𝐅𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞 - (𝐛𝐨𝐲𝐱𝐛𝐨𝐲)

Hundred Twenty Five

a/n: shitty ending sorry intense writers block :/

**

Lucas gives a goofy smile, showing off his teeth. "Your stepdad is a black man?"

Benjamin looks at him and smiles. "Well, first off, he's not my stepdad, just my mom's boyfriend, and yes."

Lucas nods, still smiling. "Ooh! So, Ms.E likes colored folk?!"

Everyone looks over at him. Noah shrugs his shoulders, tilting his head to the side. "Is that...Problematic?"

Lucas shakes his head. "Nah. I'm black. But if one of you say it then yes."

Gabi shakes her head and laughs at Lucas before averting her attention back to Benjamin. "So. What's he like?"

"He's nice. Yeah, we had dinner together and he seems really laid back and chill. Not sure how long he's been seeing my mom though."

Elly hums. "Well, I'm glad she's happy."

Lucas nods and smiles. "And with a black man? Oh, Benny, you're gonna be eating so good. Damn, let me come over once in a while."

Noah chuckles and shakes his head. "Lucas shut the fuck up."

**
Elly sees Benjamin walking in the hallway and jogs over to him. "Hey, Benjamin!"

Benjamin turns around and smiles. "Hey. What's up?"

"Oh...Sorry, I kinda need some advice from you. It's about my mom."

Benjamin looks at her and frowns. "Oh no. What does she want now? I hate that woman."

Elly smiles and laughs. "She uhm...Wrote me a letter. My dad goes to see her sometimes and apparently, she gave this speech and was crying, asking me to read it."

Benjamin looks over. "I thought she wasn't allowed contact with you anymore."

Elly shrugs. "I don't know. My pops hasn't even given me the letter. He keeps it in his room and doesn't let me read it. I just...kinda want to...I don't know is that weird?"

"Not really. I was curious when Kiara wrote me one. Your situation is different though. I thought you didn't want any more communication with her."

"I know...That's why I'm so confused. I was so excited and happy when she was finally gone and now it's like...I wanna hear what she has to say."

"Maybe talk to your dad. He seems to not really want you to talk to her if he's hiding the note. I think you should be able to...For closure."

Elly nods. "Yeah. That's what I was thinking. I don't want anything from her but...Maybe I need that closure."

"True. But don't do it if you're not ready. And don't feel pressured cause you'll end up feeling worse than before."

Elly looks at Benjamin. "Damn. You're good at giving advice."

Benjamin smiles. "I try my best."

*
Noah and Benjamin decided to get lunch alone today. They were in Noah's car eating take out.

"So. He's really nice? Isn't rude to you? And he's not homophobic, right? I don't mind kicking in an old man's teeth."

Benjamin giggles and shakes his head. "It's fine, Noah. I swear. I already told you."

"I know, I know. I'm just making sure."

Benjamin smiles at him. "Being overprotective again I see. Do you never get tired of it?"

"Nope. It's my job."

"Oh, is it? I didn't know. What's mine?"

Noah takes a sip from his cup, shrugging. "Sit there and look cute. You're doing really great at that."

Benjamin makes an annoyed face. "That's a shit job."

"How so? It's simple and not hard to achieve."

Benjamin rolls his eyes and laughs. "You're annoying."

**
Elly walks into her house, setting her things down in her room. She exits her room, walking towards the kitchen to see if her dad was home.

She looks around. "Pops? Are you home?"

She doesn't get an answer-back and sighs. She shakes her head and walks to his bedroom.

She stops and shakes her head again. "Fuck, Elly. If he's hiding it, he's hiding it for a reason."

She doesn't move from the spot she was in. She shakes her again. "Fuck it."

She walks into her dad's room looking around. She grabs some papers off the dresser, then mostly just being a bunch of lists for car parts he needs to order from where he works.

She sets the pile of papers down and walks over to his bedside table. She opens the drawer, just seeing a bunch of work-related papers and some legal things.

Victor leans against the doorframe, crossing his arms. "Mija? What're you doing?"

Elly jumps, turning around. "Shit. I'm...Sorry."

"So?," Victor walks over to sit on the bed next to Elly, "What're you searching for? Your lighter that I took? Or...?"

"You took my lighter?"

"Yes, Elenor, you were smoking up the house. You know I have no issue with you smoking but I was giving your lungs a fighting chance."

Elly looks at her dad and starts laughing. "Right."

"Are you looking for Ana's letter?"

Elly stops laughing and nods. She looks down at her lap. "Yeah. I was just...Curious, I guess. I'm not ready to see her or anything but...I don't know."

Victor nods and stands up. He grabs his work bag, taking the note out. He sits back down next to Elly, looking at the note. "If you want. You can read it."

Elly looks over at the note in his hands.

"I didn't mean to hide it from you I just..Didn't know if you were ready after everything that happened."

Elly nods. "I don't...I don't think I wanna read it."

"No? What changed your mind?"

"I think I need more time. I thought it would bring me closure but...Knowing that she wrote me makes me...angry? I don't...like that, she's thinking about me."

Victor frowns and nods his head. "I'm sorry, honey. You don't have to read this. You're not obligated to."

"Okay."

**