Surprise
Ben got back to the loft around 9. When he walked into the loft, it was quiet. Ben noticed his clothes folded at the end of the couch.
He sat on the couch, leaned back, and closed his eyes. He didn't hear the door open or notice Ciara standing there until she called his name.
" Ben?"
Ben opened his eyes and looked at Ciara, " Hey."
" Hey, where did you go? You were gone a while."
" Just walked around."
" Did you get anything to eat?"
" No, I'll get something in a minute."
" I saved you some pasta; I can heat it for you?"
" That would be great, thanks."
Ciara grabbed the pasta from the fridge and stuck it in the microwave.
" You didn't have to leave earlier."
Ben walked over to the counter and sat down.
" Yeah, I did. Tripp didn't want me here."
" I want you here," Ciara said as the microwave went off.
Ciara pulled the pasta out and placed it on the counter for Ben.
" Here you go."
" Thanks."
Ben ate his pasta and talked to Ciara while she made herself some tea.
" Where are Tripp and Claire?"
" Claire went to a friend's house, and Tripp, I have no idea where he went."
" Is everything okay with you guys?"
" I don't want to talk about Tripp. Do you want to watch TV?"
" Sure."
Ben and Ciara moved over to the couch and watched TV. Ciara fell asleep against Ben's shoulder, her hand resting on his leg.
Ben looked at her and smiled before leaning back and closing his eyes.
Tripp walked through the door and slammed it when he saw the two of them asleep.
Both Ciara and Ben jumped when they heard the slam.
" WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"
" Nothing, we were watching TV."
" You were asleep against his shoulder with your hand on his leg."
" So?"
" You won't sleep with me. But you have no problem sleeping against Ben?"
Ben stood up and looked at Tripp and said, " You need to calm down."
" This is between me and Ciara."
" Ciara is my friend, and right now, you are upsetting her, so why don't you go calm down."
" Like I'm going to take advice from a serial killer."
" Tripp, you're overreacting. We were watching TV and fell asleep, that's it."
" Ciara, can we talk alone?"
" There's nothing to say. We did nothing wrong."
Ciara sat back on the couch, and Ben did the same.
A few days later. Ciara was sitting at the desk working on a math problem when her phone started to ring.
" Hello?"
" Ciara? Hey, it's Tripp. Is everything okay?"
" Yes. I just really, really hate math. Why? What's up?"
" My shift's almost over, and I thought I'd get some dessert, bring it home, and maybe we could watch the next episode?"
" Yeah, definitely."
" Yeah? Yeah, Are you sure you're not too busy?"
" Please. If I have to look at those numbers for another second, I swear I'm going to scream."
" Okay, I'll see you in a little while. Bye," Ciara said as she hung up the phone.
" Oh, my god," Ciara said when she turned around and saw Ben standing there.
" Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."
" It's okay. Um, what's that for? Ciara said, pointing to the bandana in Ben's hand."
" I have a surprise for you."
" You have a surprise for me?"
" Yeah. Wait till you see what, What's wrong?"
Ciara could only watch him play with the bandana in his hand.
Ben noticed what she was looking at and said, " Oh, My god, Ciara, this isn't, um... I wasn't. I was going to blindfold you and take you somewhere, but I'm suddenly realizing what a bad idea that was."
" No. Uh, it's okay."
" It's not okay. I'm really sorry."
" No, I'm sorry I overreacted. I hope I didn't hurt your feelings."
" No. Not possible. Now that we have that straightened out, can I take you to your surprise? It won't take long."
" I would love to, but Tripp is on his way home soon, and we made plans."
" No worries. It can wait."
Ciara got a text from Tripp saying, " Something came up, will be a little late."
Ciara turned to Ben and said, " Turns out. I have some time after, all."
" Yeah?"
" Yeah, Then let's go."
" Let's go."
" I promise no blindfold."
They went down to level B, and Ciara said, " So you won't even give me a hint?"
" Then it wouldn't be a surprise."
" Okay, but seriously, I have no idea what this could even be. Oh, my god. Oh, my god, this is my dad's bike. Wait, no I... I totaled this. How did you..."
" When I moved in, I started working on it."
" And all of your walks?"
" They really clear your head."
" But still, every bike shop in town that I took it to said the only thing I could do was give it a proper burial."
" Yeah, well, I'm not good at very much, but I've always been a decent mechanic."
" Decent?
"Dude, are you kidding me? You're like a miracle worker."
" Oh, my god. Why would you go through all this trouble?"
" What do you mean? Ciara, you've done so much for me, I mean, defending me, believing in me, not to mention letting me stay at your loft, rent-free." It's the least I could do."
" You don't owe me anything."
" That's why I wanted to do it. I was trying to think of a way to repay your kindness, but I don't know; I just remembered back at the cabin. You told me how much this bike meant to you."
" It was my dad's most prized possession. When he left it to me, it was like I still had a part of him, you know? So thank you."
" You're welcome."
" Cause now I feel like I have that part of him back," Ciara said as she hugged Ben. " Thank you."
They stood hugging for a minute before Ciara pulled away.
" Um, um, sorry."
" For what?"
" Getting so emotional."
" It's nothing to be sorry about."
" It's just that fixing my dad's bike that's like the sweetest thing anyone's ever done for me."
Ben started to chuckle a little.
" What?"
" You got some, uh, little grease on your face."
" Oh, where?"
" Do you mind?
" Yeah, go."
" Here," Ben said as he wiped her face with the bandana.
" Let me get it."
" Uh-huh."
Ben licked his finger before rubbing it on her face.
" Sorry."
" Ew," Ciara said, laughing.
" Sorry."
They both started laughing before Ciara asked, " You got it?"
" All right, you're good."
" I should probably get back to the loft. Tripp will be home soon."
" Yeah. Do you think maybe we can take it for a quick test drive? Just to make sure everything works."
" Sure."
" Yeah?"
" Yeah. Let's go."
Ciara got on the bike, and Ben said, " You're driving, okay."
" Mm-hmm."
" Fair enough," Ben said as he got on the back.
" Yep."
She handed Ben the other helmet, and they took off.
They returned to the loft and walked through the door.
" I did not almost kill that squirrel."
" Yeah, because he literally jumped out of the way."
" He was running into the... Oh, hey, Tripp.
" Hey."
" Hey, where'd you go?"
" Just for a little joy ride."
" Ben fixed my dad's bike. Isn't that amazing?"
" Totally."
" Well, uh, I know you guys had plans. I should probably go; change. Thank you for the ride."
" So ready to, uh, watch the next episode?"
" Yeah, yeah, uh, you took Ben for a ride on your bike?"
" Yeah, he wanted to test it out, make sure it was safe to drive."
" Yeah, but he like what, had his arms around you?
" He had to, or else we would have been scraping him off the pavement. Wait. Tripp Dalton, are you jealous?"
" I wouldn't say jealous is the word. Okay, maybe it is, but come on, Ciara, why would I be okay with this? I mean, the guy's obviously trying to make a play at you."
" Because he fixed my bike?"
" Yeah, because he fixed your bike. I mean, didn't you say you took it to, a ton of different shops, and there's nothing they could do?"
" So what is he like, a motorcycle whisperer?"
" Okay. Yeah, it probably took Ben a really, really long time, but he was just trying to repay me for letting him stay here. And for believing in him."
" You know, he really appreciates me defending him when nobody else would."
" Mm-hmm, I bet he did."
" Okay, even if Ben did have feelings for me, it's not like that changes anything. I'm with you now. And I'm the happiest I've ever been."
Ciara leaned in and kissed Tripp, and Ben watched from the doorway.
Ben said he was going to run some errands. He opened the door only to be arrested by Hope Brady.
