The Donut Shop ✔️

'R' Stands for 'Rest, at Last'

When Oliver pushed the door open for Ethan, they were greeted by a cloud of chattering. This was the most packed the bakery had ever been; all the seats were taken. Everyone was talking and laughing amongst themselves, having a grand time while enjoying the various pastries, one of the main ones being Berliner. 

They practically had to shove through people when they spotted Tweed and Mara, who had saved a booth for them. They must have returned early and predicted that the place would be this busy, so they scooped up a table. 

Noticing that Ethan and Oliver were approaching the table, Mara stood, slapping Tweed on the arm, who was currently cramming Berliner into his mouth. Disoriented, he looked around before spotting them, smiling with the pastry bulging out of his mouth as he stood.

Ethan scoffed as he looked at Tweed, jostling his elbow. "You know there's something called a napkin and not shoving all of the pastries into your mouth," he teased, and Tweed's eyes narrowed as he finished chewing. 

"Says you. Some people like to have everything at the same time," Tweed said, receiving a napkin from Mara and wiping his lips. "Anyway, we saved this seat for you two lovebirds, so enjoy," he said, gesturing to the seat, but Oliver stopped both of them from leaving.

"Maybe you guys should stay," Oliver suggested, and alarmed looks graced both Mara and Tweed's faces. "Not because of... well, whatever you guys are thinking, but because this seems like a moment we should all enjoy together," he said, and one by one, they all sat in the navy and yellow booth. 

Ethan thought it was fitting that he was placed next to the wall, and his hand dragged across the frame of the sun-shaped window their booth was placed by. The sun-shaped windows inspired him to be bright and honest and to guide others with his light, his experience. These windows were the inspiration he didn't know he needed, the hope that made him persist. And maybe that was all he needed.

Once the crowd had dwindled down, no one left in the line in front of the counter a few minutes past closing time, Karen shrugged off her apron and scooted into the booth beside Mara and Tweed.

"That was insane. And to think I thought that no one cared about this bakery," she said with a tired smile.

"Yeah, it looks like everyone in town missed Sol Bakery as much as we did," Ethan said, chortling as he nibbled on a Berliner. 

"I thought we weren't going to make it. Can you believe we were so wrong about Red?" Mara asked. Ethan laughed. Yeah, in hindsight, they had been pretty foolish to believe that Mrs. Heifenmeir was murdered by her own son. Maybe it was the last bit of their childish antics escaping. Or maybe it was leading the way for more stupid things they were going to do. 

Tweed agreed as he finished the last of the pastries for the night with Ethan shaking his head, a snarky response locked and loaded in his mind. 

"Are you sure you aren't a pig in disguise?" he mocked, and Tweed squinted at him, guffawing.

"Haha, as if you're totally not a complete dork who still reads comic books," he said, and Ethan gasped, playing up how offended he was.

"First of all, they're graphic novels, and it's perfectly normal to read about awesome people with awesome powers that want to help people," he said, finishing his Berliner and dusting his hands off. 

"Well, they are art... but they all have the same plot. Guy saves the city, guy gets the girl, guy saves the girl from bad guys," Oliver said with a shrug. 

Ethan turned to him. "But there are plenty of superheroes that are more complex than that! Midnighter was gay," Ethan said, and Oliver rolled his eyes.