Dedicated to: @bblakknight2467 and @BrynnaGermanOfficial (for getting the answer right last chapter) but also shoutout to:

@Itzsammyx_ @RideAHorseThenABike @Hannahirungu6 for their interpretations!

*****

Monday

"Okay, but the idea of flying chickens is absolutely terrifying."

Benji glanced at me with a frown. "I swear they can already fly a little bit? Like a few meters off the ground?"

I gripped the sides of my seat, staring at him with wide eyes. "You're joking?"

He laughed at my dramatics and I punched his arm gently.

"You're laughing now but when they can fly properly and terrorize us by pelting down eggs I'll be safe in my underground bunker." I shrugged, setting Benji off again.

It was Monday after school and Benji and I had arranged to go to his house after school to work on our History project. He'd been apprehensive about inviting me over at first but I was adamant, I'd wanted to meet his big family since he told me about them.

"Stupid piece of crap." Benji muttered as we slowly pulled into his driveway. I watched in amusement quietly.

"Is the car old?" I asked as he parked roughly. Benji nodded.

"It belonged to Isaiah, my older brother when he was still in high school." He explained. "That was like four years ago, and it was given to him second hand, so it's not in mint condition."

"Are you going to get a new one then?"

Benji nodded with a smile, grabbing his bag and opening the car door. "Yeah, my parents said if I get only A's and above in these upcoming mocks they'll get me a new car."

I whistled. Way to drive a hard bargain.

Once we reached Benji's front door he hesitated. I could hear the screams of laughter coming from inside and glanced at him.

"Look, my family is... a lot." He told me. "And don't take anything they say seriously."

I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

He simply shook his head and unlocked the door, stepping inside first. The house seemed to go silent the moment he did so, as if it was taking a deep breath. Then it exhaled and the noise came back at full force.

Benji lead me down the hallway and I glanced around, taking in the many family portraits. The cameraman must have had trouble fitting everyone in the frame.

We stopped at the entrance of the living room and my eyes widened when a toilet roll came flying at us with an alarming speed. I stepped back just as Benji caught it mid air, unfazed, then turned to me.

"One second thought, maybe you should wait in my room. It'll be safer." He told me, and I giggled slightly then realised he was serious about the latter part of his statement.

"It's the second door on the left." He directed. I raised an eyebrow as if to say 'that's all you're giving me?' "You'll just know it's mine."

I shrugged, following his directions as he entered the living room. A couple seconds later all the noise ceased as Benji's deep voice rang out. I entered what I assumed was his room, taking in the dark blue and white walls covered in various posters. His room was pretty messy, not that I was expecting anything else. But what surprised me was the guitar situated in the corner of his room.

I kept my stuff down, sitting at his desk which had a laptop on it and bringing out my USB. We'd completed majority of the research at school so we just had to formulate it into an essay, which was the hardest bit.

I stretched my arms in front of me, letting out a sigh when his door slammed upon. I startled, looking at the entrance to see the intruder was Ada.

She entered with her eyes glued on her phone. "Benjamin, I said what would happen if you ate my waffles. I'm texting Hummus now, he's on the way."

I gave a small cough and she looked up, surprise and embarrassment lining her features. "Oh, hey, Chloe right?"

I nodded with a smile. "Yeah, Ada I recall?"

She nodded, smiling sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry I didn't mean to threaten you; I obviously thought you were Benjamin."

I shrugged. "No worries, waffles aren't something to be played with. Could I ask who Hummus is?"

Ada learned against the doorway, waving a dismissive hand. "Oh, just a guy I use to threaten people. My hit man, if you want to put labels on it."

"And his name is Hummus?" I asked incredulously and Ada chuckled.

"You're more interested about his name than the fact he's my hit man?"

I waved a hand dismissively. "Everyone has that guy nowadays. Mine's called Squeak."

Ada snorted and I narrowed my eyes at her. "Funny name, but there's a dark tale behind it."

She leaned forward, interested. "Go on."

"Well, there are two. Apparently whenever someone visits the scene of the... incident they never notice anything suspicious because it's always squeaky clean." I gave her a wicked grin. "And the sound of his name makes the biggest men squeak in fear."

Ada nodded approvingly. "Decent, decent. Hummus comes from him liking hummus. It was between that and Strawberry."

"I mean, Strawberry does have a certain appeal to it, I could see it stirring up fear..." I replied thoughtfully and we both burst out laughing.

"You're cool." Ada complemented when she sobered up. "No wonder my brother likes you."

We both froze and I stared at her with wide eyes.

"Um, by like I mean, uh- as a friend of course!" Ada followed up, stumbling over her words. "Yeah, platonically. Not in a romantic sense at all, haha. Um, I'll just go now... got people to threaten!" With that she was gone.

I tried to shake off my feeling of disappointment. I could have been happy Benji didn't like me like that, right? He deserved much better than me anyway.

A small gasp brought me out of my thoughts. I turned to the door and looked down to see a toddler who couldn't have been older than three years staring at me with wide, brown wonderment filled eyes. She had a mane of curly golden brown hair and a doll clenched in her hand.

"Um, hi?" I greeted awkwardly. She suddenly charged at me and I stood up with a yelp as she collided with my legs, wrapping her short arms around them.

"Princess Gold!" She shouted in her adorable, toddler voice. "It's really you!"

I looked down at her in question. "Who?"

She held up the doll in her hand who I noted shared the same blond hair as me, albeit it's looked more like straw. It had on a pretty yellow dress and a tiara on its head, a wide smile frozen on its face. Cute.

Not. Dolls creeped me out.

"This is you!" She exclaimed. "I know its you! I can't believe you really came!" And with that she hugged me again. I felt a smile form on my face as I looked down at her.

Would I crush this girls' fantasy with the truth or continue to fuel it by lying?

"Of course I came; I had to visit my loyal peasant." I responded with a royal air, gently picking her up and placing her in my lap. She stared at me with a wide smile.

"You're hair is so pretty!" She all but shouted, lifting up a chubby hand to touch it. I stopped it, and after seeing it looked clean enough, let her proceed. She touched my hair in awe.

"You hair is pretty too." I responded and she shook her head vigorously.

"No, Kace says it looks like a brown bush." She pouted and I frowned.

"Who's Kace? Actually, more importantly who are you? Are you a little wuss who'll let a boy dictate how you feel?"

She stared at me with wide eyes. "Kace is in my class, he's always mean to me. And... I'm Brea, Princess Gold."

I nodded satisfied. "Well, tell Kace Princess Gold said your hair is beautiful and you agree. He probably doesn't even wash his hair, boys are gross."

Brea giggled and nodded, still touching my hair.

"I hope you don't think all boys are gross?" A smooth, deep voice came from the doorway. I looked up to see Benji mirroring Ada's early position, leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed and eyes on me.

I shrugged. "Yes, but I suppose I could make an exception for one."

"And who would that be?" He asked, slowly walking forward with all the ease and confidence in the world.

"Definitely not you, Mr 'Pineapple Doesn't Belong on Pizza.'" I responded cheekily and he chuckled, shaking his head.

Brea was so immersed in her task of brushing through my hair that she jumped when Benji touched her. "Hey, BB." He said softly and she looked at him, her smile lighting up her eyes.

"Jammin!" She yelled, practically yeeting herself off me to get to him.

I smiled, handing her over and he spun her around, little giggles escaping her.

"Jammin?" I asked. Benji glanced at me with a smile and my heart stopped for a moment.

"BB can't pronounce my name properly, Benjamin so she's stuck with Jammin for now. Jada, my other sister started it and she caught on."

I nodded. "Fitting since you can play guitar as well, I assume?" I asked, gesturing to the said instrument. Benji shrugged.

"I'm alright." He replied rather sheepishly.

"Jammin!" Brea patted his cheeks to get his attention. "You know Princess Gold?" She asked, pointing at me. Benji frowned confused and I just shrugged.

"Of course, BB. We're good friends so I invited her over, just for you." Benji told her and Brea's eyes widened before she shouted in excitement.

"Thank you! Thank you! I love you, Jammin! I love you Princess Gold!" She shouted enthusiastically, thrashing in his arms in pure delight. My heart warmed at the sight. Even thought I was an awkward mess around them, I loved children. I didn't see how anyone couldn't, we were all once children.

Benji smiled at her fondly, kissing her forehead before letting her down. Without missing a beat she ran as fast as her short legs could, screaming her head off. "Go to Ada!" Benji called after her.

"Wow, she's like a little ball of energy." I remarked and Benji nodded, a fond smile on his face.

"Her along with every other Silas member." He chuckled. "None of us know how to stay still. That's why the house is always chaotic."

"That's why it took you a bit long to settle your siblings downstairs?"

He nodded, sitting on his bed and leaning on his elbows. "Yep. They were having a toilet paper war. Now they're cleaning up the mess, Mum would freak if she saw it."

"When's she getting home?" I asked, nervous of the prospect of meeting Benji's parents. Wait, why would I be nervous? It wasn't as if I was his girlfriend or anything.

"Maybe an hour or so. Not sure." He responded, then stood up and moved in my direction. I tensed at his closeness, the heat radiating off him making me feel flustered. "Do you want to get started?"

I cleared my throat, nodding vigorously. "Uh, yeah. Sure."

"Cool, I'll just get a chair from Ada's room." Benji told me, leaving and giving me time to compose myself.

Keep it together, Woods! He's just a guy, not a piece of lovely bacon. I told myself sternly. Having a crush does not equate to making a fool of yourself in front of him.

Benji returned shortly carrying another chair with ease. He placed it next to me, and I sighed in relief at the space between us. Until he sat down and his arm brushed my shoulder, his leg practically pressed against mine.

I tensed uncomfortably and Benji must have noticed because he shifted away slightly. "Sorry, my desk is pretty small." He said, logging into his computer. I cleared my throat, shaking my head.

"No fine." I responded easily, and then paused when I registered what I said. Benji paused as well, glancing over at me.

"I mean, its worries." I tried to redeem myself and failed humongously again. Out of the corner of my eye I saw his expression turn amused.

"You alright, Chloe?"

No, I was making an absolute clown of myself. All I was missing is the costume and the lame jokes. Wait, my life was already a joke.

"I meant to say no worries, or it's fine but I mixed them up." I explained quickly. "You being so close is just making my head fuzzy." I finished with a nervous laugh, almost kicking myself. He didn't need to know that!

Benji shifted again. "I can move if you want-"

"No." I said firmly, forcing myself to look directly at him. This close, I could see the specks of gold in his eyes. An imperfection that made him appear even more perfect. "My head isn't fuzzy, in a bad way." I clarified, my voice coming out quieter.

Benji's eyes widened slightly and I felt exposed by the way he stared at me. "So, you like the closeness." He asked lowly. Feeling bold, I leaned forward slightly.

"Among other things..." I said, giving him an obvious once-over.

The air around us seemed to sizzle and crackle with how much electricity there was. I knew I felt an undeniable connection to him, and with how he was looking at me he must have felt it too. No one had ever made me feel the way he did.

We inched closer and closer, not breaking eye-contact. My heart was pounding away and I felt light-headed. Were we about to kiss? Was I ready for that?

I knew if we did there was no going back. We wouldn't be able to deny the chemistry between us any longer. But was I ready for that step?

My eyes fluttered close then shot wide open when I heard someone scream his name. We both jumped about a mile in the air at the interruption. Benji's eyes met mine, shocked and frustrated.

"Give me a minute." He mumbled before hightailing out of the room. I placed a shaky hand to my chest, my eyes wide. Whoa.

I stood up, moving towards his mirror and observing my expression. Bright, surprised eyes, flushed cheeks and lips pulled into a frown.

This was the second time we almost kissed before we were interrupted. Maybe it just wasn't meant to happen.

I sighed, sitting back down and opening our document. The sooner we finished it the sooner I could go home and wallow in self-pity.

After a couple minutes Benji returned, looking dishevelled and tired. "Everything alright?" I asked softly as he sat back down. He avoided my eyes, nodding stiffly and bringing out his textbook. I swallowed my hurt at his response and turned back to the computer.

Time passed and we became fully emerged in our task. We worked like a well oiled machine, with Benji giving me research points and me typing them down efficiently. I was glad to see a more serious, studious side of him in contrast to the carefree nature he had going on. The awkwardness between us ceased after a while but the tension didn't, not at all.

"Done!" I cheered; pressing save and turning to Benji with a wide grin and raised hand. He smiled, slapping it enthusiastically.

I expected him to let go but to my surprise he entwined our fingers. I looked down to hide my blush, admiring how our hands fit perfectly together. He made me feel safe and secure.

Benji silently led us to his bed, getting comfortable on it and I sat next to him gingerly. He let go of my hand I immediately felt the absence of warmth. I watched as he reached to the side and picked up his guitar.

He positioned it and turned to me with a cheeky smile that made my stomach flip. "Want me to play something?"

I simply nodded, knowing if I opened my mouth something embarrassing would come out.

Benji started playing, a gentle melodic tune weaving through the air and immediately relaxing me. Without knowing I'd moved close to him so we were sitting side by side. I watched his face as he played, head titled downwards so his curls fell into his concentrated eyes. It was adorable.

I relaxed into his side involuntarily, my head laying on his shoulder and eyes closed. The music was lulling me to sleep and with his scent wrapped around me like a warm blanket, I was a goner. Before I knew I drifted off into unconsciousness, the sweet guitar tunes being the last thing I heard.

When I woke up I was covered and laying on the bed, my head on a pillow. The room was significantly darker so I deduced quite a while had passed.

I sat up, rubbing my eyes and groggily getting out of the bed. I padded over to my phone, checking the time. It was already past six, I must have been asleep for over half an hour. I went to his mirror and tried my best to smooth out my hair with my hands. Once I was satisfied with my result I left his room uncertainly, the quiet was unnerving.

"Benji?" I called out uncertainly. No response. I sighed and dared to venture downstairs and to the direction of a little noise. I entered what I assumed was the living room and was shocked to see nine pairs of eyes staring at me.

A beautiful women with caramel coloured skin and hair in tight coils stood up with a warm smile, approaching me. "Hello, dear. You must be the Chloe Woods we've being dying to meet?"

I chuckled nervously. "The Chloe Woods? I wasn't aware I was a household name." I responded, my eyes searching for someone. They found him busy staring at his fork with an embarrassed expression.

"I'm Benji's mum, Joy Silas. You can call me Joy." She introduced and I shook her hand with a smile. "Nice to meet you." I responded politely.

"Would you like to join us for dinner? I was about to send Ada up to wake you. You must be hungry." She asked and I shook my head.

"Oh, its fine I wouldn't want to intrude-"

"You wouldn't be intruding dear, we're all happy to have you here." She responded, gesturing at the rest of the family that was talking among themselves.

"Okay, I'll ask my mum." I responded shyly. She nodded and I went back up to Benji's room, checking my phone to see my mum had already texted me. She said she wouldn't make it home for dinner, how convenient. After asking her if I could eat with the Silas family she responded affirmative.

I took a deep breath to calm my nerves before walking back downstairs. As I was walking to the living room I heard Joy's voice call for me. I walked into the direction, entering the kitchen.

"So, did she say yes?" Joy asked and I nodded. She grinned.

"Awesome. I just need to bring some cups, feel free to sit down."

I nodded again, leaving and feeling slightly nervous. They were a huge family and it was daunting to have eight people watching you. Although, I'd already met Ada and Brea so I felt a bit better.

The living room quieted down as I entered and I internally rolled my eyes. Did they want me to faint out of nervousness?

"Hey, Chloe." A deep voice said and I turned to my left to see a man, presumably Benji's dad beckoned me over.

"Hi, Mr Silas." I greeted when I reached him, shaking his hand. He smiled at me in response. I could definitely see where Benji got his good looks from. With his golden brown hair and clear blue eyes he was definitely a looker back in the day and now.

"Call me Hector." He responded warmly. "You can sit next to Benjamin, just right there." I did exactly that, feeling uncomfortable with everyone staring at me.

"Alright guys, you know the drill." Hector announced as Joy entered the living room.

Next to Joy, Brea sat in a higher chair and she coughed loudly. She gave me a toothy grin. "Hi, Princess Gold. I'm Brea, your lowal serve." She giggled and I waved at her.

My attention was diverted to an older girl on her left. She had the same features as her dad, looking scarily alike to him. "Hello," She greeted shyly. "I'm Jada and I'm eight."