Sweet as a Strawberry

12 ~ Sour as a Kumquat

A/N: Please forgive me for taking so long to update! Is Ben acting too nice for his character? Cause I feel like he is. Dedicated to WhatAngelsWrite for her really cute banner :)

Chapter 12: Sour as a Kumquat (Ben)

Over the next few days, I saw more of Lottie than I ever thought I could've handled before. I wouldn't call us friends because she still annoyed me. But I was slowly becoming used to her peppy self. Queenie loved her too, but I suspected that was more due to the fact that Lottie always brought her something from the bakery.

"Can we visit Charlie today?" Queenie begged. I was babysitting her again, because her mum apparently had some 'urgent, unavoidable meeting' or some shit like that. Personally, I figured she just wanted to get a facial or pedicure or something. 

I groaned at the little girl. "I'm too tired," I tried to say, because I really didn't want to see Lottie. Christ, whenever I saw her, I realised I didn't know what to say or do. I had to hold my tongue, because even though she took my horrid temper like a champ, I knew I'd feel like absolute crap if I swore at her or called her names. She didn't deserve my shite personality, honestly.

But then I wondered why I second-guessed myself around her when I didn't care to do that around anyone else.

"Come on, please?" Queenie pleaded, skipping over to where I lay on my sofa. She patted my face, reminding me that I hadn't shaved yet and probably looked like homeless man.

I grabbed her hand to stop her from feeling the beginnings of my beard. "Go away," I said gruffly.

"Benjy," she whined, her already high voice going up like five octaves. I winced.

"I don't want to," I said, crossing my arms. You'd think that as the one in charge, I could say something and have her listen, but then you would be wrong. Because the truth was, that girl knew exactly what to do to make me agree to her demands.

Clark entered the room at that minute and laughed at my annoyed expression. "Just go," he told me while he walked over to the kitchen. "Stop being lazy."

"You take her, then" I said, scowling at him.

"Am I the one who desperately wants to see my lover? No."

"She is not my lover!" I snapped, struggling to rein in the plethora of insults that wanted to stream out of my mouth. Censoring myself for Queenie's benefit was exhausting. "And I don't desperately want to see her!"

Clark smirked knowingly at me. I knew that look, and it made me even more irritated. "Yeah? Is that right, Benjy?"

"Stop psycho-analysing me, freak."

"I'm not taking Queenie," he said, ignoring me.

Queenie, who had perked up upon hearing her name, pouted. "Oh, come on!" she squeaked. "I wanna see Charlie!"

Who didn't? Besides me, of course.

Of course.

"Ben will take you," Clark said. He winked at me and sprinted away before I could leap up and throttle him.

I rubbed my hand all over my face in defeat. "Fine, let's go," I muttered, standing up and grabbing my keys and wallet off the table. Lottie would just have to deal with my trashy appearance, because I wasn't changing my clothes for her.