I am the man who would fight for your honor
I'll be the hero you're dreamin' of
We'll live forever

"…so that's why I think Russian Folk Dancing should be in the Olympics."

Glory glanced up from the shelves and saw Ben and someone she'd never seen before walk into the doorway. She smiled at Ben who returned it, albeit while looking somewhat stressed. Frowning she looked at the ginger-haired man standing next to him, who could've been his brother for the semblance. She wouldn't know about that though since Ben rarely talked about his family.

Since the cup of coffee two months ago they had gone out several times. It had never been anywhere particularly fancy, and she was glad about that. Glory really couldn't afford anywhere like that on her current salary. Her sister always asked about these things, and Glory tried to suppress most of the details. If her sister was so interested when she had a crush, well, she couldn't imagine what it would be like if she admitted that she was falling for him.

"Klaus, could you just keep quiet?" he pleaded, "Just a little."

"Why should I keep quiet?" he asked loudly.

Three librarians shushed him at the same time.

"I'm shuttin' up, I'm shuttin' up! What's with these people? You'd think we were in a library," muttered Klaus.

"We are in a library," said Ben miserably, face palming, "Now if you'd just stay here for a minute-"

"No problemo."

Ben fixed him with an exasperated look before he darted off to the counter. Amused she recalled that he had a few overdue books, probably belonging to his sister. She chuckled to herself as she put another book in its place. Since she was still junior at the library most of the menial tasks fell to her; like shelving.

"Excuse me," a voice cackled evilly behind her, "I think I dropped something; MY JAW!"

A few more shushes were made as she whipped around. Klaus, the weird goth boy who had been with Ben, was standing behind her with a look that made her squirm.

"Try the lost and found," she said coldly, picking up the remaining books and attempting to leave.

"Okay, let me try another one," he smirked, effectively blocking her way out, "How about…ah! I'm new in town; could you give me directions to your apartment?"

Glory made a face. Was this guy high on something?

"Look," she said, still trying to step around him, "I've got a lot of work to do right now-"

"Why do you keep moving like that? Stand still so I can pick you up," he complained, still blocking her.

"Could you just-?" she started, having a hard time being polite.

Instead of answering he picked up a section of her hair. She jerked her head away but it only resulted in her hair getting pulled.

"Ow!"

"You're like a pop tart," he said, examining her hair minutely, "Get it? 'Cause you're cool but hot. Nice hair by the way."

Thoroughly irritated she smacked his hand away. He withdrew as she said;

"What the hell is your problem?"

His eyes narrowed. Never one to give ground she glared right back.

"Not nice to hit people-" he began evilly.

"Klaus!"

Ben loomed behind him and took his shoulder.

"Back off."

"Can't you come back at a more convenient time?" he complained.

"Klaus," repeated Ben, "Stop it."

"You know," Klaus replied, turning around to face him and placing his hands on his hip, "You always come and ruin my fun when-"

"Go home Klaus," Ben said angrily, "Just go home, okay? Looks like Pogo was right; you really can't go anywhere without acting like a jackass."

The room stilled. Glory had never heard Ben swear before, and apparently neither had Klaus from the look on his face. His eyes narrowed even further into slits and for a minute Glory wondered if something awful was going to happen. Then Klaus grinned and said;

"Sure thing squid boy!"

Then he abruptly twirled and swayed towards the exit. The two of them watched him go until he was out of the door. Before she could think the comment through Glory said;

"Who was that freak?"

"My brother," responded Ben miserably.

Immediately Glory felt like she could slap herself.

"I'm sorry-"

"Don't be," Ben replied, "He's out of control. I don't know what to do about him anymore, I just don't."

Feeling somewhat uncomfortable she said;

"I didn't want to make a scene."

"You didn't. He makes a scene," Ben said, "And don't worry about it; he'll have forgotten about even going out when he gets home. Usually I just take him out of the abut…rea when he does that but…"

He trailed off and looked at the floor. Glory didn't have to be told what he would've finished the sentence with. She felt touched at his feat of gallantry, even though she had been considering hitting Klaus with a rather hefty dictionary she was shelving which would have taken care of things handily.

At the same time though, she wondered. From what she had gleaned he, his brother and sister at least lived near each other. That coupled with his reticence to talk about his home life didn't bode well. Until then she had simply assumed that everything was fine and fairly normal. Now though, she wondered if perhaps she had judged that prematurely.

Obviously his brother was on something. The comment about forgetting the incident clinched it. Allison seemed like a real bitch from the few times she had seen her. His parents seemed indifferent at best. While Ben was twenty-five, it still sucked to have a fucked-up home life like that. Glory wondered if perhaps they were more alike then she'd already known.

"There's not much I can do about it these days-"

Leaning forward she kissed him lightly on the lips. Despite their dates, they hadn't really gotten this close before. Ben had always shied away from most physical contact, just like he had from conversation at first. It was like he was too worried that anything he tried would go wrong. After a few brief seconds she pulled away, pleased at his flushed expression.

"What…what was that for?" he managed.

She put her hand on his shoulder and gave a small smile.

"'Cause I think you deserved one."