Chapter 3: Lemon Meringue Pie and a Home Away From Home!
Amu POV
"Hey Nagihiko? Do you have an apron I can borrow? I guess I forgot my bag that I had put it in…" I really just noticed that now? Today was not my day.
"Clumsy and forgetful…" he whispered and chuckled to himself.
"I heard that you kn-" My irritation-filled sentence was cut short by Nagihiko handing me a folded light pink apron.
"You can use this one, sorry if it's a little big." he said and then went to set up our working station and lay out the ingredients. "I will be right back; I'm going to get another apron. Can you check to see that we have all of the ingredients for me please?" He asked and began walking out of the kitchen.
"No problem. And thanks for the apron." I went down the list of ingredients and sure enough, everything was there. I idly stood around for a bit before I remembered about the apron in my hands. Duh, I should probably put it on. When I unfolded it I noticed the large pocket it had on the abdomen area. After putting my head through the neck loop I found that he was right, it was a little big on me. When I finished tying the strings on the sides I looked again at the large pocket. It seemed to have grown in size when I had actually put on the apron. I imagined myself looking like a kangaroo and having a little Joey in this oversized pocket of mine. The image was so ludicrous I couldn't help but laugh. I was still laughing aloud when Nagihiko had finally returned. Between giggles and gasps for air I somehow explained to him why I was laughing so hard.
"Haha, you're right, it does remind me of a kangaroo!" Soon enough we were both cracking up and gasping for air like fish out of water. I almost died when he hopped like a kangaroo; it was one of the funniest things I have ever seen. Our stomachs were hurting so badly from laughing that we both collapsed to the ground and giggled until we finally regained control of ourselves and wiped the tears from our eyes.
Nagihiko was the first to get up so he gave me hand and helped me up.
"So are ready to make a lemon meringue pie?" he asked.
"Yeah, I think so." I answered with a bit of hesitation as I questioned whether my baking skills were up to par.
It wasn't as hard as I had originally predicted, especially with Nagihiko's help. The kitchen only suffered a few minor spills, which were all my doing, for he did everything with evident skill. Baking was yet another area in which the twins were perfectly matched.
"Would you care to do the honors?" he asked me as he handed me a pair of oven mitts.
"All right." I took the oven mitts from him and put them on before grabbing the door. When it had opened I was blasted by the concentrated aroma of zesty lemon and toasted cream. The enticing smell swirled and danced with the stagnant air until the whole room smelled of our delicious creation. I was captivated. It smelled even better than the tart shell and cookies I had made with his sister so long ago. I eagerly wrapped my covered hands around the pie tin and brought it out of the oven and into the cool air. I set it on the counter and was in awe of its perfect appearance, it looked like something out of a food magazine.
"It looks amazing! Wow." I told the cheerful Nagihiko.
"I knew it would be, but it does look a lot better than I expected. It must be because you helped me make it, Amu-chan." I blushed and he chuckled and smiled at me, his shiny honey eyes were filled with approval. "How about we try it now? I'm dying to know what it tastes like."
"Yeah, me too." I responded.
He cut us both a piece and put them on plates, then handed me a fork.
"Ready?" he asked when we both had gathered a small bite of pie on our forks. "1, 2, 3!" On 3 we both ate of piece together and chewed it in content. It was unlike anything I had ever tasted before. It was lemony and light and delectable. The tartness of the lemon filling and sweetness of the meringue were balanced in perfect harmony. I saw Nagihiko look over at me with a 'so what do you think' kind of expression.
"It's wonderful Nagihiko! It tastes so good!" I assured him excitedly.
"I'm glad you like it." he said with a hint of pride in his cheery tone.
We finished our slices in blissful silence. After we were done we cleaned up our mess, which I was mostly responsible for, and I handed him the kangaroo apron and he traded it for the saran wrapped pie tin full of the rest of the pie.
"Why are you handing me the whole pie? You don't expect me to take this all home do you? I couldn't! I mean, you should take some!" I shouted as I tried to hand the pie tin back to him.
"I already had some and my parents will survive, we always have some kind of dessert lying around here anyways. I want you to have it. I'm sure your parents and sister would love to have some of the dessert you made." he said convincingly while he pushed it back at me. I could tell it would be hard to get out of taking the whole thing, but I would try, or else I would feel guilty. And he just had to use that pleading face on me too, didn't he.
"But…but…" I muttered. Oh no, I forgot the response I had cleverly conjured up. Don't give me that look. He had raised an eyebrow at me while I struggled to remember my reasoning. With a sigh I gave in.
"Fine." I said obstinately. I couldn't debate with him if I couldn't even remember my argument.
Just then his mother came back in the room, I guessed she had overheard us and came to the conclusion that I was leaving.
"Are you leaving now Amu?" she asked and I nodded my head saying I should start heading home for dinner. I wasn't even sure if my mom had started preparing dinner at home yet, but I didn't want to overstay my welcome.
"If your parents don't mind, I would love for you to join us. I was just going to start dinner." Oh no, not the face. I see where the twins inherited their pleading visages from. His mother's was even more powerful though, it was probably from years of experience that she was able to have such a persuasive aura. I could attempt to decline when Nagihiko had tried it on me, but this time there was no way. I then texted my parents to ask them for permission to extend my stay and they allowed it to my dismay.
Dinner was surprisingly enjoyable. It was just Nagihiko, his mother and I because his father was going to be home late today. I expected to be extremely nervous and self-conscious the entire time, but his mother made me feel very welcome and at ease. She seemed so casual compared to how her image portrayed her. She was still very proper in regards to manners, but she was very talkative and interested in my responses when she asked me about school and my family and things of that sort. I was so comfortable here in their company that the atmosphere seemed to have a home away from home quality. I felt carefree without even noticing the disappearance of my previously tense feeling.
After dinner I was astonished to find it was getting rather late. It wasn't very dark outside, but what got me was that I didn't notice the time pass; I must have been absorbed in our conversations at dinner. After thanking her for the meal I offered to help Nagihiko and his mother and clean up. She thanked me for the assistance, making a remark about how kind that was. I blushed and smiled.
Unfortunately it was now time to go. I loved the time we spent together; I hadn't been this comfortable in a family setting other than my own in a very long time, maybe not even ever. I expressed my gratitude for having me today before I said goodbye to them both. She said goodbye to me and hoped she would see me again soon before she excused herself and walked towards another room. Nagihiko said goodbye next and opened the door for me. I walked out and heard the door close behind me.
"What a fun visit that was. I can't wait to show mama and papa the pie I made. Ami is going to be so excited." I chuckled to myself. I pictured Ami eating a giant slice of pie and making a mess, she was so funny when she was excited.
"And you weren't going to take it. I was right." I heard someone say in a slightly arrogant tone. I did a 180 to discover an overly confident amethyst haired boy relishing in his knowledge of my predictable behavior.
"What are you doing out here?" I asked Nagihiko more out of curiosity than annoyance.
"I'm going to walk you home of course." he stated like it was obvious.
"You don't have to do that. It's not even that dark yet and it's a pretty short walk and…I should just shut up now, shouldn't I?" I said after I realized that my disputing would not move him. It was about as effective as telling the earth to stop orbiting the sun. I could not willingly move him or his eyebrow that had risen in disbelief while I was trying to convince him, to no avail, not to walk me home. And so we both began to head to my house together.
Wow, this is the longest chapter I have written. Ever. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. And I would like to give a big thanks to Priya (my first reviewer for this story) who caught a mistake of mine that was pretty important. There may be some Nagihiko POV next chapter, maybe, probably. I update randomly so the next chapter will be up…sometime. Thanks for reading.