Sneaking out of school was far too easy, but neither of the boys would complain about that. Once they were outside again, Edmund seemed to improve a bit and insisted on driving despite Sebastian's protests. They were on the road in a matter of minutes and defiantly not driving towards Hayden’s clinic. Sebastian had a terrible sense of direction but he knew the way to the clinic from school.

“Where are we going?”

“Mac Donalds.”

“What the-- Why?”

“I’m starving.”

“You just vomited barely ten minutes ago.”

“Yeah, and now I need to eat again. Come on, aren’t you a bit hungry too?”

Sebastian sighed. “I guess a milkshake won’t hurt.”

He was beyond confused at this point about how Edmund went from being perfectly fine one minute, to spilling his guts, then back to fine, and apparently hungry. Ed ordered a large burger, two large fries, two milkshakes. Then they parked in the parking lot to eat the food, or rather while Sebastian was lazily sipping at his milkshake, Edmund was devouring the burgers and fries like he hadn’t eaten in days.

“Feeling better now?” Seb asked once all the food was finished.

“Much. I don’t think I even need to see Hayden.”

“Nice try, but we made a deal, Eddie.”

Edmund rolled his eyes. “Fine. But let’s go back to your place for a bit first? The clinic doesn’t take walk-ins until after midday.”

“Yeah, okay. I need a nap anyways.”

“Oh? That’s unusual for you. Did you have one of those weird dreams?”

“I did have a weird dream but this one was... different.”

“How?”

“I saw you. Your truck broke down” -Edmund tensed- “and then when you got out, there was this injured wolf... it died, bleeding out right in front of you.”

“That... is a crazy dream.”

“Yeah. I’m probably just paranoid because you refuse to buy a proper car.”

“Are you really brining this up again?”

“Are you going to get a better car?”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“Fuck off.”

“Right here? That’s a cheeky idea, Eddie.”

Edmund shoved him playfully as he laughed at the flustered expression on his face. Soon enough, they reached Sebastian’s house. His mum and Nick would be at their office until later that evening, so it was just them and Bruce in the house. Bruce growled at Ed again when he came in, but this time Seb just put him outside so they could have a bit of peace.

The pair sat down together on the couch in the living room and turned on a TV show. Sebastian couldn’t remember which one, because he was out like a light within five minutes. When he woke up, his best friend was absent from beside him, a blanket was gently laid over him, and a heavenly smell was wafting in from the kitchen. He followed his nose to find Edmund baking in the kitchen.

It was a rather domestic sight. Ed was wearing an apron and had a bit of flour in his hair. He had some soft music playing that Sebastian didn’t notice before. It was an upbeat tune that had him tapping his foot along and dancing a bit with his shoulders here and there. He was completely engrossed in the process of making... whatever it was he was making. Seb couldn’t tell the difference between pancake batter and cake mix. He only knew there had to be some difference since they were two separate foods.

Instead of saying anything to interrupt the moment, Sebastian leaned against the doorway and watched as Edmund’s dancing became a bit more fluid as he moved around to pour the batter into a tin and then place whatever it was in the oven. Brownies then. Or a cake. Seb was craving the former over the latter so he really hoped his first guess was right.

“Geez, don’t do that!” Edmund exclaimed when he turned around and noticed Seb’s presence.

Sebastian laughed lightly at him. “Hungry again?”

“Well, I had a bit of cereal, so no. I just got bored so I decided to make something.”

“I guess you really are feeling better then?”

“Much. Maybe breakfast just didn’t agree with me.”

“Maybe. Better not tell Nick though. He’d be devastated.”

The pair both laughed at that. They knew Nick wasn’t so sensitive about his cooking skills. The man could put a five-star restaurant to shame, and he knew it. He’d tried teaching them both when they were younger, but apart from helping Edmund to discover a passion for backing, he had not been very successful.

Sebastian sat down at the kitchen table. “So, what are you making?”

“Your favourite brownies. They’re already in the oven though so don’t even think ab- OW!” Edmund yelled and pulled his hand back from the silverware drawer.

Sebastian quickly rushed to his side. “What happened?”

“I don’t know,” Edmund muttered, frowning at the red mark on his hand.

“Did you burn yourself?”

“In the drawer?”

Sebastian looked from the mark on Edmund’s hand to the drawer and frowned in confusion. Ed was right, there was nothing there to cause him to burn like that.

“Did you burn yourself before you touched the drawer?”

“No. This only just appeared after I touched that spoon.” Edmund said and pointed at the offending object.

Cautiously, Seb picked up the spoon. “Nothing happened...”

“To you. Meanwhile, my hand is still twinging with pain.”

“Today is not your day.”

“No kidding. Whatever, can we just forget it?”

“Forget you burning yourself on a cold spoon?”

“Well can you explain it?”

“No. But it’s pretty clear something weird is happening here,” Seb said, examining the spoon. “Like, seriously dude, you have been off all day.”

Edmund sighed. “I know but I don’t want to think about it. I just want to ignore everything.”

“Well, I won’t talk about it then if you don’t want me to.”

“Thanks. Can we just go back to watching TV?”

“Sure. What were we watching again?”

“The Great British Bake Off.”

“No wonder I fell asleep.”

Edmund snorted a laugh and Sebastian smiled. His friend may be going through something weird, but at least he could still make him laugh. If that was all he could do to help right now, then so be it.