Disclaimer: I WISH.


"She's just so gorgeous, you know? I'm really trying, but I can't think of anyone who is as good-looking as her. Not even close! She's just so…firecracker. She's all tiny and delicate-looking, but she's smart and funny and sexy and all impish. And that accent of hers? Man, don't even get me started on that!"

Benvolio wasn't event sure who he was talking to. He was addressing the photo of himself, Romeo, and Mercutio, certainly, but it would be foolish to start talking to pictures. He supposed he was talking to himself more than anything. It didn't matter; whomever he was speaking with was perfectly approving of everything he was saying, and that was all that mattered.

It had been one month after ramming into Maria, and Benvolio was over the moon. They had been on exactly twenty dates: movies, varsity games, dance clubs. Every minute had been sheer bliss, but last night had definitely been the tops.

They had just left Piquanté, a salsa bar in the city. Maria looked like a goddess; her low-cut frilly red tank perfectly accented the short black flirty skirt, and a red rose tucked behind her ear added even more spiciness to her curled black locks. They had stopped in front of her apartment, and Benvolio had leaned in to kiss her, when Maria invited him up for coffee, since her roommates were out for the night. The espresso she made was strong, but it left Benvolio feeling euphoric, as though he were invincible. Maria had had a similar look in her eye when they met in the middle of the kitchen, kissing passionately. Benvolio could feel himself gearing up for a home run. It seemed like Maria was too, until she regretfully pulled herself away and asked him to wait. She had said that she was sure she wanted to take it there with "Ben", but she wanted a more opportune moment. Benvolio was surprised with himself; instead of being disappointed, as he would normally have been, he spent the rest of the evening letting her take the lead. He would rather have died then make her feel uncomfortable. He had ended up spending the night, but he had to leave earlier then he would have liked to make a class. It was the first day he felt he had actually learned anything about World Economics.

"It's just so much different from any of the relationships we've ever gone for, you know? Mercutio, for you it was always screw first, talk later. And Romeo…well, we all know your preferences." Benvolio paused for a minute and swallowed away the lump in his throat. "I don't know, I guess I've always been a mixture between the two of you. But seriously, taking it slow is just so much…sexier, I guess. Because, really, when you're building toward a goal and you finally get it, it's so rewarding, isn't it?"

Benvolio sighed, and gave it up. Although it gave him some small comfort to "talk" to his cousin and best friend, it wasn't real. He needed to exercise some self-control; otherwise he would never get on with his life.

Reaching over, he picked up the phone and checked his messages. Last year, there had been nearly twenty messages every day. The trio had had party invites coming out of their ears. Now, the only messages Benvolio expected were cute little jokes from Maria (they had gotten into the practice of calling each other's phones during each other's classes) and the occasional chirpy salutation from his mother. Today, however, a loud Italian-accented voice boomed out of the earpiece." Ciao, Benvolio, my son! I was hoping to catch you in person! I haven't talked to you in ages! I hope school's going well!

"I was just calling about Thanksgiving! We're having a full-family celebration at your Uncle Ted's house! I hope you can come home for couple days before! And, dio mio, bring a girl along! Everybody over here misses you! I love you, son! Your mother says she loves you too! She wants to know if you need any food! Call back when you get a chance! Ciao!"

Benvolio held the phone an inch away from his ear through the whole exchange, imagining the sweeping gestures his father had no doubt been making even as he talked to a machine. He knew exactly whom he wanted to bring. The problem was that he hadn't told her anything about his family.

Would she expect to see something as formidable as the Montague mansion? Caroline Montague's nouveau-riche tacky style of decorating? The armed guards and security cameras that graced every looming entrance to the house?

Not to mention his name. To Maria, he was Ben Magli. To everyone else in Verona Beach, he was Benvolio Montague. It wasn't so much of a problem for Benvolio, who had all but shunned his family after the events of the summer. Quite a bit more of a problem for his family, who wore the Montague name like a gold medal. There was no possible way to keep Maria from hearing it, and since she was so sharp, she would no doubt figure out that he had been lying to her. And when that happened—

Benvolio would not take her home; it was as simple as that. Or was it? When she learned he was going home and not taking her, wouldn't she be pissed off? Maybe not; after all, it was Maria, and she was sensible. But Maria loved affection. Besides, every girl would get ticked off if they had been with a guy for a month and a half, as he and Maria would be by Thanksgiving, and the guy left her to sit around Princeton while everyone was off with their families.

And then there were her handy mob connections. The Montague family had eyes and ears everywhere; it was frightening how much information they had access to. Ted's enthusiasm had barely balked, even after his business had resulted in the death of his only son. If the Montoyas were involved in mob dealings, even in the tiniest way, even from overseas, Ted would know. If her family were connected with the right crowd, his family would be practically forcing a marriage, scaring Maria away for good. But if her family was against the Montagues, that was it. Benvolio would never see her again.

Maybe it was time to come out with the truth. Then, at least, it would be Maria making the decision. She wouldn't be heading for a surprise, and Benvolio wouldn't need to feel guilty about leaving her during Thanksgiving if she refused to come. It would be one hundred percent fair to Maria…but it would tear Benvolio apart if she broke up with him. Then, he would be alone with his grief once again.

He could skip Thanksgiving. He would tell his family that he had a lot of reading to do, and even though he missed them ever so much, it was necessary that he stay at school and work instead. He would call Ted and Caroline himself and sit through his uncle's intimidation tactics and his bereaved aunt's sheer understanding of the fact that university marks were so important, and how it was up to Benvolio now to take over the business when Ted and Giorgio and Julio were gone because of Romeo's death, so the whole family's future depended on Benvolio's education in business. He was willing to do it, even though it would hurt him to lie to his family, because he didn't want to lose what he had with Maria.

He was about to dial the last number when he slammed the phone down so hard the table it sat on shook. He couldn't handle lying to even more people. How long could he keep up the charade? It wouldn't have mattered if he saw Maria as a quick fling, but a quick fling was the last thing he wanted.

Trying to think, Benvolio dropped his head onto his hands and massaged his temples. The first thing he saw when he looked up was the picture of the three original tenants. Mercutio seemed to be laughing, mocking his emotions, as he had been so quick to do when he was alive. Romeo stared at Benvolio, sympathizing with his dilemma, and suddenly Benvolio understood. For months, he had been tortured by not knowing what had driven Romeo to suicide. He had just met Juliet three days prior; how could two people fall in love that quickly? But now Benvolio knew that it wasn't just love for Juliet. The pressures from his family had been weighing down on him harder than on Benvolio as Romeo had been the only son of the oldest brother, and the grief over the loss of his best friend had been a mere one day old, rather than three months. The worst of it was that Romeo had tried to hide it. Granted, at that time, tensions between the two families had been at an all-time high, so the reactions from the families would have been tumultuous. But though that might have been true, Benvolio could think of a lot of catastrophes that would not have occurred, had Romeo been forthcoming with the truth.

"Don't worry about it, cousin. I won't make your mistakes."

He picked up the phone once more and let his fingers dance across the keypad in a route now very familiar to him. Then he sat and waited, his resolve dwindling until he heard a familiar lightly accented voice on the other end.

"Holà!"

"Hey, Mare, it's Ben!"

"You have reached Maria, Sarah, and Jess. We're sorry that we are unable to come to the phone right now. Please leave your name, number and a short message after the beep and we'll get right back to you."

"Oh, hey, Maria, it's…"

"Ben!"

"Oh…hey, I didn't think you could screen!"

Maria laughed. "We just got a new phone. We're pretty obsessed with screening now."

"Sounds like fun. Hey, what do you think about…?"

"Oh my gosh, Ben! There's something so weird that I need to tell you!"

Benvolio cocked an eyebrow; this must be big. Maria never interrupted someone while they were talking.

"What is it?"

"There's a guy who goes to Princeton. Total gangster! His family is up to their eyeballs in dirty money!"

Benvolio felt like his stomach would drop out of his body. Forcing himself to breathe, he replied. "Re…really."

"Yes! And during the summer, I think he killed a guy! Or got shot. Or something along those lines; I'm not sure. But isn't that weird?"

"Astonishingly. Do you…know his name?"

"Oh, I don't know. Wait a sec…No; Sarah and Jess don't know either. But how cool is that? I wonder if my father knows him…"

"Maria…"

"Oh god, I'm sorry, Ben! I interrupted you! What was it you wanted to say?"

Benvolio cleared his throat. "Well, I was hoping to invite you over to my apartment. I don't think you've actually been up here before."

"You're right, I haven't! What have you got, skeletons in the closet?"

Benvolio's eyes widened.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

A couple of seconds passed before Maria answered. "It was a joke, Ben. What's with you today? You seem really out of it."

"Oh…" Benvolio cast around for an excuse. "School stuff, you know."

Maria sighed with relief. "Do I ever. So do I take the bus to your place? I don't even know the address."

"No, no, I'll pick you up for dinner. How does 6:00 sound to you?"

"It sounds good. This is really sweet of you, Ben."

When Benvolio finally hung up the phone, his hands were shaking. He supposed he had been fooling himself; of course his story would have to be spread to everyone before it was dismissed as idle rumors. He had just hoped against hope that Maria would remain deaf to it. At least she seemed to like the idea of a young gangster. Or did she just like the fact that this gangster wasn't anywhere near her?

She would be here tonight; that was when Benvolio would make the decision. In the meantime, he had to get to work.

All the pictures had to come down. They weren't very distinguished and communicated an image that Benvolio had tried to stay away from, but it was more than that. When Benvolio finally told Maria, he wanted it to be self-motivated instead of an answer to questions Maria would ask. If she were to ask him who the other two guys in the pictures were, or why the license plate on the Camaro they were always in was MONTAGUE, Benvolio didn't trust himself to tell the whole truth. As it was, she would already be flabbergasted by the size of the apartment he lived in all by himself.

He lovingly pried each of the photographs away from the wall, scrunching the masking tape circlet and chucking it down the trash as he filed the photos away. As he worked, the personality seemed to fade from the apartment, leaving behind the residence of a stranger. Yet for some reason, Benvolio felt more comfortable in this barer apartment then he had felt all year in the cluttered one. Maybe he was a stranger to himself now.

Suddenly, Benvolio was faced with the most conspicuous picture in the entire apartment: the triple-portrait. It didn't feel right to take that one down. He felt like hiding it would be like burying his two best friends for good, and he didn't want to take responsibility for that job. He had no idea how long he stared at it for, but before he knew it, it was5:30 and he had to go pick up Maria. Frantically, he took down the picture and tossed it onto Mercutio's bed. Satisfied with the knowledge that he couldn't be accused of hiding it, Benvolio donned his coat and left the apartment.

"Oh my god, Ben!" Maria cried as soon as she walked into the apartment. "I had no idea!"

"I know, it's…" Benvolio cast around for the right word. "It's pretty flashy."

"It's fabulous!" As she took in the place, Maria's eyes shone. It was considerably more sophisticated-looking now that the photos were off the wall, and the decorations that were left behind looked classier by themselves. "Why haven't I ever been here before?"

Benvolio shrugged. "I guess we've never really been in the neighborhood."

"Oh, please," she giggled. "So, you have this place all to yourself? Don't you ever feel like, I don't know, a pea rattling around in it? It's gigantic!"

Benvolio looked away, not trusting his face to stay neutral. "Yeah, my family owns this building. Since I'm sort of in line to take over the business, they're all really involved in my education. So, I got the penthouse. My dad said he'd take it away if my marks slipped."

"Ok, so you're not such a spoiled brat then." Maria winked; it was clear that she had been joking. "I'm the same. If my marks slip, I'm going home. We're both doing pretty well, it seems."

"It does seem that way." Benvolio's stomach was in knots. How could he tell her? She was so happy tonight. All he wanted to do was hold her; telling her would drive her away. "Can I get you a drink? I have anything…alcoholic, non-alcoholic, take your pick." As he spoke, he mixed himself an efficient martini, barely needing to see what he was doing.

"Cranberry juice for me."

Benvolio looked at her warily. "You sure you don't want to mix it with something?" This whole thing might go over better if she were a little tipsy.

"No, I'm good for tonight."

They ordered in Thai for dinner and sat quietly for a bit, savoring the spicy noodles. Several times, Benvolio was about to tell her, but lost his nerve at the last second. But even though his guilt was killing him, he found himself lost in the pleasure of Maria's company. They chatted about everything and nothing, never running out of things to say. They both smiled until their cheeks hurt. Finally, over a homemade banana split,

Benvolio took one last stab at the truth.

"So, Maria, Thanksgiving's in two weeks."

"Thanksgiving…oh, right, that American puritan thing. Is it a big deal in your family?"

"This year, it is." Benvolio started fiddling with his napkin. "This year, there's a full-family celebration at my uncle's house. It'll be his family, my family, and my other uncle and my two dumb-ass cousins. And my old Nonna."

"Sounds like a party," she tittered.

"Quite the wild party," he agreed. "At least, it would be if you came."

Maria looked up from the ice cream bowl. "Come again?"

Benvolio took a deep breath. "Maria, would you like to come with me to my family's thanksgiving party?"

Maria's face shone with happiness for about half a second before she got it under control. "Ben, are you sure? I mean, you don't think it's moving too fast or anything? I really wouldn't want to impose…"

Benvolio reached across the table and grabbed Maria's hand. "No, Maria. It's perfect. I want you to meet my family. You'd love it…I live in Florida. And my family would love you."

Maria rubbed the outside of Benvolio's hand with her thumb. "Really?"

Benvolio smiled. "Really."

Suddenly, they were both standing beside the table, their arms intertwined, their lips frantically searching for purchase. Benvolio began to move, guiding Maria. He didn't even know where he was going until the back of his calves hit his mattress and he fell over backwards onto it, Maria on top of him. Remembering the night before, he twisted his headway and caught Maria's eye.

"Are you ready for this?"

Maria responded by grabbing the back of Benvolio's neck and giving him the longest, most passionate kiss they had had yet. "Take it away."

"Zia Caroline? Hey, this is Benvolio."

"Oh, Benvolio, it's so good to hear from you finally! Now, you must tell me all about New Jersey."

"Oh, you know: same old. Jersey never really changes."

Caroline laughed, and then sighed wistfully. "My Romeo loved the semesters at Princeton. You boys were such company to him. He was very popular with the students, was he not? Oh, my brilliant little boy…"

Benvolio rolled his eyes. The intention of the phone call was not to reminisce about the many good qualities of Romeo. Caroline always seemed to feel she was alone in her grief, and Benvolio was frankly bored of her unexpected sobbing. Still, he had to respect his aunt—after all; Ted was paying for Benvolio's university.

Caroline took a raggedy breath in, and continued in a pained tone of voice. "So, dear, what were you calling about?"

Benvolio slapped a smile on his face as he tried to sound perky for his aunt. "Actually, I was calling about Thanksgiving. I just wanted you to know that I'll be there."

"Oh, I'm so glad! The whole family, together!"

"Yeah…" Benvolio cracked the door to his room open a few inches and felt his heart swell at the sight of Maria sleeping like an angel in his bed.

"Zia, I was wondering if I could possibly bring someone with me."

"Who, darling?" Caroline's voice instantly perked up at the prospect of having another person to entertain.

"Actually, my girlfriend Maria. I would love the family to meet her."

Again, Caroline sighed. "Young love. Just remember, take it slowly. If the relationship seems like it will never work, don't worry too much about it. If you're worried what people will think, do not sneak around! And if you think you won't be able to live without her, just try it; you may be able to. Do not, under any circumstances, do anything to hurt yourself."

"Ok, Zia, I'll remember."

"You had better. If only my Romeo had told me what was going on…but I'm boring you. You go study, or whatever it is you have to do, ok, sweetie?"

"Ok, Zia. I love you. Good-bye."

When Benvolio looked up, Maria was standing in front of him, wrapped in his terry robe and smiling at him with sleepy eyes. "'I love you?' Aw, that's sweet."

Benvolio grinned and leaned in to kiss her behind the ear. "How did you sleep?"

"Better then I have all year," she murmured. "How about some breakfast?"

"Breakfast, eh?" Benvolio glanced towards the freezer; all the food he had was packed into boxes in there. "Do I have any breakfast?"

Maria cocked an eyebrow. "Unprepared, are we?" She laughed. "Doesn't matter—we're going out for breakfast anyways."


Here, I would like to acknowledge my faithful reviewers. Um...let's think...damn I can't actually recall any right now! I wonder why that is? Oh yeah, now I remember: the reason I can't think of any is because I DON'T HAVE ANY! Come on people! I'm trying to live up to Billy S here! The least you could do is tell me if I'm doing it right!