A/N: Heh heh. Long time no see huh? Look, I'm sorry. I've had a lot going on recently between finals and getting ready for my school trip to DC and New York and completely stressing out and having writers block. To those of you who are still following this story: I LOVE YOU! YOU'RE THE BEST!

Anyways...

Olivia: Thank you! More has been written!

Heyheyhey: I love you. You always review and keep me writing! And yeah, I figured Benny would be nice enough to tell Phillips off for hurting the girl he likes. More to come with Benny's chivalrous side. ;)

Ilivluc: Good! I wasn't sure how people would respond to the abuse thing. It's a little cliche, don't you think? But I loved the idea and it fit the story so...anyways. Thank you for your review.

AnimalBuddy32: Haha oh I know right? Sorry I took so long to update. I know how you feel! Thanks for reviewing!

Hawkwishes: Your wish is my command! I promise a quicker update next time!

Hear my Roar: Right? I love Benny. Sorry for the slow update. I'll try to do better next time!

Sky18: Glad you like it! I like to hear that! Thanks for the review!

DarkestShadow98: You are officially my inspiration. Really? You like my story that much? That means so much! I'm writing for you, sweetheart! I couldn't lose a loyal fan! I really hope you like this chapter. Let me know? Thank you so much for your lovely review! It really made my day. I'll update faster for you next time.

Surfergirl14: I know. I can't just leave you in suspense! Consider it updated!

On with the story...

Benny POV

Its Monday morning, and the first thing that makes me smile is the thought that I would go to school today. Okay, that was not the happy part. The happy part was that I would be going to school with Kitty.

She had shown me her class schedule yesterday, and it looked like we had all the same classes, so I decided that I would show her around and sit next to her to get her situated and stuff. For convenience. Nothing else. Yeah right, I scoffed to myself. That girl already had me head over heels. Damn her.

I ran to her house and knocked on the door. No one answered. Slightly weary, I knocked again. Maybe she had already left and I missed her. Luckily, the door swung open, but it was not the person I was expecting.

It was her uncle. And he looked seriously hungover. Trust me, my dad woke up like this enough for me to know. "Hello…" I said uncertainly. "Is Kitty here?"

He looked at me a long while before answering, confused. "Kitty? No. She left early last night. Said she was going to a sleepover."

A sleepover, huh. That made no sense. She hadn't hung out with any girls yet, and I'll bash the head in of the boy she's sleeping with with my baseball bat. But I decided I'd deal with that later. I couldn't be late to school again, cuz then I'd get a detention. And then I couldn't play baseball after school…the horror...!

I met up with the boys at the usual spot outside the sandlot. "Only two more weeks till SUMMER!" Ham crowed and pumped his fist. We all laughed and started across the sandlot.

"Hey, what's that?" asked DeNunez. I looked up. If you looked closely, you could just barely see brown hair hanging out the side of the tree house. I shrugged and started up the ladder.

"Where you going?" questioned Smalls.

"Where ya think I'm going? I'm gonna go see who the hell is in our tree house."

The boys still looked weary, and Yeah-Yeah spoke up. "Yeah, yeah, but what if it's a serial killer or something?"

"Then you can have all my baseball cards," I answered sarcastically. A serial killer. Honestly. That stuff only happened in the cinema. But as I got closer, I smelled something fruity…like strawberries. Something familiar. As I get to the top, I gasp. It's Kitty, sleeping peacefully. What the f…?

Kitty POV

I was shaken awake. Before I could even adjust, I hear screaming. "Why the hell are you up here? You know how dangerous this is? You could have been kidnapped, or gotten hypothermia. What the hell were you thinking!"

His looks were wild, like he would lash out at any second, and I sighed. Taking pity on him, I explained. "I was thinking that I couldn't spend the night at my house," I answer honestly, refusing to look him in the eyes.

"Because your uncle's drunk," he guessed, trying desperately to fit the pieces together. I flinched, almost imperceptibly, but nodded. "Why?"

"Cuz he drank, idiot."

"Yeah, but why'd he drink?"

He always drinks when the Dodgers win a game," I answer quietly, looking for my spare set of clothes. I don't even know why I'm telling him this. Usually I just shut everybody down who tries to ask about this stuff, but Benny just makes it so damn easy to talk to him, and to tell him the truth. "So I ran out."

He lets out a deep breath. "Well, come on," he says softly. "Time for school." Oh yeah! School. I had completely forgotten. Note to self: bring an alarm clock with you next time you run away. Now where the hell are my clothes?

Benny POV

"Right," she says. And before I can react, she turns around and lifts her shirt over her head, reaching for the other one she had set beside her. I stare at her bare back, which unfortunately is right in front of me (and hard to look away from), before I remember my manners. What can I say? My mama raised me right. I turn away just in time to see the rest of the boys climbing the ladder.

They see Kitty (who, luckily, isn't actually facing them), and they don't have the effing decency to turn their backs. I glare at them, but they just grin back at me. I sneak a peek behind me. Big mistake. She's in her underwear, putting on a pair of jean shorts.

Before I can decide which of the boys to kill first, Ham wolf-whistles. Great, I think, he'll be first.

She muffles a scream, and then turns around, startled. She blushes down to her roots of her hair, and then, thankfully fully clothed, starts toward them. They jump out of the tree house, and Kitty follows, grabbing my hand and pulling me down with her, laughing. We chase them all the way to school, where they stop next to some teachers. Kitty and I stop too, because we can't just attack them in front of teachers. Damn them.

*This is a line**Don't question it**Don't hurt its feelings**It's a line**Admire it. Love the line**I couldn't get the real line to work**Deal with it**This is a line*

The rest of the school day flies by, between showing Kitty her classes and the cafeteria and whatnot, and being distracted by sitting next to her. Every time I saw her face, I remembered this morning. She couldn't stay up there again. What if she got herself killed? I tried to think of a way to keep her from going up there again.

First, I would check if the Dodgers won a game, then I would think of a place for her to stay that is not in a fucking tree house. Worst comes to worst, she'll stay with me.

Maybe I'll sleep on the couch or something.

Luckily, we didn't have much homework by the time 3 'o clock rolled around. The boys and Kitty and I all headed for the sandlot where we sat and did our homework for about 3 minutes before Ham complained.

"I don't wanna do my homework."

"Hey," replied Kitty. "The sooner you get done with your homework the sooner you can play baseball."

"Or we could just play baseball now, and worry about our homework later tonight," suggested Ham. That sounded fine by me, but Kitty shook her head.

"No. If you don't do your homework now, you won't do it at all." Well, she's not wrong. "Besides, its not that much. C'mon, you've only got 5 more math problems to do, and then there's only 7 questions to answer for English class on Romeo and Juliet."

"But that's a lot." All of the boys were whining now. Kitty just shook her head.

"The questions are easy. Look: 'Who dies during the play?' Mercutio, Tybalt, Romeo, Juliet, Paris, and Madame Montague."

DeNunez looked up. "Wait when did Paris die?"

Kitty blinked. "…When Romeo stabs him in Juliet's grave-site-thing. Stabbing tends to kill people."

"Oh, yeah!"

"What about Madame Montague?" I ask, completely lost. I really should have paid more attention in class today.

"Remember? When the Capulets and the Montagues were making up, Lord Montague said his wife died from grief over Romeo's banishment."

"Oh. Right." I tell her, even though I still have no idea what happened in the play. "I remember."

So (thanks to Kitty telling us all the answers) we finished our homework quickly, and grabbed our baseball stuff. The other boys were taking too long getting ready, though, so I turned to Kitty.

"You know you can't stay in that tree house again, right?"

She sighed. "Yeah, I know. I've only been here for two days, though. I couldn't think of any other options."

"I see. Alright, fine. You're off the hook for now. But if they win again soon, you can sneak in through my window if that's your only option again. At least then you'll be inside."

She smiled at me and looked down at the ground. "Thanks, Benny."

I know was about to do something, I don't know what, though. Hug her? (Maybe.) Kiss her? (Probably not. I don't-usually-have that kind of courage…) Talk to her? (Most likely.) But I was interrupted by Ham screaming at me, his voice cracking, across the sandlot.

"Get your ass over here, Rodriguez. I wanna play some ball!"

Kitty looked at me and laughed, shooing me away with her hand. I sighed.

"I'm comin', Ham! Calm the fuck down!"

Kind of short, I know. I'll do better next time.

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