a little after that. He felt guilty for wanting to leave after going through all of that effort to convince her. But then she started getting way too jealous of everyone he talked to and was trying to control everything he did. He cut it off the week she started to do that. And he never had any regrets.
"Yeah, high school relationships are always full of drama," Charlie said. He put the apple slices in a bowl that had cinnamon and all the other ingredients in it. There was a look on his face that showed a bit of what Max could only describe as disappointment.
It's okay, Max would show him that he wasn't straight one of these days.
"So, what about you?" he tried to shake that thought out of his head. That wild part of him was dying to take over. "How many relationships have you been in?"
"Honestly," the blond looked embarrassed as he looked over at him. "I've been so busy with school and work, I never really took the time to focus on dating."
"Really?" Max was shocked at that. "You seem like a lady's man yourself though. With how easy you talk to people, I would've thought that girls would be throwing their numbers at you."
Did that mean that he was a virgin? The idea of that wasn't exactly helping that side of him that he was trying to keep on a leash. It made him a little guilty though. His mom always tried to tell him that he should wait for when he found his mate to do something as intimate as that. She told him that it would make the moment more magical, but Max didn't want to listen when he was a teenager. He just wanted to feed the hunger that all teenage boys had.
Then he learned his lesson.
"Well, thanks. I'll take that as a compliment. I always loved talking to people, ever since I was a kid. I don't know how that would go in a relationship, though. They might get a little jealous that I'm talking to so many people."
"That's ridiculous. I wouldn't get jealous if my significant other was talking to people all the time. It all depends on what they're talking about anyway," Max said. "Unless, of course, I'd think that the other person was trying to steal them from me."
"So, you're possessive of your girlfriends?"
"Not entirely," Max answered. He really didn't want to scare him off. "I just wouldn't like it if I knew that other person was trying to take them from me."
"Ah, I get it," Charlie nodded.
They went back to silence again, as Charlie began rolling out the crust and grabbing the pie pans. He was able to multitask so easily. It was like walking and breathing for him. Everything he did was always in one fluid motion. Where one task would end, another one would begin without any hesitation.
Meanwhile, Max could barely peel these stupid apples and watch him.
Why were there so many apples?
"Hey Charlie?" he got the baker's attention when he noticed that most of the workers had left after the breakfast rush was done.
"Yeah?" he was putting the rolled-out dough on the pie pans. Each crust was given a unique design on the edges. It was fascinating to watch him do it.
"Are you gay?" Max just had to ask. He was curious. He had to know just how difficult this was going to be for him. If Charlie already knew he liked guys then it would be a little easier to win his heart. If not, then Max might be looking at a much more long-term goal.
Exactly how difficult was the Moon Goddess going to make this?
"Well, you know," Charlie tensed at the question. "I've been so busy with studies growing up and work that I never really gave it thought." He gave him a fake chuckle.
"You're lying," Max could see it in his eyes.
"You think I'm lying?" Charlie looked at him playfully as he walked over to the pots of berries again.
"I know you're lying."
"Hey, can you try this really quick?" Charlie handed him a spoon full of the blueberry pie filling. "Be careful, it's really hot."
"You are great at changing the subject," Max smirked. He took the spoon and softly blew on the liquid.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Charlie winked at him again. That always threw Max off. He never expected Charlie to wink at him, or to really be flirty at all. It was a nice surprise. And Max was enjoying it. This was a fun game to play. He just wished he could get Charlie comfortable around him more often to do stuff like this.
There was no way he didn't like men.
He slowly put the spoon in his mouth, enjoying how intently Charlie was looking at him. Then, he forgot about everything else he was focused on before. His mouth exploded with a sweetness that he had never tasted before. Max didn't try the blueberry pie at the restaurant that night, but there was no way that this didn't top that one by leaps and bounds.
"What do you think?" Charlie asked. It was fun watching him look at him with such anticipation.
"This is amazing!" he went in for another spoonful. "Where did you learn to cook like this?"
"The head chef at the restaurant. I helped him prepare them every morning when I worked the opening shift. I was worried with this one that I might've put too much sugar in it. They were a little tart in this batch, so I wanted to compensate for it."
"This is the best pie I've ever had!" Max wanted to kiss him this was so good!
"It's not even cooked yet," Charlie laughed. "If you think this is good, you should have tried Chef Ryan's blueberry pie. Those are the best."
"There's no way I will ever taste anything better than this," Max said. He had no idea how Charlie could say that there was anyone who baked pies better than him. This was sent from the heavens.
He could hear his dad's reaction already. He was going to have to invite him to the little pie get together. He wasn't even sure just how many people Ed had already invited, but his parents had to come.
"Not even the apple pie?" Charlie asked. Max's eyes went wide at that thought. His mouth was already watering at the thought of his favorite person making his favorite pie.
"I need to try that next."
"Nope," Charlie blocked his path to the apple pie filling. "Not until it's cooked. You're going to wind up eating it all."
"I'm going to wind up eating you if these pies don't get done soon," Max's tone got darker. He didn't mean to say that. He shouldn't have said that. But every time Charlie lets his guard down a little bit more, Max started to lose control of himself just a little more. He wished he could have things at least a tiny bit easier with Charlie. Why couldn't he just have Charlie in his arms forever and have nothing be in their way?
Charlie just laughed at that. He tried to push him back with his hand, but Max caught it. That's when the blond looked at him again and they both began to get lost in each other's gaze once more. Charlie seemed to catch onto what Max was feeling, because his eyes were starting to get darker the longer he stayed in his gaze. Max was slowly starting to lose control of everything. All it was going to take was one move by Charlie and Max would wind up grabbing him and taking him away from it all.
"So, how's it going, boys?" Chef Aldi interrupted them. This time, Max couldn't really be that mad. He didn't really want to lose himself in front of everyone in the kitchen. Kitchen workers and maids really loved to gossip. This would be all throughout the pack in the matter of a day if he slipped up.
"Well, Max is going to try and eat it all if I let him try anything else," Charlie pulled his hand away and went right back to his regular self. Max was astonished that he could after what he saw in his eyes. "But we have the filling done, now we just need to pop all of these guys in the oven."
"Mind if I try a little?" Aldi's eyes sparkled. "I've got to see why Max looks so excited for this."
The good thing about the kitchen was that there were so many smells from the food that was being made, that no one could smell any arousal that anyone was getting. The hormones from it that normally werewolves could easily smell it from miles away. But there was a thousand different ovens and stoves that were lit up and smoking with the smell of food that it was nearly impossible to smell someone's arousal.
Which was great for Max.
"Oh, sure!" Charlie moved around Max to pull out another spoon. "Here, I need some expert advice on the raspberry filling, since Max already taste tested the blueberry filling."
"Good, raspberry's my favorite," Aldi chuckled as he took a small spoon full of the raspberry filling. He popped it into his mouth and his face changed to absolutely awestruck in a matter of seconds. Max was guessing that his face looked the exact same way when he tried the other filling. "This is wonderful!" He said. "You really have a great talent, boy!"
"Thank you," Charlie sheepishly said. "I really just learned from Chef Ryan. He taught me how to do all of this. But I still think his pies are the best."
"If they are then I'm seriously considering hiring him as a full-time pie baker," Aldi laughed. "Mr. Locke is going to love this."
Aldi left them alone after that. Nick and Katy wanted to come over to taste the filling too, but Aldi stopped them, saying that if everyone got to taste it, then there wouldn't be any left for the actual pies.
Max and him talked a little as they waited for the pies in the oven to be done. It only took a little over an hour, since they had enough oven space for half of the pies to cook and then the other half next. Charlie had to fight him tooth and nail so that he wouldn't eat all the pie filling. It didn't help that he had accidentally skipped breakfast. The apple filling really was amazing, more so than the blueberry one.
Max never knew he could talk this much. Normally he was always seen as the strong, silent type. But there was something about Charlie that made him love to talk. As long as Charlie was there, Max could talk about anything that came to mind easily and freely. The whole atmosphere that the blond brought with him everywhere was comforting and calm. It was nice to see those green eyes sparkle as he got him to laugh.
When the last of the pies got out of the oven, they smelt so good, Max was sure the whole house could smell it. He loved the smell of the apple pie the best though. That was quickly becoming his favorite smell.
"Hey Ed," he mind linked with his friend once more, "You're going to love this pie."