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Saturate

04- Skin

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Ben began walking home once again. Hoping that his dad wouldn't be drunk. He saw that his dad's car was in the driveway. He sighed and entered the house.

"Oh there you are deary!" Said his mother as she ran up to him and hugged him.

"Hey mom. What's going on? What's all this stuff doing here?" Ben asked as he motioned to the suitcases in the front room.

"Your father got a promotion. So they allowed him to take his vacation early since he never did use those days. We're going to Berlin!" His mother said excitedly as she ran back to the kitchen joyfully.

"What? Why?" Asked Ben as he headed upstairs.

"Just a couple weeks. We'll be back before next Thursday." Said his mother as she came out of the kitchen with her little first aid kit.

"Next Thursday? Mom, that's a long time." Said Ben.

"I know, maybe you can bring your girlfriend." She winked.

"I.. How did..." Ben stuttered as he began walking down the stairs again.

"I'm not that unaware." Said his mother with a grin.

Ben smiled, "I didn't say that. I know that you're really smart." Said Ben as he kissed his mother on the cheek. "Wait, I can't go to Berlin." He said as he put a hand on his forehead.

"What? Why not?" Asked his mother as she put her arms down to her side in disappointment.

"The band's performing this weekend." Ben replied.

"Band shmand. You kids will never make it out there." Said his father as he walked by with a couple of suitcases in his hands.

Ben glared at his father, "We're really good. We're going to be really huge one of these days!" Said Ben as he watched his father disappear out of the house.

His mother sighed, "Ben, please? Come with us? The band will be here when we get back." She said as she put a hand on his shoulder.

Ben sighed as he looked at the floor. He never had been outside of the country before, he had only been in California and Pennyslvania. He looked up at his mother, he knew that if he said "no" she would be hurt and his father would make him pay for it later. But the band meant a lot. Maybe with the promotion his father would start getting better.

"Ben? Are you going to come with us?" She asked once again as she cupped her son's face in her hands.

Ben looked over at his father, "I'll go." He said as he noticed his father giving him a look that he feared to defy.

"Great." Said his mother as she jumped a bit and hugged him. "Bring your girlfriend, I would like to meet her."

"I'll ask her if she can come." Said Ben as he let go of his mother.

She sighed and went back upstairs to pack.

His father walked towards Ben, "If I hear anything coming from your room that I don't like, you're going to get it. Girls should be treated with respect." He hissed with a finger pointing at Ben.

Ben just stared at his father before turning and walking up towards his room. Ben picked up the phone prior to walking upstairs. He sat down at his desk and dialed AJ's number.

"Hello?" AJ asked as she picked up promptly.

Ben smiled, "AJ, it's Ben."

AJ giggled, "I know your voice anywhere. So what's up?"

Ben took a deep breath and exhaled softly, "Well, my family has decided to go to Berlin for two weeks."

"Oh, that's cool." AJ replied happily.

"But we're going like tomorrow." Ben said as he rubbed his temples nervously.

"What? So soon? What about the gig?" AJ asked.

Ben shrugged, "Well, I'm going to have to miss that one. But the main reason I'm calling is because the parentals want to know if you could come with us. They want to meet you."

"Umm... I'd have to ask my parents, but I'm pretty sure that they'll let me go. So what's in Berlin?" Inquired AJ.

"Well, my dad got a promotion. He's trying to use up his vacation days, and I guess he has some kind of like conference to attend. I'd really like it if you went with us. You'd help keep me sane." Ben said with a smile.

AJ sighed, "I love you too, Ben. I gotta finish some hous cleaning and cook dinner soon."

"Okay, talk to you later. Love you." He said with a soft kiss on the receiver.

"Love you too." AJ replied with the same soft kiss.

He hung up then began collecting his stuff into a suitcase that he had. He folded his clothes before he put in his notebook.

AJ got up from her chair and went downstairs. She heard cars drive by as she made her way to the kitchen. She went to the fridge and grabbed a package of chicken. She set it in the sink as she opened the package and went to get a pot. She filled it with water and set it on the stove. She bent down to turn it on when she heard the phone ring.

"Who is that?" She huffed and answered it. "The Dennison residence."

"Honey, I just want to let you know that I'm going to be a little late." Her father said with a heavy sigh.

AJ rolled her eyes, "Why? Mom told me to make dinner tonight."

"I know. There's just something that I have to tend to before it blows up." He said.

AJ sighed, "Alright. I'll just stay here and I'm not going anywhere."

"Good. Well, talk to you later."

"Bye." AJ slammed the phone down and looked at the chicken.

"Well I guess you have a bit more time to defrost, huh?" She shook her head. "I'm so lame. I'm here talking to a frozen chicken." She turned and went into the living room for a bit. She turned on the TV and headed back into the kitchen, "Okay I lied. You don't have more time." She said as she grabbed the chicken and began cutting it.

Friday went by like a blur. AJ was excited to be going to Berlin, especially with Ben. She walked out of her Geometry class and was met by Ben.

"Hey." She said shyly.

"Hey Jane."

AJ smiled bigger as he held her hand. "Are you stalking me Ben?" She asked jokingly.

"No, but I think that you're coming home with me." He said as he pondered.

AJ shoved him playfully. "I know that."

"Well what are we doing here still?" Ben inquired as he claimed her lips with his own.

"I don't know. Lead me astray Mr. Burnley." AJ replied as she kissed him once more.

Ben smirked as he led her to his house. They stopped outside, "Okay, just to tell you... I don't get along with my dad all too well. My mom is nice though, and she wanted to meet you." Said Ben.

AJ squeezed his hand, "Everything will be fine."

She looked at his house. It was a blue two story house with white trimming. Ben opened the door and walked into the living room with AJ in tow. AJ looked around, the living room was pretty dark with an old light blue couch sitting in the middle behind a little rickety coffee table.

A small laz-boy chair sat next to the couch facing a TV which was shut off. The hardwood floor moaned with each foot step.

"Here, I'll show you my room." Said Ben as he gestured towards the stairs.

She followed him and looked inside his room.

Ben turned around and held up his hands, "This is my room. It's not much, but it works." He said.

AJ seen nothing more but a desk, a dresser, a bed, a nightstand and a lamp in the room. His bag laid by the desk and his suitcase was opened on the floor. He shut it and sat down on his bed.

AJ sat next to him, "It's a nice place that you've got here."

Ben chuckled, "Don't lie."

"I'm not." She said as put her head on his shoulder.

They both heard a door slam and voices coming from downstairs.

"Oh, come on. My parents are home." Said Ben as he looked at her.

AJ stood and walked downstairs with Ben. She seen his mother, she was beautiful. She had short brown hair and a friendly smile. His father was tall like Ben. AJ could plainly see that Ben got his smile from his mother while he still was a splitting image of his father.

Of course his father didn't have bright brown eyes like Ben. His were menacing and dark.

"Oh, there you are Ben. Aww... This must be AJ." Said his mother as she walked up to AJ.

"Yeah, I'm Angel Jane. But you can call me AJ or Jane." She said with a smile on her face as she shook his mother's hand.

"I'm Jasmine. And this is Ben's father, Ben the III. Oh, she's beautiful Ben." Mrs. Burnley said as she smiled widely.

Ben's father nodded, "I've been wondering about you. How's he been treating you?"

"Great. He's such a wonderful guy." Said AJ with a grin.

Mr. Burnley smiled, "That's good to hear. If he does anything to you, you'll let me know. Right?"

"Yeah." Said AJ as she stood in front of Ben.

"So are you going to stay for the night?" Asked Jasmine as she held her sweater closer to her body.

AJ nodded, "Yeah. I just have to go back and get my stuff."

"Well take Ben with you. I'm sure he won't mind helping you." Mrs. Burnley said as she nodded at Ben.

"Alright." Said AJ.

Mr. Burnley threw the keys to Ben. "Here take the car so you can put them in the trunk."

Ben caught the keys and nodded, "We'll be back in a bit."

AJ turned and followed Ben outside.

Ben handed the keys to AJ, "You can drive."

"Why?" AJ asked as she held the keys in her hand.

"Because I don't know how to drive." He said quietly.

AJ smiled and put the keys in his hand, "Well then here's your chance."

Ben opened his mouth in shock. "Are you kidding? I'm going to crash!"

"First of all, driving isn't that hard. And second, don't do that because your voice get's weird." She said with a smile as she opened the driver's side for him.

Ben sighed and got in, "The things that you make me do." He said as he shakily put the key into the ignition.

"Okay, this is an automatic, so that's easier to begin with. Let's try turning on the car." AJ said as she put her seat belt on.

Ben looked at her, "Are you sure about this?"

"Just turn it on, nothing will happen as long as it's in park." AJ replied gently as she put a hand on Ben's knee reassuringly.

Ben turned the ignition and the car started.

AJ turned so she was facing him, "Alright, now you can put this down until the 'R' is higlighted. The pedal on the left is the brake, and the one on the right is the gas. Slowly push down on the brake and look back as we back out of here."

Ben nodded though he was clearly nervous. He pulled the handle down until the "R" and pushed down on the brake pedal. He looked back, "Okay now what?"

"Slowly lift off of the brake and we'll start to back out." Said AJ as she looked back too.

Ben let off of the brake slowly and he felt the car begin to reverse out in the street.

"Alright now turn the wheel so that way we'll be straight on the road and we can put it into drive." AJ instructed as Ben came to an abrupt stop.

Ben straightened out the car and looked down at the gear shifter.

"Put it into the first 'D' and then the car will go forward." Said AJ.

"This is really nerve-wracking. How did you learn?" Ben asked shakily as he looked around.

AJ smiled reassuringly at him, "I learned because my father was in an accident and my mom was already with him. I was stuck at home with their other car. I found the keys and took the car for a little joy ride. I learned on an emergency basis."

Ben nodded, "Now what?"

"Well you push down on the gas a bit to make it go forward. The harder you push down, the faster it'll go." She said as she opened her window.

Ben was sweating so bad as he began to go foreward.

AJ smiled at him, "See there's nothing to it."

Ben smiled back and put down his window too. "You were right." Ben continued driving towards her house and when they got there he parked the car.

AJ got out and hugged him. "You did it!"

He hugged her back. "Only with your help was I able to do that."

They entered her house and she grabbed her backpack and a suitcase.

"This is it." AJ said as she bounced down the stairs.

"That's all?" Ben asked as he looked at her suitcase.

"Yeah. I don't like taking a lot of things." AJ said as she put her sunglasses on.

"Alright, that's fine." Ben replied as he kissed her.

AJ looked up at him as she wrapped her arms around him. He moved his face closer to hers as he kissed her.

She pulled back, "Come on before your parents begin to get bad images in their heads."

"Alright." Said Ben as he grabbed her suitcase.

They both walked downstairs and put the stuff in the trunk. Ben drove back to his house and jumped out of the car.

AJ got out with him, "You made it home safely."

"I know. Thanks for showing me how to drive." Ben said as he kissed her hand.

"No problem." Said AJ as she grabbed her back pack and headed back inside the house with Ben.

"Dinner will be ready in about five minutes." Said Jasmine from the kitchen.

"Alright, we're going to be in my room." Said Ben.

AJ followed him to his room and put her bag down next to his. "So what are we going to do once we get to Berlin?"

"I don't know. Maybe we can go to the museums or something? I seriously don't know. I've never been to Berlin." Said Ben as he sat on his bed and wrapped his arms around her.

AJ sighed, "Ben, I've got to ask you something..." She said as she put her head on his chest and held onto his hand.

Ben smiled at her, "Sure, what is it?"

AJ sat up a bit more and looked him in the eye, "Well, actually Aaron wanted to know. Umm... one time I guess he seen you dressing and he said that he seen bruises on your back." She said with difficulty. She closed her eyes and looked down before she opened them again, "And, we just wanted to know what happened."

Ben nodded his head, "Well, it's nothing to worry about." He said as he kissed her forehead.

AJ was about to protest when his father opened the door, "It's dinner time."

Ben stood, "Come on Jane."

AJ followed Ben downstairs. As they ate Ben's parents were questioning her.

"So what do your parents do?" Asked Mrs. Burnley.

"My mom is a registered nurse and my father is a doctor." Said Jane as she looked up at her.

"Is your mom the one that put the stitches on Ben?" Asked Mr. Burnley harshly.

AJ shook her head, "No. My mom does the vitals and blood work."

Mr. Burnley grunted before he began eating again. AJ looked over at Ben who had his eyes cast downward. AJ continued eating again, and when everyone had finished she helped Mrs. Burnley wash the dishes.

"So how did you get to know my Ben?" Asked Mrs. Burnley as she stacked the plates for AJ.

AJ began drying some plates, "Well, we have a lot of classes together and he's in a band with one of my best friends."

"Oh, really? That's nice. You know before he met you , he wouldn't step foot out of this house. He never really talked to anyone and I was afraid that he would never meet someone special. But it seems that you've gotten him out of his shell." Said Mrs. Burnley as she smiled at AJ.

"Well, I'm glad that I met him. He's a really nice guy." Said AJ as she finished drying the last dish.

"Well, it's getting late. You guys should go to bed. We've got to be up and ready at five." Said Mrs. Burnley as she shut off the sink and drained the dirty dish water.

"Okay." Said AJ as she began drying her hands.

"You can stay in Ben's room because it get's awfully cold in here." She said as she took off the gloves that she had been wearing.

"Umm... alright." AJ replied softly.

"And I'm pretty sure that we can trust you guys." Said Mrs. Burnley as she winked at her.

AJ smiled awkwardly, "Alright, well goodnight."

"Good night." Mrs. Burnley said as she exited the kitchen.

AJ began walking out towards the living room where she seen that Mr. Burnley was sitting on the chair watching some random comedy show. He had a beer in his hand as he laughed loudly at the TV. AJ continued walking up towards Ben's room. She knocked softly and Ben opened it up.

He had on a shirt and his boxers, "Ready for bed?"

"Yeah." Said AJ as she entered the room.

She bent down in the corner to where she had put her back pack.

"So did they say anything?" Ben asked as he sat down on his bed.

"Umm... nothing much except that I can stay in here with you." Said AJ as she stood with her pj's and toiletries in hand.

Ben smiled, "Alright, well the bathroom is right there."

AJ nodded and kissed him before she went into the bathroom. She brushed her teeth and washed her face. She was just getting dressed when she heard someone come into the room. She leaned her ear against the door as she listened.

"I don't want you to be disrespectful to Jane. She's a nice girl." Mr. Burnley whispered roughly.

"Dad, I don't disrespect her." Ben hissed softly.

"Then how do you explain that scrape on her cheek?" Mr. Brunley walked over to Ben and held him against the wall quietly, "If you harm her, you'll get what you deserve you worthless sack of shit." He whispered menacingly as his face was mere inches from his son's.

Ben just glared at his father as he exited the room. He was glad that it wasn't too loud or violent as the times before. Ben sighed as he heard AJ come out of the bathroom.

AJ looked at Ben with concern, "Are you okay?"

Ben nodded, "Yeah. I'll be fine."

AJ walked up and hugged him, "Ready for bed?"

"Yeah." He said softly as he shut the light off.

AJ smiled as they both climbed into bed. Ben shut off the lamp and held her close to him.

"Now it's time for my question." He said.

AJ turned to him, "Okay. What's on your mind?"

"Well, do you remember the day that we met?" Ben asked softly.

"Yeah, why?" AJ inquired.

"Well when we... Did you ever do that with anyone else?" Ben asked rather embarassingly.

"Actually, no. I had a boyfriend, but we never did anything." AJ admitted.

"Really?" Ben said in shock.

"Yeah, it's not like I didn't think about not doing it then and there, but everything just felt so right." AJ said as she smiled.

"So I'm your first?" Ben asked.

"Yeah." AJ replied.

"Why?"

"Why? I don't know. I just never did talk to guys, except Aaron. But that was only because he's my cousin. Other than that, I never had any interest in guys. That was until I met you." AJ said softly as she began to play with her hair.

"Aaron's your cousin?" Ben asked.

"Yeah, his mom and my mom are sisters." AJ said with a grin.

"Oh..."

"Why did you bring this up anyway?" Asked AJ as she propped herself up on her elbow.

Ben looked at her, "Well I've just been wondering. Because well, you were my first too and I just wanted to know if I was your first." Ben choked out finally.

AJ looked at him weird, "Well don't worry about it. You're my first and only at this point." Said AJ as she rubbed his cheek.

Ben smiled and put a hand on hers as he leaned down to kiss her. AJ laid back down as she felt Ben crawl on top of her. She wrapped her arms around him and ran her hands through his hair. She shivered involuntarily as she felt his hands slide down to her hips.

She pulled away, "I don't think that we should do this here. Your parents might hear."

Ben nodded, "I know."

Ben got off of her but his arms still were wrapped around her. AJ smiled as she felt herself succumb to sleep.

She woke up to an alarm clock ringing on the opposite side of her. She turned over and seen Ben sleepily shutting it off. She sat up and put her head on his shoulder.

"Good morning."

"Good morning." Said Ben as he kissed her on the cheek.

While Ben went to the bathroom AJ got dressed really quick and shoved her stuff back into her bag.

Ben came out of the bathroom fully dressed, "Well, you ready for the long trip?"

AJ nodded as she slung her back pack over her shoulder. They both headed downstairs as they heard Ben's parents beginning to go to the car. AJ climbed into the back seat along with Ben. It was freezing as hell when they got into the car.

Mrs. Burnley ran inside and grabbed a blanket for them to cover up with since they had to ride for a couple of hours before they go to the airport.

"Everyone in?" Asked Mr. Burnley as he got behind the wheel.

Everyone mumbled a "yeah" between yawns and coughs. AJ leaned against Ben as she felt the car beginning to take to the road. Ben put an arm around her as they both fell asleep. AJ shot up when she felt the car stop. She looked around and realized that they were in a parking lot.

She shook Ben, "Ben, we're here."

Ben opened his eyes and yawned, "Alright."

They both got out of the car and followed his parents. They were waiting in line to board the boat that would take them to their destination.

"Okay, we've reserved a couple of cabins. I think that it would be best with you and Ben together." Said Mrs. Burnley as she smiled at AJ.

AJ returned the smile, "That sounds wonderfrul. And thank you guys for letting me come along."

"It's no problem. I just thought that this was a good way to get to know you." Said Mrs. Burnley.

AJ nodded as the line began moving forward. Ben was quiet the whole time that they were waiting to get on the boat. AJ noticed that he and his father seemed to glare at each other a lot. She shifted her weight onto the other side nervously.

She had never been on a boat in her entire life. She began tapping her fingers absent mindedly on the rail when she felt Ben's hand rest on hers. She looked up at him.

He smiled, "It'll be okay. Boats are safer than planes. And besides that, someone told me that these kinds of things are easier when someone holds your hand."

AJ couldn't help but giggle, "Thanks." She felt herself beginning to blush when she seen his parents were smiling at them, though Mr. Burnley's smile was forced.

When they finally got on the boat, they were escorted to where they were going to stay. They got inside the cabins and AJ sat her stuff down in one corner.

"Well, this is nice." She said as she looked around.

It was a fairly good sized room with one king size bed in the middle which was bolted to the wall. The floor was made of maple wood and it shined. There was a nightstand at either side of the bed which were also bolted to the wall.

The bed was done in ocean print bedding. A little round window was above the headboard that allowed a great view of the water surrounded by dolphin print curtains that could be pulled to hide the window.

Ben hugged AJ, "I'm glad that you came with us."

"Me too." Said AJ as she pulled Ben closer to her.

Ben kissed her cheek and opened a closet door next to the bathroom, he shoved his suitcase inside before putting AJ's stuff inside as well.

"Okay, so what's the plan today?" AJ asked as she flopped down onto the bed.

"I don't know. I've never been here before." Said Ben as he crossed his arms.

AJ sighed, "Hey, I have an idea."

"And what might that be?" Asked Ben as he sat down on the bed.

"Well, why don't we go exploring? I mean we can look around for things to do while we're here and it's not like we can get lost for long." AJ said as she sat down next to him.

Ben pondered for a while, "I don't know."

"Come on, there's a bunch of stuff that you might miss out on." AJ whined playfully.

"Alright, let's go." Said Ben as he laced his hand with hers.

AJ squealed with excitement as she led Ben out of the room. She wanted to see what kind of things were around her. They found a bar, a resturaunt, a bowling alley, a casino, two pools and huge deck.

"So what are we going to do first?" Asked Ben as he looked at AJ.

"Well, I've seen that you've brought your guitar." Said AJ with a grin.

"And..."

"Well..." Started AJ as she turned around and looked at the message board.

"Here it says that every night is open mic at seven. Maybe we can do something together, you know. Maybe your parents will begin to appreciate what you're doing with the band." AJ suggested.

"I can't go up on stage!" Exclaimed Ben.

"I'll be there with you. You can play and I'll sing. Or we can both play. They have a piano there." Said AJ as she peeked her head inside the resturaunt again.

Ben's expression softened, "Only if you're there with me."

"I'll be there." Said AJ as she squeezed his hand.

"There you guys are. We've been looking for you." Said Mrs. Burnley as she hugged the both of them.

"We were just looking around to see what kinds of things there are to do." Said AJ as she pulled back and looked at Mrs. Burnley.

Mr. Burnley cracked a smile, "Well don't worry about that. Tonight we're eating here at six thirty."

AJ grinned, "That's great. We were just discussing this open mic thing." Said AJ as she pointed at the flyer.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Burnley looked at it, "Yeah, well I think that might be fun to watch." Said Mrs. Burnley.

She looked at Ben and AJ, "Are you guys going to do something?"

"We're thinking about it." Said AJ as she put an arm around Ben.

Ben smiled, "Yeah. I'm going to play something and she's going to sing."

"That's great. I'll get the camera charged up. Come on honey." Said Mrs. Burnley as she dragged her husband along with her.

"We'll see you kids later." She said as she waved.

AJ waved back and then looked back at Ben, "Alright, so now we've got to find a song that we can do tonight."

"Well, I've got some Smashing Pumkins..." Ben stated hopefully.

"Okay, we'll start from there." Said AJ as she began walking back to their room.

Ben looked at his watch, "It's getting pretty late. We better get ready for dinner."

AJ nodded, "I forgot about that. We'll have to think of something quick."

"You mean that you wanted to do this tonight?" Ben said in shock.

"Yeah." Said AJ as-a-matter-of-factly.

Ben rolled his eyes, "The things you make me do Jane."

She smiled and pulled him into a hug, "I know, the horrible things I make you do."

Ben laughed as he pressed his forehead against hers. "Come on, we don't have much time."

"Alright." Said AJ as they began running towards the room.

After they got into the room they seen that it was only four o'clock.

"Well then I guess we have more time than I thought." Said Ben as he crossed his arms.

"And it looks like your watch is off." Said AJ as she sat on the bed.

Ben smiled as he sat down next to her, "Yeah, but we still have to find a song."

"Fine, you're just all about business, aren't you?" Said AJ as she got up and went to the closet. She pulled out a thick binder. "Alrighty then, let's see what I have in here." She said as she sat cross legged on the bed as she began flipping through the pages. "First of all what kind of song do we want to do?"

Ben put a hand on her shoulder, "I don't know. We could try a duet."

"I know. There's this song that just came out. We can do that one, I have the guitar tabs right here somewhere." Said AJ as she began looking through her binder. "Aha! Here it is, 'A tout le monde'."

"Who's it by?" Asked Ben.

"It's by Megadeth." AJ replied with a grin.

"Alright, there's nothing wrong with trying." Said Ben as he got up and got out his guitar.

They started practicing and soon they had the song pretty much figured out. AJ laid down on the bed next to Ben after they had come back from dinner. The performance went really well.

"I think that we'll have to do that again." Said AJ as she watched Ben put his guitar away.

"I know. You know, it wasn't so bad to get up there on stage. I actually kind of liked it." Ben said with a wide smile. He felt totally empowered, like nothing but pure adrenaline was running through his veins.

"Me too." AJ said as she kissed him softly.

Ben smiled as he laid down next to her.

AJ rolled over and looked at him, "Just think, we'll be there in like a couple of days."

"I know, and then we'll have to be there for a week and a half before we have to come back." Said Ben.

AJ smiled as she kissed Ben, "You still owe me something from last night." She whispered.

Ben smiled, "Just let me lock the door."

AJ nodded as he got up and locked the door. Ben crawled on top of her as she ran her hands through his hair. He put his hands on her hips as he began rubbing her sides, slowly pulling up her shirt. After they climaxed they laid in bed holding onto each other.

"You know what?" Ben started as AJ laid on his chest.

"What?" Asked AJ as she looked up at him.

"Well, I can't imagine why someone as beautiful as you would save themselves and just give it up for someone like me." Ben said, tilting her chin up as he kissed her.

AJ smiled as she felt a blush creep into her cheeks, "I don't know. I just felt like there was something special between us. And I was pretty sure that it wasn't going to be the last time that I would see you because you stayed with me until I fell asleep. Or you thought I was anyway."

"What do you mean?" Ben asked as he looked at her quizically.

"Well, to quote you... 'I hope that you know we're more than friends now'. I thought that you were so sweet and I knew that you felt the same way that I did." AJ smiled as she poked his nose.

Ben blushed, "You weren't supposed to actually hear that."

"Well, you can't change the past now, can you?" AJ replied as she kissed him on the cheek.

"I guess not, but even if I could, I wouldn't." Said Ben as he leaned over and kissed her.

They both fell asleep with ease sometime after.

*In Berlin*

"Wow, this is so awesome." Said AJ as she looked around at the scenery from the hotel room.

There were two big beds in the room and Ben's parents were going to be in the room next door. Again, Mr. Burnley warned Ben that if her heard sounds that he didn't like coming from their room that he was going to get it.

"I know, isn't it?" Ben replied as he stood next to AJ.

"Well duh! So we've got sometime here for exploring and all that good stuff. And who better to go with than you?" Asked AJ.

Ben smiled as he hugged her, "I know."

"So what's the plan for today?" AJ asked as she continued to admire the beauty that was Berlin.

"Well, my dad has to go do something but he said we're going to dinner at six thirty." Said Ben as he let his hands slide up her sides.

She pushed his hands down as she felt goosebumps rise on her exposed skin. "Ben, it's freezing!"

"Well then, let's get inside." Ben said as he shoved her back into the hotel room.

"Alright." Said AJ as she dragged her feet and shut the doors once more.

"Whoa, you must've been cold." Said Ben as he seen her rubbing her arms.

"Yeah, and you with your cold hands going up my shirt didn't help." Said AJ as she playfully shoved him.

"Well I was hoping that you would be able to warm me up." Said Ben with a smile tugging at his lips.

AJ sighed as she shoved him, "But that shouldn't be at my expense."

"Sorry." Said Ben.

AJ jumped when she heard a knock at the door. She ran to go answer it, "Hello Mrs. Burnley." Said AJ.

"Hello. Well it's time for dinner. Are you guys ready?" She asked as she stepped inside a bit.

"Yeah, I just need to get my jacket and purse." Said AJ as she ran to the other bed where she had placed her stuff.

"Well I'm ready." Said Ben as he walked over to his mother.

She smiled, "I'm so glad that you came. It's nice that Ben found someone like you."

"Well, thank you. I think that your son is a fine young man." Said AJ as she patted his shoulder.

"Come on, before Dad get's mad." Said Ben as he followed both of them out of the door.
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Sorry for the long chapter. Didn't realize how long this one was, but comment please... Thank you for reading.