Chip in the Heart

Hullo! I am back, and it's only been, what, about two months? Anyways, this is a one-shot dedicated to a friend (on a different website).

Btw if anybody knows any good ZackRay fanfics please send them to me. I am desperate. I love them so much.

So, I hope you enjoy! :D

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"Hey Zack," Ray looks over the couch to find him raiding the cabinets for snacks. "Have you ever made cookies before?"

Zack turns towards her with arms full of snacks (mostly chips and sweets) and a couple sodas. He scrunches his eyebrows together and looks at her in confusion and slight disbelief. "...Are you serious?"

Rachel nods.

He pops the lid off of one of the sodas with his teeth before plopping down on the couch next to her, spilling all the snacks across their laps. "Hell, I dunno if I remember what a cookie tastes like."

She smiles. Only a small one, barely noticeable, but still there nonetheless. "Would you like to try?"

And because Zack is a sucker for Ray and can't tell her no, he agrees.

.....

"Do you want to choose the kind?"

He looks at her incredulously. "What, there's more than one kind of cookie?"

"Of course. There's hundreds, actually. Sugar, chocolate chip, oatmeal, almost any sweets you can think of, really." She answers, slowly flipping through a cookbook she found God-knows-where. Which probably isn't the right expression for dealing with Ray, but it's too late now.

"'Want chocolate," Zack mumbles in return, suddenly feeling both embarrassed and hungrily content about making cookies.

Ray only smiles, like she expected him to say that. She almost gives in to placing a kiss on his cheek because of his bashful expression, but she keeps a straight face. "Chocolate chip it is, then."

.....

Zack wasn't exactly sure what they were doing. Ray had a bunch of different food out, along with a couple pans and bowls. And he was terribly lost.

Luckily, Ray could read him like a book and helped him, keeping a small smile on her face. Zack realized she probably didn't know it was there.

"Can you fill this up four times and dump it in the bowl?" She hands him a deep scoop thing and slides over a white powdery substance.

Zack grunts in acknowledgement, scooping the flour, as Ray called it, into the bowl. He did it really good until the third scoop, where he accidentally bumped elbows with Ray and the flour ended up covering them both head to toe. While Ray was wearing a white jacket, Zack was wearing a black one (not covered in blood), so it stood out easily.

Seeing his face scrunched up in distaste at the powder, Ray let out a real laugh. Those were a rarity within themselves, ever since Zack has known her. And while he hates hates hates hates HATES people who are happy or laughing for some stupid reason, he likes when she smiles.

And he is in love with her laugh.

.....

Ray helped him carefully put the other ingredients in the bowl. Even the eggs, despite his insistence that he was too strong to break something softly. But she helped Zack prove himself wrong, showing him that he can be gentle. Zack didn't think he knew how to be gentle, but Ray was a lot smarter than him and probably knew better.