Previously on TGGBB:

Bennett had recently had dinner with his father concerning a topic that no one else seems to know. He has assured the others that all is well, but he is definitely hiding something.

Naomi ponders about Bennett and Lynn, Naomi's friend who seems to be in trouble but doesn't know what she can or should do for her. Her Friday night of thinking was cut short when Declan asked if she can help him babysit his baby sister, Delilah. It can be said that a lot has happened that night with emotions of fear, guilt, and love.

And that's what you missed on GLEE!

~

"You're in my seat," Jordan stated as he forced himself between me and Declan at the lunch table.

The movement made Declan fall onto the ground.

"What the hell?" Declan exclaimed.

"Serves you right," Jordan said. "You've become too chummy with Naomi."

Declan gritted his teeth at that when Jordan put his arm around my shoulders and stuck his tongue out. He then got up and went to sit on the other side of the table next to Bennett. He grabbed his lunch tray from where his spot used to be and ate his sandwich glaring at Jordan. I glanced at the spork in Declan's hand and prayed to myself that no matter how tempting it is that he wouldn't do it.

"Now I have her all to myself," Jordan cooed.

"You're so childish," I told him as I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah you are," Declan said, getting up. "You know I can kill you right?"

"Maybe," Jordan said. "If you want Naomi to hate you as she mourns over me."

"Jordan's right though," Bennett commented as he pushed his food with his spork.

"Of course I am," Jordan said. "But you can elaborate why I'm right at this particular instance to the audience."

"Naomi, Declan," Bennett said. "You guys have been pretty close since last week."

Declan and I shared a look. Last Friday, Declan invited me to help babysit his little sister, Delilah. When I comforted him over his anxieties in the possibility that he couldn't protect Delilah, we may have almost had a moment. A moment that we were more than happy to not tell the others.

"That observation is kind of a stretch," I told him. "It's Tuesday. How can you notice that much of a difference?"

"We always hang out with each other," Bennett said. "How could we not?"

"Nothing happened," Declan assured them.

"We never implied anything happened," Bennett said slowly. "So what happened?"

Jordan, ever the helpful, made a low whistle. "Bent's on a roll."

"Nothing," Declan and I said in unison. We both looked at each other then back to our plates.

"Right..." Jordan said, clearly not buying it. "We were just giving you guys a chance to come clean before we figure it out ourselves. Seems you lost it. Right Bent?"

Bennett just gave a slight shrug.

Jordan let out a sigh. "Well onto more important matters. How is my baby Delilah?"

"She is not yours," Declan growled before switching back to normal. "And she's doing great."

"When are you going to let me hang out with her," Jordan grumbled. "You can't separate us forever! We were meant to be!" He cried dramatically.

"I'm not-" Declan stopped himself. "Maybe I'll let you babysit her when I'm busy-" He glanced at me.

Jordan looked at him with hopeful eyes, they almost sparkled.

"-and only when you have proven you're responsible."

Jordan groaned. "Then that'll be never! Way to go Declan!"

Declan grinned at that. "Exactly."

A few students rushed past our table carrying boxes of decorations. An inflated red balloon fell off one of the boxes and Jordan grabbed it just before it fell onto the ground. Of course, Jordan blew up the balloon to reveal that it's a red heart balloon.

"For you, mi amor," Jordan said dramatically before presenting the balloon to me.

"Thanks!" I said before passing it to Declan like I would with volleyball with my hands together and hitting it up with my wrists.

He returned it back the say way then I sent it Bennett's way with an overhead passing. He gave it a light tap to send it to Declan. Jordan looked in defeat as we played with his red heart balloon.

"Valentine's Day is only a couple of weeks away but they seem to be going all out," Declan said.

"I also saw banners for prom as well," Bennett commented as he passed the balloon to me.

"It's no surprise," I told them. "With budget cuts, we use the same decorations for both the Valentine's Day dance and prom which is pretty sad. They're also trying to begin advertising prom early to raise as many funds as possible to get better... anything."

"You can't go anywhere from rock bottom but up," Jordan grumbled as he continued watching us play without him.

At that, I passed the balloon to Jordan who perked up and received it before sending it to Declan.

"So any plans for Valentine's Day?" Jordan asked.

"Yes, I do," I replied. "A double date with myself, some ice cream and a Studio Ghibli movie marathon as I have done every year."

"Well nothing can beat that," Jordan grumbled.

"School dances are pretty lame anyway," Declan said. "I never went to my dance despite-"

"Despite what?" Jordan interjected.

Declan hesitated before quickly saying "The food in it. I actually snuck into a dance once a year just to steal a platter of the desserts which is obviously not as good as yours Bennett," Declan assured him.

"I don't believe I'm so insecure that you find I need to be constantly assured but I still appreciate it nonetheless," Bennett told him.

"This is Bennett showing he has feelings," Jordan stage-whispered to me before getting hit in the face with a balloon.

"Ouch," he whined.

"How would that hurt you?" I asked him.

"Emotionally," he said with a whimper.

"Well, you're all welcome to join," I told them. "The more, the merrier especially if it's with Studio Ghibli."

"I think I can speak for the others when I say that any one of us would have wanted to take you to the dance," Jordan admitted quite shyly in fact which is ironic given how bold it was for him to say that especially when he said it was also in representation for the others.

I was a little taken aback by that but tried to hide it by smiling. I looked at the other two and saw Declan staring daggers at Jordan while Bennett just gave him a stern look. Neither of them denied it making it more uncomfortable

It took me a moment to find the best reply. "I appreciate the thought but I think the dance will drain my social battery. And I would much rather hang out with close friends rather than force myself to go to a typical dance with other people I have no interest in."

"I couldn't agree more," Bennett said.

"Same with me," Declan told me.

Jordan put his hands up in defense, one of them holding the balloon. "I just wanted to say it. I prefer Hayao Miyazaki over a crappy school dance any day."

I smiled at that. "Then I guess its a date."

Jordan passed the balloon to me but a hand suddenly grabbed it mid-toss and popped the balloon from their grip.

"Sorry about that," Raymond said as he dropped the rubber pieces of the balloon onto the table. "I underestimated my strength."

"Sure you did," I muttered.

Raymond looked at me. "What did you-"

Dominic put his arm around Raymond's shoulders and forced him down at an angle. "What a party pooper this guy is, am I right?" He said with a big grin before giving Raymond a pat on his shoulder. "That's your mess Ray, you shouldn't leave it to them or the custodians, don't you think?"

Raymond paused for a moment before reaching out to scoop the corpse of the balloon and put it in his pocket. "I'll throw it out when I pass by a trashcan..."

"I didn't mean for us to interrupt your conversation," Dominic said. His tone was apologetic but his face was still cheerful as if it didn't matter to him. "I just wanted to have a chat with Naomi. I told this guy and he thought it meant he should come in and pop your balloon."

"Wait your turn," Jordan told him.

We sat there in awkward silence while Dominic and Raymond stood there in our awkward silence.

"So is it my turn now or...?"

"What did you want to talk about Dominic?" I asked.

"Oh well, I was hoping to say it in private," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "But it's better to say it here in front of your friends." He paused. "Well here goes. Do you want to go to the Valentine's Day dance with me?"

Wow, I'm on a roll here.

Before I could say something, Raymond gave him a look. "What the hell? I thought you were going to ask her for help with homework or something. Why are you asking her out to the dance?"

Dominic smiled. "Why did you want to go with me instead?"

I saw whatever device that was barely holding Raymond's brain together just crash. "W-What! No, it's just- Dances are lame and we could've hit an arcade or something."

"Oh, so a date instead. You're right. That would be way better given how more intimate it would be."

"You're unbelievable," Raymond told him.

Dominic turned back to me, ignoring his friend's fury. "You don't have to answer now but-"

"I can answer it right now actually," I interjected. "I'm not planning on going to the dance. I'd rather have some me time."

"Ah pity," Dominic said, disappointed. "I heard they were able to get Therese's Bakery to cater."

I felt my chest pang at the sound of that. Therese's Bakery makes the most amazing cupcakes. But no, I needed to stay strong. I've been looking forward to that marathon and I can always buy a platter of those cupcakes. I mean, ask Bennett to make his more delicious ones.

"I hope you said the same with these three here," Dominic said. "Or else you coming into the dance with any one of them would be really weird."

"This isn't some chick-flick where the girl accidentally got herself three or more dates to the same party and has to deal with it."

"That would have been quite the movie to watch," Dominic said.

"Are we done here?" Raymond said impatiently. "Those three are killing me with their glares."

"If only," Declan muttered.

"Yeah we have class in a bit anyway," Dominic said. He turned to walk away but stopped and looked back. "Oh. Sorry in advance about your locker. I was expecting a different outcome."

I got a chill down my spine. There have been many things waiting for me in the locker, some too traumatizing to even think about. But Dominic wouldn't do something like that. My past experience was affecting my judgment.

I knew I wouldn't have time to check my locker because my last two classes were on the other side of the school from it. My next class had a weekly quiz and although my curiosity about what was in my locker was eating at me, I didn't let it affect my quiz and believe it did fairly well.

Once school ended, I practically raced to my locker. Will I have to clean up whatever they managed to stuff inside it once more? Will I have to replace any of my textbooks or notebooks again? When I got to my locker, Declan and Jordan were already in front of it arguing as usual.

"Jordan wanted to pick the lock," Declan said.

"What a tattletale, although obviously I was going to. What if he put something bad in it? Like a stink bomb?"

"You're being ridiculous," I told him which I should've told myself. "Besides, we would have smelled it before we even got here."

"It could be booby-trapped!" Jordan snorted. "I said booby."

Bennett smacked Jordan at the back of the head.

"Sorry, low maturity level here," he mumbled, rubbing the spot Bennett hit him."But if it were me, I would've installed it so that the moment you open the locker, the trap will set off."

"If it were you?" I repeated incredulously. "How reassuring."

"Dominic wouldn't have told you anything if it was something bad. And what he said in the first place didn't seem like a threat," Bennett said.

We all stared at my locker for what felt like the longest time.

"But we should still be cautious..." Bennett said slowly.

"Which is why I propose Declan should open it," Jordan said before pushing Declan toward the locker.

He whipped back to Jordan, glaring at him as he exclaimed, "Why do I have to-" Declan looked at me. "-do something I was already going to do?"

I couldn't help but chuckle at that. Their presence made everything alright compared to when I had to face these same situations alone in the past.

"It's alright. I'm going to open it," I told them. "What's the worst that can happen?"

"Those are some famous last words you got there, Naomi."

"Shut it Jordan."

"That too."

I began slowly turning the lock that secured my locker. I felt like someone on the bomb squad doing this. Once I unlocked it, I took a shaky breath and opened the door. Only, it seemed stuck and I had to struggle with it until I finally was able to force it open.

An assortment of flowers and chocolates spilled out of my locker. There were roses, tulips, and chrysanthemums. The chocolates ranged from fun-sized to even some king-sized ones.

"Well, this is new," I said before sneezing.

The smell of the flowers finally caught me to trigger my allergy to them. I was still between whether Dominic managed to slip everything between the cracks of the locker or was able to open it, shove everything inside and close it. I figured I will interrogate him about that another time. The guys helped me gather the flowers for me as long as we split the chocolate between us. As much as I love chocolate, I knew I shouldn't eat all of it no matter how tempting it is. Jordan carried the bouquet like he won the beauty pageant, waving, smiling, and blowing kisses with charm and grace.

"Hey Bennett," Declan said. "Is that who I think it is?"

Leaning against Bennett's car was someone who looked like his carbon copy with a slightly skinnier frame and wearing a private school uniform.

Bennett narrowed his eyes at his younger brother. "What's he doing here?"

Bennett's younger brother, Bentley, was chatting with some sophomore girls who seemed intrigued by his school uniform.

"I'll talk to you ladies another time," Bentley said with a warm smile. "My brother has finally arrived."

As the two girls ran off after sneaking pictures of having met another of the Frazier brothers.

"Don't lean against my car," Bennett told him.

"I apologize, brother, I forgot how much you care about it," Bentley said as he casually did as his brother ordered him to. His eyes landed on me and he smiled. "Naomi, it's been a while. How are you?"

I sniffled. "I'm doing well. Thanks."

He furrowed his brows together. "Are you sick? Do you want me to take you to the hospital?"

"Just allergies," I said, waving it off.

Jordan's bouquet of flowers caught his eye and he looked at him suspiciously. "Are you actually that popular?"

"Why?" Jordan defended, clutching the flowers closer to him. "Is that so hard to believe?"

"Yes," Bentley confirmed with a tone that questioned why he had to answer something so obvious.

He shooked his head at that before returning back to his older brother. "I'm here to pick you up." He cocked his head, motioning it to his limo with the driver waiting beside it. "Don't tell me you forgot."

"I didn't," Bennett said. "I was planning on driving there myself so I can leave whenever I can."

"Father figured as much," Bentley said with a shrug. "That's why he sent me to pick you up myself. So you won't run away."

"I'm not going to run away."

"Of course you aren't." Bentley smiled that looked harmless in the surface but held something underneath. Given how similar he looked to his brother, it was frightening seeing how Bennett would wear that same smile. "So shall we?"

Bennett tossed his car keys to Declan who caught it effortlessly. He gave all of us an apologetic look before heading towards Bentley's limo.

Bentley turned to me and said, "Sorry we weren't able to talk longer. But I hope you're free another time. I enjoyed our dinner last time."

"Yeah sure," I said, slightly dismissing it. "But what's happen-"

"Nothing for any of you to worry about," he assured us. "But everything for Bennett to be."

As we watched as the limo pulled away, I felt my chest tighten. Something seemed to be coming. I could feel it.

Then I sneezed.

I actually just recovered from my allergies. You know spring is here when I sneeze constantly.

I'm having a really rough semester but hopefully, I'll pull through. I just finished my first wave of midterms. It's actually quite funny. Just today I had a midterm and a quiz immediately after. When I finished my quiz, I got an email saying I was offered an internship. It just seemed that the universe told me "My bad, you had a rough day. Here you go."

Also, I'll be part of a writing contest, but if it doesn't work out, I'll post it here. So don't be surprised when there's suddenly a short story instead of a chapter.

My birthday is in two days as I'm writing this. I'll be 20. Wow, time flies by. I first began writing here in Wattpad in 2012 and TGGBB picked up around 2012-2013. So it's been a lot of fun and I hope to continue writing when I'm able to. I want to thank you all my readers old and new for being here and I hope we can continue on our journey.

Love,

Rubix

P.S. I caught up with watching Haikyuu hence the volleyball reference. It gives a short person like me (less than 5'1") confidence.

P.S.S I watched Parasite today. Shooked. I'll also watch My Hero Academia Heroes Rising tomorrow.