A/N: Man, what's with me and unpopular pairings? Well, I thought there should at least be one fic for this pairing, so I'm gonna write one. This is kind of a strange idea, but I hope you'll enjoy. Please review. If enough people like this, I may write more fics with this pairing in the future. :3

o0o

Rusk ground the cookie into crumbs between his fingers, letting the pieces fall into the cool water. He watched as the fish congregated around the spot where it had landed. At least someone was going to end up eating them. With a sigh, he reached into the bag and pulled out another cookie, crumpling it up as he criticized himself. Go to his house; give him the cookies. That's all he had to do. No mentions of feelings were going to be brought up. He was going to give the cookies, and leave. But no, Rusk thought, I'm too much a coward to even do that. He hadn't even passed the inn on his way to Micah's place before he lost his nerve and turned around. So instead, he sat beside the water and slowly ground another cookie into nothing but crumbs, feeding the hungry fish. Had his sister seen him, he would have been yelled at for wasting food.

He wasn't sure when his feelings for Micah had started to grow. All he knew was that one day he had been hit by the realization and had been smitten ever since. The idea for the cookies definitely wasn't to confess; he wasn't ready for that yet. No, it had just been a fleeting thought that maybe, just maybe, Micah would really notice him. Not as just a friend, but as a possibility for something more.

"Guess I really messed up my first attempt at that," he said aloud.

"First attempt at what?" came a voice from behind him. Rusk nearly jumped out of his skin. How had he not heard someone coming? He turned to see Micah standing about a foot away from him, looking a little roughed up.

"You just getting back from the valley?" he asked.

"Desert," Micah responded, lowering himself to the ground slowly. Rusk smiled.

"You've lived here how long and the desert is still giving you trouble?" he said. Micah threw up his hands and shook his head in a mock show of frustration. The two laughed together.

"Well, next time I go, why don't you come with me? We'll see if you can fight as well as you talk," Micah said, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. Rusk felt his face heat, but luckily Micah didn't seem to notice.

"By the way, you didn't answer my question: first attempt at what?" Micah looked at him inquisitively. Rusk stammered for a moment before he finally came up with a good answer.

"Uh, first attempt at making these cookies," he lied. Micah tilted his head to the side.

"Are they no good?" he asked.

"I think I messed up the recipe. They don't taste right," Rusk answered. He sighed. He didn't like the idea of talking down on his cookies because, in fact, they were perfect. Not what he had expected, as it really was the first time he had made them, but they were still perfect.

"Do you mind if I try?" Micah asked after a second. Rusk felt his face go red.

"Uh, o-okay. You know, i-if you really want to." He handed the bag of un-crumpled cookies to Micah, and the blonde took it and then reached inside for one of the sweets. Taking a bite, his eyes went wide.

"These are really good," he said "But they're unusual. What are they?" Rusk smiled.

"They're zucchini cookies," he responded. "I found the recipe in an old cook book of my dad's."

"Zucchini? In a cookie?" Micah said in a childlike wonder. Rusk shrugged, still smiling.

"Well, you are always trying to tell me how good vegetables are; I thought I'd give it a try."

"I don't think it counts when it's in a cookie," Micah said, laughing.

"Of course it does!" Rusk laughed along with his friend. See? he thought. See how natural you are with him? You had no reason to be so scared.

"You mind if I have another?" Micah asked, breaking Rusk from his thoughts. Rusk shrugged.

"Nah, I don't mind. They were kind of for you anyway," he admitted.

"Really? All for me?" the blonde said. "What's the occasion?"

"Uh, well," Rusk stammered. He had let his guard down and, for a moment, he almost confessed then and there. Fortunately his mind kicked in and stopped him from speaking. Unfortunately it hadn't replaced those words with any new ones, so he sat stuttering like a moron.

"Rusk? You okay, you're really red…" Micah finally said. Of course, now he notices, thought Rusk.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine, I, um, have to go help out my dad, I'll see you later," he told Micah. Then he quickly got up and booked it to his place, leaving Micah just a tad confused. Once he got in the door, he bypassed his sister and dad and went up to his room, where he plopped down on his bed. He couldn't believe how stupid he had been, almost letting out his emotions like a teenage girl.

"Well," he said into his pillow, "he liked the cookies, so mission accomplished." That small fact gave him at least some solace. With a small sigh, he rolled out of bed and went downstairs to get to work. If only dealings in love were as easy as baking a cake…

o0o

Blah, what's with me and crappy last lines? xD

So I started writing this with the intention of there being some sort of confession on Rusk's part but the more I wrote, it seemed out of place to have him confess and have Micah just be like "OMG I liek u 2!" ('Cause he totally talks like that…) Maybe I'll write a second chapter if someone so wishes. I'm not one of those people that goes, "I need *insert number of reviews here* to write the next chapter!" Honestly, I just wanna feel like I'm not talking to myself. xD If at least one person wants another chapter and reviews, or even just Story Alerts it, I'll write another. That being said, please leave a review!

-K.H. Wright

P.S. I didn't edit. I'm getting lazy! Excuse any errors! (You know, with all the time it took me to write the f***ing note at the end, I could've read it over. Maybe I'm not lazy; I just concentrate on the wrong things. xD)

No really, I'm shutting up now.