To say that things were tense in the Brittle house was a huge understatement. This morning when Ben had left for school, he hadn't uttered a word to his family. His aunt, Bruno, and Beck hadn't even spared him a glance as he grabbed a bagel and made his way out. Bruce and the twins had looked confused, but didn't say anything either.

Luna had texted him and said she was riding to school with her sisters, and when he saw her in homeroom she'd barely said anything to him. Seemed like she was going to act as distant as she thought he was being. She'd been hanging out with Sam and her group lately, which was driving him absolutely insane inside.

Oh, and his school life was going to hell too. Couldn't forget that. Now not only was everybody talking about how much of a punk he was for not taking on Eddy, but they were going on about how he clearly screwed up his relationship with Luna. A relationship that never even existed in the first place.

The only ones who he really had to fall back on right on right now were Olly and Kimi. The ladder didn't share most of his classes, so he never saw her. The former was sticking to him like glue. If nothing else Oliver was loyal.

When he started eating lunch in one of the empty classrooms, he told Oliver that it would probably be best if he got some distance from him. The guy used to get picked on by Eddy too, and he didn't want him being a target again. But Oliver seemed dead set on staying.

"I got bullied before, and nobody did anything. I'm not sitting by while someone else gets the same treatment. Especially not my friend."

Ben honestly wasn't sure what he did to deserve such a loyal friend, but he was thankful there was at least one person who didn't despise him right now. The two of them sat at two of the empty desks in the music room enjoying their lunches. "So… is Luna coming to practice today?" Oliver asked.

The other boy sighed. "I don't know man…"

Olly hummed. "She's uh… she's really mad at you right now you know. She just wants you to go talk to her," the Australian explained.

Ben hung his head. He knew eventually Olly would start asking questions too. The guy wasn't just his friend, he was Luna's too. He was probably trying to help get them back on track. But he really hadn't felt like bringing it up right now. Or at all if he was being honest. "I know…"

"So why won't you?"

"It's personal."

Oliver once again hummed. "Well, it's personal for her too. If you don't say something to her soon she… I don't know man. I just think you should at least try to calm her down or something," he said looking to his friend.

Ben frowned. "Olly, believe me. She doesn't want to hear anything I have to say." Before Oliver could say something back, they heard the door open. They both turned expecting to see a teacher, and sure enough there was one. Just not the one they were expecting. "Mr. Gill?"

The man yawned and pushed his glasses up. "Well, well, well, your brother said you'd probably be in here. I expected you to be all alone though. Nice to see you're not being a complete emo loner. How's it hanging Osman?" he asked.

"Uh… good I guess," Oliver said awkwardly.

Ben scowled. He couldn't really say he disliked his homeroom teacher. It was just… well, Ben had never really had a teacher like him. He was laid back and sort of lazy, but under that aloof attitude he was just as smart as any of their other teachers. Probably smarter. He was also hard to read, which kind of unnerved him a little.

"What's with the look Brittle?"

"What are you doing here?" Ben asked.

The man took a seat at one of the desk, and then pulled out a bag. "Eating lunch, just like you. Got a problem with that?" he asked as he pulled out a plastic bowl filled with tuna fish.

Ben and Olly shared a look, and then turned back to him. "Uh… why?" Olly asked.

Mr. Gill rubbed his chin. "Good question. Partly because I hate all the chatter going on in the staff room doing lunch. The rest of the staff who have this period off are totally annoying. The other reason is because Berta asked me to have a chat with you."

"I'm sorry, what was that?!" Ben asked wide eyed.

"Who's Berta?" Olly asked confused.

Mr. Gill pointed towards Ben. "His aunt. The lady who runs the bakery you play at. You didn't know her name? You freaking work there man."

"I just call her Ms. Brittle."

Ben cut the two of them off. "Hold the hell on! How do you know my aunt?! Why would she ask you to talk to me?!" he asked standing up.

"Well, I heard everyone going on about how great the bakery was, so I stopped by. Then I saw your unusually attractive aunt and said to myself, 'I gotta come back here'. Now I usually go by around lunch to grab a snack and make some small talk."

Ben narrowed his eyes. "Did you call my aunt attractive?"

"Are you disagreeing? Because seriously, she is hot. I know you can't see it because your family, but that woman is godly. Butt looks like it was crafted by-"

Ben held his hands up. "Stop! Stop right the hell now! Uh!" He couldn't stomach someone talking about his aunt like that. "Just… why would she ask you to talk to me?"

Mr. Gill sighed. "I don't know man. I give her status updates on how you're doing in class and she seemed to be under the impression that because I'm your homeroom teacher that I have some sort of bond with you or something. I only said yes because I was hoping to get some brownie points with her."

Ben growled. "So you're just going to blatantly tell me you're trying to get with my aunt? Not even going to try and be slick about it?" he asked in disbelief.

"Seriously, she's hot man."

"Okay, on that note I'll be taking my leave. I'll catch you later Olly."

Mr. Gill raised his hand. "Okay, okay, hold on a sec. I am your teacher so I guess I'm supposed to at least act like I care. So sit down, let's shoot the shit for a while. I promise I won't mention your sexy aunt anymore."

"You just did it again!"

"Last time, I promise!"

Ben looked towards Oliver who just shrugged. He sighed and sat back down in his seat. "I'm not talking about what happened," he said picking his sandwich back up.

"We don't have to," Gill said shrugging. "We can talk about anything. Feel free to join in Osman. I don't think I'm going to get much from Mr. Chatterbox over here anyway." Ben grunted while Oliver raised his hand. "This isn't class, you don't have to raise your hand."

"Oh, right. So what would you do if you have a friend who won't let you help him with his problems and keeps everything to-"

Ben turned towards him. "Damn it Olly! I said I didn't want to talk about this! And don't go telling him my business!"

"Well I'm sorry man, but this isn't healthy!" Oliver argued. "You can't just keep on holding stuff in. It's not good for you."

"I appreciate the thought, but I'm fine. I can handle myself and-"

Mr. Gill suddenly laughed. "Oh, no. Not you can't. You think you can because you're a teenage boy. But the reality is you can't handle shit," he said simply.

Ben glared at him. "Screw you!"

The man didn't seem bothered at all by the outburst. "What's with you anyway? Is this a tough guy thing? You think asking for help makes you weak or something?" he asked casually.

Ben grit his teeth. "You want to know why I don't say anything?! Fine! I don't say anything because everyone has enough crap to deal with already!" he shouted.

Mr. Gill hummed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He looked at his teacher in disbelief. "What does it mean?! My aunt is trying to make a business in a brand new town work! Bruno is getting ready to go off to college! Bruce had never been good with this stuff! And the others are too young to deal with this crap! It's always been like this! If it wasn't mom leaving it was us going hungry or some crap like that!"

"What about Luna then?" Gill asked. "You like her right? Why not talk to her?"

Ben growled. Ignoring the fact that someone yet again figured out he liked Luna long before he himself did, he was tired of this. "Because she doesn't like me back, okay?! She likes someone else! She told me so!"

"So you're jealous then?"

"No… yes… I don't know! I just don't want to put her in that position! I've only known her a couple of weeks. Now I'm supposed to just walk up to her and tell her I like her? How the hell is that supposed to go?"

Gill snapped his fingers. "Oh, I get it. You're keeping your mouth shut because you don't want to throw your problems on your friends and family," he said.

Ben held his hands out. "Yes! Yes, that's it! They have enough stuff to deal with already, I just don't want to throw my crap on top of it. Is that really so wrong?" he asked. Gill stood up and walked over to him. He reached up, and then flicked his forehead. "Ow! What the hell?"

"You're a dumbass," Gill said simply.

Ben blinked and stared at him blankly before frowning. "What?"

"Do you honestly think that hiding your problems from them is making them worry less? What type of stupid logic is that kid?" Gill asked shaking his head.

"But I'm just-"

Gill cut him off. "Kid, let me ask you this. If you saw Oliver over here coming to school beat up every single day and you asked him what was wrong, do you really think you'd be satisfied if he told you nothing?" he asked.

"Of course not! But that's different!"

"How?"

"Because he… he wouldn't be… I'm not getting…" Ben kept thinking for a while. The answer had felt so obvious a second ago, but now that he thought about it, he couldn't really find a real difference in that situation.

Gill smirked. "Gears finally starting to turn in there buddy?"

Ben put his hand over his face. "God damn it! I'm an idiot!"

"Yes, yes you are," Gill said taking a bite from his food. "But don't feel bad, you're a teenager. You're all idiots when it comes down to it."

Ben got up and made his way towards the door. "Where are you going?" Oliver asked.

"I'm going to apologize for making a total ass of myself."

He sped out of the room and towards the cafeteria. How could he be so stupid?! Of course Luna and his brothers were worried about him! Who wouldn't be worried if a friend just started bottling everything up! He needed to find her and set things straight right now!

He came through the cafeteria doors and looked around. It didn't take him long to spot Luna sitting with Sam and Kimi. He got ready to head over towards her, but suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked back and saw Lori glaring at him. "We need to talk."

"Shit…" He glanced back towards the table then back at Lori. "Lori, listen. I don't know what Luna told you but I-"

Lori held her hand up. "Save it. I'm not in the mood for your excuses. My sister is feeling down because you've been avoiding her like the plague. So you're going to march over there and talk to her right this minute, or else."

"That's what I was going to do now," Ben said bluntly.

Lori opened her eyes. "Oh… well, carry on then."

"Thank you." He turned around to run to Luna, but then bumped into someone. He stumbled back as he heard something hit the floor, and when he opened his eyes he paled. "Oh c'mon…" It really did feel like the universe was seriously out to get him.

Eddy glared down at him, the food that had been on his lunch tray now spilled all over the jock's clothes. "You're dead Brittle…" the hulking boy said cracking his neck.

"Damn it…"

Luna had been doing her best to enjoy her lunch. Her father had made her and her sisters tuna salad, and it had been by no means bad. But she supposed she just hadn't been in the mood for it. She wondered what exactly Ben had brought for lunch today.

He'd always packed his own lunch, and would always throw in a little extra for her to try. He'd try to act like it was no big deal, but he was just as passionate about cooking as he was about music, and getting her to try his new recipes had become a routine of theirs.

"Hey Luna, you okay?"

Luna looked over and saw Sam and Kimi staring at her. "Uh, yeah. I'm fine. Guess I'm just not that hungry today," she said.

Sam and Kimi both frowned and shared a look before turning back to her. "Are you really sure everything is alright? You've been acting kind of down lately," Sam said concerned. "I… I know this isn't really any of my business, but does this have to do with Ben?"

Luna poked at her food with her fork. "…I guess so. We kind of got into a fight cause he won't talk to me about something and…" she banged her head on the table. "Uh. I want to talk to him but I don't know what I'd even say. I don't know whether to apologize for yelling at him or keeping being angry at him for still not talking. It's so confusing dudes."

Kimi sighed. "I really wish I could give you something to work with, but he hasn't said anything to Olly either. Not that I thought he would. If you can't get him to talk, I don't think anyone will," she said before drinking from her carton of milk.

Sam nodded. "Yeah. I mean I don't know him that well, but he really seems to like… I mean respect you," the blonde said quickly correcting her wording. "Whatever he's hiding has to be something if he's not willing to spill it to you."

"Do you guys think I'm stressing too much over this? I mean, even best friends have some secrets between them right?" she asked.

Kimi rubbed her chin. "I don't know. I don't think Olly keeps anything from me." Sam bumped the girl with her elbow. "Ow! What I say?" She then noticed Luna looking even more down. "Ah! But then again he's not my best friend, he's my boyfriend! So there's a different, you know!" she said laughing nervously.

Sam sighed. "Look, I think the best thing you can do is gave him some time to sort things out himself. Give him a little space, and just be there. If you really need to say something then just let him know that you're ready to listen when he's ready to talk," she advised.

Luna's frowned deepened. As much as she hated to admit it Sam was right. There was nothing she could really do right now. "Yeah. Guess so…" She looked up at the two girls. "Thanks for hanging with me dudes. I know you usually hang with Nate and Tammy, and you got Oliver. So it really means a lot you're sticking me mopey old me."

Sam and Kimi smiled. "Hey, don't sweat it. What are friends for," Sam said.

"Yeah. And I've never had girl friends to hang out with before. Hey, we should do a girls night or something like that. Never done one of those," Kimi said.

"I'm not doing makeovers," Sam said bluntly.

"Oh, is that what they do at those things?"

Before their conversation could continue they heard a loud crash, followed by a number of gasps. Luna turned her head towards the noise. "What was that?" She saw a few of the students getting up and heading towards the doors. "A fight?"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Has to be. That's the only thing everyone gathers around so quickly for. I don't get why everybody has to have a front row view of…" she stopped when she saw Kimi standing on the table, struggling to see over the other students.

"Damn it! I can't see!" Kimi complained.

"Okay then…" Sam muttered.

Kimi stood on her toes, and then suddenly frowned. "Uh-oh…"

"What is it?" Luna asked.

"Uh… I think Ben is about to get into a fight with Eddy…"

"What?!"

Luna quickly got up and headed towards the crowd, ignoring Sam and Kimi's calls. However she felt about Ben right now, he was still her friend. She knew Eddy had been looking for a reason to start a fight with him, and as much as she wanted to hope he could hold his own, Eddy was twice his size. "Move!" she said pushing past the other students.

When she got to the middle she saw Eddy smirking with his fists raised. Ben was across from him with a scowl, and standing in between them was Lori who had her arms held out. "It was an accident Eddy! He bumped into you! This is ridiculous!"

"You know Brittle, I really do have to give you props. You got all three Loud sisters on a tighy leash ready to jump whenever you say."

Lori glared at him, and Ben balled his fist up. Luna growled and looked ready to step in, but Sam quickly grabbed her by the arm. "Don't, it's just gonna get even worse. Let Lori handle it."

Ben stepped forward but Lori pushed him back. "Don't, he's just trying to egg you on. You know damn well even if you fight him now his friends will just jump you later and you're done for," Lori warned.

Eddy laughed. "Like I needs my boys to beat this chump," he said holding his arms out. "C'mon Brittle, you look like you're as riled up as I am! It's just me here! You want your shot, take it! I'm right here!"

Ben kept glaring at him, the only thing keeping him back being Lori. Luna knew just how much he wanted to knock that smirk off his face. Despite his best efforts to ignore him, Eddy had done nothing but mock and insult Ben since the party.

"Don't." Lori repeated. "He's not worth it. Just turn around and walk away."

After a few more moments, the third eldest Brittle brother took a deep breath, and then turned around and began to walk away. Eddy frowned. "There you go, running away again! You ever gonna stand and fight like a man? Shit, you're more of a bitch than she is!"

Ben paused looking over his shoulder with a glare. Lori quickly stepped forward and grabbed his shoulders. "Ben! It's fine, I don't care! Just keep on walking!" Ben grit his teeth but somehow pushed back the urge to rush him.

Luna on the other hand didn't take to kindly towards the comment made at her sister. "You better watch your mouth you asshole!" she shouted angrily. Sam and Kimi quickly grabbed her arms, keeping her back from the jock.

Everyone turned towards her. Lori and Ben with surprised expressions, while Eddy grew a wicked smirk on his face. He knew exactly how to push Ben over the edge now. "Oh, and there's the other one. Right on time. You really do keep them in check huh?"

Ben's eye twitched, and he tried to move forward. Lori was barely able to keep him back. "Ben, stop it! Don't fall for it! He's just-"

"Hey Ben, just out of curiosity. Out of the three of them, which one is better in the sack? I bet its Luna isn't it? She just seems like the type whose down for anything."

There was a long silence after Eddy had made the comment. Both Loud sisters, as well as most of the surrounding students, looked at him wide eyed. Luna's face twisted into one of anger, but before she could speak up Ben moved.

He slipped past Lori, speeding towards Eddy with a look of pure rage of his face. "I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"

Eddy smiled and swung his fist at the charging boy, but Ben ducked under the punch and tackled him. He managed to push the jock back a few feet, but the difference in size was much too great. Eddy stopped him dead in his tracks before delivering an uppercut right to Ben's face.

Everyone winced as Ben's head snapped back from the blow. "Finally, I've been waiting all week to beat your ass Brittle!" Eddy said as Ben stumbled back. He rushed at him, lifting both hands to grab him.

Ben lifted his own hands and they locked up, the two trying to push one another back. After a mere second Eddy began overpowering him. Luna panicked. This was bad. Very bad. Ben was outsized and outmuscled. There was no way he could win this.

She had to do something. Go get his brothers maybe? But she didn't know what classes they were in. She'd never find them in time. She balled her fist up and got ready to jump in. She'd step in herself if she had to! "Luna, no!" Sam said as she and Kimi kept holding on.

"No! Let me go!" Eddy kept pushing, trying to pin him again the wall. "Get off of me! He can't win! He's going to-" Before she could finish Ben suddenly kicked upwards. Everyone in the cafeteria gasped as his foot connected with Eddy's chin, sending the larger boy stumbling back.

Luna, Sam, and Kimi looked wide eyed. "Uh… did you know he could do that?" Kimi asked.

Eddy looked at him furiously before getting up and taking another swing at him. Ben moved and dodged the punched. In one fluid motion he grabbed Eddy wrist, and then the front of his shirt. Everyone watched in awe as Ben yelled before suddenly throwing the boy over his shoulder. He used the momentum to send the football player flying a few feet.

Eddy crashed against the ground and slid as Ben wiped some of the blood from his nose. "Holy shit!" Sam said stunned.

Luna watched as Ben charged at Eddy who was just getting up. Before he could get to his feet, Ben kicked him in the back of the knee and sending him right back down. Then he grabbed him around the neck, catching him in a chokehold.

Eddy gasped and tried to pry Ben's arms off, but he kept them locked down. "We call this one the Coquina Clutch back home!" Ben said smirking.

Everyone began cheering at the unexpected direction of the fight. It quickly came to an end however when Eddy reached over his shoulders and grabbed Ben by the shirt. He threw the smaller boy over his own shoulders and down onto the ground in front of him.

Eddy took the chance to catch his breath before trying to get to his feet. Ben however grabbed his arm, pulling him back down and right into a triangle chokehold. "G-get off of me!" he shouted angrily.

"Not a chance asshole!" Ben yelled back.

Ben held on as tightly as he could, and soon Eddy began feeling lightheaded. If he didn't break out of this soon he was going to pass out. The hulking boy let out a yell before attempting to get back up to his feet. He would lifted his whole body up slam Ben to the ground if he had to.

Before he could get all the way up though, Ben moved his leg and shifted his weight, knocking him right back down and pulling him into the arm bar. "You're not going anywhere!"

Eddy growled and tried to pull his arm free, but Ben just pulled tighter. "GAH! Shit! You're gonna break my arm!" he yelled.

"That's the fucking idea!" Ben shouted back with an evil smile. "You're such a badass! Always saying how much better you are then my brothers! Well now you'll get the chance to prove it! Let's see how well you play with one fucking arm"

Ben began pulling on his arm, and Eddy yelled out in pain. "Ah! I give! I give, I'm sorry man, I'll back off! Just let go!" Eddy shouted desperately. He was doing his best to keep his arm straight, but it was clear he couldn't hold out much longer.

"You had your chance to back off!"

Everyone paled slightly. They had gathered around to see a fight, but they hadn't expected it to go this far. Sam quickly stepped forward. This had gone on long enough. "Ben! Stop it! You won!" she yelled.

He turned towards her. "No! I haven't! I gave him every fucking chance to back off and let it go! He's not going to stop until I make him!"

"Ben, if you do this you're crossing a line! It's not worth it!" Lori said trying to calm him.

"YES IT FUCKING IS!"

Luna looked at Ben in shock. She had never seen him like this before. It was like every single thing he'd been holding in the past week was just pouring out in rage. She quickly stepped forward and made her way towards him. "Ben!" The boy turned towards her with a scowl, but it softened when he realized who it was that called him. She shook her head. "You won, it's over. Just… please stop?" she asked.

Ben kept scowling for a few moments, and then looked down at Eddy. He grit his teeth, his grip tightening just a little. Luna could tell he genuinely wanted to just snap his arm then and there, and for a moment she thought he would anyway. But instead he leaned down towards the larger boy.

"If I ever hear any of their names come out of your mouth again, I'm not going to stop at the arm…" he muttered dangerously.

"I get it…" Eddy said wincing.

With that, Ben reluctantly let go, and Eddy rolled over and grabbed his arm in pain. Ben got up and stormed towards the door, everyone quickly moving out of his way. Luna wasted no time following after him, ignoring both her sister and friends calls.

The two moved into the hallway before Luna ran up next to him. "Where are you going?" she asked grabbing his arm.

He yanked himself away from her. "Home. I'm going home." He kept on walking.

Luna looked hurt for a moment, but then her expression went into anger. "Ben!" He kept on going, seeming to ignore her. "BEN!" she shouted louder. "You turn around and look at me right the hell now!"

Ben stopped, but didn't turn around. He hung his head and sighed. "Luna, look. I'm sorry about everything. I was wrong okay. But right now I really don't-"

"I don't give a damn what you feel like! Turn around and look at me right now!"

There were a few seconds of pure silence, and then Ben slowly turned around to face her. She wished she could say she was surprised to see that his nose looked crooked, but after that punch to the face she knew there was no way he had come out unscathed.

She narrowed her eyes. "We're going to the nurse's office."

"Luna, I don't need-"

She walked up and poked him in the chest. "I'm not asking you. I'm telling you. Now c'mon, we're going right now," she order as she grabbed his wrist. She started pulling him along after her, not even giving him the chance to argue.

Ben wore a confused look on his face. "Luna…"

"I don't want to hear it Ben!" she snapped. "To hell with your thought guy act. I'm not going to let you go walking around with a broken nose."

He stared at her back, and she could feel his hand shaking slightly. "I Just…why? I thought you were still mad at me. I've been ignoring you. I've been an asshole. I know you were upset at me. Lori said so. So how come-"

Luna tightened her grip on his wrist. "Because, we're friends…" she said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "And no matter how much of a total ass you make of yourself, we're still going to be friends. You're stuck with me Brittle. Like it or not…"

Ben just stared at her for a while, and then hung his head. "…thank you…"

A/N: Hey there guys! Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I was planning on updating this one later, but I had the urge get this one out so figured I might as well go for it before I get lazy. So Ben realizes he was being a goober thanks to Gill, but things still aren't exactly peaches and cream quite yet. There's still going to be some crap to deal with for Ben and Luna.

Also, told you guys were going to be a fight scene. Hope you guys liked it. And don't worry, it'll be explained why Ben can fight like that next chapter. I didn't want to just have it out of nowehere, but I also didn't want a forced explanation. So I'm saving it for later.

I wanted Gill to be the one to snap Ben out of being closed off since I have plans for him later, so I want to start giving him, and a few other characters, a little limelight.

Okay, reviwer responses!

lttlgreg: Thanks. This is honestly the first time I've written a story where the character has hit such a low point, so I hope I'm doing a good balance of it. Thanks for reading!

0198: Well, Mr. Gill has managed to snap him out of being so stubborn, but he still has some stuff to get off his chest. We'll see how it goes!

Guest: Nothing is ever simple with it comes to teenagers my friend. They take the most simple problems and turn them into the biggest things ever.

Witch-King Angmar: Yeah, I have been thinking Sam needs to have a more active role in the story. I definately have more plans for her after this little spat between Ben and Luna. Thanks for the review!