Ben hadn’t slept well the night after the Festival because he was worried about Emma. Nick and Rachael were still asleep in Nick’s room so he quietly let himself out of the apartment. He went down to the local coffee shop and got breakfast for he and Emma.
Ben knocked softly on Emma’s door.
She opened, still in her pajamas, obviously a little unsure why Ben was standing at her door. Ben held out one of the cups of coffee. “I needed one and thought you could use one too,” he said. Emma finally smiled and opened the door wider so he could enter.
As Ben followed her inside, and sat down at the bar with her, he thought he may have finally won her over.
Turned out it was the coffee and food that she was salivating over, not him.
As they ate, Emma smiled at him and said, “You really are a good friend Ben. Thank you for takin’ up for me last night. And thank you for breakfast. You know, maybe you aren’t really a dick-hay-ud after all.”
“There are benefits other than breakfast that come with being my friend you know,” said Ben wiggling his eyebrows.
Emma just shook her head. “You just can’t leave well enough alone can you Ben?”
Ben shrugged and gave her his best hurt look and they finished their coffee in silence.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The following week, Nick rushed into the apartment and sat a bag of groceries on the table. “Merry Christmas!” he called out grinning from ear to ear, “I got my first check and put it to good use. I bought groceries and goodies!”
Ben walked into the kitchen to help Nick put away the groceries and saw him sitting at the table. He sat down to look at what Nick was pouring over and groaned. “Tell me that’s not what I think it is.”
“You said you would!”
“Remind me why I agreed to this.”
“Ben, I already spent my whole paycheck. You can’t renege on our deal.”
“No, I’m not,” he said with a deep sigh. “Show me what you got and then I need to call your sister.”
After they unpacked everything, Ben called Sofia to see if she had any hints for growing outdoor plants indoors.
“Hi stranger,” she said, sarcasm dripping from her words, “You guys could at least call once in awhile. Are you too good for us now that you live in the big city?”
“I love you too Pia,” he snarked back using her nickname to soften her up.
“Sorry Ben. I miss you two Neanderthals. So how did I earn the honor of a phone call? Nobody to fish with?”
Ben laughed into the phone. “No, I don’t have anyone to fish with but that’s not why I called. I have a science project and have to grow an outdoor plant indoors using artificial light to speed up the growth cycle. Any pointers you can give would be appreciated.”
“Science project?” she asked skeptically.
“Yes,” he said ignoring her tone, “We, uh, will compare to natural light.” He hoped the lie sounded convincing. “So what kind of lights should I get?”
Sofia asked him a couple of more questions and told him what he should do.
“So, how have you been?” he asked when she stopped talking, “I really do miss my fishing buddy, in fact I miss fishing period!”
“Right. Hey, I have a secret, but you have to promise not to tell Nick.”
Was she dating someone and maybe she didn’t think Nick would approve? The thought worried him. “Sure. What’s up?”
“We are coming to San Myshuno for Christmas to surprise Nick – and well – you too!”
“Who is ‘we’?” asked Ben worried ‘we’ included one or more of his parents, step-parents, siblings or half-siblings.
“Me, Mom and Dad. Don’t tell Nick! Mom will be really mad!”
Ben was relieved. He was pretty sure none of his family would come because they had all those damn little kids that still believed in Santa Claus. Both his Mom and Dad had tried to get him to come home. His Dad wanted to send him money for a plane ticket and his mom for a bus ticket, but he refused them both ‘because of his job’. The had argued about it before finally giving up.
“I know better than to get on your mom’s bad side, so don’t worry,” said Ben. He really did like Nick and Sofia’s parents. They always included him in everything. Why couldn’t his parents have been like them?
“Thanks Ben. We’ll see you in two weeks.”
Ben hung up, walked over and sat down next to Nick. “Nick, my man,” he said, “Guess who’s coming to dinner!”
“Please tell me it isn’t my family.”
Ben just grinned and nodded his head.
“Is this your idea of a joke?” asked Nick.
“Nope,” he said, “The parents and little sis are coming. It’s supposed to be a surprise.”
Nick groaned. “When?”
“Two days before Christmas. But now, because of your stupid weed, I have to have a cover plant. Sofia is going to want to check it out.”
“Yeah, she will. Sorry dude. Well, at least the girls are going to be home with their families. One less thing to deal with,” reasoned Nick.
“Okay, well, let’s plant this shit and go buy a legal plant for Sofia to mother while she’s here.”
“Wait, they aren’t staying here are they?”
Ben laughed at Nick’s panic. “Relax Nicky….they are staying in a hotel. They know there is no room at the Inn.” Ben laughed at his own joke before groaning. “I guess we better put up some decorations or they will never let you stay here for holidays again. And you know they will report back to my families,” he said rolling his eyes.
Pingback: Chapter 5 – The Festival | New Beginnings
You always make me *almost* wanna ship Ben and Emma, dang it 😉 Interested to see how this visit goes! Especially with the uh, science experiment going on 😉 (Also, Nick looks extra hot in this chapter for some reason 😉 Hehehehe)
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Nick is a cutie. ❤️
And what, you don’t ship Bemma? Lol. She is way too smart to fall for Ben’s tricks. But maybe she would straighten him out. If anyone can. 🙄
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Bemma sounds better than the ship name I thought of. Benema…NO!
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Lol. Now I need to know your name! And I agree, right now anyway, Bemma NO!
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I had come up with Benema. Sounds like a bad enema.
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Ohhh. But for Emma that is probably what she’s thinking! Bahahaha!
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This makes me worry what Nick’s mom will find while she’s there…
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Avery real concern!
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Finally caught up! It’s sooooo good and I love it. Ben needs to stop being so into just wanting friends with benefits, not that great of something to do. I also ship Bemma!
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That’s so sweet for you to say. I am having so much fun with Ben’s story.
Ben is a bit messed up and very afraid of letting anyone in. When he starts getting too emotionally invested, he runs very fast in the opposite direction! Maybe Emma will be the one to make him stop running. Go team Bemma!
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Pingback: Chapter 7 – Merry Christmas | New Beginnings
Who would think that little Benjamin would be growing weed in his apartment? *sigh* They grow up so fast….Onto a more serius note, I still am sad that things between Ben and his family never worked out..I hope they have a nice chirstimas, even thought I feel Ben will have a LOt more bitter coments about his family when Nick’s family’s arrives.
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Well, his family is sadly a topic he prefers to avoid.
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Oof, things are getting more complicated with family visiting… I hope Sofia doesn’t figure the weed thing out…
And now I realize that Emma and Sofia are probably going to meet… I wonder how that will turn out! 😓
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The weed is a bigger concern than anything else.
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The phrase: one lie begets another, seemingly has potential to get out of hand here!
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Yes – just wait for it! lol
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Oh, the lying…Sofia is smart, she is likely to smell something fishy. I can’t wait for the inevitable drama to come!
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She may….🙂. And drama….nah….
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LOL…
“…I know not to get on your mother’s bad side.”
*literal 2 seconds later*
“Guess who’s coming to dinner?”
This guy is too much. 😀
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He can’t keep that a secret! He’s a tool….
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I love how Ben didn’t even hesitate to pass along what he heard from Sophia to Nick, haha. But since they have some shady business going on in their place now I guess that makes sense. I wonder if they shall make a clean break… I’m doubtful XD
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They could at this point but…..Nick likes it…and so does Rachael. So…
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Calling it RIGHT NOW; some shit gonna go down with those plants, omg.
Boys and their shenanigans, I swear to Gosh 🙄
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I will say the plants won’t go away any time soon….
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Maybe they will come to the conclusion that legal plants are a nice decoration for their shabby apartment, too 😂
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Hehe. Doubt it!
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Ohhhh, I have a sneaking suspicion that Nick’s parents are going to find more than they bargained for during their visit. Well, we will see who is still standing by the time the new year rolls around. LMAO!
Emma needs to slug Ben good when he propositions her one time too many. LOL! Actually, she probably does want to jump in the sack with him but only if he can commit. Since he is not willing to do that, it’s good that she is guarding her heart well. She has a lot of willpower and self-control.
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That might. I’m voting for Emma to keep him at arms length.
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