Hello! Summer is here! I am free! I am happy! Woohoo! Now, you see, I'm just gonna wing this chapter, so don't even depend on anything. Actually, I wing all of my chapters. Pfffft. I'm too above planning. Same with Bethan Forever. We're too… cool for that.

So now I present to you this chapter! You have to enjoy it. Cause I said so.

Ethan sighed as he waited on the steps in front of his house. Benny had texted him the other day, telling him that they should be publicly together. Ethan had already skipped Jesse's meetings and a few days of work. He felt kind of excited to hold his hand in public and not worry about Jesse, but he was also afraid. He didn't know what exactly would happen at school.

Benny also offered to pick Jane up, but he told him Jane goes early on to school with their dad. Plus, he wanted to have some private time with his boyfriend. Was that a crime? But Ethan couldn't help but feel that Benny was becoming more like a second brother to Jane even though they haven't seen each other much these past few days.

Beep! Beep! The sounds of Benny's car horns rang through his ears, making him look up. He was too busy look at his shaky hands. Benny rolled down his car window, revealing the spell caster with a big, goofy grin on his face. "Hey, beautiful. Get in," he said.

Seeing Benny so happy made him calm down a bit. He went over to the car and opened the car's door, getting in. "Hey, B," he said.

Benny kissed him for a tiny fraction of a second, and that was not enough for Ethan. He wanted to kiss him even more, but Benny backed away and said, "You ready?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. But I think I can manage. Or I can pretend to," he said, buckling his seat belt.

Benny squeezed his hand. "If you're not comfortable, it's okay. We can do it some other time. Totally cool with that."

Ethan smiled at how supportive he was. "It's okay. I'm overreacting. Let's just do this."

Benny nodded and looked ahead, now beginning to drive. It was a short drive, and soon, they were in school. Ethan took a deep breath before getting out of the car, looking over at Benny with a determined face. Benny, in return, shot him a smile and then came over to him, giving him his arm.

Ethan laughed. "You're so cheesy. I hate you."

Benny fake-pouted. "Fine! Take my hand! Do it the old fashion way."

"Actually, giving me your arm is also-"

"I don't care, Mr. Know-it-All! Do you wanna enter or not?" Benny said, raising an eyebrow.

Ethan rolled his eyes. "Alright. Alright. Lead the way, Romeo."

Benny grinned with satisfaction and went with Ethan inside. At first, some eyes turned to him, as if shocked. Other looked as if they knew this would happen. Though some people… they weren't so happy – like the people from Jesse's side. Still, Ethan walked with his head high and with the ends of his mouth curved into a smile.

But the reaction that made Ethan wipe the smile off his face was Rory's. When they approached Benny's locker, Rory's face was hard to read. He was simply staring at them.

Benny waved in front of Rory's face. "Hey, you alright?"

Rory blinked and then seemed to snap out of it. "Y-Yeah. I just don't understand what's going on with you and Ethan." He shrugged. "I remember us hating him, then you being all friendly, then him showing up in the council meetings, and now you're dating? What?"

Ethan looked at Benny, giving a silent 'you wanna take this?' And Benny gladly did. "Look, yeah, we were on bad terms with him, but he's good now. We had a few talks and… he knows Jesse's the bad guy now."

Rory crossed his arms. "And that's all of it? I bet there's more to the story."

Okay, maybe he was smarter than they gave him credits for. Benny scratched the back of his neck, looking around. "Um, what?" he asked, dragging his words in a high-pitched tone. But when he saw Rory still looking at him as if expecting an answer, he sighed, looking at Ethan for approval to tell. Ethan motioned for him to speak. He didn't mind. "We were, uh, secretly seeing each other this whole time?" Benny said, forming it in a question in the end.

Rory smiled, letting out a laugh. "Oh, I've been waiting for you to say that. I knew that from the beginning, B." But then he stopped laughed and shrugged. "I was mad and confused at first, but really, I feel fine now."

The two just stared at him, but no one spoke for a while until Benny said, "Wait, how did you know?"

It was Rory's turn now to look around as if he was clueless. "Oh, wait, I have history now. Darn. Wish I could stay. Bye!" And he walked away, the other two too shocked to stop him.

Benny turned to Ethan, both a speechless mess. "What just happened?" Benny asked.

Ethan shook his head, dismissing this. "It was probably for the best that he knew about this."

The spell master nodded. "Probably." But then he smiled and held Ethan's hand. "Come on! We have geography first period." Benny was never excited to go to class, so Ethan concluded that he was happy to go to class as a couple with Ethan.

So he nodded and gave back a soft smile. "Let's go."

When they started walking was also when they saw Jesse and the others walk by. And Jesse didn't look so happy. He was sending such a disdainful glare towards Ethan. That was when he knew he was screwed. At first, Ethan's heart began to race, but then he realized he was being ridiculous. Why was he so scared? He shouldn't be. Jesse would make sure to do something horrible to Ethan, but Ethan was also smart. He'd know how to deal with everything. So he sent a smile in Jesse's direction, which was met with a growl, but he dismissed that. He was happy to see a bastard like Jesse so frustrated and betrayed. And it helped even more that Benny was pulling Ethan closer, displaying him beside him proudly.

"I won't let him get to you," Benny whispered in Ethan's ear.

Ethan turned to look at him and smiled. "I know."

They walked past the vampires, but that didn't mean the werewolves on Jesse's side weren't ahead. One look at them, and Ethan swallowed. Arthur looked about ready to chop his head off. Not that Ethan felt guilty. All of the people on Jesse's side were evil, but he was scared for his life. He may be able to fight multiple vampires and werewolves at a time, but if they'd group up against him, who knew what would happen? After all, he was just a human.

"Can we just hurry up?" Ethan whispered to the spell caster.

"Yeah. Sorry," Benny said, not taking Ethan by his hand and getting him to class. Oh, this was hell.

Ethan couldn't say the rest of the day went smoothly. He had obviously made plenty of enemies, but it seemed like he also made a few allies that trusted him around school. The others on Anastasia's side still seemed unsure. He couldn't blame them. He really was a horrible person before he became good.

Thankfully, Ethan managed this day pretty well. With Benny right beside him all the time, no one dared to come close to him. And then it was time to go home. He quickly got into the car with Benny and he was driven home. During the ride, they started talking about stupid things like the old times. Ethan was going to head over to Anastasia, but he needed to prepare a bit first. Maybe change his clothes and prepare the things he needed to help the others train.

Benny waved at him as he entered. For a second, everything was great and perfect. Everything felt magical for the first time. But he knew everything would shatter because when he entered the house, his parents looked angry as they argued. First, he dismissed it as one of their usual arguments as a couple, but then they stared at him angrily and Ethan gripped his backpack even harder.

"Sit down," he father demanded, motioning for the living room.

Ethan did just that. Arguing with them would do him no good. But he also wouldn't look down. He wasn't weak. Even if wasn't confident either, he felt looking up instead of down made him more prepared for anything.

His parents followed shortly after, their glares still cutting deep into Ethan, but they seemed a bit reluctant seeing that Ethan wouldn't show fear. "Jesse visited just a minute ago," his mother said. Oh, no. "He says you've betrayed him? That you've gone to the other side?" The questions were filled with so much rage that Ethan wanted to hide behind the couch. But he didn't. He'd keep this appearance.

"So what?" he asked. "Not as if I'm required to be on Jesse's side. It's my own freedom. Jane hasn't been supporting Jesse since forever. So why do you throw a fit when I do the same?"

"It's different with you," his father said. "You've been raised to be Jesse's helper." Helper? He snorted. But his father ignored this. "You've betrayed Jesse while Jane never was on his side to begin with."

"Still, it's a free country! I can do whatever I want!" he said, noticing that some of his anger was seeping through.

"Not when what you're doing is wrong," his dad said. "Anastasia is-"

"The good person," Ethan interrupted. "Jesse's the bad one. How could you not see it?" He groaned, getting up.

"Sit down, young mister. We're not done," his mother said.

They never listened to him, so why should he? He hurried upstairs to get away from them. He didn't want to talk to or see them. He locked his door and sighed against the door. He didn't notice this before but his heart was beating fast. Though the big problem was: how could he go downstairs undetected by his parents? He was, after all, going to see Anastasia.

Calling Benny, he talked about what had happened in the house with Jesse telling his parents about him becoming good. He told him how he wanted to get out but couldn't because he'd just be stopped by his parents. So after five minutes, Benny proposed he uses magic to flash him in the Weirs' house. Seeing no better option, he agreed to that, saying he'll tell him to flash him out when he's ready.

He went to shower then he went to prepare himself, which took almost no time. Years of training to be ready had made him very fast. When he was done putting in his knives in his jacket, he texted Benny. Maybe it was Ethan's doubts in Benny's abilities, but he didn't expect to see himself in Benny's room this fast.

Ethan blinked at Benny but then when his brain registered what had happened, he smiled. "Hey, B," he said.

"Hey, E." Benny took his jacket from his coat hanger and pointed at the door. "Come on. Let's go."

Ethan was glad that Benny didn't ask about or mention what happened with Ethan and his parents. He didn't really want to talk about it. He wanted to forget, even though he'd have to face them later. But like usual, when they got into Benny's car, the spell master grinned.

"So," Benny said dragging the word. All Ethan could do was prevent his smile from becoming too wide. "Anastasia said you can start training the others today." But that was not all. He could sense that Benny wanted to say more. "She also said the others are trusting you more."

"Really?" Ethan asked. If anything, he thought they'd take years to trust him. Now Benny was telling him there was trust? He couldn't believe it.

Benny nodded. "Yep," he said. "Now any doubt in your head, or fear, should be erased."

"Yeah? And what if there are some inside?" he asked, his arms crossed.

Benny's eyes started to move left and right, his mouth open. "Uh, well, you see, I can do magic."

"Uh huh."

"And I can do stuff to your brain."

Ethan rolled his eyes. "Of course you can. Drive, genius."

Benny chuckled and drove away. Even though things were looking up in some places, in others, Ethan's life was basically hell.

I would've written more, but:

1) I have nothing to add

2) I am tired and not in the mood to write

But I hope you enjoyed the chapter. My tiredness is not allowing me to write much and joke, so until next time…

-TEM