Second Chances and Open Skies

"Tough break, mate." Ben smirked as Chad slammed the door.

Jade came downstairs, "He left?"

Chris simply nodded.

Jade sighed and walked over to her father's liquor cabinet. She grabbed a random bottle and nodded at Chris before she went to her parents room and locked the door.

"Well...one day here, Ben." Chris muttered.

"Yeah yeah." Ben muttered.

"Seriously. Take this even a little seriously! We're trying to start over!" Chris snapped.

Ben rolled his eyes, "I can't help that I accidentally got her caught."

"Jesus. Are you STILL drunk?" She rolled her eyes.

"No." Ben scoffed.

"Then you're even dumber than I thought." Chris mumbled.

"Hey! I'm your big brother. Aren't I supposed to be the one yelling at you?" Ben raised an eyebrow.

"At this point, you have proved that I am more mature than you. And I'm not the one who broke up a content relationship. You probably left those in there on purpose." Chris replied. She was already calming down.

Ben sighed, "I wish I was that marvelous. Should I go talk to her or is this your department?"

"This is my department. And fuck not being able to stay mad at you." She smiled slightly.

Jade had no problem letting Chris into her parent's room. She hadn't even opened to bottle of whiskey.

"You know, I've loved your brother since I was five? Like seriously. But right now. I hate him." Jade sighed and settled on the bed. She flipped through her parents movie collection until she found Pretty Woman.

(*(

Ben decided to make it up to Jade by cleaning up her room, including changing the sheets, and then making dinner. When he went into the kitchen, he realized he didnt have the ingredients to cook what he wanted. So a trip to the store was now on his agenda.

"I know." Christina sighed and joined her on the bed, "Ben can be tough and I'm very sorry. If you want him to leave then I'll send him back to New York and he can deal with the mess he made there."

*&*

Ben grabbed the keys on the counter and set off to find the store.

Jade sighed, "I don't want him gone. He can be my summer fling. But it'll break my fucking heart when you two decide to move back. Chad'll come back. And then he and I will be happy forever." She snorted at herself

878

It didn't take him long once he finally found the town. Unfortunately for him, Chad happened to be the son of the owner of the grocery store he picked out. (so Chad was there)

"Maybe we'll stay." Christina smiled slightly.

*&*

"I'm guessing there's not another grocery store around here." Ben muttered as he walked past Chad and entered the store.

Jade smiled, "Don't get my hopes up. I could use a nap."

8778

Chad glared at him the whole time. A dark-haired female approached Ben as he entered.

"Hi! I'm Veronica. What's your name?"

"I'm taken." Ben said simply. Veronica was one of those girls that looked lke she'd know a model.

"No you aren't." She grinned, "You're Ben Hadley."

"You know, I get that all of the time. Wanna help me out and point me in the direction of your fresh produce?"

"I'll let you sleep. I'm going to go get ready for my date with Luke." She smiled.

*&*

"To the right." She muttered and Ben walked away.

Jade grinned at her friend, "Really? Yay. Have fun babe!"

787

Ben hurriedly walked through the store, collecting the items he wanted. He was now glad that he'd gone to culinary school.

"Thanks. He's a good guy, right?" Chris was always wary of men.

(*(

He got home and began cooking. He wanted to impress Jade.

Jade nodded, "Yup. He's on his way up."

090

By the time Chris was ready for her date, Ben was pulling the meal out of the oven, along with a great desert.

"I'm impressed." Christina said as she walked through the kitchen.

Ben smiled at her, "See, I do have a heart."

Chris smiled, "I suppose. Save me some of that cake!"

"Will do." Ben said. There was a knock on the door, "As your older brother I reserve the right to answer that." He smirked.

"DO NOT EMBARRASS ME!" Chris said.

He laughed and answered the door, "I'm Ben. I know we sort of met yesterday, but I was drinking. So, nice to meet you."

"Hey, how you doing? I'm Luke." He smiled back and they shook in.

"Come on in. Chris is in the kitchen." Ben waved him inside.

"Smells good in here." Luke said as they entered the house.

"Thanks." Ben smiled. They chatted for a few minutes before Luke ushered her out.

"Your brother seems nice." Luke as he opened the car door for her.

"Yeah. We're really close." Chris smiled.

*&*

Ben knocked on the door, "Jade..." He said.

Luke smiled, "It's always good to be close to your family."

878

She walked out after a moment, "You better have made chocolate molten cake."

He smiled and grabbed her hand, "I'm sorry that I made that jerk angry."

Chris smiled, "Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

*&*

"I'm the one that cheated." She mumbled.