For a moment, Ben just stood there and stared towards Luna. He… really didn't know what to say. He wanted to ask if she was okay, but after everything that happened he knew that she wasn't. How could she be? He slowly stepped towards her. "I… I'm glad you're safe," he muttered. "Everyone was worried about you."

Luna just hummed as she kept rubbing Brutus' head. "I'm sorry…"

He shook his head. "You don't have to be sorry," he assured. After what happened, how else was she supposed to react? He certainly didn't know what he would have done if he'd been outed in front of the whole school. He couldn't even begin to imagine it. "How long have you been here?" he asked.

"A couple hours," she answered. "I took the fire escape up. You left your windows unlocked." Ben mentally cursed. He must have forgotten when he'd been working on his lyrics last night.

He sighed. "Well… don't tell my auntie that. Otherwise I might be the one who goes missing next," he joked. He almost instantly regretted it. He wasn't sure if that was something he should be joking about right now.

Luna actually cracked a small smile. "Pft, funny. Don't worry, secrets safe with me."

He felt both relief, followed by a bit of worry at the mention of the word secret. He stepped closer towards her "Luna… you know I didn't mean to… what happened-"

"It's not your fault dude," Luna said, cutting him off. "I know it wasn't. I was just… I was super panicked, and I still am. That wasn't how everyone was supposed to know. It was supposed to be when and how I wanted to. And now it's just… out there. And I'm scared," she said nervously. "I don't know what to do."

Brutus whined again as he noticed her start to shiver. The dog nuzzled his head against her chin, trying to calm and cheer her up. She really did look terrified. She had been keeping this huge thing to herself the whole time. This huge, terrifying thing for her. A thing only he had known about.

That was probably why she'd come here now that he thought about it. He was the only person that had already known, so maybe she'd felt like there was nothing to lose by coming to him. He made his way next to her and bent down before reaching out, touching her shoulder.

Before he could say anything, Luna suddenly turned around and sprung up, wrapping her arms around him. He looked flinched, looking surprised as she buried her face in his chest. "What am I supposed to do?" she asked, squeezing him tightly. "I'm scared. I'm scared of what everybody is gonna think. What's my family gonna say?"

Ben frowned and then reached up, hugging her back. "Hey, listen. You don't have to worry about what anybody thinks. Who cares what the hell everyone at schools thinks anyway. It doesn't really matter," he said sternly. "And your family, it's not like anything has changed with them. I spent all day with them looking for you, and they're just worried about you."

"But what if they-"

"Your family loves you," Ben said, cutting her off. "That's not gonna change just because they know you like girls too now. You hear me?"

Luna looked up at him, sniffling as she blinked away a few tears. "I know. I really do know. It's like so obvious in my head, but I'm just… I'm still scared. I keep thinking the worst. I keep thinking they'll look at me different and I'm not sure I can handle that dude. I just want everything to be the same as it was before."

Ben understood. It didn't matter how unlikely or even impossible something was, if there was even a small chance of it, then it could worry the heck out of someone. And this was one of those things for her. "I'll be there," Ben said. "I'll be right beside you the whole time. I promise… you know, for what my promises are worth anything."

Luna teared up again, and then hugged him again. "It's worth everything dude. Thank you." Ben rested his chin on top of her head, and patted her on the back. They just stood there for a while as she let out a few more tears and sniffled. He was definitely going to have to wash this shirt later, but that was fine.

After a bit, they broke apart, and Ben let out a sigh. "It's super late… take you home."

She quickly shook her head. "No, I can't go home yet," she said nervously. He was about to say something, but she cut him off. "I'm not ready yet. I'll… I'll go in the morning, but I can't right now. Please?"

Ben really knew he should have tried to talk her into going home, but the way she was looking at him… he couldn't bring himself to do it. "Uh, okay, you can stay for tonight. But at least call your family and let them know you're okay. Or let me do it. They're super worried. They deserve to know you'll be alright," he said.

Luna looked down nervously. "They'll come over here. I can't-"

"I'll talk to them," Ben said, trying to sound as reassuring as possible. "I'll tell them you're chilling here for tonight and will bring you home first thing in the morning. But I can't just not tell them. If it was the other way around my family would want you to do the same thing."

Luna still looked nervous, but nodded. "Yeah… yeah, you're right…"

It had taken a little convincing for the Loud family not to come rushing over. But once Ben told them just how scared and nervous Luna was about seeing them, they'd reluctantly agreed to wait until morning. Although Mr. and Mrs. Loud insisted on talking to their daughter. Ben didn't know what they said, since he'd stepped out to give them privacy, but Luna seemed just a tad bit more collected when they were done.

And they'd also wanted to speak to his aunt because… well, they weren't about to have their daughter stay over a boy's house without making sure there was adult supervision there. And honestly that was fine by him. He wasn't about to try and hide it from her. She'd find out sooner than later, and then he and his brothers would be in for another lecture about girls and babies and just… no…

His aunt made Luna something to eat since the girl's stomach ended up growling, and then set up the couch, which Ben insisted he would sleep on for the night. Luna however told him she'd rather take the couch, and he eventually relented.

"Alright… guess Brutus is staying with you tonight," Ben said as he looked down at the great dane. While Luna had perked up a bit, it was clear she was still feeling nervous, and the dog seemed to pick up on it. He laid his head gently on her lap, and to his credit, Luna seemed to find the whole thing cute. "Think I'll call it for tonight. You uh… you need anything else?" he asked.

Luna looked down towards the floor, and then let out a nervous hum. "Actually… I was hoping maybe you could chill with me down here for a little bit longer? I know it's late but I just… you know what, never mind," she said shaking her head.

"What? No, that's cool. I mean it's not like I'm not used to staying up late. I can stay down here for a little bit…" He then looked over towards his aunt, who was looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "Uh… you know, if that's cool with you auntie…"

Berta looked at him for a moment, and then sighed. Normally she never would have let these two be alone together so late at night, but given everything that happened she had a feeling they needed to get some important stuff off their chest. She pointed towards him. "Don't do anything stupid. Bruce has cameras set up in here," she warned.

"Really…?" Ben asked, a blush spreading across his cheeks. Even now she couldn't help but be so… momish. "We're not gonna do anything," he muttered. She nodded, and then turned to hear upstairs. Ben turned back to Luna, who was also blushing. The implication of what his aunt said hadn't been lost on her either, so this was already going to be pretty awkward. "Sorry about her."

"It's cool. Parents and stuff," she said as she fiddled with her fingers. For a moment, they both were just silent. Luna sitting on the couch, and Ben standing in front of it. She cleared her throat. "You… you can sit down if you want."

He flinched. "Oh, yeah. I'll just…" He took a seat on the other side of the couch. After what happened and what his aunt had just said, he felt like getting too close to her would be invasive or something. She hadn't brought it up yet, but… well, his feelings were known. They were out there. And he didn't know how she would react.

"So… you like me."

But he was going to find out now apparently.

He could feel his heartbeat start to pick up as he gripped the side of the couch. "I… yeah, I do. I like you." he said, looking down. He was sure his face was crimson right now. Dang it, if he'd only had the guts to say this days ago, none of this would have happened. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry dude. It's… you know, flattering and stuff. I just…" She wrapped her arms around her knees again, trying and failing to hide her own blushing face. "It's just a lot to take in with everything else, you know…"

"Yeah, I know."

"How long?" she asked. "Have you like… liked me."

Ben thought for a moment. He honestly wasn't quite sure. He knew it wasn't when they first met. He didn't have that love at first sight syndrome or anything. And despite his brothers teasing early on, he didn't think he had fallen for her that soon after. "A little before the party maybe?" he said. "It's hard to say. It just seemed to happen."

Luna was silent again, and he started to grow worried. Then she let out a giggle. "We killed it at that DDR game," she said.

Ben let out a chuckle. "Yeah, we totally did." What he would just to rewind everything back to that night. Maybe he wouldn't have botched things up so badly.

Another moment of silence, and then Luna looked up towards him. "You still helped me out with Sam though. Even after you knew… why?" she asked.

Ben rubbed his arm. "Because I knew how much you liked her. And you're my friend, and… I just got into town and everything. I didn't want to start making everything all complicated and dramatic and stuff." Not that he hadn't totally botched that up. "I freaked out because I thought if you found out then our whole thing would change, you know? And I liked our thing. I didn't want to risk losing it over some stupid crush."

Maybe it had been cowardly, but if he'd had to choose between shutting up, staying friends, and still hanging out or telling her and losing her, he'd go with the first option every time. "I… I like you too."

Ben's eyes widened and he turned towards her. Luna was looking at him nervously, her face red as a tomato. "What?" Ben asked, confused. He had heard her right?

"I mean… I still like Sam too. It's totally complicated and junk, and at first I thought it was just nothing. But when I'm hanging out with you…" She looked down and started tugging at her shirt sleeve. "I don't know. It's just like we click. We're on a whole different wavelength from everyone else. And I just wanna… I wanna stay that way. Like all the time."

Ben stared at her, still not believing what he had heard. Luna sighed and hung her head. "Oh my god, that probably sounded so lame," she muttered. "How can you like two people at the same time? That's just nuts right? I'm such a spaz."

He shook his head. "Hey, no you're not. You're just… feeling what you're feeling. And there isn't anything wrong with that," he said. "If you want to blame anyone, blame being a teenager. Being a teenager sucks. We deserve an instruction manual for this crap."

"Totally. So unfair," she agreed. She looked up towards him. "I don't wanna choose between you guys though. I don't wanna lose you or Sam."

"You won't," Ben said simply. "I like you Luna. A lot. And… I'm not gonna lie and say I hope you don't give me a shot. But you're my friend. My best friend. And I'm not gonna be all petty and stop hanging with you just because you date someone else. You're stuck with me Loud."

He didn't see any reason not to just be honest with her at this point. She already knew how he felt, he knew how she felt. It was all out on the table. All he could do now was hope for the best.

Luna stared at him, a surprised expression on her face, and then clicked her tongue and looked down again. "Uh… you weren't finished for a sure answer right now, were you dude?" she asked curiously.

Ben went wide eyed, and then held his hands up. "Oh, no! No way! I know you got way too much on your mind to think about something like that right now! I-I just wanted to let you know I got your back and stuff, no matter what. That's all," he said. He really didn't want to seem like he was trying to push her into an answer.

Luna bit back a laugh. Seeing him go from cool to flustered was pretty amusing. "Thanks dude," she said. She still had a whole lot of stuff to deal with and sort out, and she couldn't pretend like she wasn't still feeling a ton of weight on her shoulders. But she could tell Ben was going his best to try and lighten it for her, and she appreciated it.

"Out of curiosity, when did you start liking me?" Ben asked.

Luna hummed. "Oh… uh, I'm not sure. Maybe when we played at the cafe for the first time. When I was tying your tie I thought… I thought you were sort of cute…"

"Really? It was the uniform wasn't it?" he asked, smirking.

She scoffed and punched his arm. "Shut up dude," she said, rolling her eyes.

The two kept talking, and for that moment things seemed… normal. They knew they would have to deal with a bunch of stuff later. Luna's family, Eddy, their feelings towards one another. All of it would have to be addressed. But for right now they were fine just pretending that everything was alright.

Ben and Luna ended up drifting off on the couch. Thankfully they'd still been on opposite sides since Ben was pretty sure his aunt would have lectured the hell out of him if they'd end up nodding off on one another or something. He didn't imagine Mr. and Mrs. Loud would be to happy with it either.

After they had washed up and grabbed a quick bite to eat, they headed to the Loud house. Though it was pretty clear that Luna was biding her time doing so. Not that Ben blamed her. She had to have been dreading this from the moment she woke up. "You ready?" Ben asked as he stood beside her.

Luna stood in front of the door to her house, hiding her shaking hands in her pockets. "I… I'm totally not. I can't do this," she said turning around. "I'll come back later."

Ben reached out and grabbed her arm. "Luna, c'mon. I know you're nervous, but you have to do this. You can't just avoid going home," he said. "And you have nothing to worry about. Your family loves you, you said so yourself. You just have to knock on that door and see. Soon as it opens, everything you're scared of is gonna vanish."

Luna bit her lip, looking between him and the door nervously. "Can you knock for me…?" she asked timidly.

Ben nodded. "Sure." He stepped in front of her, and she grabbed her arm tightly. She had an amazingly impressive grip, but he didn't think complaining about the loss of blood to his arm would be very manly. He reached up and knocked on the door, and a few moments later, it opened to Mr. and Mrs. Loud.

Ben could see the rest of her siblings all gather in the living room. He had texted them that they were on the way, so it wasn't surprising that they were already waiting. "Hey Mr. And Mrs. Loud. I uh… I'll just..." He stepped aside so they could see Luna, though she kept her grip on his arm.

She trembled as she looked up at them. "Mom, dad… I…I'm sorry, I was just-" Before she could get another word out, the two of them pulled her into a hug.

"Oh thank god you're okay!"

"We're so glad you're home!"

"Luna!"

"Sis!"

"Poo-poo!"

Ben stepped back as Luna was swarmed by her entire family. They all grouped around her, forming into one huge group hug. It didn't even take half a second for tears to start flowing, including Luna's. She let out a sob as she clung to her mother and father. "I'm sorry guys! I'm so sorry!" she said. "I was scared! I didn't know if you guys-!"

"Don't be sorry, about anything. That doesn't matter right now," Mr. Loud said kissing the top of his daughter's head. "The only thing that matters is that you're safe and home, and we love you. So much. No matter what. Don't you ever forget that."

"Yeah! We're always gonna love you sis!"

"Always, no matter what happens! You hear?!"

"We're Louds! We're always there for each other!"

The rest of the family chimed in, and Ben watched as they showered Luna with as much love as they possibly could. He stepped back, ready to leave and let the family have their moment. He was sure they had a lot to talk about, and he didn't need to be there for it. Just as he was about to leave, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

He looked up and saw Mr. Loud staring down at him. The family huddle had mostly broken up, though her mother and a few of her sisters were still hugging her. "Ben, I can't thank you and your family enough for looking after my daughter. And for helping her when… just thank you," he said. "I owe you one."

Ben shook his head. "No, you don't owe me anything. She's my friend, and you guys were probably doing the same thing for me or my bros." Their families hadn't known each other that long, but he just got the feeling they were the very helpful type. They were a really nice family.

He looked towards Luna, who wiped a few tears from her eyes before smiling at him. "I got to get to my shift. I'll probably see you tomorrow? Or maybe today if it's cool if me Olley and Kimi pop by," he said. He was pretty sure after what happened she was gonna be homebound today.

"Yeah dude… I'll text you later, okay?" she asked.

He nodded before offering one final wave, which she returned. Then he turned and headed towards his bike. Well, Luna was gonna have a talk with her family, which meant that was pretty much one less thing for them to worry about.

Now he had to use the time he had to sort of some of his other problems… like how they were going to deal with their whole stupid love triangle thing…

Or Eddy.

Yeah, that was probably easier.

He'd think about how he was going to get back at Eddy...

A/N: Ben and Luna hash some things out, and decide to sort their feelings out a bit later. But you better believe it's gonna get addressed, and now that the cats out of the bag for the both of them, there's gonna be some awkward situations ahead. Including dealing with the aftermath of everything at school, dealing with Eddy, and of course how Sam is gonna be involved too now that everything is out in the open.

Wonder how thins will play out!

Reviewer Responses!

green rose: Thank you! Glad your enjoying it!

Skater1oooo: Oh yeah, Eddy is in for it! And you've got a pretty interesting and accurate take on his tactics too! Between Ben already beating him once, and his brothers always on the lookout, there was no way he was gonna try and get physical again. But him going the 'clever' route is gonna backfire hard. The Brittle Brothers aren't to be taken lightly!

Lttlgreg: Glad you're invested! I hope this chapter was worth the wait!