He could just leave them.

Nothing is stopping him.

They would never know.

But Bennett knew he wouldn't leave Declan and Jordan at school and drive off home. Despite how tempting it is.

He still wonders how he was given the job as designated driver but he knew it was a forced volunteer with him having a license and a car, or well cars. As to why he had to be designated driver in the first place- Well that's another story entirely.

Bennett was at the school's parking lot waiting for the others. He leaned against his car not wanting to sit inside. His poor car was roasting inside as it was baked in the sun's heat. He remembered how lucky he felt when he found the spot. Probably as much as the other guy who found it as well. But when he saw that Bennett was the one looking for the spot, the other guy backed out so fast he almost caused an accident when he nearly crashed someone else's car.

Bennett wanted to create an accident, revving his car straight at those two...

"Bennett!" Jordan's voice called out to him. "How long did you wait?"

Bennett spotted Jordan walking over towards him from the school, waving at him. He wore his usual smile, always looking like he was happy about something. Although it may seem like an admirable trait, sometimes Jordan would read certain situations wrong.

"Long enough," Bennett said curtly.

Jordan looked slyly at him, a look Bennett never appreciated as he never knew what goes on in Jordan's mind. "Long enough to miss me?"

"With every bullet so far."

He laughed and slapped a hand on Bennett's back. Bennett grunted and shot Jordan a look before looking forward at nothing.

Then a thought slithered into Bennett's mind. Bennett looked at the ground, not looking at Jordan as he debated whether he should ask or not.

"How..." Bennett trailed off, hesitating if he should ask, but continued. "How did you know it was me?"

Jordan stopped laughing and frowned. "What do you- Oh."

Jordan forced out a smile. Bennett felt a pang of guilt as he knew it was forced just as much as Jordan did. But Jordan didn't blame him for asking the question.

Jordan shrugged. "I saw someone leaning against this baby-" he said, referring to the car and petting it like it was such "-And I know no one in their right mind would lean against this car, much less your car." He paused and chuckled. "I mean, maybe pray to it..."

Bennett glared at Jordan. "Then do it. Don't touch my car like that. Now get down on your knees and worship my car."

Jordan grinned at that, a genuine one this time. Bennett couldn't help but give a small smile in return.

Declan came up to them with a questioning look at the two guys smiling at each other. It was one thing seeing Bennett smile, it was something else seeing him smile with Jordan.

"Did I miss a joke or something?" Declan asked them.

Jordan snorted. "Yeah, and you're the punchline."

Normally Declan would say something, anything back. But he just wasn't in the mood to beat anyone else up.

Declan didn't say anything. Instead, he moved to open up the car door to the passenger's seat. As he reached for the door, Bennett and Jordan caught sight of Declan's hand with its raw red knuckles.

Jordan glanced around, not seeing a crowd much less an ambulance. "Someone showed up to the... parking lot, afterschool?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

Declan tsked at that. "No, they never do."

Jordan frowned, confused now. "They why..."

He looked down at his hand. "It's something else," Declan said before getting into the car and shutting the door.

Jordan and Bennett shared a look before getting into the car as well. The car drove out of the parking lot and away from the school, though not always fast enough as they would want.

"Are we going to the base?" Bennett asked them.

"Yeah, I don't want to go home right now," Declan said after a beat.

Jordan and Bennett's eyes met in the rearview mirror, noticing the obvious mood of their friend.

"Sure, I don't have any homework," Jordan lied, though he wished the lie was true.

There was a long silence in the car until Bennett broke it.

"If you want to talk..." He began.

"There's nothing to talk about," Declan grunted out.

"Well you can't say that for sure," Jordan said. "Usually your fists do the talking, right?"

Declan turned to glare are Jordan, holding up his fists as he said with a smirk, "We'll see who'll do the talking when-" Suddenly he stopped as if he didn't see the point of the empty words. Maybe he did.

Declan turned back in his chair and went back to staring out the window. Jordan looked at Declan, not knowing what to make of this. Bennett looked at the road, for a split second wishing they were fighting instead.

They reached the base not soon enough as the tense atmosphere was polluting the ozone along with the car's smoke. Bennett parked the car on the small garage and they headed inside the base.

Declan wasn't thinking.

Well, that may seem like all the time. And in his defense, he usual does. But he was thinking of other things. However, not the right thing.

He fell for the trap.

Jordan, paranoid, trigger happy Jordan, set up a security and defense system for the base. Not really because they needed to, but because he wanted to.

One such trap he thought would be fun to set up was a dart trap of tranquilizer darts fixed into a bullseye game at the wall. Usually they would have to wait for the dart to zip past them before going past it. But Declan walked right into it.

The dart hit him on the shoulder, making him curse. Declan took out the dart then whipped around to glare at Jordan.

"Jordan you little-" He didn't get to finish his sentence when his body stiffened and he fell face first onto the floor.

"Yikes," Jordan said as he casually walked to his friend and grinned at the sight as Declan began to snore softly. Jordan nudged Declan with his foot and was met with no reaction. He looked at Bennett with the grin still there. "I don't want to be here when he wakes up."

"You really need to disable that," Bennett told him as he walked to Jordan's side and looked at Declan. "We have a perfectly good security system. This feels a bit extreme."

"It's never too extreme. And besides..." Jordan looked down at Declan. "It's worth it when he keeps falling for it like this."

Bennett rolled his eyes at that. "C'mon, just help me out with him," he said as he moved to grab Declan's legs.

"We can just leave him here..." Jordan said when he stopped at Bennett's glare. He grumbled that he was only kidding as he lifted Declan from the shoulders.

They hauled Declan off the floor and headed towards the bookcase that had a super secret door to their base.

"Pivot! Pivot!" Jordan began to exclaim.

"There is no reason to pivot him," Bennett retorted back.

Jordan laughed. "It's from a show. Where do you live? Under a rock? Oh wait, you-"

"Just open the door," Bennett said, cutting him off, referring to open the bookcase for the super secret door.

At that, Jordan abruptly dropped Declan, having his head hit the ground with a thud. Bennett shot Jordan a glare.

Jordan gave a sheepish smile. "Whoops, my bad."

"You did it on purpose."

Jordan gasped at such an accusation. "You can't prove that. I want my lawyer."

"Jordan."

"Yes, your honor?"

"I'm going to tell him when he wakes up."

Jordan snorted. "No, you're not."

"How would you know?"

Jordan thought about it then shrugged. "Well it is a free country," he said before adding," For now."

Bennett sighed then dropped Declan's legs. He opened the bookcase for the super secret door to the base. Together, they lifted Declan past the super secret door and swung him onto the couch. Declan rolled over to his side and grabbed a couch pillow to hug.

"How long does he have?" Bennett asked.

Jordan checked Declan's pulse.

"You know what I meant," Bennett told him.

"He'll come around in about half an hour," Jordan said. "Which is enough time to find some markers."

Before Bennett could stop him, Jordan was already racing up the stairs to his room. Bennett looked at Declan sprawled on the couch.

I need to guard him then, Bennett told himself, or else neither me nor Jordan will have a pulse to check when he wakes up.

-

Declan woke up with a start. He groggily sat up from the couch, looking around the room until he saw Bennett sitting at the chair next to him. Bennett was casually flipping through a magazine, having Declan clear his throat to have him look up from him.

"Sleep well?" Bennett asked him as he went back to his magazine.

Declan rubbed his shoulder, still feeling the sting of that shot. "I've slept better. Thanks. How long was I out?"

Bennett checked his watch. "Almost an hour. Jordan said it was going to half. He needs to fix that."

"Unless he did it on purpose and lied to you," Declan muttered.

Bennett thought about it and figured that it was possible.

"I'm going to kill him," he said before shaking his head. "I know it was part of my fault but it's easier to blame him..."

"It is," Bennett agreed.

Declan lied back down on the couch and looked at the ceiling. His fingers interlocked and were placed on top of his chest.

"I don't know how it really started. It just happened, y'know? Well I mean of course you know, you were there."

"Yeah."

"It's just... Sometimes I don't mind the fighting. I know it sounds weird but sometimes I kinda enjoy it. And if you ask him, I bet he enjoys- Are you writing this down?"

"I am," Bennett said, revealing a notepad and pen behind the magazine.

"But there are times he would just, just... know what to say to push me over the edge. Back at the car, I felt bad what I said back but didn't he start it?" Declan paused for a moment. "How much longer do I have until my session ends?"

"It's almost done."

"I just don't know with him anymore." Declan turned his head to look at Bennett. "What do you think I should do?"

Bennett didn't respond as he was looking at the notepad still behind the magazine.

"Bent?"

At the sound of his name he looked back up. "Oh sorry, the article was more interesting."

"What do you think I should do?"

"Have you ever considered couples' therapy? We can start next week."

At that, Declan got up from the couch. "I think that's enough opening up to last a lifetime."

"Maybe even two."

"Where's Jordan? I can't believe he would leave me alone while I was asleep. He would never pass up the opportunity to-" Declan stopped and his hands went up to his face. "Did he do anything to my face? Don't tell me he used a sharpie again," he groaned.

"Don't worry," Bennett assured him as he closed the magazine and stuffed the notepad into his pocket. "He tried to, but we reached a compromise."

"Compromise?" Declan repeated. "Of what?"

"That's what I asked him. He hasn't thought of a good one yet."

"As if I'd ever- Jordan!" Declan exclaimed. "Get your ass down here!"

Jordan appeared at the edge of the railing of the second floor wearing his usual grin. "Do you mean this fine ass?" "Don't repeat jokes," Bennett called out to him. "It only shows that you're running out of material."

"Who says I'll ever run out of jokes?" Jordan asked before he sat on the railing of the staircase and slid down to the bottom.

"I am never going to touch that railing until you clean it," Bennett told him.

"Great," Jordan said. "Now it's all to myself."

"Do you see what I have to put up with?" Declan asked in exasperation.

"We both need to deal with him," Bennett corrected him. "And our next session isn't until next Tuesday."

"Yeah about that, what is this compromise?" Declan asked, saying the word like he would have to clean his mouth with soap at the mere sound of it.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Jordan said.

"I know it's easy to play stupid, but that doesn't mean-"

"Not as hard as it is playing smart, huh Declan?"

Bennett cleared his throat. "I'm going to go before these burns will make even me go to the ER. Remember, couples' therapy," he reminded them as he took out his phone.

"What is he even talking about?" Jordan said.

"I don't know," Declan said, playing dumb.

Bennett decided to leave before things got worse. He was looking through his phone and noticed that he had a two missed calls. He figured that he must have ignored it around the time he was fighting for his life when arguing Jordan for that compromise.

He opened the app and instantly saw his father's number before seeing that there was a voicemail. He went to the voicemail tab and tapped to play the voicemail before putting it to his ear. He may have accidentally pressed the speaker as he met a loud voice that certainly wasn't Benedict Frazier. Instead it was a woman, and unless he pulled a Bruce- I mean Caitlyn Jenner, this was another person. There may have been two separate missed calls rather than two calls from his dad that Bennett thought.

"Hello, this is Ms. Harriet from the Dartwell High School main-"

Bennett tried to put it off speaker, but Jordan had already grabbed it out of his hand.

"Jordan!"

"Shh, it's getting to the good part," Jordan hissed at him.

The voice continued. "I'm calling you to inform you that your son..." There was a slight pause as she probably read a paper. "Bennett Frazier, was late to Mr. Wilkin's fifth period class-"

Jordan stopped the voicemail then crossed his arms, giving Bennett a look of disappointment.

"Bennett, how could you?" Declan asked in disbelief.

"I thought we raised you better than that," Jordan said.

"I was late to class," Bennett defended himself. "It's not the end of the world."

Jordan looked at the ceiling and cried out, "I did good didn't I? What have I done to deserve this?"

Declan shooked his head. "He's already in his rebellious teen phase."

"We all are," Bennett said through gritted teeth.

"When you asked to have your "parents" number to be your own in the school application, I didn't think that you'd use it like this."

"We both know that the reason I used my number is because I don't want my dad's number and I don't want to bother her."

"Wow, the pronoun game," Declan quipped. "A lot of people are going to appreciate that."

"I told you that you'd be late if you took that route," Jordan said.

"I wasn't late, or wasn't supposed to be if it weren't for- Nevermind about that. Just get off my case."

Declan raised an eyebrow. "Why were you late?"

Jordan pressed in. "Pit stop? A girl? Pit stop and a girl?"

Bennett cleared his throat. "What? No. Neither of them. And that's disgusting."

"Speaking of girls, not pit stops, but girls," Jordan began, although it was a pretty bad beginning. "There's this girl I met in my chemistry class."

"I bet she wished she never met you afterwards," Declan said with a snort.

"It was nothing like that. She's my new partner for the whole year, courtesy of that Ford Explorer. She's pretty cool, cute too, has these glasses." Declan frowned but ignored the last part as he knew anyone can wear glasses. "Took her a while to make her laugh though..." Jordan said almost wistfully.

"Maybe it was out of pity," Declan suggested.

Jordan shrugged. "Maybe."

"And why are you telling us this?" Bennett asked him.

"I don't know Bent, here I thought I could go to you guys to talk about my life. It's my session now, isn't it?" He ignored Declan's eye roll and continued. "I want you guys to meet her."

"I thought you don't meet the parents on the first date," Declan told him.

"Why do you want us to meet her?" Bennett asked.

"She's pretty cool and we're pretty cool. I thought we could be cool together."

"Wow that's a great explanation, let's go meet her," Declan said excitedly.

"Seriously?"

"No."

"You never even told us her name," Bennett pointed out.

Jordan grinned. "I guess I was so excited I forgot. Her name's Naomi.

At the sound of her name, Declan looked down at his knuckles. "Glasses right? Black rimmed. And brown hair and brown eyes?"

Jordan looked at him in disbelief.

Declan looked back. "What?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

There was a long pause between them.

It took Declan a moment to realize the mistake he made. He cursed. "Sorry, I wasn't thinking. I really didn't mean it. I swear."

"Wouldn't be the first time," Jordan grumbled.

Declan began to rub his knuckles nervously, feeling the sting but rather accept it than feel the guilt he had. "I meant... Sharp mouth. Sarcastic attitude."

Jordan scratched his head. "I mean, yeah, I guess..."

Bennett looked at Declan. "A look that would make anyone turn the other way? The way she talked that would make you want another therapy session from me?"

Declan blinked. "How did you..."

"I met her."

"Me too."

"We all met her," Jordan muttered. "That's pretty weird... and cool. Told you she was cool. Now what do you say that we go meet her better that our first impression selves did?"

Declan stiffened at the thought. "No way. I can't."

"I doubt she'd ever want to talk to us, much less see us," Bennett said.

"Don't think so negatively," Jordan told his friends. "And besides... It's kinda too late."

"What?" Declan and Bennett demanded.

"Yeah..." Jordan said awkwardly, chuckling a bit. "I may have left a letter asking her to meet us tomorrow. So we should probably go there or else she'd hate us for all eternity..."

"Why Jordan? Just why?"

"Of all the times you could have done something stupid, you chose to do this."

"Aw c'mon, don't be like that," Jordan said

"Why are you even going through all of his trouble with her?" Declan asked.

Bennett saw Jordan for the first time trying to come up with an answer rather than having one behind his back ready. "It isn't for that promise with her, isn't it?"

Jordan looked away and tsked. "Gotta love that pronoun game."

"Fine, we'll go," Bennett said.

Declan stared at Bennett. "Are you serious?"

Jordan's face lit up.

"If," Bennett added.

Jordan's face still lit up.

"You cancel whatever that compromise would have been with Declan."

"Deal!" Jordan exclaimed. "It would have been too much work anyway."

"What does that supposed to mean?" Declan asked. "What is going on? What is happening?"

"We're going to meet up with Naomi at..."

"Starbucks," Jordan filled in.

Declan backed away. "I'm not going. There's no way I'm going. She hates me. If I go there-"

"She'd kill you if you don't go there or not," Jordan pointed out. "It's only up to you if you want to die a man or a coward."

"I choose coward."

"That's the spirit!" Jordan exclaimed.

"Declan..."

"Alright fine," Declan said, giving in. "I haven't been in Starbucks in a while anyway."

"Great!" Jordan said, his voice filled with excitement. "Leave me alone for a couple of hours. I have a contract to write."

"A contract?" Declan repeated.

"Yeah, gotta make it official," Jordan replied as he headed up the stairs. "I'll let you guys see it once I'm done."

Declan looked at Bennett again. "You're actually going to let him do this?"

"You know Jordan. He'd do it, even if we tried to stop him."

"Yeah, but still..." Declan muttered. "A contract is too much."

Suddenly, Declan realized something.

"You're not going to make some lame catchphrase, are you?"

There was no reply.

"Jordan?"

"JORDAN!"

End