Author's note: Well, folks, I finally have a new laptop! Hopefully soon I'll know if my old files for this story are saved, and if not, I will just have to re-write after chapter 30. But soon we'll be done with all this silly "author's note" nonsense at the beginning of each chapter, and we can go back to good old MBAV fanfic fun. Sound good? :)
Opening the door, they saw Benny's smug face and Fayette's confused one staring back at them.
"Hey there, lovebirds," Benny cooed, pinching Ethan's cheek.
"Oh, shut up. You could've knocked," Sarah pointed out.
"Well I was unaware that you two were canoodling," Benny said, moving the two swiftly aside and jumping on Ethan's bed.
"What is it with you and that word? Who actually 'canoodles'?" Ethan said, moving Benny's feet off of his comforter.
"No one," Fayette added, stepping cautiously into the room.
"See? Even Fayette agrees," Sarah said, smiling at the other girl.
"But you two were kissing. You can't hide that forever." Benny leaned back on the bed, placing his hands behind his head. "Fayette, come on in. They won't attack you." He winked, nodding his head towards the end of the bed for her to sit.
Fayette, who still stood a little shyly by the doorway, took a few steps in before sitting down at the edge of the bed with Benny.
"Yes, we kissed," Ethan acknowledged, while Sarah closed the door and heaved herself onto the desktop beside Ethan, who lounged in the desk chair.
"But who was the initiator?" Benny asked, the smile across his face having not faded since he entered the room.
Sarah pointed over at Ethan. "I never thought he'd have the guts," she admitted, smiling nonetheless. "But can we not talk about this? Jane's downstairs by herself. I need to do my job and babysit her. You two can sit up here and gossip all you want. Fayette, you want to come help me make something to eat?"
Fayette perked up at the idea of some girl time, never really having many friends. Benny nudged her side with his foot, indicating she could go on. She turned back to him, untied his shoelace, and then skipped out of the room after Sarah.
"That girl wants me to trip and die," Benny claimed, staring wistfully after where she left. "Now that our ladies have left, you'll have to spill the beans, Ethan."
"So you're Benny's girlfriend?" Jane asked Fayette, while the three girls stood in Ethan's kitchen, preparing to make dinner.
Fayette was in charge of the dinner rolls in the oven, while Sarah monitored the boiling pot of water that the spaghetti would go in. Jane was in the process of setting the dinner table when she blurted out that question.
Fayette exchanged a glance with Sarah, who simply smiled. "I guess I kind of am. I'm not sure if it's official yet or not," Fayette responded, playing with the oven mitt on her hand.
"Why would you date Benny?" Jane asked.
"Jane!" Sarah scolded.
Fayette just laughed. "No, it's okay. Why do you ask?"
"I think you're too pretty for him."
Fayette patted Jane on the shoulder. "You'll come to find out there's no such thing. I actually think Benny's handsome, and he's got a good heart. When you grow up and try to find a boyfriend, make sure to find one as decent as he is. Maybe one with better pick-up lines, but you can't be so picky."
Sarah laughed, stirring the pot of sauce. "Boys are icky," Jane added, going back to the table to set the silverware down.
Fayette went over to the counter by the stove and leaned her back against it, while Sarah looked over at her inquisitively. Though this was only officially her first time meeting Fayette, she already liked her. She didn't try too hard, and she really did seem to like Benny for the weird individual he was.
"I felt a bit awkward earlier when Benny and I kind of barged in," Fayette admitted.
"By, 'Benny and I', I hope you mean 'just Benny', because you didn't do anything," Sarah said, laughing. "And don't worry about it. He's a dork. It's like he gets anywhere near displays of affection, and his inner toddler makes an appearance. I will never understand his love for the word 'canoodles'."
"I think he just likes saying 'noodles'. Gosh, wait until I tell you about this line he tried to use on me the other day. I walked him home and just out of nowhere, he turned to me and said, 'You must be the square root of 2 cause I feel irrational around you.' And he tried to say it in this really deep voice. I was like, Benny, you use pick-up lines when you're trying to get the girl, not when you've already taken her on a date." Sarah and Fayette started laughing, with Jane just shaking her head as she stood near the dinner table.
Ethan and Benny entered the kitchen, with the latter saying, "Been talking about us?"
At that, Fayette and Sarah looked at each other, bursting even more into laughter.
"I'm not sure I wanna know," Ethan muttered to a confused Benny.
Fayette, still laughing as Benny approached her, nearly slipped on water. The boiling pot started to flow over the lid, dripping down to the floor. Sarah immediately turned the oven down, but not before accidentally bumping into Fayette, who grabbed Benny's hand for support, but ended up taking him down with her.
Fayette's back was on the ground and covered in water, with Benny squashing her, who had landed on top of her. She grabbed his shoulders while he tried to push himself up. She still had the oven mitt on her right hand as the timer went off for the dinner rolls.
"I should probably get those," she said, laughing.
Benny finally got up, holding his hand out to help Fayette from the ground. "Oh, my dress has water all down the back."
"Ethan, do you have anything she could borrow while we put her dress in the dryer?" Sarah asked, taking the oven mitt from Fayette so she could take the dinner rolls out.
"Yeah, I'll go get a t-shirt and some pajama bottoms. Is that okay?"
Fayette nodded, as Ethan left to go upstairs while Benny just glanced down at her, smirking. "What?" she asked.
"If I say it, you'll punch me."
She gave out a chuckle. "No, I won't. Say it."
He paused, before snickering. "You're taking your dress off."
Fayette dipped her finger in the spaghetti sauce and drew a mustache on Benny. "I think you deserve that much," she countered, smiling mischievously.
Ethan returned with a blue shirt and plaid PJ pants, handing them over to Fayette. He took one look at Benny and said, "That's the only mustache you're likely to ever have."
"Look who's talking," Benny replied, wiping the spaghetti sauce from above his lip, and smearing it on Fayette's cheek.
Her jaw dropped, and Benny just knew he was in trouble. "Bad move, Benjamin," she said, grabbing the jar of remaining sauce from the counter and setting the clothes down. Benny backed up, his hands up in defense.
"You might want to be careful where you point that thing, Miss Challacombe," Benny said, staring at the jar of sauce in her hand.
She approached him slowly, until he sped off in the opposite direction, with her chasing after him.
"Be careful, you two!" Ethan shouted. Turning to Sarah, he spoke, "They're going to ruin my house."
"She's smart enough to not spill it. If that jar was in Benny's hand, however, you'd have cause for concern," Sarah said, turning the stovetop off and pouring the bowl of spaghetti noodles and water over the colander in the sink.
Meanwhile, Fayette ran after Benny, who had taken refuge in Ethan's upstairs shower. He stood, cornered.
Fayette smiled, walking slowly towards him. "You should've stood by a priceless heirloom, or on top of an expensive rug. Not in the shower where I have every reason to dump this on your head."
"I need to stop doing things the Benny way," he mumbled under his breath.
Stepping into the shower with him, she held the sauce slightly over his head. "Any last words?"
"I'm taking you with me," he said as she tipped the jar upside down. While the sauce poured, in one fluid motion, he pulled her in by her waist, getting sauce all over her in the process.
They stood there, in Ethan's shower with spaghetti sauce covering them head to toe. Fayette, reaching for a towel to wipe her eyes, placed the empty jar by the sink, with no further use for it.
Out of breath and laughing, Benny's hand, still around her waist, pulled her closer. While his other hand reached to the back of her neck, he pulled her up into a kiss.
Fayette stood on her tip toes, her hands clasped behind Benny's sauce-soaked back. With their eyes closed and their lips moving together, none were quite sure how long this went on for. Seconds, centuries, it was all a beautiful blur, until they heard a cough in the doorway to their right.
"I guess we're even," Ethan said, as he and Sarah stood there, arms crossed and smirking. "Just came to tell you dinner is ready. Make sure you two clean off my shower of all sauce."
Benny saluted as the two left him and Fayette standing there.
"I think I'm blushing. Is my face red?" Fayette joked.
"I'd say that kiss was quite...saucy. Wouldn't you?" Benny added, using his thumb to wipe away some sauce from Fayette's cheek.
Fayette poked him in the side, turning the water on above them. "Please tell me you have some sort of clean up spell in that book of yours?"
"I'll look after we soak for a second."
"Fully clothed, mister. It's like you've been trying to get me out of this dress all night."