Housewarming 2

"I really need to pee." Stellar shifted uncomfortably in her spot. "Can you watch it for me? Take it out when the timer is done."

"Mmm," Holden agreed, nodding his head. His eyes followed Stellar's back as she fled upstairs.

He guessed that she would be using the bathroom in the master bedroom as she had done for the past hour.

While Stellar was out of sight, Holden took out a porcelain tray that matched the one which Stellar used for her dish.

He then hurriedly strode to the room where the catered food was and transferred the prepared lasagna into the white tray he brought over.

In his haste, he burned his finger, but despite the pain, he was stifling a smile, elated at his luck that the catered dish was still hot enough to heat up the heavy porcelain tray.

He did a sloppy job though, but it was a good thing he brought over shredded cheese with him to cover the potholes in the tray to cover-up his crime.

As he stepped out of the room, he let out a sigh of relief that Stellar was taking her time upstairs.

His heart was pounding loudly in his chest, he could hear it in his ears.

For lack of a better term, he felt like a thief in broad daylight, but he ignored his conscience, sticking to the mission he had to fulfill.

He then grabbed it as his chance to switch the catered lasagna with Stellar's version of the dish.

Holding the tray of Stellar's lasagna with his gloved hands, he rushed back to the bedroom and hid it amongst the other catered dishes on the study table.

It's not that the food didn't smell delicious. As a matter of fact, it smelled divine, and Holden couldn't bring himself to share the meal with the others.

He swallowed hard. This was so bad. He was having second thoughts of switching it back again when he heard Stellar shouting at the top of her lungs, cursing the heavens with his name.

Tugging his ears, Holden composed himself before stepping out of the room.

"You," Stellar gritted her teeth as she gingerly placed the tray on the countertop. "You almost burned our dinner. And you adjusted the heat too. What were you thinkiiing?!"

Holden deliberately kicked up the temperature a notch to accelerate the reheating of the food, but of course, he would not explain his side lest he wanted himself to be caught.

"But it's not burned. See?" Holden poked the coat of cheese on top, creating a hole in it. "Oops."

Holden's apology was too late. A crater formed on the surface.

Invisible steam shot through Stellars's ears and nose as she fumed with rage and it strummed the funny bones of Holden.

His laughter so carefree, light and unguarded rang in the room but it was cut short by a glass crashing on the floor.

Heads snapped to Cooper's direction. The rueful smile on his face spoke volumes of untold tales of the twin Knight brothers.

"I think I should get my hands off the wine," he remarked with a beam painted on his face, masking the awkward air that blanketed the room upon noticing the change in his demeanor.

Holden cleared his throat and carried the imposter lasagna to the dining table as if nothing uncomfortable flitted by.

During dinner, everyone happily chatted. Stellar was sitting at the head of the table with Yanyan to her left, and Holden to her right.

Cooper sat beside Holden while Irina sat beside Yanyan balancing the scale.

Taking a bite of her dish, Stellar's brows met. "This is weird," she commented.

"What's weird?" Yanyan angled her head, chewing her food. After swallowing, she took a sip of her wine. "I told you it was delicious. I think everyone's agreeing with me since nobody's talking."

"But it doesn't taste like my recipe."

"How could that happen? Unless someone magically switched it," Cooper snorted. He made a zipping motion on his lips when Irina glared at him.

Walking with a plate in hand, Holden sat on his seat. It was his second trip to the bedroom to get his stash.

"This is so good. What's your secret recipe?" Holden asked, the innocence on his face unsettled Stellar.

He looked as if he was guilty of something, but she couldn't point a finger where or what it was.

Subconsciously, Stellar jabbed her fork on Holden's serving of lasagna when she caught a whiff of the herb she used for her recipe.

Narrowing her eyes on him, she said, "I hope you don't mind sharing." She then took a bite of the cheesy gooey lasagna and her eyes widened. "Why?"

"Why? What?" Yanyan's head snapped between Stellar and Holden.

"Nothing." Stellar clammed her mouth. She didn't want to make a big deal out of it.

Letting it go, the group chatted again and asked Stellar how she was adjusting to her new place.

Waving her hand in the air, Stellar spoke, "I mean, look at it. It's like a palace. I don't even know what the other rooms looked like."

Holden scanned the area, his eyes darted all over the place. "You're staying in a penthouse?"

Stellar nodded in her head in admission, and the confusion on Holden's face was so apparent.

Cooper hid his smile behind a wine glass as he pretended to take a sip. Across from him, he saw Irina roll her eyes in his direction, knowing the hidden behind Cooper's reaction.

For some unknown reasons, Cooper couldn't help steal a peek at Yanyan. He was wondering how Yanyan became friends with a girl like Stellar. Judging by their choice of outfits, the two ladies were obviously polar opposites.

For one, Stellar's purple hair was a dead giveaway, showing her frustrated side, while Yanyan was sporting a neat bun sitting atop of her nape.

Across the table, Yanyan felt a pair of eyes creepily staring at her, and so her head snapped towards the source.

As if caught with his hands in the cookie jar, Cooper coughed violently when Yanyan raised a single eyebrow at him. Averting Yanyan's scrutiny, Cooper brought up an idea. "How about we play a game after dinner?"

"I'm in!" Stellar raised her hand. "Wait. What game are we playing?"

Cooper wiggled in his eyebrows, and a shark grin crossed his face as he spoke, "Pik pak boom."