A/N: I hope you like the chapter. Nice and long and everything- it's one of the more serioues chapters of the story. Before you start saying, 'this is way too OOC for Matt,' read on. It is justified. Oh, and for the swear words, you can use your imagination. Just felt like Ben, being the Catholic that he is, would try to avoid thinking like that. I'll try to update again this weekend. Till then,

~Bananna

It was the worst day of school he'd ever been to. Ben had barely spoken to anyone all day. He blew off any sort of paying attention for favor of brooding silently- except for that once in math class when he'd snapped at Sabrina (the Katt girl) when she'd made a comment about his "funny English accent." Now he had a detention after school from Mr. Hebrews again. Great.

Stupid schoolteacher.

It seemed Matt had gotten fed up with him and Jake, too. He'd made one final attempt to get a response out of the two of them, and when that didn't work, he'd finally lost all of his patience. He'd screamed at them, demanded to know what the heck was up, what the fudge was happening to his best dang friends, shoot, why did they have to turn flipping insane, why couldn't they let him fix the dang problem instead of this dark glaring stuff, and they could just fudge off until they got some sense knocked into their flipping skulls. Preferably from that buffoon Tyler.

Okay, so maybe his words had been a little more…crude, but Ben didn't remember. Or care. It was just another person he had let down.

The teachers noticed that, unfortunately. Matt also ended up with detention.

For a punishment they both had to copy the school's behavior policy twice on white lined paper. It was torture to be in there, doing boring busywork while the heater rattled annoying behind them.

When their hour and a half was up, they both rushed out of the room as quickly as possible. Benvolio found his place next to Matt and shared a smile with his friend, who smiled back at Ben for a second until he remembered he was angry, at which point his face shut down as he wheeled around and started walking away. Matt was forcing his face blank, Ben realized. This had never happened before. Matt had never been afraid to let the world know what he was thinking, with his wild body language, with his words, even with his facial expressions. A blank Matt was…unthinkable. But there he walked, the image completely unacceptable to Ben's brain, completely wrong. He had to fix this.

"Matt." He tried calling his friend's name first, to see if that did anything. Matt kept walking. An order, perhaps. "Come back here." Matt wasn't his servant, and he wasn't upper class anymore. He was just normal. In desperation, he started chasing down his friend. "Wait! Soft!" Matt still ignored him. Why was he ignoring Ben? Matt always had a comeback for everything. He was supposed to be the talkative one.

Benvolio planted himself in front of Matt, crossing his arms, refusing to let him friend by. "Talk to me," he growled, letting his frustration hide the pleading that was really happening in his heart.

Matt tried to walk around him. Even his eyes were dull.

"Stop trying to run away!" Ben snapped, blocking him again. "Come on! Speak to me! You always have something to say. Say something! Anything!"

His friend didn't even acknowledge him.

Blood rose to his face as Ben slowly lost the battle to stay in control. "Ay me!" He yelled. "What's wrong with you today?"

A muscle in Matt's jaw twitched. Just as Ben turned away in defeat, thinking that something must have replaced the real Matt, he opened his mouth. "Nothing's wrong with me."

Ben wheeled around, a relieved smile on his face. The fact that the words were flat and emotionless didn't seem to matter. "Are you sure? You've been acting up all day." He stood there, huge smile still on his face, waiting for the pun on "acting up" that would surely reference getting high off crack.

"I'm not the one with a problem," Matt said, his oddly bland voice making an impression on his friend this time. Not to mention the lack of drug references. Benvolio bit his lip as he thought of a way to respond to the obviously baited line.

"I'm the one with a problem, then?"

Matt threw him a startled glance – whatever he'd been expecting, it hadn't been that. "Yeah. You and your 'ay me's and your ridiculous attitude."

Ben sighed. The last thing he wanted was a repeat of Jake's rants, but if Matt felt he had to say them, then Ben would let him. He deserved to hear all of the accusations. Because they were, for the most part….

I thought you liked us for us. Not just because we distracted you from your dead friends.

...painfully correct.

"Let me guess," Ben said, looking down at the floor. His words tumbled quickly out of his mouth, despite the lump in his throat. "I've used you. I haven't been honest with you about my past. You shared everything with me, and I don't deserve it at all. I don't pay attention to you. You felt like I cared when really I didn't. I-"

"Ben, shut up," Matt interrupted. Ben looked up quickly, at little thrown at being cut off in the middle of his rant. "If that's what Jake's been feeding you, don't listen to a word of it. He's always had problems controlling his anger and, to tell the truth, he's a bit of a drama king."

Ben bit his tongue as to not let a smile creep up his face or, heaven forbid, start having hysterics. At first it seemed a bit ridiculous to call Jake a drama king, when Matt always loved to be the center of attention.

He started to shake in silent guffaws when he thought that it wasn't so ridiculous, since Jake's counterpart was Romeo, the star of one of the world's now most favorite plays. If he wasn't the king of drama, who was?

The funniest thing was, in a sad kind of way, that he couldn't share either of these things with Matt, who would have loved them. He never really could share things with those two, because of who he was. His laughter died away suddenly. How could it be fair of him to expect them to be anything like friends?

Matt hadn't noticed any of his silent struggles. "Look, the problem is you're making me be the smart one. And I really hate acting smart."

It took Ben a minute for the words to register in his mind. "What?"

"Smart people are so stuck up," Matt muttered, rolling his eyes. "Even you and Jake. That's why I vowed never to join you. But now you're forcing me to. Some friends you are."

"Huh?" Matt didn't seem to be paying attention to Ben's confusion at all.

"You problem isn't that you didn't treat me and Jake like your girlfriends. I don't need to know your life's history if you don't want to talk about it, and I don't need you to hang on my every word. Ben, just because Jake and I have helped you get over some bad moods, doesn't mean you used us. And don't ever think that you don't deserve new friends because you've had troubles in the past."

Matt started pacing, blond hair hanging down over his forehead. Some of his muttering seemed to be directed just as much at himself as Ben. "You're a different person from Jake and me. I never took anything he said that seriously. You're quieter and more internalized. I should of realized that you'd take it this bad. I need to have a talk with that kid."

Ben opened his mouth, but he didn't know what to say.

"The biggest piece of bullshist I've ever heard out of your mouth –and trust me, there's been plenty- is that you don't care about us. I know you're just an exchange kid. I know you'll have to go home. But remember that time after school, the day off the food fight? Remember when I told you that you belonged here? Remember when Jake told you that he didn't want you to leave? Because he agreed with me?"

"He sure doesn't anymore." Ben muttered. He didn't have time to duck away from the blow hitting him upside the head. "OW! What was that for?"

"Bullshist." Matt stated. "I want you to look at me and tell me that you don't have the same feeling. I bet my life that you can't."

"Don't say things like that," Ben retaliated, finding his voice again. He rubbed his now-sore head.

The corners of Matt's lips tugged upwards. "You just proved me right, like, five times. You care, even though Jake's somehow managed to convince you that you don't. You feel that you belong here. You can't tell me you don't. And you do listen when we're talking about something important. You listen too well. You trust us too much, even, taking everything we say so dang seriously. Back to my original point: you care so much that you won't even let me say careless things about my living, because you can't bear to see otherwise."

"But-"

Matt held up his hands. "Don't bust my bubble. Even if I have to be smart, I rather like psychologist mode. Now, I know you're kind of afraid to care again, because you just had to bear to see people you care about die, and you never ever want to go through that again. That's completely understandable. In your mind, the logical course of action is to stop caring about things, so if they leave you it doesn't hurt."

"Unfortunately for you, you're a caring person. And you've already got new friends that care for you one heck of a lot, even if they've got a lousy way of showing it. Unfortunately for you, the more you care for someone, the harder the hardships are. So right now things are looking pretty bad. Bad enough to convince you that you need to stop caring already."

"But I think you also need to remember that the more you care, the greater the good times are. So quit being afraid. It's worth it." Matt shot him a grin. "I can tell you from personal experience."

"And while you're at it, quit feeling guilty because of your old friends."

Ben's body tensed up, like they always did whenever Romeo and Mercutio were mentioned. Matt was ready for this. "You're having survivors' guilt. You lived and they didn't. Now, I never got to meet your friends, and I'm really sorry about that. If they meant that much to you, then they much have been special people. But I know you, and I know you wouldn't love them the way you do if they didn't care for you just as much. Yeah, present tense, boy, because you still love them and you always will. So, from my deductive reasoning I can tell that your friends, wherever they are, are ecstatic that you weren't in that accident with them. Because they would have wanted you to live, even though you'll miss each other."

Ben gave a hallow laugh, one that caused Matt to jump and give his friend a second look. He shouldn't be able to laugh like that. He was too young.

"My friends weren't in an accident," he said, in an empty voice that made Matt's blood run cold. Then he laughed that awful laugh again. "My first friend was stabbed."

For once, Matt seemed at a loss for words. "Oh…Ben….I'm sorry…I just assumed…"

"Matt," he said, his voice slipping a little, "One of my friends committed suicide, because he didn't want to live without his beloved. How can you be sure that our bond was as strong as you say if… I wouldn't be willing to do the same?"

Matt gasped at his words, grabbing Ben's arm and pulling him to the ground. Ben couldn't help but feel the absurdity of the situation, sitting cross legged in the middle of the hallway of a deserted school, talking about feelings. He tried to laugh at himself but it came out more as a sob.

"Ben," Matt growled. "Don't you think that. Don't you ever think that."

"Why?" His voice, as much as he tried to control it and sound normal, was rasping and only just above a whisper.

"Well, your friend wasn't evil, was he?"

"I certainly thought not."

"Well, then, there you go."

"There I go with what?" Ben snapped, suddenly irritated. This whole thing was nonsensical. "What do you know that makes everything suddenly right?"

"Look," Matt said, uncharacteristically cool, "your friend wasn't evil, because he didn't take you down with him. And if he still wasn't evil, than he would have wanted you to meet Jake and me."

Ben looked up, eyes shining with tears that he refused to let fall, taken aback with these such strong words. "He would have wanted…?"

"Gosh darn it, Ben, yes, he would have! Look, did your friend have a name?"

Benvolio looked down again and shook his head. Matt sighed next to him. "If you don't want to say it, that's fine, I guess. The point is, that unless he was evil, he would have wanted you to meet us, so that me and Jake could have the great friend we do. Because he knew how great you were, and he would want to share you with these two desperate American kids whose lives are falling apart. Because Jake and I didn't know what we were missing until we had it, and know that I realize it, you're one of the best things that's ever happened to us."

Matt paused. "As you would say, ay me. I can't believe I just said that. I'm turning into a soap opera."

He rounded on Ben. "You are quite possibly the only guy who could ever get me to say things like that."

"Are you kidding me? What happened to all the atrocious poetry dedicated to a certain Samantha-?"

"I said guy, idiot. Stop changing the subject. Let's go over the things you're going to quit: 1. Quit being afraid to care about people. 2. Quit feeling guilty because your friends died and you didn't, because it's a bloody good thing you didn't. 3. Quit thinking you're being rude to your friends' memories by making knew ones. Cuz you're not. They would have wanted you to be happy."

Ben bit his lip and looked down again, no more attempts at friendly teasing. The action was not looked over by Matt. "Oh no. Something else. Tell me."

"Jake says that I shouldn't use you two as replacements for them," Ben mumbled quietly.

Matt sighed and ran his hand through his blond hair, a habit he had picked up from Jake. "What have I said about listening to Jake?"

"That I shouldn't," Ben mumbled. He looked like a small child that had just gotten in trouble, Matt thought. He sighed again.

"But what if-" Ben started again.

"He's not right!" Matt repeated bitterly. He was sounding like a schoolteacher, even to himself. Why did Jake have to cause his friends so many mental issues? "He's never right when it comes to important things. He doesn't ever think about anything. He just goes ahead and opens his mouth and doesn't give a bit about the consequences. Now, Ben, I'm getting tired of being smart, so you're going to have to solve this sorry one on your own. I trust you enough to think that when you look at me, you see me, and not one of your old friends. If you looked at me and Jake, and all you saw was them, well then…I guess I could see why Jake would be upset." He rubbed the back of his neck with his palm.

"I like to think that that doesn't happen. I trust you to be the smart one and either make Jake see sense, or…" Matt gulped. He'd lied when he'd said Jake was never right, because a lot of the time he was. Still never thought anything through, but he was. "…find some other way to get over your friends."

Benvolio didn't object to his rude, open language. He just sat there, looking as lost and confused and as like a child as Matt had ever seen him.

There was the sudden sound of sneakers on the floor, causing Ben and Matt to both look up as a figure rounded the corner. They'd both assumed the hallway was deserted.

"Ben, wherever you are, we have to go, now. My parents are here to pick us up and we're going straight to the airport to get Ami- Matt?"

Jake stood there, hands shoved in the pockets of his thick winter coat, looking a bit taken aback if anything at the sight of the two just sitting on the floor of a deserted school hallway, doing nothing. Ben jumped up quickly, walking over and grabbing his own backpack and coat from where he'd dumped them against the wall earlier. Matt followed his example, groaning as if the effort to move was too much.

"Oooooh my stiff legs. Ami's coming home today?"

"Yeah," Ben and Jake answered at the same time, glancing at each other before turning away awkwardly. Matt sighed, still stretching. He was going to have to do something about this.

"Hey, Jake, in detention today Ben was doubting whether I actually had to ability to be smart."

There were so many comments Jake could have made there, so many ways to offend, that Matt actually paused a few seconds the wait for one of them.

Nothing.

"I told him I was so smart I cold solve your little spat in five minutes." Matt continued bravely. Come on, he thought. He practically wanted to insult himself, for pity's sake. Some sort of retaliation. Anything.

Finally Jake raised an eyebrow and commented, "Spat?"

Matt slapped himself in the forehead. "All the things you could have said and you pick on my word choice? Really? What is the world coming to?"

"Spat?" Jake repeated.

"Yeah," Matt said, feeling his temper flare up. "Now I've just been talking to Ben-" he ignored the way Jake frowned at the name "-and I know what the problem is."

"I have to go," Jake replied, a steely glint in his eyes. "I don't have time for this."

"Wait!" Matt cried, hurrying to keep up. "I think you just need to realize that Ben's had a hard time and trust-"

"Ben's had a hard time?' Jake interrupted sarcastically. "He's been able to use us to runaway from all his problems. How could he possibly be having a hard time?"

Ben's face darkened, all thoughts of trying to stay out of the conversation forgotten. "Lapet, you don't know-"

"Jake," Matt interrupted, "He's-"

BEEEEEP.

The three boys froze. A very annoyed Mr. Lapet dashed through the front doors of the school. "Jake, what is taking you so long?" he demanded, his eyes catching first upon his son. "I told you, we're going to be late to pick up Ami –oh, you three. I should have known. Do you go everywhere together?"

Ben looked down awkwardly. Everybody assumed they were on great terms with each other, like they should have been. Why did that make the fact that Jake wouldn't speak two words to him harder?

Matt smirked at Mr. Lapet's question and threw his arms around Ben and Jake's shoulders. It didn't really work, seeing as how he was the shortest one of all three on them, but that didn't matter to Matt. "I wish we could, Mr. Lapet. Because I know, no matter what, that these two will always be my best friends. No matter what."

Ben's face burned as he bit his lip. On the other side of Matt, Jake opened his mouth, closed it again, gave his friend a look, and then shrugged the hand off his shoulder. They both started following Mr. Lapet out of the school.

"Listen to what I said, alright?" Matt called after them. Jake turned around to glance back again. "Oh, stop trying to think of clever comebacks, Jake. You wish you had my social skills. Close that mouth! Shut up for once in your life and think! You to, Ben. That's an order."

The car ride to the airport was unusually silent. Ben wasn't sure exactly what direction his thoughts were supposed to be taking.

These two will always be my best friends, no matter what.

Romeo and Mercutio would always be his best friends. It didn't mean he couldn't make knew ones. That was settled.

These two will always be my best friends, no matter what.

It was an honor to have Matt declare such a thing. If only Jake would say the same. It couldn't be too long before he and Jake came to some sort of reconciliation. Somehow. Maybe Jake just had to have a talk with Matt, to.

I trust you enough to think that when you look at me, you see me, and not one of your old friends.

That was maybe the hardest thing to deal with, but he knew he could. Mercutio, for all his words, could never have talked like that. He never could have understood people so completely. Mercutio had been a leader, the family of the government; Matt didn't have any pressure on him to be as good a superior when he grew old. Matt was not Mercutio.

Jake was not Romeo.

This one was harder to prove to himself. They both were good with words…and moped a little too much for their own good…but Jake wasn't as internalized, as secretive as Romeo had been. Jake put himself out there. When Romeo was judged as a Montague, he did everything in his power to appear as saintly as anyone could want. When Jake was judged as a Mient, he let the judger have an earful on what exactly they were doing wrong and how much he hated what they were doing.

Montague. Mient. Ha. He got it.

These two will always be my best friends, no matter what.

He'd have to tell Jake and Matt that, someday.

Still, he couldn't deny the fact everything was strangely similar to the story back home. Not identical, but similar. He'd still have to be on his guard for Julies or Julias or any girls of that sort. He would not let his friend get in trouble again.

"We're here," Mrs. Lapet announced, as the car pulled up along a curb detonated as Arrivals. He vaguely remembered the airport from when he had been here all those months ago. "Do you see Ami?"

"Her name's short for Amelia," Jake hissed in his ear from behind him. "And she bothered to find out about you. Don't worry, she actually cares."

Ben didn't reply, on the slight chance he might get murdered if he did. Besides, he really was quite curious to meet Jake's sister.