A few days passed and you were happy to say you'd made your new home comfortable. It already had lost that stiff, show home feel and now looked like someone actually lived in it. The kitchen was full of knick knacks, your living room had more than enough blankets and plush pillows than you could count, and your room, well, you didn't like telling others about it but it had your small collection of stuffed animals in it. You had a soft spot for cute things and anything full of cotton stuffing that vaguely resembled any kind of creature tended to fit the bill.

In fact, there was one that you kept downstairs in the living room. It stayed on the chase, which had become your favorite spot to sit at. It was a large giraffe, about half your size, that was always great to cuddle with while watching TV. When you were single, you'd take cuddles from just about anything. The giraffe, who you'd named Geoffrey, made for the perfect cuddle buddy. And he was pretty much the only critter in your collection you'd let other people see.

You had actually just plopped down on the chase with him, right after work, when your phone went off. You dug it out of your pocket and had just enough time to read the text you'd received when there was a knock on the door followed by a certain someone letting themself in.

"You know, the idea of having you text was so that I could have a heads up." You huffed.

Cracker chuckled as he marched into the house and plopped down on the empty couch. He had no problem making himself at home.

"And you got one."

You were originally laying down on the chase but had sat up at the sound of him knocking. He still felt like a boss to you to some extent. When he was around, you felt the need to avoid things like cursing and looking lazy. It was going to be a long few months dealing with this but at least the apartment was nice.

"What if I had a guy over?"

"Hmmm." He looked towards the front door and back towards where you were sitting. "I don't think I would've seen anything."

Nothing like your bosses brother making jokes of walking in on you with someone. You sighed and hugged your plush giraffe. You could tell already, Cracker was going to be a handful on a regular basis.

"Don't people usually grow out of having things like that?" He cracked a sly grin as he eyed Geoffrey, changing the subject.

"Don't judge." You frowned. "He's cute."

"He?"

"How long are you sticking around for?" You avoided the question with one of your own. He was using your situation to avoid his nosey family, that was easily more strange than you giving your favorite plush a bit of personality.

Cracker checked the time on his watch. "I dunno, I'd give it a few hours for my family to quit trying to harass me. Can I fuck with the tv?"

"Uh yeah." You pointed to the remote and he snagged it, scooting around in the couch until he had his entire bottom half taking up the cushions, kicking off his shoes at the same time. "What do you mean by harassing you though?"

"They try to act slick and come by my place in hopes of catching me and getting the updates before anyone else. If I stick around here long enough, I can wait them out and they'll go home." He flipped through the channels until he came across some sweets cooking show. You weren't surprised by his choice.

"Not to sound ungrateful, but couldn't you go literally anywhere to do that?"

"In theory, yes, and I've done that in the past. But they've figured out my favorite places to go and I prefer not having to be out in public all day. I don't have to deal with people here."

"I can appreciate that." You murmured, getting sucked into the show.

It was only enough to earn some of your attention. Having Cracker here made you feel a little ill at ease. While he couldn't seem more at home, you weren't sure how relaxed you could be around him. The uncertainty made you almost want to push your plush to the side and sit up straight and proper. You weren't at work, but you felt like you still were with him here.

He stayed unbothered though, too busy zoning out to the show while you were debating whether or not it was too late to back out of this deal. The Charlottes were supposed to be elites in the cooking world and you still found it difficult to believe one would go so far out of his way to help you and only ask for a place to escape to every once in a while. It felt like a joke and you were waiting for the punchline.

It didn't seem to be coming any time soon though. Cracker went between playing with his phone and watching the TV while you slowly relaxed little by little. Enough to lean against the back of the chase and become more engrossed in the show.

They were doing some kind of bake off and the contestants were all making different cheesecakes. That was one of your favorite things to make. It was messy but you had the process down to a fine science and found the finished product was always worth the mess you'd have to clean afterwards.

One contestant in particular was bragging about their baking skills as they made their cake and when you glanced over, Cracker was completely focused on what they were doing.

"They're gonna make the best one." He commented when he noticed you watching as well.

"Nope, it's going to be a flop." You replied.

"What makes you say that?"

"They added too many eggs and mixed it for too long. It's going to crack when they bake it."

He let it go until everyone had finished baking their cakes. Sure enough, you were right and the overconfident contestant's didn't hold up compared to the others in appearances. The top was covered in cracks and they'd gone as far to burn the top by keeping it in the oven for too long.

"Huh, they really ruined it. You know your stuff."

"Well I did land a job with the number one sweets manufacturing company. It'd be a little disappointing if I didn't."

He chuckled. "You've got me there. That actually reminds me, I'm curious, why didn't your family pitch in to help you out with this? Usually people are esctatic to know they have family working under us and jump right on it."

You shrugged. "It's complicated."

"Family isn't complicated."

You scoffed and almost immediately regretted it, remembering how important family was to the Charlottes. There wasn't anything they took more seriously, not even their sweets business.

"Mine is." You continued, a little sheepishly. You didn't want to offend Cracker any, not if he was generous enough to help you out. "But it's been that way a while. I never had any problems taking care of things myself until now."

He let out a short hum as he pulled out a pillow from behind his back. You had more than a few laying around.

"What about your friends then?"

"They don't live near by."

"It's just you here?"

"When you ask like that, it sounds a little creepy."

"I'm not being creepy." He rolled his eyes. "Just curious. If I'm going to be around once in a while, I don't want to get in the way of whatever you having happening around here."

"My friends don't live close enough to visit without making it into a bit of a trip. If they decide to come around, I'll let you know."

"Huh." He frowned, looking like he was thinking something over.

"What?"

"That's depressing."

Now it was your turn to frown. "It's not. I still talk with them all the time and work has me pretty busy anyway. I have to focus on it until I'm sure I have everything down."

"Katakuri says you're already ahead of schedule on learning the job, you don't have to worry about that."

You shook your head. "But I don't plan on settling for my current position."

"Ohhhh." His eyes lit up and he grinned, having forgotten about your family issues already. "You're hoping to get in good with my family."

"I wouldn't put it that way, I just want to work my way up in the company and I'm going to do it."

You were confident in your abilities. Maybe you lacked the experience that literally everyone else had in the company, even among your peers, but you wouldn't let that hold you back, it hadn't yet. You'd proven you were good enough to be here and were the youngest employee to be accepted. That meant you at least showed enough promise to be beneficial if nothing else.

"You've got a real go getter attitude, I like it."

"My current job is nice, but it's not what I want to be doing forever. I applied here so I could try....making new stuff."

Your friends knew your goal was to be a part of the few that decided the direction the company would go and what they would produce. You wanted to create the newest and best treats that would bring smiles to people's faces. It was a simple goal but it wouldn't be easy to reach. You were still determined to reach it, one way or another. It still wasn't something you thought you'd tell a Charlotte so early on in your career. After all, no one who wasn't part of the family held such an important position in the company. You were looking to be the first to do so.

"That's quite the goal." Cracker said seriously. Of course he knew exactly what you meant. "If you ever reach it, we'll be working together a lot."

"You'll learn to tolerate me." You joked.

"That's if I'm not dead and gone by the time you get there." He snickered.

"I see how it is, you don't think I'm good enough to reach a higher position."

"Nah, you've got some skill, it'll just take you forever to convince the others you're good enough for that."

"Gimme a year and I'll be moving up." You weren't sure how much you believed yourself but you were going to do your best to make it happen. Saying it out loud only made you feel more determined to do so.

"Can't wait to see how it goes for you." He was still teasing but there was a slight tone to his voice that suggested he didn't think it'd happen.

You'd gotten this far thanks to people believing in you and giving you a push whenever you needed it. Now that you had one foot in the door so to speak, it was only you. There was no one else to help you when you felt like you were losing your way. But maybe getting the chance to prove someone wrong for a change would be just what you needed. 

The hint of doubt in his voice lit a fire in you. And suddenly, your goals only felt all the more attainable. You'd impressed him and his brothers once and you'd continue to do so, you were sure of it.

(A/n)
In case you guys were curious, Geoffrey 100% exists. He's legit half my size and here he is with my 60lb boarder collie, Sadie, for reference. She was excited to be in a picture with him, tail wagging the whole time. Or it could've been because I was on the floor with her.