“Wow!” She eyed every ingredients placed on the kitchen counter. “Are you finally going to cook for me? Great timing, I am starving.” She grabbed the store-bought cookies and bit it. “Why are you just standing there?” She asked, and took another bite of her chocolate chip cookie.

“You are not here to eat.” Henry gently pulled out the chair she was sitting on causing her to stand up, “You are here to also help me how to cook.” He then grabbed the apron placed on the counter.

“O…” Amber watched Henry tied the apron laces in place around her waist, and even rolled her sleeves for her. “…kay, I am a bit confused but I am listening.” She pouted when Henry took the cookie from her hand. “I now hate you for getting my snack. Can’t you see I am still eating that?”

“I took it from you because I made this for you.” He showed her a chicken sandwich. “Oh, this is what,” She took her first bite, “a hungry Llama aka me needs. But…” He didn’t let her finish what she was about to say and already placed a glass of iced tea in front of her. “I still hate you.” She teased and she heard the voice of a pizza delivery guy who was also knocking. “Now, I don’t hate you,” pinching his cheek.

“So,” She took a pizza slice as soon as the box was placed on the table, “what recipe do you want me to teach you? This plan of yours sounds ridiculous, you know. Did you totally forget about the fact that I can only prepare salad if you are talking about fine dining? You want me to teach you how to prepare salads? I could also boil water, fry sweet potato fries, and prepare a sandwich.” She was already eating her second slice. “Wow, you didn’t stop eating even if you are explaining. Don’t talk when your mouth is full, Llama.” He teased.

“Like I said, Snoopy, I am freaking starving because of all of these food we are talking about. So are we going to start or are you going to just stand there and tease me? Either way, I am still going to eat.”

“We will start as soon as you have studied,” Henry walked towards his room and returned to the kitchen holding a binder, his notes apparently, “what is in this.”

“You did not say anything about studying.”

“Let us just say you are reading a cook book. You like reading cook books right?” He smiled at her.

“Fine” She started to look over his notes. “Wow, your handwriting is really ugly.” She turned to the next page. “And apparently you can’t draw. Are you drawing ingredients beside the recipe?” She found it amusing. “Is this marinara sauce?” She touched the dried up red sauce on his notes.

“For me to remember what the ingredients looked like,” he defended his not-so-nice drawings and noticed Amber was actually taking notes and decided to peek at whatever she was writing.

“What are you doing, Mister?” Amber asked.

“What are you writing, Miss?” He replied, curious.

“None of your business that is what I am writing.” She was about to close his binder when she saw the last page. “Are these ratings from people that already taste your food?” 

“Give me back my binder.” Henry tried to get it from Amber’s grip.

Amber was quick enough to run towards the other direction, as she read the ratings and reviews. “The ratings are high. Why do you want me to teach you?”

“I find it difficult to remember ingredients. I just usually guess what the ingredients are whenever I cook. I know you could easily remember ingredients of recipes you have read but you can’t cook.”

“So you want to remember the ingredients and help you cook?”

“I want you to tell me what if ever I did something wrong as I practice cooking. Ryeowook suggested I need someone to help me cook like an assistant, ahmm… a sous chef, sort of… so the first person I thought of is you.”

“As long I could eat whatever you have cooked, I could help you with your problem, and we have a deal. And I like the sound of me being sort of a sous chef.”

-x-

She closed his binder that she was reading, and placed a printed-out recipe from the internet. “I want you to cook this.”  

“But I have never cooked waffles. Plus you are my sous chef.”

“You said I am sort of a sous chef, I could assist you if you need help in remembering ingredients thus sort of teaching you. I know you like waffles so I thought you would have fun making them. And the ingredients are easy to remember. Let us start with easy-to-remember ingredients then gradually proceed to far more complicated ingredients.”

“I don’t have these ingredients right now and I don’t have a waffle maker.” He reasoned as he looked at the printout.

“That’s why I already have your credit card.” She showed it to him, and already removing her apron.

“How did you get that?” Henry reached for his wallet as soon as she already helped him removed his apron. “My wallet is still in my pocket.”

“If you are an underwear thief, the nickname you have earned in one of your guesting before, I am literally a thief.” She joked. “You didn’t notice me getting your wallet, your credit card, returning your wallet in your pocket. I did that like two weeks ago while you are asleep.” She bragged.

“Like you stole my heart five years ago” He carried her towards the door.

“Put me down or else I will give your heart back.”

“Okay then.” He jokingly dropped her causing her to tightly wrap her arms around his shoulders, hugging him. “I scared you, didn’t I?” He could feel her heart beating fast as she held on to him. He finally put her down. “I’m sorry if I scared you.”

“Do that again and I will kick your sorry…” She threatened but then he had already stolen a kiss.

“You are about to say something.” He kissed her again.

She stared blankly at him. “What?” She totally forgot what she was about to say.

-x-

“Now read again the recipe,” she instructed, “and after a few minutes, I will ask you again what the ingredients are.”

“Yes, Sous chef-slash-teacher Amber.” He spoke. “What are you doing with the bag of groceries?”

“Secret” She smiled. “Just study the recipe, leave the next step of this cooking class to me.” She guaranteed.

-x-

She saw him murmuring the ingredients. “So, are you ready?”

“Ready.” He already grabbed his apron, and the first ingredient he remembered but he couldn’t find it in the kitchen.

“Go search for the ingredients.” Amber instructed.

“All over the apartment?”

“Yes. You have one hour to find the ingredients and of course prepare the waffles.” She was already holding the stop watch.

“All over the apartment?” He asked again, could not believe what she had done.

“Your apartment is not that big. So go search for the ingredients. You’re Snoopy, use your sense of smell like what dogs do when they are searching for things,” even tapping his nose with her index finger. “Put your nose to good use.”

Henry stood up and decided to start searching to the ingredients. “Go get them, boy” She cheered like how people will cheer a dog as it searches for things, but what differed in this scenario, she slapped Henry’s , causing Henry to look at her with wide eyes, shocked.

“Why are you looking at me like that? For moral support, dude” She once again tapped his , pushing him towards the direction of the first ingredient.

-x-

“Oh, he didn’t.” Amber’s voice could be heard from his Henry’s room. “Henry–“ She paused, still holding his clothes, as she saw Henry was in his boxers as he collected the last ingredient he could find.

“What the hell, Henry?” She avoided looking directly at him. “I didn’t tell you to not wear clothes as you find the ingredients.”

“I always cook like this.” He explained, still struggling to carry all the ingredients he already found.

“You forgot to tell me about that information.”

He smiled at her. “I guess, now you know.”

“At least wear an apron.” Amber walked towards him and placed the ingredients he was carrying on the counter, and placed the apron on him, tied the laces around his waist. “Now, do me.” She then covered as Henry just looked at her, once again shocked for the second time today. “I mean, do mine,” handing over the other apron, and she turned around for him not only to tie the laces of her apron but also for him not to see her blush. “Really, Amber, do me, seriously?” She silently scolded herself, still blushing.

-x-

Henry was already busy preparing the waffles when he heard Amber laughed as she was apparently busy texting someone instead of focusing on her student.

“Why is the Llama laughing?” He asked.

“Eric just texted me, teasing me because he just ate a burrito without me,” She was still texting as she said that. “Oh.” Henry spoke, with a hint of jealousy in his voice as he unboxed the waffle maker, and plugged it in afterwards.

“I am quite busy now, but at least I have a great view.” She sent the text message, and took a picture of Henry cooking wearing only his boxers and an apron. She reminded herself to place it under the folder name in her phone, “Pictures that I might post online someday.” And her phone suddenly rang. “Eric,” she greeted, “you cheater.” She joked.

“Why am I a cheater, Miss Llama?” He replied.

“You promised me a burrito and you just texted me that you just ate a burrito without me.” She explained. “Go buy me a burrito right now.” She kid and didn’t notice what Henry was telling her.

“I guess, I should have asked Fei to help me cook.” He said to apparently no one at the moment since his teacher was quite busy paying attention to a person who wasn’t part of this cooking class.

“Just a sec Eric,” she spoke and a placed a hand over her phone, “What did you just say?” Now it was her turn to be jealous and Henry noticed that upon hearing her voice.

“I said that I should have asked Fei instead of you to teach me.” Henry replied, checking if the waffle maker was ready so he could pour the waffle batter with all the ingredients that he hoped he correctly added.

“Eric, I will call you back some other time, okay?” She calmly spoke over the phone.

“I will buy you a burrito soon. Bye, Miss Llama.” He replied and ended the call.

“You should have asked Fei.” She started to examine what Henry was doing, “Fei, Fei, Fei,” walking around the kitchen holding the printout, checking what he have done so far, one ingredient after the other. “You feel like you should have asked Fei.”

“So did I get all the ingredients right?” He peeked over her shoulder to see the printout. “I didn’t reread the recipe as I cook. I remember every ingre….,” he saw Amber ignoring him as she went to his room, “….dient. What are you doing?”

“Get dressed.” She said.

“What is going on?” He removed his apron, wore his wife beater, shirt and pants, and finally wore his apron again. “Turn around,” She instructed, as she tied the laces of his apron.

“To make this class more interesting” She reasoned. “And Fei won’t do what I am planning. Tell that to Fei when you see her.”

“This isn’t a competition on who is best on teaching me.”

“It is now, Henry.” She was obviously pissed. “The moment you mentioned Fei”

“Why are you mad at me? You’re jealous, aren’t you? I should the one mad at you, ignoring me like that.”

Amber realized that she should more attentive on what was going on around her and that she could be so oblivious of Henry’s words and actions.

“Texting Eric…” Henry was in the middle of what he was saying when Amber hugged him.

“I am sorry.” She rarely says those words, but he knew that when she apologizes she meant those three words.

He ruffled Amber’s hair and she knew he was smiling as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

“By the way, you forget one ingredient.” She reminded him under his embrace.

“What?” He used his pinky to taste the batter again. “One ingredient…” He looked around the apartment, “….one ingredient.”

Amber stopped herself from laughing. He totally forgot what she said a while ago. “I said look all over the apartment.”

“I did what you have told me.”

“No, you did not.”

“Yes. I did.”

“Nope. You totally forget the people within the apartment.”

“Seriously? There is an ingredient on you right now. On you”

He took a deep breath, thinking, and finally remembered the missing ingredient. “Vanilla extract,” he realized as that Amber smelled like vanilla all day. “Did you spill some of the extract on your shirt?”

“How do you think I got the idea where to hide it?” She replied.

Henry looked at from head to toe, analyzing where could she hid the small bottle of extract on her. He checked the pockets of her pants. He thought she might hide it under her cap.  

“Think, think, think,” she teased, crossing her arms above her chest.

Henry chuckled as he walked towards her, and peaked under her shirt through the neck of her shirt, slid his hand, “Got it!”

“How dare you do that? She punched his arm.

“What? You are the one, who hid it there, of all places. And be thankful, I didn’t decide to rip your clothes just for me to find where you hid it and I didn’t think of searching for it underneath your pants.”

She placed the bowl of waffle batter on the kitchen counter, and whispered, “If you have called Fei, would she do this,” she dragged him by his belt buckle towards his room.

“Best cooking class ever” He cheered.

-x-

____________________________________________________________________________

A/N:

From "Changed By You" to "Believe: I am had the the plan of changing the title, and decided to change it to "Believe". I had a conversation with a Henber shipping that told me to keep thinking positively that there will be more Henber moments to come. In my opinion that what any shipper of any pairing did the moment he/she started shipping two people, they believe in the realness of the pairing's friendship or something more than what meets the eye, like in the case of Henber. :)