Exes And Past Loves: Jess/Belle/Ben

[RMT-Mod-Kara]

God, she hated stairs. How she hated stairs. Why in God's name did this woman--no, this little girl--have to live on the sixth floor? On the sixth floor of an apartment building with a broken-down elevator, no less. Her feet were killing her. Six flights of stairs didn't mix with seven months pregnant. Not even close. But she wasn't giving up. No way in hell was she giving up.

She'd heard the household staff whispering amongst themselves earlier in the week. She'd heard the mutterings about Colby's ex-wife being back in town and how much they hoped she would be coming back to resurrect her relationship with their boss. She fumed. She trashed her room then made those bastards straighten it up again. It was silly and petty and childish, but it beat strangling them with her bare hands or clawing their eyes not. After two days of fuming and snapping at anyone who approached her, Belle realized--after seeing Colby scold one of the maids--that she was being silly. They weren't a threat to her. Colby would never listen to a common housekeeper when it came to his personal matters. No, neither the maid nor the chef nor anyone else in the house was Belle's enemy. His ex-wife was. She was the threat, a threat Belle intended to be rid of.

A Google search had given her the girl's address. A taxi had given her the lift to the apartment. Too bad there was no one would could have saved her six flights of steps.

Once she'd reached the sixth floor, Belle took several minutes to collect herself, to catch her breath, and wipe the sweat from her head and neck. After toying with her hair, she hobbled down the hallway to the apartment listed in the search. After fiddling with her hair one last time, Belle knocked firmly on the door and waited for the former Mrs. Colby Lefabre to open up.

Jessica set her anatomy textbook down on the coffee table after hearing the knock on her door. She had been studying for the past two hours and was actually a bit relieved that someone had interrupted her and given her reason to put it on hold. Reaching up to give her hair a toss, she moved barefoot to the door, not sure who was on the other end. Maybe it was Ben? She smiled at that thought. She certainly wouldn't mind taking a break to see him.

She took a peek through the hole and frowned when she noticed a dark haired woman standing there. Not recognizing her, Jess pulled the door open anyway. "Hi....can I help you?"

"Hi," Belle replied then pushed her way past the door--and Jessica--and into the apartment. She then strolled right into the kitchen and pulled open the fridge. "Do you have any water?" she called out. She didn't care if she was being rude, if she'd just barged into a veritable stranger's house. She was tired, and sweaty, and god was she thirsty. And her feet, dear lord, her feet. "I just climb up six floors and I'm parched."

After the stranger pushed her way past her and entered her apartment uninvited, Jess closed the door and followed her, all with a confused expression. "Sorry but uh... do I know you?" she asked, not moving to get this person a drink, let alone anything else.

Finding a bottle of water in the fridge, Belle snatched it up, twisted the lid off and downed half of it, holding her finger up in a gesture telling the girl to wait a minute. "Oh, my God, I needed that," she said, taking in a deep breath, enjoying the feel of the cold, icy water sliding down her esophagus. "Did you really have to live on the sixth floor? I mean, really?" Belle said as she stepped out of the kitchen again.

"My name is Belle," she said, finally answering Jessica's question. "I'm Colby's fiance."

The word 'fiance' immediately sent Jessica's eyes down to the obvious belly the girl had. It would take an idiot not to put two and two together. She was Colby's fiance and they were expecting a child...any day, from the looks of it. A mixture of emotions ran through her but she forced them on the back burner, trying to remember the fact that this man *shot* her brother. Quiet for a moment, she took a seat at her breakfast nook facing Belle. "Okay....so what do you want with me?" she asked, confused as to what any of this had to do with her.

Belle shrugged. "I heard you were back in town. I overheard the staff, actually, talking about you. A few of them were hoping that, with you back in town, you and Colby might get back together," she confessed, taking another drink as she stepped past Jessica and moved over to an empty chair and gently lowered herself down into it. "And, I got to thinking, I could be like every other woman on the planet and get all jealous and angry and track you down and threaten to kick your ass if you ever come near Colby and, I have to admit, I was tempted. I mean, I did get jealous, at first. But, then I realized we could do this better. We could be friends."

Jess raised her brows in complete surprise. This woman was engaged to her ex husband, and instead of threatening her to stay away, she wanted to be friends? Maybe this she wasn't all right in the head. Jess took a deep breath and sighed, "Look, I don't know what you've heard, or who's said it... but I have no intention - ever - of getting back together with Colby." She stared at her a moment before asking, "You do know he's crazy, right?"

She shrugged again.

"You say 'crazy,' I say 'passionate,'" Belle replied. "Colby knows what he wants and he goes after it, no holds-barred, take no prisoners. And I like that. It's exciting and edgy and...passionate. I can't even think of a better word for it. And what woman doesn't want passion? I mean, really?"

Jess made a face as she listened to this woman describe the man she used to be married to. She nearly laughed. "If...you...say...so." she replied, not sure what else to say to that. Maybe she was as crazy as he was. "Maybe I want someone that I can trust not to point a gun at me or my family." she decided to add with a shrug, "Or perhaps someone who is actually around, and not spending all their time at the office. But that's just me."

"Maybe that's because you're selfish," Belle countered, looking Colby's ex-wife dead in the eye. "You're all me, me, me. 'I want this. I want that.' From what I heard, you didn't really appreciate everything you had, you didn't really care how much he worked for you, to make you happy. It was never good enough for you."

She paused and set her bottle of water on the end table, finished with it.

"It's not all your fault. You're young. You haven't had to grow up and face reality. Not everything is fairytales and romance. You think Prince Charming is just going to sweep you off your feet and you'll live happily ever after without having to work for it, without compromising. Well, sometimes a man has to do what a man has to do to keep his family safe and happy. But you can't appreciate that because...well, because you're childish. Colby told me about all the things he gave you, about all the things he did for you. And what did you do? You turned your back on him like a childish little brat whose angry her fairytale didn't turn out the way she planned.

"And what did you give him in return? Nothing. Nothing but heartache. Hell, you couldn't even carry his baby to term."

Horrified by the words this person was saying to her, Jess stood up from her stool and began heading toward the door, "I'd like you to leave. NOW." God, if this woman wasn't pregnant....no, scratch that. Jess certainly wasn't the fighting type. She turned to face Belle, "And just so we're clear, I never turned my back on Colby. He's the one that served me divorce papers because he's nothing but a little coward. He's the one that shot my brother so that I would be out of his life for good. I supported him, and I loved him. So you can take your pregnant ass out of my apartment and go back to living up the good old Lefabre life. Because you can keep it."

Climbing out of the chair with some effort, Belle adjusted her dress and crossed over to the open door where Colby's ex-wife stood.

"I plan on it. In fact, I plan on enjoying everything you threw away. I'm going to have his baby and Colby and I are going to be happy. I'm going to make him happy," she said, taking a step into Jessica's personal space as the claws came out. "And you're going to stay away from him. Far away from him. Because if you so much as look at him from across a crowded room, your brother will lose more than just his knee. Am I making myself clear?"

It took all of her strength to keep her mouth shut. Biting her bottom lip, she let out the breath she'd been holding, "Maybe you should tell your fiance the same thing. After all, he's the one that hires stalkers. Not me." She pulled the door open wider, trying to get her point across that Belle was free to leave anytime now.

Belle took another step closer. "What makes you think that was Colby?" she asked, arching a brow in warning at her foe.

She then gave Jessica a warm smile then stepped out the door, running right smack into a wall of muscle on her way out.

"Jesus, watch where you're...," she started to snap before she looked up at the ginormous young man standing in front of her with a bag of what smelled like greasy Mexican food.

"...going," she finished, her indignant look disappeared and was quickly replaced with a pleasant smile. She eyed the handsome young man for a moment before stepping around him with an 'excuse me' then continued down the hall toward the stairs, glancing over her shoulder to see the large man walk up to Jessica's open door.

Jess was about to slam the door and let out a scream of frustration when she recognized Ben coming toward her door, nearly running into Belle. As soon as the evil future Mrs. Lefabre was out of sight, Jess let out a sigh of relief. She didn't know what made her happier - the fact that the wicked witch of the west was gone, or the fact that Ben was there. Motioning him inside, she closed the door and leaned against it, not at all hiding her distress over her visitor. "God, she is evil." she said, "Eeeevil. Like... horns and everything." she made 'horns' over her head using her fingers. "I didn't know people like that existed. Thank God you're here... and with food. I could totally eat my feelings right now."

"Well, I guess that answers my question of whether that was a friend of yours," Ben said with a smile as he walked over to the kitchen table and set the food down. He opened the bag and started to pull out the authentic Mexican tacos wrapped in foil that he'd picked up from a tiny hole-in-the-wall restaurant a few blocks away from the house he was helping Tyler remodel. He and his cousin had stumbled upon it after knocking out a wall separating the kitchen and the living room--the goal was to open the space up--and fell in love with it after the first bite.

"So, who was she?"

"Honestly?" she asked as her eyes scanned over the food. The smell was amazing, she could imagine it tasted as good. "Well, this is total first date talk but I'll tell you anyway," she smiled over at him, "Supposedly she's my ex husband's new fiance. She like, hunted me down to threaten me to stay away from him because they were going to be happy and blah, blah, blah." She unwrapped one of the tacos and bit in, "Who does that?"

"I helped you paint your apartment puke green, I think we're past the 'keeping embarrassing secrets' point. Here, try the salsa, it's amazing," he replied, handing her a small plastic cup of sauce to go with her taco. He shrugged at her question.

"And, I dunno, maybe someone who's not all that secure in their relationship? I mean, you were married to the guy, you loved him, he loved you, and the divorce really did a job on both of you, right?" he said.

She took the cup and poured some of the salsa on top of her taco before taking another bite. Her eyes widened and she nodded through her bite, agreeing with his 'amazing' comment. Swallowing her food, she slipped from her stool to get them both a couple of drinks from the fridge. She pulled out a leftover bottle of beer from their painting session and offered it up, then grabbed herself a coke.

"Well I can't really say what it did to him, because I don't know." she replied, reclaiming her seat, "But I suppose I can see what you mean. Some people might not feel that secure knowing the person they love used to love someone else." she shrugged, "Perhaps that's what it is, even if, in my case, it's silly as hell. As far as I'm concerned, she has nothing to worry about. He left me. He decided it wasn't worth it, and it didn't feel all that great, lemme tell you. Why on earth would I wanna go back to that?"

"Yeah, I guess you wouldn't," he said, offering her a quick smile then devoured one of the small tacos. "But what if it's not you. What if it's him? I mean, she's supposed to be marryin' the guy, right, and what if he's not completely over you?"

She thought about the time he showed up in Boston, when he pulled her into his limosine like some kind of psycho. It was their anniversary that day. So maybe it was possible he still had feelings for her, in his own sick way. Nodding, she glanced over at Ben, feeling surprisingly comfortable with the topic. "Could be. She was definitely acting like a jealous woman." she shrugged, "God, if only she knew how far fetched the idea of us getting back together was."

A laugh suddenly escaped her, "Know what's funny is... I was half tempted to burst her bubble and mention that he's kinda still messing around with his other ex, and that maybe she should go threaten her."

"His other ex?" Ben gave her a questioning look as he unwrapped his second taco. He still had three more sitting in front of him.

Reaching out for a chip, she dunked it in the salsa and popped it into her mouth. "Oh, it's crazy." she replied, waving her hand, "My brother used to date this girl, who was actually my ex's girlfriend first. And I dunno - I guess he ran into her recently and she told him that she's seeing my ex again. She even went as far to mention he bought her fake boobs." She looked over at Ben and laughed, "I know, right? Sooo Days of our Lives.

Her brother used to date her ex-husband's girlfriend--or the girl he was sleeping with and buying implants for anyway--after her ex-husband had dated the girl first. Then Jessica married the guy her brother's ex-girlfriend was dating--and used to date--and...yeah, this was brain breaking kind of shit. Even for Ben, who'd dated his best friend's sister. To say he was flabbergasted by how convoluted it was all starting to get, Ben could only stare back at Jessica in awe before he started laughing. "What kind of people do you hang out with?" he asked.

Jess laughed with him, "Oh that ain't even nothing. My brother is like, Mr. Love Triangle himself. First him and my ex dated this girl. Then my brother and this other guy both dated her. It was like, he could never have her to himself. Finally he packed his shit and just skipped town. Figured it just wasn't worth it." She shook her head as she eyed her second taco, "I still don't see what's so fabulous about Allison Whitney." Rolling her eyes, she bit into her taco. "She's pretty but, come on. She's not that pretty."

He looked at her dumbfounded the moment the name passed her lips. "Allison Whit...? What does Ally have anything to do with this?" he asked, not quite putting two and two together to make four just yet. It hadn't occurred to him that Allison was the girl in question, the girl with the "implants" or that Ben was the "other guy"--well, the second other guy--in the love triangle with Jess' brother.

Jessica stared back at him, noting his reaction, "Really? Tell me you don't know her, too. My God, that girl gets around..." She quickly waved her hands, "I don't mean it like that... not with you, anyway. I just meant.. everyone seems to know her." This was just a strange coincidence. "Well, she was dating Colby, my ex, when she met my brother, then started dating him as well. When she broke it off with Colby, she started dating some guy from work. My brother and I left town, and when we come back... apparently she's back with Colby... and she's got fake boobs. Or so I've heard. I haven't seen them or anything."

Allison was the girl. The girl Jess' brother had dated. And they'd left to....

Shit.

The pieces started falling in to place. Ally had told Ben that they used to date when he first arrived in Los Angeles. She'd told him that she'd broken it off with him for another guy. Another guy that had skipped town a few months later, leaving Allison heartbroken. Jessica's brother was the other guy, the one that Allison had apparently dumped Ben for. Which meant that Ben was the guy Jessica mentioned, the one from work that Allison had dated. He was the other man in the triangle. And now Jess' ex-husband, Colby--who was the brother of his cousin's wife--was involved with Ally again (along with being engaged to a pregnant chick).

His face paled as the realization hit him: he was right smack dab in the center of all this shit, too.

"Her boobs aren't fake," Ben said dead pan. With all the pieces starting to fall into place, what was the point of being dishonest and hiding things now?

Jess nearly choked on her drink right then and there. Hearing Ben's comment on Ally's boobs took her by surprise. "Oh nooo... you too?" she asked, looking over at him, hoping that somehow he was only kidding and in fact, he had *no* idea who this Allison person was.

It was time to come clean. About everything.

Jessica was his friend, a friend he'd seriously been considering asking out at some point--even over Tyler's objections--but now, now that he knew that it wasn't just Tyler and Kristen who might be left feeling uncomfortable with it, now that they both were starting to realize that they knew people in each others lives and had awkward histories with them, there was no way he could keep anything back now. Whether it scared her or not, he couldn't keep it in the dark.

"She was my boss," he said, pushing his taco away untouched. He suddenly wasn't all that hungry. "And we slept together. Once."

He waited a moment, letting Jessica process that for a few moments before he continued. "But, before that, when I first moved to Los Angeles a few years ago, we--apparently--dated for a couple of weeks. And, from what I was told, she broke up with me...to be with another guy. A guy that...a guy that left her to go to school on the east coast."

It took her a few minutes to process everything he just said. He messed around with Ally, and at this point, who hadn't? He dated her a couple of years ago... only to be dumped for some guy that eventually left her to live on the other side of the country.

Her mind raced, wondering why all this sounded familiar to her. Suddenly her jaw dropped open and she gasped, looking at him, "You're Mr. Terrific!" When he stared back at her accusation, she elaborated, "My brother... whenever he rants about you, he never uses your name. It's always Mr. Terrific or, or... Captain Wonderful. Holy shit... this is... awkward."

"Mr. Terrific?" Ben's brow furrowed. "What's that supposed mean? Why would he do that?"

"Welll... apparently that's how he saw you. Mr. Terrific. I mean, you were the other guy that she liked. I think he was more threatened by you than Colby." She shook her head, not able to believe how small the world really was. "You don't even know how many times I've had to listen to him piss and moan about you." She leaned back and folded her arms across her chest, "He was jealous of you."

"Oddly, that doesn't make me feel better," he said. It wasn't that some guy he didn't even know didn't like him, or was threatened by him. It was that Jessica's brother didn't like him and felt threatened by him. Add that on top of Kristen and Tyler's reservations and feelings and Ben was starting to realize that maybe, just maybe, asking Jessica out wasn't the best idea ever.

He sighed, deciding to go for broke.

"Look, there's, uh, there's something else you should probably know. I don't exactly remember dating Allison."

"Ummm.. what do you mean 'you don't remember dating Allison'?" she asked, giving him a confused look.

"I mean, I don't remember dating her," he repeated.

"Last year, my friend Nate and I got attacked by this guy. Apparently it was pretty ugly. Nate got stabbed six or seven times and I took a blow to the head, a pretty serious one." He sighed. He knew he'd have to have this conversation with her at some point--hell, he was going to have to have this conversation with anyone he ever met and got close to ever again, including his own daughter.

"When I woke up the in hospital, I thought was seventeen. I'm gonna be twenty-two this year. I lost four years of my memory. So, I don't remember dating Allison...and that's why I'm not with Maggie's mom. Apparently we were dating when it happened but...when I woke up...I didn't have the slightest clue who she was. I'd never met her before."

Jessica sat quietly as she thought about Ben's... confession. What a horrible thing to have happened! She frowned, looking over at him, unsure whether to pat his knee or give him a hug. Should she do anything? What should she say? For the first time since he got there, Jess was speechless.

She busied her hands for a moment and started cleaning up while she collected her thoughts, trying to decide what to say. Finally, she snapped the lid on top of the salsa and said, "I thought... my life was a soap opera. You've actually lost your memory. I seriously don't know what to say."

"It's okay. Really. I've adjusted...mostly," Ben replied. He didn't want pity. He was tired of pity. All he got the first few weeks after he woke up was pity and people looking at him like he was broken and treating him with kid gloves. Jessica was the first person--aside from all the girls he dated after finding out he and Tasha had been over for three years--that hadn't known him before the incident, the only one that didn't have any expectations of what he should be like based on what he was like once before. "Just don't ask me about my senior prom," he added as joke in a lame attempt to lighten the mood.

Her frown turned into a bright smile, "Deal." She picked up her can of soda and raised it up, "How about we forget about our soap opera-y pasts, and just have fun with the future?" She was really beginning to like Ben. It kinda sucked that there seemed to be all kinds of drama surrounding them.

"Deal," he said, picking up his beer and tapping her can of soda with the bottle neck before drinking to her little toast.

He let out an 'ah' sound after he swallowed then finished unwrapping his second taco. "So, about this party.... You still want me to come?"

She felt much better now that he resumed eating. Things could slip back to normal, as if they didn't just air out some dirty laundry between them ."Well, yea....do you still have to work late?" she asked, hoping she liked his answer. When Taylor suggested they have a birthday party for her, the first thing she wanted to do was invite Ben. It bummed her out when he told her he had to work late and might not be able to make it.

"No, I, uh, I got one of the other guys to cover for me for the night," Ben said taking massive bite out of his taco. "But I still gotta work at my other job in the morning so I won't be able to stay out too late. And no getting me drunk, otherwise I'll never get outta bed in the morning."

She couldn't help but smile. Actually, she tried *not* to smile too broadly but it was very hard to do. Ben was coming to her party. She practically felt giddy inside."Coool..." she responded with a nod, "My friend's dying to meet the 'handyman with the awesome crack'." she joked.

"You invited Herb?" he replied, teasing. He then shook his head.

"Ya know, on second thought, I don't think I'm gonna be able to make it. I mean, if Herb is gonna be there...."

Jessica laughed, "I'm sorry. I know how you get so insecure around him. I'll let him down easy....."

"I'd appreciate it," he answered with a chuckle. He finished off two more tacos while they discussed the party, her birthday, and how she felt about not having the word 'teen' behind her age anymore when the conversation trickled to a lull. Taking in a deep breath and letting it out, Ben decided one last admission was in order, especially considering the impact all the other revelations had had on this particular one.

"So, I, uh, I gotta confess something," he said. "I was...," he scratched the back of his neck nervously, "...I was thinkin' about, ya know, maybe askin' ya out sometime. You know, a date."

A self-deprecating smile tugged at his lips as he said the word 'date.'

Jess wasn't about to admit that she'd been kind of crushing on him since they first met, but she was pretty certain her flushed cheeks could be a dead giveaway. Smiling and nervously brushing her hair away from her face, she replied, "Really? So uh...what did you come up with? Ya know... after all that thinking?" she teased, trying to hide the anxiety she was feeling inside. She really didn't care about all the drama surrounding him. His amnesia, his past with Allison. The pure hatred her brother had for him. It all didn't matter to her. It wasn't like she was so squeaky clean.

"That it's, ya know, probably not a good idea," he said, clueless that he'd just let the air out of her little daydream fantasy crush. "I mean, with all the stuff we talked about earlier: Allison, your brother basically hating my guts, my cousin being married to your ex-sister-in-law and.... I dunno. I just get the feeling that it'd cause a lot of problems for a lot of people, including you and me, if I did...if we did."

She wasn't sure how well she could hide her disappointment. Honestly, when did Jess ever not do something because of what other people might think or say? She ran off and married Colby before she was even eighteen! To hell with what problems it would cause for those around them. Looking at Ben though, he seemed the type not able to handle pressure and drama all that well. He seemed like such a... peacemaker of some sort. Her shoulders slumped but she flashed him a smile anyway, "Hey.... it's cool. Really. I understand you don't want problems with Tyler. He's family, after all." She shrugged, "Kinda sucks though... "

"Yeah, I know," he agreed with her, it sucked. Out loud.

He sighed, setting his last taco aside, leaving it for her for later. "But Tyler is family. And he's really been there for me through the whole amnesia thing and with Maggie and, ya know, with Nate gone, he's kinda become my best friend in L.A. And I don't wanna ruin that.

"And besides, I like being your friend, too. And whose to say it'd even work out. Maybe goin' out would be a mistake and maybe we'd just end up hating each other in the end. I think that would kinda suck, so maybe friends is for the best...for everyone."

The more he went on, the more disappointed Jess began to feel. He seemed to have put a lot of thought into this. She simply shrugged and gave a small smile, hoping that she looked convincingly 'cool'. "Hey... ya don't have to explain anything to me. It wasn't like that's what I was expecting out of this... friendship." she said, "I guess we can just, uh, keep hanging out like we have been. I see nothing wrong with that."

She looked at him, "Do you?"

"No, of course not," he said with a smile. Picking up his uneaten taco, he tightened the foil wrapper and secured it then got up and put it in Jessica's fridge. "Besides, who ya gonna call when your disposal breaks down? Herb?"

Jess watched as he got up and walked to her fridge. It was hard to take her eyes off of his big manly figure. Did he work out or was he simply born that way?? "Yea... if it's alright with you, I'd rather not have to call Herb. He makes for boring conversation. He starts talking about the war and...." she trailed off, shaking her head. "Hey, thanks for stopping over, by the way. The tacos were awesome."

"I know, they're amazing, right?!" he said with not even a hint of humility. He didn't make the tacos. He just found the place. Well, he and Tyler found it, technically. "I'd tell ya where to get 'em but...then I'd have to kill you," he added as he stepped over to the fridge to grab another beer only to discover that there wasn't any more in there. "What, no more beer?"

"Well...you haven't been around to do more housework, so I haven't had any need for bribery material."

"Well, it's a good thing we decided to stay friends then," he said, shutting the fridge before getting a clean glass out of the dishwasher and walking to the sink to fill it up with water. "Otherwise, I might have to break up with you for that," he added, nodding in the direction of the beerless refrigerator.

"Please. I think the reason you're so afraid of going out with me is because you know I am probably the best girl to come your way and you're not quite ready for that yet."

"Ooo, someone thinks pretty highly of themself," he teased, smiling, as he turned around and leaned against the sink.

"Hey, you're the one talkin about breaking up with me over lack of beer. I'd say that deep down, that could only be an excuse since I'm clearly too good for you." she continued to joke.

"Oh, you're too good for me, huh?" he said, continuing to poke fun at her even as she dished it right back. "Well, at least I've got a job. Two, actually. How many you got?"

"Heyyy! I go to school. So there." she pointed out, "And... if you must know, I am currently seeking employment. Is that all you got? At least I uh..." she looked around as she tried to come up with something, "I uh.. don't have to live with a stinky roommate." She'd sat and heard numerous stories about his slob of a roommate, though she had yet to actually meet him.

"Oooo, you wanna play dirty, huh?" Ben said as he pushed himself off the counter and walked up to her. When he was close, he leaned down toward her, pretending to try to intimidate her. "Three words: Puke. Green. Walls."

She didn't think she'd ever stood this close to him before. His size was...well, damn! He was taller than she thought. She looked up at him as he made fun of her, "Your mama ever tell you to pick on someone you're own size? Huh... Chewbacca?"

"Are you callin' me chewy?" he retorted.

"Yea...if you grew your hair any longer..." she reached up and gave his hair a flick with her hand. "I bet you sound like him when you snore...."

"Oh yeah?"

Before she even knew what was happening, Ben bent down and picked her up off the ground and had her tiny body draped over his shoulder before she could scream out.

"I think you should take that back, don't you?" he said. When she said 'no,' he gave her quick--and light--swat on the butt as he carried her into the living room where there was more space.

"Take it back," he said, swatting her again.

She was laughing so hard she could barely say anything, other than 'no'. She beat on his back with her fists as he carried her around the living room, "I swear there's a scene like this in Star Wars with Chewy and Princess Leia!" she managed to get out in between cracking up, which only made him spin her around more, while continuing the slap on the butt.

He picked up speed as he stepped rotated in circles, spinning her--and himself--round and round and round again, determined to get her dizzy before he did.

"Say you're sorry," he said, loosing his hold on her legs so that she slipped down his back and face-first toward the floor a couple of inches. "Or I'm gonna drop ya!"

"Alright! Alright!" she called out, surrendering to Ben's requests as the floor continued to get closer to her head, "I'm sorry!"

Having gotten what he was after--sorta--Ben halted his spinning and backed up to the couch to let Jessica climb down his back and collapse onto something soft before he, too, fell onto the sofa. He was still laughing when he looked over at Jess, whose hair was a little bit of a mess after being hung upside down and spun around. "That'll teach ya to mess with a Wookie," he said, slouching into the cushions.

Sitting up on the couch, she reached up and readjusted her hair, putting it back into a ponytail. "Yea, well... I didn't tell you what I was sorry for, now did I?" she asked with a smirk as she propped her bare feet up on the coffee table.

Ben arched a brow at her but didn't say a word. He didn't need to. His expression said it all. He'd taken her answer as a challenge and he was prepared to pick her right back up and do it all over again. He started to get up again.

Jess put both hands up, "Alright, alright. I swear, I'm done." she laughed. God, her side hurt. She couldn't remember the last time she laughed so damn hard. Relaxing against the back of the couch, her laughter finally began to seize.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," he said with a grin as he plopped back down into her sofa, folding his hands behind his head as he looked around the room, mainly at the walls. He'd changed his mind. "Ya know, that green doesn't look half-bad after all."

Her eyes widened as if Ben had just said the most amazing thing ever. "Thank you!" she exclaimed, "I've developed a complex over it since you first started comparing it to the Exorcist vomit." She looked over at him, "When do I get to see what your walls look like?"

"Whenever you decide to walk up the four flights to come visit me instead of always makin' me come down to see you," he answered with a wink. Truth was, he wasn't certain he'd want her in his apartment, not unless he had the day off first to straighten it up. Last thing she needed to discover was something disgusting...like a pair of Caleb's dirty underwear stuffed between the sofa cushions.

"Eh, it's probably best if I stay away. Your roommate sounds a lil scary." she replied. "So uh... you wanna go do something?" she asked, looking down at her chipped fingernail polish, "Like.. a movie?"

His smile faded at the mention of a movie. Dinner and a movie? Sounded sorta date-like. Actually, that sounded really date-like. Especially now, after they the conversations they had since he'd walked in the door. He made a point to glance at the clock on her DVD player. "Um...actually, I should probably head upstairs and get some sleep before my bar shift starts. "Otherwise I'm gonna be dragging by midnight."

Jess felt a pang of disappointment, but she understood so she flashed him a smile as she shrugged, "Oh... right. You have to work." She now began picking away the old nail polish. "That's okay. I think I'll just go back to studying anyway. So... I'll see ya Friday, right?"

He stood up and stretched, surprised at how--after just mentioning the word "sleep"--tired he was in a matter of seconds. He stifled a yawn and nodded. "Yeah. I'll be here. But, remember, you promised not to let me stay out too late I gotta work in the morning."

She stood up and followed him to the door, "Yea, I know. No fun for you." she joked, then found herself yawning as well. "Hmmm...I just might go to bed too. I think you wore me out." Flashing him a tired smile, she opened the door for him to see him out. "See ya later. Night!" Closing the door, she locked it up before padding into the kitchen to clean up. It wasn't long before she managed to find her way to her empty and lonely bed, where she almost immediately fell asleep.