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Claire took the food out of the oven and a delicious smell filled the room.
The 35 minutes the casserole needed to be ready had been just enough time to clean up the mess they made in the kitchen while preparing dinner.
Used knives and bowls had been left everywhere, a few spoons, too. Flour had been all over the counter, floor and even his hair, giving it an almost greyish look.
Leftovers of the almost food-fight they had gotten into, everywhere.
The kitchen had looked like exactly what it was: a battlefield.
But, if their mouth watering as he filled two plates was any indication, it was well worth the effort.
Claire had mostly been following his orders as she wasn't the best cook herself. Despite having to take care of herself growing up, cooking wasn't something she had taught herself.
She thought back to the time her and Dash tried to make dinner.
The only thing less chaotic then, was that the kitchen was still pretty tidy after they put the food in the oven.
But when they took it out, it smelled bad, and a brave try confirmed: it tasted even worse. She told him "cooks we are not", they laughed about it and had ordered takeout for dinner.
She hadn't taken another shot at cooking since that night a couple weeks ago.
With Neil, everything was so different. They had worked perfectly together, even if the kitchen had to suffer for it.
However, just like they had prepared the food together, they cleaned up together, enjoying each others the company. She even found she might enjoy cooking.
Neil had found a way to explain everything to her, drawing parallels to medicine.
That some ingredients were perfect together, while others shouldn't be mixed. Just like certain medications they prescribed their patients.
And much like the human body, not all connections were obvious. But certain spices influenced the bigger picture more than one might expect. And sometimes you had to improvise.
Of course, unlike in the hospital, it was allowed, encouraged, to experiment in the kitchen.
She looked at him, as he filled the second plate: the flour in his disheveled hair the only thing that still remained of the mess they had previously made. It mades her want to run her hand through it.
His suit jacket had been left at the door when he arrived and his shirt sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. In many ways he looked very much at home to her.
Neil finished the second plate and took both in his hands. Claire grabbed the cutlery and they made their way over to her small dining table.
He put the plates down on the table, placing them on two sides of one corner.
Claire sat down, eyed the good looking food on her plate and then looked at Neil.
He looked back at her, a grin on his face. Almost expecting her to bail out of giving it a try.
"What, you don't trust me?" He teased her.
"No, I don't trust myself. Last time I was involved in cooking it was a desaster," she laughed.
"Well, i wasn't here the last time," Neil added with a wink.
As she took the first bite, a small moan involuntary escaped her lips.
She never throught a home cooked meal could be that delicious.
How would she? Her mom was in no condition to cook, so as a kid they mostly lived on the things that were convinient and just had to be heated, soup and such. Sometimes, when her mom was off with one of her "boyfriends" she had to do with cereal.
Claire closed her eyes fully enjoying the taste of the food they had made. Together.
"Looks like you're happy how it turned out", Neil said, amusement clear in his voice.
Claire opened her eyes to look at him, a big smile on her face.
"Yes, I can't believe we made this!" Claire was beaming at him.
He smiled back at her before he dug into the food himself.
Claire looked at him, waiting for his own judgment.
"Yeah, we did good," he finally spoke.
"Looks like the OR isn't the only place we make a good team," Neil added nonchalantly.
Claire thought about how, when they were together, things just seemed work out. Of course, they couldn't always save every patient. For some of them there just was no cure.
Like her friend Kayla. But overall, when they worked on something it turned out... Right.
She wondered if things with Dash ended so terrible because they were not meant for each other. Great as friends but not for anything more. As often as Kayla was right, she had been wrong about that.
Her and Neil on the other hand worked so well together, hand in hand, easily complementing wach other. Maybe it was because they were right for each other, she thought.
On one hand she wanted to slap the thought out of her head, on the other hand, after his words about her making him better the other night... It proofed more difficult than before to shake these thoughts off.