Gift

Elric shifted around nervously as he peeked out through the window. Ember had just stepped out of her friend's car and was walking toward the front door.

'She'll like the gift I got, right… huh? What is she doing?'

Ember ran off to the side of the driveway, then crouch walked slowly toward the house. It didn't take long before Elric could no longer see her.

'???'

A dozen seconds later, the handle of the door began shaking slowly. It was already unlocked, and the handle turned slowly and silently.

'Is she trying to sneak in?'

The door opened just a tiny bit, and Ember tried to stick her head inside to peer inside.

Thunk!

"Ow…"

She banged her head on the door frame, then took a few moments to recover, pushed it open a bit further and tried again.

"Ah! Elric!"

Ember's face flushed bright red as she realized he must've seen everything she did in the past minute. A frown grew on her face.

"Elric, why are you just standing there and watching me?!"

The young man shrugged.

"You're too cute, and you did text me that you were almost back. What did you think I was going to be doing?"

He pulled the door open, allowing Ember to come all the way inside instead of just sticking her head in.

"Anyway, I have something for you."

Elric had been holding Ember's gift behind his back, so he was able to push it into her arms in just a moment.

"Wha-?"

Ember's eyes lit up as she saw the gift, but she looked a bit confused.

"Heh, I saw you looking at my teddy bear a few times when you woke me up, so I got you one! Look how fluffy it is!"

After holding it up to see it better, Ember hugged the bear to her chest.

"T- thank you. I love it."

Seeing how cute Ember's red face was, he couldn't help but give her a little head pat, and she seemed even happier afterward.

'Hmph, I knew I picked a great gift!'

Elric noticed that Ember seemed to have something to say, so he paused his continuous head pats and took a step back.

"I was trying to sneak up to surprise you… I got you a present, too!"

While keeping her new bear tucked under her arm, Ember slipped off her backpack and started rummaging around in it.

"I made it with my Mom… I've never really done sewing stuff though, and it came out a little crooked. Sorry…"

Ember passed over a T-shirt to Elric. The gray shirt was smooth and soft to the touch, and a messy depiction of his company's logo had been hand embroidered just over the chest.

Elric held it up, and Ember's head drooped a bit as she saw her below-average tailoring skills.

After a few moments, he set it down on the bench next to him.

'He really doesn't like it… I should've asked Mom for more help making this.'

Elric grabbed the bottom of the shirt he currently had on, then pulled up, swiftly taking it off.

"E- Elric?!"

Ember's eyes focused in on the nascent abs on Elric's stomach, her face flushing red once again.

The young man stooped over, picked up Ember's handmade shirt, then quickly pulled it on.

"Thank you. I'll be wearing this shirt forever."

Ember's hand released her heavy backpack, and she wiped at her face with her now-freed hand.

"Y- you really like it?"

Instead of answering her, Elric took a step forward, then pulled her into a hug. The poor teddy bear was squished in between the duo as he pulled her close.

"More than that. I love it."

Elric suddenly remembered the kiss they shared back at the party, and he eyed Ember's cute blushing face hopefully. She didn't seem to be having similar thoughts as she leaned into his hug, pressing her face against his chest.

'Hm. This is just as good, anyways.'

Placing his chin on her head, Elric continued hugging her.

Beep!!!!

An angry screech rang from the over, and Ember pulled away in surprise.

"I was baking some cookies to be ready for you coming back, they should be finishing up right now!"

After releasing Ember from the hug, Elric headed over to the kitchen and equipt a pair of oven mitts. If there was one thing he was confident in making, it was fresh chocolate chip cookies.

Upon pulling open the oven door, a heavenly aroma filled the room.

Unlike the pancakes from before, Elric hadn't burnt the cookies.

After putting the baking sheet on the counter and sliding a second sheet full of dough into the oven, Elric realized that there was still some work to do. He still had a third of the cookie dough left, and he needed to have it ready for the oven!

"Wait for these to cool down for a minute."

Picking up a tiny clump of cookie dough, Elric motioned for Ember to open her mouth.

"Aren't you supposed to cook-"

"I think it's fine, just try it!"

Ember opened her mouth a little bit, and Elric quickly pushed the clump of cookie dough inside.

After chewing it for a second, Ember's eyes lit up.

"It really is good!"

"Have you really never tried cookie dough before?"

Ember shook her head while simultaneously reaching for a second handful of the tasty mix. Elric blocked her hand, pointing to the warm cookies.

"You might get sick if you eat too much dough, and those should be cool enough now."

Taking one of the finished cookies for himself, Elric savored both the perfect flavor of the warm cookie, and the enthralled expression on Ember's face as she munched on a cookie of her own.

'I'm glad she's back. Without Ember around, the last week has seemed a lot more dull.'

The duo continued to eat and cook more cookies, then boxed up the remaining ones.

They had discovered that they would be having the same first class together the next day, so what better way to greet their new classmates than by bringing in a tin of home-baked cookies?