Archive of Our Own ^beta

Sam was baking and Gabriel was not about to let him get away with it. Now without a little interference.. He wrapped his blanket around his shoulders, too lazy to put on pants or a sweatshirt, and made his way into the kitchen, pausing his cheesy Christmas movie flashing on the TV. The heat from the oven hit him the instant he walked in, but not overtly so. It was a cozy warmth. Cookie warmth. Sam looked up as he entered and a frown fell over his face.

“No,” he said, “absolutely not.” He glared his best glare, but Gabriel could see laughter in his eyes. They’d played this game too many times for him not to know what was coming next.

Gabe mocked innocence. “What? Why?”

But he knew why. They both knew and they let it hang between them, Sam’s eyes on Gabe’s hands, Gabe’s on the mixing bowl on the counter full of fresh cookie dough. His fingers twitched. He couldn’t help it, cookie dough was so damn good.

“You know why,” Sam said, still watching. Gabriel waited. It was only a matter of time. The oven beeped and he seized his chance, scooping out a chunk of cookie dough while Sam’s back was turned. When he turned back around and saw Gabe, mouth full, he sighed. “Seriously?”

“What?” Gabe asked, aiming for innocent, but the cookie dough still in his mouth kinda sorta ruined that. Oh well. It wasn’t the first time and it definitely wouldn’t be the last.

“Gabriel, we do this every single time. I make cookies for the party tomorrow and you come in here and weasel your way into the bowl and before you know it, we’ve got two cookies worth of batter left and you’ve got a stomach ache.”

“Hey, at least I’m consistent,” Gabe said, darting his hand into the bowl for another scoop. Sam tried to bat his hand away, but Gabe was too fast. Sam threw his hands up before giving up. He pushed the bowl closer to Gabe and shrugged. No point just to show up with two cookies on a plate, he seemed to say. Gabriel snatched the bowl before Sam could change his mind and retreated to the couch to continue his Christmas movie, mission accomplished. On his way out, Sam’s voice called after him. “Don’t come crying to me when your stomach hurts.”

Gabe rolled his eyes. He knew Sam would be there with warm milk and a tums like he was every single time. There was no doubt about it. Gabriel tossed a wave over his shoulder and went back to his movie, bowl of cookie dough in his lap. On his way out, he didn’t see Sam roll his eyes. He didn’t seem a small smile slide across his face in a smirk. Nor did he see Sam pull the second bowl of cookie dough from the fridge where he’d stashed it for safekeeping, scooping those onto the pan and into the oven to back. Gabe was too distracted to see any of this and that was Sam’s plan all along.