The Way to A Man's Heart

By: Riley

Summary- People always say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Cody's just glad he has someone to share his passion with. Fluff. Rewrite of the very old one-shot –Cooking Up A Storm-

Rhuben stood in the middle of the spotless kitchen tying an apron around her waist. Spotless, only because Kurt wasn't one who managed to feed himself very well. Nothing had been used much, as far as she could see. His days of living on a tour bus eating nothing but takeout and fast food didn't do much to help with his culinary skills.

And as it was, he wasn't at his apartment nearly enough to justify dirtying up anything and continued to live off takeout. It was Cody's offhand comment—that he planned on making enough for his father to survive the week that had put Rhuben's mind in motion. She and Cody had stopped by Kurt's place for a quiet area to study and get their homework done. The Tipton was never an option, there was too much going on that was too tempting to not get swept up in, and her place was way too crowded and noisy.

A great place to hang out, but not always a great place to get some homework done. Besides, she knew, firsthand, how stressed Cody got if he didn't have nearly complete silence when he was working. He may as well be put in a glass bubble he got so test. While she'd finished her homework with his help, and he opted to get started on the homework for the next month, Rhuben made her way into the kitchen to start the project Cody had in store for his dad.

She set about gathering the ingredients and bowls to make fresh bread, pulling flour form the cupboard when she noticed Cody appear at the doorway to the kitchen.

"You're in trouble," he said with a teasing smile. "Cooking in my dad's kitchen, and unsupervised."

Rhuben faced him putting on her most innocent smile, just short of fluttering her eyelashes. Though she was sure it would've worked to her face. "You won't tell him, will you?" she asked. "It'd ruin the surprise, yeah?" Cody put his finger to his chin, pretending to think. It didn't take long for him to decide the situation was too good to pass up. Chose to play it for all it was worth.

What was it that people said? All work and no play made him a dull boy? Of course, he noticed every time someone rolled their eyes when he didn't step out of his comfort zone. Didn't leave his safe space. Didn't bend the rules, didn't tap into his 'bad boy tendencies' as he called it. He could let loose and have fun, and nothing was more fun to him than cooking.

"I don't think there's anything you can do to buy my silence," he continued to tease. His eyes shifted curiously over her face, noticing a distinct change of the look in her eyes. He tried not to let his smile widen. Didn't want to show his cards too soon.

"How about…?" She pursed her lips in thought. Crossed her arms, tapped her fingers against her elbow. "How about, I make you whatever dessert you want? Guy's gotta have dessert, I reckon."

"A plate of my very own?" he asked, trying not to sound too excited.

Having a brother like Zack, who may as well be a human garbage disposal, made it difficult for him to get much of his own. Even when he spent his days baking for himself, he had to make a smaller serving size so that he could at least get a taste of it. It was also flattering, anything he'd make for a bake sale or just to share with his friends and family was often gone in seconds.

"Deal," Cody finally conceded. He stuck his hand out for her to shake. "You can bribe me with it as much as you want."

Rhuben smiled and grasped his hand, shaking it firmly. Cody felt the warmth of her hand contrasting with the cool of the rings that adorned her fingers. He watched her face, watching as her freckled cheeks spread into a warm smile, blue eyes lighting up. Her eyebrows shifted upwards, the scar in her eyebrow—which she hated, and he always found interesting—shifting as well.

"Now go and find something useful to do while I cook," Rhuben said. She withdrew her hand and playfully swatted him on the arm.

Cody folded his arms. "First rule about cooking is that you need to make sure you have everything you need." Confused, Rhuben glanced at everything spread out onto the counter next to her. She started to ask him to clarify when he interrupted with, "It seems to me like you're missing a sous chef." He picked up his own apron, one that had his name embroidered on the front, and quickly slipped it on. "Just tell me what to do and I'll do it."

"Mmm. I don't think I've ever heard you say that before, mate."

"And you'll probably never hear it again," Cody conceded. He tied his apron behind his back. "And do me a favor?" Rhuben lifted her eyebrows, indicating she was listening. "Never mention it to Zack. I don't need him trying to exploit me with it."

"As if you're exploitable."

Cody leveled his eyes with hers. "Only if you're persuasive enough. I don't stop working on my homework for just anyone." Rhuben smiled, handing him a rolling pin, and directed him to where he could start.

A little while later, Cody was still working on the batches of bread as Rhuben moved to another part of dinner, preparing vegetables and slices of meat into a crock pot to make soup. Cody finished mixing the ingredients together, putting his own spin on it. (Having one kind of bread wasn't fun, and he knew his dad really liked his garlic knots). Cody spread flour onto the counter and started to roll out the dough.

He rolled each portion as flat as possible, making sure excess air was pressed out, then cut the dough into long strips. Once that was finished, he picked them up and with twists of his hands, started to fold them into knots. Zack always made fun of him for how much he enjoyed cooking and baking—despite eagerly being a taste tester when the time came—but it relaxed him.

"Are you going to take them on a date, too?" Rhuben's amused voice broke through the silence, making Cody jump. Rhuben leaned on the counter next to him and flashed him a playful smile through her laughter. "The way you're looking at it, is making me a bit worried."

"Don't sneak up on me like that," Cody scolded her. "And, no, I'm not going to take them on a date." He paused, understanding what it was she was really asking. "And, no, I don't have any ready to be eaten yet."

Rhuben's façade immediately broke. She pouted, letting out an petulant sigh. "But I can't wait," she whined, grasping Cody's arm and shaking him. "I'm hungry".

"You know, you're starting to get as bad as Zack."

Rhuben immediately broke her whining. "I don't think that's possible."

"I think I'll be the judge of that." Cody handed her a knife, motioning to the other ball of dough that needed to be sliced. "And if you're going to complain, you may as well help make this go buy faster."

Rhuben rolled her eyes, but took the knife. "Yes, sir." With a salute of her fingertips, she set about her work. Cody watched her. He noticed her posture had seemed to change, normally every task given to her was carried out with seriousness and importance; here she was slouched and took her time and he noticed for the first time that she seemed a little clumsily. She held the knife strangely, as if afraid to hurt herself.

His movements slowed as he watched her closer. She wore little make up, hair pulled back into a messy bun, loose strands falling at her neck. Rhuben caught his eye and smiled, making him blush and look away, not before smiling back.

Finally, they finished the garlic knots and stuck them into the oven, moving to finish everything else. It wasn't until everything was cooking or cooling that Cody noticed the state of the kitchen. More importantly, the state of their clothes.

"We probably should've been a bit more careful with the flour," he commented, noticing their clothes, especially their jeans, covered in floury handprints. In fact, upon closer scrutiny, most of him was covered in flour.

"If you wanted to look at my ass, Cody, you didn't need to make an excuse to do it," Rhuben teased.

Cody's face enflamed as he tore his eyes away from her. "What? No, I was, uh—"

"And how did you manage to get that dirty, mate? You're usually so spick and span."

Cody leaned against the counter. Subtly stretched his fingers towards the bowl of leftover flour sitting next to him. "Look who's talking."

"I'm not that dirty," Rhuben snorted.

His eyes flashed. "Wanna bet?" As the words escaped his lips, he threw a handful of flour at her. Rhuben's eyes slammed shut, the cloud of flour fell over her, settling through her hair and eyelashes, sticking mostly to her cheeks and shirt.

Cody laughed to himself, watching Rhuben cough dust the flour away from her. Then, calmly, she said, "I can't believe you did that." He should've noticed her voice was too calm. That was always dangerous. "I was being nice and helping make your dad some food."

"I'm sorry, Rhu, I couldn't resist-" Cody's half-hearted apology was cut short when a hand full of butter came flying toward him. It struck his shirt with a loud wet smack. "Not the shirt! Do you know how hard it is to get butter out of cotton without it staining?"

Rhuben simply laughed in response. In response, Cody took another handful of flour, turned to send it flying, only to see Rhuben was prepared, and had another handful of butter flying towards him. Again, he was hit in the face.

Rhuben erupted in laughter. Cody grabbed the entire bag of flour and swung his arms wide. The powder drifted out in an arc, gently settling to the floor while the teens ran through the kitchen trying to pelt the other with the most food. The dust from the flour acting as a screen with neither of them being able to see were the other one was.

As it began to clear slightly Cody spotted her purple t-shirt and threw a hand full of leftover sticky dough in that direction hitting her in the face.

She let out a startled cry through her laughter, peeling sticky chunks from her face. Laughing as well, Cody went to her and brought up his hands, aiding in pulling the dough from her face and hair. He felt her relax beneath his touch, his fingers slipping through her dark hair.

Rhuben grinned and lifted her hands, pressing them to Cody's shoulders, steadying herself to lean in and kiss him. Cody smiled, pulling his girlfriend closer to her as he kissed her back. In the back of his mind, a niggling warning was going off, the compelling notion that he had to clean everything. But in the moment he ignored it, simply wanting nothing more than to enjoy his time with his girlfriend.

So much so, he hadn't realized his dad arrived back from work until they heard Kurt's voice at the doorway. "What the hell did you do to my kitchen?" Cody broke the kiss and looked over his shoulder at his father. Kurt's confused glance then turned to a knowing smile as he looked at the teens still covered in food. "And what happened to you? I mean, I have an idea, but…I think your explanation will be more fun."

Cody sighed. He rolled his eyes in embarrassment, only so that Rhuben could see it, though he was sure from Kurt's chuckle he knew. Instead of wanting to deal with his father's immature tendencies, Cody apologized. "Sorry, dad."

"We'll clean it up, Kurt," Rhuben added. "No worries."

"Hey, don't stop on my account. Young love and all that," Kurt said, with a wave of his hand. "I just hope any of this is still edible. Whatever it is, smells good."

"Oh, we made it for you," Cody said. He picked up a towel and started to scrub the front of his shirt. His movements were clunky, awkward with continued embarrassment. Unlike Zack, he had a bit of shame. "It should be ready, soon."

"Just clean it up," Kurt repeated. "And wash up. Together or apart, I don't care—" Rhuben laughed as Cody let out a mortified 'dad!'. "Relax, Cody. I'm only kidding. Your mom would kill me." He took the last of the raw dough and popped it into his mouth before disappearing from the kitchen.

Cody sighed, surveying the mess they'd had to clean—not including themselves. As usual, his eyes landed on Rhuben's and he gave her a warm smile. His heart leapt a little when he saw that she returned it.

Totally worth it.

THE END

A/N: I haven't written a CodyxRhuben in a while and it's always, always fun to work with the pairing, especially working on their differences and similarities to ZackxRiley. I love writing it as much as Zack and Riley and certainly don't write it enough. Nor Zack's and Rhuben's friendship or Cody's and Riley's, which I hope to remedy soon. I hope you all enjoyed it as well.

Cheers,

-Riles