SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Read the author's note in the end. Awesome surprise. Get your wallets ready.

[Written after the Disrespectful Shippper Comments chapter]

Respect All Ships. Hopefully, this is the last time I have to say this. Regardless of what scene you're reading, whether it's your ship or not, you should be respectful to everyone even if you have different opinions.

"You like paper books because of the paper texture? Well, I like online books because of its portable convenience. But who cares because we both like books!"

Of course, you can comment as long as it's supportive and/or insightful. The respect all ships rule applies to everyone. So I don't want to see other shippers bashing on a Bennomi ship scene or Bennomi readers- that just ain't cool. Bennomi and Bennomi readers are great and valid, and I can't wait for what's to come for all ships and characters.

You're all my babies and must be protected. Mama Musketeer instinct: activated. (I did not come up with that nickname, some awesome readers did.)

Just like any other ship scene, please fangirl because I love reading comments when people fangirl. Thirst comments are on their own level. Well then, let's do this!

Recap:

The 4M attended the March gang meeting. At the end of one particular chapter, Bennett told Naomi to warn him the next time she backs a gang leader to a corner. So keep that in mind.

However, March also happens to have the birthday of a certain main character.

-

I was about to be kidnapped.

Even with my lack of street smarts, I think it was easy enough for me to know this.

Given that it was a limo.

I crossed my arms, glaring at the car. "Don't you have anything better to do Bentley?"

The window of the car rolled down a bit and a familiar voice asked, "Do you prefer that Frazier instead?"

"No of course not!" I said brightly.

I climbed into the limo and sat next to Brennan. "How have you- What is he doing here?"

"Given that it's my limo," Bentley said dryly, "this should be no surprise."

"Is that any way to treat our guest?" Brennan scolded him sharply. "Especially since it's our precious Naomi."

Brennan smiled back at me. "I haven't seen you chapters ago. Although for Bentley, it was a tad longer, wasn't it?"

"It was just by one chapter," Bentley told her.

I gave them a confused look. "How do you know?"

"Rich people powers," Brennan and Bentley said casually in unison, waving it off like it was nothing.

Brennan told me, "But don't mind him, he's just elated to have me here." She narrowed her eyes at Bentley. "You are happy that I'm here, aren't you? Or else I'll just have to remind you why you love your beloved sister by staying at the main house for the rest of my time here."

Bentley immediately sat up from his seat. "Of course I am. There's also no need to make such threats."

She hummed at that. "Happy birthday, Naomi!" Brennan said cheerfully, before saying, "Well, belated birthday. You're finally 18, a woman now!"

She sighed wistfully. "I remember my 18th birthday. It was a private gala. We rented out a mansion and-" She stopped herself and smiled at me. "Nevermind about that. Here are some presents from me and Bentley."

"From Bentley too?" I asked.

"Think of it as charity for- I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Bentley said quickly when Brennan shot him a glare.

"You really shouldn't have Brennan, but thank you."

Brennan let out a sigh. "Why couldn't I have a little sister instead of two idiotic younger brothers?"

Bentley scoffed. "I'll have you know, my SAT score is-"

"No one asked," Brennan and I said in unison.

Bentley frowned and crossed his arms, slumping in his seat.

"How was your birthday? Did you have a party?"

"Since my birthday was on a school day, I didn't do anything until the weekend," I explained to her. "And I applied to colleges out of the city and state, so I decided to spend it with my parents. But I'm planning on having a get together with the others later."

"You and I are due for another girl's night with Lynn once I finish some errands I have to do with my father," Brennan assured me.

"With this get together, does that mean Bennett's going to cook for all of you?" Bentley said dryly.

I held back rolling my eyes. "I don't know, that's up to him. We haven't really planned anything since we all had midterms."

"Right midterms. My school has a different schedule than public schools," Bentley mused. "Is Bennett doing well at your school? I can only imagine how terrible the transition was since he left an elite academy."

All I knew was that Bennett used to go to the school Noura Elite Private Academy, the same school that Bentley is currently attending. I personally don't know much about the school aside from the fact it's a K-12 academy and that it obviously has a lot of funding for a better curriculum than the public school system can ever hope to achieve.

"You don't even like Noura," Brennan snapped at him. "You always call your classmates business cards. So what are you implying, Bentley?"

"Of course I don't like my school, no one likes their own school," Bentley said matter-of-factly. "And the entire institution is less of an academy and more of a networking event. Do you know how many connections I made for father? You're just lucky you graduated from that prissy all-girls private school mother made you attend."

Brennan narrowed her eyes at her brother. "She didn't make me go there." She exhaled. "I wanted to stay there even after-" She stopped herself then glanced at me before looking back at Bentley. "You didn't answer my question earlier."

"I just believe it's the perfect opportunity to see how our brother is doing in a small, rundown, no-name public school," Bentley spat.

The two siblings looked at me. "Well you're right, but continue," I said.

"The PR team has been working miracles for something that they shouldn't be doing in the first place. I still don't understand how father can risk putting Bennett in a school like Dartwell because how else can we explain why he would be there?"

Bentley was right. Even with Bennett rejecting his father's pressure to inherit the company, he's still giving him so much freedom of moving to a no-name school, living by himself, and still financing him. There was a deal involved.

He scoffed. "I don't know what deal the two of them had, but I seriously doubt that Bennett threatening to announce he'll be the next Gordon Ramsay was enough to make father flinch. Although there was his whole speech in the Christmas banquet- you should've been there Brennan. I would have got someone to record, but they were strict with cameras and press which is why it hasn't blown up back on us."

"I think we can end this conversation right here," Brennan stated, narrowing her eyes at her brother. "I don't know who raised you but you do enjoy stirring the pot to say all of this in front of Naomi."

Bentley gave her a cold smile. "Well, that's the problem there. No one raised me."

He then looked at me and opened the limo door showing that I had arrived at school. "I hope our family drama is enough of a present for you, Naomi. Happy birthday."

He then told the driver, "We already wasted enough time with this detour. I'll be late for school at this rate and I don't want to miss my public speaking class."

Brennan gave Bentley a stern look then turned to give me an apologetic one. "Happy birthday, Naomi," she said with a smile.

I did my best to return one. "Thank you."

-

I took a step forward, making him take a step back. "I'm warning you."

Despite having his back against the wall, he narrowed his eyes at me. "Stop it, Naomi."

I grinned at him with a glint in my eye. "Didn't you tell me to warn you if I'm backing a gang leader into a corner?"

Bennett's arms folded across his chest. "I think we both know what I meant when I first said that."

"And I think we both know I'm clever enough to twist what you meant," I said smoothly.

"I'm telling you no, Naomi."

"You can't say no to me, Bennett."

"You're playing the birthday card already?"

I smiled at him. "When else can I use it?"

"It's still a no."

"Why won't you let me help you cook?" I asked in exasperation.

"It's your birthday. Today is the one day you shouldn't have to be cooking."

"It feels weird if I don't do anything. I don't have anything else to do."

"Weren't you reading a book earlier?"

"Yeah but I caught up to the latest chapter. The author makes slow updates."

Bennett took a step forward and looked at me. "May you please move?"

I crossed my arms. "No."

He sighed, placed his hands on my shoulders, and moved me to the side before walking right past me.

"I let you do that," I defended.

"I appreciate your kindness," he replied.

I walked after him. "C'mon Bennett. Jordan and Declan are running errands. At least let me do something until they get back."

"I thought you wanted me to cook you something for your birthday."

"Well, what if I wanted to cook something together for my birthday?" I asked, leaning against the counter.

Bennett had both hands against the counter, one finger tapped against the table as he stared at the cutting board placed in front of him. Then he closed his eyes and sighed.

"Alright, if that's what you want."

I pumped my fist into the air. "Yes! Manual labor!"

"How much experience do you have with cooking?" Bennett asked me.

I hesitated. "I'm able to crack an egg with a 75 percent success rate," I offered weakly.

I burst out laughing when I saw him exhale, the closest I'll ever get to a grimace from him. "I was messing with you. I know how to cook. I'm no Michelin Star chef, though."

He smiled at that. "I'm not one either. If I was, you would be paying me to cook you something."

"I definitely can't afford you," I said before going to wash my hands.

"You can start by cutting some vegetables up. There should be some garlic and onions in the pantry."

"Great," I told him as I went into the cupboard. "What are you planning on making?"

"Well, you told me I can make anything I want. So I decided to make some Italian food based on what we already have in the fridge. A spaghetti carbonara, a frittata, cacciatora chicken, and a tiramisu. That should be enough for the four of us."

"Italian?" I asked. "Don't get me wrong, I think I just drooled from that menu, but what made you choose that?"

"I remembered you telling me how sad you were that your favorite Italian restaurant moved out of the city," Bennett told me.

"And the other reason?" I pressed.

He paused then glanced away before admitting, "And it's been a while since I made some pasta from scratch."

I chuckled. "I know you too well Bennett. You're just as food-driven as me, well for you it's cooking and for me, it's eating. But don't worry, I'm glad you're using my birthday as an excuse," I told him with a smile. "Probably because that means I can try it."

I grabbed a cutting board and decided to cut up some garlic first before crying my eyes out when cutting up some onions. Onions have layers, ogres have layers- we all know this. As I was cutting up the vegetables, I couldn't help but watch Bennett at work as he began first making the pasta for the carbonara. I often watch cooking videos because although I'm not a cook, I obtain some amount of satisfaction watching delicious food being made. At least when watching Bennett cook, I know I can actually eat the food. I decided to wait until after he laid the dough to rest and set up for another dish when I spoke up again.

"I'm glad you also decided to make a frittata," I told him. "We have some leftovers from the fridge, so it's good they won't go to waste."

"It was when I saw what we have left in the fridge I decided to make it," Bennett explained. "Although I wanted to add a few more vegetables like bell peppers, mushrooms, and spinach."

"I can't wait," I said excitedly, looking at Bennett and grinning at him. "I never really cut up a bell pepper before, but I think I can figure it- Ah!" I screamed.

All I saw was red liquid dripping out of my hand and onto the cutting board. I staggered back at the sight, my other hand clutching my wrist tightly. The most sensitive part of your body are your fingertips because it has the most sensory neurons. That's why paper cuts hurt more than it should. So just imagine how it would be like if you just accidentally cut your finger with a knife.

Bennett stiffened at the sight. Suddenly, he grabbed a clean cloth, ran a little water onto it, and a little antibacterial soap. Bennett handed me the cloth and then knelt down to open the cabinet underneath the sink.

"Clean your cut the best you can," Bennett told me. "You can squeeze a little blood out to get out any initial bacteria inside it and run it in the sink. I should have a first aid kit here."

"Bennett, I'm so sorry," I told him.

"You shouldn't be," he assured me as he took out a first aid kit. "We still have extra produce if any blood got on it. You should just be worried about your cut right now."

"No, I'm sorry because this was a... joke."

Bennett looked at me in confusion. "What do you mean by a joke?"

"It was red food coloring," I admitted pathetically, revealing the small bottle in my hand. "Jordan gave it to me as a mini birthday present. He said that he came up with the idea to play a joke on you, but he knew that he could never do it himself because you would never let him cook with you. Me, on the other hand, is a different matter."

He looked at me for what felt like a long time with an expressionless face. I glanced away and braced myself for being at the other end of a lecture I usually saw Jordan receive. But that expectation vanished when I heard a chuckle from Bennett. When I turned to look at Bennett, he was attempting to stifle the chuckle with his hand, but that chuckle grew to a snicker and that in turn grew into laughter. I had my fair share of seeing Bennett laugh at the crazy antics all four of us have gone through, but I have never seen him laugh so hard with his face lit up and his bright blue eyes gleaming. Bennett had to keep a hand on the counter to keep him steady.

"I'm sorry," Bennett said after being able to calm himself. "I laughed harder than I should have. I wasn't expecting a prank like that, from you of all people. But then again, it was Jordan who gave you the idea."

"You shouldn't be sorry," I told him, slightly chuckling at the parallelism as I wiped away the red food coloring off my hand. "Jordan told me I'd get to have a chance to see you panic but you were calm as always. But I wasn't expecting you to laugh, more like a lecture. If anything, seeing you laugh was almost a good enough... birthday present."

Bennett looked taken aback by that. "Me laughing as a birthday present?"

I smiled. "Well seeing that I'm surprised how hard you laughed despite how long I've known you and that today is my birthday, then yes, I will consider this my birthday present. You don't have to cook anything anymore. I'm just kidding, please still do, I was looking forward to the food. If you listen well enough, my stomach has been growling the entire time."

He chuckled at that, then raising his hand to run it through his black hair. He looked away and said, "Then maybe I... I can laugh a bit more for- Nevermind."

I took a few steps forward to Bennett and leaned to the side to look at him just as he moved away. "Bennett Frazier, don't tell me you're feeling... flustered?"

Bennett cleared his throat. "I can assure you that I'm not."

"And I can assure you, I know a lie when I hear one," I told him. "Two birthday presents back to back. Today is my lucky day."

"Let's get back to work," Bennett told me. "At this rate, we won't be done cooking."

"Yes, chef," I said firmly, the two of us breaking into a smile at that.

For the rest of the time, we talked as we continued cooking. Bennett kept supervising me to make sure I don't actually cut myself this time, but I teased him and made sure to redeem myself by not doing something that could send me to the ER.

"I say you should start making cooking videos," I told him as I checked the oven I had preheated. "Girls would love to see a guy cook food. Who knows. You might even have a fanbase."

As I put the skillet carrying the frittata into the oven, I said, "I can't see you right now but are you getting flustered Bennett? I said that so you can get flustered. "

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but no, I'm not. And I seriously doubt anyone would want to see videos of me cooking."

I gave a shrug. "You should thank some of the male population for setting the bar so low that they'd want a guy who can actually take care of himself."

"Well, I have to admit that's a bit worrisome."

I chuckled. "And well, you have other redeemable qualities."

"Really? How so?"

"Oh no. Does the Bennett Frazier actually have an ego I can inflate?"

"Of course not," Bennett denied as he finished cutting up the pasta. "I'm not Jordan."

"Well, I guess I'll just say it in the hopes of seeing you blush like in the Christmas banquet."

Bennett exhaled. "Please don't remind me of that."

"Let me think..." I muttered, staring at the bowl of sauce that was going to be for the spaghetti. "For one thing, you're a great leader."

Bennett looked at the counter, his eyebrows furrowed together. "I'm not a leader."

I raised an eyebrow. "You're kidding, right? You're literally our leader."

"Not by choice," Bennett told me. "I'm just doing what I can. If anyone's a leader, it would be Declan. I still believe it should have been him, not me."

"And yet you are. I assume that between the three of you, it was two against one, and Jordan and Declan decided you should be the leader."

He let out a sigh. "At the time, we barely knew each other. The only reason they chose me was that they didn't want the other to be the leader and they knew that I'm rich and went to a rich, elite school."

Bennett continued, "Declan is obviously stronger and intimidating than me. And also, he grew up in the streets while I grew up behind white marble walls. A leader should be someone more extroverted and enthusiastic."

"I really think you're not giving yourself more credit here," I told him. "People have different levels of introversion and extraversion, but both have their pros and cons of being a leader. And out of the four of us, you are level headed and decisive which I find really necessary in a leader. Declan has his strong points, even Jordan, but that doesn't mean yours don't have any value."

Bennett was quiet for a moment before I caught a faint smile before going back to cooking. "Thank you, Naomi. I appreciate it. Honestly, I wish I heard that when I was in my old school."

"You've never really talked about your old school."

He paused from cooking and was quiet for a moment.

"Are we really going to let Frazier be our team lead for our group project?" A voice asked in disbelief. "It's 30 percent of our grade."

"How can we not? He's the heir to his father's company while you're just a son of a local senator and I'm third in line to an electrical appliances company. "

There was an exasperated sigh. "Don't remind me. Instead of wishing me a good day at school, my parents remind me I should be on Frazier's good side."

"I mean, I agree with you," he said. "It's ridiculous he will inherit such a large company. If anything, he'll run it to the ground in his hands. He barely talks in class and even with everyone throwing themselves at him because of his connections, he doesn't do anything. He isn't ambitious enough to actually accomplish something."

He scoffed. "Maybe it's all an act. He doesn't see us worth anything. The whole quiet, lone alpha persona has all of the girls in our school fawning over him." 

"There's always the younger brother. He's much more leader-like and is actually popular in his grade. We should work on him instead."

"We probably should. Who knows, maybe he'll inherit the company instead."

"He seems like a better candidate, but I doubt that would happen. It doesn't look good if the first son gets passed over for the second- makes the entire family look incompetent especially since their eldest sister didn't inherit the company."

"You mean their sister Brennan? She's so hot. I've seen her photos in that modeling magazine."

"Don't tell me you actually got that magazine just for her. The Frazier brothers will end you if they find out that your favorite pastime is their sister."

"No, of course not," he defended. "My mother subscribed to the line and told me that the Frazier daughter starred in the magazine. It was one of those conversation starters that ended with the daily reminder that I should already be best friends with Frazier."

"The siblings are just on another league but that only means the family relationship is on another league as well. Did you know that the brothers aren't even close? Have you heard about what happened between the Fraziers when they were in the middle school stage."

"Of course not, I came in at the start of the high school-"

"Need I remind you that father hates eavesdropping?"

Bennett stiffened and slowly turned to see his younger brother, Bentley, standing beside him. At the sight of each other, the two of them narrowed their eyes and it was almost as if they were looking at a reflection. He donned the same suffocating school uniform as him- a white button-down underneath a black blazer lined with blue and yellow. They could almost pass off as twins being of nearly the same tall height as well as both having raven black hair and icy blue eyes. By the straightened posture and confident smirk, you would think that the younger brother would be the older brother.

"Knowing you well, you would have enjoyed their conversation," Bennett told his brother, his voice steady. "They were praising you after all."

Bentley smirked. "And knowing you, they were putting you down in the process. You're right, I would have enjoyed their conversation."

His brother then took a step forward, revealing himself out of the corner. "Well if it isn't Joseph Morales and Harold Kim. A pleasure to run into you two."

The voice was strained. "Bentley, did you just walk by or did you hear-?"

"When a tree falls in a forest, does it hear a sound? What a puzzling theory my physics tutor had told me," Bentley mused. "We had just started on quantum theory. I find it quite interesting."

"Yes, I do as well..." the other guy said slowly.

Bentley continued, "I was meaning to talk with you both about an upcoming banquet my father will be hosting. I would love to invite you and your family to it. Perhaps all of our fathers may sit down and have a chat..."

Their conversation and footsteps receded down the hall. To Bennett's dismay, he let out a sigh of relief from it. Bennett's hand reached up and pulled against the collar of his uniform that at the moment felt like choking him. However, it was a useless attempt because you risk a penalty if you're caught with even one button undone. Yet he still pulled on the collar, knowing that it wasn't the uniform but being trapped in the walls of this school.

Suffocating.

"For good reason," Bennett said quietly.

I frowned at that but decided to not press any further. I know Bennett. The fact he said that much was three words more than I had expected out of him. If he wants to tell me something, I will be there to listen, but only if he wants to.

There was a silence between us, the same silence that was when we first began to know each other. Out of the three of them, I first knew Jordan best and next Declan but Bennett was still much of a mystery to me that I don't know I could ever figure out.

Eventually, I broke the silence when I let out a tired sigh. "This chicken is not working with me," I grumbled as I set the knife down.

"Maybe the knife is dull," Bennett said, walking up to me. "May I?" He asked.

"Yes, sure," I told him.

Bennett took a knife from the knife rack and just when I was about to take a step back so Bennett could cut it for me, he moved to be positioned right behind me. He gave me the knife then placed his hand over mine. I became painfully aware of how much taller he was than me as he leaned forward in order to look over my shoulder.

"It may also be because you weren't cutting the chicken properly," Bennett explained as he angled the knife. "You have to cut it at this angle to best-" He suddenly stopped. "I just realized what's happening."

"I'm glad you eventually did," I responded.

Bennett took a huge step back. "I'm sorry, I was just focused on the food."

I couldn't help but laugh at his explanation. "I can't blame you. It's food after all."

Bennett handed me the knife and went back to cooking at his side of the kitchen. The silence stumbled back in like it was drunk on a Friday night trying to forget its ex. I was trying to find something to say when Bennett beat me to it.

"I notice you hum a bit when you're cooking," Bennett told me.

I felt my cheeks turn warm. "Oh, is it annoying? I can stop if you'd like. It helps me focus a bit."

"No, it's ok," he quickly assured me. "It reminded me of my mother. She would hum when she cooked."

This was the first time Bennett has ever mentioned his mother in front of me.

"Do you hum when you cook?" I asked him, not wanting to press the matter unless he wants to and continues with the topic.

There was a light chuckle. "No, I don't."

"Maybe you should try humming. I'm sorry I have to tell you this but you always look stressed when you're cooking."

"The food should come out well, I don't see how cooking wouldn't be stressful," Bennett explained. "But you're not the first person to recommend me to hum. My mother always teased me about it, saying I should hum along with her."

Now it was the second time Bennett has ever mentioned his mother in front of me now in a span of a few seconds.

"Did you cook with her a lot?" I asked. I wanted to add that I always have fun cooking with my mom, but I knew I was walking on eggshells at this point and that I should wait for his response.

Bennett had a small smile and told me, "Yes, I cooked with her a lot-" He paused then corrected himself, "used to cook with her a lot."

I'm glad I waited for his response.

I set the cutlery down and turned to look at Bennett. He stared at the bowl in front of him with a cold stare.

"Even despite the number of times my father told her she didn't have to, that we hired chefs to do that, she always did because nothing can be better than 'a mother's cooking'." There was a soft chuckle. "Sometimes there will be a little burn or the seasoning is off, but she still cooked and we still ate."

"She-" Bennett stopped. "I'm sorry. I never really talked about this to anyone. And it's your birthday and I shouldn't be-"

"That doesn't matter," I assured him. "I'm happy you trusted me to say that much. If you're not comfortable continuing, we can just keep on cooking and talk another day."

Bennett looked at me with a softened gaze then glanced away. "She was driving back from a fundraising gala. My father was against it, but she always told him it would kill two birds with one stone- do something with our resources and make the company look good."

He exhaled. "It was a drunk driver. A retired police officer. He was driving on the opposite side of the road." His hands gripped the counter as if he was trying to break it. "He was sentenced for six years in state prison, but since he was an officer, they agreed to his appeal and was resentenced to home detention for three years and a $100,000 fine. I was only 11."

"Do you know that the funny thing is?" He asked me, his eyes now closed. "My father fought for a harsher punishment, a long sentence, but it didn't matter because no amount of money can beat politics. We have all this money, but we couldn't even afford her justice. That was her worth: a three-year sentence that turned to a three-year home detention and $100,000."

"That's why I believe money is worthless," Bennett told me solemnly.

My throat felt dry and I was fighting to find the right words to tell him, but Bennett told me, "I didn't want you to say anything and I'm glad you didn't. I didn't want to hear 'I'm sorry for your loss' or 'she's in a better place, there's a reason for everything'- I heard enough of them."

"I guess I needed someone to listen. It's different with you compared to the others when I can talk about something like this to you. It wasn't... suffocating."

When I saw Bennett look up and smile at me, I returned the same smile. "Well then I'm glad I didn't say anything." I paused. "But really Bennett, you should know I'm always here to talk to or even just listen."

Then I added, "Or to cook with and prank you into thinking I accidentally cut my finger."

We shared a small laugh. "I'll keep that in mind," Bennett assured me.

Then Bennett said hesitantly, "I talked quite a bit more. Was that a better birthday present?"

I did not even bother holding back my gasp. "Don't tell me you said all that just because I asked if you can talk more to me. I meant at your own pace, not mine. Bennett, please tell me you didn't."

He snickered to himself, holding a smile. "I was kidding."

"Oh my-" I put my face in my hands and screamed in my head. Once I calmed myself down, I said, "Let's finish cooking before you decide to pull more jokes on me. I'm too young to have a heart attack."

Bennett and I talked and laughed as we finished cooking the rest of the food. When there was nothing we can do but wait for the food to finish cooking in the oven or on the stove, we then began to clean up and wash the dishes. And by we I mean-

"Ok, thanks for letting me help you cook," I said quickly. "I'll see you later-"

"Hold it," Bennett said, making me stop mid-step. "Help me clean the dishes."

"B-But... birthday," I said pathetically.

Bennett crossed his arms, unfazed by my attempt to play the birthday card.

"Fine," I grumbled. "Jordan was right. You're such a mom."

He raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Nothing..." I stretched.

Bennett chuckled but said nothing.

We both started washing the dishes. My attempts to get Bennett to hum with me fell short. I handed Bennett a newly-washed plate but my hands were still slippery from the soap and almost fell before I quickly caught.

"My heart would have shattered if I saw that plate did," I said with a laugh. When I saw Bennett's blank look, I defended, "I wasn't going to break it. I have never broken a dish before in my life and I'm not ending this streak now."

"Fine, let's switch then. I'll wash the dishes, you dry them."

My jaw dropped at that. "You don't trust me."

"I like these plates. I bought these plates."

"Do you know what I say to your plates?" I asked. "This is what I say about your plates." With the faucet still running with water, I swiped at it so some water splashed on Bennett. I gasped because that was definitely more water than I had actually intended.

"I am so sorry. I didn't mean to do that. I underestimated how much water there was. Bennett, please believe me. I'm the birthday girl. Don't kill me."

Bennett lifted the collar of his shirt to wipe the water on his face. He then ruffled his hair at an attempt to shake out the excess water on it, but it was pointless and he left it as it is.

"I'm not going to kill you," Bennett assured me, his voice calm.

My shoulders slumped in relief. "Thank you so-"

I was cut off by water being splashed on my shirt and sweats. I looked down at myself then back at Bennett.

"I thought you weren't going to kill me."

"I doubt we can consider this being killed because if that was the case, I was slaughtered,"

Bennett said, having motioned himself being soaked. "Now that we're even, let's finish washing the dishes and-"

Now Bennett was cut off when I splashed water on him.

"You gave me your word that you weren't going to kill me. Now that we're finally even we can..."

I faltered then eyed Bennett who looked at me back. Our eyes narrowed at each other. When his eyes flitted to the faucet, I moved to grab a measuring cup just as Bennett snatched a mug. We then pushed each other out of the way as we tried to fill the cups with as much as water as possible. Then we simultaneously swung our cups at each other just as we covered ourselves with our free arm to defend ourselves. I was met instantly with cold water having it run down my back and side. I peeked and saw that Bennett was equally soaked.

We both paused but once again moved to refill our cups for more water. I pushed against him and from the sound of our footsteps, the floor had puddles of water before us.

"This is so childish of you, Bennett," said the hypocrite. "I expected better from you."

"I'm only just defending myself," he defended. "You're the one who started it."

"But you should've ended it. You're obviously much more mature than the three of us combined and-"

When Bennett tried to move my arm that was trying to refill the cup of water, I thought he was going to splash me with the water he managed to obtain in his mug even though it wasn't full. I took a step back to cover myself but slipped because of the water on the floor.

"Naomi!" Bennett exclaimed as he tried to grab my arm to stop me from falling, but it was too late.

I winced at the impact of landing on my back with the floor soaked in water. I opened my eyes to see that Bennett had fallen on top of me in his attempt to save me. We were now in this awkward predicament, but I only had one thing to say for it.

"Thanks for saving me," I said sarcastically.

"You're welcome," he replied.

I suddenly panicked and looked around before sighing in relief and setting my head back on the floor. "I didn't break the cup."

"That's all you care about? Not a concussion but your cup?"

"I had a streak for 18 years," I told him. "I'm keeping it."

"Do you think we should get up before the others find us like this and never let us hear the end of it?"

"That's a good idea," I said.

"Ok, but hear me out. In this alternate universe, everything is the same except there are these small details that are different. Can you imagine how- Well look what we have here."

I closed my eyes and sighed. Bennett and I then turned our heads to see Declan and Jordan standing above us holding bags of party supplies they were supposed to get.

"This state is in a drought," Declan informed us.

Jordan squatted down, wearing his usual sly grin at me. "If you wanted this to be your birthday present Naomi, you should've just asked me."

"Shut up, Jordan! Now help me up."

They helped us back on our feet.

"I'm going to change," I said lamely.

"Me too."

"Have fun you two," Jordan said brightly.

"Jordan, clean up the mess," Bennett and I said bluntly together.

"What! Why? You're the ones who made-"

He stopped when he saw Declan laughing at him. "Serves you right."

"You know I wasn't the one who decided to have a detour and get a strawberry milkshake!"

"We agreed to not say anything! And anyway you agreed and got yourself a vanilla milkshake!"

"Wait, you went to get milkshakes without us?" I asked in disbelief.

"You made us buy a bunch of stuff for the party," Declan defended.

"Yeah, and we were cooking the entire time," Bennett explained.

"Oh right 'cooking'," Jordan said, doing air quotes. "Is that some sort of code word kids are using these days?"

"Do you not see the food being cooked right this second?" I asked, pointed at the oven.

Jordan paused, looked at the oven then back at us. "Ok, maybe you were cooking but-"

"It wasn't a maybe. We were actually cooking. Not like how you guys were not actually doing errands and instead getting milkshakes without us."

"Alright, you know what?" Jordan asked us.

"What?" Declan, Bennett, and I asked.

Jordan stood there for a moment and exhaled. Then he dashed for the sink for a cup of water and threw the water in our direction. However, since Declan was the closest person next to him, he got the brunt of the water.

Declan looked at his soaked clothes, nodding to himself. "I know we're supposed to be celebrating Naomi's birthday today, but I think we should also celebrate Jordan's funeral."

"I agree."

"I'm fine with that."

Jordan chuckled weakly. "You can't celebrate a funeral. A funeral is supposed to be sad. And won't you be sad to see me gone?"

"No."

"Nope."

"Never."

"I see..." He said quietly before quickly running away.

Let's just say we ate the food we cooked... eventually.

~

ABOUT THE CHAPTER

I'm back! I've been focusing on Broken Glasses but I'm glad I found enough inspiration to write this chapter.

Wait Rubix, this was a very Bennomi/Bennett heavy chapter. Yes, dear reader, it was especially after the disrespectful shippers chapter since I have a Bennett/Bennomi heavy chapter at the ready. But I told you guys that Bennett's character arc is going to come up. That ain't going to stop me from writing it.

I can already see the memes. [Rubix: Tells shippers, especially Bennomi shippers, to respect all ships. Also Rubix: Writes a Bennomi chapter afterward.] There, saved you some time haha.

Sorry, but I can't help but imagine readers who dropped the book because they didn't like the respect all ships chapter that may have not even been directed to them and even if they did shouldn't take it to heart because being rude is, well, rude and then missing out a ship and character development chapter.

Also, imagine the chaos if the Frazier siblings are in the same room?

And other shippers. Don't worry. I gotchu. You have to admit, Bennomi fans need a chapter since the Christmas banquet. You're fine. Decomi fans, you're gucci. Jordomi fans, you're goooood. Domino fans, chillax. Camvey- yas qween. Other ships yehhh.

I honestly wanted to just "Zuko" Bennett's mom so like there was no explanation why she was never mentioned. But then I decided I should give a reason. So here you go. I really want to show the different family dynamics in this book.

What are some of your theories about the chapter? Is that all we're going to learn about Bennett? What might come next? Listen to the song because I find it Bennomi related. Can anyone in the comments tell me what lyrics struck them?

Also yes, Noura is an anagram of Ouran. Keep up people. We should be faster than this.

This chapter was a bit of a test for second point of view which I might be diving more into in Broken Glasses. If you haven't read Broken Glasses, I highly recommend you give it a read (in my unbiased opinion, it's not like I wrote it or anything) because you're missing some great banters like this:

"You should already know what I want, Ben," Jordan said with a grin, leaning against the counter. "You know me so well after all."

"I wish that I didn't know half of the things you told me about yourself," Bennett said bluntly.

Jordan winked. "That just means you liked the other half."

Jeclan? You're all missing out on Jennett/Bendan - hmm ship name needs work.

Anyway, here's to the main point of the author's note.

Drum roll please...

WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TGGBB MERCH!!!

MERCHANDISE

This has been a long time idea of mine but I never had the push to actually put it to work. I partnered up with @Pekgna  who had previously made some awesome fan art in TGGBB and character designs for BG and has now helped me jumpstart my plan to make some TGGBB merch. Everyone say thank you to Pekgna!

So we're going to set up the launch date at [undisclosed date]- just kidding the launch date will be September 30 which is also Bennett's birthday (when September ends haha). This is to get some final things in order.

The platform we will be using is RedBubble because it supports carbon neutrality, has worldwide shipping, secure payments, and great customer support and easy returns. Just go to the website or app RedBubble and look up my name. We have a lot of designs put up, but I will make an update if there are more designs coming in.

Prices are reasonable- I'm only just a broke college student who doesn't have a job this semester and writes for free, no big deal.

At the moment the merchandise is on apparel, stickers, magnets, pins, phone cases, mugs and water bottles, and tote bags. If you have any problems with your design like a little mistake or the design is placed weirdly on the shirt, please shoot me a BubbleMail at RedBubble as well as Tweet and tag me so I can see it. The format of the website is weird when making designs so I had to eye it a lot.

ALSO! I will be later opening up a raffle for a MasterClass one-year subscription for those who purchase the merchandise! So stay tuned for more news in the upcoming weeks in Wattpad announcements, Twitter and Instagram!

Below are some designs just to get you guys excited. The gray picture is my work and I did mostly word art and some drawings. I had it so purple is Naomi, green is Jordan (his eyes), red is Declan and blue is Bennett. The purple picture is Pekgna's work. The bottom characters are TGGBB 3M while the top characters are the Broken Glasses 3M. Bennett has the most drastic change but I'm so excited for BG Bennett.

Thank you everyone and be safe! I look forward to the merchandise launch!

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I just wanted to add this little bit.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT

Aside from the merchandise coming up, if you want to support me and this series after the seven years I've been here in Wattpad and having this series free for all of you, you can show your support in Ko-fi. Ko-fi is a creator-donation platform where you can chip in a minimum of $3 to "buy me a coffee".

It makes all the difference and will help me continue working on the series. Due to COVID, I don't have a part-time job anymore. I never really thought I would be one to ask for financial support, but after seeing my favorite Youtubers and creators be able to ask of this, I hope I can reach out to you as well. Thank you so much! So when you go to my profile, you can see a link to my Ko-fi but can also look it up (ko-fi.com/rubix).

I'm also looking into doing cool stuff in Patreon where you can see exclusive TGGBB and BG related one-shots not on Wattpad. I also have a Twtich and later I want to try doing some fundraisers for great causes like bullying, mental health, BLM and more when I come up with livestream ideas. I was also thinking of opening a PO box in case there are some cute little TGGBB things you want to give me to show your support- I have seen bookmarks and fanart I would love to have something a fan made for me. But with COVID, I might hold the idea back. If you have any ideas of exclusive content and livestream ideas, I'd love to hear them.

If TGGBB and I have done any positive impact in your life but you're unable to donate, the fact I was able to do something for you with only my words is already a lot. Thank you all for the wonderful support!