"Never again! Never fucking again!" Ben shouted to himself as he angrily slammed his suitcases on his bed back in New York.
He had just gotten home after a long flight full of thoughts from his and his parents' fights the past week and a half. After the Christmas "incident" (as his mother calls it), he refused to speak or even look at Grace again. She ruined his entire trip.
Of course, his parents thought he was overreacting, but he snapped and yelled at them for even inviting her. He couldn't believe they would invite his ex-fiancé to Christmas dinner after what she did to him and why.
For the entire rest of his trip, they resented each other and hardly talked, except to say their short goodbyes when Ben had to leave. He drank the entire flight back to New York. Back home.
He hadn't told Cassie about the fight. As a matter of fact, he hasn't talked to her since he hung up on her that night. He felt awful for neglecting her, but wanted nothing more than to see her as soon as he got home.
It was still pretty early in the morning and he was exhausted and jet lagged, but he needed her.
After taking a solid deep breath, he took out his cell phone and dialed her number. He rested his hand on his eyes as it rang. "Hey," her voice said in a flat tone.
He already knows she's mad. He let out a strangled sigh and said, "I need you." The tone in his voice seemed to make something click with her because she suddenly sounded worried when she asked, "Are you okay?"
He shook his head and told her, "No." He could hear her shuffle around, then say, "I'll be there in ten." He nodded, then said, "I love you." She didn't miss a beat before saying, "I love you, too."
**
Cassie quickly rushed into the living room, where Rob and Hannah were taking down the Christmas tree. "Where are you heading in hurry?" Hannah asked.
As Cassie was putting on her shoes, she said, "I forgot that I'm meeting Caleb at the movies." She's gotten awfully good at lying. It just came naturally now.
"Oh," Hannah said, "well, have fun. Tell him I said hi." Cassie didn't pay any attention to her and just laced up her shoe, before grabbing her jacket and quickly heading out the door.
She ran out of her building and into the touristy streets of New York. This was the time of year were people come to see the snow and Christmas lights, but it just made everything so much more crowded.
She pushed her way through people as she tried to quickly run down the street. She made a few twists and turns, then finally ended up in Ben's quiet street, where she walked just a few more blocks to get to his building.
After rushing into the lobby and going up the stairs, she ended up in front of his door. She was panting from running over here, but was hesitating to knock.
He hung up on her that night. He never called her back, didn't answer her calls, didn't have any means of contact whatsoever after that.
She thought the worst and figured he got back together with his ex. The thought made her cry every single night.
Just before she could think about it again, his door swung open. There he was; white t-shirt, green pajama bottoms, his glasses low on his nose. Sexy as ever.
"Hi," she breathed. Ben didn't say anything, but he grabbed her hand and pulled her inside. He slammed the door shut, pushed her up against it, then leaned down and kissed her and he kissed her hard.
Cassie raked her fingers through his hair and moaned into his mouth. He moved his hands down her legs, then lifted her up until her legs were wrapped around him.
She tried to break the kiss to breathe, but he just took the back of her head and brought her lips back to him. He walked them expertly to his room, then set her down on the bed, finally letting her breathe.
"Ben," she panted, "what--." He shushed her as he pushed down his pajamas and boxers. He took off his shirt and climbed on to the bed with her.
He then quickly stripped her down to nothing and went back to kissing her with his full body weight on hers. They kissed passionately without exchanging any words, but let their hands wander to where they knew their most sensitive spots were.
When Cassie started stroking him, he broke the kiss and sighed against her lips. "Yes," he croaked out. She could see that he needed this. She didn't know what or why, but something was wrong and she wanted to make it right.
She stroked him just the way he liked until he came all over her hand and stomach. After that, he went down on her like he was starving. He made her scream and come until her head started to spin.
Once he stopped and crawled up to her, he started kissing her again, but more gentle and loving this time. They were both drenched in sweat and panting for air, but everything seemed more calm somehow.
He broke the kiss after a few moments, then put his head on her chest. Cassie ran her fingers through his sweaty hair and felt all of his stress float away.
They still haven't said a word, but Cassie broke the deafening silence by asking, "Are you ready to talk now?" She felt him nod against her chest. "Yeah," he breathed out.
**
"Welcome back, everyone! Hope you had a great Christmas!" Mr. Cumberbatch shouted over the loudly talking students as he walked quickly into the classroom. He was oddly late, which made Cassie get a little worried as she waited anxiously for him to show up.
He looked to her and gave her the look he always did; full of love and adoration. He really opened up to her that night she came over and things have been so much stronger between them ever since. Of course, Ben didn't tell her one minor detail of what happened in his trip back to London, why he got so upset at grace.
He didn't want to tell her yet. He couldn't. What if she does the same thing Grace does and leaves? He wouldn't be able to handle that, not from his Cassie.
"So, I know we just got back from break, but your finals are coming up in a couple of weeks and it is my duty as a teacher to prepare you. With that being said, please open to page--." He got interrupted by the kids grunting and heavy signing.
He rolled his eyes and chuckled, "Alright, alright calm down. We need to go through this or else you are going to fail and I know you don't want that and neither do I. I've had a chance to look over the test and it's the most difficult I've seen it."
That got them to sigh and grunt even more. "Anyways," he told them, "I will be handing out practice tests, worksheets, all that I can to make it easier on you. I will also be available everyday after school if any of you need help. I will get you all through this, I promise."
Cassie smiled at him and he smiled warmly back, before grabbing a stack of papers and handing them out to each row. "Now, I want you to each find a partner and finish this before class. It's basic review, it shouldn't hurt too much. I'll come around to each group and see if you need any help."
All the kids started grouping up, but no one seemed to be going towards Cassie. She just sat there, looking around sheepishly at everyone who passed her by. She hated group work, no matter what class it was.
Mr. Cumberbatch saw this as he was making sure everyone was paring up. He spotted a group of three and broke it up. "I said groups of two, Tommy," he said. "Go pair up with Cassie." Cassie gave him a double take. Is he crazy?
Tommy got up with a loud sigh and trudged his way over to Cassie. He sat down in the desk next to her and glared at her. "Kind of hard to call you four eyes if you're not wearing glasses, nerd," he said. Cassie sighed and shook her head as the class laughed
"Mr. Weaver," Mr. Cumberbatch said as he walked over with his hands behind his back, "I do hope you're not looking for another suspension. Do not speak to Ms. Hansen that way or you will find yourself in the principal's office, yet again. You do want to graduate, don't you?"
Tommy sighed and started quickly tapping his foot. He refused to look at him. Ben smiled and said, "That's what I thought. You're a smart kid, Tommy, you don't want to waste it on--." Suddenly Tommy sprang up and hit Mr. Cumberbatch square in the face, causing him to fall back on a couple of empty seats before hitting the floor.
"Ben," Cassie gasped in shock. "Oh my God!" She quickly got up and went over to him, as did a couple of other students. The rest just took out their phones and started recording.