A/N: Hey... been a while. I know I've been gone for a while, and the last a lot of people heard from me was that I had a health thing going on. I got some pretty worried/relieved messages when I came back, but everything was and is fine. Sorry about leaving you guys hanging on like that, but it was just a minor thing so there's no reason to worry.

Anyway, there's a more in depth explanation for me being gone so long on my profile page, so you can go check that out. The short of it is I've decided to actually come back and start working on this again. I'm still not sure about the other fics since I'm working on other projects, but at the very least I want to keep going with this one. So, here we are!

I hope you guys enjoy the chapter. I did a reread through everything to make sure it was cohesive and I didn't leave out certain facts I forgot. But let me know what you think.

Ben sat in the nurse's office, doing his best to ignore the pain on his face. The nurse had told him his nose was dislocated, which was obvious to anyone with two eyes, and offered to send him to the hospital. He'd declined saying he'd just wait for one of his brothers. Sad as it was to say, the Brittle brothers were all used to resetting dislocated body parts.

Beside him was Luna, who despite the nurses assurance insisted on staying with him until his brothers had shown up. Ben told her it might be a while. Knowing his brothers they were trying to track down Eddy. If the idiot had any brains he'd left already. Whatever he was going to do to him, Bruno and Bruce would do ten times worse.

"Here, hold still."

Ben barely had time to react before Luna pressed an ice pack against his nose. He winced slightly, but then offered a small smile. "Thanks…"

She smiled back. "No problem dude. After your nose is reset you might want to put some ice on your eye. You're gonna get a pretty bad shiner. That dudes fist really is like a hammer."

Ben hummed. "Yeah. Taking him on really wasn't my brightest idea…"

"No kidding dude. But you still won," she pointed out. "Where did you learn how to fight like that? You totally looked like an action movie star back there."

"My aunt taught me," he explained. "She taught all of us. She used to be a mixed martial artist before she took us in. After that she gave it up and opened up the bakery."

Luna looked at him surprised. "You serious? Man, your aunt really is a badass. No wonder she managed to deal with you guys," she said giggling.

Ben nodded. "Yep, that's our auntie. Baker of cookies and kicker of asses," he said before wincing again. Luna was about to pull the ice pack back, but he reached up and gently grabbed her hands. "It's okay, really."

Luna nodded and kept pressing the ice pack to his nose. They sat in silence for a few more moments before she finally spoke up. "I'm sorry," she muttered.

The boy looked at her wide eyed. "What? No, you don't have anything to be sorry for. I'm the one that screwed up," he said quickly.

Luna sighed. "I just… I shouldn't have snapped at you. I was worried and stuff, but if you didn't want to talk about it I should have just given you space. I'm new to this whole best friend thing and I was panicking when you didn't want to hang out and…"

Ben frowned. "No, please don't be sorry," he said shaking his head. "It was my fault. It's totally on me. I'm new to this best friend thing too and I never been good at the whole opening up thing. Not with my family, and definitely not with my friends. So if I act like an idiot sometimes I swear I don't mean it."

Luna smiled. "Noted."

Ben smiled back at her. "Also, you're crazy if you think I wouldn't want to hang out with you. You're like the most amazing person I've ever met."

Luna looked down and blushed. "Dude, knock it off…"

"I mean it," he said seriously. "I've never met anybody as awesome as you. You rock harder than anybody I know, you put up with all of my bullshit. I couldn't ask for a better friend. I don't want to botch things with you Luna."

The girl found her cheeks growing ever redder. "Well, I don't think you have to worry about that… just promise you won't do something as stupid as fighting him again," she said.

Ben hummed. "I guess I could make that promise, but I think we both know there's not a very high chance of me keeping it," he said chuckling. Luna couldn't help but let out a giggle as well. "How about instead I promise not to act like a complete asshat next time I'm having a personal crisis?" he offered.

Luna shrugged. "Guess that's about as good as I'm gonna get for now… what was the whole personal crisis deal about anyway?" she asked, looking curious. She noticed that he flinched when she asked. "Still kind of touchy on that I guess?"

He kept staring towards her. "I… I promise to tell you eventually. It's just…"

She shrugged. "Look, it's okay dude. If you don't think it's the right time to blab, then don't blab. If you ever do I'm all ears," she said.

Ben looked down guiltily. Part of him really wanted to just tell her. To just get it over with, like ripping off a bandage. At worst she turned him down and they kept being friends. At best… well, he was pretty sure the best case scenario had no chance of happening. "Thanks. You're the best Luna," he said forcing a small smile.

SNAP!

"Ah! Crap!"

Ben winced and grabbed his nose as pain shot through his entire face. His aunt scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Oh don't be such a baby. This isn't the first time you had your nose reset," she said dusting her hands off. "You're lucky I didn't leave it like that to teach you a lesson. I mean honestly, falling for that meathead's taunts and letting him goad you into a fight like that."

He scowled and looked up at her. "You really expected me to let it go after what he said about Luna and her sisters? No way. I'm sorry auntie but I had to take him down. He had it coming," he said.

She reached down and grabbed his cheek before tugging on it. "Haven't I taught you anything over the years?! Of course he had it coming! But you didn't have to get him right then and there! You should have waited until after school and snuck him with your brothers!"

"That's an awfully evil line of thinking from someone who's supposed to be our parental figure..." Ben said. He wasn't all that surprised though. For all the times his aunt got on them about staying out of trouble and behaving, she was more underhanded and vicious than all of them combined. Especially when it came to family.

She was about to swat him upside the head for his snarky comment, but then the door opened. Bruno and Bruce both came walking in, neither looking happy. "Well, we couldn't find Eddy. Punk must be laying low," Bruno said annoyed.

"With you two looking for him? Of course he is," Ben said, still rubbing his nose. "You guys don't have to keep looking for him you know. I handled him. He's not going to try anything else. Not unless he really does want a broken arm."

Bruno snorted. "You think that little brother, but guys like that will always try to push their luck. Just wait," he said before walking in front of him. "By the way, why the hell didn't you tell us he was messing with you?!"

"Yeah, I was going to ask that too," His aunt said, narrowing her eyes.

"I didn't... I didn't want to worry you guys-"

"How did that work out for you?!" his aunt said smacking him in the back of the head.

Ben winced. "Really? You just reset my nose and you're going to smack me upside the head now?"

"You had a crooked nose, not a concussion."

The boy sighed. "Look, I'm sorry alright. I should have said something. About Eddy, about what was going on with Luna, I just... I didn't know how okay? But I screwed up. I admit it. And I'm sorry."

Bruno looked at him a bit surprised until their aunt spoke. "He apparently had a chat with Luna. Not sure what the details are, but they hashed out their little lovers spat."

"It wasn't a lovers spat!" Ben yelled blushing. "We just cleared things up!"

"Sure it wasn't..."

"What's going on with you and Mr. Gill?!"

Bruno and Bruce both looked up towards her. "Wait? Mr. Gill from school? Why would something be going on with you and him?" Bruno asked, narrowing his eyes.

"None of your damn business that's what! Now focus on the boy!" she said pointing back down at him.

"He knows you by first name!"

"You really want me to break that nose right after I just reset it?!"

Ben huffed and decided to drop it. After all, he was sure he and his brothers would come back around to that topic later. "We'll put a pin in that for right now. But back to you little brother," Bruno said. "When you say you cleared things up, do you mean everything?"

He looked down at the floor. "I… I didn't get around to that," he said. "I'm probably not going to. She's not interested. I know for a fact she isn't. She told me. So I won't make things awkward for her."

Bruce winced. "Ah, so that's it." There were few things worse than falling for someone who you knew didn't feel the same. "Sorry bro."

His aunt frowned. "Sorry? What are you sorry for?" she asked. "If you like that girl then take your shot. So what if she likes someone else? At worst you get shot down, and at best you get a girl I approve of."

"But I don't-"

"Will you still want to be friends if she shoots you down?"

"Of course! I'm not gonna bail on her because she doesn't like me back!"

"Then just tell her!" she said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "If you put it off and say nothing you're just going to regret it, and it's going to hurt a hell of a lot more when it all comes out anyway. Trust me, I know."

Bruno nodded. "She's right man. If you really do care about each other you'll get past it. It'll be awkward at first, but you will," he said.

"So this is basically going to be the same as ripping off a bandaid…"

His aunt offered him a sympathetic look. "I'm not going to sugarcoat it kid. It's going to hurt. Probably a lot. But you're going to be better for it," she assured.

Ben was used to pain.

His brothers were constantly roughhousing and getting into all types of trouble, so much like his broken nose, the thought of physical pain didn't bother him that much. He could brace himself for a punch or bodyslam without flinching, and he could shake it off and keep going if he needed to.

But emotional pain…? That was different. He had never been a social person. He'd never been good at coming to terms with his emotions. His little spat with Luna had been just the latest in a long line of examples of that. There was no bracing for it. At least no way he knew of anyway.

The very idea of telling her, knowing full well he would get rejected, was ten times as terrifying as taking a punch from Bruce or getting body slammed by Bruno.

But his family was right. If he didn't get it off his chest he wasn't sure things could ever start getting back to normal. So now it was just a matter of working up the nerves.

"Ben!"

He was snapped out of his thoughts and nearly fell off over the railing of the fire escape he'd been leaning again. A hand grabbed the back of his shirt and helped steady him, and he turned around and looked towards Beck with a glare. "What the heck man?!" he snapped. "I told you not to go sneaking up on me like that?! How did you even get in here, I locked the door!"

Beck smirked. "There's not a lock that's been made that Beck Brittle can't get into," he said, holding up a piece of his lockpicking set. One of the many annoying little hobbies he'd picked up alongside his card tricks. "So, I heard you got your butt kicked by some chump from school."

"Well you heard wrong. I won," Ben corrected.

"If you call a broken nose a win, sure."

Ben scoffed and punched his shoulder, and Beck chuckled before he punched him right back. He wasn't sure if it was him being worried, or if something particularly good had happened today but the, admittedly well deserved, hostility Beck had been showing him earlier didn't seem present right now.

"I was kind of surprised when I heard about you getting in a scrap. I figured it'd be either Bruno or Bruce that got into our first fight here. Or one of the twins," Beck said. "But then I heard about that guy and what he said about Luna and her sisters, and then it all made sense. It's weird. You get way more defensive about other people then you get about yourself."

Ben grunted and looked up. "He had it coming…"

"Not saying he didn't. But you sure took your sweet time bringing it to him," Beck said as he leaned on the rail beside him. "So, auntie and Bruno told me about what's been going on with you. Your little love life crisis I mean. No wonder you've been acting like such a tool."

Ben blushed. He had been hoping they wouldn't say anything and he could talk to him himself. But this way probably was easier. Beck wouldn't have wanted to talk with him in the first place in the mood he'd been in. "Yeah… I'm sorry. Whatever is going on between me and Luna is no excuse to be a dick towards you guys."

"You're right, it's not… but I still kind of get it, so apology accepted," Beck said before nudging him. When it came to the fairer sex, it seemed he was willing to let a lot of things slide. "So, since you're finally willing to admit you got a thing for her, when are you gonna take your shot and ask her out?"

He scowled. "Is that seriously the only reason you wanted to come talk to me? Shouldn't you be worried about scoring a date with your own Loud sister?"

Beck waved his hand. "Yeah, that's looking like it's not gonna happen."

"What?" Ben seemed legitimately surprised. "You're kidding me. You two are like the perfect weirdo match up. What's the deal?"

Beck shrugged. "Luan is into someone else. Some dude with a puppet. At least from what I can tell anyway," he explained.

"Huh… seems like we're in the same boat then."

"Wait, really? Luna's got some eyes on some other dude?" Beck asked, confused. "Man, I never would have guessed. She seemed like she was all over you. Who's the guy? Don't tell me it was that other dude that showed up at the bakery?"

Ben scratched his head. If only he knew. "Sorry, sworn to secrecy," he said. "But it's been for a while now, so I don't really have a chance… but I'm gonna tell her anyway."

Beck tilted his head. "You serious? You got some serious nerves. Don't think I could do it," he said. "I mean taking a shot you know you're probably going to miss? That would be way too nerverecking for me to even try."

"Auntie and Bruno said it's better to just get it over with. I mean I guess they're right. It's better just trying to hold it all in, right?" Ben asked.

Beck shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so. Maybe I should try asking Luan out anyway. Who knows, maybe they'll go for it. We do have those Brittle genes after all. Whoever these other guys are can't compete in the looks department," he said running a hand through his hair.

Ben chuckled. "Yeah, guess we do have that going for us…" It was odd hearing Beck try to make him look at the bright side. Usually he was the one who heckled him the most. They rarely ever got along. But these rare moments they had together were pretty nice.

But all good things had to come to an end, so the moment was broken when he phone rang. "Bet that's Luna right now. Go on Mr. Smooth. Let her know how you feel."

"Shut up," Ben said scowling. He looked down at his phone and was surprised to see who it actually was. He quickly answered it. "Hey Kimi, what's going on?"

"You have to get down to the hospital, quick!"

"What?"

"Olly is in the hospital!"

A/N: Yep, coming back with a little bit of drama at the end! I figure this chapter should be focused on smoothing things out some with Luna and his family, but I didn't want to just completely erase the issues with how he feels towards Luna. And what's happened to Olly?!

Okay, haven't done this in a long time. Reviewer Responses! (If any of you guys are still around...)

DannyPhantom619: I agree with that. In this case however Ben just happened to grow feelings for Luna, and she may or may not return them. Sometimes close friends try dating and it doesn't work out, sometimes feelings may or may not be returned. Things get complicated, especially with teenagers. I'm not spoiling whether they're actually going to get together or not, but even if they don't they'll still have a close friendship.

lttlgreg: Glad you enjoyed it! Hopefully this one was a good follow up to it! And yeah, Ben may not be the biggest or badest among his brothers, but when you grow up with five of them you're bound to know how to throw hands!

Jester-of-the-Plague: Not quite over yet pal lol. When I saw the reviews and messaged I got asking me to continue I sort of felt obliged to go on. And I still had some ideas I never got around to, so it was really just a matter of buckling down and getting it done. (I actually had half of this chapter written up from years ago). And I decided not to bother with the shorts/omake's anymore. It's all the main story from now on.

Qaravan of Garbage: You don't argue with Luna Loud! Yeah, I wanted to do my best to establish a strong friendship between them even more than the romance.

Guest: Update confirmed!

SolarFlare579: Thank you! Hopefully the rest is up to parr too!

Guests 2: This was written before Luna and Sam were official, and it's going to continue from that point. Same with Luan.