A/N: thanks for all the reviews! Here's chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own the sandlot.

I woke up the next morning to the smell of pancakes. I shot up, and ran over to the kitchen and my suspicions were confirmed. There were at least 10 pancakes on a single plate, and Benny was already starting on one. I immediately grabbed a plate from the counter and sat down on a stool. I grabbed two pancakes and I started shoveling them down my throat.

About 5 minutes later, I noticed that Benny was staring at me.
"What?" I asked. But with my mouth full, it sounded more like "Mmmfh?"

"My mom is the only person I know who can take pancakes like that." Benny said. I laughed. He started to laugh too. I love the way his laugh sounded. It was so full and real and musical. I looked over at him, and I said in my mind:

If only you knew….you probably think of me only as a friend. You're the most important thing in my life. If I could just get the freakin' guts to tell you…

"Where's your mom?" I asked Benny, when I was finally done with my pancakes. Benny shrugged.

"I have no idea. Probably shopping or something." I nodded.
"Ali…" he began. "…I want to talk to you more about this." I sighed. I knew this was coming.

"Ok." I said reluctantly.

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"So…when did this all start?" Benny asked, sitting opposite me on another couch.

"Um…I don't really know." I said honestly. "I think it all started after my mom died. He just…changed."

"Do you think he was depressed?" Benny asked, rubbing his hands together.

"Oh definitely." I said. "He would sometimes stay in bed all day, and sometimes he would go out and drink."

"When was the first time he ever hit you?" Benny asked. I thought and thought and finally said:

"I think it was when I broke a vase. I was just fooling around with a baseball, and then my dad came downstairs and he smacked me for doing it. I thought it was just for punishment, but then he kept hitting me over the next few days." I said, not looking at him.

"Has he done anything worse than that?" Benny asked.

"Yea. I think it was when…when he was drunk. I can't remember if I said anything, but then he…" instantly I felt a lump in my throat and it was hard to breathe.

"Did what?" Benny said, trying to coax it out of me.

I tried to answer, but no words came out. Instead, tears fell instantly down my face and I tried to cover my humiliation by covering my face with my hands, but that did no good. I instantly felt arms around me and I wrapped my arms around his neck and sobbed into his shoulder.

"You don't have to tell—" Benny started, but I cut him off.

"H-He forced me t-to go into his room and then he…." I let out another wail and buried my head into the crook of his neck. I could feel Benny stiffen up. I wasn't sure if it was because of what I just told him, my face in his neck, or both. Probably both.

"Ali, are you trying to tell me that he—"

"Yes." I answered, knowing what was on his mind. "He did." Benny pulled away from me and looked me in the eyes.

"Did he ever do it again?" I shook my head, wiping my eyes. Benny hugged me again, pulling me closer to him. I once again put my head on his shoulder and I cried. You could say it was a romantic moment, but it was also a moment of pure friendship.

We were like that for many minutes until my cell phone rang. We broke out of our embrace and I walked over to the bag I packed and pulled out my phone. It showed my father's number in flashing letters. I pressed the END button, and I could've sworn I heard dad's voice swearing as he put the receiver down.

"Who was it?" Benny asked.

"My dad." I said flatly. I sat back down on the couch and buried my head in my hands. "Benny," I said softly. "What am I going to do?" Benny was silent for a couple of moments, and then said:

"I don't know, Ali. But I'm gonna help you."

A/N: awwwww! That was sweet! Please RNR