"Get out here, so I can filet you!"
Two girls were cornering Benny as he hid behind Ethan's front lawn bushes. One of the girls looked at the other, offended.
"You mean, so I can strangle him."
The girls began to argue with each other, leading one of them to shove the other out of her way.
"Oh no, she didn't. You gonna take that?" Benny retorted. They circled one another and began to fight each other. While they were fighting, Ethan joined him behind the bushes.
"Benny, we have to get out of here—!"
"Relax," he told Ethan. "I'm safe. Two girls, one guy. Instant cat fight."
"Yeah, now there's two girls, two guys," Ethan said. Benny then realized what he was saying.
"...Oh."
All of a sudden, there was a flash of purple light as Ellie and Sarah appeared in front of the bushes. Sarah had her fangs shown and hissed at the two girls, while Ellie's hands shone purple and her eyes were engulfed in magenta.
"Hey, that's my man you've got there," Sarah hissed.
"And the cuter one is mine, so back off," Ellie said, raising her hands.
"Yes! We're saved, see?" Benny yelled.
"No one else is going to kill him but me."
"WHAT?!"
The girls began to fight each other, while the boys took this as an opportunity to run. As Ethan and Benny circled the front yard, they turned to see the giant metal cosplay cage they had ordered.
"Quick! Get into the Cage of Eternity!" Ethan yelled.
"What? We don't even have the key!" Benny argued.
"Don't worry! Once we're going in, I'm not planning on coming out anytime soon!"
The two boys entered the cage and locked the gate behind them. Suddenly, everything was silent.
"Do you hear that?" Ethan asked him. "I don't hear anything."
"Exactly," he pointed out. "Fight's over and I have a pretty good idea who won."
"Wait, do you really think this cage will keep them out?" Benny asked. "Well, we're about to find out—!"
Ellie and Sarah instantly ran up and banged on the walls of the cage, trying to pry them off.
"Come on out, sweetie!"
Benny looked at Ellie from the other side of the cage and noticed her wrists.
"Oh, we are so dead..." Benny realized.
"What? What is it?"
"Look at Ellie's wrist," he yelled. Ethan looked to find that her bracelet had vanished. She noticed the two staring at her.
"What's wrong, babe? Do you miss that stupid bracelet?" Ellie yelled. "Because, I don't!"
"Dude, how long does this last?" Benny yelled to Ethan.
"Well, they've loved us for six hours. If your grandma's right, they're gonna hate us for about five more!"
They looked at each other in fear. They were definitely going to be there for a while.
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Ethan and Benny woke up still stuck in the Cage of Eternity. They looked up to find Ellie, Sarah, and Erica holding the key to the cage. They screamed in fear.
"What do you think we should do?" Sarah asked the two of them.
"...Kill them," Erica smirked.
She elbowed Ellie to hold her hands up, queueing them to shine bright purple at Ethan and Benny.
"Benny! I thought that you said the spell would have worn off by now!"
"It did! Now, we're just mad at you!" Sarah said.
Ellie chuckled as she let her hand down, the purple lights fading from her fingertips.
"Guys, look," Benny began. "We are really, really sorry."
The girls shook her heads and rolled their eyes. "You should be," Erica told them. "We still have the key, too."
"Okay, we get it. You guys wanna punish us, totally."
Ethan and Benny nodded their heads before a certain voice rang from behind the girls.
"Not them, loverboys," Evelyn informed. "Me."
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Once Ethan and Benny's car-washing punishment was over, Ethan elbowed his best friend.
"Dude, it's the end of the week," he told Benny.
Benny had forgotten the entire week that he had to ask Ellie out. He facepalmed and turned to Ethan, now nervous. "Okay, wait. What do I do? How should I—?"
"Woah, it's just Ellie," he reassured Benny. "You can do it, B."
Benny took a deep breath and adjusted his shirt. Leaving the kitchen, he stepped into the living room to see Ellie laughing with Ms. Weir and Sarah. For some reason, now was a really good time to forget how to speak. Benny didn't even know he could do that. "E-El?"
Ellie looked up from Ms. Weir, almost in slow motion from Benny's point-of-view. "What's up, B?"
"Can we- uh... can I talk to you on the porch for a sec?" he stuttered.
"Oh- yeah, sure," she responded, leaving the living room to head outside.
Now, Benny was right where he needed to be. Standing with Ellie... alone... with her waiting to hear what he had to say.
"Okay, um..."
"Benny?" Ellie asked, feeling like she was snapping him back into reality.
"Sorry. It's just.. I don't know how to start this."
Thinking that he couldn't be more nervous, Ellie started to smile. That smile haunted him for years in the best way possible. There were days where he hoped that smile could be his and now that they were so connected supernaturally, there was a bigger chance where that could be their reality.
"El, I really like you."
She stopped and looked at him, her jaw left hanging open. "...What?"
"I-I've liked you for years, and I never knew how to tell you because you're the only girl in the world that makes me nervous and I—!"
"Shut up, B," Ellie smiled, as she pressed her lips against his.
He was surprised at first, but kissed back. Ellie wrapped her arms around his neck and Benny held his arms around her waist. Both mages had wished for this moment for years, and the fact that they accomplished their goals without the help of magic was... magical.
"I've liked you for way too long," she whispered to him. "Way too long."
They kissed again and leaned into one another. Ellie could feel the butterflies in her stomach, as did Benny.
"My ten-year-old self is extremely happy right now, just so we're clear."
"Mine, too."
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A.N.
AHHH! Yes, finally! I've been wanting to write this chapter for SO long. I guess Benny gets the ten bucks after all... he deserved it.