Ever since I saw the projection ring, I just had this idea for this story. This is [also] from my 'unfinished stories' folder, so I figured I'd give it a try as well!
No, I don't own MBAV – all rights go to the company. No copyright intended.
Oh, and yes, this is Bethan.
…
Ethan was trying to do homework at the kitchen table when he heard a light knock at the door. He wasn't expecting anyone and was home alone, so he quickly made his way to the front door; pulling it open, he saw Sarah standing on his porch.
"Sarah," he breathed, smiling at her. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh. Well… I was just… in the neighborhood, thought I'd stop by," she said awkwardly, biting her lip. "Can I come in?"
"Sure!" he exclaimed, moving so she could walk in. He noticed she was still in the clothes she wore to school; a sundress with an over jacket and knee-high boots.
"What are you doing?" she asked, walking towards the table and looking over his books and papers. "Ooh looks hard," she muttered, "You're way better at this than me…" he looked at her oddly and she gave him a strained smile, "I meant… when I was a sophomore."
"Oh. You okay? You seem… I don't know, different."
"Fine. Just… tired. From flying."
"Oh."
"So… Want to take a break from all of this and watch a movie? I'm super bored."
"Yeah, that'd be great. Let me put my stuff up and we can get right on that. Can you pick one out?"
"Uh… sure," she said, turning on her heel and disappearing into the living room. Ethan got a goofy smile on his face as he thought about the luck he had. He was about to watch a movie alone, with Sarah, the girl of his dreams.
It was almost too good to be true.
He finished with his things and made his way to the living room; Sarah was already on the couch, legs crossed as she held the remote in her hand.
"What are we watching?"
"I was in a superhero mood. Avengers okay with you?" she asked, looking at him with a smirk.
"You really have to ask that? You know I love the Avengers. But I didn't think you even liked it…" She just shrugged and bit her lip, looking worried.
"Let's just watch the movie."
…
About halfway through the movie, Sarah placed her hand on Ethan's knee, making his breathing speed up in nervousness. She scooted a little closer and laid her head on his shoulder.
"Just relax Ethan," she whispered, eyes not leaving the screen. "I don't bite… Usually." He gave a weak chuckle as she turned her body to where it was facing him. "Do I make you nervous?"
He didn't know what had come over Sarah, but she didn't seem like herself tonight. He gulped nervously and nodded, throat too dry to speak.
"Don't be nervous," she whispered, cupping his face in her hand. "I've wanted to do this for a long time," she spoke quietly right before placing her lips on his. Ethan felt his face burn as he closed his eyes, leaning into the kiss some more before Sarah pulled away. Sparks of feeling consumed him still from their kiss before he could even clear his mind to realize she was scooted away from him.
"Wow," Ethan muttered, eyes fluttering open. Sarah looked to be in shock before jumping away from him and off the couch, pacing the living room now.
"Oh that was bad," she muttered, one hand covering her mouth. "Really really bad."
"I didn't think it was that bad," Ethan pouted, making her stop pacing for a second and smile sadly at him.
"No E, kissing you was… amazing," she said, pacing again, "and that's why it's bad."
"Did you just call me E?" Sarah stopped again and chuckled weakly.
"Must've...picked it up… from Benny! Hanging out with you two too much I guess," she said, tucking her hair behind her ear and pacing again, looking worried.
"Sarah!" he called out, getting up from the couch. "What's wrong with you? You're acting almost like Benny when he gets worried about something!" Sarah stopped then and looked at him, eyes wide.
"Ethan… I'm sorry," she whispered, stepping closer and leaning on her tiptoes to kiss him softly. He kissed her back, arms twining around her waist as her hands found his shoulders. Before they could get too caught up though, she pushed him away, tears in her eyes.
"You're crying…"
"Ethan," she gasped, shaking her head. "This was a bad idea. Just… just stay away from me!" she said harshly, turning away from him. "I knew I shouldn't have done this," she whispered under her breath, but he heard her.
"Shouldn't have done what? You're really beginning to confuse me Sarah." She nodded and turned to face him.
"I know, and I'm sorry. It's just… I've liked you… for a REALLY long time, and this seemed like the only way to tell you without you freaking out," Sarah said, bringing a hand up to cover her mouth as she looked away; the light from the TV caught a ring she was wearing, which Ethan thought looked really familiar.
"Sarah…" he said, eyeing the ring, unease rising in him.
"Please don't hate me E," she said, looking at her ring now. "Remember, I am sorry for doing this to you." With that, she pulled her ring off.
Ethan's jaw dropped as Sarah disappeared in sparks, leaving Benny in her place, looking guilty as hell. Ethan took a stumbled step back as he realized what his best friend had just done.
"You! Why! WHY DID YOU DO THAT TO ME?"
"E, listen to me-"
"NO! ANSWER ME!"
"I TOLD YOU! I LIKE YOU DAMMIT, BUT I KNEW YOU WOULD NEVER LOOK AT ME AS ME SO I BECAME SARAH. It was the only way that I could ever get you to notice me." Ethan shook his head, unable to believe this.
"I can't believe you did that to me Benny! How could you-" Ethan was cut off by Benny grabbing him and kissing him. Too stunned to move, Ethan stood still.
The sparks he felt when he had kissed the Sarah-Benny were still there, maybe even stronger. They pulled away and Benny stared at Ethan.
"I'm sorry," he whispered before bolting out of Ethan's house, leaving him alone and confused.
…
Ethan walked into school slowly, unsure of what to do if and when he saw Benny again. Their kiss had kept him up all night, confused and unsure about what he wanted now. When he saw Sarah walking towards him, he cringed internally.
"Hey Ethan! You okay?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Hi…" he said slowly. He couldn't be sure if it was really Sarah or Benny in her place. "I'm…fine."
"Oh…kay," she said, copying how he was speaking.
"Show me your hands."
"My hands?" she asked, but did as he asked, showing off her hands; there were rings there, but none of them looked like Benny's. "Just got my nails done with Erica last night. Pretty cute right?"
"Uh-huh… Have you seen Benny?"
"Earlier. He muttered something about his life being over and took off somewhere. I don't know where," she said with a shrug as they walked down the hallway. "What happened?"
"Just a … misunderstanding..."
…
Ethan hadn't seen Benny all day, and he was beginning to get worried; what could have possibly happened to his best friend?
Sitting at lunch with a mopey attitude, Ethan slowly ate.
"Ethan?" Rory asked, appearing out of nowhere, sliding into the seat next to him.
"Yeah?" Ethan said, still eating.
"Benny told me what happened. He wanted me to find out if you were okay dude," he said, hands stuffed in his pocket as he leaned his elbows on the table.
"He told you?!" Ethan said in surprise, making the blonde nod at him.
"Yep. He's worried about you man."
"Me? He's worried about me? I'm worried about him! Where is he?!"
"That's classified," Rory said with a shrug. "He made me swear not to tell you."
"B-b-but I'm his best friend! Is he… avoiding me?"
"Wouldn't you be avoiding him if you had done to him what he did you?" Rory asked, seemingly confident. Ethan, slightly confused, just nodded.
"I…guess."
"So. Are you okay?"
"…Yeah, I'm okay."
"…Did you enjoy it?"
"…"
"Ethan?"
"I don't know," Ethan said, placing his head on the table. "I really just don't know." He looked up to see Rory smiling at him.
"He liked it. A lot. He likes you a lot too. Just saying."
"How do you know all this?"
"Uhh… who do you think he talks to when you're not talking to him?" Ethan narrowed his eyes at the blonde for a second.
"Why would he tell you and not me?" he asked suspiciously, but Rory just smiled.
"Once again, that's classified," Rory said with a smile, getting up and walking away, hands still in his pockets. Ethan, his suspicion growing, raced after Rory and yanked his hands out of his pockets.
"Dude!"
There was no ring there.
"I thought…"
"That I was Benny wearing the ring?" Ethan just nodded. "Do you just want to talk to him and get this whole thing over with?" Another nod. "Come with me then." Ethan followed Rory out of the school and into a cluster of trees. "Hold on to me."
"What?"
"How else do you expect to get where I'm taking you?" Ethan frowned but reached for Rory.
And they were off.
…
"This is where we played when we were younger," Ethan whispered to Rory as they landed on the outskirts of town; Ethan could just barely see the old shack the boys had played in, using it as their own personal fort.
"Yeah, I know."
"Why'd he hide here?"
"Probably thought you'd never find him here."
"He'd have been right. This would've been the last place I'd have looked."
"Isn't that how it usually works out though? The last place you look is usually the place you find something, because wouldn't you stop looking once you found what you were looking for?"
"Shut up Rory," Ethan said, walking closer, Rory behind him. "Can I talk to him alone?" Rory shrugged and flew up into a tree.
"Guess we'll see," he called down, looking sympathetic to Ethan. Ethan groaned but then knocked on the door.
"Rory?" he heard Benny's voice call out, but he didn't respond as the door cracked open a bit. "E? H-How'd you find me?"
"Rory brought me to you. We need to talk about this B."
"No."
"Please?"
"NO!"
"Yes! I'm not leaving until we talk!"
"Why? Just so you can tell me you hate me and never want to see me again? I kissed you!"
"I don't hate you and I don't care that you kissed me!" Benny opened the door then.
"You don't?" he asked meekly, making Ethan smile softly and shake his head.
"Of course not. Can we talk inside?" Benny nodded and let Ethan come in. Not much had changed in the small building, except the sofas and chairs looked newer and there was a mini fridge in the corner. "Wow, so you cleaned the place up huh?"
"Yeah, I figured I'd make it a little homey for me, since I thought I'd be hiding out here for a while."
"You don't have to hide from me Benny."
"Yeah I do. I can't believe I kissed you! What was I thinking?" he asked, falling onto one of the sofas.
"Good question. What were you thinking?"
"I just… I've liked you for so long. I just wanted to see what it was like to kiss you at least once. And I knew you would never kiss me as me so I became Sarah. At the moment, I thought it was a good idea. You would never turn down Sarah! But then I felt guilty about it so I admitted that it was me and then I really kissed you, as me! You have no idea how sorry I am E."
"Listen Benny. You're my best friend. So what if you kissed me? So what if you like me? That's not going to change my opinion of you."
"…Really?"
"Yeah. I mean… I'm not-"
"I know," Benny said quickly, giving him a sad smile. "I never expected-"
"Will you go out with me?" Ethan cut Benny off with his question, making him gape at him.
"What? You just said-"
"I know what I said. And I stand by it. But if you like me, then… why not? And you can act however you want, but," he said, making Benny's smile fall, "if it gets to be too much for me, I'll tell you."
"Why… why are you doing this?"
"Because you're my best friend. If this is what would make you happy, who am I to stand in the way of your happiness?"
"… You… mean it?" Ethan nodded, making the taller boy laugh happily and launch himself at Ethan, wrapping him in a tight hug. Ethan laughed at the radiant happiness that was coming from his now apparently boyfriend. "I'll be the best damn boyfriend you've ever had."
"You're the only boyfriend I've ever had."
"Eh, same difference."
…
Should I leave this as a one-shot or continue it? I think it would work both ways, but I'll let the readers tell me what they think!
Thanks for reading though!
Keep the dream alive!
-JustMe133