"You're lucky, the pasta was ready just as you arrived." - he grinned, emerging from the kitchen with two plates in his hands.
"You said you're not cooking." - I looked at him in surprise from the table. I expected us to order something, especially since until now, I hadn't even noticed that there's a kitchen.
"After we talked in the store I decided that I'd give it another try." - he answered somewhat timidly.
"And how's it going?" - I inquired.
"To be honest, today was the first time I actually had time for it since then, so don't have high expectations." - he said as he put the plates down in front of us - "I hope you'll like it, tho."
"I'm sure of it." - I declared confidently.
I was about to take the first bite when I noticed he was just staring at me. - "Aren't you eating?" - I asked, putting down my fork.
"I just want to see your reaction." - he said, with a mix of excitement and concern on his face.
I chuckled, and continued with what I had started. - "Alright then, let's see."
As I bit into the pasta, I thought my tooth was going to break. It was so hard, as if it hadn't spent a second in water.
"So, what do you think?" - he asked, looking at me with sparkling eyes.
I didn't want to disappoint him because I could tell he had tried really hard, so I forced a kind smile on my face and, with some difficulty, swallowed - "It's pretty good."
"Omg, really?" - his face was adorable as he got excited by what I said.
He quickly grabbed his fork to make sure for himself, but as soon as I heard the crunch from his mouth, his expression twisted. - "What the hell is this?" - he exclaimed as he tried, in the most discreet way possible, to spit it out.
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"Is yours like this too?" - he looked at me with a pale face.
"Mhm." - I nodded shyly. - "I just didn't want to hurt you." - I admitted, my heart breaking for him.
"Okay, I guess I really need to give up on this cooking thing." - he sighed, then stood up to gather the plates - "I'm sorry. I'll order you a pizza."
"Pizza is great, but how about we give this pasta another try?" - I asked, taking his hand as he took the plate from me. We looked at each other, and I reassuringly smiled. - "Maybe I can teach you a thing or two."
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"We should do things like this more often." - he gave me a big smile as he stirred the newly started pasta.
"Let's wait and see what comes of this first." - I acted as I was uncertain when I glanced at the pasta that I had entrusted to him after giving instructions.
