A/N: Here is the next part for y'all, in Mr Ben's POV! :D dedicated to Writingboks753 for her lovely cover she made me :)

Chapter 2: Sour as a Lemon

My hands were twitching involuntarily as I leaned against the wall of that stupid bakery.

"Goddammit," I muttered under my breath. "Where the hell is Clark?" Clark was the closest thing I had to a best friend. He was practically family.

"Hey man," I heard from beside me, followed by a hard slap to my shoulder.

"You're late," I said, but I wasn't really angry. Clark was too good to me for me to treat him horribly.

He simply laughed loudly, used to my grouchiness by now. "I saw you come out of that shop. What were you doing in there, don't you realise you're fat enough as it is?"

"Piss off!" I groaned, shoving him away from me.

"No, really, what were you doing in there?" he asked curiously, raising an eyebrow. He was my complete opposite; with blond hair, light skin, and blue eyes. "I thought you hated sweets."

"I do," I agreed as I slumped further against the wall.

He was still confused. "So...?" I glared at the ground as I remembered that girl from the bakery. She was beautiful, but she had pissed me off. "Whoa!" Clark laughed at the look on my face. "What got your knickers in a knot?"

At the sound of a tinkling, cheery laugh, we looked up to see my worst nightmare walking out of the shop. My glare deepened as I watched the carefree smile on her face grow. What a child.

Clark made a low whistling noise. "She's stupid," I grumbled, looking away so I wouldn't keep staring at the sincere grin on her face, or the way her eyes twinkled.

He looked at me incredulously. "What are you talking about? Do you even see her?"

"I see her, alright," I said. "I went in there because I had to save her sorry ass."

Clark let out a low laugh. "How so?"

I shrugged. "I've seen her before. She's such a fucking pushover, it's unbelievable. She lets customers walk all over her like a bloody welcome mat and she doesn't even care."

"Huh," Clark grunted, looking thoughtful. He turned and smirked at me. "What did you do?"

"Don't look at me like that, mate," I protested, raising my palms in defence. "It wasn't my fault. She was going to give money she earnt fair and square back to some cheating dick."

"Wow, you must really like her," he teased. "What's her name?"

"I don't fucking know," I muttered.

He made a humming noise and got one of those devious smirks on his face that told me I wouldn't like what he was planning. "Hey, sweet cheeks!" he bellowed.

"What the hell, Clark!" I hissed, grabbing his shoulder.

He shook me off and shot me a pleased look when the girl turned around. When she spotted us, her smile widened instead of faltered like what usually happened when people saw us leaning against a dark wall next to a dumpy little bakery. "Are you talking to me?" she asked politely.

"Yeah," Clark replied, waving her over.

She smiled wider and scampered over to us immediately, which ticked me off to no boundaries. Was she seriously so unconditionally trusting? Did she have no common sense?

"Hello!" she greeted Clark, stretching out her palm in welcome. He shook it vigorously, earning a small giggle from her. It was the sound of pure joy, and it made me feel really uncomfortable to be around such a sweet-natured, girlish person.

"What's your name?" he asked, shooting me a sly look. I snorted.

"I'm Charlotte," she replied, entirely too cheerfully, before her doe-eyed green gaze slid over to me. If possible, her grin stretched even wider, and she bounced on the tip of her toes. "Hi, stranger!" she trilled enthusiastically.

I grunted, fighting the urge to flip her off. Too much fucking nice for me. "Have you met?" Clark asked slyly.

"Oh yes!" Charlotte answered eagerly. "This guy helped me out, he was super nice!" I made a face, wondering if she was mocking me, but then I realised that she wouldn't know how to mock people if I told her exactly what to sya.

Clark bit his lip hard to keep the laughter in, and I just let the disgust seep into my expression. I expected her face to fall, but she kept smiling at me.

Bitch.

"Nice to you?" Clark replied smoothly, teasingly. "You must be mistaken. This guy's a grumpy old dickhead."

Charlotte glanced at me in amusement, causing me to clench my teeth. What was so funny about me, huh? "He is," she agreed. "But he saved me some money and I didn't get a chance to say thank you! So thank you!"

Clark elbowed me in the ribs. I glared viciously at him before staring straight at Charlotte. I expected her to squirm, or blush even, but she just continued to smile her little smile at me, thinking I was her hero or some crazy shit like that.

Clark elbowed me again and I shoved him away. "You're welcome," I said angrily, turning away.

"What's your name?" I heard her ask kindly, but I ignored her, assuming she was talking to Clark.

"That's Ben," Clark chuckled. "And I'm Clark."

"Dude," I hissed under my breath. "Why the fuck did you give away our names? This girl could be a psychotic stalker, for Chrissakes!"

Clark shot me a look, and then slowly moved his eyes back to Charlotte. I followed his line of sight to the girl, who was watching us with wide eyes, a faint grin tickling at the corners of her pink lips. "Really?" he said under his breath. "You're being ridiculous."

I humphed and turned away again, crossing my arms. I heard that tinkling laugh again, which made me itch to move and see the joyful expression on her face as she giggled away merrily. But I restrained myself because she was more annoying than anyone I've ever met before.

"Well, thank you for the help, Ben!" she teased gently, but with sincere undercurrents in her soft voice. "Thank you very, very much!"

I continued to ignore her until I heard a weary sigh from beside me. "Let's exchange numbers," Clark suggested to her.

I could literally hear the bouncing she was making as she agreed. What a complete fucking idiot. She was way too trusting to be safe. She really didn't have a bloody clue how the world worked if she just gave out her number willy-nilly to random strangers.

"Okay, bye, Clark! Bye, Benny!" She waved cheerfully and started skipping away from us, humming a tune under her breath. Clark watched her go with a soft smile on his face, and I knew that her charisma had reeled him in without a doubt.

Wait. Hold the fuck up.

Did she just call me Benny? Does she have a death wish?

"What a sweetheart," he commented, turning to me with a wide grin even as I still fumed at her nickname. My name is Ben. B-E-N. Not Benny, for Chrissakes. I'm not a child.

I watched him with an unimpressed look on my face. "She's way too innocent for my taste."

Clark snorted. "Your taste? You mean nobody, since you're a total grump?"

I glared at him. "I'd probably turn her into an asshole like me." It was true. She was much safer staying away, or hanging around a good guy like Clark.

He laughed. "When have you ever cared about that?"

I paused, then frowned. Wait, he was right. When have I ever cared? "Well, it doesn't matter. I don't like her," I told him angrily.

His mouth dropped. "How could you not? She's a fucking angel!"

"Exactly. She's too happy! I mean, does she even have other emotions? Does she not get embarrassed or angry or jealous? Because it doesn't seem like it!" I argued.

"You're impossible."

"And you're lovesick," I retorted, noticing how he was getting a sort of glazed look in his eye like he always did whenever he found a girl he liked.

"I'm not lovesick!"

I started making whipping noises with my mouth. "Lovesick!" I said mockingly.

"Mate, c'mon. How can you hate her? Just because she's a pushover? Is it bad to want people to be happy?"

"Dude, she seems like the kind of girl who'd forgive you if you intentionally cheated on her."

His mouth dropped open. "What kind of demon would do that to her of all people?"

"I would to see if I could get a reaction." I grinned. He let out a chuckle and shoved me.

"You just can't admit that you like her," he said, eyeing me up.

"How can I like a person I barely know?" Especially when it's an overly cheerful pushover like her?

"You can when it's Charlotte," he said, nudging me. "I mean, she's gorgeous, she's funny, and she's got a wonderful personality!"

"Nauseatingly so."

He finally gave up on me, throwing his arms in the air. "Whatever. You'll change your mind soon."

"We won't even see her again," I replied, grinning widely at the prospect. We'd never have to see that hyper, happy ball of positivity ever again.

Clark smirked, waggling his eyebrows tauntingly. "Ah, ah, ah, don't you remember I got her number? And I fully intend on using it!"

"You fucker!" I groaned, aiming a kick at his shins.

"You'll thank me some day!" he cried as he ran away.

"Doubt it!"