The next day Ben and Zac went over to Jayden's house to hang out. Nobody mentioned what exactly they were going to be doing, but that was normal. Half the time they ended up sitting at somebody's house debating what they were going to do until they went their separate ways. Zac picked Ben up from his apartment, which only spawned a twenty-minute make out session, which explained why everyone else was there already when they arrived.
"Where've you two been?" Jayden asked. He was sitting down on his couch with his arm around Bronwyn, who was looking away. "We've all been sitting here for a half hour!"
"Well I left late," Zac said. "And then Ben wasn't ready when I got there, so there you go." Zac sat down and Ben sat down next to him. "So what are we going to do?" Zac leaned forward and took some jellybeans from the dish on the table.
"Let me have your purple ones," Ben said.
"Sure, I don't like the purple ones," Zac said. He held out his hand and Ben picked out the purple jellybeans.
"Umm�what's going on?" Carter asked. Zac looked up.
"What do you mean?" Zac asked.
"Well the last time I saw the two of you together you were fighting and now you're like this," Carter said. Zac shrugged.
"The fight was stupid and Bronwyn said we needed to spend some time together, so here we are. Plus I'm teaching him an instrument he's got to learn for his music class, once he decides what instrument he wants to play."
"Well I don't know what you know!" Ben said.
"Oh come on, Ben," Zac said, popping a jellybean into his mouth, "I told you to pick whatever the hell you wanted. I know how to play a lot and if I don't know how to play it someone in my family does and I can learn in, like, five minutes."
"Whatever."
"It's not a life-altering decision, Ben, it's a fricken instrument!"
"Are you done?" Jayden asked. Ben and Zac looked over and everyone was staring at them. "Anyway, we decided we want to go bowling."
"Oh, you've decided already?" Ben asked.
"Well, yeah, we came across it pretty quickly while we were sitting around here waiting for the two of you," Nix explained.
"Why didn't you just call?" Zac asked. "We would have met you there."
"Oh well, it's too late now," Jayden said. "Let's go." They all got up. Jayden and Bronwyn took Jayden's car while Carter rode with Nix and Zac took Ben.
"You know you probably shouldn't bicker with me like that when we're in front of them, Zac," Ben said as Zac started the car and began to follow Jayden's Jeep out of the development.
"Bicker like what?"
"About what instrument I'm going to play."
"Well you still haven't decided!"
"But if we discuss this in front of other people it just looks like we're an old married couple and is that how you want us to be found out?" Zac sighed. "Maybe we shouldn't be doing stuff like this; coming here together and stuff."
"Ben, how am I supposed to be with you if you don't want us to be together?" Zac asked. Ben sighed.
"I'm just saying we've got to be careful. I was in the closet for a while and I knew how hard it was, but it's even harder for you when you're in a relationship with someone who has the same group of friends," Ben explained. "It's not like it's easy for me either, you know. It's like I'm in the closet all over again."
"Well what do you want me to do about it? Do you want me to come out?"
"Zac, don't turn this into a fight."
"Whatever," Zac breathed.
"You're mad."
"Of course I'm mad! You're telling me we shouldn't be like this in front of our friends. This is the first time we've been together in front of our friends! We've been dating a week, Ben. Not even a week. Six days."
"I just want to be careful, all right? If it slips out that we're together then they're going to find out in a way you don't want them to find out. I'm just looking out for your best interest, Zac. I care about you and I want everything to go smoothly, even if all I want to do is go around and tell everybody that I met this really great guy and we're together now! I want to say that I'm finally happy."
"You are?" Zac asked, looking over at him. Ben nodded. "I'm finally happy too. You were right. I'm at home with you."
"I'd kiss you but Jayden keeps looking back at us."
"Yeah, I know," Zac said. "Save it for later." Ben smiled.
At the bowling alley they split up into two teams of three, with Ben, Zac, and Nix on one team and Jayden, Bronwyn and Carter on the other. They put their initials up on the board and Zac glanced up at Ben's name. "What's the J stand for?" Zac asked Ben.
"Jacob."
"Benjamin Jacob Fletcher," Zac said. "Yeah, it's still quite classy."
"Quite." Zac gave him a look.
"Hey, Ben, come with me to get some snacks," Carter said, getting up. Ben got up.
"Do you want anything?" Ben asked, placing a hand on Zac's back. Zac looked at it and Ben immediately took it away.
"Uh, just a coke or something," Zac said. Ben nodded and left with Carter, not even bothering to ask Nix if he wanted anything. It left Nix, as well as Bronwyn and Jayden, a little confused. Bronwyn announced she had to pee and left to do so before the game started. Jayden sat down next to Zac at the scoring monitors.
"Are you okay with Bronwyn being here?" Jayden asked.
"Yeah," Zac said. "I'm fine with it. I told you, I'm seeing someone else now."
"Ah, yes," Jayden said. "This mystery girl that you refuse to talk about. You won't even tell us her name."
"You guys don't know her," Zac said. "I don't really plan on bringing her to meet you or anything. It's not that serious."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah," Zac said. "We've been dating for a week. Not even a week. Six days." Jayden gave him a pressing look but Zac ignored it. "No, I'm not going to say anything about her. I don't understand why you guys can't leave it alone."
"She's got to mean something to you, Zac," Nix said. Zac looked over at him. "I mean you left Bronwyn for her. Bronwyn. You two were really serious."
"Well it got to be un-serious, okay?" Zac asked. "Bronwyn and I were over anyway."
"And that's why you told her you loved her two days before you broke up with her," Jayden said. Zac looked back over at him. "Come on, she told me everything, Zac. You two were not over. She had no idea it was going to happen. All of a sudden you come over there and break up with her when she thought things were going good."
"Well maybe she thought that, but I didn't."
"Then why the hell did you tell her you loved her?" Jayden asked.
"Because I met the other girl," Zac said. "And I liked her. I felt guilty." Jayden shook his head. "So what? Why the hell are we even discussing this anyway? You guys are not going to get to meet her and that's it."
"Meet who?" Ben asked, walking back with two drinks in his hand. He handed one to Zac.
"Thanks," Zac said.
"Zac's new girlfriend," Jayden said. "He won't tell us anything about her."
"Oh, you mean Brenda?" Ben asked. Zac gave Ben a stern look but Ben smiled.
"Brenda?" Jayden asked. "So, Ben, you've met her?" Ben nodded. "Why the hell does Ben get to meet her and we don't?" Zac didn't say anything. "So, Ben, what's this Brenda like?"
"Oh, she's nice," Ben said. "Very pretty�she's got brown hair, blue eyes, you know, the type Zac would go for." Zac shook his head.
"Stop it, Ben," Zac said.
"No, I want to hear about her," Jayden said. "Go on."
"She's a wonderful girl. Absolutely amazing." Zac shook his head again.
"Okay, that's enough," Zac said. "Can we play now? I'm up first." Zac got up and "accidentally" stepped on Ben's foot.
"Ow, dammit, Zac!"
"Oh, I'm sorry," Zac said, his voice dry and slightly bitter. "Did I step on your foot? Maybe you better stick it in your mouth to make it feel better." Zac huffed and grabbed a ball. He threw it down the lane, pissed off, and managed to get himself a strike.
"Brenda? What the hell was that? You might as well just tell them the truth!" Zac was yelling at Ben after the group got tired of bowling and decided on dinner before going home. "Oh, she's got brown hair and blue eyes, which is exactly what I have but let's see if anybody notices! Jesus Christ, Ben."
"Like they have any idea, Zac! Lots of people have brown hair and blue eyes, all right? I was just making light of the situation. They all think you're with Brenda now. A girl. A very pretty girl at that."
"Oh, shut up, Ben."
"Fine. Take me home."
"But we were going to dinner!"
"No, I'm not going anywhere. Take me home."
"Don't be like that, Ben." Ben crossed his arms and looked out the window, pissed off. "Fine. I'll take you home, but you have to call Jayden and tell him you're not going to dinner with us."
"Oh, so you're going to go without me?"
"Yeah! I'm not going to sit at home because you're pissed off." Ben didn't say anything as he continued to sit with his arms folded, looking out the window. "Well?"
"I'm not calling anybody."
"Fine, I'll do it." Zac picked up his phone and dialed the number for Jayden's cell phone. Bronwyn picked it up. "Hey, Bronwyn? Let me talk to Jayden." A moment later Jayden spoke. "Jayden, I'm going to be late to dinner. Ben's being the world's biggest pussy and he wants to go home."
"Fuck you!"
"Don't even go there, Ben! I will stop this car and you can walk home!"
"You don't have the balls."
"Don't make me stop this car, Ben!"
"Whoa, whoa, what the hell is going on over there?" Jayden asked. "What happened? When you left the two of you were getting along just fine."
"Well that was when we left," Zac said. "Now he's insisting that I take him home. I'll see you guys there." Zac hung up the phone and put it back in the cup holder where it had been before. Both of them were fuming mad and didn't say a word the rest of the way to Ben's apartment building. Zac barely had time to stop the car before Ben opened the door and jumped out, slamming the car door behind him. Zac sped off, not even bothering to look back, and drove to the restaurant where his friends were already waiting.
"What the hell happened back there?" Jayden asked as Zac sat down next to Carter at a table. Zac shook his head.
"I don't even want to talk about it," Zac said, and began to mumble curses (directed towards Ben) under his breath. He opened up the menu and began to look through it. Everyone was staring at him but in his anger he didn't seem to notice.
"Can I get you something to drink?" the waiter asked Zac. Zac looked up.
"Water's fine," Zac said. The waiter left and Zac threw the menu on the table, sighing. At that moment Nix walked up to the table and sat down, having just returned from the bathroom.
"Where's Ben?" Nix asked Zac.
"The dillhole is at home," Zac said. "And he can rot there for all I care." Nix gave a questioning look to Jayden.
"They had a massive fight in the car."
"We did not have a massive fight," Zac explained. "We had, well, yeah we had a fight. But I don't want to talk about it. He is completely out of line."
"Yes, Zac, because it's never your fault," Jayden said. Zac gave him a look as the waiter returned with Zac's water.
"Are we ready to order?"
"Give us another minute," Nix said. The waiter left. "I have no idea what I want." Zac tuned his friends out and began to think. Coming here probably wasn't such a good idea. It probably pissed Ben off even more to know that Zac was here having dinner with his friends while Ben sat at home by himself. Suddenly Zac felt bad and he sighed.
"I feel bad," Zac said. "I should go talk to him."
"It can wait until after dinner," Jayden said.
"No," Zac said. "I should really go talk to him now. If it were me I'd want him to come talk to me." Zac got up. "I'll see you guys later." Zac left quickly and drove back over to Ben's. He sat out in the parking lot for a minute, thinking about what he was going to say, before he got out of the car and went inside. He didn't know if Ben was even going to talk to him.
He went up to the fourth floor and knocked on Ben's door. A minute later Ben opened it and huffed, ready to slam it again. "Ben, I'm sorry," Zac said, stopping Ben from slamming the door. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it." Ben sighed.
"I'm sorry too. Come on in." Ben opened the door and Zac stepped inside. They sat down on the living room couch. "Did you go to dinner?" Zac nodded.
"Yes, I went," he said. "And then after I sat down I felt so guilty I just kind of ran out on them. I'm so sorry, Ben."
"It's okay. I shouldn't have made up that Brenda chick."
"Well at least I have an alibi." Ben smiled. "So, that was our first fight, huh?" Ben nodded.
"Yeah. Unfortunately I'm sure it's not going to be our last. But at least now we get to make up." Zac smiled and kissed him.