Chapter Text
"How long have we known each other now?"
You stopped in the middle of cooking. As you looked up two skies stared down at you. Zack had propped his head on his hand and smiled at you with his eyebrows raised. The knife, which he should've used to cut the vegetables, layed next to him.
You shrugged, then put the meat into the frying pan. It whooshed as its contact with the oil.
"A bit less than a year, maybe? I don't know, why do you ask?"
You heard a munching noise causing you to turn around once again. A grin was plastered on the male's face, in his hand a slice of sweet pepper.
"Well, you never did go on that date with me as you promised."
You felt warmth crawling up your neck, tainting your cheeks deep red. Clearing your throat you peeped between Zack and the pan, finally pointing at the vegetables next to him.
"W-wanna switch?"
Zack winked, throwing his remaining piece of pepper in the air and catching it with his mouth. The next moment he had sneaked himself up to you and you found yourself locked up in between his arms. His voice trembled in your ears, his smirk audible.
"No need to get all flustered, [Name]. Or is it that you actually forgot about it?"
You averted his gaze, which didn't turn out all too difficult given that he stood behind you. Chuckling he let go and instead stirred the food.
While you finished cutting the sweet pepper and green onion, you reflected what Zack just said. Of course you hadn't forgotten, one thing was bugging you however...
"I can't remember making such a promise."
Zack turned from the fire. Leaning against the oven he crossed his arms. His lips adorned a grin, cheeky and bold as that of Alice in Wonderland's Cheshire cat.
"Meh, details."
You shook your head in disbelief, "how come you're bringing that up now?"
Almost a year had passed since you and Zack got to know each other through the opening of Tifa's bar Seventh heaven. After that the two of you befriended rather quickly and by now you'd even call him one of your closest friends alongside with Cloud and Tifa. He always managed to put a smile on your face and it was impossible to get bored when he was around. Besides he had good influence on you, since you started to open up more among people.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Well, you never asked me again after your first attempt at the bar opening. So why now?"
Sighing Zack turned back towards the pan, "Cloud said I could try again now if I still wanted to..."
Not much and the knife would have cut your finger instead of the vegetable. Your hand stiffened and you dared a side-glance at Zack. The light of your room caused his hair to shine as if someone had tilted a bottle of black ink over his head. You let your gaze wander downwards, trying to check by his body language if he was pulling your leg.
"Cloud? As in Cloud Strife?"
He laughed. Without you noticing a smile formed upon your lips. That was one of the reasons you liked about Zack: it didn't matter when you encountered him, he always was in a good mood and would pass it off to you. No wonder the nickname 'puppy' Angeal brought up for him enforced itself so easily.
"Oh come on, you should know better by now. Did you really think I'd given up on you just like that?"
When you didn't answer, he rolled his eyes and stepped beside you. He took the spring onion in his hand and left again, dropping the vegetable in the frying pan.
"Spiky reckoned I firstly would have to befriend you and gain your trust before you'd agree... but to be honest I think he just told me so because he was afraid I'd mess with you."
The last part left his mouth only as a mumble you heard nonetheless. Your smile turned into a grin. After you swallowed it you pretended to be offended. You hoped he wouldn't notice your shivering, revealing how nervous you really were.
"That sounds just like him. So... you only spent time with me all this time because you wanted to hit on me?"
Zack rubbed his neck. From your current position you could swear there was a red tint on his cheeks but you weren't sure.
"Kinda, yeah. But only in the beginning! I mean this tingling feeling never vanished, but the more time we were together the more I just wanted to be near you. Even if it meant as friends only."
This tingling feeling, his words echoed through your head. You managed a giggle. The booming bass of your heart took control over your body and your stomach was filled with what felt like hundreds of butterflies.
"You're sweet, Zack."
He flashed you a grin, his eyes streaking lightning, "I... take that as a 'yes'?"
"I'd be pretty dumb if I said no."
You felt him wrapping his arms around you and twirling you around, "great! I'll be back in a minute, OK?"
But before you could even have replied something he loosened his grip and was gone. All you could do was watching him dive outside the room. Not much later you heard the slamming of the door. With fingers trembling as if you had drunk too much caffeine you touched your cheeks. They were warm and surely just as red, you thought. Am I dreaming? But no, couldn't be. Why in the world should I be dreaming about the puppy asking me out?
Through the open window you could make out Zack's laughter. "[Name] said yes! Yeah, for real! God damn it, stop acting surprised and just be happy for me! Hahah, same to you, Spiky. Gotta go, see ya!"
Only then thoughts started to overflow your head. How was this evening going to end?
Originally Zack came over so you could cook and eat together and play on the PlayStation. Could all that talking about dates have ruined it? You chewed your lip. You didn't know if you were ready and how to react if the raven haired male made any advances.
A burning smell stung your nose, clearing the fog of questions immediately.
"Oh shit, shit, shit!"
Alarmed you jumped to the oven and turned it off. Smoke rose up from the frying pan, most of the meat and onions within it blackened.
You sighed, "so much for that. Speaking of ruining the evening..."
The moment you threw the remains of what used to be eatable in the trash bin, you heard the door of your flat open itself again. Short of breath and with the grin still on his lips, Zack paced to you until he stopped right at the counter, sniffling.
"Does it smell burned in here?"
His electric blue gaze fell upon the pan in your hands, then back to you. The enthusiasm vanished from his eyes as if someone had cut their power. Instead they showed signs of guilt.
"O-oh... uh... does that mean I can invite you to dinner?"
Even though you wanted to be mad at him, just a bit, you looked at the floor and chuckled. As you got a hold yourself you faced Zack.
"So I am right in assuming that you did it on purpose? Leaving the oven on?", you joked, examining the male.
He winked at you, his arms folded, "you've got no evidence of that. Besides you were the one who didn't pay attention, young lady, so maybe you just couldn't wait any longer for our date, huh?"
"Alright, alright. Have you finished your lecture, Mr. firefighter?"
Zack pouted, but with his smirk still evident in the corner of his mouth, "when you say it like that it sounds like an insult..."
"Well yeah, that's the point, puppy. OK, so let's agree neither of us wanted to set my place on fire."
"Good", he stuck his tongue out and hurried next to you where he tousled your hair. "Otherwise Angeal would have killed me."
You stopped him in his actions and after he winked once more at you he offered his help. Together you did the dishes and dried them off.
"It's too bad about the curry, though... I was looking forward to it", Zack sighed while he took a bite of the last slice sweet pepper.
You nudged him, "next time. Should we order pizza?"
Surprisingly to you, he shook his head. Just like before he tossed the last bit of the vegetable in the air and caught it with his mouth. After he finished chewing he offered you a smile.
"Nah, I'd rather invite you to a restaurant."
"I'll let you pay the pizza, if it makes you happy", you shrugged, after that grabbing the phone. "I don't mind, Zack. Here, you make the call, I'll set up the PlayStation."
You were about to leave the male alone and do as you said, when he grabbed your wrist. As you turned around you saw Zack examining the floor with his eyebrows knitted in determination.
"You don't understand, [Name], I want to take you out. I'm always the one who pays the pizza."
"That's only because we're always at yours then."
"You know what I mean... come on, you said yes, didn't you?"
You let out a sigh, hoping Zack wouldn't notice your pink cheeks, "yeah, but I didn't think it would turn out to be that short-termed."
"Well, you couldn't tell we were about to sacrifice the curry to Satan now, could you? Nothing fancy, I promise. You don't even need to dress up."
With a roll of your eyes and a snort you made your way to your bedroom, "right... just wait here for a sec, it won't take long."
"Fine, but at least put on a strapless cocktail dress, then!", he called after you.
Without giving him an answer, you shut the door and headed for your wardrobe. You decided to leave your jeans on, so you only exchanged the shirt you were wearing with a black one saying backwater experts and additionally put a cardigan on. You looked into the mirror. A red colour as delicate as dawn graced your cheeks and your eyes were glistening from excitement. And yet you didn't know why exactly you were so nervous.
Maybe because you couldn't believe that after all this time Zack still wanted to go on a date with you. Maybe because you couldn't believe that someone as Zack wanted to go on a date with you. Or maybe because before now you never thought of Zack and you becoming anything more than close friends.
Of course you didn't miss the fact how handsome and likeable he was when you first met and you were more than surprised when he asked you out on your very first encounter, but that was it. Tifa and the others had already warned you of his antics, so you never committed yourself to it.
Never did you even consider Zack's company to be because he was interested in you. It made all sense to you now. No wonder he always called and stuck by your side like a homeless puppy searching for a place to stay. But it wasn't all to bad, you figured. Zack was a sweet guy after all, even if he was a flirt. You were always there for each other and laughed about the stupidest things together. And he was one of your best friends.
A knock on the door made you startle.
"[Name]?"
You blinked for a few times. Quickly you stood up and got back to the corridor. The male with the ink black hair greeted you with a smile. His eyes flashed up while examining your form.
"Shut up."
"What? I didn't even say anything!"
You rolled your eyes, but couldn't hide your grin as you grabbed him by his wrist and dragged him to towards the front door.
"You know I was joking about the dress. By the way, I just wanted to say I like your shirt."
"Yeah right, if you say so... can we go now? I'm starving."
"Hey, you were the one who took so long!"
Laughing the two of you left the apartment. Somehow you knew this evening would be fun. After all it was Zack who was with you.