The following week went by pretty much uneventfully compared to the previous weeks. Lydia's words had made wonders to improve his mood, as well as Matt's messages letting him know things were moving on smoothly. Corey's breakdown was never mentioned again, but Matt sounded more relaxed and more himself with every passing day.
AJ let himself believe he had something to do with that and didn't try to hide the smile that drew on his face every time the guy sent him some emoji or theatrical gif to emphasize his point of view on anything they were talking.
But even after all that texting and laughing, his eyes almost fell from its socket when he turned around to find Matt flashing him his signature crooked smile, the guitar on his back and a couple of plastic bags on each hand. But that was not the most surprising part. The weirdest part was Corey following up close, carrying his own set of bags and a black backpack that seemed to carry everything he would need to set up a camp in the middle of the woods for a month.
He was sporting his classic black facial mask and black cap to hide most of his face, which made it impossible to know if he was also carrying a smug smile on his face, like his friend. His eyes remained glued to Matt the whole time, avoiding the musician entirely; just as he had done that dreaded night when his soulmate picked him up.
AJ smiled sadly, but let Matt distract him by wiggling his eyebrows, signaling he was supposed to let them go to the back.
"What's that?" He asked as the couple made their way to the second floor, not saying a word.
Once there, Corey started moving faster than he had ever seen him, as if he was working on the clock. AJ watched, fascinated, as the kitchen table got buried under piles and piles of different utensils and appliances he hadn't seen in his life. On the other hand, Matt was already in place, taking the guitar out of its case so he could start working, too.
The musician had no idea what to do or say in this case. For one, he was truly happy to have them in there again, but at the same time he worried something wasn't ok with them.
Led by sheer curiosity, he got closer to the kitchen. The place had never looked so homy, filled with vegetables, colorful spice bottles and meat packs. He gawked as every corner of the furniture got used and his fridge was soon full of actual food instead of frozen boxes.
On the same line of unexpected events, his eyes opened wide when he tried to look into one of the bags that was still untouched, but got slapped by a quick hand. Corey didn't say anything, he didn't even look back at him. He just kept working, sorting things all around.
Once the food was perfectly stored on the many compartments AJ didn't even know existed, he gawked one more time when he saw Corey open the backpack and get pans and pots of different sizes, followed by knives that looked as sharp as a katana.
Not willing to risk a second slap, AJ decided to leave the blond guy alone in the middle of all his bags, devices and funny looking things where, oddly enough, he seemed pretty content to be in.
Matt was intensely staring at his fingers position on the frets and trying to go to the next one, but his fingers didn't work as they should; he scowled even more after the new failed attempt.
"Relax your fingers, you're applying too much pressure," he commented, sitting on his assigned spot to teach. "Do it slowly. Try to remember the movement."
After a couple more attempts, he finally began getting somewhere, and the scowl vanished. "So, he kicked you out?" He nodded towards the kitchen where the little elf kept sorting where all should go.
AJ laughed, "what is he doing?"
"Well…," Matt stretched the word comically. "It's a sort of thank you gift for the other night."
"Are you serious? But you already thank me," he clarified, not missing his higher pitch and immediately lowering his voice. "This is not necessary."
"Yeah, but Corey felt bad because he couldn't do it himself. So, he thought about doing something for you," Matt whispered. "He wants to cook for you."
AJ was officially perplexed. No one had ever cooked something for him as a big event. In fact, even when his uncle did it, it had more to do with surviving than a gesture of appreciation, and it usually involved a lot of fat or frozen things. It was a miracle he had managed to grow at all when he could have died of a heart attack in his teens.
He stared at the guy in his kitchen working like a little ant to have everything ready for dinner, though his frown made AJ question if the little blond guy was truly making up something to eat or planning world domination.
"Is this for real?" He went back to questioning his student. Matt tried his best to hide his humor, but the face of disbelief was more than funny. "It wasn't necessary, really."
"Just go with it, will you?" Matt sighed. "He was so worked up because I came to talk to you without him. If you tell him that you don't want this, I won't get to see tomorrow," he pleaded.
Matt had practically turned into a teary pleading emoji in front of his eyes, and then into a grinning one when the musician finally accepted before going downstairs to close the store. His facial expressions never failed to pull a laugh out of him.
That afternoon, their guitar lesson was very different from any other they had had. For starters, AJ couldn't stop smiling knowing the blond guy not only didn't hate him anymore, but he was going as far as putting in some extra work to thank him for his help.
On the other side, Matt was more enthusiastic than ever with his lesson. For a moment, he thought he had lost his one and only student, yet there he was, more motivated than ever. He absorbed the last word of advice he provided and tried to apply everything immediately.
"Are you sure he doesn't need help?" He asked one more time after watching the guy stirring pots from side to side. It was like watching an octopus juggling tens of things at a time.
"Oh, you're welcome to try, but I would think you're rather attached to your limbs," he laughed at the horror on the other's face. "He never lets anyone mess with the food. Let it be, trust me." AJ nodded.
It was hard. It was walking-up-a-steep-hill-carrying-a-bag-of-bricks hard for the musician to try to stay focus on the lesson and what his student asked every now and then, instead of watching carefully how the once scared little guy was managing things at the kitchen as if it were second nature to him.
But it was near to impossible to stay focused on anything other than the scents that started emanating out of the many pots he was stirring. How could anyone resist or stay remotely unfazed when all his brain could focus on was the perfect mix of species and who knows what other marvels he had thrown inside the magic cauldrons?
The guy was clearly a wizard; whatever he was concocting on that little corner of the world had bewitched the musician into a dreamland of constant stimuli to his senses. He hadn't had a bite yet, and he already knew it would be an experience to remember. His hunger grew exponentially with every second he had to hold on to the armrest of the couch to not go check for himself where those marvelous scents were coming from.
Matt laughed at him whenever he had to tap on his arm to get him to listen to him, because no one better than him understood what Corey's food could do to a man; and the musician hadn't even tried it yet. But not even mocking him, stopped him from salivating right there on his spot.