Nutella Waffles for Two
Lizzie loved chocolate. She absolutely adored it. Dark, white, milk it didn't matter. There had been many a date when they were strolling through the city and Lizzie would drag Darcy into a chocolate store. Not that Darcy minded. He loved to watch Lizzie get excited about the things she loved. She would run around the chocolate shop, rushing back to Darcy to make sure he was still there or to show him some new kind of sweet that she wanted to try. When he would raise an eyebrow skeptically (Really Lizzie? A chocolate with ginger and wasabi? Isn't that a bit...dangerous?) she would put her hands on her hips and explain to him exactly why it was a good combination and that she was getting it and that he was going to try a piece whether he wanted to or not. It was because of her love for the sweet that he made up his mind that even though he wasn't very good at cooking, he was going to make the Nutella waffles from Clara's Domino video. After all, what could possibly go wrong?
Apparently, a lot could go wrong. Darcy waited until the perfect moment; it came about a month later when Lizzie said she was going to go visit Jane for the day, but that she'd be back in time for dinner. He bought all the ingredients in advance and hid them in his office so that Lizzie wouldn't guess what he was doing. He left Pemberley Digital early that day and returned to the apartment he shared with Lizzie. After making sure none of the ice cream had melted, he set up his laptop on the kitchen counter and loaded the video. The first issue came when he was making the waffle batter. He followed the instructions perfectly, but for some reason it was too runny. Darcy reached across the counter to get the flour, which he had decided to put by the sink for some irrational reason and accidently knocked over a carton of milk with his elbow. He swore under his breath, grabbing a dish towel and bent down to clean up the mess.
"Okay, this could be worse. You can do this, William. It's just baking." He muttered, cleaning up the last of the milk. "It's just baking" he said again as he added a bit more flour. Luckily, the batter became more solid and he was in the clear to add the Nutella. He decided to add a little bit more than Clara did; Lizzie loved chocolate, so that would make her happy, right?
His next challenge came with the Waffle Iron. The Waffle Iron, an object spoken about with great fear and reverence in the Darcy household was a huge, old contraption that was very temperamental and was given to letting off great cloud of smoke when it wanted to. It had been William's father's and Darcy could never bring himself to replace it. Today, however, he found himself wishing that he had. The Waffle Iron had chosen today, of all days (Why today, why Darcy moaned) to not only unleash large amounts of smoke, but to burn any and all food sources it came in contact with. He ended up throwing out five waffles before he finally ended up with two that weren't severely burnt. He let them cool and checked the time. It was about six and Lizzie wouldn't be back for another hour or so. He had plenty of time, as long as nothing else went wrong. He waited for the waffles to cool before spreading a generous helping of Nutella on each one. Darcy decided to add two scoops of strawberry ice cream for the filler since it was a favor that both he and Lizzie could agree on. Everything seemed to be going fine, until he added the powdered sugar. Darcy had never really used a sugar shaker before; Gigi had always been the one to do the holiday baking in their family. He wasn't very worried about this part; it was just a sugar shaker after all. What could go wrong? Darcy picked up the shaker and hit it. Nothing happened. He hit it again. Still no sugar. Puzzled, Darcy shook it from side to side. He could hear the sugar, it just wouldn't come out. He turned it right side up and peered into it, still moving it from side to side. Suddenly, wham! Darcy stumbled backwards into the counter, partially blinded by the sugar that had finally been dislodged from the shaker and had ended up all over his face and his sweater. He wiped his face off quickly, but not quickly enough. As he had fallen against the counter, his hand had hit a number of ingredients that he had balanced on the edge to be put away later. Darcy soon found himself and his floor covered with half a bag of floor, an egg and some Nutella. Darcy looked down at the mess that his kitchen had become.
"Okay" he said, standing up "Okay William, you still have time to clean this up and save Lizzie's sundae. All you have to do is-"he stopped midsentence at the sound of Lizzie's keys in the door.
"Darcy? I'm back!" she called, walking through the apartment. "Darcy, I have to tell you this story that Jane told me…" Lizzie trailed off as she entered the kitchen, surveying the scene before her.
"Hello Lizzie." Darcy said awkwardly. " I, uh, made these for you" He said, gesturing towards the waffles. Lizzie started laughing.
"Oh my god, William, what happened?"
"There's a reason why Gig does all the cooking". Darcy said sheepishly. Lizzie kept laughing and kissed him.
She licked her lips. "Mhmm, choc lately. Though, maybe I should do the cooking from now on." Darcy chuckled and hugged her.
"That might be a good idea".