Ben had come back to the cafe and changed so he could start his shift. Since it was early there hadn't been many people there. But a few of the students from school had come by and… they hadn't said anything to him directly, but from the way they were looking and muttering, he could guess that there was a lot of talk about what had happened still going around.

He did his best to ignore it, but it was clear he was still worried. He could only imagine how awkward things would be on Monday when they went back to school. He tried not to think about it, but it kept picking at him in the back of his mind. Luckily his aunt was there to smack him in the back of the head when he started dozing off. Nothing to keep the mind busy like work…

"Alright now, here's your Pani Popo, fresh from the oven. I hope you enjoy," Ben said, smiling down at the group of young ladies as he set the plate of sweets rolls between them. They all nodded and gave him their thanks, and as he turned to leave one of them called out.

"Hey, Ben."

He stopped and then turned around to face her, a tad curious. "Yes? Did I forget something?" he asked. With how much was on his mind he was worried he'd be off his game today. He really didn't want it affecting his work. Not with his aunt breathing down his neck like she was right now.

She shook her head. "No, nothing like that. I just… I wanted to say that I think the whole thing with you and Luna was really sweet. And I'm totally rooting for you guys," she said, giving him a thumbs up.

Ben's eyes widened, and the other girls around the table all giggled as his reaction. He rubbed the back of his head and let out a nervous chuckle, heat creeping into his cheeks. "Uh… thank you. I… appreciate it." He turned and began making his way back towards the kitchen, thought he could hear the girls let out a second wave of giggles.

It wasn't as if he didn't expect anyone to say anything about it. They were in highschool. Rumors and gossip spread like the plague, and given that their business had literally been played for the entire school to hear, he knew it would be a hot topic. But… it was weird having someone address him directly about it.

And to be… supportive? He thought she was being supportive anyway. Maybe it was sarcasm, but it felt genuine to him. He expected more teasing and such for some reason. He wondered if Sam was going through the same thing right now. He hoped this didn't turn into some other problem.

When he got back to the kitchen, he moved to grab another tray, but his aunt cut in front of him. "Say Ben, why don't you take the rest of the day?"

Ben looked at her surprised. "Are you serious?"

She nodded. "I know you're still worried about Luna. I can tell your head isn't in your work. So just this one time I'm gonna let you off the hook. I'll pick up the slack, so go on. Take a walk, clear your head, then go see how Luna's doing. And tell her I said hi."

To say he was surprised would have been an understatement. It wasn't like his aunt was a slave driver or anything, but letting them off their shift early was kind of rare for her. Did he really seem that distracted? He was sort of tired from being up so late last night. Not that he wasn't used to that. But it might have been to early to go visit-

"Hey!" He snapped out of his thoughts when his aunt flicked his forehead. "Stop getting wrapped up in your own head kid. I'm giving you an out here. Don't brush off my generosity and take it."

Ben rubbed the back of his head. "Right, sorry. Thanks auntie." Even if it was a bit too early to go see Luna, it wasn't like he couldn't still enjoy the rest of the day off. He gave his aunt a hug, and then made his way out of the kitchen to go get changed out of his uniform. "I'm gonna take Brutus with me. I know he could definitely use some outside time." Plus he felt like it had been a while since he walked him.

He tried to be discreet as he left so the customers didn't notice, and once he got changed he made sure to leave out of the back. Brutus excitedly ran and jumped around him, eager to spend some one on one time with one of his people. "It's pretty nice out today…" Ben muttered, only half heartedly playing with Brutus. It seemed like more than enough attention for the dog though.

He figured he would just wander around for a bit until it was time to text the others and head to Luna's house. He could use some time to just clear his head anyway. And he had a lot of crap to clear. Aside from Luna and Eddy, there was everything that was gonna happen at school. The rumors and stuff.

At first he was worried about snickering and teasing, but then there was that girl earlier. She was rooting for him huh? He wasn't sure how he felt about that. He knew she was trying to be nice, and it was a nice sentiment. But… well, he guessed he just still wasn't sure how he felt about all of this being out in the open.

Scratch that, he knew how he felt about it. It sucked. Nobody wanted their personality business out for everyone to see. What he wasn't sure about was people throwing their two scents in on the matter. Olly, Kimi, and Mr. Gill was one thing. They were close enough to him that he didn't mind. But everyone else?

He still hadn't checked anything online with his phone. He'd never been big with social media anyway, and he just knew he wasn't gonna like what he read.

He wondered how Sam was dealing with it? He couldn't forget that she was dealing with this right along with him and Luna. Maybe she was holed up at home somewhere to avoid it. He doubted that. That didn't seem like her style. Not judging by the way she went after Eddy was any clue anyway.

"Man, you're Lucky Brutus. You don't have to deal with any of… Brutus?"

He looked down and realized the dog was no longer at his side. He quickly looked around to find him, and then saw him jumping around another person. He cursed under his breath and quickly made his way over to stop him. Brutus usually didn't just jump on people like that. Not unless he knew them.

Which, he did.

As Ben got closer he recognized the person he was nuzzling was Sam. He slowed down when he noticed, feeling a bit relieved Brutus hadn't just jumped on some random person. Sam laughed as she patted Brutus on his side, then looked up towards Ben. "You know, I'm pretty sure this guy wouldn't hurt a fly, but you might want to think about at least carrying a leash with you. The cops might get on you about it."

Ben sighed. "Yeah, guess I should. Keep forgetting this isn't the island anymore." Back home he lived in a small town, and everyone knew his family and Brutus. So nobody ever bugged him about it. But things were different here. "Sorry by the way."

"Ah, it's fine," Sam said, waving him off. Like she had said, she knew Brutus wasn't going to hurt her. "Kind of surprised to see you out walking him though. Thought you were working at the cafe today."

"My aunt gave me the rest of the day off. So I decided to take him for a walk and try to forget about… you know, all of this crap."

Sam clicked his tongue. "Yeah same here. Just needed some fresh air. It feels weird it just happened yesterday. With how everybody is talking about it online you'd think it's been a week," she said rolling her eyes. With it being broadcast to the whole school they both knew it was gonna be the hot topic for everyone, but still.

"You're braver than I am. I haven't even looked online," Ben said scowling. The two began walking alongside one another, and Brutus jumped around them both. "I'm gonna hate going back to school. I'm not sure how I'm gonna deal with everyone bugging me about what happened."

Sam hummed. "I do. Just gonna deck anyone who says the wrong thing," she said, smirking as she winked and held her fist up. "Let me know if anyone is bugging you or Luna about it either. I'm fine with decking them too."

Ben let out a chuckle. "Yeah, I guess that works. For you anyway. After what you did to Eddy I don't think anybody is gonna wanna risk ticking you off. Totally jealous of that by the way. I still haven't gotten to take my shot at him," he said.

Sam raised her eyebrow. "Didn't you beat him up once already though?"

"Not for this…"

Same hummed, and the two kept on walking. Ben was honestly a little surprised he didn't feel as awkward around Sam. He thought he might freeze or try to avoid her. They were friends, but also kind of rivals in a way. But that might have been why he wasn't so nervous. She was in the exact same position as he was.

If there was anybody that got how he was feeling right now, it was her.

"Sorry about all of this by the way. You're sort of in an awkward situation cause of me."

Sam looked at him confused. "What? It's not your fault. It's Eddy's. He's the one who put all our business out to the rest of the school, not you," she said.

"Yeah, but he only did it because he was trying to get at me. If he hadn't then-" Sam suddenly flicked the side of his head, and then winced. He looked back at her confused. What was with everyone and flicking him in the head?

Sam rolled her eyes. "C'mon man, you can't think like that. Everyone knows you didn't do anything wrong. Eddy was the one who started this whole thing, and he's the one who's been making it worse. Literally none of this is your fault. Not a single part of it," she said bluntly.

"Yea but-"

"No buts. Not your fault. End of discussion," she said pointing at him. "Instead of beating yourself up over it, let's think about beating Eddy up instead."

Ben stared at her for a moment, and then let out a chuckle. "That sounds like something Luna might say," he said amused. "You two are kind of similar."

Sam smirked at him deviously. "Huh? You're not starting to fall for me too, are you Brittle?" she asked jokingly.

Ben's face turned beet red, and he held his hands up. "N-no way! I mean I'm not the type of guy to go after a bunch of girls! I'm not even the type of guy to go after one usually!" he said, clearly flustered. "Not that you're not cool or anything, but-"

Sam laughed. "Calm down. I'm only joking with you Ben. You really are a lot more innocent minded than you look."

"Do… do I look dirty minded or something…?"

"No, it's not that. It's just… you look laid back a lot of the time. Like suave and smooth. I guess it's just a little surprising that you're all innocent and stuff. It's kind of adorable really," she joked, smirking at him again.

Ben scowled. "Glad you find it so funny…"

They walked in silence for a bit, and then Ben's phone suddenly started to vibrate. He dug it out of his pocket and saw Luna had texted him. Sam looked curious, but didn't ask or try to pry. "It's Luna," Ben said casually. He knew she wanted to know, and he didn't see any reason to hide it from her.

"We were planning on meeting up later with Olley and Kimi, but we're gonna have to do it at her house. Her parents are still a little worried about her leaving home I guess." He could understand that. Even if it was just for a night, she'd ran away. They probably were just sort of worried. "Did you want to come?" he asked.

Sam seemed more than a little surprised she was being invited. "You sure you want me along? It could be sort of weird with all three of us there."

"It might be. But you're Luna's friend too. And mine." He wasn't gonna try to hide things from her or ditch her just because they both liked her.

Sam looked down in thought, and then shook her head. "Nah. I think I'll pass for now. I got a few errands to run today anyway. But tell her I said hi, yeah?" Ben nodded, and then began texting Kimi and Olley. "By the way Ben, I just wanted to say… I'm giving Luna some space after everything that happened. But, that doesn't mean I'm gonna give up on her. I still like her a lot."

Ben looked back up at her, and saw she had a serious expression on her face. "I said I wanted us to still be friends no matter who she picked, and I meant it. But I'm still gonna do my best to win her over, ya know?" she said.

He was quiet for a few seconds, and then scratched his head. Was this like a challenge or something? "Hmm… that's fair I guess. I'm gonna do the same thing after all." He knew at the end of the day it was Luna's choice. She was gonna pick whoever she wanted to be with. Whether it was him, Sam, or somebody else entirely.

But that didn't mean he wasn't gonna try his best to win her over.

"Luna!"

Kimi beamed as she wrapped her arms around her friend, nearly knocking her off her feet. Luna stumbled back a bit, but then smiled and hugged her back. "Kimi, calm down. It isn't like I was gone for a week or something. I saw you yesterday," she said.

The other girl pouted. "I know, but it felt longer than that. Do you know how worried I was about you? Don't go running off like that again. Or if you do, at least take me with you. Who knows could have happened without me there watching your back."

"I'd honestly prefer if you just didn't do it at all…" Olley said walking up to her. "But I'm pretty sure you don't want us guilt tripping you. We're here to hang out after all."

Luna felt appreciative of that. While her family had been happy to have her back, it hadn't saved her from getting a lecture about her running off. They hadn't been too hard on her. They didn't even ground her. But she wasn't surprised that they'd asked her to stay home for the day.

"Thanks guys. I know you probably don't want to spend the weekend cramped at my-"

"Your house is fun!" Kimi said, cutting her off. It was busy and lively, which honestly was right up her alley. Olley felt a bit opposite, but he'd wanted to check on Luna so had some anyway. And Ben was sort of used to the Loud House. A lot of people in a cramped space wasn't exactly new to him, so it didn't take long to adjust.

Olley held up his backpack. "I don't know if you guys want to play, but I brought a few games. I even brought the old version of Guitar Gladiators. I think it should work with the new controller, right?"

Ben held up a bag of his own. "I brought some snacks. Enough for your family too." He knew to bring enough for the whole class. "I also brought some stuff to make here. I was pretty surprised. Your dad won't mind if I use the kitchen, will he?"

"Sweet. You guys don't mind if my sibs hang around too, do you?" Usually whoever had friends over had free reign of the place, but her sisters and Lincoln had been watching and hanging with her today too. She felt like they were trying to prove after what happened with her coming out, they still cared.

It was unnecessary, but honestly… really appreciated.

"Of course not! The more the merrier!"

Ben looked and saw half of her sisters already in the living room, watching the TV. "I might need to make a store run and get some more ingredients. Or we're gonna have to just split the difference a lot more," he said.

Luna let everyone inside, and they all and the rest of the Loud siblings all started greeting one another. As they did, Ben looked over towards Luna, who was laughing at something Lynn had said. He smiled to himself. Luna smiling made him feel like everything was right with the world.

"You know, you're gonna get caught if you zone out staring like that…"

Ben jumped and then looked over to see Lori smirking down at him. He blushed and quickly shook his head. "I-I wasn't-!"

"Relax, it's not like it's a secret anymore," Lori said casually. Ben's blush deepened, and he looked down at his feet nervously. Lori looked amused, but didn't call him on it. "I just wanted to say thanks for everything. You know, looking after Luna and bringing her home. You had my little sister's back, and I owe you one."

He hummed. "Don't worry about it. She's my friend. I was just trying to help."

"Well you literally did," she said, giving him a quick hug. She then leaned in and muttered something in his ear. "And… I know I'm not supposed to be picking sides or anything, but I'm totally pulling for you two. One hundred percent team Len."

Ben's eyes went wide. "Team what?"

"It's what they're calling you guys online. The other one was team Buna, but it didn't really catch on."

Ben groaned. "Right. I'm just gonna go into the kitchen, start working on that dish, and maybe drown myself in your sink. Don't bother saving me," he said walking off.

Eddy scowled as he made his way towards his car. To say he was in a foul mood would have been a huge understatement. Not only was he getting crap from all directions about the stunt he'd pulled on Brittle, but everyone was clowning him after he'd gotten blind sided from that crazy chick Sam Sharp.

The school had suspended him for two weeks, and even worse he was benched for the next few games. That was really gonna make his reputation take a hit. And Bruno was gonna be gunning for his spot as the top dog on the team. "Damn it…" he muttered. If he had known he was gonna take this much heat, he would have leaked it online instead of playing it at school.

Well, at least he had some time off from school for now. And as long as he made sure to perform when he got back into the game, he didn't think it would affect his college chances too badly. He hadn't heard anything about any scouts coming yet, so he still had time to win them over and get that scholarship.

As he reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys, he looked up and then gasped.

His car was… ransacked!

The wheel was missing, and it was sitting on cinder blocks. The windows had been smashed out, and so had the headlights and taillights. He got closer and… was the steering wheel missing?! "What the hell?!" he growled angrily. He had barely been gone for an hour. How the hell had this happened?

"Man, that looks rough."

He looked up and saw a pick up truck strolling by on the street. When he saw the driver, he glared. Bruno whistled as he looked over Eddy's car. "Someone really did a number on this thing. Right Bruce?" he asked, looking to the second oldest of the Brittle brothers. Bruce just stared towards Eddy with a blank expression.

Eddy looked like a vein was going to pop. "Brittle, you son of a bitch..."

Bruno grew a look of mock shock. "Me? You think I had something to do with this? No way man. I'd never mess with a man's car. That's like messing with his family," he said, before suddenly frowning. "And I think one of the worst things anybody can ever do, is mess with a man's family. That's a line that should never be crossed."

Eddy grit his teeth. He knew that they had to have something to do with this. And everything else that had been happening to them. But he hadn't been able to catch them on anything, and he was sure this would be the same. "If you think this is over, then you go another thing-"

"Oh, I know it's not over. Not by a long shot." Bruno said with a dangerous edge to his voice. "When it was just you being a dick on the football field, that was fine. It was competition. I got it. But you messed with my brother. You messed with my tribe. You made it personal. And now you're gonna learn just how big a mistake that was."

Eddy scoffed. "Who do you think you are? The damn mafia?"

Bruno shook his head. "Oh no, I'm not that bad. The mafia would kill you for doing what you did. I'm just gonna hurt. Really, really badly," he said. He nodded towards his car. "You should be careful now. Looks like you're gonna be walking for a while. Royal Woods is a nice neighborhood, but… anything can happen."

He drove off, leaving a fuming Eddy behind. As they did, Bruce suddenly reached down and pulled something up. Bruce looked at him confused. "You… you kept the steering wheel?" he asked.

"Souvenir…"

A/N: Are you team Samuna or team Len? Lol. Sorry about the long update. I had some stuff with my other stories going on. Anyway, I'm not sure why, I just thought another talk with Ben and Sam would be a nice way to kind of kick off this chapter. I didn't want to jump directly back into school yet, so this and the next chapter will be a bit of set up for some other plot lines that are going to come along in the story.

Ben and Sam still wanna be friends no matter what, but that doesn't mean either of them is gonna roll over for the other. They're gonna be respectful and give Luna some time to sort things out, but they're still gonna be vying for her affection! And Eddy really doesn't know who's he's messing with. But he's gonna find out. The Brittle brothers don't play when it comes to family.

Reviewer Responses!

Skater1ooo: Yep, I'm gonna try to back off the direct cliffhangers for a bit lol. (Emphasis on try). There's definitely going to be some more Luna focused chapters coming up. Both of her feeling relief from her family, and dealing with her feeling with both Ben and Sam. And of course Eddy is gonna get his soon...

lttlgreg: Thank you! I wanted to try and make it sound real I guess. In so many teen drama shows and stuff moments like these tend to come off as so cheesy and over dramatic. I think writers don't give teens and kids enough credits. Also wanted to make Luna be scared without being completely irrational. That's how fear is a lot of times. We might know something isn't real or isn't likely, but we still have that little voice that makes us second guess.

Guest: Thanks for keeping up with the story for all this time! I really appreciate it! I'll keep doing my best to making it interesting!

UltraUniverse: Top three!? That's high praise! Thank you so much! Don't worry, I'm not planing on leaving this story again! I got plenty of ideas on where to go with it! Even more than when I'd initially started it!