Author's Note:

OK, MAJOR apology time. Sorry this took so long, everyone. Really, I am. I had the wonderful OnyxParadox beta it for me, and it took me almost a week after the corrections were made to update it. Why? My life got busy. I'm really sorry.

And the apologies just keep on coming. I have no idea if the story will continue from here or not. See, the thing is, Ben is actually just a slightly modified version of myself. And "Tim" and I started dating several weeks ago and... well, c'mon, we do have the right to expect some privacy. So I have no idea if I'll be updating this anymore or not. If I don't you're all wonderful people for reading with me this far, and enjoy the (possibly) final chapter. Thanks so much for the comments and attention it has received. It means a lot to me.

You all are wonderful people. BENLOVEINABOX

I've left out an important character in this story so far, for good reason. There are too many damn characters involved. Geez, I know a lot of weird people, don't I? Anyways, meet Eric, a close friend of mine since the beginning of the school year. When I say close... I mean it. We've fallen asleep, spooning. I had no shirt on, at the time. And that brings me to another point: He's not gay. I know, weird. He claims he's "European"- which we tease him is a synonym for "gay". He's been all over- was born here, moved out to Germany as an infant, moved back here to Alabama, and finally came up to live with us, in New York. He's got a bit of culture shock, to say the least. But Eric and I are generally abused for the entertainment of the group- meaning I generally abuse Eric, for the entertainment of the group. And, I'll be honest, me. It's fun.

So it's not odd, in any respect, that when Eric first walked in the door, we immediately seized him and tied him to a chair. Hey! We're theater kids. Sick and twisted is what we do best. What made the situation slightly amusing though, is the look on Tim's face. He looked like we were cannibalizing someone in front of him. So, of course, he got the job of being our camera man. Just to make sure he watched the whole thing. I pulled off Eric's shoes and socks, and tied his arms to the arms of the chair. Tiff brought me some pink nail polish, and I had a little fun. We left him tied up until they dried, then untied him. And ran. A good half hour later, we were all out of breath, rather dirty, and laughing our heads off. Even Eric.

We decided that we'd watch The Little Mermaid first, because it's fun to watch me cry. Yes, I cry during The Little Mermaid. Shut up. It's sad. With the whole dad thing, and the trident, and the boom. Yeah, you totally know what I'm talking about. I sat in between Chrissy and Tim on the couch. Now, I don't know why, but something about Tiff's parties make me stupid. Before I had even figured out what I was doing, my head was in Chrissy's lap, and my feet were resting comfortably across Tim's thighs. He looked shocked at first, and then just kinda took it in stride. I think I smiled for about ten minutes after that.

I was wearing these lovely things called dorm pants. They're quite amazing, actually. Think hundreds of little squares, a few inches wide, of differing colors and textures, sewn together in an overlapping fashion. Dorm pants create the coolest sensation as they run across one's legs, and it was really acting up tonight. Hardly a second went by without feeling like my legs were being touched.

I tore my eyes away from the screen, and looked at my legs. Something about the sensation didn't feel like dorm pants. And, of course, true to fashion, there was Tim, absentmindedly running a finger along and around my calves. And as awkward as that was, it actually felt quite nice. A boy could get used to that.

Except Tim apparently felt my eyes on him. He turned and met my gaze, his face was glowing a nice cherry color in the pale wash of the movie. He withdrew his hand to the armrest, looking apologetic. I smiled and winked at him. The hand went back to traversing my pants.

ClockTower12: Somebody likes dorm pants.
CMB: Esp. on you. ;)
ClockTower12: Wait, what?
CMB: Nothing...

"BEN!"

"YEAH, MOM?!"

"GET IN THE SHOWER!"

My family does this lovely thing- we don't actually like, visit each other to talk. We just shout halfway across the house. It gets amusing sometimes. I locked down my screen, stripped down, and put on my robe. I went downstairs, turned on the hot water, and got in the shower. Esp. on you... No, no way. But what else could he mean by that?

I found messages waiting for me on my return. I pulled up the screen, and read.

CMB: You know
CMB: I can't help but
CMB: To like you
CMB: I mean, you're funny, and attractive, and nice
CMB: I mean, not that I expect anything, or anything
CMB: You're a senior, and are probably a lot more experienced
CMB: I just thought you should know
CMB: I'm sure it's getting annoying
CMB: I'll stop.

No fucking way.

I sent him one message in response.

ClockTower12: If it bothered me, I would've told you by now.