I apologize for the length, I didn't mean for this to get so long, but there are multiple breaks within the one-shot so you don't have to read it all in one go.

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BENJI COULD HAVE GREAT GRADES IF HE WANTED TO. It was a universally understood truth that, if he truly wanted to, he would be top of his class without needing to try, just like his father had been when he was his age. Unfortunately for Benji, however, while all he needed to do was scan over his notes for a brief moment before the test to do well, he couldn't even find it within himself to write the correct answers on his test, opting for barely passing rather than flying colors, despite the minimal effort he would've needed to put in in order to achieve them.

"I will call my father who will call your father who will tell your mother to be upset with you," his chemistry teacher threatened, leaning against her desk while Benji fidgeted, desperately wanting to be dismissed for lunch.

"C'mon, Maria, don't do this to me, I'm gonna get my grades up, it won't be that hard," Benji whined, frowning at his godsister who was only older by eight years and really shouldn't be the final say on his slipping grades.

Maria sighed, shaking her head as she looked down at her godbrother who was looking down at his phone, fiddling with his sweater. With a backwards Parker Tech cap on his head and an air of disinterest, she had a hard time believing this boy was the son of her godparents; of course, she had heard stories of her godfather from her father, but even Peter couldn't have been so flippant to authority.

"I'm assigning you a tutor," she declared, reveling in his shocked expression, his phone nearly dropping out of his hand in shock.

"Maria!" he screamed, "You can't be serious! I'm smarter than most of the teachers here!"

"Don't be cocky, Mr. Smith-Parker, as your teacher I reserve the right to require you to meet with a tutor if it will raise your grades. Maybe with someone to monitor you, they will," she sighed, walking around her desk towards her computer, already beginning her email.

"Is that a dig at my parents?" he demanded, crossing his arms and frowning at her.

Maria rolled her eyes. "I love your parents, that was a dig at you and your inability to apply yourself even when we both know you hardly even have to do the bare minimum."

"Then why are you giving me a tutor?" he whined, pouting and slumping his shoulders, "Maria..."

"Because you need to understand consequences and realize that, while you might be smart, you're not above the rest of your classmates," she said simply, motioning him towards the door, "Now go on, eat your lunch."

He scoffed, picking up his bag and staring at her, making his way to the door. "You're unbelievable."

"I'm your teacher," she replied simply, "Your parents would be more than happy to hear that I'm doing all in my power to make sure you apply yourself."

Benji scoffed, grumbling under his breath as he stormed out, adjusting his cap as he made his way to the cafeteria, tossing his bag onto his usual empty table and dropping his head onto his arms, groaning loudly.

"Oh, baby, what's wrong?"

Benji felt his stomach twist violently as he looked up to find James Stormborn looking down at him with a teasing smile, dropping his bag onto the floor before sliding next to Benji, placing a hand on his forehead.

Benji swatted at his hands, whining as James laughed, hugging him tightly. Inheriting his friendliness from his father Johnny Storm, James had an innate friendliness that most didn't assume could be taught.

The two had been friends since childhood, what with their parents being closely connected, but while they stuck close together in their school years, James had many other friends to defer to, joining many clubs and sports while Benji preferred his solitude and bare minimum participation.

"Maria's making me get a tutor," Benji grumbled, fixing his hat after James ruffled his hair.

"Can't you call her Ms. Walsh like a normal person?" James scoffed, "Tony Stark paid good money to make sure she inherited her mom's last name and now you're just calling her Maria? It's a disgrace, Benji."

"Leave," the blond grumbled, grabbing the boy's chocolate milk and taking a long swig, trying not to spit it all over himself as James shouted and swatted at him for it back.

"I don't even know who'll she'll pick," he continued, dropping his chin onto the table, looking around at the rest of the cafeteria, "I'm in her top sophomore class, and she wouldn't get someone who wasn't in the class to tutor me, but I don't know who's actually smarter than me."

James pursed his lips. "You sound really big headed, you know that? That's coming from me, and my dads can be pretty annoying if they wanted."

Benji hummed noncommittally, thinking to all the times he had heard his mother suck air through her teeth and whisper about his being just like her brother, Flash.

If anything, James was more like Flash, having to try twice as hard to just barely keep up; he was smart, but he had trouble proving it half the time, similar to his father once again.

"Who do you think it'll be?" James asked, also looking around, the two narrowing their eyes and evaluating.

"I feel like it's gotta be a girl, but that's just 'cause most of the class is girls," Benji tried, "Hey, maybe it's Edie Lange, the pretty blonde who always has pens to lend out in class."

"The one who wears the leather jackets?" James asked, Benji nodding in affirmation, "I didn't know she was in that advanced of Chem."

"Well, she is, maybe she's the one," he pressed, looking over to where the girl normally sat, only to find it empty.

"Hey, Benny."

Benji and James both seized as they whirled around to find Trini Stacy looking down at them with a pursed lipped smile, the Argentinian girl glancing back towards her table before looking back at the two boys, her short hair whipping back and forth.

"Hey, Trini," he breathed, glancing over to James who was also staring at the girl, continuing to drink his chocolate milk.

Her mothers also good friends of their parents, James and Benji had also grown up with Trini, though the girl had quickly found people she clicked with more, caught on the radar of the general school populace wherever she went, always too busy to spend time with them.

Despite her busy schedule and general separation, she and the boys still spoke regularly, texting in their group chat and meeting whenever their parents had get togethers, not to mention she and James often seeing each other as their parents co-owned a company.

The two were the first to find out the secret Benji discovered about his parents when he snooped too far in his father's office on the last day he skipped school.

"So, Ms. Walsh emailed me," she began, shifting about, clearly wishing she had brought something to hold on to, "I'm gonna be your new tutor."

James choked on his milk and Benji choked on air, eyes wide as he stared up at her. "You?"

Trini bristled under their reactions, clearly taking them for incredulous shock rather than what it truly was. "I know you think you're above high school and the rest of us people, but you need a tutor and I'm getting credit, so if you have a problem, take it up with Ms. Walsh or say it to my face."

Benji shook his head furiously, looking towards James who also joined in, shaking his head sharply. "I don't have a problem with it, I swear, I just didn't think that you'd be the one to tutor me, it's not anything, I swear."

Ever observant, Trini didn't quite believe him, but to the average person, Trini was the epitome of sweet, her voice always soft and gentle unless needed otherwise, and it was only the boys that knew of her headstrong and confrontational nature she possessed when met with adversity of any kind.

"I'll meet you at your place after school then? We have that test on Friday, we can start to prep for that," she said, nodding in finality, and Benji could only nod back, feeling more like a puppy than a person, eager to please and feeling empty as he watched her walk back to her friends who all began to whisper.

The boys immediately turned back towards the table, bending their heads together and whispering, hitting each other as they tried to remain calm.

"Dude, you're hanging out with Trini today!" James hissed, smacking his arm.

"Yes, I know, I heard her," he whispered back, smacking away his hands, both boys looking over to the girl who glanced over at them, causing them both to whip back around.

"God, she's so cute," Benji groaned, whipping his hat off his head to scream into the fabric, shaking his head, "I can't do it, man, I can't, she's gonna breathe and I'm gonna die, I can't."

"You have to, do it for me!" James screamed, grabbing him by the shoulders and forcing him to look at him, their noses pressed together.

There was a pregnant pause, the two staring into each other's eyes, gazes darting around the room, then back at each other, hyperaware of every move and breath the other made, Benji's heart nearly beating out of his chest as he lips nearly grazed James'.

"I'm gonna pull away now," James said carefully, pushing Benji's shoulders away, "So you got until after school to get yourself together and get Trini to love you. Or me. Wait, get her to love me."

"If you couldn't get her to love you in the years you two've been hanging around, then how'm I supposed to help you?" Benji demanded, and James nodded, relenting as he remembered the story of how their parents had tried to set up James' godfathers together and failed miserably.

"Your parents won't be home, you guys can watch movies and make sundaes, cute stuff so she'll like you," he suggested, focusing back on the task at hand.

"She's gonna want to do the actual work," Benji sighed, dropping his hand onto his fist, "I don't know how my dad got with my mom, from what I heard, it was just a lot of proximity and them being sad, like, all the time. I should ask Uncle Ned."

Ned Leeds, his dad's closest friend and business associate, as well as Benji's godfather, was one of the coolest people he knew. Of course, the man was the complete opposite of what cool actually was, but he was unapologetically himself and that tended to get him where he wanted to be, and his love story with his wife was, in Benji's opinion, much better than Benji's parents'.

"He'd tell your dad," James reminded as he watched the blond begin to type, practiced fingers flying over the keys the same way his mother typed.

Benji's eyes widened as he failed to stop himself from pressing send. "Oh, shit."

º º º

"Please make smart choices," Diana sighed as she and Benji finished setting up the snacks and food, as well as cleaning Benji's room and making sure he was wearing something nice. Thankfully, she didn't ask many questions, but the knowing looks she shot him were enough.

"Grandma May wants to know everything that happens tonight, so if you won't tell me or your father, at least tell her, she's been waiting half a lifetime for this moment," Diana added, laughing as Benji made a whining sound in the back of his throat, throwing down the towel he was using to get rid of the dust along his bedframe.

"Mom, please don't embarrass me," he begged, chasing after her down the glass stairs as they made their way back down to the kitchen and living room.

"How can I embarrass you if I won't even be here?" she asked, turning to look at him, crossing her arms, "If you're so much smarter than your father's interns."

He whined, pouting and stomping his foot halfheartedly. "Mom, please..."

He jumped at the sound of the doorbell chiming throughout the entire house, his heart nearly leaping out his chest as he raced towards the door, only to stop, looking back to his mother who rolled her eyes, smiling as she made her way to the door, opening it as her son threw himself against the couch, trying to seem nonchalant.

"Hi, Trini," Diana greeted, pulling the teen into a hug as she led her inside, "It's so good to see you, how are your mothers?"

"They're good, Mrs. Smith, it's good to see you too, how are you doing?" Trini asked, smiling as she looked around the house before turning back to the woman, polite as ever.

"I'm doing swell, though I'm running a bit late, sorry, but if you need anything, you have my number," the older woman said, grabbing her bag and motioning to her scrubs with an apologetic look, words slurring together as she called out a goodbye to Benji who barely looked up from where he was reading a magazine upside down, giving her a halfhearted wave.

"Study hard, kids," was the last thing the woman called before the door was shut and the two teens were plunged into an uncomfortable silence.

Trini rocked back and forth on her heels, tilting her body to peer over at Benji who remained steadfastly focused on his upside down magazine. She waved, trying to catch his attention, and he tried to remain nonchalant as he looked up and nodded, as if acknowledging her for the first time.

"Hey, Trini," he greeted, his voice cracking halfway through, and he wondered why he even bothered.

She simply smiled, walking towards him with her hands on her backpack straps. "Hey, Benny. Ready to study?"

He sighed as he stood, nodding and tugging off his cap to ruffle his hair. "Yeah, why not, c'mon, my books are in my room."

"Okay," she said, following close behind, "I made flashcards, we can work on those if you've already finished your homework."

Benji wanted to tell her that he could have the entire semester's worth of coursework finished by the next day if she wanted, that he didn't need a tutor or someone to help him study for the test. All he needed was for her and James to stop filling his every waking thought at every moment of each day. If they could just stop, maybe then he'd be able to graduate within the next two months.

"I haven't started yet," was what he said instead.

So he led her into his room, being careful to keep the door open, so as not to scare her, settling onto his bed and lying on his back, closing his eyes and groaning as she began to quiz him, pulling out her flashcards and starting, sounding rather peeved that he wouldn't even bother to show her the decency of making eye contact.

"Break," he demanded twenty minutes into their study session, tossing an arm over his eyes, "I can't do this."

"Yeah, you can, you've gotten every question right so far," Trini argued, still sitting crosslegged at the foot of the bed, "Honestly, Benny, why did Ms. Walsh even make you get a tutor?"

"Because she's the worst and doesn't like how I'm failing her class for the sole reason that I don't 'apply myself,'" he drawled, raising his voice three an octave and holding up air quotes, spluttering and letting his arms fall back against his sides.

There was a pause, then a soft, "You wouldn't even need to apply yourself that much. Is it that hard for you?"

Benji paused, raising his head so he was finally looking at her, and was struck by the sadness in her eyes, the careful way her gaze shifted around the room but always landed back on him, as if she was unsure of whether she was crossing a line by pointing out the obvious.

He opened and closed his mouth before shrugging, shifting to lie on his stomach. "N-no."

Trini raised her eyebrows in silent acceptance as she reached out towards her notebook and laptop, opening up to their last lecture. "You were asleep last class, so I'm going to explain this entire concept to you, okay?"

He hummed and nodded, propping his chin onto his fist as he watched her open up to the first slide. Her voice was small, but powerful, the kind of voice he expected from a high school girl their age, sans the filler words and stumbling. While not wholly sure of herself, she exuded an air of authority and a quiet demand for respect, and Benji could only think about holding her hand and playing with her hair as they sat too close together while watching a movie, because school was the last thing he wanted to think about at the moment.

"You know, this is your house and you've barely spoken without being prompted," Trini pointed out, interrupting their flow and shocking Benji out of his daydreams.

"Uh..." he began intelligently, staring up at her.

She waved him off, shaking her head. "It's fine, I'm not mad or anything, but I'd like to form a rapport or something, you know? Don't you want to talk to me?"

"Of course I do!" he cried, a little too quickly and a little too loudly, and he struggled to back pedal, "I-I just don't have a lot to talk about, you know? And I like your voice, I don't know if that makes sense."

Trini's face brightened and Benji's heart soared with opportunity and simply because her smile always made him happy, only for it to pause in confusion when she said, "Do you also pay too much attention to people's voices?"

"As in...?" he asked carefully, not wanting to completely blow it by sounding upset or disinterested.

"Well, you know, like how your dad has this really endearing high voice," she explained, smiling as she spoke, "Most CEO's have a deeper voice, because they tend to be more commanding, but your dad has a different kind of presence to him that doesn't so much as command respect so much as he earns it, and he speaks like someone who probably stuttered a bit growing up, not huge, but he tended to repeat the same word over and over again when he got nervous, so he talks slower and people listen."

Benji shifted, now genuinely interested in what Trini had to say; when she became passionate, everything just became brighter and more vibrant than usual. "You got all of that from just listening to him?"

"It's not an exact science, it's just something I liked to think about," she said, ducking her head, but she continued, seeing Benji was still interested, "Like your mom, she's got a really sweet voice, it's soothing, and it's not too low, but it's on the lower range, and you don't expect it from her."

Benji nodded in agreement; his parents did have those kinds of voices, but he never thought it affected the way people saw them, but he guessed that once physical appearance was set aside, the first thing people noticed were voices before they reached personality.

"You've got a pretty average voice," Trini added, breaking him out of his thoughts, "You know? It's interesting, it's not super deep like a lot of others when they hit puberty, but it's not high like all the others that's still going through it. It's like how your dad's probably was when he was in high school, but it'll wind up getting like your mom's where it's on the lower register, but it'll still get all high when you speak Spanish, and get deeper when you speak French. It also gets a lot higher when you laugh and, sometimes, it gets lower than you complain, though only when you're tired."

Benji stared at her for a moment, his mouth open slightly as he watched her settle down, waiting for his response with a neutral expression, and he didn't even know if his brain was working by that point.

Finally, he said, "I didn't realize you paid so much attention to me."

He meant it to come out teasing and flirty, to get her to laugh or scoff, but he couldn't get his mouth of voice to cooperate and it simply came out as shocked and shy, exactly what his uncle told him to never sound like.

Trini shrugged, smiling as she reached out to ruffle his hair. "Well, you know, when you're a year younger than your friends, you have to keep up somehow."

Benji puffed out his cheeks, sighing as he glanced down at his bed. "Shit, that's right, you're younger than me."

Trini had been born a year after him, and James a year before, though the boy had been on the younger end of his class, so his dads simply held him back for the upcoming year, where Benji was, but Trini had skipped a grade. The three often forgot, what with their closeness, though it was always an ordeal when Benji and James remembered.

"So what?" Trini asked, still smiling, though looking more confused, "I'm at the top of our class, and most of these kids are two years older than me, not just one. And it's one year, I know seniors who're dating kids in your year, which is a little weird, but you didn't hear it from me."

Benji laughed, nodding and rubbing the back of his neck as he tried not to focus on the fact she mentioned people dating, not wanting to read too fair into it. "Yeah, true. But, you know, it's cool that you know all about this voices thing, even if you do know way too much about me."

The joke landed this time around and he happily accepted the pillow to the face for his troubles, laughing as Trini huffed, looking away, her cheeks and ears pink. He desperately wanted to kiss her, but he knew better than to kiss someone without asking, and he didn't really want to ruin the happy vibe by asking.

"Okay, break over, we need to work," she began, reaching out towards her laptop again, jumping when there was a loud crash from downstairs.

The two froze, looking at the open door leading to the hallway before looking back at each other.

Jumping to his feet, Benji raced to his closet, opening the secret compartment he hid behind his drawers and pulling out the bracelets that he had made in his father's workspace while his dad was focused on other things.

"Aren't those your mom's?" Trini whispered, coming to stand close next to him, watching as he put them on, squeezing the sides together and causing them to contract, the metal spreading out and covering his hands perfectly.

"I modified my Uncle Nicky's design so they fit me," he explained, "I'm working on making the earrings be earpieces since I don't have pierced ears, but we'll talk about that later."

Pressing a finger to his lips, he reached into his closet and put on the sneakers his Aunt Shuri made, motioning for her to stay in the room while he made his way downstairs. But, of course, Trini was a product of her mothers' teachings, so she followed him anyways, staying at the top of the stairs, careful not to put too much pressure on anything.

Holding his breath, Benji focused on keeping his gauntlet awake so it would be able to shoot at any moment, nearly on the ground floor, peering out towards the kitchen where he could see cabinets open and lemonade out of the fridge.

Trini watched as Benji straightened, looking out towards the kitchen in confusion, fiddling with gauntlets, and she wondered how much work she would have to put in to convince her mothers to make her something as well; her mother could control light, there had to be something.

Snapping back into focus, she took a slight step down, intent on following Benji who had disappeared from view, jumping when he heard him scream.

"James, what the hell!"

Trini's heart nearly stopped and it took everything in her to not fall down the stairs in a mixture of relief and pure fear. With shaking hands and legs, she made her way down, listening in as the boys argued.

"I'm here to help you out," James said, grinning as he took a bite of the sandwich he made, "Also, sorry, but I broke a plate, but it's okay, I can buy you a new set."

"Dude, we thought someone broke in," Benji hissed, sighing as he motioned towards his gauntlets, pressing them again, the two watching as they contracted and turned back into bracelets.

"Hey, you made some for yourself, that's cute," James said, motioning towards the bracelets, "But you made them gold, that's so lame."

"No, listen, my mom's stuff was rose gold and she was Iron Maiden, and I can't be Iron Maiden, because I'm not a girl, and Iron Lad is taken by that Young Avenger guy, so I can't be that either, so I'm working on it," he explained, now relaxed as he fell into one of his usual conversations with James who grinned and nodded as he listened, causing Benji's stomach to do somersaults.

"Makes sense. Hey, how's it going with Trini?" James asked, sliding closer in an attempt not to be heard, placing a hand on Benji's waist and the other on the counter next to them, and the blond tried hard not to show how much that affected him.

"I don't know, she knows a lot about my voice, but I don't think she meant that in a suggestive way, just that she's, you know, a nerd," Benji sighed, he and James snickering at his pseudo-joke.

"Are you two gonna just giggle in the kitchen all day, or are we going to actually get your homework done and study?" Trini asked, interrupting the boy's whispering, "James, what are you doing here?"

"I need a tutor too," he said cheerfully, grabbing the chips he had swiped from the pantry, "Come on, my dads said I could sleep over even."

"Yeah, well, I can't," Trini pointed out, shaking her head as she made her way back up to stairs.

"Aw, why?" the boys chorused, just in the middle of their elaborate handshake.

"Because my moms would kill me if they knew I was staying over with you guys. I'm sure it's fine if Frankie Leeds slept over, but it's not fine for me," she explained, leading the way back up to Benji's room.

Frankie Leeds was pretty much Benji's cousin. He might have grown up with James and Trini, but not to the extent that he spent his time with Frankie. They were really sweet and funny, the perfect mix of both of their parents, and Benji knew he should spend more time with them, but their interests never clicked extremely well, though they did know how to get along perfectly if put in the same room together.

The three reentered the room, James grabbing Benji's desk chair and sitting on it backwards, sliding over to the edge of the bed, Trini moving to sit cross legged at the foot of the bed while Benji sprawled out on his stomach facing her.

"So, stoichiometry..." Trini began, going back over to her slideshow, falling into the easy rhythm of teaching.

The boys, however, weren't paying any attention, both simply staring at her as she spoke, propping their heads up on their chins as they listened to her voice, but not her words, smiling whenever she corrected herself or made a face, rolling her neck when she got too tired.

"Are you two even listening?" she demanded, and they both snapped out of their trance, nodding earnestly.

She sighed, closing the laptop and shifting her sitting position, running her hand through her short hair. "Yeah, we're taking another break, I get lecturing's really boring."

"You're not boring," James rushed to say, and she gave him a small, unimpressed smile.

"You know," she said, looking over to Benji, "If you two were supposed to hang out today, you could've just told me and rescheduled the session."

Benji and James frowned, looking at each other to see if the other understood what she meant. Turning back around, they tilted their heads at her and she scoffed, shaking her head, rolling her eyes.

"Guys, it's me, you don't need to hide that you're dating, I won't tell our parents, if that's what you're worried about," she said, giving them an encouraging smile, looking both in the eye, and everything clicked.

"Oh, wait, we're not—I'm into dudes, but he's—Well, I mean, we could, I just—" they both stammered, motioning between the two of them, then over to her, then between the three of them, both boys looking at each other with wide eyes.

"So you're not dating?" she asked, frowning as they shook their heads furiously, "Are you sure? Because I was so sure you two've been dating since sixth grade."

Benji and James gawked at her, eyes wide and jaws dropped as they watched her shrug, looking as if they were the ones she couldn't believe. They looked back at each other with the same look of shock, though Benji couldn't say with a clear conscience that he hadn't been hoping to date James since he was in the sixth grade.

Finally, with nothing else left to do, he turned back to Trini and spoke, "This is going to make everyone really uncomfortable really fast, but I think it's an important distinction to make that while we've been in love with you since the sixth grade, it doesn't entirely mean that we've all been dating since the sixth grade, you know?"

James and Trini looked at each other, then back to Benji, then back over to each other. "Wait, what?"

"You see, there's this really difficult thing were James and I both really like you and we've been in this battle for the past, what, four years trying to see which one of us you'll date, but so far, you've only dated the my cousin, and I find that wholly offensive on, like, ten levels," Benji rambled, all the words pouring out of him faster than he knew how to make them stop.

Trini blinked, mouth moving slightly as she tried to piece things together. "Wait, you both like me? And I didn't date your cousin, he's dating Willow Allan-Gilborn."

Willow Allan-Gilborn was the daughter of Mayor Allan-Gilborn and her wife who used to be in a band with Benji's uncle Matthew and the wife of his aunt Michelle, who's daughter was currently dating Frankie Leeds. It was a very small world he lived in despite the size of New York.

"You see, this is the awkward moment where we ask who you'd rather date, but instead of it being hypothetical, now you know we both actually really care about your answer, because someone can't keep his mouth shut," James laughed, his smile dropping as he turned to glare at Benji who couldn't even smile, still trying to catch up with his running mouth.

Trini nodded in understanding, pausing for a few moments as she thought, taking in the two boys in front of her who seemed to be on an entirely new plane of pure fear as they waited for her to speak.

Finally, she asked, "Do I have to choose?"

The boys blinked, sitting up straighter as they processed her words. Then James cried out, "Oh God, she hates both of us."

"That's not what I meant!" she called out, drowning out their groans, "Oh, relax, do you want to hear what I have to say or not?"

"Is it gonna hurt our feelings?" Benji asked, giving up on trying to think before he spoke, hugging a pillow to his chest.

She shook her head, and it was her smile that rendered both boys pliant, nodding as they waited in anticipation for what she had to say.

"I mean," she began, looking more unsure of herself than either have ever seen her before, "Like, you two like each other, don't you?"

Benji and James looked over at each other, nodding before they could even think, turning back to her in confusion. "Yeah...?"

"Well, if you both want to date me, and you both like each other, why don't all three of us just date?" she offered, avoiding eye contact as she ran her hands through her hair, fidgeting in place.

Benji paused. "What, like a polyamory situation?"

"Yeah!" she said, more relieved that he understood than anything else, "Yeah, you know, I mean, you're both pretty cool."

"Wait," James said, holding up a hand and narrowing his eyes, "Do you even like us? 'Cause if you're just doing this so we don't feel bad, don't even bother, because the last thing we want is you to be doing this 'cause you feel bad for us."

"Why would I do that, I'm not that kind of a person," she huffed, and the boys both scoffed, shaking their heads at her and she deflated, "Am I really that kind of a person?"

"Yeah, you kinda are," Benji said, pouting when she sighed, looking away from them to fiddle with a loose thread on his sheets, "Aw, c'mon wait, don't be like that, it's not like it's a bad thing."

"Yeah, it's a bad thing," she countered, frowning, "I don't know, there's a difference between being soft and being a liar, I don't like being pity friends or anything, it always makes me feel worse."

"Yeah, but you're just overall sweet, it's not like you're mean when you do it," James tried, shifting so he was sitting right-ways on the chair, leaning forward to be closer to the bed.

She sighed, shrugging as she moved to lie down, pushing the laptops and books aside. "Yeah, I guess. But, whatever, I'm not saying this because I pity you, I don't do pity dates."

Benji licked his lips. "So you actually went on a date with my cousin?"

"I never dated your cousin!" she cried, grabbing a pillow and hitting him on the head, laughing as he shouted, looking over to James who grinned, pulling out his phone.

"Yeah, okay," Benji scoffed, grabbing her around her waist and manhandling her into a hug, reveling in her shriek of laughter as she held onto his arms as he hugged her, dropping his head onto the back of her neck.

"Hey, wait, I want in," James called, climbing onto the bed and hugging both of them, pulling them so they were all lying down, Trini in the middle, James on her right with an arm behind them to wrap around Benji, another arm draped over Trini, the other boy mirroring his pose on the other side.

"You know, I was wondering how this would work, but it fits pretty well," Benji said, gesturing to their position, and James simply scoffed, swiping at his head, the blond shouting in indignation.

Trini sighed, looking over to Benji. "Now that you got what you wanted, can you please try in Chemistry? I don't want to have to tutor someone who really doesn't need it."

James tapped her side, grinning. "I could use a tutor."

She scoffed, grabbing a pillow and swatting his face. "Ask someone who isn't your girlfriend."

The older boy squawked, grinning over to the other boy, the two high-fiving. "Hell yeah, we got a girlfriend! Oh, wait, so can we kiss you now and shit?"

Trini shrugged, cheeks and ears pink as she hid her face in the covers, whispering softly. "I mean, if you want to..."

Benji and James locked gazes, glancing back to her, then each other. "Dibs!"

Trini laughed as they both tried to push the other away, shouting and arguing over who called it first, giggling as she pushed herself up and raced past them, pushing Benji aside as she jumped off the bed, the boy falling into James who grinned, kissing him sharply, holding the back of his neck to keep him in place.

Benji gripped the front of James' shirt, titling his head as the boy kissed him languidly, relaxing once he knew the blond wouldn't run away. The older boy fought back a grin, knowing that it would be too hard to keep kissing him if he did. Of course, he was his father's son, so he failed, pulling away and falling into a fit of giggles, Benji complaining the whole way through.

Their moment was broken by Trini who giggled from where she stood by the doorway, a hand over her mouth as she watched the scene before her, eyes glittering with mirth.

The boys glanced over to each other, smirking as they nodded.

"Ready?"

"Waited this long."

"Go!"

º º º

Gazes shifted to the various monitors as cameras showed the three teenagers racing through the expansive Smith-Parker home, the two boys calling out for Trini who managed to avoid them for longer than expected, her small size used to her advantage, her shrieks filling the whole house as she was finally caught, pulled back into the room by the two boys who could barely hold onto her, laughing just as hard.

"This is the part where we stop and leave them alone," Diana Smith-Parker said, reaching out towards the controls, her husband too busy rubbing his eyes to do anything.

The others held up just the same, Harry Stormborn exchanging money with Gwen Stacy who smirked, glad to have won their bet, her wife Rosaleen rolling her eyes and sharing a look with Johnny Stormborn who looked more proud of his son than anything else. 

Ned Leeds was shaking his head from where he sat, glad that it wasn't the entire group with him; Aurora and Phillip's twins were generally left out of the situation, as they went to different schools, and his own child didn't seem to have nearly as much problems as the others did. Michelle and Liz would have a field day once they found out, of course, but that was why he refrained from alerting her or his own wife about what he and the other parents were doing.

"Dude," he said, addressing Peter who seemed to be confused as to how to react to the entire situation, "You were the one who wanted me to report back to you if Benji asked me anything weird."

"I can't believe he went to you for relationship advice, though," Peter sighed turning off the monitors and leaning back in his seat, "Do you think they'll tell us?"

"Of course not," Harry scoffed, shaking his head, "But at least we know now. I'm gonna ask Nicky to give the kids some of those indestructible condoms he made."

Peter choked as the others all shouted at Harry, arguing over whether their kids even needed it, figuring out the best way to explain sex, as it still wasn't the most well-talked about subject in the schools, and Ned simply rolled his eyes at their panicking.

"Calm down," he called out, "Look, they're good kids and you raised them well, they'll talk to you if you let them know they're safe and you respected their privacy, so just pretend you didn't know and they'll tell you on their own. They'll be okay."

The parents turned back to the blank monitors that, if turned on, would have transmitted footage of the three teens sitting on Benji's bed watching movies on Trini's laptop, eating the chips that James had brought.

"Yeah. They'll be okay."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

6666 words...holy shit @ me what

This is dedicated to voidkhaleesi because she listened to me go on about these three and their relationship because goddammit I love them so much.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!