AN: Well that wasn't too long of a time, right? Im pretty proud, actually.
He takes in a deep breath and says, "I like you Ally. A lot."
I mouth falls open. I've known this guy for all of a week, and even though I have the same feelings, just can't except that. It's not enough. He basically ignored me my first week of a new school, and I was alone, all the time. It was terrible. And now, he can't just hop back into my life whenever he wants.
I don't play like that.
"Well, I'm not-sure how I feel about that right now. I'll...get back to you." "You'll...get back to me?" he asks, in utter confusion. "Mhmm," is all I give him, as I turn and slip away, meaning to be dramatic and alluring, but failing by tripping and falling on my butt. Sighing, I just sit there and wait for my impatience with myself to end. I hear Ben laughing his head off behind me, and then feel myself being picked up off the floor.
Surprised, my body locks, and I again fall back, but this time Ben is ready, and catches me. My backpack is pressed against his chest, but the doesn't stop him from leaning in and whispering 'careful' in my ear. Blushing hard, I stand in my own feet, muttering my thanks. He just laughs again and throws his arm over me, like he did on my first day. We walk together, becoming reacquainted after the long week of basically silence. When we reach our third period health class, he lets his arm drop and pulls open the door.
Ready for any chance to make him blush, I slink past, to the best of my ability, and say "such a gentleman", while throwing a wink his way. My plans works, and his face turns a wonderful shade of pink. Thinking to myself, I realize how little the week did to affect my feelings towards him. I still have the same huge crush on him and still have this hopeless desire for him to be mine alone.
December (3 months pass)
Pulling my thick sweater closer to my shivering body, I wait for the bus to show up at my stop. Looking around, I realize I'm the only student here today. Usually, Ben meets me here, since he lives a neighbor hood away from me. No surprise there, since we always end up together. But I'm not complaining. Ben and I have become super close in these past months, and while Clarissa is still like my sister, Ben is my best friend. And I'm his. And even though our feelings go deeper, we are only best friends.
Our relationship is...complicated.
After meeting each other's families, our parents met, too, and are now good friends, too. Because of this, we do a lot of combined family dinners. I love his brothers, Hal and Matt, and have adopted them as my own. My older brother, Tyler, is too old to really bond well with Hal, since there's a three year difference between them, but you can tell Hal looks up to him, like I do. During these dinners, our parents' talk and hangout, while Ty and Hal play some video game or watch TV or something, and Matt either bugs them, plays on his own, or bugs Ben and me. We usually hangout in one of our rooms or outside or something.
Last night was one of those nights, and my family was hosting the Masons. Ben and I were by ourselves in my room since Matt was with Hal and Ty. We were just hanging out like usual, listening to music and laughing our heads off. But something weird happened. I messed up my hair laughing, and was attempting to tame my curls, when Ben reached over and moved some behind my ear. Cheesy as it was, he leaned in, and I did too, and we shared our first kiss. It was really sweet, and soft and gentle, but I could feel our passion and connection building up behind it. I know he did too.
After we kissed, we went back to normal, not like we were ignoring it, but like it was usual for us just to spontaneously kiss, when it definitely was not. I'm even more confused about where Ben and I stand on the labels thing, but I refuse to let this come between us. As I'm rethinking about last night, again, I'm oblivious to the car that's pulled up in front of me. I jump a foot in the air when it honks twice at me, both times sharp, quick, loud sounds. Gaining my focus, I realize the car in front of me is Mr. Mason's car, and Ben is driving.
Rushing over to the car, I yank the door open and slide in. Hal gives me a sleepy nod, and Mr. Mason says hello. I look into the rearview mirror at Ben, and our eyes meet; mine full of curiosity and his full or excitement. We drive to school slowly, all the while Tom is giving Ben directions on what to do and what not to do. I realize Ben must have finally gotten his permit, and am I excited for the possible prospect of a driving friend.
After we pull into Hazen's lot, Hal slips out and walks off to find Karen, who he's sadly still dating, and I wait for Ben as he thanks his dad for letting him drive. "Sure, about time you learned. You too, Ally. You're next." He smiles at me. "Oh no, Mr. Mason. You don't want me driving." I admit. I wasn't very surprised when Tom lets out an exhausted sigh, saying how I should call him Tom and how he doesn't want to go to work
When he leaves, Ben and I walk into our school, only to see that Christmas has arrived. The entire school is covered with winter holiday decorations; tall trees, paper snowflakes, garland and lights, and mistletoe everywhere. You see every single couple stop and start making out, using the mistletoe as an excuse.
Walking around the commons, looking for someone we're friends with to show up, I start thinking about our situation. I don't think we're a couple, but friends don't kiss friends, right? I like him a lot, and I know he likes me a lot too, surprisingly, but neither of us will take that final step. With numerous thoughts spinning around my head, I realize just how tired I am. I didn't get much sleep last night, and now it's taking its toll.
I slump against Ben, allowing him to tow me wherever. He plops down on one of the benches, and I curl up around him, to the best of my at-school ability. My head on his shoulder and his arm around me; everyone one assumes we're 'together', when its not specified, but he's definitely off-limits to anyone but me.
Sighing, I let me eyes slide closed. Just as I'm about to gain a little nap, someone decides it would be funny to throw a paper airplane, and I am smacked awake by the thing hitting me in the face. My eyes dart open and my body jerks up in surprise. I look around, trying to spot my culprit, but Ben beats me to it, and yells "Hey! Watch yourself, asshole," in a menacing voice.
Blushing a little, I glance up at him and mutter my thanks. "'Course. No one messes with my Ally and gets away with it," effectively deepening my blush. Using his nickname for me as an excuse to bring it up, I decide to question him about our relationship. "Umm, hey Ben, what a- what do you exactly mean by 'your Ally'? What are we?"
His cheeks turn a bright red, as well, and he mumbles something I can't understand, so I just I've him a look that says to speak up. With a big intake of air, he clears his throat and looks me dead in the eye, causing those darn butterflies to go AWOL again. "We can be whatever you want to be."
I gasp quietly, and my mouth hangs open. All I do for an answer is lean in and kiss him full on his lips. Unlike last night, this kiss is more aggressive and fiery, and I can't get enough. I can't get close enough to him, and find myself leaning closer and wrapping my arms around his shoulders for support. My entire body burns with passion, and my brain is a complete mess. I have a feeling that he and his wonderful mouth will be a toxin to me in the near future.
We break away breathlessly when the whistles and catcalls begin. Hal walks over, clapping loudly and smirking like a smart-ass, and says, "I was wondering when that would happen," before cracking up. Ben and I both blush profusely, and slide apart a little ways.
The warning bell rings, signaling to us that there's only five minutes until class starts, so Ben and I rise, hand in hand, and walk off towards biology. When we get there, Clarissa's eyebrows shoot up, and she gestures towards our now openly free new relationship. Just to prove a point, Ben leans down and places a feather light kiss at the corner of my mouth, just so his lips barely touch mine. Clarissa breaks out into such a shit-eating grin, that I send a glare her way.
The whole time Ms. Harold babbles on about genes and gene bonding, Ben and I are connected at the hands, with our fingers threaded through each other's. When she dismisses us for the end of class, we stand and wait by our desks. Karen walks by, scoffing and shoves me, but it has no real affect, since it just pushes me into Ben further. Ben complies by kissing me again, full on the mouth, in front of her. She glares at him, and I turn and mouth 'bite me' to her. She turns 20 shades of angry, and I'd actually be a bit frightened, if I didn't know her boyfriend treated me like his little sister.
Smirking, I reach up on my tippy toes to kiss Ben again, just to aggravate Karen. She growls, and spins around waiting to hear the bell so she can make her leave. Laughing, I turn to see Ben shake his head slowly, chuckling. I take in all 6 feet of Ben Mason; all 6 feet of my boyfriend. I'm still smiling like an idiot when he looks up at me, and blush when he asks what I'm staring at. In a playful mood suddenly, I say, "I'm just admiring the view." And throw in a little wink at the end.
After school, Ben and I walk to Starbucks to study for a bit. I have a big French exam coming up, and Ben, being fluent in not only English and French but three other languages, too, offered to help me practice. Part of the test is oral, and I'm worried about my pronunciation.
"J'adore Ben." I say smiling. "Moi aussi." We start laughing and he smirks and say "Moi, j'aime bien moi, mais j'adore Ally." Smiling, I lean over and kiss him lightly. We study for about twenty more minutes, practicing simple things, like colors and numbers and different nouns. Our studying is often interrupted by a kiss here of there, but is pretty focused otherwise. Once we're done, we stand and walk to his house to just hangout. With this week being our week school day before break, and since I am leaving for Christmas to Illinois to visit family, we want to be together as much as possible. It will be a long week apart.
The rest of the week continues similarly.
I've known him for at least three months, but I feel like we've been friends since birth. We have become so close in such little time, that I know we will soon be inseparable. I think we already are.
On the Friday before break, Ben and I skip the French practice, since today I had taken my final. We go straight to his house just to hang out before I leave.
I beg him to play guitar for me, seeing as that is one of his many talents and I find it oh so attractive. He starts to play Christmas songs, and I can't help myself but to hum along. Soon, we're belting out the lyrics to our hearts desire, just having a riot together, like usual. Laughing with him is one of the best feelings in my life. Ben has the most adorable laugh, and I can't even describe it. It's so warm and welcoming and happy, yet alluring at the same time. Everything about him sets me on fire.
Around six, I decide I should probably head home. Even though the Mason's offered for me to stay for dinner, I decline and say I need to go home and pack my bags for Illinois. Frowning, Ben says he'll walk me home.
We walk at a leisurely pace, swinging our connected hands between our bodies. At passing the neighborhood park, he stops and pulls me over to the bench. It's wintertime, and the sky turns dark around 4:30pm, so by now, 6:15pm ish, it's pitch black. We lay on the park bench at stare up at the stars, not saying anything, but our hands remain connected.
"I'll miss you every second you're gone, you know," he admits to me, and my heart melts at his honesty. "Just don't...don't go making friends with your ex while you're there, okay? I don't want to lose you. Not after just a week of this new relationship."
I sit up, and pull him up with me. I turn towards him with a frown on my face, and say "Ben I could never do that. I like you way too much. And besides I broke it off with him, remember? And anyways, I'm with the most amazing guy imaginable, so there's no need to fret." I lean in and pull his strong torso into my arms, hugging him tight, to prove that I will never be able to let go.
Ben walks me the rest of the way home. When we get to my house, we just sort of stand on the porch a while. I lean my head against his shoulder and he wraps his arms around me and hugs me tight. "Can you not go?" he whispers. Chuckling drily I say, "Sure, just kidnap me now."
Suddenly I'm flying off my feet and Ben is spinning me around, running into my front yard laughing and yelling, "That I can do!" Laughing breathlessly I hold on to him for dear life, knowing he can support my weight easily. "Put me down! Before my dad finds a gun." I command him, hoping that my dad isn't actually that predictable.
He carries me back up on to the porch and sets me on my feet, but continues to hold me close. Smiling I close the distance between us and kiss him one last time. I don't let him pull away from this one, since usually, he tries to keep things mostly innocent. I keep him in place and enjoy our long, hot kiss.
The porch light comes on; my warning from Ty, 'Mom and Dad are still up'. Breaking away, he lets his forehead rest on mine, and I suck up all of his body head I can. Inhaling deeply, I try to memorize his comforting scent.
"I'll call you when I can, and send you tons of texts, okay?" He nods his head slowly, sadly. Sighing, I drag myself away pull open my front door, and only make it half way in before I turn and whisper goodbye. "Bye," he whispers back. And I step inside and close the door, beginning probably the longest break of my life.
Author's Note: So what did you guys think? Did I rush into things too fast? This chapter took a lot of thinking, rewriting, debating, and consideration. I am actually anxious to how you'll react...
I am a big gigantic softy for romance, and I absolutely couldn't contain my excitement for this relationship. That, and I am going into Falling Skies withdrawl. It's getting pretty gruesome. Tears have actually legitimately leaked. :/
Also, this was my long chapter so far. So I mean that deserves a little love, right? C'mon, with the reviews, please. Maybe if I get a lot of reviews I'll feel guilty enough to try and update pretty fast again. . ;)
Last thing, I want to refer you guys to two of my absolute favourite Falling Skies junkies, too. They would happen to be Kaylee and Alyssa aka 2
They have written one of my favourite Falling Skies fics ever, Hate, Envy, Loss, Love. Please, if you haven't already read it, go check it out. And leave them some reviews! They're really pretty cool girls, and I'd love to know I'm helping them out in any way! 3
Okay, that's about it. OH AND WHOS SEEN THE NEW SEASON 3 CLIPS? I FINALLY DID AND I CANT EVEN. IM SO EXCITED ASDFGHJKPJHGBAEYRHJGUART.
Okay Im done.