"So… how was the date?"

Luna blushed and rolled her eyes as she sat back against the tree they were eating lunch at. With all the unwanted attention they had been getting, they had decided that maybe it'd be better to eat lunch outside where there were less prying eyes around. "It wasn't a date," she said, shoving Ben.

Kimi smirked towards her. "Really? Because it totally sounds like a date. I mean you two were by yourselves, nobody else around to bother you. Having a good time. That sounds like the textbook definition of a date," she said.

"Well, it wasn't," Luna said simply. "We were just hanging out, that's it… but it was pretty nice. I got a new high score on guitar gladiator."

Ben looked at her in disbelief. "Again?! How?!"

Luna grew a smug look. "I told you dude, I am the rock queen of royal woods. If you're gonna take a swing at the crown, you better come to play," she taunted. "But enough about you never being able to beat my score. What'd you bring for lunch today?"

Ben had seemed to be taking more of an interest in messing around in the kitchen since her father had talked to him about it, and every day he got up a bit earlier to make lunch for himself. Sometimes he brought enough for the rest of them too. He pulled out a container and then set it between them. "Nothing fancy. Chicken salad," he said. "I also made some cookies, so dig in."

The rest of the teens did just that, scooping some onto their plates or bowls and quickly digging in. "Man, this is good," Olley said before reaching down to grab a cookie. "These are a little big for cookies, aren't they?"

"Try one," Ben said.

Both Olley and Luna bit into one of them, and then smiled. "Wow, this is good… and is there an oreo in here?" Luna asked, looking at the inside of the half-bitten cookie.

"A cookie inside a cookie. The internet is a treasure trove of deliciously fattening and unhealthy ideas," Ben said amused. Kimi reached down and grabbed three more of them, seemingly trying to hoard them for herself. "Hey!"

"Kimi!" Olley said sternly.

"Mine!"

Ben sighed, but then smiled. Seeing someone be so enthusiastic about his food made him feel a sense of pride. When he baked at the cafe people would say it too, but this was different. He hadn't thought much of it before now, maybe because he was usually on to the next table before customers ate, but seeing his food make people happy felt really good.

It had only been one day since he and his brothers had resolved things with Eddy, but things were looking up. He and Luna were in a good place. Well, good enough anyway. Olley was going to be out of his cast soon, and they'd be able to get back to practicing and performing at the cafe.

Sure, they still had to deal with some of the stares at school, but that was better than having to look over their shoulders for Eddy. The jock had done a complete 180 when he had seen them in the halls, leaving everyone but Ben looking confused. When they wondered what his change and attitude was about, Ben feigned ignorance.

He was sure they would catch on when they saw his broken hand, which he was hiding in his jacket pocket, but he'd deal with that if or when they directly called him out on it.

For now, he was just going to enjoy things being calm and normal. Well, normal for them anyway. He wasn't sure how long before something else crazy happened, so he might as well enjoy it.

"By the way, Ben, my dad was wondering if you thought more about working at his place. He seems really interested in seeing what you got in the kitchen," Luna said.

Ben's eyes went wide, and then he hummed. "Yeah… I'm still not sure about that. I mean it would be awesome but I'm still not sure. I don't want to leave my fam short handed around the place." Him and his brothers always worked in shifts, and even if he only worked part time it meant more work for them.

"Have you asked your aunt about it?" Olley asked.

He shook his head. "She'll just tell me to go for it. And then try to pick up the slack on her own." She'd always wanted them to have time to pursue their own interests and hobbies, even if it meant she had to cut back on her own. But even if she said it was fine, he and his brothers always tried not to miss work too much. She had already given up enough for them. They didn't want her putting aside one more second of their time for their sake.

Luna hummed. "Yeah, guess with how crowded the place can get and just you and your bros working there it can get pretty tricky. Has she ever thought about hiring other employees?" she asked.

"Don't know. I mean, she used to when we were way too young to work, but after we got up some size it just seemed easier for us to do it. Save some money and keep it in the family, you know? Then again we're getting a lot more business these days so…"

Maybe he would bring it up to her later. Maybe. He wasn't sure how she'd react to it. They had been running it as a family for so long she might not have wanted to bring in anybody else. And honestly he would have understood that. There was a certain type of pride that they all felt from it.

Luna sat back in her chair. "Well, if you want I'll ask the sibs if any of them can help out. I mean I'm sure at least some of them could use the extra scratch."

Ben smiled. He was pretty sure his auntie wouldn't mind any of them working there. "I appreciate that."

"No problem at all my man. I honestly kinda wanna see what you and my dad come up with. I mean you two working in the kitchen together? What kind of crazy delicious grub would you even come up with?"

Benjamin hummed. He honestly wondered that himself.

"I heard you were thinking about working at Mr. Loud's restaurant."

Ben looked up from the sink and towards his aunt, who was putting the dishes away. "I mean… not really. He offered and I haven't answered yet, but I already get to cook around here, you know," he said, trying to downplay it.

She hummed. "That right?"

"Yeah. I spend enough time in the kitchen as it is. And we've been getting a lot of business around here so I don't want to leave you shorthanded."

She smiled down at him. "Ben, it's sweet that you don't want to leave us hanging, but I don't want you missing out to get some other work experience just for me. From the way Luna and her friends were talking about it it sounded like you're really interested. If you want to do it, then do it. We'll manage."

That was his aunt. Selfless as always. If there was something her nephew really wanted to do, she'd bend over backwards to make it happen. She'd always moved things around to make their games, or music lessons, or magic camp, or any other type of extra curriculars.

When he was younger he'd never noticed how much effort she'd put into making sure they'd all had time to follow their own interests. But now that he was a little older and wiser, it was hard to miss.

The thing was that she always said that 'they'll manage'. And… well, it wasn't a lie, but her way of managing was always putting more of the work on herself. Working even more shifts or covering their workload. And he didn't want to do that to her. Especially not with how much business they were getting lately.

"It's fine auntie, really. Like I said, I get to work in the kitchen around here, so it's not like it's a big deal or anything."

"But you wouldn't just be baking. You'd be making real food. And I know you're interested in that," she said. She had noticed how eager he'd been to cook and help with dinner the last few nights. "If I have to hire someone else, I will. But I don't want you missing out on something you're really excited about just for this."

"Aw c'mon auntie, you don't have to do that…"

"Bruno is going off to college next year. Heck, with Bruce's grades he might graduate early and go right along with him. You and Beck won't be far behind, and then the twins. The fact is I'm not going to have you all around to work here forever," Berta said. "And I've never expected to. Eventually I'm gonna start having to hire some other people. I might as well start getting used to it now."

Benjamin was silent for a moment. "I like working here, you know…" he muttered. "It's not like I want to work with Mr. Loud because… I just-"

"I know," she said, cutting him off. "You're just curious. And there's nothing wrong with that. I love you working here too, and you still can. Just not quite as much."

He sighed. He really should have known there was no getting around this with his aunt. She knew how to read him like a book, and she rarely took no for an answer. "Well… let me still think about it anyway. Just to be sure."

Berta rolled her eyes. "Ben…"

"Luna said she had an idea to help out around here. Just let me hear what she comes up with first, then I'll decide something. That's fair, yeah?"

Berta thought for a moment, and then nodded. "Sure that's fair," she said before reaching up and patting him on the head. "I really do want you to consider it though. I know you think I'm short handed around here, but I ran this place while looking after all of you when you were little. I can do it with you around a little less."

"I'll really think about it. I promise," Ben assured.

Berta nodded, and opened one of the top cabinets to put some more of the dishes away. Ben was about to help her, when suddenly the phone began to ring. Him and his aunt shared a look. The place had been closed for a while now, and everyone was home. Who'd be calling at this hour?

He walked over and picked it up, but then spotted Bruce. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw his big brother. How could someone so big move so quietly? "Evening, this is Fiafia. How can I help you?" Bruce asked.

Bruce stood there, and they waited for him to say something so they could have some clue of who was calling. But he simply stood there in silence for a moment before hanging the phone up. "Nobody was on the other line," Bruce said.

He turned and walked off, and both Ben and Berta looked rather confused. "Well, that was weird…" Ben said before getting back to the dishes.

Berta shrugged. "Eh, probably nothing."

Before either of them could even bother mulling over it any longer, Benjamin's cell phone began ringing. "Okay, getting a lot of calls tonight apparently… oh, it's Luna," he quickly answered it, much to his aunt's amusement. He usually wasn't too eager to pick up or even talk on the phone, but when it was Luna he answered immediately. "Hey."

"What's up dude. Hope you weren't sleeping or anything."

He shook his head, not that she could see it. "No, it's all good. I was just helping my aunt close up shop. And watching Bruce try to work a phone… was that you that called earlier by the way?" he asked. If it was he was going to have to talk to his big brother about not hanging up on his friends.

"Uh, no? Why?"

"No reason. Someone called a little bit ago and Bruce was just… being Bruce. So what's going on? Do you need something or did you just want to chat? Because between you and me I could use the distraction from auntie harassing- ow!"

He rubbed his arm and looked up at his aunt, who held her fist up. "Don't take your eyes or someone you're gonna talk trash about," she warned. "And hey Luna!"

Luna laughed from over the phone. "Tell your aunt I said hi."

"She said stop being mean and punching me." The response he got was another punch in his shoulder. Ben brushed it off and turned his attention back to Luna. "So seriously, what's up?"

"I talked to my sisters and my pops, and they were down with the idea of helping out around the café. He said he wanted to talk to her about fixing up a schedule and stuff. And about ordering some of you guys' desserts for the menu."

He looked surprised. "Wait, are you serious?"

"As a heart attack baby! My sisters said they could use the extra scratch anyway."

Benjamin ran a hand through his hair. "Oh man, I…" He didn't think she'd come through with this whole thing this quickly. They were literally just talking about it today.

"Oh really?! That's great!"

Benjamin jumped as his aunt's voice boomed in his ear. He turned towards her and frowned. "Auntie, seriously? You know a phone call is usually just between two people right?" he asked.

"Well, I pay your phone bill so…" She shrugged her shoulders. "Hey Luna, tell your dad to call me tomorrow and we can sort out all the details. It'd be nice to have some workers around here who aren't trying to roughhouse with each other every five minutes. And most of our customers are girls, so with you all here we might get some more male butts in seats."

"Seriously…?" Benjamin said, rolling his eyes.

"What? I raised six boys. I know which head they tend to think with when it comes to stuff like this."

He sighed. "Yeah well… I ugh… I'm still not sure about-"

"He's doing it."

"Auntie!"

"Don't auntie me! You know you want to do it! You're just nervous about it," Berta said, crossing her arms. "I told you it was fine. You heard Luna. You don't have to worry about your shift. It's covered. So what's the problem?"

Benjamin opened his mouth to answer her, but nothing came out. Why was he so nervous about this? He thought cooking in a real kitchen and learning from a real chef would be cool, so what was his hang up.

"Are you nervous man?" Luna asked, snapping him from his thoughts. "Because if you are, you know you shouldn't be right? I mean I get being jumpy about getting into something new, but you seemed really happy about learning to cook from my pops. And I think you'd be really good at it."

He looked down in thought. "I don't know. It's just… I know that I'm really good at music. I think I'm pretty good at cooking too. But-"

"But you are," Luna said, cutting him off. "C'mon, give it a shot. It's not like either of us came out of the womb playing music. We had to try it out first. And if you try out serious cooking I bet you'll totally kill it. And if you're not feeling it after giving it a real try, then you can just drop it."

Benjamin took another moment to think, and then sighed. "Yeah… I guess you're right. I should at least give it a shot."

"Oh okay, I see. When I say you should go for it it's just auntie talk, but when Luna says it all of a sudden it's sagely advice," Berta said crossing her arms. "Wonder what the difference is. You really are-"

"I said I'd do it auntie!" Benjamin said, cutting her off before she could inevitably say something embarrassing. He felt like if he didn't he might regret it anyway. And… well, he would get to spend more time with Luna. Couldn't be a bad thing, could it?

A/N: Again, really sorry for the late update T-T. Got a bit iffy on how to proceed with that I have planned for the story, but I've hammered it out now, so hopefully the next update won't be as far off! As I said before! I'm planning on seeing this story through to the end...! Even if it might take a while lol. Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.

Reviewer Responses!

Skater1ooo: Glad you enjoyed the chapter! Yeah, Benjamin does have a temper, but he's not one to get into the macho alpha mentality lol. And he knew Eddy needed to be dealt with for sure, so he was most definitely bringing his brother along for the ride! I'm also glad you like the decision with Sam. When Luna does finally make her choice I want it to be a tough one! So I'm planning on giving them both some real development!

The New Shinka: Ask and ye shall receive!

SkipTheFF: Oh yeah, when it hit Ben it hit like a truck lol!

Pedroxmv97: He's another OC (a love interest) from a fic I did about Lynn Loud.

magical fan18: Yeah, Greg has some of my favorite songs in the show! So I had to use at least one of his songs.

Guest: Again, sorry for the long wait. Hope this chapter makes up for it!