Nicknames

"No. Not like that." He grabs the packet of herbs from my hands and all but shoves me out of the way.

"Like what then, oh Wise Master of Teriyaki Ribs?" I grumble.

He points to a stool in the corner of the workspace. "Sit."

I raise my eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me, Curtains. Sit."

I glare at him, not moving. "And why would I listen to you? You, who have done nothing to make me even think about wanting to listen to you?"

"And what is it, exactly, that I've done to so greatly offend you? Apart from causing you to break your curtains and probably your cute butt, that is."

There is a pause as I register what he just said and I open and close my mouth in shock. "What?" I manage to get out.

Flustered, mortified and absolutely embarrassed are just a few words to describe how I'm feeling right now. I mean, I'm pretty sure he just admitted to checking out my butt. One does not simply ignore that. One cannot simply ignore the fact that a scorching hot boy admitted – however indifferently – that he admired one's backside. And, of course, he inadvertently (more like very intentionally) bought up the window incident.

"I don't think your ears are working very well today," he says mildly, turning around. He leans against the worktop with his arms folded, and continues with the air of one talking about the weather.

"I was just saying how your rather perverted tendency caused you to break your curtains and probably your butt. And I don't see how that's offended you because, frankly, who can resist the abs? I mean, it's not your fault," he adds kindly, mixing up some saucy stuff and dumping it in a pan.

I stare at him for a while. What is wrong with this boy?

"So yeah, how've I offended you, Curtains?" he says, a hint of a smirk threatening to grace his features.

I try to ignore what he just said and look at him incredulously for a few seconds before pretending to think, tapping my chin.

"Well, for starters… you just said that," I say flatly, gesturing towards him. "That in itself is enough to have 'greatly offended' me. Also, you binned my sauce, stole my apron, nicked the recipe, took my place at the counter, called me stupid nicknames, and," I say, drawing myself up to my full and not very tall height, "you ate all the cookies. Seriously, who takes the last piece of food without asking? You're such a boy."

A grin curls his lip. "Ouch." He pretends to get shot, holding his imaginary wound with a fake but rather realistic grimace and I raise my eyebrows, unimpressed. He seems to catch on and stops, standing back up again and shrugging.

"Curtains, I did offer," he smirks. "But I didn't realise you liked to keep such a record of things."

"Yeah, well, considering you just met me, there really isn't much you know about me is there?" I say shortly. "And, FYI, I am not sitting in the corner like some scolded child. And," I add on snappily, as he opens his mouth to interrupt with another stupid comment. "Quit calling me Curtains."

He raises his hands up in surrender and I can see he's trying not to laugh as his lips twitch. "Alright, alright."

My eyes widen suddenly as I glimpse a watch on his wrist. "Hey, what time is it?"

The sudden change of subject has him looking at me quizzically, but he shrugs bemusedly and then glances at his watch. "Quarter to eight."

"Crap."

"What's wrong?"

"Arnold said I had to have this done in half an hour or else I'm outta here. And since it's quarter to eight – "

"Fourteen to eight now, actually," he says matter-of-factly.

I glare at him and roll me eyes. "Since it's now fourteen to eight, I have exactly fourteen minutes to make a freaking steak. For some reason, dear Arnold doesn't strike me as the sort of guy who'd let me off for screwing up, either. Did I mention I know nothing about cooking?"

He gazes at me with a half amused, half irritated look on his face before responding with a single word. "Sit."

"Are you even listening?" I ask exasperatedly, throwing my hands in front of me. "This is important to me!"

"Yep," he replies, popping the 'p'. "I know. That's why you have to sit. I'll make the steak, fourteen minutes – well, thirteen now – is plenty of time. We've got the sauce ready, no need to marinate it because it's quite spicy anyway so it won't be that noticeable if the flavour doesn't have time to penetrate. I'll cook the meat 'til it's tender, because steak doesn't actually take that long to cook if you wrap it in foil and blast the heat up; there'll be just enough time to add any leftover sauce and then, voilà. Arnold is happy, customer is happy, you're happy."

"I… Uh… Okay," I say, stunned. He lost me at 'marinate', but there's no need to tell him that, and I'm quite grateful. " But won't everyone else know I didn't make it?"

He raises his eyebrows at me, gesturing at the little workspace. "You seriously think anyone will notice? And anyway, if they do, they won't tell. They love me," he says smugly.

I roll my eyes.

"So, for the last time, sit." And he points towards the little stool.

xxxxx

Eleven minutes and thirty-two seconds later (yes, I was counting, and wow, has Zach actually managed to finish it before the thirteen minutes are up?) a freshly cooked steak sits on a polished white plate in front of me, complete with a splash of extra sauce and a dash of parsley – he made sure to find the herb himself. It actually smells divine, and the rich aroma of the meat and sauce has my stomach grumbling.

"And there you have it." He tips an imaginary hat and bows.

"Thanks, Zach." I say, only a little begrudgingly. "I owe you one."

"Nah, don't mention it." He adds some more pepper and looks at the steak critically.

"You like cooking, huh?" I ask, watching him.

He instantly stills. "No. I just know how to make steak."

"Sure ya don't." I grin.

"Shut it, Curtains." I spot a faint reddish tinge appear on his cheeks and the moment is absolutely gold.

"Are you embarrassed?" I ask gleefully.

"I said shut it," he mumbles. I laugh and he cracks what seems to be a rather unwilling smile. But as I register the reiterated use of my dumb nickname, I suddenly wonder why he hasn't asked what my name is in all of our almost twenty-five minutes together (which is rather a long time to go without asking.)

"Don't you want to know my actual name, Zachary? You can stop with the whole Curtains thing now. It's embarrassing enough as it is," I mumble.

He laughs. "Sorry, no can do. That's going to be your nickname until I find a better one. So nope, I don't want to know. I'll find out on my own, Curtains." He smirks. "Besides, it makes you more mysterious. Even if the mysteriousness is somewhat diminished when I remember that you were spying on me through a window, wrapped in curtains, while I got changed," he adds nonchalantly.

I shift awkwardly and he grins widely, flashing me a bright, beautiful smile which transforms his whole face. It's a pleasant change from his ever present smirk, and so I reluctantly smile back in return.

I suddenly see him look up and hastily start pulling off his apron, stuffing it in a drawer behind him and pushing the plate towards me, before leaning back and grabbing his now empty cookie tray.

"What are you – "

"Hey, Arnold!" he calls, before giving me a warning glance.

"Mr Goode," a rather displeased voice says in return.

I spin around with the plate in hand, and smile brightly, doing my best to appear like I made this thing. "Arnold," I say. "One Teriyaki Ribeye Steak, as requested."

"Hm." He takes the plate and sniffs it, before turning it round and examining it from every angle. What did he expect me to put in it, for goodness' sake?

"I must say, I'm impressed. Good work." He takes the plate away with a pudgy hand and I grimace at his indifference. If only he knew how much hassle this caused.

"Cammie, I want you to continue working in the kitchens for us."

I freeze. "W-What?"

"You have clearly demonstrated your aptitude for cooking and I want you to carry on. We are very shorthanded in the kitchen and it would be a big… help."

"I-I… Um…"

He narrows his eyes at me and fixes me under his glare. "What is wrong, Cammie?"

"N-Nothing. Nothing at all," I squeak. "I-It's just, the thing is, I may not have made this entirely on my o – "

" – Cammie here," he glances slyly at me as he says my name, "is a great cook, Arnold. She's trying to tell you that I was annoying her when she was making the steak. Don't worry, you won't regret your choice."

I hear Zach interrupt but I can't quite believe he just said that. I glare daggers at him. What is he doing? His lips are twitching and I can tell it's taking all of his willpower not to burst out laughing. If looks could kill, he'd be ten feet underground – no, actually, scratch that – he'd still be dying a very painful death.

"Yes…" Arnold looks at me suspiciously, but I manage to smile, despite being seconds away from strangling Zach.

"Thank you, Arnold. I'll… take the job," I force out.

"That's what I thought. I expect you to carry on with your Wednesday and Friday shifts. " He gives me one last look before marching off with the cursed steak, and I instantly spin around to face Zach.

"What did you think you were doing?" I ask furiously.

"What do you mean?" he says innocently.

"You know what," I say, fuming. How can a boy I barely know and just met be this infuriating?

He takes one look at my angry expression and bends over, laughing his deep, melodic laugh. I blush, tapping my foot impatiently.

"Glad to see someone is finding this amusing," I say drily.

His laughter trails off and I scowl at him darkly. "You know I can't cook, and I sure as hell never expected him to make me work in the kitchens. I thought he'd make me do this once and then I'd be able to be a waitress like I was meant to!"

"Sorry, Cammie." He smirks. I feel the blood rush to my face at the sound of his voice wrapping around the syllables of my name.

"Great finding out skills you have there," I say flatly.

"I told you I had my ways."

"If by that you mean listening, then wow, kudos to you Sherlock."

He chuckles. "Don't forget to wash the dishes, Curtains," he says smoothly, throwing me the dishcloth.

"Hey – !" It lands on my face and I fumble for a second, before managing to pull it away. I make to shout after him, to tell him that he has not right to leave the washing to me, but he's already at the door.

That idiot.

A/N I'm so sorry for not updating in ten whole days! I was on holiday and had no access to a laptop, which is literally the only way I can write properly (some people are able to write on their iPads and tablets, but I seriously can't.) I was able to check my mail and stuff though, and it was astounding how many of you reviewed. Thank you so MUCH for your support! Your reviews and responses are amazing, and I really couldn't ask for better readers - I seriously love you all. I'm going to give you all some pizza. And cookies. And cake. And anything else you fancy.

I thought this chapter was kind of cute, it was so fun to write their little bickering conversations. I know it's on the short side again but I have never believed in unnecessarily long chapters to begin with (especially as I find it damn hard to write really long ones.) Please leave your thoughts in the reviews for me, I'd love to know what you all thought! As always, make sure you favourite and follow if you haven't already :)

BookLover2000: Glad you liked it :) Zach is just too cute, isn't he?

Indigoandvioletskies: Thank you so much! It's amazing for me to hear that, I try to go into detail and the fact you noticed means a lot to me, especially when I've put a load of effort into it. So thank you! xxx

miaadventure: *takes cookie* Thanks! I know, Zach is being sort of jerky but I love him all the same ;) And yes, Adam is undeniably sweet and cute.

lovewords: Thank you! It was fun writing about the diner and those ice-creams had me craving the stuff :) I had a very good holiday thanks! Sorry for the late update - but I hope this is satisfactory? *like* *like* *like* ;)

Guest 1: Thanks! I know this isn't soon but... oh well.

Teenage Gallagher Girl Spy: I love a bit of melodrama ;) Loving the questions, and loving the review! Thank you! I'm glad you like it, and it's very reassuring that you think it's moving along well, and is, wow, excellently written. Thank you! And yes, teriyaki is just far too challenging.

123autobots: That's amazing! Thanks gurllll. That means a helluva lot (why am I speaking like this.)

TiggerMorgan: Aw, thank you so much! *smirks* Who knows... To Zammie or not to Zammie? (I'm just kidding, it's definitely Zammie.)

fanficlover4602: I can't believe how excited you get! It's amazing :) Thank you so much xx I don't mind crazy ly2

Guest 2: Yayyyyy thanks.

Sunnive Steiner: Hahahaha your review cracked me up :) loved it. Thank you! So glad you like the story and the... events :') I'm a weirdo, let's be weirdos together.

Asline Nicole: Haha aw well it's a shame you don't like Adam, but never fear, Zach is always here. Thanks for your review!

gallaghergirl614: That's great to hear :)

NuhaXGoode: And I love writing it! And I'll sure think about it :) Thank you!

athenadaughter6: Thank you so much. And haha that's great actually, because it means Adam is lovable! We definitely will see more of him, mark my words ;)

Guest 3: Thanks, will do!

Guest 4: Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I appreciate all your reviews so much, and I really hope you like my replies. See ya! xx