AN: Sorry guys, mixed up my numbers. Only 6 chapters in total. Here's Chapter 3. Don't forget to review and remind me to upload more tomorrow if you want to read the rest!

Chapter Three

Still amused by that memory, he glanced into the pans, making sure that both the pasta and sauce were cooking nicely before turning towards the refrigerator and pulling out a loaf of French bread. Derek definitely wasn't into the country scene but this song… it was slowly becoming one of his favorites. He made a mental note to avoid telling JJ that she was actually right about music for once. She'd never let him live it down. As he set the timer, leaving just enough time for the bread to warm without burning, he thought about the last time the oven was used.

Well that's just like last year on my birthday;
She lost all track of time and burnt the cake,
And every smoke detector in the house was goin' off,
And she was just about to cry until I took her in my arms,
And I tried not to let her see me laugh;
Yeah I live for little moments like that.

It was just a couple weeks prior, on his birthday. JJ was definitely no chef; in fact, she could barely boil water, and she had decided she was going to bake Derek a cake for his birthday. Why she decided to do this, Derek had no idea, but it was fun, nonetheless.

Flashback (Three weeks ago)

"Derek! Stay out of here!" JJ squealed, throwing a dish towel through the doorway at his retreating back. "I want to do this myself!"

"Jay, I promise! I won't help! I'll even sit on my hands!" He all but pleaded. It wasn't that he didn't have any faith in her. He just knew that she couldn't bake, or cook.

"No! Go away! I'll be out in a few minutes!" She replied sternly, stomping her foot to emphasize her point. She knew she wasn't any good in the kitchen but she was determined to make this cake for Derek's birthday. She'd reread the directions three times before blending everything together and all she had left to do was, well, do the baking. And really? Who couldn't handle putting a cake into the oven and setting a timer?

She heard Derek's exaggerated sigh seconds before she heard his large body falling onto the plush couch in her living room. Shaking her head at his antics, she dropped the pan in the oven and kicked the door shut behind her. As she wiped down the kitchen counters, she glanced through the doorway to see that Derek hadn't moved; face down in the couch cushions, feet dangling over the armrest. Smiling at the sight, she tossed the dish towel onto the counter and headed into the living room.

"Derek?" She broke the silence of the room, pushing her index finger into the back of his thigh. "I'm sorry I kicked you out of the kitchen…"

"Hmph!" He grunted into the cushion before rolling onto his back so he was looking up at her. "Whatever."

"Deerreekkk…" She whined, leaning against the couch. "It was supposed to be a surprise!"

"Jay, you can't cook. I just didn't want you burning the place down." He replied, pushing himself up onto his elbows. "You do have to live here afterward."

"That's not fair." JJ told him as she pouted at the obvious truth in his statement, lifting her leg over his body so that she was straddling him. Resting her hands on his chest, she leaned down to press her lips to his. "It's a good thing I like you, Morgan." She mumbled as she kissed him deeply, slipping her hands under his black t-shirt.

"I guess so." He grinned, returning the kiss just as eagerly; both of them oblivious to the fact that the oven timer was going off in the kitchen.

The timer had proceeded to ring for the next ten minutes before JJ had suddenly leapt out of Derek's lap when the smell of burnt food made its' way into the living room. He had followed her into the other room just in time to see her pulling a pan of a blackened mess out of the oven. She had dropped the pan on the stove and walked back into his open and waiting arms, pouting slightly.

Granted the cake had been ruined, the whipped cream and hot fudge she had purchased earlier, intended to go along with the gallon of chocolate ice cream in her freezer, was put to very, very good use.