36 Doughnuts

Crying hangovers were always the worst. Every time I ended up with a terrible headache for the rest of the day.

No matter how much my head hurt I wasn't able to fall back asleep so I was stuck alone with my thoughts in my sad blanket nest. The fire had been stoked but I still felt frozen to my very bones.

"Katie?" a voice I did not want to hear called softly. "I brought you some hot chocolate and pastries."

I wouldn't have responded if he hadn't mentioned hot chocolate. That might actually be helpful right now. Chocolate had a small amount of caffeine in it and caffeine was good for headaches.

I opened the curtains just enough to poke my head out and saw his sheepish expression and the tray in his hands. My ire immediately melted away when I saw what he had with him.

"Doughnuts! Where on earth did you get them?!"

Al wrinkled his nose in confusion. "You know what these are? Marcy just invented them today and hasn't named them yet."

"They have these where I'm from," I explained quickly. In my excitement I had forgotten myself yet again. "I guess the trend hasn't made it to the capital yet."

"Doughnuts, huh? I'll send a note to the kitchens after this to let her know what they're called."

I was so derailed by food I never thought I would see again that it took me a minute to register the fact that Al was talking about Marcy like they were friends. That made my mood even better.

To think that my whole outlook on life could be changed in an instant by something as simple as familiar food and the plot going the way it was supposed to. I thought I was all out of tears but a few happy ones managed to escape.

"Don't cry again!" Al begged.

I wiped them away and smiled at him. "These are happy tears, dummy. This was exactly what I needed."

He cocked his head. "You like these doughnuts so much?"

"I never thought I'd see them again," I murmured. "These are a precious memory from home."

When was the last time I had had a doughnut before this? I think it was during Teacher Appreciation Week at work when they had a different kind of food available in the lounge every day.

I could easily imagine the pink bakery boxes sitting on the long table in the middle of the dimly lit room. I chose a maple bar originally but since there were extras I swiped a glazed one later on.

"I can ask Marcy to make you more the next time you get homesick," he said earnestly, pulling open the curtain further to set the tray down on my bed.

"And I'll even ask her how to make them so you can still have them once we run away. If there are any other foods you want from back home we can figure those out too. Just please don't cry anymore."

Part of me was touched that he cared so much about me crying. The other part was not happy to hear he still wanted to run away even though he was getting closer to Marcy.

It was so confusing. If he liked Marcy why did he still want to leave? Did he feel guilty towards me?

"There actually is something else I would like from home," I admitted, pushing those thoughts aside. "It's called a hamburger."

Al eagerly sat on the edge of my bed and clasped my icy hands in his warm ones.

"I've never heard of that either but tell me about it and I'll have someone make it for you!"

I couldn't help but smile at his sincerity. He was being so nice, trying to cheer me up even though I had yelled at him. Fitting for a hero.

"It's made by squishing a ball of ground beef onto a hot pan and cooking it on both sides. The meat goes in between two halves of a large roll and is usually also stuffed with things like sliced tomatoes, lettuce, onions, and pickled cucumbers. If I had a hamburger I would just about die."

He frowned and crossed his arms in front of him. "Well, I'm not getting you one if it will kill you."

Okay, that was pretty cute. I covered my mouth so he wouldn't hear my snickering.

"No, Al, it's a figure of speech. It means I would be really happy."

"How are happiness and death correlated?" he asked with a shake of his head. "Sometimes you say the oddest things, Katie."

With a shrug I stuffed half of a powdered doughnut into my mouth. Absolutely heavenly. I finished off all four doughnuts and the hot chocolate before lying back on the bed sleepy and content.

Had I ever been this happy since landing in this novel? All because of a few doughnuts and the thoughtfulness of a friend.

"Thank you, Al. This means a lot to me. And…I'm sorry for yelling at you. I had a rough morning but I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

He shook his head. "No, I deserved it. You have had to deal with a lot of stress since coming here because of me. I promise I'll find a way to make it up to you."

"Get me a hamburger and some pizza and I'll call us even," I yawned. What was it about good food that tires people out?

"What is pizza?"

"I'll tell you later," I mumbled sleepily.

"You're going to catch a cold," Al chided and gently lifted me off the blankets so he could cover me with them.

Tucking them around my chin, he leaned over and gently pressed a kiss to my forehead.

I was already half-asleep so I didn't hear him whisper "sweet dreams, darling" before he shut the curtains and headed off to the kitchen to ask someone about making me a hamburger once I woke up.