(this is a Bennomi chapter)

"Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow," Bennet and Jordan whine as I pull them into the spare room.

I let them go and shut the door as they let out sighs of relief.

"Now shut up and listen!" I yell at them.

Simultaneously, they roll their eyes and say, "Fine."

"Woah..." we all say at the same time. "Stop! Stop it! That's creepy!"

I sigh. "Anyways, today is Declan's birthday! We need to throw him a party! I figured I should probably ask you guys for help this time after what happened last time..."

"Oh, yeah." Bennett says while Jordan snorts, trying to hold back his laughter.

"That was a very interesting party, Naomi," he says.

I roll my eyes. "Whatever. So, Jordan," I hand him a list of party decorations, "I need you to go to the store and buy those for the party. Bennett and I will bake the cake and then we can all put up decorations together. And by the way, both of you guys need to buy him a present."

"We will," says Jordan, rolling his eyes.

"Already have," says Bennett.

"I will."

I chuckle. "Okay, well, Jordan, get going. Once Declan has left with his dad to go to the football game, Bennett and I will start working on the cake."

---

Declan leaves after about ten minutes and Bennett and I get to work.

"Alright," Bennett says, pulling out a recipe book and flipping through it.

"What kind of cake are we making?" I ask, stepping to his side and putting my hand on his shoulder. I look up and see his cheeks flushing up.

He backs up a little. "Uhh, um. Hm?"

"The cake. What kind are we making?" I ask, stifling a giggle.

"Oh, um, I was thinking a three layered round cake split into three triangles, one strawberry, one vanilla, and one chocolate."

I smile. "Good idea."

"Yeah, and I was thinking maybe a strawberry on top right in the middle?"

"Yeah, yeah, I like that."

He smiles. "We'll have to make three cakes, so this is gonna take a while. Let's start with the chocolate cake first."

I roll my eyes. "Of course."

"Shut up. So it says here we need flour, sugar, cocoa..."

I look through the cupboards, taking out each ingredient and setting it on the counter.

We begin to bake, well, Bennett begins to bake while I hand him the ingredients.

"Are you going to let me do anything or...?" I ask him.

"Uhh, yes," he says, adding baking soda to the bowl of dry ingredients.

I let out a sigh of relief. "What can I do?"

"You, get to-" he pushes the bowl to me, pulling a door out of the counter and grabbing a wooden spoon, plopping it into the bowl- "stir!"

I stare at the bowl with a blank expression. "Are you serious? That's it? I know how to bake a cake you know."

"I know," he says. "I just..." he trails off.

"You just don't want me to mess it up."

"Well..."

I slap his shoulder. "Bennett! I'm not gonna 'mess anything up'," I say, doing a horrible impression of him.

He sighs. "Fine, you can help, as long as you do exactly what I say."

I clap. "Yay!"

--------------------------------

After about half an hour, we finally put the first cake in the oven.

"Alright, vanilla next?"

"Why vanilla?" Bennett asks.

"What do you mean? I mean it doesn't matter what flavor we do I just-"

"Is it because Jordan is 'The Chosen One'?"

I shake my head. "What the heck are you talking about, Bennett?"

"Oh, don't play dumb, we all know you chose Jordan."

"WHAT?" I ask. "Why would you- I don't- Where did you get-"

"It's pretty obvious, Naomi."

I shake my head for the second time. "Well, what if I were to tell you that you were wrong?"

He raises his eyebrows, as if urging me to go on.

"Don't tell anyone, but... I didn't choose Jordan."

"Really?" I nod. "Who did you choose then?"

"That, sir, is confidential."

"Oh c'mon," he says. "Just tell me."

I smile. This is the first time me and Bennett have had a conversation in a while. "Nope."

He steps closer and closer. "C'mon, I won't tell."

I start to panic, backing away from him. "Not happening." I keep stepping back every time he takes a step forward, until my back suddenly hits the counter. "Crap."

He chuckles. "So who'd you choose?"

"Maybe I don't want to tell."

"Maybe I want you to."

"Why? You want it to be you?"

He stops smiling, his cheeks flushing up. "Well- I- uh-"

I laugh. "Did I just make The Bennett Frazier blush for the second time?" 

His cheeks turn even redder as I say this. "No. Now just tell me."

"What if it's you? What will you do then?" I ask.

"I- um- I don't know, is it me?"

There's a long silence. 

"Do you want it to be you?"

Another long silence. "I mean... yeah."

I feel my cheeks burn up. "Well... yeah. It's you."

"Really?" He asks, his eyes lighting up.

I giggle. "Yeah."

He smiles, and I smile, and we both just stare at each other for about ten seconds. 

"So," I say. "What are you going to do about that?"

"About what?"

"About... it being you."

"Oh, uh, I don't know."

"Are you gonna act like nothing happened? Are gonna hug me? Are you gonna text Jordan and Declan? Are you gonna..." I trail off, not wanting to say the last one.

"What? Am I gonna what?"

After a few seconds, I say quietly, "Kiss me?"

His cheeks turn bright red. "Do you want me to?"

"I don't know... why? Are you scared?"

"No," he says, a little too quickly.

"You sure?"

"Yeah!"

"Well if you're not scared, then kiss me."

A long silence passes.

"See? I told you you were scar-"

Suddenly he cuts me off by grabbing me with one arm by the waist, picking me up, and kissing me. I wrap my arms around his neck, as he wraps his other arm around me.

We kiss for about 3 or so seconds when suddenly I hear someone say, "What the HECK?"

I look up to see Jordan, carrying a shopping bag full of party supplies in one hand and a blue gift bag with a football on it in the other.

Bennett sets me down, bringing his hand up to scratch the back of his neck. "Uhh..."

"What'd you get for Declan?" I ask, as if nothing happened.

"Oh no," Jordan says, walking up to us. "I'm not going to pretend I didn't just see that. Explain."

"Um, well, I didn't want you to find out like this but... I chose... Bennett." I gesture to the tall, handsome -but very nervous- guy standing next to me.

"Oh..." I see the sadness in Jordan's face just before he covers it up. "Cool."

"Yeah..."

"Hey... wait! No, no, no, no!"

"What?" I ask.

"Today is Declan's birthday! You can't do this to him on his birthday!"

My heart drops to my stomach. "Oh... you're right. Um, how about we'll just hide it for today, let him have a good time, and then I'll tell him tomorrow."

Jordan shakes his head. "I guess so."

Bennett and I share an embarrassed look with each other. "Work for you?" I ask him.

He nods.

"Alright then," I say. "So... Jordan, what'd you get for Declan?"

***

Hey! Sorry this took so long to make. I hope you enjoyed it!