She heard a loud crash coming from the kitchen, followed immediately by gasp. What the hell was going on in there?
Hesitantly, she pushed open the door.
She didn't know whether to laugh at the sight she beheld or scream, for it was frighteningly amusing...or perhaps amusingly frightening.
"Edward, what on earth...?" He froze in the middle of the room, his pale face made whiter by the flour powdered all over it. Bits of raw egg dripped from his tangle of black hair. His apron was shredded and decorated in much the same way as his hair and face. The television glowed in the corner, the face of Martha Stewart filling up the screen.
"...cookies...?" he squeaked, blinking.
Lydia could no longer hold back her howls of laughter, try though she did. Edward just stood there, blinking and dripping egg whites onto the dirty floor.
"I'm...I'm sorry..." she said, trying to catch her breath as she all but stuffed her fists into her mouth to keep from laughing. She really didn't want to hurt his feelings, but he looked ridiculous, and the place was a mess. Also, the fact that he was trying to make cookies just tickled her. She supposed he wouldn't have much trouble cutting them...
"Here, I'll help you clean this up before my parents get home." Edward didn't budge. Had his project failed so horribly? He thought he was following the directions rather well, and was doing a pretty good job, considering...
"I wanted to..." he hesitated, snipping his scissorhands nervously. "...I wanted to have them ready for when you got home..."
Lydia could feel her heart melt in her chest and couldn't stop a small "aw" from escaping her lips. God, but this boy was sweet...
"Oh, it's ok Edward," she said, abandoning her milk-soaked paper towel and walking toward him. "I'll help you make a batch once we've got all this cleaned up, if you want." She gave his arm an affectionate squeeze and he smiled. Maybe his efforts hand't been in vain, after all.
He nodded. "I would like that."
"Great," Lydia beamed. She had no idea what kind of metal the rest of him was made of, but she was certain that his heart was solid gold.
Neither of them spoke until every last cookie had been devoured.
Edward hadn't been able to help her, much, but she didn't mind. Just having him there, watching her with childlike awe as she stirred the batter and spooned it onto the cookie sheet was enough for her. He hadn't said more than a handful of words but she wasn't surprised, or bothered by his silence. She'd been exposed to loud mouths all day, gabbing on and on about the most pointless things and gossiping to no end. It was refreshing to come home to someone so pleasantly mute.
"Did you like them?" she finally asked, washing down some crumbs with a drink of milk.
Edward nodded and dabbed at the corners of his mouth with a napkin. "Very nice."
"Good. Thanks for helping me with them."
Edward knew he hadn't done much of anything but stand around and watch, but he remember learning once that sometimes its better to graciously accept a thank you or a compliment, even if you don't agree with it, than to argue and possibly offend the other person.
"You're welcome."
Edward hadn't managed to wipe up all the chocolate from his lips and after some debating, Lydia decided to help him out, albeit she did so in a way not entirely of her choosing. Her first impulse would have been to kiss away every trace of the dark sweetness from his mouth...but she knew full well that to do so would make him terribly uncomfortable. He wasn't ready for such intimacy, no matter how badly Lydia wanted to give it to him.
"You forgot a bit," she said, taking her own napkin and pressing it to the corners of his lips. He flinched slightly, still not accustomed to the small amounts of close contact Lydia often bestowed upon him but was instantly assured that it was alright, that she wouldn't hurt him. Edward felt embarrassed and a little silly. Of course she wouldn't hurt him. He wished he could stop being so bashfull all the time, and hoped that he would eventually get over his shyness; the sooner the better.
He had no way of knowing it, but Lydia hoped so too, and vowed to herself to help in any way that she could. She'd just take it slow, let him move at his own pace, and who knows what they one day might accomplish?
Lydia smiled and wiped away the last hint of chocolate from Edward's face.
"There," she said. "That's better."