"You're going to be my bitch, Herlihy, got it?" Louis held his passenger door open for Drew as he got out of the car. The first demand was to be picked up at six to get to school, which didn't start until seven-thirty.
"Yes, sir," Louis grumbled through his teeth.
"Don't be sarcastic, Louis, or I'll be outing your betrayal faster than you bed hot guys." Drew lightly tapped Louis' face. Normally, Louis would've decked him right then and there, but he didn't want to lose his new friends. "Now, carry my bag." Drew tossed Louis his backpack and Louis sighed.
Benji arrived at school and was surprised to still have everyone greeting him like he was normal.
"Sup, Benji," Derek Weiss called. Benji smiled weakly and kept going. He saw Jesse getting out of his car and walked over to him.
"Morning, Jesse," he said, a blush rising on his cheeks.
"Oh, hey, Benj." Jesse grinned, looking around before pecking a kiss on Benji's forehead. "How'd you sleep last night?"
"Perfect. Like our date was." Benji looked down at his sneakers, biting his lower lip. He looked up and saw Louis carrying two backpacks and following one of the Trebles. "What's Louis doing?"
"Well, I don't know if you already know, but last night, Louis admitted to playing triple agent for the Trebles and the Bellas," Jesse explained. "Unfortunately for him however, the first person he told is a manipulative prick, who's now blackmailing him to do his every bidding. He told me too."
"Motel room?" Jesse sighed.
"Yes, motel room. Nothing happened." Benji noticed the finality in Jesse's tone and dropped it. "Want to go out again tonight? See a movie?" Benji smiled and nodded.
"That'd be great."
Benji walked to third period with Fat Amy and Chloe when he saw the same Treble from earlier slap Louis across the face. He excused himself from the girls and ran over, grabbing the guy's arm as it reared back to strike Louis again.
"Leave him alone!" Louis looked up at Benji in terror.
"Benji, no, don't!" His voice was broken, tears flooding his eyes. "I—I'm okay."
"Hey, Benj, why don't you fuck off and let Louis here fight his own battles?" Drew smirked, shoving Benji backwards. Benji caught himself and clenched his fists. "What? You want to fight me, Benji?"
Louis stepped between them. "Don't. Benji, go. Please." Benji knew Louis preferred to take care of himself but this wasn't the Louis he knew. This Louis was broken, perhaps damaged beyond repair. After a moment, he realized he probably didn't know the real Louis at all.
"Yeah, take off, queer." Drew grabbed Louis' shirtsleeve and pulled him down the corridor.
"What happened to Louis?" Chloe came over and put an arm around Benji. "I don't think anyone's ever seen him like that before."
"I think they've found him out," Fat Amy whispered.
"You have something to tell us, Junior Treble Thomas?" Bumper asked, turning to Drew during practice. Louis swallowed hard and waited for the punches to fly.
"Yes, Head Treble Allen, I do." Drew rubbed the bruise on his right cheek and smirked at Louis, who kept his eyes down. After dragging Louis down the hallway and into the bathroom, Drew had told Louis off to the point where Louis punched him. "I have it on very good authority that our newest member Louis Herlihy is actually a triple agent."
"Is this true?" Elijah and Max grabbed Louis by the upper arms and held him up. The brunet only nodded. "I need a vocal answer, Herlihy."
"Yes, it's true." Louis raised his head, his eyes brimming with tears.
"What the hell?" Josh muttered. The last time someone turned out to be a spy, the guy didn't cry; he'd tried to fight back. The guys all knew Louis to be the kind of guy who didn't show his feelings, but had a sarcastic comment for everything. Josh and Travis took Louis from Elijah and Max and sat him down.
"You okay, Louis?" Travis whispered. Louis shook his head.
"Ever since I transferred here, I've wanted to be somewhere I can truly belong. The Bellas—the girls, they're nice to me... well, most of them are. And because most of you guys were such dicks to me, I wanted to see you suffer. I volunteered to go undercover and give the girls you guys' setlist."
"You know the rules, Herlihy." Drew smirked and punched Louis in the gut. Josh pushed Drew away.
"Thomas, stop. Let him finish." Bumper held up a hand.
"It was when you guys invited me to drink with you. And the day after, you helped me with my hangover. I realized that you're not bad guys. I started to question my motives and told Be—the girls that I'm done. I just want to be a Treble, nothing more, nothing less."
The guys looked at one another and at Bumper, who sighed. "Well, I guess we could give you a second chance. I mean, under any other circumstances, we wouldn't, but you've got talent, Herlihy. There's no denying that."
Louis wiped his eyes. "You mean, you're not going to beat me up?"
"You got a bruise on your cheek. I don't know who did that, but no, we're not." Jesse sheepishly put his hand up. "Oh. Wait, Jesse, you did it?" Jesse nodded. "Well, that's enough. No one else hits Louis or you're out, got it?" The other guys nodded while Drew seethed. He'd hoped to—as he'd told Louis—lead in beating him up.
"We need to seriously discuss our setlist, people." Aubrey paced the front of the room. After a moment, she said, "Also, I want to put it out there that Benji is one of us and I was thinking that we could do an impromptu performance during lunch if that's okay with everyone else."
"Holy crap, she's being reasonable," Leslie muttered.
"I have an idea," Chloe spoke up, grinning at Benji, who returned the smile. "It'll be great."
"My grades are down from A's to D's
I'm way behind in history
I've lost myself in fantasies
Of you and me together
I don't know why-iy-iy
But dreamin's all I do (do)
I won't get by-iy-iy on mere imagination
Upside down, bouncin' off the ceiling
Inside out, stranger to this feelin'
Got no clue what I should do
I'll go crazy if I can't get next to you (to you)"
Chloe and Benji led the Bellas in a rousing number in the middle of the cafeteria. A number of people applauded.
"So he's one of them," Josh observed. "Good for him."
"Benji's one of the Bellas? Something's going on here," Bumper mused. "He wouldn't be..."
"He's gay, dude," Max called. "He is, isn't he? Louis?"
"You've been nothing but awful to him, Max." Louis looked up from his studying. "You can fuck off." He saw Benji smiling at him and he shot him two thumbs up.
"What? You got a thing for the dork?" Elijah taunted.
"Don't fucking start, Connors. I'm not in the mood," he snapped, narrowing his eyes and Elijah looked away. Jesse moved over next to Louis and put an arm around him.
"You alright, Louis? You seem tense." Louis shrugged Jesse's arm off.
"How can I not be tense? I may have dodged a bullet with the guys, but I know at least two people at this school who want to beat me to a pulp."
"Who? We'll take care of them," Josh piped up. Louis was silent as he nodded to Drew, who was immersed in his own textbooks. "Oh, well, we can't really do anything there right now. Who's the other one?"
"Over there." Louis pointed to Nick Steadman, who just caused a commotion by tripping a freshman. Josh and Travis looked at him in confusion and Louis sighed. "Before I befriended Benji and joined up with you guys, I used to be part of his little gang. I never really did anything to bully anyone; I just followed him around because then he wouldn't target me."
"But you're so outspoken and you don't take crap from anyone." Jesse looked at Louis as if he'd grown two heads. "Why would you hang out with Steadman?"
"Have you seen how much influence he has at this school? If I didn't hang out with him and his goons, telling him all of his bullshit ideas were great, he'd have everyone against me." Louis sighed and leaned back in his chair.
"You don't need someone like that to protect yourself, Louis." Travis bent down beside Louis and smiled. "You do pretty well on your own."
"Thanks, guys." Louis finally cracked a smile and stood up. "I feel like performing.
"I could lift you up
I could show you what you want to see
And take you where you want to be
You could be my luck
Even if the sky is falling down
I know that we'll be safe and sound
We're safe and sound."
Josh and Travis jumped up beside Louis.
"I could fill your cup
You know my river won't evaporate
This world we still appreciate
You could be my luck
Even in a hurricane of frowns
I know that we'll be safe and sound."
Students at surrounding tables began to move with the song as the Trebles sang the chorus. Louis looked over at the Bellas, who were moving with everyone else, and spotted Benji grinning at him.
Songs featured:
-Upside Down (Bouncing Off the Ceiling) (A*Teens) - Benji, Chloe, and the Bellas
-Safe & Sound (Capitol Cities) - Louis, Josh, Travis, and the Trebles
