IT'S TOO CLICHE, bani + bale

[aniston mckenzie]

aniston mckenzie was a musical prodigy. not an english prodigy. however, lannister high school thought different, and had put her in the ap english class this year, something that had shocked her when she found out. the blonde leaned back in her chair, notebook open and filled with her slightly slanted but messy scrawl, taking notes on whatever it was they were reading. the title had slipped aniston's mind again and she wasn't interested enough to look it up. but she thought it was catcher in the rye. she shrugged and finally picked up the copy of her book and found she was right. she put the book down and heard the teacher say something about a project. her ears perked. as much as she depended upon her music for her future, good grades were what would get her to the berklee school of music in another year or so.

"blah blah blah, fifteen percent of your grade, blah blah blah. i'm going to assign you into partners that i randomly picked." aniston didn't like randomly assigned partners. that was bad. it meant she had a chance of being partnered with any of the stupid boys in her class, incluidng ben lennox. she could only hope she wouldn't have to be his partner, and suddenly felt sad for the person who did get suck with him. he was ethan lawrence's friend. and any friend of ethan's was no doubt an asshole jock with very little on their minds aside from girls and parties. and even though she'd found herself in his company a lot during that time of her and ethan's relationship, she had come to despise him almost as much as the cheater himself. even now his name made a scowl appear on ani's face.

aniston sighed and hoped for the best. that maybe the fates or god or whoever was gonna have mercy and give her a good partner. almost everyone else had been assigned a partner and aniston's chances of not getting ben grew slimmer and slimmer. "aniston mckenzie and benjamin lennox." and of course, luck was not in her favor. at all. the teacher walked down the rows of desks, handing each student a piece of paper with their assignment. there were ten options, but one caught her eye.

she stood and took her bag, her skinny jeans shifting on her body slightly, her faded beatles t-shirt moving with her upper-body. she took the empty desk beside ben and looked over at him. "i guess we're partners then, lennox." she said with a hint of snark to her voice. leave it to the teacher to pair her with the dumb jock.

445 words

for bell & ben

thanks kristen

[benjamin lennox]

'cause i'm a fool for you

tag: bani!!

words: idk!

notes: feeeels

Ben sat in class listening closely to everything his teacher said. English, math and sports were his strong suits at school. In fact english was actually his favourite course, and one of the courses he didn't have to try too hard to achieve high marks. He didn't even know what the new assignment was on yet, but he was already determined to make this project his bitch. He'd aim to get atleast an 85 on the project, but hope for something more in the 90's. But, he sighed hearing that they'd get assigned partners. Sure, Ben was a social guy and he loved to hangout with others. Him being social wasn't the problem, the problem was he always seemed to get stuck with partners that didn't want to do work and he'd get stuck with it. Pure bullshit.

He looked around the room to see who his potential partners were. He smiled catching sight of Ani Mckenzie. She was a good student, cool girl, and she had always sparked an interest within him. One that had to be pushed down when she was dating Ethan, before E had fucked it up and cheated on her. Ben shook his head just thinking about the fact that Ethan, a good friend of his, had cheated on someone as great as Ani. She was so different, maybe that's why Ben had been so intrigued by her all this time. Even though from what he had noticed, she practically hated him since the break up. He didn't get it at first, but he was associated with Ethan, and jocks so after some time he had clued in. He even understood, but Ethan and Ben were pretty much polar opposites personality wise. He would have thought that Ani would have noticed that while E and her were dating, but apparently not. He was guilty by association.

Ben smiled hearing that he was partnered up with Ani, it was just another chance that he could prove himself worthy of her time. Ben didn't think he was the best guy out there, but he certainly wasn't a bad guy by any means. That's what he was trying to prove to the young woman, and if he could he'd be down to take her on a date or two. Definitely a date or two, Ben knew he'd be stupid not to want to spend time with her. Ben pulled his blue and white plaid from his shoulders and set it on the back of his chair, his plain white t-shirt was tight over his shoulders. His hands rubbed against his dark wash jeans as Ani made her way over. He closed his eyes and silently prepared himself for snarky comments before turning his smile up towards her.

His smile crumpled not long after she spoke, and he shrugged at her. "Uh, um. I'm sorry?" It sounded more like a suggestion than a genuine apology, but seriously.. it wasn't his fault the two had been paired. The teacher randomly chose the partners, it had nothing to do with the two of them. The lopsided grin he often had around Ani made it's way to his lips before he spoke again. "It would seem that way, wouldn't it Mac?" He tried to joke with her, calling her by the nickname he had started calling her after her and Ethan had started dating. Even though he knew she hated him, he'd pull out the nickname in hopes that it would remind her that he wasn't a dick.

Ben had read over the sheet, and none of them had really sparked his interest. He'd do pretty well any of them and work his ass off for the mark he deserved. He looked to Ani, leaning his head back over the chair as he stretched. Once he relaxed he grabbed the paper, and looked at the girl out of the corner of his eye. "Any one of these you want to do? It doesn't really matter to me." It was true, how they did the project didn't matter to him. As long as they got it done, and did well on it he was fine with it.

♥ thanks

[aniston mckenzie]

aniston and ben had been on good terms when she dated ethan. they were even friends, maybe. when they saw each other, they were nice. and aniston actually enjoyed his company. especially when they would take ethan home. ben always played dd, and ani didn't usually drink a lot, maybe one or two plastic cups, but she was usually sober enough to talk to him. and she'd enjoyed their conversations, as she sat in the back leaning against ethan and making sure he was okay. usually stroking his hair or holding his hand. and she had liked those talks with ben, their lunches with ethan, the classes they shared, and watching their games. she had enjoyed being his friend, until ethan went and fucked everything up.

she wondered if he had known. if he had known before ani did. and that had made her pissed off at first. and then hurt. andthen angry. she went through every stage of those emotions with ethan and ben, and the poor boy hadn't even remotely hurt aniston the way her former boyfriend had. but it wasn't surprising. after he had hurt her, she'd dismissed ben because he was ethan's friend. a stupid, dumb jock boy who probably had known and didn't have the heart to tell her. and it sucked. she frowned at the mere thought and tried to push both boys from her mind.

but he couldn't. ben wouldn't leave her head and she suddenly couldn't stop thinking about him. him and his old nickname for her, that lopsided grin that seemed glued to his face when she was around. she frowned at the idea of them being paired up. it felt like a matchmaker. oh god, going on a date with him. that was one thing ani couldn't fathom, so she tried to distract herself, tried to figure out what project she wanted to do. the other options she'd read weren't too great. then she stumbled upon making up a mixtape or cd for holden caufield, using ten songs to fit into his life. of course, there was the part of writing out a detailed paragraph for each song and explaining why they fit holden. aniston liked this project already, and knew that she wanted to do this.

and he had this smile on his face that seemed to crumple after she spoke. she felt weird about it, but brushed it off. it was nothing. she sighed and looked at him. and he apologized. she shook her head like it was nothing. because it was. it was the teacher's fault, really. he finally put on that lopsided grin of his and aniston rolled her eyes. typical ben lennox. and then he opened his mouth. "It would seem that way, wouldn't it Mac?" he called her mac. and ani wanted to cry, because that nickname was so tender and had such nice connotations with it, but he had to do it when she despised him the most, didn't he? she let her scowl relax into a neutral face, not really a frown or smile.

she pointed to the mixtape one. it was the obvious choice, and she snorted that ben hadn't realized it. "the mixtape one." she leaned back in her chair, her mind trying to listen potential artists and songs that came to mind. she wanted so badly to make a comment, but she did her best to keep her mouth shut. she didn't need to piss ben off. they didn't need two angry teens working together. and if she expected ben to just let her do the project, well, she'd probably have to act civil toward him.

a lot of words

for bell & ben

thanks kristen

[benjamin lennox]

'cause i'm a fool for you

tag: bani!!

words: idk!

notes: feeeels

After Ethan and Ani had broken up, Ben had spent weeks trying to tell Ethan that he had fucked up. That Ani was the best girl that Ethan could have possibly gotten his hands on, but he found some other girl to sleep with. Ben was honestly pissed with his good friend for his actions. No girl, but especially a girl with brains, talents and a face as pretty as Aniston Mckenzie deserved to be cheated on. If Ben had known that Ethan was cheating he would have went behind his friends back and told Ani. But, he hadn't known until it was too late. It ended with both Ethan and Ben in the dog house. The latter of the two didn't necessarily deserve to be there, but he dealt with it.

Ben raised his eyebrow at Ani, and chuckled after hearing her choice. "Of course, how stupid of me not to realize the musical genius would want to do the option with music." Ben was playful as always, and if it had been anyone else he would have nudged her. Ben was persistent in trying to get into Ani's good books again, but he wasn't interested in being castrated. But, he nodded eagerly wanting to make -his- Mac happy. Okay, so she wasn't his.. yet but he knew that one day in the future near or far, she would be his. It would just take a lot of pushing, charm and time. But he could do it. "Yeah, that sounds good to me." He smiled, and read over the page again.

Ben read the option carefully so they would know what to do before he leaned back. "This will be easy, totally one of the easier options. Thanks for that, Mac." He grinned playfully, but even if she had chosen to do a more difficult option he would have eagerly agreed just to make her happy. "I'll pick half of the songs, and we can get together later this week to work on the letter." Ben suggested, hoping by them getting together it wouldn't have to be at his house. He hated bringing people back home, especially girls. Nobody needed to see how his mom laid up on the couch drinking her life away, and nobody but his closest friends had to know about how he worked to pay the bills, take care of his sister, baby sit his drunk of a mother and do all of the house work. Nobody had to know that he regularly had to go into his sisters school and act like a father to her.

Ben thought his suggestion was an understandable one, the two could split the work and they could get an easy mark. They'd each write their paragraphs and choose their songs. They could decide who would make the CD later, and they would have each done half of the work. Now he had to wait and see how Ani would react to his suggestion, and the possibility of spending time with him. Ben leaned down into his bag to grab the sour keys he had bought the night before. He popped one into his mouth and placed the bag infront of Ani on her desk. He hoped she would take it as a peace offering and not bite his head off for whatever he didn't do this time.

♥ thanks

[aniston mckenzie]

the breakup had hit aniston hard. she had cried a lot in the comfort of her own home. curled in a ball and ate ice cream. burned pictures of her and ethan maybe three days after the break up and then regretted it the next day. she'd thrown out most sentimental items. she had gone through a make-over in about a week. a new personality, some different clothes, had tried to wash the whole thing out. of course, it didn't stop people from talking. which was honestly the worst part. she had gotten pretty angry. maybe yelled at one or two people. shut out ben lennox completely and treated him like he was as stupid as his best friend.

there it was. his sarcasm brought a faint smile to her lips. that and the fact that he called her a musical genius. "i'm surprised you didn't realize it sooner." she raised with a raised brow. it was nice that he was trying to be playful, but aniston frowned again, knowing that that faint smile probably instilled false hope in ben's heart. a false hope she didn't wanna fulfill. but he nodded in agreement so she took her pen and circled the number, making note that that was the one they were gonna do. he smiled again, and she didn't try to return it. but he was on board, and that was all that mattered.

"it's only easy because of me," she said, realizing he'd called her mac agiain. was she gonna protest that? but then he surprised her. suggesting he even do any work. she snorted and stared at him like he was mentally insane. which he could've been if he thought aniston would let him within a foot of this project. "you're kidding, right?" this wasn't even about 'getting together', a phrase that bothered her. it was about him touching this project. the one thing she was good at, she wasn't gonna fail at. and ben wasn't gonna be what did. she was determined to ace this project. she had to. this was practically designed for her, and she had a feeling everyone knew it.

"no way. you're not touching this project. maybe you can design the cd cover, but i'm not trusting a jock to actually do work. especially not one who hangs out with the likes of ethan lawrence." she spat out his name like a curse word. she couldn't believe the words were coming out of her mouth, but aniston had always had trouble controlling her filter. and this was a perfect example of that. she tried to hold in her own shock at herself. she had basically called him dumb. to his face. and just as he was offering her sour keys. she didn't even think about taking one now. because aniston mckenzie had basically just ruined her own chances at this project.

thankfully most of the pairs had gone off to the library to work on the project, leaving aniston and ben and two or three other pairs along with the teacher still in the classroom. less people to be exposed to aniston's humiliating ruin of her project.

a lot of words

for bell & ben

thanks kristen

[benjamin lennox]

'cause i'm a fool for you

tag: bani!!

words: idk!

notes: feeeels

It wasn't often that Ben had the chance to witness a smile in his direction from Ani since the break up. But, when he did get even the smallest one he couldn't help the wide smile that spread across his face. It was rare, but the pride he felt at getting even a hint of a smile from the girl made it all worth it. "Right, how stupid of me. I should have known the minute your name was called as my partner." Ben's sarcasm was one of his best features in his opinion, that and his determination. He never gave up on anything that he had started, even when he was told to give up. Ani's attitude towards him was basically telling him to leave her alone, but he was determined to sway her.

Ben raised his hands in mock surrender when Ani said that it was easy because of her. The project will definitely be easier with Ani, that was for sure. But, the project itself was actually pretty easy. "It'll be easier with a music guru, that's for sure." Ben grinned, his fingers reaching to play with his pencil. He dropped the pencil surprised to hear the girl snort, and his body turning to face her with a raised eyebrow. "Uh.. no. I'm not kidding.." Ben was completely confused with the reaction he was getting from her. But, the fact that she snorted was adorable. She wasn't even embarrassed with her snort like a lot of girls would be, and Ben just smiled down at the desk.

As soon as Ani start to speak his smile dropped, and he was giving the girl infront of him a dirty look. "What the fuck." Was all he could think of to say. He knew damn well that Ani didn't like him and that she considered him to be a jock. But, he had no idea that she thought that he was a complete idiot. "I'm not sure if you know this, but just because someone is successful at sports doesn't mean they can't be successful in other things." His kept his voice low so the other groups couldn't hear him, but the look on his face was dangerous. Ani had genuinely pissed him off with that comment. "Despite what you seem to think I actually have a damn brain." Ben mumbled, leaning back to cross his arms over his chest.

He sighed trying his best to get his frustration and anger down to a minimum. But, he felt his blood boiling. The girl that he was so intrigued by thought he was a dumb ass, when he had done nothing to earn the label of a dumb jock except for be a damn good running back. "I'm on the honors society, I have marks above eight-five percent in every one of my classes. I play sports, but I'm a good student too. I actually do my fucking work, thanks for coming out." His cheeks were red from his frustration, and he wasn't used to getting this angry with a girl. He was usually able to keep his cool, or handle it with a little more grace around girls. But Aniston Mckenzie was pushing all of his emotions into over drive, and she was driving him nuts.

"I'm the reason Ethan is even allowed to stay on the team." Ben admits quietly, not wanting to say it too loud because he doesn't want everyone to know that he tutors E. "I help him with his grades, and he gets to stay on the team." His voice was much softer than it had been earlier, and kept his hand under the desk in a tight fist. Ani barely knew him, she only knew a few things about him. Sure, they had spoken enough when Ethan and her were together. But, Ben had always been good at keeping the conversation off himself. "You don't know me, Mac. Even the things you think about me seem to be wrong." He spoke in a firm tone, not menacing but just to let Ani know that he was serious. "I'm doing half of the project, and that's the end of it."

♥ thanks

[aniston mckenzie]

ani didn't smile a lot in ben's presence. or ethan's. or any of his friends. she didn't think they deserved to see any hint of joy on her face. she smiled enough in pace's presence. and few of her other friends. but smiling wasn't really her thing. unless she was singing her guts out. he made another comment and this rose another snort from her and another twinge of a smile. she had to appreciate the sarcasm even a little, if only because ben was good at it. and she had to appreciate good sarcasm. but he seemed so determined to be nice to her, and that seemed to irritate her more. why? she shouldn't care that he was being nice but it bugged her and she just wanted him to cut it out. obviously that was not an option.

she simply nodded at his mock surrender, because he had to know she was right. and then he called her a music guru and she raised a brow. a music guru? she felt pride swell in her chest. she was a guru, wasn't she? maybe that would help her get into berklee. her dream college. the place she'd wanted to go since childhood. since knowing the place existed. that school was the only place she wanted to go, even with the coaxing of thinking of safeties. she still had another year to consider it, but still. his pencil dropped and she looked at him, matching raised eyebrow for raised eyebrow. he wasn't kidding? surely he had to be. he had to be. she wasn't...she couldn't...she needed these grades. scholarships to berklee didn't come cheap.

then she was on the receiving end of one of the dirtiest looks ever from ben lennox. she didn't know it was possible for him to make that kind of face. and then swear on top of it. she raised her brows in shock. what the fuck? what did he mean, what the fuck? she raised her brows as he spoke. he looked angry, and this was a new side to ben lennox. a new side indeed. and aniston wasn't sure if it was interesting or just kinda terrifying. "oh? really? like what? scoring with girls?" she scowled at her own comment, crossing her arms over her chest, feeling underprotected all of a sudden. like all guards had been let down and she tried to regain her tough act. a damn brain. he had a damn brain. her lips twisted into a o shape, and she kept her brows raised, something between shock and trying to look like a smartass.

he kept talking. and honestly, ani tried to keep her reactions internal. she thought he wasn't smart. there, she'd said it. she wanted to make clear her opinion, and it was obvious he didn't appreciate it. but wasn't it obvious? she'd detested most jocks. thought they were as dumb as doornails. didn't have a brain in there. because she found that this was usually true. but apparently ben tried to get out of this stereotype. honors society. higher than eighty-five in all of his classes. good student. and he played sports, of course. and then he pulled out that smart mouth of his and ani raised her brows. wow. this was really new. and she didn't like it too much. she would've loved it, but this was the best friend of ethan lawrence. and that whisked any attraction away. besides, ben was not her type. that innocent schoolboy routine.

this next part shocked her and she practically tipped over her chair. ethan was tutored by ben to stay on the team? she tried to regain her composure and act like this fact wasn't shocking, because it wasn't really. ethan wasn't the smartest of the bunch. but ben's voice had relaxed and aniston tried to calm the anxious feelings in her own chest. why did she get so freaked out by ben? it had to be nothing. nothing at all. "that's not shocking, though. that he needs one." she said coolly, hoping that this stab at her ex was obvious. and then he went and got deep on her. she didn't know him. every thing she thought seemed to be wrong? she rolled her eyes. but his tone was serous, and she bit on her lip. "oh really? what else don't i know about you, lennox?" she asked in a cool tone. and then he laid down the law. "fine. you'll do half, okay?" she narrowed her eyes and looked away from him.

a lot of words

for bell & ben

thanks kristen

[benjamin lennox]

'cause i'm a fool for you

tag: bani!!

words: idk!

notes: SO LONG I AM SORRY

Ben was a sweet guy, and while he did have an anger problem he had always tried to keep his reactions to a minimum around women. He was actually skilled when he came to hiding his anger until he was alone where he could punch objects around him. He was always the nice guy with a smile on his face. It was very rare that he was seen giving someone a dirty look unless he was out on the field. On the field he was in all honesty, a cocky prick with no problem being angry. As soon as he was off he felt better, so it was rare for him to lose his cool like this.

The only reason Ben could think of as to why he had gotten so bothered by Ani's comment was because he didn't want her to think so lowly of him. Ben was better than what she seemed to think of him, he was so much better than that. He wasn't a dumb jock who went out to parties to get hammered and sleep with girls, then come to school and pay someone else to do his work. The fact that someone he genuinely cared about, and thought so highly of didn't see that had hurt him. Rather than showing that he was hurt, his anger was set off.

Ani's comment about scoring with girls made him scowl at her again before rolling his eyes. Since when had Ben been the type of guy to be known for "scoring" with girls. He took girls on dates, and he had never slept with a girl who he didn't truly care about. While the young man had never been in love, he had cared for girls before. He'd slept with two girls, and he had messed around with a few more girls but he actually liked those girls. "I don't think you paid attention when we were in eachothers company." Ben mumbled, rubbing his hand over his face once more in frustration. "I've never been known for messing around with girls. I certainly don't make a habit of scoring with them either." Ben was a gentleman, not the perfect gentleman, but a good one at the very least. He wasn't usually the type to kiss on the first date unless the girl initiated it, he treated girls like gold, and some how Ani thought he was the complete opposite of what his grandmother had brought him up to be.

After his own rant he felt a little bit of relief, though he felt his anger pulsing through his veins. Fuck, did Mac ever have an affect on him. Usually it was giddiness, but it seemed as though he was learning for himself that she could push all of his emotions, including anger into gear. Ani had been to his games and she had more than likely seen him angry out there. This was different, she had never seen him angry face to face. Ben felt a small kick in the gut as he thought about it, he hoped that Ani wouldn't be freaked out. Watching for her reactions and getting little to nothing in response had only made him angrier. What the hell was wrong with him.

Despite how angry he was, Ben couldn't fight the small smirk that made it's way to his lips at Ani's stab at Ethan. Ethan was smart when it came to many things, school just didn't happen to be his strongest skill. But the smirk quickly turned into a frown at her question. The way any had asked the question had Ben reeling in his own anger. His fingers moved to the top of the desk and held on tightly in hopes that he wouldn't completely lose it on Ani. She didn't have to know Ben's life story, but she was really pushing his buttons.

With a raised eyebrow, Ben's body turned to face any completely this time. He arms rested on the desk, and he gave her a smirk. Not his usual smirk, but one that seemed almost menacing. "Really, you want to know all the things you don't know about me?" Ben let out an almost bitter laugh, "Let me figure out where to start." His hands moved to rest between the two of their desks and he used his fingers as a counter as he began to list off all the little things Ani had no clue of. "Well, I'll start off with the easy stuff. I don't drink at all, I never do. I've never slept with a girl that I haven't cared deeply about, I'm a gentleman and I don't kiss before, or on the first date." He closed his eyes tightly trying to calm himself down before he told her about his family.

No matter how hard the young man had tried to calm himself down, he just couldn't seem to. "Now here's the big stuff. I take care of my little sister because my mom's an alcoholic. She drinks, and sleeps that's what she does. I baby sit her like I would my eight year old sister. I cook all the meals, I check her homework, all of that. I work, go to school, go to practice and take care of them. I pay all the bills, and my sisters school thinks I'm her father because I'm more of a parent she's ever had. I get a usual two to four hours of sleep." His hand moved through his hair before he continued. "I do the groceries, the shopping and pay for all of my sisters and my own clothes. I take care of everything. I need a scholarship to get into a school or I can't go to college. I'm going to bring my sister with me, and I have a fund set up for her to go to school to." Raising his eyebrow one last time, "Well would you have guessed any of that, sweetheart?" His tone was still dangerous, and his face was flushed with his anger. Ben was pissed, but he had hoped that he had told Ani enough to shock her. Shock her into realizing he wasn't the stupid jock with a dream life she seemed to think he had.

♥ thanks

[aniston mckenzie]

aniston had never seen ben as angry as he was. except for maybe on the field, but that was a different space. where one needed aggression and anger. but here? this was not the space. and yet, ani felt responsible. she had obviously made him upset, but it wasn't surprising. ani's smart mouth had gotten her into heaps of trouble in the past. with all kinds of people. and she didn't know when to censor herself, or when to think about her words. they just came pouring out and she didn't have much control over it. it was like...like word vomit. only it happened all the time with whatever popped into her head. damn filters. they were to blame.

he rolled his eyes and she almost rolled hers, but stopped herself. and he scowled again too. he liked to scowl, it seemed. she didn't dare correct herself. she just let her words fly out and stupidly she'd said stupid things. aniston wasn't the type to get too far with boys. if only with ethan, because...because she thought he had been special. but of course the fighting started and nothing worked. nothing could rekindle that relationship as it burst into flames. but otherwise, she hadn't really passed second base with many guys. she didn't feel like they were worth it. she wasn't gonna become a slut because of stupid ethan lawrence. ben mumbled something about her not paying attention and she frowned. she'd paid attention. she did. she just...she couldn't remember anything right now. too much pressure. "really?" she seemed shocked. he didn't..."then how can you possibly stand to be in the company of one of the biggest manwhores in the school?" she frowned again. thinking of ethan made her feel weird. she didn't like it.

he smirked at her little jab and she smirked right back. he had to appreciate it and he did. she despised that boy. he was low on her concern list, but any chance to give him a bash made her own heart ache a little less. it hurt, to be cheated on. to find out on your own, with nothing to fall back on. to have the story spread through the school, be looked at as another one of his stupid little notches on the bedpost. it was all stupid. and it hurt. but she didn't think to say that aloud. nor did she ever think to admit that she had thought she'd loved ethan. love was for suckers. love wasn't worth it.

ben's hands moved to grip the desk and ani felt her limbs tighten in fright. her face tried to stay neutral, because she didn't think to give him any satisfaction in getting a rise out of her. he was facing her entirely now, and he had a smirk on his face that felt scary. like the joker's or the cheshire cat's. and then he asked if she wanted to know, and she slowly nodded, though that laugh of his sent a chill up her spine. "i'd love to." she answered, hoping her voice sounded strong and not as terrified and shaky as she imagined. his hands moved and she tried not to flinch. but he began to count as he told her things. he seemed to decide where to start as he told her the easy stuff. the things she slowly recalled for herself. at least, the whole he didn't drink thing. never? she wasn't too shocked. but the next part began to settle with her. she never slept with a girl he didn't...he didn't care about? he was a gentleman. he didn't kiss on the first date? jesus, that made her raise her brows. "you never kiss on the first date. you're kidding, right? you have to be joking." she furrowed her brows and tried to consider how his girlfriends must've liked that.

now they were on the big stuff, and ani tried to brace herself. but as he talked, she bit on her cheek, trying to not seem as shocked as she felt. he had to take care of his sister because his mom was an alcoholic? he babysits. he pays bills and his sister's school thought he was her father? ani bit on her cheek harder, until she realized that she must've bitten hard enough for it to start to bleed. because she could taste blood. she unlatched her teeth and clamped them together, hoping her expression read neutral. he got two to four hours of sleep every night. she wasn't getting emotional about this. this was dangerous. she tightened the arms that she'd crossed over her chest earlier and took a breath. he took care of everything. no wonder he needed a scholarship. he was taking his sister with him? jesus, this kid...no. no she wasn't allowed to think about this anymore. and then he raised his brow at her. sweetheart? sweetheart?! fine, two could play that game. "no, wonderboy. i wouldn't. guess you got me there." she finally uncrossed her arms and leaned back in her chair, looking at him.

a lot of words

for bell & ben

thanks kristen

[benjamin lennox]

'cause i'm a fool for you

tag: bani!!

words: idk!

notes: SO LONG I AM SORRY

If Ben hadn't felt so dangerous, he probably would have noticed the shift in Ani's attitude. How she had started to seem more scared of him, she no longer seemed as tough. Ben was oblivious to it in that moment, he was just angry. Actually, the young man was absolutely furious with the girl infront of him. He had never been anything but nice to her, he had basically worshiped the ground she walked on since he had met her. Ani had always been blind to how interesting he found her to be. After the break up he had never once stood by and let someone talk badly about her, Ben had always stuck up for her. Even if she didn't see it, he had still done that for her. But, here she was thinking he was a complete tool. Of course he was going to be shaking angry.

Ben nodded, and gave Ani a smirk at yet another one of her digs at Ethan. The two boys were opposite in many ways, but Ben had always liked his company. Ethan helped him out on the field, he was able to tutor him out there while Ben tutored Ethan for school. The young men worked together, and he genuinely liked to have Ethan as a friend. "Ethan's a good friend, just a shitty boyfriend. We're not the same people, far from it. But we still get along." Ben shrugged, he had never thought it was a big deal. Everyone had friends that they weren't exactly alike with, and Ethan was one of those friends. They were on a team, and the team to Ben was a family. While Ethan made a mistake with Mac, and Ben had lost some respect for him, he could never truly dislike Ethan.

Ben had infact taking notice to how shaky Ani's voice was, but nothing was stopping him now. He was a mad man, and he needed to prove to Ani that he wasn't what she thought he was. He needed to prove that he was a good guy, with good morals and a hell of a hard worker. The young man had worked for everything he had ever gotten, and that couldn't, shouldn't be taken away from him. Ben couldn't help but let his face soften at her comment on his not kissing on the first date. He tried not to, but he had kissed girls before the first date and even on the first date. But, he'd much rather wait until the second date. "I do sometimes." He admitted sheepishly, "But, I generally try not to because if there's not a second date I feel guilty for leading someone on." Ben was just about to ramble but he quickly shook his head to get on topic again, his face hardening as he thought about what he had to tell Ani next.

Ben had to raise his eyebrow at the pretty blonde infront of him, his hands falling onto the desk with a loud thump when he heard the new nickname. "Wonderboy?" He questioned, not sure if he was mocking him for what he had just talked about or not. His eyes widened realizing what he had just done, and his face was soon covered in guilt. "Look, I'm.. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said any of that." His hand moving into his hair once more, disheveling it even more. This action was an obvious tick of his, a frustrated action. "I shouldn't have acted like that, it was rude." He bit his lip and looked down sheepishly. "It wasn't right, and I'm just really sorry. But, if you could.. not tell anyone about what I told you I'd appreciate it a lot. I know it's a lot to ask, especially with how I just acted." Ben's voice was getting weaker as he spoke, and he felt a lump in his throat just as he lifted his head. His eyes showing the girl just how guilty he felt, "I just can't lose my sister." For the first time, he sounded weak... he felt fucking weak.

All Ben knew was that he was going to find a way to make it up to Ani Mckenzie for how he had just freaked out on her, in anyway he possibly could. Christmas would be a start.

♥ thanks

[aniston mckenzie]

she went from biting her cheek to chewing on her lip, a bad habit that had formed a few years prior. her lips began to gain color, a pinkish red. she wasn't used to anger. except from maybe her older brother when he got frustrated because she was in the bathroom or other stupid things. she wasn't used to angry boys. obviously she had pushed a few too many of ben lennox's buttons. buttons that she either shouldn't have pushed, or just...accidentally pushed. accidentally, hah. she didn't really mean to, though. that was obvious. but obviously she was suddenly feeling like she had to tread carefully in this situation. that she had to actually watch her mouth. so she chose to keep it shut. not say anything in case she did say something extremely stupid. which was very likely. and this was also ben lennox. that was the worst part. someone who was so uncharacteristically angry...it didn't sit right.

he smirked again and she couldn't help but try to smile a little bit. at least he was on her side on this. wouldn't go tattle to ethan about that ex-girlfriend of his talking shit. but then again, he always could. ani wouldn't care. she had always found their dynamic cute, but after the break-up, her mind narrowed and she just thought it was weird. but opposites attracted, right? supposedly. "correction: the shittiest boyfriend in the history of shitty boyfriends." she frowned again. he said they weren't the same people. she tried to disguise her snort with a cough, and continued to chew on her lip. the color got redder and redder slowly. clearly ben had some kind of bro thing with lawrence, and it was obvious. ani didn't feel the need to disrupt it anymore. she tried to make her voice stronger. she cleared her throat and gave herself an internal pep talk. calm down, ani. nothing to panic about. you'll be fine. but she didn't quite believe herself. she couldn't. but she would try to look fine for ben's sake. for public appearance's sake, really. his face softened and she tried to keep her face neutral, still chewing on her lip. it relaxed her slightly. taking her frustration and fear out on her lip. he did sometimes? she raised her brows. "sometimes?" he continued and she wasn't sure what to feel. "how is that leading someone on? it's not like pretending to still be interested in them while having someone else on the side." she frowned at her own confession.

he raised his brows and she raised hers back. wonderboy. she wasn't sure what prompted the nickname. it was the first thing that had popped in her mind really. "yeah. is that a problem, wonderboy?" she asked, trying to keep from smirking. no need to seem like a total asshole. and then he started apologizing. he ran a hand through his hair and he apologized for saying all of this to her. she sighed and shook her head. he wasn't...he wasn't rude. "whatever. it's not a big deal, okay? it's not worth apologizing." she said with a frown. he bit his lip and she couldn't help but smirk. well now. she leaned slightly across the desk, finally released her lip from it's death grip, and tried to look ben in the eye. she slowly held up her right thumb and index finger, and mimed zipping her lips. "don't worry, wonderboy. your secret's safe with me." she raised the corners of her lips in a smirk and leaned back into her chair.

"class dismissed." the teacher called, and aniston leaned down to grab her bag. standing, she hoisted the thing over her shoulder and sauntered toward the door. as soon as she reached the door frame, she simply turned to look at ben lennox. "bye bye, wonderboy." she called, giving him a wave before exiting the doorway into the hall, which was quickly filling with students.

a lot of words

for bell & ben

thanks kristen