The rest of the week had pretty much been the same as Monday. Mysterious accidents kept happening around Eddy or his property, and he of course blamed and confronted Ben about it. With how nonchalantly the boy would respond to him, almost all of the student body thought that it was him. But there wasn't a single hint of him being involved.

By Friday Eddy had made it very clear that he had Ben in his crosshairs. But Luna, Olley, and Kimi had been sure to stay with him at all times. And his brothers of course were always hovering nearby, which seemed to make the jock think twice. Ben still had no idea what his brothers were planning, but apparently it was going well… to them.

"You're having too much fun riling Eddy up dude."

Ben couldn't keep the smirk off of his face as he swallowed the last of his sandwich. "I… yeah, maybe a little. But c'mon. It's just so funny seeing him get ticked off."

Luna sighed and shook her head. Lori had told her boys would be reckless and stupid when it came to stuff like this. And here he was proving her right. "Look, I don't know what the plan your brothers got is, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't involve you getting him to just rush you in front of everyone again."

The boy hummed. If he was being honest… that actually might have been part of the plan. Getting him to rush him in public would probably at least get him suspended. And give him and his brothers another chance to take a swing at him. "I'm just trying to figure out how your brothers are pulling this off," Kimi said.

"Yeah. Like how have they not gotten caught yet? You think somebody would have seen them doing something… then again, I don't see a long line of people wanting to speak up for Eddy," Olley said shrugging his shoulders.

"When the Brittle brothers commit to causing trouble or screwing someone over, we can do a lot of amazing things," Ben said. "With Bruce we really don't have to worry about cameras. And Beck is good and picking locks and stuff like that."

"Beck? He's coming up here from middle school?" Luna asked. She thought it had just been Bruno and Bruce pulling all of this stuff.

Ben nodded. "The twins too. You mess with one Brittle, you mess with all of them. By the way, you're all Brittle's by association," he said motioning towards Olley.

"Does that mean I can use you guys as enforcers?"

"Kimi…"

Ben chuckled, but then heard the door slam open across the room. Eddy came marching towards him, flanked by the two whose names they always forgot. "Well, right on time," Ben said, once again unable to get the smirk on his face. He wondered just what his brothers pulled off this time.

As he approached he felt his phone rumble, and then looked down to see a text from Burno. "Dude, he looks seriously mad," Luna said grabbing his shoulder.

Ben kept skimming over the text, not even paying attention to his friends or Eddy as he approached. "Brittle! You're taking things to damn far now!" Eddy yelled angrily. "Where the hell are my tires?!"

That seemed to snap Ben out of his thoughts, and he looked towards Eddy before doing a terrible at holding a laugh back. "Are you serious? Your tires got jacked?" he asked. Did they have the thing sitting on cement bricks or something?

"Don't play dumb with me! Where are they?!"

"He's been here with us the whole time dude, back off," Luna said.

"I wasn't talking to you Loud! Just butt out and-!"

Ben suddenly stood up and glared towards Eddy. "Watch yourself," Ben said dangerously. It was one thing to go at him, but he wasn't about to have him yelling at or messing with the others. "I didn't do anything to your stupid car. Not leave me and my friends alone before I pick up where we left off last time."

"You little-!" Eddy looked half a second away from swinging at him, but managed to hold himself back. He let out a breath, and then smirked. "You really don't know who you're messing with Brittle. You keep bothering me and I'm gonna make your life hell."

"You make my life hell every day just by showing your stupid face. Now split already."

Eddy slammed his hands on the table and leaned towards him. "Just you wait, Brittle. You think you're being clever pulling all this crap. But I can be clever too. I got something planned for you and your little 'girlfriend' over here," he said deviously.

Ben grit his teeth. "Is that a threat?!" he asked stepping forward.

Luna quickly stepped in front of him, putting her hands on his shoulder. "Dude, the plan, remember?" she muttered towards him. "You're the one supposed to be riling him up, not the other way around."

Eddy chuckled at his reaction and turned around to leave. "Just you wait, by the end of the day you'll regret trying to start shit with me, Brittle. That's a promise."

He left, and Ben kept glaring after him until Luna snapped her fingers. "C'mon dude, focus. You can't let him get under your skin. He's just blowing smoke to try and get back at you. He's not gonna do anything. Not with us and your brothers around."

Ben huffed, but decided to let it go. From what Bruno had texted him he wasn't going to have to deal with him much longer anyway. Kimi balled her fist up and held it up. "I say we just go after him and beat him up," she said. "He still needs to pay for what he did to Olley. An eye for an eye."

"You remind me of my aunt sometimes…" Ben said.

"Well, I gotta grab some stuff from my locker before next class. I'll catch you guys later," Luna said as she began to make her way off. "And watch Eddy. I think dude really was just blowing smoke, but better safe than sorry, yeah?"

"Got it. See you soon," Olley said waving. When she left, both he and Kimi turned towards Ben. "So, have you told her yet? I'm guessing not."

Ben flinched. "What?"

"Don't what us," Kimi said, narrowing her eyes. "You've had plenty of chances to tell Luna how you feel, so why haven't you? If you keep messing around it really is gonna be too late you know. Just tell her."

He held his hands up. "First of all, keep it down! And second, it's not that easy!" he argued. He'd had chances to be alone with her sure, and… well, he'd tried. But every time it came around to speak he just froze. The words wouldn't leave his mouth. The worst part was when they would just sit there in silence. It was like she was waiting for him to say something, anything, and he just couldn't.

"Want me to tell her?" Kimi asked.

"No!" Ben and Olley both said quickly. The girl meant well, but they both knew that there was no chance she was going to be subtle about it. "Look, I'll get around to telling her eventually. I just have to… I have to find the right time."

"No time like the present dude."

The three of them jumped as Sam walked up from behind. She smiled at the trio as she approached Ben. "You really do get a kick out of messing with Eddy, huh?" she asked.

Ben tried to hide her nervousness. Had she heard everything just now, or was she just going off that last bit he said. "Ha, yeah well… giving him a taste of his own medicine and stuff. What's going on Sam," he greeted.

"Nothing much. What's going on with you guys?"

Olley shrugged. "Just talking about the band and stuff. We're working on a new song to play next week at the bakery." Ben silently thanked his friend, who had managed to come up with the excuse without missing a beat.

"Cool, can't wait to hear what you guys come up with," Sam said looking genuinely intrigued. "But, sorry to interrupt, I was just wondering if I could below Ben for a sec. Next class is starting soon, but I won't take long. Just a couple of minutes."

Olley and Kimi both looked curious, while Ben looked surprised. While he and Sam were on good terms, he couldn't think of anything she would want to talk to him privately about. "Uh… sure I guess. I guess I'll catch up with you guys later," he said.

Olley nodded and Kimi gave a thumbs up, while Ben followed after Sam. As he followed her, he tried to figure out just what it was she'd wanted to discuss. Something was telling him that it was about Luna, but he couldn't think of anything major he'd done to tip her off about it… scratch that, he couldn't think of anything he could have done for her to confront him about it. Or if she really wanted to confront him about it at all.

He'd never really been able to peg Sam's feelings about Luna. She obviously got along and liked spending time with the girl. But did she feel anything more towards her? If she did it was hidden far more well than her own feelings. If he did tell Luna his feelings, and she returned them, would it hurt Sam? He didn't want that.

On the other hand it seemed selfish to wish she didn't have any feeling back. Because that would end up making Luna feel back, and didn't want that either.

"You okay dude?" Sam asked.

Ben snapped out of his thoughts. He'd been getting into his own head again. "Uh yeah. I'm good. Just thinking about something… it's not important," he said waving his hand.

"Huh… if you say so," she said as she made her way into the empty classroom. Ben followed in after her and closed the door behind them. So, she wanted a private conversation. Crap, what was about to go down? "Alright, so… I know this seems totally random and all, but I just got to ask... do you like Luna?"

Though she had asked it so casually, the question had hit Ben like a punch to the gut. He stood there frozen, just staring back at her for a moment, before suddenly looking up towards the ceiling. Seriously? He knew everyone told him it was obvious, but seriously?

What was he supposed to say? Was he supposed to lie to her? He doubted that would really work. She might not call him on it, but she'd probably be able to tell. Should he try and joke his way around it? He wondered why she was really asking in the first place. "I… am taking way too long to answer this, aren't I?" he asked.

Sam let out a chuckle. "Kind of… does that mean you do?"

Ben hummed. "Yeah…"

For a while, they both just stood there in silence. Then Sam spoke again. "Guess that means we both got the same taste in girls, huh?" she asked, chuckling nervously.

To his credit, Ben didn't look surprised. He actually managed a smile, albeit a nervous one. "Well... you know what they say about great minds." Sam gave a bit more of a genuine chuckle this time as she rubbed her arm. "So when did you start suspecting me. I mean, I'm told it was pretty obvious for a while now."

"I thought something was going on when I saw you two at the game. But I wasn't for sure. Then when you and Luna started ducking each other after the party, I thought it was a lover's spat sort of deal," the blonde said. "I knew for sure after that whole thing with Eddy though."

Ben hummed. "I mean to be fair, I probably would have tried to go at Eddy at some point anyway. But yeah, I guess with how that whole thing went down someone could get that idea." So, this was it. It was out in the open for the both of them now. He wondered just what the heck they were supposed to do next.

Sam clicked her tongue. "Right… so we like the same girl. That's totally not awkward or anything, huh?" she said jokingly.

"Sorry…" Ben muttered.

Sam looked at him surprised. "What? Hey, no. Don't be sorry. Never be sorry for how you feel dude," she said shaking her head. "I mean, I totally get where you're coming from. Luna is awesome."

"She is, isn't she?" Ben said amused. "But I just… you've known her for way longer, and I just come into town and start causing all this highschool TV drama crap."

"You didn't start anything," Sam assured, a worried expression on her face. "It isn't like it's first come first serve or someone can call dibs on her. We both feel how we feel, and she's gonna feel however she feels too. If I'm being honest I don't even know where I really stand with her anyway. I get vibes that Luna might be… you know, but I don't know if I really have a chance with-"

"You do."

Sam looked up at him surprised, and Ben mentally cursed himself. He technically hadn't revealed anything, but… well, he had come pretty close just now. "I mean, not that I can say for sure but… I'm getting a pretty good vibe that you do have a chance," he said trying not to fumble over himself. "In my opinion anyway."

The blonde looked at him for a moment, and he wondered if he had said something wrong. But then she stepped forward and hugged him, much to his surprise. "Thanks." The words had apparently meant quite a bit to her from what he could tell.

Ben just stood there, not really knowing how to react. He reached up and hugged her back. "Yeah, no problem," he said. "That's what friends are for, right?"

She nodded before taking a step back. "Right. And look, whatever happens, I just want us to still be cool. I know we're not as tight as you and Luna, but we're still friends. I don't want the three of us being at each other over this stuff, okay?" she asked.

"No highschool drama bullcrap. Promise."

She held her fists up, and Ben bumped it with his own. This whole situation had caught him off guard, but he was thankful it hadn't entirely blown up in his face. It made him feel more than a little relieved to know Sam didn't want any hard feelings between them.

At least one thing was going right for him.

Though he had no idea that it would turn around rather quickly...

"You guys ready?" Luna asked as she slung her backpack over her shoulder.

The rest of the day had gone by rather quietly all things considered. He and Sam exchanged a few awkward glances and smiles as they passed by one another, which didn't go unnoticed by Olly and Kimi. They had quietly asked him about it, but he told them he would explain later. If Luna noticed at all, she didn't say anything.

Now that class was over, the four were ready to head back to the cafe and go over the new song they'd been planning to perform this weekend.

"I'm always ready to leave school!" Kimi said, holding her arms up. "Let us make our way from this prison of imagination and creativity!"

"Being overdramatic Kimi…"

"I most certainly am not!"

Luna laughed at the two. "Honestly, I'm just glad we got through the week without Eddy trying to pull anything. I was sure the dude was gonna try and take a swing at you." Then again, they hadn't left each other alone to give him the chance to.

Ben smirked. "Told you he wasn't gonna do anything. Not with you guys and my brother around. He was just blowing smoke," he said confidently.

Luna flicked his forehead. "Yeah, he was. So don't be so ready to take the bait from now on, yeah?" she asked amused.

Ben was about to say he was about to say something back but suddenly they heard a loud screeching over the intercom. Everyone in the classrooms and halls winced. "What the heck is going on?" Olley asked looking up at the speaker nearby.

"Attention Royal Woods high, I got an announcement that everybody has just got to hear!"

The four teens' eyes all widened as they heard a scarily familiar voice speaking over the intercom. That was definitely Eddy. but what the heck was he doing? How did he even get into the office and intercom?

"Especially you Benny boy. Since it's got so much to do with you little girlfriends. Just take a listen."

For a moment there was silence, and then a long static sound. Ben and Luna shared a glance, wondering just what the heck Eddy was about to do. But they got their answer then another voice started speaking.

"Do you like Luna?"

Ben felt his stomach drop as he heard Sam's voice. No, he couldn't be? He wasn't? When would he even have had a chance?!

"You son of a bitch…"

A/N: Uh-oh, looks like a lot of dirty laundry is about to be put out in the open. Eddy was going to get to him one way or another. What do you guys think is gonna happen, and just how do you think everyone is gonna react?

Reviewer Responses!

jagami: Your welcome! And thank you for reading! I honestly wasn't sure anyone still would be after I was gone for so long!

guests: Yep! An old reader happened to come across me on Tumblr when I was referencing this, and after talking to them I felt like I should come back and try to finish this out. I'm glad I did. It feels good! If I get enough free time I may try to update some of my other stories on here too.