Andrew knocked on the door to 214.

"Bender? Are you okay, man? How are you doing?" he asked. The door opened to reveal a very not okay Bender.

"Sporto, I just accused my girlfriend of two and a half years of cheating on me, when it is very obvious that she never would. So, how do you think I'm doing?" the 19 year old answered.

"Well, can I come in?" Andrew questioned.

"Whatever, Sporto." Bender replied, walking further into the hotel room.

"You wanna talk about it?"

Bender gave him a look that clearly said "Back off". Andrew just nodded and sat down in one of the chairs, Bender eventually coming to sit next to him. There was a moment of silence before the former criminal began to talk.

"We started our relationship for two reasons. One, she could get back at her parents, and two, we wanted to see how far we could push. Well, it sure pissed her parents off and for a while, I thought we'd pushed too far. But, somehow, we both managed to make it work. It was like something had changed and we wanted this to work because we wanted it. It wasn't about getting back at her parents, or seeing how long the Princess could stand the Criminal. We fell in love. I fell hard, too. Now, after that shitty stunt I just pulled, I don't know if we'll make it through this one. We've already had some tough times; hell, our relationship started out tough, but we always managed to pull through. And, now, I'm so fucking terrified I screwed this up, just like her parents knew would happen, just like my old man said I would. She'd never cheat on me. Hell, if anybody was to cheat in this relationship, it'd be me!" he threw a dirty glare at the former wrestler, who looked at him, "Not that I have or ever will, Sporto. I'm just saying. I really messed up this time, didn't I?" Bender shared, his eyes showing how terrified he really was of having screwed up the best thing that had happened to him.

"Well, yeah. To put it bluntly, you royally fucked up. Do I think she'll forgive you? Probably. Because she knows you. I think, if you apologize, and I mean really apologize, not play it off like you normally do, and maybe get around to proposing to her at some point, she'll forgive you. And I guess no more stupid fights, but that's on both of us. Allison is mad too. She brushed it off in the car and in the hotel, but I know her. I know the little things she does when she's angry at me. So, the only thing I can tell you to do is fix it. Fix the mistake you made." Andrew suggested.

"Speaking of your fiancée, where is she?" Bender asked. Andrew gave him a look that said "You're deflecting." Bender just shrugged and repeated his question. Andrew sighed. He knew Bender wouldn't change over the course of five minutes.

"In your truck, talking to Claire, She was headed out there while I was trying to decide if I should risk getting my head chewed off."

"Think Claire will slap me again if I go out there?"

The former wrestler shrugged as a knock sounded on the door. Andrew got up and opened it to reveal Allison and Claire.

"Andrew, these two need to talk. But I need to speak to John first." Allison said. Andrew nodded and the two girls stepped into the room. Bends walked over as Claire went to sit on the bed. Allison passed the velvet covers ring box into his hand and stared at him.

"Ask her, you dumbo." she muttered. Bender nodded and she pulled Andrew from the room, shutting the door behind them. He turned around to face his girlfriend, who was staring at him.

"John, I-" she stopped as he held up a hand, shaking his head.

"No. I need to do this first and you have no reason to be apologizing, for anything. I'm the one who is sorry. For the fight, for even thinking that you would ever cheat on me, because I know you never would. I'm so sorry. And you were right, this morning. God, was it really only this morning? This isn't just another road trip to me. I've been planning something for a while now, but I haven't been able to do it the way I want, or find the right time. And now, it realize that there never will be a right time if I kept waiting for it. I have to make the right time. And now, now is the right time." he said, coming over to sit on the bed beside her. She looked at him, confused.

"John, I don't understand what you're trying to say." she whispered. He gave a little smile.

"I gues, what I'm trying to say, is I can't spend the rest of my life without you. So, Claire Standish, will you marry me?" he said. She gave a little gasp as he revealed the little ring box and opened it. She looked up to find him watching her, eyes searching her face. With a small smile, akin to the one he had just given, she nodded. He grinned, a full grin that stretched across his face, and slipped the ring on her finger. She studied it, then looked up at him in surprise, her hand going to the necklace that step at the bottom of her throat.

"John, is that the earring I gave you?" she asked, her throat suddenly tight. He nodded. She laughed, giving him a kiss.

"I love you." she whispered.

"I love you, too. Now, tell me what you were going to say."

"You were also right. There is a reason I've been the way I have been. Before you came home last night, Phillip called. He told me he's dying. Gina's eight months preganant and he said he'll be lucky to see the birth. I told him I'd skip out on the road trip and go down to help him, but he made me promise I would go. He knows what the summer before your friends leave for college feels like. But, how am I supposed to have fun, knowing that my only brother, the only family member I still love, is dying?" she told him. He looked at her in surprise.

"He's dying? God, Claire. Look, we'll drive to Colorado tomorrow, okay? We can make a stop at his place before we head to Vegas and as it is part of the road trip, he can't say that you didn't go, can he? Hell, maybe we'll even get married there. You always said you wanted Phillip to walk you down the aisle. So, now, he can." he told her. She smiled.

"We've only been engaged for five minutes and we're talking about getting married tomorrow or the day after. But, I would love if Phillip could walk me down the aisle. Thank you, John. You don't know how much this means to me." He pulled her to him and kissed her.

"I'd do anything for you, Sweets."


So, there was chapter nine. I calculated everything out and it looks as if, crossing my fingers, I can get at least 20 chapters out of this story. Maybe more if I split it up a bit more. I apologize if Bender seems a bit OOC in the last half of this chapter, but given that he's a bad boy and doesn't really do touchy-feely in the movie, I had to take some liberties. So, forgive me. I'm working on the 12th chapter and I want to get that finished before I post chapter ten, only because if I feel like Im posting too much without having enough written ahead of time, I tend to slack off(apologies to my Aftermath readers), and not update. So, the next update may come in a couple days, or it may be tonight, depending on how long I can get away with sitting down and just writing. So, be on the lookout!