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Right now, I’m on the tour bus, and I’ve just finished baking a batch of chocolate chip cookies.
“Something smells amazing,” Luke says, sliding his arms around my waist from behind. He nuzzles my neck, and I lean into him automatically.
“Don’t even think about stealing a cookie. They’re not cool yet.”
“But you love me. Don’t I get special privileges?”
“You get midnight privileges,” I remind him with a smile, resting against him.
Luke steals a warm cookie despite my protests. After taking a quick bite, he asks, “You’ve got that look on your face. What are you thinking about?”
“How different everything is from when we first met. Remember when I thought having my own business was my dream?”
He chuckles. “Remember when I thought I’d never sing in public?”
That makes me smile. After his performance of “Midnight Recipe” (yes, that’s what he called it), the fans wouldn’t let him hide behind his keyboard anymore. Now, he sings at least one song per show.
We still escape to our cabin in the woods when we need a break from the chaos. Last weekend, we spent three days there, just us, no phones, no schedules. Luke still asks for midnight pancakes. It reminds me of that first time, of taking chances, and of how love can find you in the most unexpected moments.
My phone buzzes with a text from Emily—something about the menu for tomorrow’s venue. My life isn’t what I imagined it would be. It’s louder, messier, more complicated. There are paparazzi sometimes, and social media can be brutal, and living on a tour bus takes some getting used to.
But then Luke pulls me into a slow dance in the tiny kitchen, humming our song, and I know I wouldn’t change a thing. This is where I belong—creating meals for the people I love, stealing kisses between sound checks, and finding quiet moments in the chaos.
“I love you,” he murmurs against my hair.
“I love you too,” I reply, breathing in the scent of him mixed with chocolate chip cookies and home.
Because that’s what this is—home. Whether we’re in the tour bus kitchen, our cabin in the woods, or stealing midnight moments in venues across the country, home is wherever we’re together.
And sometimes, the best recipes in life aren’t the ones you plan. They’re the ones that come together unexpectedly, and you find everything you never knew you were missing instead.
Life is a recipe of love, music, and midnight pancakes… and I wouldn’t want it any other way.
The End.