Hey everyone! You all know by now that I love you more than a key board! THANKS FOR REVIEWING! So, since the sadness is behind us for now... this is kind of a filler chapter. We haven't seen much of Ben lately... so this chapter is about Ben... and Maricah Carey? Read and Enjoy!

Army Wives

Chapter eleven

Mariah Carey

Gabriella squinted the morning light out of her eyes when she woke up the next morning to the sound of laughter coming through the open window in her room. She slowly sat up, making sure she didn't wake up Troy, who had fallen asleep there the night before. She walked over to the window and looked out at the front yard.

Ben was laughing as he chased the neighbor, Amy, around the front yard. They were both laughing hysterically and Ben eventually caught up with her, twirling her around as he grabbed her in his arms. He started tickling her and she laughed harder.

"Okay, I didn't mean it! I was kidding." She laughed. "Stop!"

"Only if you say 'Ben Bolton is the hottest person I have ever met'!" Ben said as he continued to tickle her.

"I'm not saying that!" Amy laughed.

"Say it or I'll keep tickling you!" Ben said with a laugh.

"Ben Bolton is the hottest person I have ever met!" She screeched.

Ben slowly stopped tickling her and she turned in his arms to look at him. She eyed him and her mouth formed into a small smile.

"That wasn't very nice." She whispered to him as she raised her eyebrow.

"That's too bad, because I'm generally a nice person." Ben said with a smile.

"You know," Amy started as she smiled at Ben. "You can let go of me any time now." She laughed.

Ben looked down at her waist where his arms were holding her securely. He blushed slightly but smiled.

"If I let go of you I might just want to tickle you again." He said with a mischievous smile.

"Then you better not let go of me." She smiled.

"I wasn't planning on it." Ben smiled back.

Amy continued to smile and noticed how Ben glanced down at her lips. She moved a little closer to him so that their bodies were now touching and she stood on the tips of her toes.

"Do you want to kiss me?" She asked as their noses touched.

"I don't know. It seems to me that you want to more." He whispered to her.

"Hmm… I can wait." She said with a smile.

"Are you sure about that?" Ben asked.

"Yup." She said with an evil grin as she moved out of his arms.

Ben smiled hugely and watched as she walked away.

"You know you want me, Ben Bolton." She said as she walked backwards, giving him a final wink before she disappeared behind the fence at her house.

Gabriella smiled hugely as she left her room and scurried down the stairs. Ben was coming into the house through the front door with a huge grin on his face. Gabriella grabbed his arms and squealed softly so she wouldn't wake anyone up.

"I saw that!" She said with a smile.

"Saw what?" Ben asked as he started to walk towards the kitchen with a blank look on his face.

"You and the neighbor." Gabriella smiled.

"Oh, right, yeah, Mr. Harrison got some of our mail in his mailbox so I was getting it back this morning… that's where I was." He smiled.

"Liar." Gabriella said simply. "I saw you with Amy."

"Amy who?" Ben asked with a shrug.

"The girl that was here a few weeks ago to get flour for her pancakes." Gabriella explained.

"I don't think I know what you're talking about." Ben said as he took a sip of his orange juice that he had gotten himself when he walked into the kitchen.

"So, you like her?" Gabriella asked with a grin as she watched Ben.

Ben looked up from his orange juice glass and barely met Gabriella's eyes.

"Like who?" Brian asked as he came into the kitchen, smiling at his son and Gabriella. Ben's eyes widened as he glanced at Gabriella.

"Mariah Carey. He won't admit that he likes her music." Gabriella smiled. "Alright, Ben, we're getting back to this discussion as soon as possible."

Ben nodded thankfully and Gabriella got two cups of coffee before she left the kitchen. She smiled when she saw Tommy walking down the hallway in his Superman pajamas and his tired eyes grew bright as he saw her.

"Morning, Aunt Gabi-ella!" He said as he walked over to her and hugged her leg.

"Morning, Tommy, how's my Superman?" She smiled as she tried to keep her coffee from spilling.

"Hungry." He stated.

"Well, your dad and brother are in the kitchen, why don't you ask them to get you something to eat." Gabriella suggested.

"Okay." Tommy said as he started to make his way towards the stairs. "I love you, Aunt Gabi-ella."

"Love you too, Tommy." She smiled as she walked towards her room.

Gabriella was about to attempt opening her bedroom door with two cups of coffee in her hands, but it opened before she could try. Troy was standing in front of her, smiling as he laid eyes on her.

"What are you doing up?" He asked.

"Bringing you coffee." Gabriella smiled as she handed a cup to him.

Troy kissed her forehead softly and smiled at her.

"You're much happier than you were yesterday. I'm happy to see you smiling again." Troy pointed out.

"I feel better now that you know about my dad. It was weird that you didn't know, I guess." Gabriella explained with a nod.

"I'm glad you told me." Troy said as he gave her a quick side hug. "Are you ready to go downstairs?" He asked.

"Yup." Gabriella said as she took his free hand and walked towards the stairs.

The rest of the Bolton family was now in the kitchen, eating breakfast and talking as usual. Ben was sitting at the kitchen counter and Gabriella smiled at him as she came into the kitchen with Troy.

"Morning, you two." Mrs. Bolton smiled as she saw the pair come into the kitchen.

"Good morning." Troy and Gabriella said together. They smiled at each other after they said it together and Troy got cereal out for the both of them.

"Looks to me like everything's okay with them now." Sarah whispered to Brian.

"Nothing can keep those two apart." Brian replied with a smile.

Gabriella sat down next to Ben as Troy went to the kitchen table and sat down next to Zac. Gabriella stirred her frosted flakes and glanced over at Ben, who was eating cereal, listening to his Ipod, and reading the sports section of the newspaper.

"So…" Gabriella said slowly as she glanced over her shoulder to make sure the family was occupied with their conversation. "Have you given any thought to Mariah Carey?" She whispered.

Ben removed the headphones from his ears and sighed as he looked at Gabriella. He smiled softly and his blue eyes sparkled.

"I haven't really thought about which song to listen to yet." He smiled.

"Well, I suggest, Kiss Her. That's one of her best." Gabriella smiled.

"That's a weird title for a song, don't you think?" Ben asked with a chuckle.

"Well, if you want my opinion…" Gabriella started.

"Do I have a choice, or are you just going to give it to me anyways?" Ben asked.

"You don't have a choice." Gabriella smiled. "I think you should listen to that one first… right now… in the front yard… she's waiting." Gabriella hinted.

Ben nodded slowly as Gabriella smirked. She had seen Amy, the neighbor, in her front yard when she was coming down the stairs with Troy. Ben slid off of the bar stool and nodded at Gabriella.

"I'm going to go see Mariah Carey." Ben said with a nod.

"Kiss Her." Gabriella whispered. "Great song."

"Right." Ben nodded.

Ben made his way out of the kitchen and Gabriella quietly slipped out too after she was done with her breakfast. She snuck up to Troy's room where she could see Ben and Amy perfectly from his window.

Ben was sitting next to Amy on the driveway. He was tracing invisible objects on her knee and she leaned against him with her head on his shoulder. He smiled as he thought about Gabriella's advice and he was quiet as he thought about it.

"Ben…" Amy said quietly.

"Yeah?"

"How far away do you live from here?" She asked as she entwined her hand with his.

"Why?" He asked as he looked at her.

"I don't know… I mean, am I going to be able to see you after you leave?" She asked.

"Don't worry about it now." Ben told her with a nod. "We'll figure it out, and besides, I said I wasn't planning on letting you go." He smiled as he looked into her eyes.

"You would be so much easier to resist if you didn't have such blue eyes." She said as she brushed a piece of his hair away from his forehead.

Ben smiled as he leaned closer to her, feeling her hand on his chest and his heart beating a little faster. She smiled back at him and leaned closer too. Ben kissed her softly and brushed her brown hair back as he did so.

Troy furrowed his brow when he walked into his room and saw Gabriella dancing around by the window. He cleared his throat, but Gabriella continued to dance.

"Uh, Gabi?" Troy said a little louder.

Gabriella stopped dancing and turned to see Troy with a sarcastic smile on his face. She laughed quietly as she shrugged.

"I'm just so happy today." She explained.

"I'm glad." Troy smiled.

Gabriella nodded and glanced out of the window. Ben and Amy were both cracking up and she smiled as she sighed. She was glad that Ben was finally starting to enjoy his summer and that is what was making her happy. Ben, well, he was glad to figure out what Bolton love felt like. Ben was starting to fall for Amy and he was starting to worry about what would happen at the end of the summer; was he actually going to leave? Troy had a similar worry running through his head as he looked at Gabriella smiling away as she thought about Mariah Carey and Ben Bolton.

What'd you think? Review!

Much love,

unknownbyhim22