Crush on You

"Miranda, I hoped you'd call. Even if you said no… I wanted you to call," Ben said before she could even say hello.

"W-well, I'm not saying no. I'm saying yes. And I'm saying tonight. That is i-if you're free. Which you should be because you just spent all day in the park. Although you could have a late shift, making you unavailable for—"

Ben cut her off. "Yes, I am free tonight. Actually, I'm free right now. Do you want to get an early dinner, maybe go to a movie? Or vice versa? Are you free?" Miranda smiled widely.

"Yes, I am. And either is fine. I haven't been to a movie in a long time."

"Really? Well, we'll go to a movie and then go to dinner."

"So, should I meet you there?"

"I will come and get you, if that's alright," Ben said and she heard a loud noise on his end.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, my laptop just fell off the bed," Ben answered.

"Oh. And it's perfectly fine for you to come and get me." Miranda gave him her address and he said he'd be there within the next thirty minutes. When they hung up the phone, Miranda pulled out of Tucker's driveway just as he pulled in. She honked her horn and kept it moving. She had to be dressed in 30 minutes. She had a date. Taking another shower and putting on her smell goods, she sat on her bed and wondered how she could feel so good about a date when she'd just broken up with her boyfriend. That guilty feeling was coming back. Is this what she really wanted?

Miranda was nearly ready; she'd just finished pinning her hair up and back when she heard her doorbell ring. He was a little early and she was happy about that. She ran down the stairs to the door leaving her shoes and jacket in her room. She took a deep breath and opened the door. There was no one there. There was no car in the driveway. Her phone was ringing. It was Ben. "Hello?"

"My bad, Dr. Bailey, I forgot—," he started, but she cut him off.

"I understand, Dr. Warren. You have other plans. That's fine. I'll talk to you later," she said and she hung up the phone.

He called her right back. "Wow, that was passively aggressive. I was calling to say that I forgot something and I'll be right back," he responded laughing. "I'll be back."

"Oh, I'm… I'm sorry," she said laughing nervously.

"Yeah, I'll see you soon." Miranda said nothing more and disconnected the phone for the second time.

Miranda went into her room and put on her shoes. She looked at herself in her full-length mirror that was on the back of her closet door. She looked good. She'd put on a black tank top, a tan and black chevron-patterned floor-length skirt and her black heels. She was going to put on her blue jean jacket before she walked out of the house. She smoothed down her skirt and admired her body. She checked her lip gloss and her teeth. Everything looked good, except that she was missing one thing. Miranda went to her nightstand and grabbed her watch. She slid it on her wrist as the doorbell rang again. She picked up her tan purse that went perfectly with her outfit and walked back to the door. Miranda took another breath and swung open the door. "Hi."

"Hi. Miranda, you look beautiful," he said and Miranda watched his eyes travel from her shoes to her hair and they landed on her eyes. She gave him the onceover as well. He was wearing a white t-shirt with blue jeans and a pair of black shoes. He also had on a black blazer. He looked really good. Even better than he looked in his blue attending scrubs.

"Thank you. I do what I can. You look very handsome," Miranda said to him. "Do you want to come in for a little while?"

"Yeah, sure," he said and she moved out of the way, so that he could come in. He closed the door behind him. "Your house is amazing. Who decorated your place?"

She smiled. "I did. And thank you. I like it. Wine?" She offered.

"Just a little," he answered. Miranda went into the kitchen and he pulled off his blazer and sat on the sofa closest to the door. Miranda walked back into the living room with two glasses of wine. Ben stood up and took his glass. He clinked his glass with hers and they sat down.

"So, uh, where are we going?" She asked. It was easier to make conversation when there was nothing on the line back when she was dating Eli.

"Well, I bought the tickets for the movie online." He checked his watch. "It starts in about 45 minutes. it's at the Cascade Commons. Have you ever been there?" She shook her head. "Well, the seats are comfortable and, personally, my favorite aspect is that the seat divider can be lifted." He grinned. "I know it's weird."

"A little, but I'm excited. I just hope it's clean."

"It definitely is. You'll love it," he said and she did her best to avoid his gaze. "Can I put my glass on the table or do I need a coaster?"

"You can put it down. It's… fine."

"Miranda, I'm glad that you agreed to go out with me. I know you just got out of relationship." She could only nod. "I've liked you… for a long time. And I was patient until you noticed me. And then you did." She mouthed the words she meant to say. She wanted to say that she wished he'd said something; that she wished that she'd known. Maybe things would have panned out the same way, but she would have at least known. But no words came out. Nothing. Ben went on. "I like it when you're around and… you haven't said anything, so… you don't feel the same way?" Miranda breathed deeply, her heart was pounding and her palms were sweating. She was surprised that she was even able to hold on to her glass. She knew that she'd have to say something. Eventually. "Miranda—"

Miranda cut him off. "I do like you. In reality it was my friendship with you that damaged my relationship him. You're going to hear about that, only it won't mention friendship. Because everyone hears about everything. But, it is entirely true. My breakup with Eli, or rather his dumping of me had everything to do with you." Ben was quiet, but took Miranda's hand. "And … and … and with me."

"Tell me more," he said playing with her hand.

"I find myself stuttering when I talk to you," she said as he kissed her hand. She inhaled, holding her breath.

"I can't stop hemming and hawing when I'm around you either," Ben said taking her other hand and kissing it as well. "I've been waiting for this moment… for a long time." Miranda couldn't take anymore. She stood up, slipped her fingers from his and practically demanded that they leave for the movie before they got terrible seats. Ben smiled and asked which ones were the terrible ones, the ones in the front, the ones in the middle or the ones in the back. Miranda ignored him. She locked her house and they left. Ben held the door open as she slid inside making sure that her skirt was entirely inside of his black Mercedes. Walking into the movie theater, it was empty. It was only about 3 o'clock, but she expected a few more people. "Do you see any rows with two available seats open?" He asked with a serious face.

She played along: "There're too many people in here to see. But, up there, I think there might be two. But they're not together. They're at opposite ends."

"Well, that sucks, I, uh, really wanted to sit next to you," Ben said clearing his throat.

"We could ask everyone to shift over one."

"That's brilliant! Shift!" He yelled to the empty theater. When their skit was over, they sat down. Ben was so right, the seats were great, the most comfortable movie theater seats she'd ever sat in. She would have to bring Tuck here, although, she thought that he preferred watching movies in the comfort of their own home.

While Ben walked to the concession stand, Miranda called her mother. "Hey, baby," her father said answering the phone.

"Dad!" She exclaimed.

"You sound surprised," William said to his daughter. "How are you? We haven't talked in a while and we haven't seen each other in months. Do we need to come to you?"

That would be nice, Miranda thought. Her father thought that it was career that killed her marriage with Tucker and he was partly right. The other part of that was that neither she nor Tucker was committed to actually making it work. William thought that by spending all of her time in the hospital and not with her son was a terrible thing. And again, he was only partly right. It wasn't terrible, inconvenient, but not terrible. She saved lives. She worked on patients who were physically broken and damaged and she humped and humped to put them back together and she was successful most of the time. Miranda wanted to tell all of this to her father. She wanted him to get it. But she didn't want to start a fight. It wasn't the time for it. She thought about all of this, but what she really said was: "I'm really good, dad. How are you?"

"I'm fine. I suppose you want to talk to your mother?" He asked giving the phone to his wife.

"Talk to you later, dad," Miranda said to her mother who she knew would relay the message to her husband. "Hi, mom."

"Hey, baby. So?"

"So what?" She asked as Ben came back with popcorn, candy and drinks. She turned her back to Ben while she talked.

"How is your situation coming along?" Her mother asked impatiently. She wanted the juicy details which Miranda couldn't give to her because half of the details were sitting right next to her.

"I will let you know. It's all unfolding right now," she said cryptically.

"Fine, just leave me in the dark," Elena responded laughing. Miranda pictured her parents sitting on their hella comfortable sofa, watching the news and talking on the phone. She wanted the easy love that they had.

"I'm not leaving you in the dark. I will call you later," she said. "I love you." When she heard her mother repeat the coveted phrase, Miranda disconnected the call. She turned back to Ben who was working on the popcorn.

"Your mom?" He asked. She looked at him, perplexed. How could he know that? He answered her question: "You sound exactly like how I imagine I sound when I talk to my parents." She laughed, but didn't speak. "I got us popcorn. I figured we could share a bag, if you, ahem, don't mind. And we are going to dinner after, right?" He looked into her face and hoped that the answer was yes. Miranda smiled and nodded. "And I bought a couple of different types of candy. I don't know which ones you like, but if I had to guess. I'd say that you, Miranda… you like Buncha Crunch."

She was amazed. "Yeah! Uh, how'd you know?" She picked up a couple pieces of popcorn and ate them.

Ben started to open the box and shook some into his hand. "Well, if you're like me, and I think you are since we have a lot in common… if you're like me, then you like the combination of the salty popcorn and the very sweet chocolate." She gasped softly as he put a piece up and raised his eyebrow. She debated inside of herself as to whether she should eat the candy. She tried not to eat so much junk; she didn't eat much candy anymore. On the other hand, she'd worked out more in the last week than she had in the last month, but as a doctor, she knew that wasn't how it all worked. She looked at Ben who was smiling. He patiently waited while she sorted out the thoughts in her head. What the hell? Miranda moved towards him slightly and received the chocolate. She moaned softly. The candy tasted even better than she remembered. "Good, right?"

"Delicious," she said and they locked eyes. The previews for the movie were coming on and they put their phones on silent when they were advised to. They didn't speak for a long time before Miranda said to Ben, just as the movie was coming on, that she was glad that she'd taken him up on his offer. When he didn't answer, she stuffed her face with popcorn. A few minutes into the movie, Ben gently moved her arm off of the armrest and lifted it up. Then, he scooted next to her, putting his arm around her.

"I'm glad you did, too," he said whispering in her ear. "When my laptop fell on the floor, it was because I was bouncing with glee." Miranda laughed as she imagined Ben jumping on his bed and knocking his device to the floor. She was also happy to know that he felt the same way. Inside she squealed and she couldn't hear the movie over the sound of her heart beating through her chest. The movie was decent, the plot lost her a bit because her head wasn't really into the movie, but she was perfectly fine being there and watching it in Ben's arm.

After the movie, Miranda and Ben went to the restaurant across the large parking lot. Ben asked that they be seated in a booth. "I'm going to go to the restroom," Miranda said. Ben stood as she left and Miranda took notice of his gentlemanliness.

Miranda didn't really have to use the bathroom; she just wanted to check her face. As she washed her hands, she heard a knock and saw Ben rush into the bathroom. His face was stricken with terror. "Miranda. We have to go. I'll explain in the car. Please. Let's go."

They jumped into his car and he sped off. Miranda turned to him. Inside she was going crazy. She was really worried. The terror on Ben's face had frightened her. But, when she spoke, she was calm. She had to be, she couldn't panic; she was a doctor who faced all kinds of problems every day. "Ben. Tell me what's wrong."

He took a deep breath and his nostrils flared. "He-he tried to call you. I think your phone is still on silent. So he called me because I'd texted him earlier about us going out."

"Wait! Who is he?" Miranda demanded loudly as they sat at a red light.

"Tucker."

"Something happened to my son?" She asked as a tear fell down her face.

"No. It's not LT. It's your dad. He had a heart attack," Ben said driving off, speeding off through the streets.

"Where are we going?" Miranda asked, not yet panicking. She looked at her phone and saw that she had about forty missed calls. She dialed her mother's number. There was no answer and she didn't leave a message.

"We're going to Tucker's. He's getting you guys a flight."

"But… I just talked to my dad. He was fine," she said more to herself than to Ben. "He was fine. That's what he said. Those were his words. 'I'm fine'. What else did Tucker say?"

"He said that he would go with you guys. You and LT," Ben responded pulling up to Tucker's house. Miranda jumped out of the car and burst through the door. Ben was on her heels.

"Mommy!" Tuck said running into her arms. She hugged him tight. Tight. That's what her chest felt like. The next time her son would see her father, he'd be in a hospital bed or worse. Was it her fault? She kissed Tuck's head as Ben rubbed her back.

"Miranda. It's a 5:20 now. Our flight is in an hour," Tucker said. "Ben, before you go home to get your stuff, can you drop them home so they can pack?"

"Sure," Ben said.

"You're getting stuff?" Miranda asked him letting go of her son.

"I'll tell you in the car," Ben said and motioned for them to keep moving. "Tucker, we'll meet you at the hospital."

On the way back to her house, Miranda questioned Ben again. "When Tucker said he needed to book flights, I called my uncle, he's a pilot. He got us on the next flight out of Seattle to Baltimore. And I figured that I'd go with y'all to make sure you're okay. I know we just… but I…," he stopped talking. Miranda blushed. When he pulled into her driveway, she gave her son the key and told him to only grab a pair of jeans, a pair of shorts, four shirts and 6 pairs of underwear, including socks.

She nodded. "And my toothbrush and stuff," he added. He had to be a wiser than his seven years. Tuck ran into the house.

"Um, about what you said. That was really nice of you, but you don't have to come with us," Miranda said looking straight ahead. The tears were coming again.

"If I didn't want to go, I would not have offered, Miranda. I want to be there for you," he said strongly. He reached up and touched her chin. She saw this scene going differently in her head. In her mind, her son wasn't in the house, her father wasn't medically unstable and she wasn't crying. Miranda wiped her tears away.

"Thank you," she said backing up a little. His hand fell. "Tucker will probably come and pick us up."

"Um, actually I offered to drive you to the airport. If that's okay? If it's not, I can call him and tell him to do it."

"No, no, no… it's fi—okay. Thanks again, Ben." Miranda leaned over and kissed his cheek. Her lips stayed on his cheek longer than expected.

"Can I make you smile? Or would that be super inappropriate?" Ben asked with one corner of his mouth turned up.

He was very attractive. How had she missed walking around Seattle Grace and Grey Sloan? She sighed. "Depends on what it is? What is it?"

"Your lips are so soft," he said picking up her hand again. He shocked her again.

Miranda smiled. "Yeah, they are," she responded. She licked her lips and watched as Ben bit his bottom lip and squinted. She knew that look. "Go on home. We'll be ready soon." Miranda slid out of the car and walked into the house. She finally turned her ringer on. She packed her clothes and made sure Tuck did the same thing.

While she and Tuck waited for Ben, Tucker in his room and she was in the living room, she called her mother again. No answer. She wouldn't panic until she had to. She silently prayed that everything would be okay. Tucker called her. "Hey, Miranda, don't hate me."

"Tucker Jones, I could never hate you. I've disliked you to the fullest extent, but never hate," she said sighing and clearing her throat.

"Good. Because I'm not going to be able to go with y'all to Baltimore."

"What?! Tucker, why not?" She asked disappointedly. "You know my father would want you there."

"Ugh, I was going to tell you later, uh, … Jaida's pregnant. Her very first ultrasound is tomorrow and she wants me there and I want to be there. And it's not that I'm putting my kid before Will, but…"

"You're putting your kid before my dad," she finished for him. He made a noise that signaled how uncomfortable he was. "Oh! Well, Tucker Jones. Congratulations. That is w-wonderful"

"Thank you. Thank you. I can't believe I have another mini-me on the way."

She looked around and made sure that their son wasn't in earshot before asking: "Did you tell Tuck yet?"

"No, I was hoping that you'd do it."

"Absolutely not!" Miranda whisper-yelled.

"Miranda, he might be pissed with me," Tucker said chuckling.

Miranda shrugged: "He might, but I'm not the one to tell him so that he can be pissed at me. However, if he falls apart, I will be there to pick him up."

"Damn it, okay, okay, okay," he said. "I'll tell him, put him on the phone."

"You're going to tell him now?"

"Should I do it when you guys come back?"

"Ya think?" She said sarcastically.

"Ugh, your sarcasm is hurting me," he said laughing loudly. "Keep your head up. Keep me posted. I'll talk to you later. And I love you."

Miranda said that she loved him as well. She hung up the phone. "William George, bring your bag to the door so when Ben comes, you're ready."

Her son put his bag by the door and exclaimed: "He's here!"

They loaded the car and Ben drove to the airport. Miranda called Meredith. She asked Meredith to her situation and asked her to cover for her. "I talked to Tucker… he's not coming," Miranda said looking at Ben. She noticed that he'd taken off his blazer and put on a grey hoodie. She also had on a pair of white Jordans instead of his black shoes. He looked more comfortable and Miranda wished that she'd thought of changing.

"That's unfortunate," Ben said smirking a little. Miranda wondered what the smirk was for. Or was she imagining it?

"Daddy's not coming? Why not?" Her son asked. Miranda was quiet while she thought. She didn't want to lie to Tuck; she also didn't want to tell him the truth. She ended up telling that him that his father wasn't able to get the time off. "Oh okay," he said and went back to his game. Ben glanced at her. She felt like he knew that she was lying.

At the airport, Miranda tried her mother's number again and when there was no answer again, she called her father's phone. It went straight to voicemail. "Miranda, our plane was called," Ben said picking up her bag and herding Tuck along.

On the plane, Tuck and Miranda sat together. She was on the inside and he was in the seat nearest the aisle. Ben sat in the seat directly across from them. The trip was a little more than five hours and Tuck hadn't taken it in a long time. She hoped that he would be okay. He was asleep before the second hour. Miranda looked at Ben who was doing a crossword puzzle. She leaned over her son and said: "You and those puzzles. They just run you, don't they?" Ben grinned. "Do you need some help?"

"I could, uh, come over there if you want," he said winking at her.

Miranda looked down at her son and then back at Ben. "If you hadn't noticed, my son is sitting next to me."

"I can move him," Ben said standing up. Ben lifted Tuck and placed him on the unoccupied seat. Ben sat down next to her. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm okay. I wasn't able to reach my mom, though." She sighed loudly. "I hope everything will be okay." The tears were coming back. Instinctively she put her head on Ben's shoulder. She felt his body stiffen up and then relax.

"Me, too, Miranda," he said stroking her head. "It will be. I've already prayed about it."

"I need you to distract me again," Miranda said wiping away some tears. She looked up at him.

"I distracted you before?" He asked smiling down at her.

"Well, when you told me that, uh, my lips were soft, that distracted me for a bit."

"I don't remember saying that, but if you kiss me again, I'll be able to tell you how soft they are."

"Ben Warren. Don't even try it." Miranda was suddenly feeling confident: "So how long… how long have you liked me?"

He took a deep breath. "Well, let's see. I came over from Mercy West, I saw you walking down the hall, bossing around interns and I thought: she's feisty. I like feisty women," he said smiling. "Then I worked with you on Mrs. Russell, the lady who swallowed the razor blades."

"Mrs. Russell? Mrs. Russell? Oh, yeah! I remember her. The crazy fool. We had to call a psych consult."

"When you pulled out the last one, I could see your satisfaction with the entire process and how much pride you took in your work and I thought: I'd like to get to know her. Then, there was, uh, a guy last Thanksgiving who was stabbed by his wife because—"

"She didn't like the way he was cutting the turkey," they said at the same time and they laughed quietly.

"Yeah, I remember. I remember. That was you," she said.

"That was me," he said putting an arm around her, pulling her close like he'd done in the movie theater. "I knew I needed to be with you when I saw you by the elevators playing with Eli's hand and you guys looked so happy. I thought: I can make her just as happy." Miranda's heart was beating so fast. She couldn't hear anything. Ben's voice brought her back. "And I-I'm no stalker, but I felt like we'd be great together, so I tried buttering you up with the stool and a letter, but you never responded. Except for the note that you posted on the door. Which I took. "

"It was you!?" Miranda exclaimed and she poked Ben. He chuckled. "Damn you." Miranda smiled.

"You had no clue, did you?"

"I really didn't. And what letter are you talking about?"

"I taped a letter to the stool detailing how I felt about you," he said putting his head down.

"Ben, I never… got the letter."

He started laughing, slowly at first and then he couldn't stop. Miranda looked at him with a surprised look on her face. Finally, he stopped laughing and said: "All that time. All this time. I thought you just didn't feel the same way. But you just never got the letter." He chuckled again. "That… really… sucks."

"I'm sorry. Honestly, I didn't see a letter. What did it say?"

"I'd rather you read it for yourself. I have the rough draft at home. I'll, uh, give it to you," he said and he started to lean towards her.

"Uhh. I don't—"

Tuck cut her off. "Mommy? Are we there yet? I'm hungry." He wiped his eyes.

"Here," Miranda said pulling two bags of chips and two juices out of her bag and handing it to him.

"Thanks," Tuck said putting his headphones back on and turning away from them.

"LT is an amazing kid," Ben said putting his arm back around Miranda. Usually she wasn't into intimacy in front of her son, but this was different. Her father was probably in some hospital, in pain and her mother was probably alone. Probably not because her father's sisters and brother would have made their way to be by her father's bedside. She was trying her best to keep her mind off of her father until there was something that she could do. Ben was helping with that.

Miranda opened a bag of chips. "Yeah, he is great." She put a few into her mouth. She was hungry. They hadn't gotten a chance to eat and she hadn't had anything to eat since the Pop-Tart earlier that morning and the popcorn and the chocolate from the movie theater.

"Do you think he likes me?" Ben reached over and got his drink. He took a sip.

"I do. He does. I know you know he does. So why do you ask?"

He cleared his throat. "I'm sure that if he didn't like me, you wouldn't date me."

"What are you saying?" Miranda pursed her lips and ran a hand through her hair. He had just admitted to wanting to date her. She hoped that she wasn't sweating.

"I don't think that Tuck liked Eli," he said smiling that smile. The smile that made her weak.

"What makes you say that?" She asked leaning away from him.

"He told Jazmin. And, naturally, Jazmin told me," Ben replied and he reached towards her bag and she playfully knocked his hand away. "What? I can't get any?" If she and Ben knew each other better, she'd have a very sexy and dirty comeback. But, instead she just rolled her eyes.

"Back to the subject. LT didn't like Eli?"

"Well, from what I got. He like him okday, but didn't like him that much."

Miranda was shocked. Hadn't she asked Tuck if he liked Eli? "He never said anything to me!"

"What is the seven year old supposed to say to his mother who's in love?"

"I wasn't in love," Miranda said defensively. Ben stared at her. "I loved him, but I wasn't in love with Eli." Ben only nodded. "Have you ever been in love?"

He nodded again. "Yeah, twice. Once to Regina King when she starred on 227 and the other time to my last girlfriend."

"Wanna tell me about that?" Miranda asked curiously.

"Do you want to hear about it?"

She responded: "Ben Warren, what exactly are we doing?"

"What do you … I'm just kidding. I know what you mean. I don't want to freak you out, but I do want to actually pursue this relationship." Ben lowered his voice. "I want to be with you, Miranda. I'm not going to rush it. I'm going to let you control the pace and follow your lead."

Miranda was speechless. This is what she wanted. Wasn't it? She'd screwed things up with Eli because her feelings for the man in front of her got in the way. The way. It was the way he looked at her, like he was looking at her now, like he could read her mind. And the way that he held her like it was the most natural thing in the world; like he'd been waiting to do it forever, like he'd been doing it forever. The way she'd been at her most vulnerable—twice! And he'd been there both times, with a shoulder to lean on and very calming words. Maybe… she wanted to be with him as well. Maybe it was too soon after her thing with Eli. But what's too soon? She didn't know. It's had been years during between the end of her marriage and the start of her relationship with her ex-boyfriend. If she had been looking at the situation from the outside in, she'd probably call herself a trollop, jumping from man to man. But, being inside of it, she was just looking for The One. "Okay," she said after a long while.

"Okay?" He repeated raising his eyebrows in a way that made him look so adorable, that she did want to kiss him.

"Okay," she said a second time which confirmed everything. She put her head back on his shoulder and wrapped her free arm around his waist. Ben started to speak again, but he was interrupted by Tuck.

"Mommy," he said getting up walking towards them. Ben and Miranda scrambled to untangle themselves from the other's hold.

Miranda blew back some hair that had fallen into her eyes. "Yes, baby?"

"I have two interrogative sentences. And a declarative statement," he said with such confidence. Miranda smiled inside and out at his comfortableness saying "declarative". She knew that they'd just learned about that in school. She nodded. "Are we almost there?" Miranda and Ben nodded. She looked at her watch. They had about another hour and a half and she told Tuck that. "Is Pop-Pop going to be okay?" He started to tear up and his bottom lip quivered. Miranda reached for him and she pulled him into his lap. Once in her lap, his tears really started to fall. Miranda tried her hardest not to follow suit. She looked at Ben, who looked like he was mentally debating whether or not to stay and be comforting or to move back to his original seat. He started to get up, but Miranda grabbed his hand. He looked at her. She smiled weakly. And thought about how she could stop the tears coming from her son when she was having a hard time stopping her own.

Miranda rubbed Tuck's back. "Tuck, he's going to be okay. His heart is just a little hurt. And doctors just like me and Alex and The Chief and… and Ben are going to do their best to fix him," Miranda answered with a tiny smile. Ben was smiling widely and shaking his head. Tuck nodded. They were quiet for some time before Miranda asked Tuck what his declarative statement was.

He perked up a little. "I knew you liked Ben." Miranda's mouth dropped open. Ben started to chuckle.

"You know what? I'm done with you. Go back to your seat," she said kissing her son's cheek.

"Ben's in my seat," he said. The three of them laughed as Tuck went back across the aisle. He put his headphones back on and continued to play his game.

"That boy is a mess," Miranda said. Ben nodded. "But he's right. And so was Jazmin—"

"Jazz? What does she have to do with this?"

"She told Tuck that we… like each other. Which is weird because, at the time, I didn't even know it, even though you did."

"I did."

Miranda lowered her voice. "I wish you would have said something. I mean, I probably would have been resistant. It took Eli several tries before I even considered going out with him. Look how well that turned out."

"I'm not Eli," Ben said touching her cheek.

"You don't think I know that!" She said a little aggressively. "I'm sorry, Ben. I didn't mean to snap at you."

"I know. It's okay. Your father's sick and you just broke up with your boyfriend. And you snapped, but that's okay."

"How can you like me? Every time you mentioned liking me before I was being a pain in someone's ass."

"I just hoped that one day you could be a pain in mine."