A/N: So, good news everyone! I've finally plotted out the rest of this fic in its entirety and there's going to be twenty chapters in total. If I continue with my current update pace, we will have our last chapter uploaded in January of 2022. I might get done before then, but we'll see how my life goes as well as the rest of my on-going projects. Fingers crossed!

Also, let me know if you guys like when I leave mini-playlists to listen to for each chapter. I don't have one for this chapter (because it's not as eventful as some of the others are going to be), but I like making them so if you guys use them, let me know.

Öyleyse iki mezar kaz, çünkü öldüğünde,
yemin ederim yanından ayrılmayacağım.

Beni cehenneme sürükley—

It was with a heavy heart that Rook opened his eyes and, slowly, reached with fumbling hands to turn the alarm clock off. He sat up in bed and swung his legs over the side, staring at the ground with a frown.

It wasn't a new day, not really, but it was the closest that Rook was going to get. His lips thinned unhappily. Another day meant another attempt to fix things, but Rook was at a loss and he had no idea where to start.

His fingers plucked at the threads of his blanket idly. Ben might have more success with Alien X the second time, if Rook gave him more information to go off of. But then again, he might not, and Rook would end up passing an entire day alone again.

It seemed rather hopeless to Rook, but the thought didn't fill him with the same dread as it had just a day ago. He held his hands up to his face and flexed his fingers idly. Hands that were hardened from plowing fields, cramped from hours filling out paperwork, damp with blood seeping through the cracks. Hands that had interlocked with Ben's and stayed that way for hours.

The memory of the day before didn't make Rook smile, exactly. It felt too depressing to smile about, although it had been… sweet. Rook rolled the word around in his head. Yes, "sweet" seemed appropriate. Ben was a good friend and it was nice to see him concerned for Rook's well-being and doing his best to help. He'd never really seen that side of Ben firsthand, probably because Rook had never gone through anything as turbulent as this. The way they'd clung to each other, at Rook's request, had been very sweet.

Unsure what he was doing, Rook stood up. He let muscle memory take over and ended up in his bathroom, where he stripped and showered and brushed his fur as well as his fangs before dressing again. Rook caught up with himself as he was reaching for his Proto-Armor, a damp towel around his waist and his body smelling of the brandless Plumber shampoo. He hesitated to pull on his body suit and armor. An old itch in his head told him that he needed to be prepared for any eventuality, that it was unsafe to go anywhere without the proper protection. But a bigger part of him couldn't be bothered. His armor hadn't helped Ben. He'd been wearing it every time that Ben had died, or been kidnapped or hurt or lost.

The armor didn't matter. Rook was what made the difference, by being a good partner. And, looking back, it seemed like he was a fairly shitty one.

His expression hardened. Well, that could be changed. He reached for his sweatpants and loose shirt, tugging them on. Rook knew how casual and unprofessional it looked, but he didn't care. He left his room and, instead of heading to the garage, went to the main hub.

It was mostly empty at five-thirty in the morning but, to Rook's fortune, Magister Tennyson had always been an early riser. He was still muffling yawns, eyes only half-opened as he sipped on coffee and flipped half-heartedly through a mountain of paperwork waiting for him. Rook made a beeline for him.

"Magister Tennyson," Rook said without waiting to be addressed, "I would like to use one of my vacation days."

Max nearly choked on his coffee. He set his mug down with a clatter and covered his mouth to cough, gasping. When he looked up at Rook, his eyebrows were attempting to disappear into his hairline. "You want time off?" He asked, like he'd misheard.

Rook couldn't exactly blame him. Several times, he'd tried to have his "required vacation" that was coming up in two months pushed back or removed entirely. He was always perfectly punctual, he never missed a day, and Rook took any extra hours that he was legally allowed to have. Time off seemed like a mark of failure to him, when maintaining the fields was a year-round endeavor on Revonnah.

But now, Rook felt like he was going to explode if he had to go through one more day acting like he gave a damn about his job.

"Yes," he said with a nod, casual as could be. "I would like today off. And for Ben, too. We have plans," Rook said vaguely.

Once he'd recovered from the initial shock, Magister Tennyson frowned. "Time off should be scheduled two weeks in advance," he said. But that wasn't a refusal, so Rook stayed quiet and waited patiently. He didn't have to wait long. After a moment's thought, Max sighed. "I'll give your patrol to one of our reserve teams. They've been needing the hours, anyway. You and Ben hardly get any breaks as it is."

Even though he'd known that would be the answer, Rook still managed a relieved smile. "Thank you. I would like no interruptions unless it's at least a world-threatening disaster," he said with as much humor as he could muster.

Which wasn't a lot, but it got a chuckle from Max anyway as he took another sip of his coffee. "Done," he agreed. "I see you're already dressed for leisure." His eyes raked down Rook's body and Max made a face. Personally, Rook agreed. He wore his Proto-Armor so often that to wear anything else felt wrong. But Magister Tennyson said nothing and he waved his hand, signalling that Rook was dismissed. "Well, enjoy your time sleeping in. I'll notify Ben that he has today off."

"I will do it," Rook blurted out, far more eager than he meant to be. Max raised an eyebrow and Rook winced, hurrying to correct himself. "I mean, we have plans together already. It will save you the trouble if I just tell him when I see him."

In truth, Rook had no plans with Ben whatsoever, except for keeping him as far away from the line of fire as possible. He knew that five-thirty in the morning was an inappropriate time to drive to someone's house and wake them up, but he wished that he was already there. It was another hour and a half until Ben's alarm would wake him up and Rook couldn't imagine how he was going to get through it.

After another moment, Magister Tennyson shrugged. "Well, I don't see the harm in it," he allowed. "Have a good day, then, Rook."

Rook nodded politely, already turning to walk away. He was eager and impatient to see Ben and Rook knew that it was unusual, but he didn't care to justify it to himself. "To you as well, sir," he replied with a wave.

Once Max's back was turned, Rook broke into a jog. He didn't stop to eat or do his morning workout, although both of those would have been good for distracting him and working out some of his nervous energy. He slowed as he neared the garage, allowing himself to think.

There was nothing that he wanted to try. Rook had promised Ben the day before that he would try Alien X again, but now that he was actually awake, the idea seemed as unappealing as it had the last time he considered it. It wasn't just that he would be alone for the day. Rook could get Gwendolyn and Kevin to join in on his vigil if he really wanted to, all of them hoping that Alien X would come up with some sort of solution. He would have company, but Ben would not be there.

If there was one thing that Rook had come to realize, it was that a day without Ben was empty and wasted. He didn't want to throw away day after day after day waiting for Ben to get done with Alien X if it didn't work again. It hadn't worked the first time. Rook doubted that the second time would make much of a difference.

The plan, as it were, was just to take a day off and spend it with Ben. Rook wasn't sure why he wanted that so badly, but he did. He felt tired and rubbed raw, like someone had scrapped his insides out and left his husk out to dry. Besides which, Rook was growing painfully aware of how little time he spent with Ben outside of work. They could just hang out for a day. What was the harm in that?

He wished that he had figured it out sooner. Rook would have liked to do something for Ben that he would actually remember in the morning.

Doing something for Ben was a good idea, though. Rook had already gotten him a smoothie. What else could Rook surprise him with? Perhaps a full breakfast? Food was an easy gift. Rook idled next to the Proto-TRUK, lost in thought. Maybe a Christmas-themed trinket? Or Sumo Slammers merchandise? Rook had always been horrible with gifts. It was Revonnah tradition that gifts were handmade, but that was more for courting purposes and, anyway, Rook didn't have the time to do something like that in just an hour or two.

He hesitated, drumming his fingers along the hull of the Proto-TRUK thoughtfully. There were a lot of options available to him, but none of them felt special enough. Rook had months of poor partnership and even poorer friendship to make up for. But Ben wasn't the type to ask for gifts, or to even want anything as far as Rook remembered. Then again, he'd never spent a birthday or gift-giving holiday with Ben.

Rook perked up. Of course! He could just ask Gwendolyn, or Ben's parents, or Max. Kevin must have spent a few birthdays with Ben, too.

Funny how it was so easy to forget that other people cared about Ben as well.

For the sake of wasting time until seven-fifteen, Rook settled on getting a quick breakfast. He was sure that Mrs. Tennyson wouldn't approve of fast food, but she wasn't nearly rude enough to forbid Ben from eating it.

Climbing into the TRUK, Rook settled in to wait for a more reasonable time to get everything done. He tried halfheartedly to brainstorm about ways to break the time loop, only for the inherent hopelessness of more failed attempts to drive him back to happier pursuits. At the moment, Rook's focus was on doing something for Ben while also keeping him from dying or getting otherwise hurt. Considering what had happened the day before, especially, Rook had a lot to make up for.

It chafed at him that Ben wouldn't remember anything that Rook did for him, but that struck him as somewhat fitting. He was apologizing for grievances that were purely in his own head and for mistakes that only Rook remembered. He supposed that he would just have to keep trying until he had satisfied himself.

That wasn't going to be a problem, at least. With the way things were going, Rook was beginning to think that he had an eternity to work everything out.

He didn't let himself linger too long on that thought, knowing that it would end up making him feel dejected. As soon as the time hit six-thirty, Rook started the TRUK and pulled out of the garage. He tried to drive slowly on the streets to take up as much time as he could. It wasn't terribly successful, but Rook spent long enough fumbling with human money and how fast food places work that he ended up getting to Ben's house just after seven. Which was perfect timing, in his opinion, even if he'd managed it in a less than elegant way.

Rook got out of the car with food in hand, grease stains on the bottom of the unassuming brown paper bag. He'd never liked fast food, but there would be plenty of fruit in the Tennyson household so Rook would probably just end up eating that. Or nothing at all. He hadn't eaten much at all the last few days and it didn't bother him. Most likely because there had been too much going on for him to take the time to register hunger.

He walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell. Rook figured that someone in the house would answer, although his heart was beating faster at the thought of Ben being the one to open it.

There was a long pause, then the door's lock clicked and it was swung open. Rook couldn't keep the smiling from falling off of his face, although Sandra seemed understanding about it.

"He's in the shower," Sandra said without Rook needing to even open his mouth. "You can come in and wait for him if you want, Rook. I'm making smoothies — they're rich in fiber." She opened the door wider, stepping back so Rook could cross the threshold. When Sandra spotted the bag that Rook was holding, she corrected herself. "Oh, you brought something to eat." Her nose wrinkled but, out of politeness, she didn't comment on the fatty food.

"It is not for me," Rook said with a chuckle. "I thought that Ben might like it. We do not have patrol today, so in the interest of doing something relaxing for him today…" He gestured at the bag and hoped that it spoke for him.

Sandra nodded in understanding and the smile came back to her face. "Ah, a day off? That's sweet of you, Rook. I'm sure that Ben will be glad to hear the news." She wandered back toward the kitchen, where Rook could see a blender set on the counter next to a bowl of fruit, only half of which were familiar to him. An apple was perched on top and seemed to be glaring at Rook, challenging him. "So, then, do you want a smoothie? I take requests."

Rook walked boldly over to her. No — today was going to be different. He grabbed a pear from the bowl. The apple remained untouched. "No, thank you. Only this," Rook said with a smile that was only somewhat forced.

That earned him an amused glance from Sandra before she turned away from Rook to busy herself with her smoothie-making. "Well, alright then. You can wait on the couch for Ben if you want. He should be out any minute now."

"Thank you, Mrs. Tennyson." Rook took a bite of the pear as he walked over to the couch. It was sweeter and softer than apples were and Rook found that he enjoyed it more. He took another bite and sat down, placing Ben's food on the coffee table.

The silence between him and Sandra was pleasant. Rook assumed that she was too tired to bother with small talk or entertaining guests, which worked out all the better for him. He didn't want to prattle on about the weather or recent neighborhood changes. The only thing he could think about (and had been thinking about for quite some time now) was Ben.

Speaking of, the bathroom door opened down the hall and Rook's head snapped up. Steam poured out into the hallway and Ben came right after it, dressed casually and still rubbing a towel through his damp hair. He walked into the living room with his head down, his bangs and the towel blocking his vision.

"Ben, sweetie." Sandra chuckled. "You might want to hurry and finish getting ready. You have a visitor."

"Who, Rook?" Ben finally lifted his head. "He's here everyday, what—?" His eyes landed on Rook almost immediately and he froze. It took a moment to process, then Ben lowered the towel away from his head.

Somehow, Ben's hair was even more unruly fresh out of the shower than it was after he woke up. Rook choked on the laugh fighting its way out of his throat, clamping a hand over his mouth as his shoulders shook. Ben, with his hair in clumps and sticking straight up and in a dozen other directions, flushed red with embarrassment.

"Mom, you could've warned me!" Ben whined. "Just— let me go get my brush, oh my God, this is why you're supposed to wait outside."

He stormed off with an exaggerated huff and Rook finally let out his laugh when Sandra did, both of them working to suppress it to a more reasonable volume as Ben fumbled around the bathroom for his brush. Rook realized a second too late that he could have taken the time alone to ask Sandra about gift-buying for Ben. It wasn't a good time to try now, when Ben was in earshot and soon going to make his way back.

While the blender whirred away, Rook lost the ability to hear Ben struggle with his hair. The work must have paid off though because, not five minutes later, Ben came back into the room with his hair styled as it was everyday. Rook raised an eyebrow. Funny how Ben seemed to care so much and still left it looking wind-swept and perpetually tousled. It was a good look on him, of course, Rook just had trouble understanding human grooming habits.

"You can stop staring. I look like this every day," Ben said lightly, nudging Rook with his knee to make him scoot over before dropping onto the couch next to him. As soon as he did, his gaze snapped to the bag of food that Rook brought and his eyes lit up. "Is that what I think it is?"

Rook leaned forward and grabbed the bag, placing it in Ben's hands. Despite his eagerness, having it just handed it to him took Ben by surprise. "It is for you," Rook explained, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. He didn't know how to tell Ben the real reason for it, so he just said, "I took the liberty of getting us today off. Since I did not ask your permission, you can consider this an apology." The words tasted sour on Rook's tongue. Even worse was the way that his explanation made Ben's crinkled expression smooth out. Were they that bad with each other, that Ben couldn't believe that Rook would give him a gift just because he wanted to? Did Rook really need an excuse to be kind and thoughtful?

"Oh, wow," Ben said as he rifled through the bag. "You really went and got a full breakfast, huh, Rook? Hash browns, sausage, scrambled eggs, biscuits…" He made a show out of shuddering. "I haven't been allowed to have this much grease in the house since the birthday where I twisted my ankle during a game of soccer and mom felt bad for me. If I go into cardiac arrest over this, Rook, I want you to let everyone know that I died happy."

It was a good thing that Ben wasn't looking at him, because Rook's smile was so strained that his jaw was starting to ache from how tightly he was clenching it. "Of course," he managed evenly. That seemed to be a good enough response for Ben.

"Hold on, lemme grab a coffee to go with this. Do you want anything to drink?" Ben asked, already getting to his feet.

In answer, Rook shook his head, not trusting himself to speak. Ben shrugged, unbothered, and disappeared into the kitchen. It was nerve-wracking to have Ben out of sight, of course, but being able to still hear his voice helped a lot. Listening to Ben bicker with his mother about whether or not he was allowed to drink coffee with such an unhealthy breakfast was strangely grounding. Maybe it was the domesticity of it. Rook couldn't place the reason, exactly, but he let their voices become white noise that buzzed in the air, on his tongue, and did his best to relax.

Of course, all of that effort put into unwinding was wasted when Ben suddenly dropped back onto the couch next to him. Rook struggled to cover his startle while Ben, not noticing, grumbled as he set a glass of milk on the table and pulled the rest of his food out of the bag. "So," Ben asked, chewing on one of the biscuits, "a day off, huh? That's not like you. Got anything off-the-grid planned?"

Rook shook his head, smiling pleasantly. "No, nothing planned. I just realized that it has been a while since we have any day off or did something together outside of work. So I wanted to take the time while things are quiet to do something that you want to do," he offered. "Magister Tennyson agreed not to call us unless the threat is at least world-threatening." Which certainly didn't include anything like a fire downtown.

"The whole day off, huh?" Ben sat back on the couch to ponder the possibilities, sipping on his milk. "Wow, I guess I don't really know. The last time I had a day off, I bought this new Sumo Slammers video game, but I never got to actually play it because…" He trailed off, struggling with the memory for a moment, then eventually gave up with a sigh. "You know, I don't even remember. It's always something."

There was an unpleasant twinge in Rook's chest, something like guilt. He did his best to look relaxed and at ease. "We can try playing it now," he suggested. "I cannot promise to be any good, but it might be fun." And it really looked like Ben needed it. Video games weren't Rook's preferred method of relaxing, but he couldn't think of anything he'd rather do than just be near Ben so Rook wasn't feeling picky. He was too in his own head. Rook wanted to be in the moment. He wanted to remember every second before he went back to sleep.

"Seriously?" Ben raised an eyebrow, the beginnings of a smile stretching across his face. He had a milk mustache and bread crumbs on his lips. Rook tried and failed not to find it endearing. "I mean, if you insist. Sure. Let me just finish eating and get this cleaned up. Mom and Dad work today, so we'll end up having the house to ourselves at some point." He playfully rolled his eyes. "It's not that much fun to play video games around Dad. He doesn't understand them at all and his jokes are terrible."

Rook doubted that he would be much better, but he nodded. It was enough that Ben wanted to share the time alone with him. "That is fine," he said. "It gives you time to set up."

As it turned out, Ben needed that time to set up. His device was behind on several updates and he couldn't remember where'd he'd left the game to begin with and the controllers were both dead. While Ben went around fussing over this and that, his parents both showered and wished him a good day before heading off for their jobs. Rook found a pleasant sort of ache settling in his chest as he watched. It was nice to sit on the couch and have the morning routines of Ben's family bustle around him.

It was a peaceful, familiar sort of setting that shouldn't have been able to exist side-to-side with what Rook had been through the last few days. Instead of seeing Ben's corpse, Rook was thinking about mornings on Revonnah, his mother cooking and his father already out in the fields. He was dragging Young One from bed and Shim and Shi were hogging the washroom again while Shar's complaints echoed down the hall.

He wished that he could forget, just for one day. Rook wanted to be able to enjoy the day without knowing that it was going to be gone in the morning. No matter what he did, Ben would never remember it.

"Okay! Finally got everything ready." Ben sank down onto the couch, startling Rook from his thoughts for the second time. He held one of the controllers out for Rook to take. "Today we're playing Sumo Slammers 5: Back With A Vengeance. I heard that the story is lackluster, but it's the first Sumo Slammers game to have a multiplayer story mode and it has mini games besides that we can play if you need to get familiar with the controls or don't like the story," Ben rambled. "It's supposed to have a twist villain, too, but I didn't look too much into that. Spoilers, you know?"

Rook did not know, as a matter of fact, but he nodded as though everything that Ben was saying made perfect sense. He had only held a gaming controller a few times in his life, all of them while he was on Earth, and none of them looked like the one that he was holding at the moment. He scowled. He could assemble and disassemble his blaster blindfolded, he could strip Galvan technology for parts for his TRUK, he could handle the Proto-Tool which had previously been described as "too complex and dangerous to be practical for combat." Surely, Rook could handle a video game.

"Which button turns it on?" Rook asked, squinting at the controller.

Ben gave him a pitying smile and reached over, taking the controller carefully and turning it one-hundred-and-eighty degrees in Rook's hands. Rook stared down at it dumbly. "We'll start with the tutorial," Ben said cheerily.

The tutorial wasn't as helpful as Ben seemed to think it was. To be fair, it could be because Rook wasn't really paying attention or trying all that hard. He found himself in an odd position. See, the last few times that Rook had been playing video games with Ben, he had seen it as a way to learn more about human culture. But now he was far more interested in staring at Ben.

And the game gave Rook a very good excuse to do that. Ben was wholly transfixed by the game and he didn't notice if Rook kept his head turned a little to see Ben. The story mode that they were playing worked so that, if one player died, the other could collect objects to revive them or just wait until the current wave of enemies was cleared. It was convenient for keeping Rook's character dead for long stretches of time, since Ben was usually more concerned with playing the game than reviving Rook.

That was fine. Eventually, Rook started making a point of draining his character's health in the most ridiculous and unlikely ways possible. The way that it made Ben laugh was far more amusing than the game itself. He'd ended up clutching his sides when Rook found a glitch that spliced his character into the walls and produced the injured sound over and over. Rook found himself smiling despite himself, but he wasn't looking at the screen. He was finding it harder and harder to look away from Ben, or even to leave his side from day to day.

Ben had ended up laughing so hard that he didn't notice his character being attacked until he had died. He didn't seem to mind, grinning and red in the face as he looked up at Rook. Eye contact made the tenderness leave Rook's face, like something had closed up. He looked away and he wasn't sure why. It wasn't as though he'd done anything to be ashamed of.

Not noticing that anything was wrong, Ben stood up and stretched. "Wow, it's already past noon," he remarked, staring at the clock above the TV.

Tearing his eyes away from the sliver of skin that was revealed by Ben's shirt riding up, Rook stared out the window instead. As if to confirm that it was, in fact, noon. The sun was noticeably higher in the sky and there was hardly a cloud to be seen. Rook's lips thinned. Magister Tennyson had kept his word and hadn't called. Downtown, under the lovely sky, people were dying in an electrical fire.

Rook knew that it was selfish to not do anything about it. He didn't care.

"I'll make lunch," Ben suggested, staring similarly out the window with an odd look on his face. Rook wanted to ask what Ben was thinking — because, surely, that look couldn't have been inspired by thoughts of food — but found himself taken instead by the way that the filtered sunlight caught on Ben's profile. He looked so content and relaxed. Rook kept his mouth shut, because Ben deserved a day to play video games and keep his thoughts to himself if he wanted to. "Any requests?" he asked as he headed for the kitchen.

It took Rook a moment to remember what the question was and by the time he'd worked out an answer, Ben had stopped walking. He was hovering in the kitchen entryway with a hand on the wall, an eyebrow raised in part amusement and concern. "Uh.. Whatever you want to make for yourself will be fine for me," Rook answered. He figured that he might as well eat something so that Ben didn't worry.

"Hope you're in the mood for frozen potstickers, then," Ben said lightly. "It'll just be ten minutes or so. Hold on." He ducked into the kitchen and Rook heard his footsteps crossed the room, followed by pans banging and rustling as he shuffled through the freezer.

Alone, Rook similarly stood up and stretched. He was sore from sitting down for so long. Unlike Ben, Rook's body wasn't used to it. Ben never did commit to formal workouts, but he was doing so much fieldwork that he didn't need it to stay fit. He certainly wasn't muscular — lithe was the more apt term. And flexible, more focused on speed in his human form than the strength and special abilities that the Omnitrix could provide.

Rook found something sort of admirable about that. Ben knew what he could afford to skip out on. He didn't push himself to obsessive workouts or diets and he didn't spend days laying around and doing nothing. It was bitter to swallow.

It seemed, in all things, that Ben knew what he was doing. Rook smiled in discontent. And to think, when they'd first met, Rook had been arrogant enough to think that he'd saved Ben Tennyson and even potentially taught him something.

What a joke.

About fifteen minutes later, Ben came back with potstickers that were, as he put it, "only slightly" burnt. Rook finally learned what a potsticker was and found that he didn't dislike it. Human food was a mixed bag. Earth had many more crops than Revonnah. The town that Rook had grown up in, at least, only had reliable access to Amber Ogia. Rook had learned to like it because it was either that or nothing.

After they'd eaten, it was Ben's idea to get out of the house and take a walk around Undertown. Rook wasn't too keen on that idea, because Undertown always seemed to throw at least one problem Ben's way every time they visited, but it was a good distance away from any known burning buildings so he agreed.

Lost in thought, Rook felt the hours slip away distantly. It was easy not to notice the sun's trek across the sky when he was underground. Ben was happy to go from stall to stall in the market, examining everything that was edible, non-edible, and somewhere in between. He got a game of soccer going with some of the younger teen aliens with nothing better to do, and even managed to drag Rook into a clothes' store with "authentic human fashion" that was anything but and got him to try some things on.

It was sort of like playing the Sumo Slammers video game all over again. Rook still didn't mind. He was content. Ben took the lead, like he always did. He had his fun and Rook got the pleasure of watching. Normally, Rook would be snacking with him and using his long legs and better stamina to easily beat Ben at soccer (a game that he barely understood the rules of), but Rook's heart wasn't in it. It was enough for him to know that he was giving Ben something new. In its own way, Rook supposed that this was his gift.

Ironically, even though he knew that it would only be Thursday again in the morning, Rook found his chest aching. He didn't want to say goodbye to Ben. He wished that the day would never end. Rook didn't want to do everything all over again.

He knew that he was going to wake up alone and Rook couldn't stand the thought.

Ben elected to leave Undertown around dinner time so that they could stop and get chilli fries. It was nice to be alone again. Or, as alone as they could be driving down the highway with people in other cars as far as the eye could see. It was quiet between them, in a comfortable way that it couldn't have been during the beginnings of their partnership.

Rook spent more time staring at Ben out of the corner of his eye than he did actually watching the road. Driving was familiar, like a sixth sense. But Ben was one of the few things that studying never got Rook any closer to understanding. He wondered if Ben even knew what he was doing, by just sitting there — Rook's heart was beating much too fast and his grip on the steering wheel was punishing. The idea of talking made his mouth dry and nervousness sent his stomach fluttering. And Ben wasn't even looking at him.

While Ben went into Burger Shack to order, Rook waited with the TRUK parked and the engine still humming away. He stared blankly at the steering wheel, lost in thought. It was becoming so common for Rook that he was more surprised when he was actually paying attention to his surroundings. He wanted to ask Ben if he could spend the night. Rook didn't want to leave Ben's side but, on the other hand, he knew that it was only going to be a crushing disappointment when he woke up and he was alone. Just like when he'd fallen asleep holding Ben's hand on— what was that, the third day? The fourth? It didn't matter.

The point was, Rook was worried about what Ben might think for a request like that. It wasn't improper, was it? He'd gathered from human television that "sleepovers" were common for members of the same sex, but it would just be himself and Ben, alone in his room all night…

The passenger door opened and slammed shut as Ben clamored in. He brought a bag of unappetizing-smelling food with him, digging into it as soon as he was situated.

"Seatbelt," Rook said reflexively. He tapped his fingers against the wheel while Ben complied but, even when he was done, didn't try to put the TRUK into motion. He bit his lip. Unsure what he was going to say, Rook nonetheless opened his mouth. "Ben?"

"Hm?" Ben arched an eyebrow at him, mouth full. The smell of chilli and onions and grease was strong.

Still, it wasn't the scent in the air that made Rook's stomach churn. The words were on the tip of his tongue — "Is it alright if I spend the night?" — but he couldn't bring himself to give them a voice. Rook gave a strained smile instead. "I, um, wanted to say that I had a good time with you today. We should have days off more often."

Ben stopped with another fry half-way to his mouth. He lowered it and looked at Rook like he'd just grown two heads. "You want more time off? Are you alright, Rook? You're not sick or something, are you?" He twisted around in his seat, searching the back of the TRUK for something. "I swear, this better not be a prank."

"No, Ben, it is not—" Rook sighed and reached over, taking hold of Ben's free hand. His expression turned searching. "Why do you think that I have to be joking? Can I not just enjoy spending time with you?"

For a moment, Ben stared at him, eyebrows furrowed. "I mean, sure. Of course you can, it's… fine." He looked away, visibly growing uncomfortable. "I like spending time with you, too. But you've never… I don't know, put it like that, I guess. We're partners, you know." Ben shrugged with one shoulder. "Isn't it just a work relationship for you?" He forced a laugh. "I never actually thought that you wanted to get saddled with Ben Tennyson. Ben 10 is the hero of legends, you know, and I'm just…" Ben turned his attention back to the bag of chilli fries and popped one into his mouth. "...just sitting here eating chilli fries."

Rook's stomach twisted violently. He opened his mouth and no words came out. What the fuck was he supposed to say to that? Was that really how Ben thought Rook saw things? That their relationship only existed as long as their partnership did? That Rook didn't respect Ben without his long list of accomplishments? That any inkling of friendship was just him keeping up a steady work relationship?

He closed his mouth with a violent click of his fangs. Rook could only stare. He wondered what he had done wrong. It was becoming increasingly obvious that, at some point between meeting Ben and entering the time loop, Rook had fucked up. Ben didn't think that Rook valued him as a person. There was no way to get around that.

So Rook didn't try. He forced himself to swallow and take a breath. Instead of apologizing, or trying to plead with Ben to reconsider, or begging him to explain further, Rook said, "...What do you want to do tomorrow?"

Ben blinked. His head tilted slightly to the side. "What?"

"Tomorrow," Rook repeated, determined. "Tell me what you want to do tomorrow. Anything, Ben. Name it. I will make it happen."

There was a little awkward laugh from Ben. He waved a hand dismissively. "I don't know. I mean— if I had to pick something, I'd probably want a day with Mom and Dad. They're always talking about taking time off of work for Christmas, but it's harder for me. And Christmas is, like, a week away and we still haven't put up any of the decorations. Not the tree, or the stockings, or the outside lights…" Ben listed them off on his fingers and his mouth twisted in displeasure. "I wish I could do more for them. I can't even be home for Christmas."

Rook nodded. He couldn't give Ben Christmas, or even the next day, but he could give Ben this day. Over and over again, until they ran out of things that he wanted to do. And when that happened, well… Rook wasn't sure if he would still be sane by the end of it, but this was a plan. He could do something with this. If he couldn't stop time from looping, then Rook could at least learn to live with it.

"I will drive you home," he said, finally pulling away from the Burger Shack. "You should get some rest, Ben."

Even though Rook wasn't looking, he could tell that Ben was looking at him oddly again. "What, you don't want to do the night patrol? When you said that we got the day off, I thought that you meant just the day."

"No." Rook shook his head. "We have all day." For eternity. "And I know that you do not sleep regularly, so it is best for you to get home early tonight. That is not healthy."

Ben rolled his eyes. "I'll have you know, mom," he mocked, waving a chilli fry in Rook's direction, "that I once kicked Vilgax's ass on two hours of sleep. And I've kicked his ass so many times that I don't even remember which time that was."

"That is beside the point." Rook waved his hand dismissively. He started down the familiar road to Ben's house. "You could do with some rest and a day off. You would not mind taking another vacation day tomorrow, would you?"

That got him a laugh. "What's gotten into you recently, man?" Ben asked. Something about it made Rook think that it was rhetorical, so he didn't answer.

It wasn't a long drive from the Burger Shack to the Tennyson household, so the quiet between them didn't get long to linger before Rook was pulling up alongside the driveway. When he stopped, Rook was stuck staring out the window. He was waiting for Ben to get out and making it easier on himself by not watching. But when he didn't hear the door open and close, Rook turned to look at Ben and blinked as they made eye contact.

Now he was the one confused. Rook's eyebrows furrowed. "Ben?"

The sound of his name snapped him out of it and Ben shook his head. "Sorry. It's nothing. But I, uh, wanted to tell you that I really appreciate what you did today," he said carefully, speaking as though weighing each word before letting it out. "And I guess having you as a friend in general. It's been really nice getting to work with you and everything else." Ben gestured helplessly with one hand and his face was tinted pink. "I'm really bad at this sort of stuff. You can shut me up at any time, you know."

Actually, Rook sort of wished that Ben would never stop talking. He smiled faintly. "I feel the same way, Ben." Was this it? Were they finally speaking openly with each other? Rook felt like the invisible chasm between them was being closed. "I feel like, for the longest time, I have been ignoring how important you are to me. I never told you how I feel. But, Ben, the truth is, I do not care about your hero status." He wanted to hold Ben's hand. Why was he the only one leaning closer? "Because I love you."

The smile on Ben's face was brilliant and painful. It sucked the air out of the TRUK's cabin. "I love you, too, dude," he said. Then Ben opened the passenger door and the energy between them popped like a bubble. Rook physically reeled back, stunned. Wait. What was happening? The distance between them had returned, but Ben's smile had never been more genuine. Rook didn't understand — where was the miscommunication? "Thanks for the chilli fries, Rook! See you tomorrow." Ben waved and shut the door behind him. He jogged up to his house and stepped inside, all without looking behind him once.

When he was out of sight, Rook still couldn't seem to move. His hand was outstretched in front of him as though to grab something that was long gone. Slowly, Rook lowered it.

He hadn't said anything wrong. Rook loved Ben, he was sure of that. They were partners and best friends, practically family. And Ben had clearly echoed that sentiment, which was a good thing, so…

So why did it feel like Rook was missing something?