A/N: So... you know those stories that, no matter how hard you try to ignore the ideas for, it just wants to get written no matter what? Yeah, for me, this is that story. Just sitting there with 400 words in Word, begging me to click on it without closing it out... and I gave in.

At least it's an interesting take on my favorite couple, so I probably won't lose interest, meaning this fic won't go under like all my others! Haha.

Anyway, um, it won't be too long if I can help it (like under 10 chapters, I'm thinking/hoping), and you can probably already guess how it's going to turn out. But it's fun to write so whatever!

Characters are obviously OOC, unless you really do think Raeger's a playboy and Minori's a slut obsessed with apple pie, but that's beside the point. Headcanons are different from person to person, and it should stay that way!

As always, reviews, favorites, and follows are very much appreciated! Keep me motivated to write this :P

Thanks for reading!

Apple Pie

Ever since she moved in to Oak Tree Town, Minori had made it a daily habit to stop by the restaurant, especially after learning the chef there served her favorite flavor of pie, apple. It was just another reason to love the town.

Today was no different, of course, as she made her way to the door. It was open, she noted, probably to let in the warm summer air from outside.

"Hey, Raeger," she greeted cheerfully, taking her usual seat at the counter.

Raeger turned around, not even noticing her until she spoke, and smiled. "Oh, hey, Minori. Apple pie today?"

Minori grinned. "You know me so well."

"I try," he said with a laugh. He walked over to the refrigerator, pulling out the pie crust. He took off the cover and started preparing the cinnamon apple filling.

She took this opportunity to look around the restaurant. She'd already been in town for a month and even though she came here every night she'd never really paid attention to the interior. The bright yellow definitely added light and character to the tiny establishment.

"Have you always been working here?"

Her question seemed to catch him a little off-guard because he flinched at the sound of her voice.

"Ah, jeez, you surprised me, sorry," he told her sheepishly, clearing his throat. "Anyway, not really, no. My parents got divorced when I was pretty young, so I moved here with my grandfather around that time. I helped him out some with running the place but I didn't really take an interest in becoming a chef until he passed away."

Minori frowned. "Oh. I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't worry about it. I'm happy to be here now."

He turned around again, bringing the pie pan with him. "On another subject, how are you and your boyfriend doing?"

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Don't call him that. He just follows me around like a lost puppy." She leaned on the counter, head in her hand, and watched him continue with the recipe.

"The way you're talking about him, it sounds like it could be Fritz." He eyed her warily but playfully.

"Pfft, yeah, right."

She built her lip, guilt plaguing her mind. She didn't exactly want to tell this to Fritz's best friend, but she'd already shot him down a number of times. He was just… a little too hyper for her, even to be just a hookup. Well, especially if it was just for a hookup. She didn't want news of their rendezvous to get around in such a small town like this.

Raeger slid a plate with a piece of the pie to her, reaching into the drawer and pulling out a fork as well.

"How about on your end?" she asked curiously.

Minori liked the relaxing time she and Raeger spent together late at night here. They would sit and chat about each other's relationships, both failed and steady, and it felt like for the first time in a long time she had someone to call her friend. That wasn't to say she didn't like anyone else in town – she just came here so often it felt like second nature already.

He inhaled a shaky breath, giving her a mean look when she laughed at him. "Well, Cora just ended things because she found one of those nice guys, and Deanna said she was moving away so that'll be over within just a few weeks, too."

"You're a nice guy though!" she defended, waving her fork in the air. "Well, nice enough to make me food every night, anyway."

He chuckled. "That doesn't mean much in the world of women, Minori."

She swallowed and frowned, looking up at him. "Really? I would go crazy for a guy who cooks for me, and the last time I checked, I was a woman."

He rolled his eyes. "You're different."

"How so?"

The chef sighed. She really wasn't letting this go, huh? "You're just different from the girls I date. It's, uh, how do I put this… oh! You're easy," he told her snidely.

Minori scoffed and raised her eyebrows. "What? I'm easy? If I was easy I wouldn't have ignored your attempts to get me into bed when I first moved here, and I certainly wouldn't have ignored Fritz either, because he practically threw himself at me every day for the first week!"

Shoot, she'd tried to keep that a secret, but in her anger it slipped out. He didn't seem to hear it though, too focused on what she said about him.

"Oh, please," he said, sarcasm lacing his voice, "you had the invitation written all over your face. You needed some action, and I guess it wasn't beneath you to move all the way out to the country to get it."

She stayed quiet now, chewing her pie slowly. No way was she going to tell him that actually was her reason to move here. One of her friends planned to take a trip to a nearby town but got off at the wrong stop, and that landed her in Oak Tree. She called Minori every day to gush about how cute the chef was, though, and when she got back, Minori was convinced enough to come herself.

She was definitely attracted to Raeger, the same chef her friend talked about, but his personality left more to be desired. If he didn't play around with girls so much, maybe things would be different, but on the other hand, it wasn't like she went lonely every night, either…

"Whatever," she told him roughly, knowing if she didn't at least say something he would feel like he won the argument. "Good pie."

Raeger glanced to the side awkwardly. "Thanks."

Once she finished she handed her plate to him, and he started on all the other dishes in the sink. He cleared his throat. "So, uh, what's on the agenda for tomorrow?"

She smiled, feeling the animosity die down finally; it never lasted very long anyway, but it didn't feel good to argue with a friend. "I think a new trader's coming into town, so I'll check out their wares, but other than that, same old, same old. I don't have a date until Friday."

He counted the days in his mind before talking again. "So you don't have anything to do for three days?"

"Isn't that what I just said…?" she asked, laughing hesitantly.

"Well, specifically tomorrow?"

The only thing she knew about tomorrow, Wednesday, was that he had the day off. Was he getting somewhere? "No?"

He smiled. "Then come with me. I'll show you a good place to have some fun."

…

It was nearly nine o'clock after Minori completed all her early morning chores. She'd quickly learned that being a farmer had its ups and downs, but even if she wanted to leave now, she didn't feel like she could anymore. Her animals and crops were depending on her from now on, and besides, the townspeople started to grow on her.

She really didn't intend to stay any longer than a week when she was planning her visit, but seeing the flyer for the farm in the newspaper, she figured she could waste a bit more time discovering what it was exactly she wanted to do with her life.

Minori headed down the mountain path, smiling as the bunnies all scurried away at the sight of her. Someday she'd befriend them, and they would like her without even realizing it. Animals had always liked her – just like boys.

She laughed at her thoughts, thankful nobody was around to see her interact with herself.

She passed the river and scared away a bird before finally making it into town, where she could already see Raeger waiting for her.

"All right, lover boy!" she greeted energetically after she caught up to him. "What's going on today?"

"Oh, hey," he responded, a little less chipper. "Y'know, when someone tells you noon, you don't have to show up at quarter after nine."

She frowned. "So I'm supposed to just hang out for another three hours?"

Raeger sighed, scratching his head. "No, I guess not. We can go early, we'll just have to run to catch the train." He turned around and started towards his house. "I'm gonna get ready – I'll meet you at the station in a little while!"

She crossed her arms and huffed. At least it wasn't a three-hour wait like she'd dreaded, and she supposed it was really her fault for being too excited and showing up early, and it was also her fault for moving here in the first place because there was nothing else to do…

But she didn't exactly feel like waiting, so she followed him to the restaurant and let herself in, taking her usual stool.

It was his day off, so there wasn't a pile of dirty dishes in the sink like normal, and the overlapping scents of cuisine weren't there, either. Come to think of it, this was her first visit to the restaurant when it was closed. Did he always go out on Wednesdays? She never saw him around town.

She heard footsteps from above her, meaning that Raeger was probably moving around a lot; she now understood why he closed up shop at nine PM. If he stayed open later and there were still guests downstairs, they'd hear him with his… more preferred guests up there.

She shuddered at the thought, though she supposed she really wasn't any better. It wasn't like she brought a new guy home every night, but more than a handful of guys had helped her break in her bed already. Most of them were old flames from high school looking for the same thing as her, just little flings, but sometimes she'd get a clingy guy who actually wanted to keep in touch.

Honestly, was it too much to ask for one night of passion, no strings attached?

"You're here?"

She turned her head to look at Raeger. "Yeah, sorry. You want me to leave?"

"No, no, it's fine. I'm all ready anyway."

He fastened his watch around his wrist before heading towards the door, but Minori stopped him.

"H-hey, hold on there." She stuck her arm out and stood up, taking a moment to give him a glance-over. "I've never seen you in this sort of casual wear."

"Oh." He chuckled. "Nothing special, really."

And it wasn't. He sported a normal pair of jeans, baggy around the legs, and a neat button-up shirt, top two buttons undone, to contrast with them. His hair was quite a bit messier, but other than that he really didn't look any different from normal.

"Maybe it's just the apron," she mused, wondering why she couldn't take her eyes off of him.

"What, you think I should put it on?"

She laughed. "No, never mind, forget I said anything." She took her arm away and followed him out the door.

"Could you lock it behind you?" he asked once they were outside.

"Who's gonna break into a restaurant in a small town?" She did as he asked, though, and twisted the lock on the door until it clicked.

"You never know, Minori," he said simply, though he sounded pretty disinterested. It was probably a normal thing to do, after all, since apparently he left town every Wednesday. "Oh, and let down your hair. Updos aren't sexy."

She stifled a laugh, not really caring about how attractive she looked – men still flocked to her either way. She untied her ponytail, though, and shook out her hair. Already she felt like it was choking her neck and wanted to put it back up. There was a reason she kept her hair ties with her all the time.

The two walked through the trade depot to get to the station and, unsurprisingly, the nine o'clock train had already left; it was already quarter after. Minori checked the schedule desperately.

"Isn't there another one for ten?" she asked, flipping through the pages to see if they'd just gotten the day wrong.

He sighed. "It doesn't seem like it. Whenever I go out I take the one at noon." He walked over to a bench and took a seat. "Guess we'll have to wait, after all. Care to join me?"

She rolled her eyes. "Can't we do something else until then? I'm not sitting on a bench with you for two more hours."

"I'm not gonna molest you, jeez." He ran a hand through his hair. "If I wanted you, I would've made it clear by now."

She pursed her lips, unconvinced. He'd certainly made it seem like he wanted her back when she moved in, but she let it slide, not wanting a repeat of last night's argument.

Reluctantly, she walked over to where he was sitting and plopped down next to him, making sure to angle her body away from him for good measure.

"Really?" he asked, amused. "You don't believe me?"

"I don't believe you can go a day without touching any woman, no," she replied icily.

He took in a deep breath, sinking against the wooden bench. "All right, then. How about we make a bet?"

Minori raised her eyebrow skeptically. "What kind of bet?"

"Well… how about we see how long each of us can go without having a date, romantic or otherwise, with the opposite sex?"

Her eyes widened. "What's the point? I mean, what's in it for me?"

"We get together once one of us caves in?"

Despite his joking tone, she didn't feel the urge to laugh. "No, really."

Raeger laughed for her, but then he looked thoughtful as he contemplated it. "Free apple pie from me for the rest of your life – plus I'll give you my recipe."

It didn't take long for her to grin. "I like the sound of that. But wait," she said, realizing something. "What if I lose? It's hard to resist temptation sometimes, y'know."

He smiled. "If you lose, you have to go on a date with me."

Minori's cheeks flushed. She knew it! She just knew that was the underlying motive!

She stood up and looked down at him. "Oh, you're on, Raeger! There is no way I am ever sleeping with you!"

After a moment or two she realized just how loud she'd screamed, receiving several awkward glances from strangers. She sat back down on the bench, head in her hands, embarrassed.

"Relax," he said simply. "All you have to do is resist that temptation that's so hard to."

She wished she didn't look up, because suddenly all she wanted to do was slap that stupid smirk off his face. Sure, he was attractive, but when he flaunted it all the time, it was just… annoying.

"Speak for yourself," she retorted with a glare. "If I even see you with another girl, just know I'll be watching every minute of it, waiting for you to screw up."

Raeger put a finger to his chin. "But what if I see you with another man? Can I come to your house and watch him undress you?"

"That's not going to happen! I'll make sure I win!"

"Well, best of luck to you, then," he said. "I guess… since this is a bet and all, now, I should probably change the plans for today."

"What?" she asked, confused. "What were your plans?"

He laughed. "I was, uh… gonna take you to a bar and let you meet some of my pals. They've been asking if I've seen any cute girls recently." He scratched his head.

Minori felt her cheeks heat up again but pinched herself to stop them. He was probably just making that up because he wanted to get in bed with her! Well, no way was she going to believe that.

"We're already here," she started, "so we might as well go do something, anyway. Could we just go to the city stores? There's some stuff I've been meaning to buy."

He sighed. "That sounds incredibly boring, but sure, why not? This way we can keep tabs on each other while we're at it."

She rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless. In any case, it felt like their strange friendship was about to take a whole new turn.

~CGA