Kate had texted him about twenty minutes ago.
Billy please go get me muffins i'll die i can't get out of this meeting and i need raspberry chocolate chip muffins it's an emergency.
Where the fuck, Billy texts back, does one get raspberry chocolate chip muffins?
The only reply he gets is an address, which is apparently the address of a little bakery which carries these rare muffins. Billy goes, only because he loves his best friend and also because he's kind of intrigued by the existence of such delicious sounding muffins.
He pushes open the door of the bakery, which has a little bell attached to it like this is some small town family run shop and not a tiny little storefront shoved between a tattoo parlour and a used bookstore in the middle of the city. It smells like a small-town bakery too, or how he imagines one would smell, a toasted warmth that hits his heart as well as his stomach.
Inside, everything looks delicious. He is momentarily distracted from his mission by the sheer number of baked goods behind the counter. There's loaves of bread on one wall, the other wall has shelves of homemade cookies. If his mom made cookies, they'd probably look like that, he muses. They look like mom cookies.
It's like he's stepped into a Ghibli film. Except he's still wearing his ratty tshirt, the one with the faded map of Middle Earth on it and the hole in the armpit that he pretends isn't there. Ghibli characters are much better dressed than he is, currently.
No sooner does he think that than a sunshine of a man steps out from the back. He's tall, with wide shoulders and thick arms, a hint of softness hiding behind his flour-streaked apron making him somehow fit into this fairytale bakery scene. He's got a streak of flour across one cheek that is practically art. Billy is having a hard time looking away.
"Oh, hey!" The guy's voice is sweet and kind and god Billy stop this immediately or you will be stuck buying your bread here forever because a literal prince of a boy works here snap out of it "Can I help you with anything?"
Say something, Billy. No words come to him.
"I like your shirt, by the way."
Forget fairy tales. He died and ended up in baked goods heaven. That is the only reasonable answer.
"Muffins!" He says, because his destiny is to embarrass himself in new and exciting ways on a daily basis. "I mean. Thanks. I like it too? And my friend sent me here for muffins?"
The guy is smiling at him. If he hasn't already died, he might expire shortly.
"Luckily, we do happen to have muffins."
"That's good." Ah yes. Death is nearing.
"Any particular kind of muffins…?"
He steps closer to look into the display case. "My friend said something about raspberry chocolate chip ones?"
"Oh! Wait, hold on. Is your friend Kate?"
Kate, who knows everyone, so of course she knows this beautiful baker. She's been holding out on me. Billy can't believe this utter betrayal. Sure, he'd forbid her from trying to set him up with anyone, but the fact that she actually listened is totally uncool. Well, it's uncool when she knows people like this.
"Probably? If the Kate you know is rich and famous and oddly fond of the colour purple."
He laughs, like Billy is actually funny. That is so sweet of him. "Yep, same Kate! Are you Billy, then?" He ducks underneath the counter, stands up holding a box. "She called and said someone was going to come in for these." Seeing Billy reaching for a wallet, he shakes his head. "Don't worry about it, she's already paid. She has a standing fund for emergency muffins."
"That's how you know people aren't exaggerating, when they call her a genius," Billy quips, and gets another laugh. Maybe this guy needs to watch more comedies, because he shouldn't be laughing this much at Billy's nervous humour. "I'm sorry, I don't know your name?"
"Teddy," he says, and puts the box of muffins down so he can shake Billy's hand. His grip is warm and maybe it's bakery magic but Billy feels like he's already fallen in love. "Nice to meet you, Billy."
"Likewise," Billy gets out.
Teddy hands him the box of muffins just as Billy gets another text from Kate. Billy where are you i am so hungry and this guy keeps talking to me about what's proper for young ladies like myself i am gonna bench press him out a window and Kate's really been spending too much time with their more violent friends so Billy knows the time has come to leave this little patch of bread heaven. Breadven?
"I gotta go," he says, shooting back a quick reply. Coming. Why didn't you tell me about Teddy?
Teddy nods, still smiling, and then he puts a little paper bag on top of the box of muffins. "On the house, for helping out our favourite customer," he says, and Billy swears Teddy's ears have gone pink.
"Oh, thanks!"
He doesn't run away, exactly. But he does move speedily in Kate's direction. It isn't until he's gotten the muffins safely into Kate's hands that he peeks into the bag. It's a simple glazed donut, and a little scrawled note that Teddy must have written while he was replying to Kate.
One ring to rule them all, says the note. To match your shirt. Come back some time?
He does. This time, he pays for his donut. The number he gets with it comes as a surprise.
He walks out of the bakery, still staring at the numbers written on his receipt. He can't help but type them into his phone, call him immediately, even though he knows he's working. Teddy still picks up.
"Go out with me? If you exist outside of the bakery, I mean."
Teddy's laugh sounds just as good as the first time he heard it.
Kissing him is just as amazing as he imagined it.