Mia, Conley and Charles are out of the city for the weekend on a work tip to Los Angeles so Ben and Lola have decided to throw a party at their house. Lola wanted to do it secretly behind their parents' back but Ben put down his foot and asked Mia for permission. She said yes but only after an hour long lecture about responsibility.

This I know because I had been waiting for Ben at Burger King for our date when he had arrived fuming with irritation but still happy about the party he'll get to co-host with his step sister. That was last weekend and now it's the weekend of the party.

Ben and I have been officially dating for two weeks now. In any other relationship, I know two weeks would barely have been enough to thaw the surface with the other person, as had been the case with Adam. But with Ben, I was comfortable in our relationship since the very next day that we saw each other in school. No one seemed entirely shocked at the idea of us becoming a couple over the span of two days that we weren't in school after the Aspen trip.

And I understood why everyone wasn't surprised when Angelina said, "No one ever said out loud but everyone had a feeling that this would happen sooner or later."

Apparently everyone had seen this coming.

I promised Ben that I'd come over early to help him and Lola set up before the party. Sebastian is also invited to the party since he's on the soccer team but it's going to be mostly Ben and Lola's years.

I change into the pair of black jeans I bought right before school started and choose a mustard top to add color to my outfit. I already straightened my hair and did my makeup so I'm ready in ten minutes and I grab my jacket and phone before heading downstairs.

Sebastian will come later once the party begins and I got permission from mom and dad to drive myself to Ben's house. It's only ten minutes away so I'll be off any main roads and I do have my learner's permit.

I drive slowly just to be extra cautious. When I arrive at my destination, Ash's car is already in the driveway. I park the car and lock the doors before walking to the front door. I ring the doorbell and the door is answered by Lola.

"Hey Hazel!" She says as she holds the door open for me.

"Hi. I'm not too late, am I?" I ask as I walk in.

"No at all. Ben and the rest of your friends are upstairs playing on the Xbox. Can you go fetch them so that we can start preparing. It's barely forty minutes before guests start to arrive." Lola says.

"Sure. I'll go call them."

Ben and Mia used to live in a smaller house than this one before she married Conley and that's where Ben and I have most of our memories. But I have been over to this house plenty in the last five years so I know my way around as well as I know my own house.

Ben's bedroom door is wide open and Liam is sprawled on the bed, doing something on his phone while Ben and Ash are on the floor, controllers in their hands as they stare intently at the TV screen on the wall.

"Guys!" I call out over the noise of the game. Ben at once looks to the door where I'm standing.

"Hey." I smile at him.

"Okay, we're going to go help, Lola." Ash says, hurrying to his feet and grabbing hold of Liam's arm as he drags him off the bed and then pulls him out of the room.

"We're not that bad." Ben says, standing up.

"Mhmm." I say as I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him. Ben's hands rest on my waist as he deepens the kiss. A minute later I pull away, "We need to help Lola."

"She has Ash and Liam helping her." Ben pouts.

"It's your party too!" I remind him and accept one quick kiss before pulling him out of the room.

We find Lola and the boys going through the first floor of the house and picking up anything breakable or valuable that needs to be protected. There's an expensive carpet in the foyer that I volunteer to roll up and safely deposit in the basement where we're stashing all the things.

Once that's done, I help Lola set out the snacks and drinks. Ben is being responsible so no alcohol is being provided and none is allowed to the party. In the process of laying them out, I open a bag of Doritos and munch on them.

The bell rings and I hear several voices fill the house. I leave the kitchen and head to the living room with the bag of crisps still in hand. It's Angelina and some more friends from school.

"Doritos?" I offer her the bag. She takes a few out and pops them into her mouth as I walk to the foyer to find the others.

An hour later the house is full and Ben and Lola have made an executive decision to allow the party to spill onto the back yard. I'm the foyer with Ben and Ash when I spot Sebastian arrive.

"Welcome." Ben says when I wave Seb over to us.

"The party is way bigger than I anticipated." Seb surveys the people closest to us.

"It surely is. But trust me it's more of Lola's guests than mine." Ben at once clarifies making me laugh.

"I'm going to go say hi to a few people." Seb says.

"Okay." I nod as he walks away from us.

Soon people stop trickling in which means that everyone who was invited has arrived. Ash leaves us and then Ben turns to me,

"I'm going to do a quick round to make sure everything is running smoothly and then come find you."

"Okay." I kiss his cheek.

I've just sat down on the stairs when I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket. When I check it, there's a reminder on the screen.

Send in Stanford application.

I sigh and delete the reminder to clear my notifications bar.

"Everything okay?" I hear Ben ask.

I look up from my phone to find him standing a few steps away.

"Kind of." I say as he sits down on the stairs next to me.

"Can I help?" He asks, taking my hand in his.

"I have been filling out my Stanford University application over the last month. It's my dream school, which you already know." He smiles at this as I continue, "And I've idealized it to the extent that I'm not sure if I'd want to go anywhere else."

"I would know that." Ben smiles at me, making me smile too. I know that we're both thinking of the time I got my first phone and my wallpaper was Stanford's logo for an entire year and also the time that I got my hands on a Stanford sweatshirt I wore it for a few weeks straight in freshman year.

"So what's the problem? Is everything ready to be submitted?" He asks.

"It is. But I'm too scared about rejection." I rest my head on his shoulder.

"What's your essay about?" He asks.

"Swimming." I smile to myself and I feel Ben laugh. I tell him what my supplementary essays are about and Ben encourages me to send in the application.

"The whole point of Early Action is so that you get an answer quickly." He reminds me.

Finally, I log onto my Common Application account and go to my Stanford application. I take a deep breath and then send it in.

"It's done!" Ben shouts and sweeps into a hug.

"Ben." I laugh into his shoulder.

"Come on. This calls for more Doritos to celebrate." Ben stands up and tugs on my arms.

"No more Doritos, please or else I'll throw up. But Skittles I will take." I let him pull me up from the stairs.

"Skittles it is then." He says as he leads me to the kitchen.

It's after midnight when people start to leave. Thank goodness my own parents are in New York or else I would've had had to leave for home an hour ago. Sebastian calls a driver from home to pick him up and I tell him that I'll be home soon too.

Its takes another hour for the house to empty completely. Once the last of the guests have left, Lola announces that she's going to take a shower. When she's gone, I walk over to Ben and take his face in my hands as I kiss him.

I gasp when he picks me up and carries me upstairs to his room. He sets me down on the bed and kicks the door shut with his foot. I feel hot and there's a lust growing in my body as Ben begins kissing me and presses me into the bed.

A small moan escapes my lips when his lips move to my neck and he rubs against me. Even through our pants, I can feel him. I don't know how long we stay in bed together but stop just before our make out turns into sex, something we're yet to discuss.

"It's 4 a.m." I groan, checking the time on my phone as I sit up in bed.

"Stay then?" Ben says and I look back at him.

Unable to resist the invitation, I crawl back into bed and let Ben wrap his arms around me as I rest my head on his shoulder and instantly fall asleep.

So...I came up with a ship name for Hazel and Ben, "Hazen" ;)

-T