Song: I'm Already Gone by A Day To Remember (Also known as one of the greatest bands of all time.)

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I waved to my mom as she drove away from the library, a fake smile on my face. As soon as she was gone, it faltered and I turned to walk inside. It was a fake smile because I was terrified. She didn't catch me on Saturday night, but I'm not going to get too happy about that. It was one time. I may not be so lucky this one, but I was going to do it anyway.

I found an empty table near the back in the adult section. There were never people back here. They liked the young adult section or they're on the computers. Here it's pretty secluded and separated from the rest of the library. And from my seat, I have a clear view of the entrance to watch for Benji.

While I waited, I pulled out one of my textbooks and flipped through the pages. My mind wouldn't focus on the words, but I continued going through like I knew what I was reading. After a few minutes, I dropped my head down onto the pages.

Benji clouded my mind. He found a way to weasel in after only a week. I've never had a guy pay attention to me the way Benji does. He flirts and he's not ashamed to make it known.

My mom would drop dead if she knew. She'd most likely lock me in my room until I died. I didn't get a chance to even get my first kiss in school. I shouldn't really care about a first kiss, but when you're eighteen and rarely see the outside other than the bakery, I feel stupid. I'd never tell anyone that I haven't had my first kiss yet. It shouldn't be embarrassing, but it kind of is only because people would judge me for it.

Maybe I care a lot about my first kiss. Some girls my age are worried about their virginity and I'm worried about my lip virginity. Whatever, I guess.

"Working hard?"

I lifted my head from my book and saw Benji standing on the other side of the table. "Clearly," I replied sarcastically with a grin to match.

Benji's lips tugged into a smirk. "Well let's go, Grumpy. We have a lot to do."

I fought a smile and packed my book back in my bag, then proceeded around the table to Benji. "Where to first?"

"First, breakfast. Breakfast always comes first."

"After my heart already," I joked as we walked out of the library.

Benji laughed. "I need to change my tactics since you're onto me."

He led me to his truck that was parked in the lot beside the building. We both climbed in and Benji drove off. He only drove a few miles before parking into the side lot of a small place. I've been here maybe once with my grandma a few years ago, but don't remember much about it.

I followed Benji up the sidewalk and inside where we were seated right away. A waitress, maybe mid-twenties, took our drink orders and left. I looked at Benji and rested my chin on the palm of my hand. "When's the last time you saw ten in the morning?"

Benji leaned back, placing a hand over his abdomen. A hint of a smile touched his lips. "Quite a few months."

"Party all night, sleep all day?" I teased.

A grin surfaced. "Something like that."

"What's the status on cupcakes?"

He held up his pointer and thumb, forming a zero. "I'll be back for more though, don't worry."

"Of course I'm going to worry," I said dramatically. "I can't think what you're going to do without cupcakes, Benji."

He started laughing. "Then I'll be in tomorrow to get more."

I smiled at him. "You're going to have to play more shows to work all of that sugar off."

Benji lazily shrugged a shoulder. "I'll manage." And then he bit down on the silver ring through his bottom lip.

"I'm sure you will," I replied, hiding my own smile.

The waitress came back with our drinks a few minutes later and we gave her our orders.

* * *

After eating two pancakes and three pieces of bacon, I thought I was going to explode.

Benji's phone rang, buzzing alive on the table and he quickly answered it. "What's up, Mase? I'm with—what did he do? No, I'll be there in a few minutes." And he hung up.

"Everything okay?" I asked, taking a sip of my orange juice.

"Yeah, Tyler's just being an idiot. I gotta go see what he's done."

"Oh," I said with a little disappointment. "Do you have time to drive me back to the library?"

He looked at me, confusion contorting his features. "I do, but we're still going to hang out, Luce. Would you mind just riding with me?"

I nodded. "Yeah, that's fine."

Benji left a few bills on the table and we both left. We climbed back into his car and we headed in a new direction. We went further into the city for fifteen minutes before Benji pulled into a gated apartment complex. He put a code into the pad and the gates opened in front of us.

He sped through, winding down a few roads, and making one final turn in front of one of the apartment buildings. He parked and we got out. I followed Benji up the sidewalk and into the stairwell where we climbed to the third floor. Then we walked forward, making one more turn to the apartment at the end of the way. He easily unlocked the door, letting us both in and closing the door behind him.

Tyler was sitting in the corner of the black leather sectional with an icepack on the top of his head. Mason was standing next to the Christmas tree with Evan and they both put down the ornaments they had in their hands. They walked over to Benji, and Mason shrugged.

"He fell?" Benji questioned.

"On the way down from the ladder," Mason answered, pointing to the ladder beside the tree. "Still kind of off from last night."

Benji walked over to Tyler, sat down next to him, and peeled the icepack from his head. "There's barely a bump," he informed. "Why did you guys call me over that?"

Evan shrugged this time. "We didn't know what to do."

"The dumbass is fine," Benji mumbled.

I saw Tyler slowly smile and Benji slapped the uninjured side of his head.

"Ow, you dick!" Tyler shouted and held the other side of his head.

While they bickered over Tyler's not-so-bad-injury, I walked over to their tree. As I examined it, I wanted to laugh. I do give them some credit though. "Do you guys not know how to decorate a tree?" I randomly asked.

"I change my mind," Tyler said and I turned around. "I don't like her anymore."

I just grinned. "Say that next time you eat my cupcakes."

"The only thing stopping me from kicking you out," He said sarcastically with a forced smile to match. "Are you saying you could do better?"

"Definitely," I replied.

Tyler threw the icepack aside and stood up. He paced towards me, stopping only a foot away. "Then you do it," He said, crossing his arms over his chest.

I raised an eyebrow and mimicked his actions, crossing my own arms. "What am I getting out of it?"

"Satisfaction of a job well done," he replied without missing a beat.

I smiled up at him.

He pushed a strand of blue hair out of his face, a smile appearing on his own lips. His blue eyes were provoking and I just noticed his silver nose ring. "Have fun then." He gestured widely at the tree and stepped back.

"Gladly."

Benji came up behind Tyler, settling his hands on Tyler's shoulders and pulling him back. "I think it's someone's nap time," Benji said in a baby voice.

I held onto my laugh.

Tyler knocked off his hands. "What? And miss all the good action?" Tyler's eyes landed on me again. "How tall are you? Like four feet?"

I snorted. "Five feet and one inch last I checked," I quipped.

Tyler grinned. "You'll need help."

I pointed to Benji. "He's at least three inches taller than you."

"You think you're funny, don't you?" He joked.

"Precisely."

The corner of Tyler's mouth perked into a crooked smile. He glanced at Benji and back to me. "Maybe I do like her."

Benji moved in front of Tyler again, pushing him back and standing in front of me. "You'll have to excuse him. Clearly someone's head got hit a little too hard."

"The tree should've been finished two days ago," Evan said from my other side. "Let's all just pitch in—"

"No, I want to see little miss princess do it," Tyler piped in.

"Fine," I said and settled my hands on my hips. "But you guys can't be in here."

"Who's going to catch you when you fall?" Tyler continued, moving to stand beside Benji again.

I scanned his face and my eyes slid over to Benji. "Benji."

"Then while this is happening," Tyler droned. "I'm going to go nap. It's too early for this shit anyway."

All I did was wave and he walked off.

I didn't say a word and walked to the other side of the tree, untangling the colorful lights from the limbs of the tree. Benji, Mason, and Evan stood there and I could feel them watching me. It only took a few minutes before Evan jumped in to help and I gave him a smile.

When I climbed on the ladder to get the ball of misplaced lights from the top of the tree, I felt a hand braced against my lower back. "I got you," Benji said.

"Thanks," I choked out and took a deep breath.

I untangled the lights and Benji used his free hand to grab them from me. He kept a steady hand on my back as I descended the ladder. As I thought got down to the last step, I miscalculated, causing my foot to slip and nearly falling the rest of the way. Benji caught me effortlessly. His arm went around the front of my waist and my back was press flush against his chest.

My hand flew to the spot over my heart and I let go of the breath I had been holding in. "You okay?" Benji asked, his breath fanning over the side of my face.

"Yeah, sorry about that."

Benji slowly retracted his arm from around me and took a step back.

I turned around and fixed my shirt. "Thanks," I said shyly.

He nodded once.

We started to string the lights the proper way and this time I let the guys handle the lights at the top of the tree.

* * *

Two hours later and the tree was finished. Well, at least it's as good as it's going to get. The guys didn't have many decorations so we stuck to what we had. But it turned out well if I say so myself.

Mason did the honor and put the star on top of the tree.

"Thanks for the help," Mason glanced at me and smiled.

"You're welcome," I replied proudly. "I love decorating trees to be honest, so it wasn't a problem at all."

"I guess we did need the help," Benji spoke from beside me. "We're completely inept when it comes to decorating anything."

"Then I know not to hire any of you at the bakery." I smiled innocently with my hands clasped behind my back.

"I'd probably eat everything anyway," Mason retorted, running a hand through his sandy blonde curls. Benji cleared his throat and Mason exchanged a look with Evan. "We're going to head into the studio now. Evan has some drum tracks he still needs to lay down. So if you need us, we'll be in there." Mason threw an arm around Evan's shoulders and steered him away from us, disappearing down another hallway.

Weird. "What time is it?" I asked Benji.

"Fifteen until one," He reported.

I turned to face him. "I have to be back by two."

"That's okay." He smiled. "I'll go ahead and drive you back."

No. "That's fine," My mouth blurted before I could stop it.

We left his apartment without another word and headed back to the library.

* * *

It was only ten minutes until two and I still haven't moved out of Benji's truck. We sat in the library parking lot with the windows down and music played softly from the speakers.

We haven't said much. We've mainly listened to music. Benji even introduced me to a few new bands that I couldn't wait to listen to more of.

"We'll have to hang out again. This time without Tyler being a drama queen over a small bump on the head."

I laughed lightly. "It's okay. I like your friends. They're...something."

Benji nodded. "Definitely something."

"My mom's going to be out of town for a couple of days starting tomorrow. I won't be working at the bakery all day, but I do have something you could help me with." I grinned.

He slightly cocked his head to the side and raised a brow. "What would that be exactly?"

"Painting my room." I still smiled. "Jason won't be home—"

"Jason?" Benji asked quickly.

It took me a minute to realize I never told him about my brother. "Sorry, Jason's my older brother. He goes to college, but he's never around anyway. Mostly in his room studying or at his girlfriend's house."

Benji looked relieved. "Oh," He said. "If you need help, I'd be happy to."

"Am I taking advantage of our friendship already?"

He let out a really loud laugh. "You just decorated our Christmas tree, Lucy. I think I can help you paint a few walls."

"Well I'd really appreciate it and if you're nice, I'll even throw in a few cupcakes."

Benji leaned his head back against his seat and smiled at me. "You just sealed the deal then my friend. Consider me there. You have my number."

"And now you have mine." I glanced at the clock on his dashboard. Five minutes. "I guess I should go. I really did have fun today though, so thank you. If you don't hear from me tomorrow, then you'll hear from me on Friday."

He nodded. "I'll talk to you soon, Lucy."

"You will. Bye, Benji."

My heart melted when he smiled at me again. I climbed out of the car before I begged him to drive away with me in it.

* * *

"You and Jason both know the rules," Mom said at breakfast the next morning.

Jason grunted. "Mom, I'm twenty. I'm not going to do something stupid."

"Hey!" I shouted defensively. "You think I would?"

He rolled his head to the side to smile at me and looked back to mom. "I'll keep an eye on her, Mom."

My mouth fell open.

But Mom smiled at Jason of course. "Thank you. And make sure she finishes her homework. Stacy will check in like usual as well. Your dad and I will only be gone until Sunday."

I nodded. "We know, Mom."

"Okay." She smiled and stood up. "I'll call when we get to Jacksonville."

Jason and I both stood too and she hugged us both quickly, leaving a small kiss on the side of my head. Dad came in moments later all ready to go. Jason was above giving Dad a hug, but I wasn't. I wrapped my arms around his torso and hugged him tightly and he hugged me back just as tight. "Call us if you need us," Dad said and let me go.

We both nodded and they left. The front door closed behind them and Jason turned to me. "You suck," I said.

Jason grinned. "I know. I'm in charge."

"You're always in charge, dumbass. Don't you have a class to get to?"

"I'm leaving in a few minutes and I'll check your work when I get home."

I rolled my eyes. "If I do it."

He raised a brow. "When you do it, Luce. And I'll order pizza tonight if you play nice and do the work."

"How old do you think I am?" I bellowed.

Jason held up five fingers. "To be exact."

"I know where you sleep." I glared.

"Oh, no. I'm shaking," He said sarcastically. "I'm gonna go now and I'll see you in a few hours. Don't do anything stupid."

I shrugged. "No promises."

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I'm enjoying writing this story a lot lol. What do you guys think of Tyler? He's clearly the drama queen of the band hahaha. No, there won't be a love triangle. I feel like I need to say this, but they will be friends!!!!!!

More about why Lucy's stuck the way she is will surface soon. Hopefully little hints in the next chapter whenever I write it lol. Hopefully it'll be up tomorrow.

There's also a new cover!! I love it so much because Matt is such a cutie. :)

Please vote and comment!!! LET ME KNOW ALL YOUR PRECIOUS THOUGHTS!!