- Serena -

I woke up to a drip on my face. 

Drip.

Drip drip.

Drip drip drip.

Okay many drips, but that's not the point.

I opened my eyes and felt another drip. Where's the water coming from?

I looked up at my ceiling, my chandelier melting.

I raised an eyebrow, what the hell?

How did I even end up sleeping on the sofa?

I sighed and raised my hand towards the ceiling, freezing my chandelier back into shape.

I looked to my coffee table, seeing my bottle of wine gone. My glass was still there, it was empty as well.

Did I actually finish everything? 

I thought back to last night, after Ben left I had a minor emotional breakdown.

His breath on my ear.

My neck. 

My lips.

Oh God kill me please. 

I sat up and smacked my hand across my forehead to chill the headache that was threatening to grant my death wish.

I looked at my clock, 11am.

Oh good I thought I was late-

"Fuck!"

I rushed to get ready, my phone buzzing on the table. Roxy.

I dashed out of the house and ran down to the cafe.

"Sorry I'm late! I KNOW I KNOW I'm crazy I'm sorry!" I shouted as I entered the cafe panting.

Three of them looked up at me, Roxanne grinning widely, Ben watching me with an amused look, Austin laughing his head off.

What were they doing here?

Austin stopped laughing and glanced at Roxy, "I can kind of figure out how you guys quarrel, it must always be "crazy"." 

He did the air quotes as he said crazy and I realised he was right, Roxy and I were always calling one another crazy. Maybe we were.

I turned to look across the street, realising their restaurant was closed.

Ben caught my gaze, a cheeky grin appeared on his handsome face and I raised an eyebrow, "What are you guys doing here?"

He chuckled as he lifted two of my giant ice cream containers easily, "The carnival is today remember? We have to get ready for it, our trucks open in the evening for the dinner crowd."

"Trucks?"

As if on cue, we heard a honk from outside and we went out, seeing a huge food truck waiting for us.

"Sweet!" Austin yelled and Ben shot him an irritated look.

Austin went out and did this guy handshake with the driver and took the keys from him. Must be his friend. They chatted for a while and Ben was staring at me.

I glanced at him, "Something wrong?"

"Your shorts look really good on you."

I looked down and realised I was wearing the pair that Ben got for me that night, with the rose embroidery.

It was the first thing I could get my hands on this morning and I just grabbed it without thinking.

"Thanks, you don't look too bad yourself," understatement. He looked like a Greek God, his black shirt emphasized his toned abs and glorious muscles. Plus the way he was lifting the tubs of ice cream, oh my God I need to look away.

Austin popped his head back in just before Ben was about to say something else and we turned to him, "I'll bring the ingredients into the truck so I can begin with preparations."

"I'll help!" Roxy leapt up from behind me and ran over with Austin back to the restaurant.

I huffed a puff of air and watched the both of them skip over, must be fun for them.

"Seems like you're stuck with me," Ben mumbled annoyingly close to my ear.

I turned to him, my heart thudding loudly against my chest.

He was too close. WAY too close. I could feel the heat emitting through the thin fabric of his shirt, I could smell the hint of soap and mint on his neck.

If only I could touch those muscles-

I blinked and took a step away from him. 

Serena, you're not going to become Roxy number two. Get a grip.

I raised an eyebrow and he watched me, clearly satisfied to see my reaction.

The audacity.

I calmed the chill that was running down my arm and tiptoed so I could whisper in his ear.

"I don't stick to dangerous men Ben, you warned me about them. I don't plan to get into any more trouble," I breathed into his neck and I could swear he was holding his breath.

I pulled away and he chuckled, his eyes glimmering with mischief, "I didn't think that you were a coward."

My heart thumped a loud beat, coward?

"Excuse me?"

He smirked, "You're afraid of being close to me. You're afraid of getting into trouble. You're afraid of danger, maybe you aren't really as brave as you make yourself out to be."

My core churned, everything he said could be settled in a little wave of a hand, how dare he? He had no idea what I could do.

"It just shows how much you know me Ben, if you knew what I went through, you will know why I'm not afraid of you. Or anything," it sounded a little harsher than I intended but Ben didn't seem affected.

In fact, he leaned down to me, "All the more I look forward to our little storytelling session."

He turned and strode out to the truck with the two buckets of ice cream and I sighed.

What do I do with you?

***

When we parked in our spot at the carnival, the sun was starting to set and the sky lit up in brilliant hues of purple, pink and orange.

I was about to pull the metal shutters of our food truck up when Ben reached out before I could.

"I'll do it, it's too dangerous for you," he mocked me and I took a deep breath.

You'll be fine Serena, happy thoughts, cold thoughts. Don't kill him.

I went back up the truck and checked on the ice cream display, the next half of the truck was Ben and Austin's side and they had stoves and grills heated and ready.

"Couple fight?" Roxanne came up next to me and I raised an eyebrow.

"Who? You?"

She laughed, "I mean you and Ben. What's going on? The tension is just so... Tense," she gestured with her hands.

"Firstly we're not a couple, secondly Ben is mocking me for being a wuss. What's not to be angry?"

"Okay that man has serious issues. You? Scared? That doesn't happen. Ever."

I shrugged, "Apparently not wanting to get into trouble equals to that."

Roxanne smiled this evil grin, a face I knew all too well. She was going to make Ben pay.

***

She was evil alright. She pulled me to the nearest bathroom we could find at the back of a convenience store and grabbed a huge pair of scissors.

She cut up my pants, making them even shorter. Then she ripped some of the material giving it a distressed look.

Then she cut the neckline of my tank top, giving it a 'V' shape. She cut a few holes on both sides then she grabbed some black cloth from her pockets and tied the 'V' in a criss cross pattern.

She then pulled the hair band out of my hair and my hair fell loosely past my shoulders. She gave it a rough tousle and then grabbed a pair of heels out of her bag of tricks.

"What the hell Roxy. What else do you have in there?"

She laughed and made me wear the high stiletto heels.

It wasn't painful, I wore heels to work before but it was slightly uncomfortable. She pulled me to the outside of the store, letting me have a look at my own reflection in the glass windows.

My God I actually looked sexy. My boobs were squeezing at the 'V' neck and the black ribbon looked like it was holding my girls back from exposing themselves.

My pants were so short but I was sure my butt was still covered. The heels made my butt look perky.

What has dressing me up got to do with Ben?

"I know what you're going to say Serena but trust me, this will torture the hell out of Ben. Don't have to thank me, you're hella sexy right now," she winked at me and pulled me back to the food truck.

People were starting to gather and I quickly skipped into the truck with Roxy.

"Great you girls are back we gotta get this thing started-" Austin gaped at me and whistled a long sharp sound. 

Roxanne laughed, "That's not for you, let's get to work." 

She pushed Austin back to his station and he sent me a wink.

Oh God they are insane.

"Serena-" I heard Ben call out to me from the bottom of the truck and he looked up at me, eyes freaking wide like they were gonna pop.

Good.

I leaned down and placed both hands on the cool surface of the display case, "You need something?"

His mouth fell open as my boobs threatened to fall out of my top.

I scoffed as he continued staring, I physically closed his mouth shut and smiled at a customer who wanted to order.

Roxy was right, Ben looked like he was in pain.

It was hilarious really.

He helped Austin take down orders but the moment his eyes landed on me he seemed to lose all train of thought.

He got four out of ten orders wrong and Austin was about to snap his head off.

"Get the fuck out of your head Benjamin! You're not getting anything right!" Austin yelled at him and I snickered. 

Roxanne took the next order in our line and I strode over to the boys' side. I stood next to Ben just as he was taking down a customer's order and I cleared my throat.

Ben turned to me, his eyes immediately doing a full-body scan on me. I raised an eyebrow, I've never seen him like this before. 

It was interesting.

I snapped my fingers and he looked up at me, "You have an order for a fish and chips babe."

I winked at him and I swear he nearly fell backwards.

I smirked and went back to my side of the truck. 

The kids were adorable, they would be reaching out excitedly for the ice cream and their parents had to take it from me or Roxy.

I don't know how the people in this town raise their kids, but they were very well-mannered. Not a single whine from them when their parents were getting the ice cream.

"BEN! FOR FUCKS SAKE!" Austin shouted and both Roxanne and I looked over.

Ben slammed the order tickets on the table, "Fuck it, move over, I'll cook."

Austin's eyes widened, "You want to cook? Are you fucking around right now?"

Ben glared at him, "Move the fuck over."

Austin threw his hands in the air, "You're fucking crazy dude, you've not touched a stove since the incident-"

The flame on the stove flew up as Ben reached for the pan and he turned to Austin, "What's the order?"

The fire simmered down to its normal height and Austin shook his head, "Medium rare steak with mushroom sauce."

Ben didn't even respond, he just cooked up a storm and Austin stood by the deep fryer, getting the fries ready.

I couldn't help watching, if I thought those men in the kitchen at Ben's restaurant was hot, this was fucking lava.

Ben cooked like a pro and I never knew he could.

He dipped his finger in the pan to touch the sauce and tasted it, he gave a slight nod and Austin took the paper tray over to him for him to lay the steak in.

He was gorgeous.

"Strawberry!" I heard a little girl yell and I turned to her, feeling my smile come to life.

"Sure thing," I grabbed a scoop and scooped the strawberry ice cream into a disposable cup.

She giggled happily and her parents paid for her before going off.

Roxanne groaned, "I hate kids, annoying bunch."

"They're the nicest I've ever seen, learn to love them. They're adorable."

She chuckled, "Yeah, seems like Ben was having problems focusing earlier. I didn't know he knew how to cook."

I shrugged, I was as surprised as she was.

Ben grabbed a bottle of white wine and poured it into the pan, the flames flying high and proud.

He tossed the pasta and I folded my arms, watching him. He turned to me shortly, his eyes dancing with an excited glimmer.

His gaze turned hard a second after his eyes met mine. I raised an eyebrow and he turned back to the stove.

It was almost midnight by the time we were ready to close up.

Good thing this was a one-day thing, it was exhausting.

Our ice cream was totally sold out and so was Ben and Austin's food.

"Good job girls! That's a huge wrap, we'll go for a drink after this," Austin exclaimed happily and I raised an eyebrow.

"You and Roxy can barely hold your liquor, not too much alright?" I glared at Roxy as she did to me.

Austin nodded and I turned my attention to Ben, he was leaning against the cooled-down stove, his eyes staring at nothing in particular.

What was he thinking?

"Ben, we're heading for a drink, you in?" I mumbled and he looked up at me.

"Yeah sure."

"Let's do a quick clean up then!" Roxanne squealed excitedly and went about wiping down the counters.

I walked over to Ben, my heels clicking loudly beneath me.

"You okay there?" 

He looked up at me, that glimmer in his eyes, "I'm alright. Thank you Serena."

"Me? What for?"

He chuckled, holding up his spatula and spinning it around his fingers, "For this."

I rubbed my forehead, "Ben I didn't give you that."

"I mean for helping me pick up cooking again."

"But I didn't-"

"Can I have... A rainbow ice cream please?" I heard a soft whimper and turned to look out the truck.

"Sorry sweetie we are closed-" I stopped mid-sentence and stared at Felicia.

There was a huge bruise on her swollen left cheek and I looked behind her, a distance away, someone was standing there.

He stood in the shadows with a group of five men behind him.

I looked back at Felicia, "What happened to you?"

She burst out crying and screaming as she ran towards me, the group of men were running up to her.

I jumped over the display case and landed on the ground, my right ankle giving out with a sickening crunch because of the stupid heel.

The pain started spreading up my leg but I grabbed Felicia and ran to the driver's seat.

Ben and Austin clambered down and were beating whoever came in their way.

"Serena start the car!" Roxanne shouted at me as she got on with Felicia and I.

"Guys get on!" Roxy screamed at Ben and Austin and they quickly started climbing on.

The men were all down except for one. The one still staring at us from his original position.

He walked away, leaving the rest of his men wounded at the scene.

Then I saw it, the flash of blonde as he slid past a streetlight. 

That shade of blonde.

"Shawn," I mumbled.

Roxy was hitting the dashboard, "Serena let's go."

He walked further away.

"No no SHAWN! SHAWN!" I ran out of the truck and collapsed on the floor as the stinging pain shot up my leg.

Ben grabbed my shoulders, "GET IN THE TRUCK SERENA!"

I didn't know I had the strength to, but I flung Ben away and ran across the road to the blonde figure. The pain didn't even bother me anymore. 

"SHAWN SNOW-"

A huge force knocked into me and I flew to the ground.

All the air in my lungs got sucked out of me.

I saw only three things.

1. The car that knocked into me.

2. Ben reaching out for me.

3. Shawn walking away from me.