The Girl Next Door | Baby Daddy

9.3 | The Hangover

Ben awoke to a throbbing in his head. At least he was in a familiar setting as he groggily opened his eyes to see the recognizable walls of his bedroom. He rubbed his temples as his mind slowly woke up. "My head." He groaned, just in time to feel an arm drape across his chest. His eyes widened in surprise, especially when he hear the girl speak.

"Davey Bear, don't you wanna snuggle with your Katie Cat?" Katie whined and Ben winced at the crackling in his head.

"Actually, it's your Ben... Bunny..." Ben broke the news slowly and Katie bounced up like she had just dipped her hand in an open flame.

"Ben, what are you doing in my bed?!" She demanded, yanking up the sheets to cover her chest, even though she was still wearing everything she had been the night before, excluding the cardigan that had been buttoned over her tank top.

"Wondering what you're doing in my bed!" Ben responded to her question and she shrieked as she glanced around the room, which was unfamiliar to her.

"But how did I-- wait, did we--?"

"I was hoping you could fill in some of those details!" Ben answered.

"What am I gonna do?! This is supposed to be the happiest day of my life!" Katie exclaimed frantically, still burying her chest in a handful of Ben's bedding and scooting into the corner of the walls the bed was pressed against.

"Deep breath! Deep, quiet breath!" Ben said in an attempt to get her to calm down and be quiet so she wouldn't alert the other apartment occupants of her presence in Ben's bedroom. "We'll get you out of here. It'll be our secret. No one will ever know!"

"Benjamin Wheeler, you are such an idiot!" Both Katie and Ben shrieked when they spotted Cassie standing in the doorway.

"Cassie! I can explain!" Ben immediately said, jumping out of bed, dressed in just the grey v-neck t-shirt he had been wearing under a blazer the night before and a pair of black boxers.

"Can you, Ben?" She tested as Ben rushed forward and dragged her into the hallway, closing the door behind them. "What the hell?" Cassie demanded.

"Shh!" Ben encouraged, glancing down the hall to make sure they hadn't caught anyone's attention. "I need your help!"

"Really? Because it seems like you're doing just fine screwing things up on your own!" Cassie insisted, frustration boiling in her chest. "You slept with my cousin on the night before her wedding?!"

"No! You can't prove that! That's not what happened!" Ben immediately responded and Cassie gave him a doubtful look. "Okay, so there's a possibility that's what happened."

"Ben, she's getting married in three hours! To a guy that isn't you, they guy she just woke up in bed with!"

"I know, I know, I know! You have to help me get her out of here! Please, Cas!" Ben begged and Cassie rolled her eyes, but gave in.

"Fine." She said through clenched teeth. "But I am not doing this for you. I'm doing this for dear, sweet, lovable, innocent Katie, who will now just be known as Katie! Now Tucker, Danny, and your mom are in the other room, but I'll tell you when the coast is clear. Go put on some pants, get Katie, and wait in the hallway."

Cassie jogged into the kitchen where the crumbled pile of wedding cake was sitting on top of a tarp on the kitchen floor. The kitchen was set up like a crime scene with lettered markers and yarn strung across in patterns.

"Judging by this splatter pattern, I detect that this is the bottom layer." Tucker said as he sat next to the tarp on his knees, hovering his hand around a pile of the cake. Bonnie was opposite of him, watching him work anxiously.

"Hey, Nancy Drew!" Cassie started. "You have to go!"

"What? No! Not happening! I've got a cake to build, a tuxedo to wear, and a dance floor to dominate." He did a little dance, which Danny joined in on, taking a break from eating cake from a bowl on the counter he was sitting at.

"Guys, Riley's in the lobby!" I lied and both of them began panicking as they jumped to their feet. "Go, go, go!" I encouraged as they each took the tarp by its corners and hauled it back into one of their rooms to hide it, Bonnie following after them. As soon as they had disappeared in the hall, I ushered Ben out and he guided Katie towards the door hurriedly. "Come on!" I hurried Katie forward. "Hope you're okay still wearing white!"

###

"Hey, Aunt Margo... is there any chance Katie's in your room with you?" Riley questioned as she anxiously paced back and forth through the hotel room Katie was supposed to have met her at hours ago.

"We're here, we're here!" Cassie called as she rushed Katie into the room. Katie's hair was messy and her cardigan was knotted in one hand, her heels in the other.

"Katie, where have you been?!" Riley demanded, hurrying forward to snatch the sweater and shoes from her hands, tossing them on the bed in the hotel room. "Oh my God, you're walking down the aisle in less than three hours and you look like you slept in a dumpster!"

"No, just with one." I muttered under my breath, quiet enough Riley couldn't hear me over her panicking as she scrambled to start getting Katie ready. Riley was already dressed in an excruciatingly puffy dress with more layers of tulle than Cassie would think possible.

"I don't think I can do it." Katie announced, jumping away from Riley and sitting on the edge of the bed. "I don't know if I can get married!"

"Katie, what happened?" Riley asked as she struggled to sit down next to Katie on the bed in her overly ornate dress.

###

"What were you thinking?!" Cassie demanded as she ranted at Ben back at his apartment. As soon as Riley had taken over comforting Katie, Cassie had hailed a taxi and headed back to the apartment building. "Honestly, Ben! You are unbelievable!" Cassie accused.

"Yeah... Sometimes I surprise even myself..." Ben agreed.

"Ben, she's thinking of calling off the wedding!"

Ben's eyes widened. "Because of me?!"

"No, because she met Tucker and fell madly in love with him. Yes, because of you, Ben! God, these are people's lives you're messing with! Real people!" Cassie ranted angrily.

"So what should I do?" Ben asked sincerely.

"I don't know, Ben! But you're gonna fix it! You cannot ruin my cousin's wedding to the love of her life!" Cassie declared and began storming towards the door, but just as she reached for the knob, she pivoted around on the balls of her feet and marched back angrily towards Ben. "How could you?!"

"I know! I didn't mean to screw up the wedding!" Ben responded, but in the moment, Cassie wasn't even thinking about the wedding.

"How could you sleep with her?!" Tears had begun clouding her eyes and when she realized this, Cassie ran back to the door, throwing it open and racing back to her own apartment with her hand clamped over her mouth to muffle a sob. She slammed her apartment door behind her just as Ben ran out of his own apartment to follow after her. He stared at the closed door and he realized he had screwed up with her yet again. He contemplated whether or not he should cross the hall and knock on the door, to beg for forgiveness.

But he had seen the hurt in Cassie's eyes. She wanted to be alone, and if that's what she wanted, then he would comply, even if all he wanted to do was talk to her. He left her alone, realizing he had about a hundred other problems to iron out.

As he hurried to the hotel where Riley was with Katie, all Ben could think was, 'God, why can't I ever get this right?'