It was a warm summer morning, birds were excitingly chirping to each other and the sound of waves crashing against the rocks made a nice background noise for daily conversations. Summer was finally here and Leafy couldn’t be happier. Through Fall, Winter and even early spring, she was always cold and had to be careful so not to damage herself in the cold weather but now, that wasn’t a problem! Another reason for the love of Summer was Pin, her girlfriend. They began dating during the summer of BFDI and even though they went through a rough spell, they stuck together through it all!
Leafy excitedly swung her front door open, letting the warm sunlight wash over her as she took a deep breath of the fresh air. A soft wind blew by her as she closed the door behind her. She locked the door before skipping down the street to Pin’s house. They moved closer after TPOT ended and now they would always walk to each other’s houses. Leafy walked up the stone steps of Pin’s brick house and knocked on the door. Pin’s recognizable voice yelled out from the other side as the clanking of pots and pans could be faintly heard.
“Coming!” She yelled, her shadow darting across the linen curtains. A loud crash followed her yell, causing Leafy to jump. What was going on in there? Pin sighed as she opened the front door, half of her face covered in flour as she tried to wipe it off. Leafy offered a sympathetic smile as she walked in. The house was a sty! Boxes were strewn everywhere and packages of baking ingredients sat unused on the ground. The kitchen looked clean in comparison to the living room. Leafy opened her mouth to ask but quickly changed her mind. “I’m going to run to the bathroom, you can head to the kitchen! I’ll be right there.” Pin smiled before running away to the bathroom, likely to clean her flour-ed face. Leafy trotted over to the kitchen, pulling up a stool to sit at. Even though the rest of Pin’s house looked like Bomby went off inside of it, her kitchen was meticulously cleaned. Every bowl and spoon placed in their correct place. Her fridge was perfectly organized, so much so that Golf Ball got jealous of Pin’s work. When she first moved in, she called over Leafy, Coiny and Fiery to help her paint her cabinets which they all agreed to even though it took much longer than expected with Coiny goofing around at Firey accidentally burning the paint occasionally. Leafy giggled when she thought of that moment, Pin was trying her best not to be upset before exploding into fits of laughter.
Pin came back from the bathroom, mumbling something under her breath before she grabbed something from a drawer. Leafy leaned back, squinting her eyes slightly to look closer. Before she knew it, Pin dropped a humongous cookbook onto the counter, dust flying up into the air as it came out of the drawer. Leafy eyed the book suspiciously, how old was this book?
”Uhm Pin? How old is this book?” She asked, a worried expression trailing across her face as she careful opened up to the first page. Pin giggled a little bit.
”It’s my great, great, great, great grandmas cookbook! It’s about 276.3 years old if I had to guess.” She smirked, placing her hand to her chin while thinking. “Anyways, I know the perfect thing to make!” She slid the book over and began sifting through the many contents of the book. Words stuck out to Leafy such as Cake, Tartar Sauce, and Mayonnaise. Pin stopped on a page with bright red writing, little heart shaped doodles decorating the page. On the page was written ‘Deliciously Delightful Strawberry Shortcake’
"Shortcake?" Leafy gasped, her eyes lighting up with excitement. She clasped her hands together and poured over the mouthwatering photo of the shortcake, the perfectly chopped strawberries and the fluffy cream painted a picture of a decadent dessert ready to be eaten. "How did you know?" Leafy turned to Pin, raising an eyebrow. Strawberry shortcake had always been her favorite dessert ever since she was a kid, but she never told anyone about it being her favorite, not even Pin! Pin just gave a slight smile before giving Leafy an apron. Pin's apron was green with red ruffles on the trim while Leafy's was red with green ruffles on the trim. She opened her mouth to inquire about where her girlfriend got them but Pin was already grabbing ingredients for the cake. She swung open the cabinets and pulled out various containers of stuff such as sugar, flour, and a whole lot of eggs...where did she get all of those eggs?
"Now, you said you never baked before, Leafy?" Pin asked, turning around to face her while grabbing something far back in the cabinet. Leafy nodded her head, blush growing on the sides of her face. Memories flashed of when she used to help her mother bake but she would always either add way too much of something or way too little! They had to buy a new oven after the last time Leafy helped. "Okay! Let's see..." She leaned more into the cabinet, reaching far back for some kind of spice, but the ladder began to sway from the lack of steadiness.
"Pin!" Leafy warned, rushing towards the ladder to kept it steady but it was too late. Pin grabbed a small glass bottle with an exclamation of excitement before turning towards the anxious Leafy. The ladder swayed precariously as Pin tried to keep her balance but it was all for not as Pin stumbled backwards, the glass bottle flying from her hand as she fell. Pin shut her eyes as tight as possible as she heard the sound of glass shattering on the tile floor. Quickly she soon felt warm arms catch her from the air, dusting off her powdered face. She slowly opened her eyes, letting the kitchen light pour into her sight as the exasperated and maybe slightly panicked face of Leafy came into focus. "Are you okay?!" Leafy gasped, making sure Pin didn't get hurt anywhere while holding her. Pin blinked for a couple moments, not speaking a single word before she erupted into laughter. Leafy looked blankly at Pin's face, confusion washing over her as she carefully set Pin down.
"You know, as many times as I've caught you, I never thought you would save me Leafy!" Pin spoke through a series of giggles, steadying herself on the counter behind her. Leafy's face grew red, stuttering an explanation before Pin came in close, holding her face in her hands. Pin's gentle hands caressed her cheek, heat drifting up Leafy's face as the two were locked into each other's gaze. Pin leaned close and placed a peck on Leafy's cheek, letting herself embrace her for as long as she would allow. "You ready?" Pin whispered, leaning back as Leafy stood there speechless. Leafy nodded her head, grinning with excitement.
The bottle of vanilla had shattered all over the floor, making a huge mess of everything. It would probably stain the floors due to the amount spilled but Pin figured they could figure out a way to fix the issue. "We can use the vanilla left on the shards of glass in the mix!" She eagerly explained, kneeling down to grab one. Luckily there was just enough for the cake so the two began on the recipe. Leafy began to crack the eggs, little shells dropping into the mix as she carefully tried to crack them. The first one she cracked too hard and splattered all across the counter; the second was she did too softly, a little hole letting the egg white out slower than molasses. She eventually got it right on the fourth try but she already wasted most the eggs in the carton. Pin measured the dry ingredients, sliding the knife clean over the excess powder before dumping it into the mixing bowl. Leafy pulled out the milk from the fridge, shaking it a little to hear how much was left. Not a lot...only a small splash could be heard so she would have to get this right on the first try. Grabbing the glass measuring cup, she carefully angled the carton and watched as the milk flowed into the cup. Up and up it went, inching closer to the line as it went one eighth to one fourth to one third to...wait what? Leafy tilted the carton all the way over, shaking from side to side but nope! Not a drop left! One third was okay, right? She didn't want to bother Pin, she was an expert at this and she was trying so hard to teach Leafy how to bake even though Leafy couldn't get it. Sliding the carton away from her, she poured the milk into the eggs and began mixing according to Pin's instructions.
Pin scooped some of the dry mix into the wet mixture, watching as Leafy held tight to the spoon and with shaking hands, mixed it together. "Hold on," Pin scotched behind Leafy, taking hold of her hands and moving them in a circular motion, parting the batter and scooping the excess dry ingredients off of the bottom. Pouring in another part, she guided Leafy's hands through the motions of stirring, adding more powder as they went. Pin's hands provided a nice warmth to the coolness of Leafy's hands after sticking them under running water. The warmth travelled up her hands to her face as the two helped each other bake, Pin humming a song to herself.
"What song is that?" Leafy asked, looking close into Pin's eyes. Pin stopped, her face getting a litter redder than normal before laughing a bit, and continuing to mix the ingredients in. "I feel like I've heard it somewhere before."
"It's from that one band on television...oh what are they called." Pin scratched the back of her neck, biting her lip slightly as she thought. "It's on the tip of my tongue..." She sighed, gearing turning in her brains before stopping abruptly after the oven beeped. "Oh! The oven is preheated!" Pin grabbed a pan from her large closet and dropped it down on the counter with an extremely loud crash. The pan was a very cute heart-shaped pan in rose gold, made by Coiny after an early test run of some new metals Golf Ball wanted to try out. Supposedly these metals would change the taste of whatever was baked in it but sadly it didn't work. The two poured the batter into the pan and slid it right into the oven but just as the oven door was about to close, Leafy carefully pushed the pan with her finger and-
"Ouch!" She yelped, jumping back with a searing burn on the top and back of her fingertip. Pin rushed over to Leafy, pushing her hand under sudden cool water, small beads of sweat popping up on her brow. Pin ordered Leafy to keep her finger there before rushing off to close the oven and get a First Aid kit. Cursing at herself for causing someone to get hurt again. Leafy stood there, stunned while the water continuing to flow into the burn. Leafy cringed at the burn, now actually seeing the whole thing. It stung terribly, the water not helping the pain she was in. It was already starting to scar over, the skin looking a bit discolored but not terrible. Pin rushed back, slamming the first aid kit down and shutting of the faucet. She pulled up a stool and motioned for Leafy to sit on it, her lip quivering a bit. She grabbed a small jar of aloe, smearing it over the burn, causing a slight grimace from Leafy as Pin mumbled stuff under her breath. "Pin..it's not your fault." Leafy spoke softly, spotting small drops of water falling onto the ground as Pin reached for the gauze. "I just got too ahead of myself, it's fine!" Pin turned around, tears falling down her face.
"I.." Pin's voice cracked, looking down at the ground while clutching the gauze in her hands. "But it's my fault! I should have stopped you before! I didn't even notice!" She sniffed, wiping the tears as more trickled down her face as she failed to compose herself. "It's just..." She began, taking a deep although shaky breath before Leafy placed her hand on Pin's face. She turned towards Leafy, tears still flowing down her face as she tried to speak.
"It's fine, don't blame yourself for the little things." Leafy sighed, looking down at the ground while trying to find her words. "I was worried I was ruining today due to the fact I couldn't even crack an egg!" She shook her head while lowering her voice as her smile dropped. "I still feel like I did..."
"No you didn't!" Pin grasped Leafy's hand, rubbing her thumb in gentle circles over the back of Leafy's hand, feeling Leafy's body begin to relax all the sudden. How did she not notice Leafy had been so tense this whole time? "We all aren't great the first time we do something and I thought today was super fun, regardless of whether the cake was great or just a burnt mess!" That last word earned a small chuckle from Leafy, bringing butterflies into Pin's stomach. She stumbled over her words before getting back to the point at hand. "W-well-what I was trying to say was I love you Leafy, whether or not you can bake!" The corner's of Leafy's eye crinkled, the both of them a blushing mess. Leafy took a deep breath, readjusting her sitting position.
"Yeah, thanks sweetie." She leaned in close and gave a small kiss on Pin's forehead, feeling the heat from Pin's head flow into her cheeks before pulling away, but Pin placed her hands on Leafy's shoulder and planted a kiss onto Leafy's cheek, letting herself lean in closer to her love while Leafy tried to contain her elation from Pin's true thoughts. Soon Pin pulled back, due to the sound of the oven timer going off. The two looked towards the oven which was still in one piece, thankfully.
Opening the oven door, smoke began to pour out heavily, engulfing the kitchen in dark fog. Pin and Leafy fell into coughing fits, Leafy managing to pull an eyelid open and look at the stove. Pin ran over to a nearby window and pushed it open, letting out a sigh of relief as the smoke entered the street. As the smoke cleared out, Leafy grabbed an oven bit and hauled the cake to the top of the stove. The cake was burnt to a crisp, a dark crunchy outer casing made it impossible to cut into and it smelled awfully of burning wood. Leafy's expression dropped, even with Pin's assistance, she still messed up the cake. What was she to do? Was it just impossible for her to make something good?
"Well.." Pin started, angling herself to look at it from other angles, squinting her eyes as she put her hands in front of her in a frame position. "Hold on," She turned around and flew herself into the pantry, kicking over cans and pushing over bags of sugar as she scoured the pantry for something. Leafy curiously walked inside the pantry, wondering what it was that Pin was looking at. With a sudden sound, Pin rushed right in front of Leafy, causing the leaf to fall backwards into the shelving unit. Walking out of the pantry, rubbing her now sore head, she saw Pin spreading pastel pink buttercream over the top of the cake, trying to cover up the burnt parts of it. She grabbed a knife and handed it to Leafy, motioning to the cutting board where several strawberries lay. "You can cut those up while I'm baking!" Leafy nodded her head and began chopping the strawberries, dividing them into twos. She was good at cutting, from her time in Yoyleland, she learned some basic knife skills for cooking and for self defense. In three minutes, she had almost cut up the entire box of strawberries. "Leafy? You did this?" Pin gasped, picking a berry up and looking at it like one looks at a diamond.
"Yeah! I tried my best so I hope it looks okay." She said sheepishly, averting her eyes away from Pin. Picking one up, Pin popped a strawberry into her mouth, relishing the taste of the berry. It was sweet but not too soft, it also had a nice juiciness in it. It was the perfect size for their cake! Getting her girlfriend's attention, she popped a strawberry into her mouth, causing Leafy's eyes to widen at the taste. She soon swallowed, looking at Pin with the same expression she had. "It's really good!" A smile danced across her face, almost tempting her to get another. Pin nodded.
"I know! Let's finish our cake now, or whatever it is." She laughed, grabbing a butterknife to finish the icing. She also lent Leafy one and the two began to decorate the cake, adding lace trims and rosettes on the top. They carefully arranged the strawberries on the top of the cake, placing them one by one in a heart shape before adding more to fill it in. Pin added an icing boarder around the bottom of the heart, to make it more elegant. They both wrote their names in icing on the cake, Leafy's in green cursive and Pin's in red simple italics. It was perfect, even if it wasn't going to taste that great.
"Who's gonna eat it?" Leafy turned to Pin, her curiosity piqued at this idea. "I mean, unless you want to." She really hoped that was not the case, even if it was perhaps good. Pin didn't think of this idea yet, placing her hand on her chin as she thought. "I feel like it'd be mean to give it to anyone really."
"Hmm, what about..." But just as she was about to speak, a knock came to the door. Two all too familiar voices yelled from outside, a light shining through the front door windows.
"Pin!! We're here!" Coiny yelled, banging on the door with all his might. "And Firey is hiding under your front porch!" He snickered, earning an annoyed jab by Firey, who could possibly die in this type of weather. Pin turned to Leafy, an evil expression growing on her face. Leafy tried to convince her otherwise but it was too late, the idea had been planted in her head.
"Yeah, I'll let you in, wanna try some of our cake?" Her faux-sweetness slithered through her words. Coiny, her poor unsuspecting victim agreed and she let the two of them, looking at Leafy with a wink. Leafy sighed, she couldn't help but find it funny what they were about to do, even if it was kind of mean. Pin carefully cut a slice of cake from it, bringing the two slices over to the boys. Coiny gave the cake a weird look, poking it nervously with his fork. The cake jiggled slightly from his touch.
"Pin, is this edible?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at Pin who just gave him a poor excuse for why the cake was like that. Coiny looked back down at his slice, eying it warily before turning to Firey, who simply cut into the cake and raised it up to his lips. "FIREY WAIT!" Coiny yelled but it was too late, Firey took a bite and in seconds, he dropped the plate and ran outside with his hands over his mouth. Pin broke out in a loud fit of laughter, Coiny running right behind him. Leafy turned to Pin, who had tears in her eyes from how much she was laughing. As she composed herself, she looked up at Leafy who was watching the boys run down the street.
"Was this fun?" Pin asked, smiling at Leafy with a slight rosy glow on her face. She carefully held Leafy's hand, letting her finger's interlace her's.
"This was the best time I've had in awhile." Leafy spoke with a giggle, placing a kiss on Pin's cheek.