AN: I made brownies.
Brownies
By: anybodihearme
Originally Uploaded: Tuesday, February 16, 2021
Edd wiped his hands off his apron.
Standing in his kitchen and baking brownies rather than doing homework, some people would call him crazy. Not for baking brownies, but for enrolling in a graduate program during a global pandemic.
As if traditional education wasn't hard enough, Zoom University was something different.
It was a spur-of-the-moment decision if he was to tell you the truth, but does he regret it? No. After graduating with a degree in English and Creative Writing, Edd decided he needed a change of scenery. He loved writing but he wanted more, something more. He could have gone the traditional route and get an advanced degree in English and hone his writing skills even more. But, that wasn't what he wanted.
He wanted something more. He wanted something new.
Which is what led him to enroll in a Higher Education and Student Affairs program. It was as if a light bulb went off in his head one day.
He loved students. He loved working with them. He loved supporting them.
This is what he needed.
After scourging the internet and doing informational interviews, Edd settled for a small institution located in the midwest where the summers weren't too hot or winters too cold. It was perfect. With no time to waste, he chose a simple two-bedroom apartment nestled on the far end of campus.
It was a steal for the price even if there was no central HVAC unit which made the winters brutal but the bayside window did wonders in the summer. At first, he was skeptical but with classes starting in three weeks and his internship starting in two, he didn't have time to fly across the country to get the grand tour. He signed his lease on the internet and figured that if the place was a dump, he could tough it out for a year and move.
The place was small but big enough for him and the quarantine buddy he eventually adopted along the way. The majority of the time she would sleep the day away and terrorize him at night. Of course she would hiss and claw when she didn't get her way and Edd was always surprised his ceiling-length, decorative fairy-lights would make it through the night intact.
It was nice.
The pipes groaned here and there and the sink in the bathroom occasionally leaked. But what did it for him, was the kitchen.
Now, the appliances weren't shy of state of the art but the floor plan was wide and the counter was large. He could fit a baker's rack in the one corner and a pantry in the other with a table in the middle. Hell, he could throw the leaf on it and still have room.
It was all he needed.
Edd wiped the back of his hand on his forehead and plopped the brownies out of the pan. Just a few more seconds and the bottom would have been burnt. Smiling, Edd inhaled the smell of the brownies and closed his eyes for a second.
The pent-up anxiety he had nestling in him slowly began to leave his body when he started baking. Graduate school didn't necessarily have midterms or exams but those papers could easily break him. One could only do so much with student development theory and Schlossberg's four s's. It was getting to be too much and he needed to take a step back.
And brownies, everyone loves brownies.
An arm circled around his hip and pulled him a bit closer.
Opening his eyes, Eddward watched as his favorite red-head picked up a brownie, still hot, and placed it in his mouth.
Oh, and the boyfriend was nice.