The Breakfast Serial
Chapter 2 -- Doughnuts
By Steph
Summary: Four different couples, four very different mornings. There's a reason why it's considered the most important meal of the day.
Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own them.
Rating: PG-13
There was almost nothing in his refrigerator, he realized.
A jar of salsa and some mayonnaise. Some white rice leftovers from takeout Chinese.
No bread, no milk, no cheese, no eggs. No breakfast foods.
This wasn't good.
It had been awhile since he had had someone sleep over, but he did remember that if you had an overnight guest, you should probably offer her breakfast.
In his defense, he hadn't really planned this.
They had never dated, never even kissed before last night.
He had never slept with someone without dating them first.
Going through his cupboard, he found a box of powdered mini-doughnuts. He didn't even remember buying them. Not a good sign. He opened the box and tried one. Slightly stale, but not inedible.
He had no coffee, no tea. Looking in the freezer, he found that he had frozen orange juice concentrate. Which he also didn't remember buying.
He found a pitcher and began to make the orange juice.
His mind wandered as he pondered last night. They had slept together.
Were they dating now? Were they going to sleep together again? Were they going to forget it ever happened?
He thought of them last night. Thought of her.
No way he was going to be forgetting that any time soon.
He looked down at the juice, which he had somehow messed up. Deep in thought, he had screwed up the proportions and was now looking at a pale, watery looking juice. It didn't look appetizing.
But it was all he could offer her.
He guessed that it all started last night.
No, that wasn't completely accurate. God, he had known her for probably twenty years. Which was kind of scary.
They both lived in the same small town. Of course they ran into each other. Talked occasionally.
She helped him out at the charity book sales every once in awhile. He trusted her with his car when it acted up.
Sometimes they sat by each other at the town meetings. She was entertaining to sit next to, because she wasn't afraid to tell people (and by people he meant Taylor) what she thought.
Occasionally she read his private mail though. And she told people what was in his private letters.
He wasn't quite as entertained by that.
The fender bender last week was what changed everything. There was no question that it was her fault and fortunately the town agreed with him. She was pissed.
She wouldn't even look at him after the town meeting so he came by the next day with an estimate from an out-of-town mechanic. "This is what you owe me," he told her.
She took the paper from him, rolling her eyes. "First of all, it's crap that I owe you anything when it was your fault. Second, they're overcharging you. Or I should say, they're overcharging me. I'll fix it myself and it'll be much cheaper."
"I don't know if that's a good idea," he said.
"When did they tell you your car would be ready?" she asked.
"Saturday."
"I'll have it for you by Friday. And I'll throw in an oil change for free. This way we both win."
Well, he did need an oil change. He agreed.
"It looks good as new," he said to her Friday night.
"Of course it does," she said. "Why wouldn't it?"
"No reason," he said. He walked around the car giving it a final inspection.
"Okay then," she said. "Well, I appreciate your business and I hope you'll come to me when you have your next fender bender."
"Funny," he said.
They both looked up at the sky when they heard thunder. "I think it's going to rain," he told her.
"You are a quick one," she said. "Drive carefully."
"You too," he told her as he zipped up his jacket.
"I'm walking," she corrected him. "I'm still in the process of working on my car."
"Oh," he said. Then he decided to be a gentleman. "Want a ride home?"
"No thanks," she said.
He looked at her like she was crazy. The sky was really starting to darken. He bet it would be pouring in minutes. "Why not? Got a hot date?"
He had no idea why he had said that. And going by the odd look she was giving him, she was pretty surprised by that out-of-nowhere comment as well.
"No," she finally said, after a minute of silence.
"Why not then?"
"I tampered with your brakes."
He waited for the smirk or the grin from her to show that she was kidding.
There was none. She watched him evenly, neutrally.
He was pretty sure that she was kidding.
She was kidding, wasn't she? She continued to watch him.
He didn't really have time for this and he was starting to get cold. "You're kidding, right?"
"About what? Your brakes? Yes, I'm kidding. I'm not homicidal. Where would you get that idea?"
He shrugged and replied honestly. "Sometimes you scare me."
She grinned at that. She would take that as a compliment. "Good to know. Maybe I can use it to my advantage."
"Your advantage for what?" he asked her warily.
She watched him, considering, and then walked over to him and very lightly, very quickly kissed him, before stepping away.
It started drizzling, but he still didn't move. He just stared at her, trying to work his mind around what had just happened.
"Look," she said after seeing the expression on his face. "I shouldn't have done that. It was stupid and I'm sorry."
He met her eyes for a second before making a decision. He closed the distance between them and kissed her.
She decided to take him up on his offer for a ride home. Which was good, because it had really started pouring.
The rain was making it hard for him to see and she had her hand on his leg which was really distracting him. He ended up missing her street.
"Sorry about that," he said. "I'm going to have to turn around."
"You could," she said. "Or we can just go to your place."
Yeah, that would work too.
He was still stirring the orange juice when she walked into the kitchen.
"Morning," she said, yawning. "It's still raining, huh?"
"Yeah," he told her.
"I guess I get the day off then," she said. "I'm glad I finished your car yesterday."
"It'll be busy at the bookstore," he told her. "People always want new books and magazines on rainy weekends."
"Oh," she said. "I can leave now if you want me to. If you need to get to work."
"No," he said. "I'm not leaving yet."
He placed two glasses of the sickly-looking orange juice on the table, followed by a plate full of the mini-doughnuts.
"Sorry about breakfast," he told her.
"Don't be," she said. "I like doughnuts. And juice is good too."
He watched her as she took a bite of a doughnut. "What?" she asked him. "Did you poison it or something?"
"No," he said.
She took a sip of juice and choked on it. "Wow," she said, making a face. "That's really bad."
"Yeah, I was worried about that," he admitted. "I have water if you want that instead."
"Sure, thanks."
They ate their breakfast of slightly stale doughnuts and water in silence. And this, he thought to himself, was where things would get uncomfortable.
"Do I really scare you?" she asked him, interrupting his thoughts. She was smiling, but there was something unsure in her gaze.
"Sometimes," he said. "But in a good way."
"Sure," she said. "In a good way." She stood up. "I'm going to get going. You don't have to drive me home. I know you have to open the bookstore and I have no problem walking. Thanks for breakfast."
"I still have awhile before I was going to open the store. I'll drive you."
She wasn't happy. He could tell. She was looking out the window the entire ride home. He must have said something to upset her.
Was it when he said that she scared him? She seemed tickled when he said it last night. Why was she bothered by it this morning? What had happened between last night and this morning?
That was a stupid question. They had slept together. That's what had happened.
"Well," she said when they reached her place. "Thanks for last night. It was fun." She unlocked her car door.
He should do something, say something.
"Wait," he said. "The thing about scaring me…I meant it when I said in a good way. Sometimes it's good to be scared."
"Uh huh," she said disbelievingly. "Tell me another one."
He didn't. Instead he leaned toward her and kissed her. A second passed before she responded and kissed him back. When they broke away, she smiled at him. She looked nervous. He probably had the same expression on his face.
"Would you like to go out sometime?" he asked her, suddenly feeling insecure. "I know I'm doing this really out of order, but…"
"Okay," she said sounding relieved. "Sure."
"Good," he said nodding. "I'll come by later and we'll talk then. Okay?"
"I should tell you there is one condition."
"Yeah?" he asked. "What's that?"
"Next time," she said, "we're going out to breakfast."
To be continued....