Ben Loves a Challenge Ch. 13

"So, you stalked him because he wouldn't accept your apology. I'm gonna go ahead and make the assumption it had to do with the fact that you already knew Dean was gay and said something stupid when you were drunk or trying to show off or something?"

His stomach was boiling, and he didn't know if he'd be able to eat his bacon once it came. He sipped his too-hot coffee, hiding behind it. "Kinda."

Dean tensed, his leg drifting over until it pressed again Ben's. Ben looked down and Dean pulled away, he hadn't even known he'd done it. Ben shifted, moving closer to Dean, who just scooted slightly farther away, so embarrassed his ears were getting red. He pushed his glasses up and cleared his throat. "It wasn't in public or anything. He wasn't showing off, just, ah..."

"He was just him, talking first and thinking about it later?" Molly suggested.

Dean nodded and Ben's guilt was immense. "I was an asshole, and I regretted it immediately. And then for like a week afterwards. And even now, I still kinda regret it."

"You wouldn't have, we wouldn't be together if you hadn't said it," Dean said, so soft it was hard to hear him over the din of the rest of the restaurant, even with their relative isolation. Dean's leg drifted back over to his, and this time he knew Dean had done it on purpose.

Molly turned to Dean. "You liked him first then?" she declared after a thoughtful moment, filling in the blanks.

Dean choked again and she laughed. "Um. Yea. Sorta."

She smiled like she'd just won a prize. "Ben's like that." She didn't expand, and he was grateful for it. "So, I guess one thing led to another and then you started fucking and-"

His gratitude shriveled immediately. "Molly!" he hissed again. She just smiled her smug smile. "Shut up!"

"What? Tell me you're not."

He pursed his lips, then changed the subject. "What, um. I mean, you don't seem like you came with stones or anything. For throwing. Tomatoes? Rotten cabbages?""

She sniffed. "You don't know what I keep in my purse. I'd win Let's Make a Deal, and I'd give Wayne Brady a kiss."

"Like hell. Dwayne would go kill Wayne Brady, and no one deserves how Dwayne would kill them," Ben said, one eyebrow raised.

Molly turned to Dean. "Boys," she said, rolling her eyes. "You'd figure he'd know who wears the pants in the family by now, know what I mean?"

Dean's face was fuchsia. "Um..." he said, turning to Ben for help.

Molly laughed. It made him feel better, a lot more than he would've imagined. "Dean, I don't know you from Adam, but I know my little brother. You've got him wrapped around your finger, I can tell already."

Dean coughed to hide his embarrassment, and his leg pressed more firmly against Ben's. "Molly, you're gonna kill my boyfriend at this rate."

She laughed again. "Dean, relax. I'm just teasing you."

"Yea, okay. Yea. Just don't wanna mess this up, you know?"

He wanted to kiss Dean so bad, wanted to hug him tight and never let him go. "Dean, I already told you that you can't mess this up."

Dean gave him what he now recognized aa 'the look'.

She raised one eyebrow. "You're worried cause'a how Mom reacted?"

Dean nodded. "He, like, he's not gay, Molly. Not really, so, yea, he always talks about his family, about you, so fondly, it seems like you're all so close and if I were the one to ruin it I'd, I mean, because of me, like-"

He inhaled before he cut Dean off. "We already talked about this. I'm the one who'd ruin it. When do I officially get to be gay in your book, Dean? Like, what do I need to do to earn the right to be your legitimate boyfriend? Is there an initiation? A masters class? Some type of physical championship?"

"A thesis?" Molly supplied, leaning forward, head propped up on her hands, elbows on the table. "A quiz show? Trivial Pursuit? Checkers? Better not be chess, Ben sucks at chess. His main problem's that he never plans things out, just does them at his fancy."

"Not you, too!" Dean exclaimed, then caught himself. He sobered instantly. "You're not wrong, though, and you're definitely siblings."

Molly snorted and went to say something, but Bethany came back with a tray full of breakfast food. She sorted it all out, asked if they needed anything, then took Dean's empty orange juice cup before he could protest. She was back just as quick as she'd left with a full cup, plus a carafe of coffee she used to refill Ben's cup and top off Molly's.

When the waitress finally left again Dean leaned towards him. "Fine, you're gay now, does that make you happy?"

He snorted. "Yeah, actually, it does."

"You're killing me," Dean complained, though he sounded fond, too.

"Does it make you happy?" Molly asked Dean.

"Does what make me happy?"

"Ben being gay," Molly clarified.

"Oh. Um. I'm, ah. Well, like, yea, right? Of course! I mean, I'm glad he's my boyfriend. I never even allowed myself to hope he'd be interested in me, much less wanna date me, ya know? He's, like, you know. He was with Laura for a long time, and it really messed him up, but he liked girls. Probably still likes girls." Dean was depressing himself, Ben could tell.

"So I'm bi, if nothing else. But I'm dating you, Dean. No one else. I promise."

Molly pursed her lips to the side. "He's a terrible liar, Dean. And, he's very, very, almost to a stupid level committed. He's all in, there's no middle ground for him. It's all or nothing. So, I hope you're prepared to deal with that."

Dean frowned, then took a big bite of pancakes. "Is that a bad thing?" Ben asked.

Molly shook her head. "I just figured he should know all of your fatal flaws, since you two are just getting to know each other. I still wanna know when you thought you'd turned gay."

Ben bit his lower lip. Dean would probably kill him, but Dean was busy stuffing his face with pancakes so he didn't have to answer, so fuck it. "When I started fantasizing about Dean instead of girls, I guess. Like, I guess at first I was a little curious, like, I haven't really ever known any gay guys before, then once I started thinking about Dean like that it just kinda, I dunno, stuck or something."

"See why I worry? He's not normal," Dean said, pointing his fork at Molly. "He's, there's something wrong with him."

Molly shrugged, then forked some scrambled eggs. "Nope, he's just Ben. Nothing wrong with him. He's always been like this, act first, think it through later. He wears his heart on his sleeve, he's never tried to hide it."

"That's not true," Ben defended. "It's not that I don't try, I'm just not good at it."

Dean went to protest, then laughed when he processed Ben's comment. "Shit, Ben," he complained. "You're killing me."

He pressed his knee against Dean's, too shy to tell him he loved him too in front of his sister just yet. "Anyway, Molly, this's my boyfriend. We've been dating, ah, like, I dunno. A month or two?"

Dean nodded, his face down as he cut another piece of pancake. "About."

"Wait a minute," Molly said, pursing her lips to the side again. "Dean was gonna be your special guest. Mom didn't say anything about anyone else with you. Did mom, was my mom a bitch to you, Dean?"

"No! I didn't go!" Dean exclaimed. "I didn't go, I told Ben not to tell her about me, not to tell any of you about us. Like, I didn't want this to happen, but it was like a car crash, I saw it coming but couldn't stop it."

"I'm not gonna hide you," Ben snapped. "I'm not ashamed of you, and I'm not gonna hide our relationship because people can't understand it. I don't give a fuck what anyone thinks if they can't accept us."

"Hey, hey," Molly soothed. "Mom's old school. She wasn't, well, she's on my shit list right now, to be fair. Like..." Molly sighed. "Ben, I love you. I love that you've found someone to love you, too. We both knew Laura wasn't right for you-"

"Both?"

"Me and Laura," Molly clarified. He snorted and rolled his eyes. "I knew Laura wasn't right for you, but you were so committed to making it work. You can't force people to love you, and you can't force people to understand you, Ben. But-" She held up her hand when he tried to interject. "Let me finish. Dean loves you, Ben. I can tell from just the, what," she looked at her phone, "half hour I've known him. Dean, you love my brother, right?"

Dean nodded, looking solemn. "I'm sorry."

Molly looked at him confused, then shook her head and laughed. "You're perfect for each other, really. I wonder if Mom would understand if she met you. You counter Ben in every way. Don't apologize for loving him, Dean."

"His life would be so much easier without me in it," Dean admitted, and Ben could tell it was something that he'd been chewing on for a while.

"Probably," Molly agreed. Dean twinged like she'd slapped him. "But," she continued before he could say anything, her hand up in the air again. "But, he doesn't like easy, Dean. He's always done things his own way. It may seem like he's going with the flow, but he's not."

"Molly, I can't, if he, I mean, if he's just humoring me-"

"Do you even hear yourself, Dean?" Molly jumped in. "First off, what straight man would 'humor' a gay love interest? No one, except for Ben. He's different. Everything he does he does with everything he has. Can't you tell? He loves you, I can see it in how he's sitting, how nervous he is, and how afraid he is of this encounter. Not because he's worried about mine and his relationship. No, he's worried about you. This, all this, he's..." She sighed, then forked another bite of eggs.

Dean looked at him and he could see tears in the corner of his eyes. "You don't care?" Ben asked. "That I'm dating a man?"

Molly shrugged, then swallowed her bite. "For real? Ben, you've always been crazy. I'm glad you found someone who balances you out. I never liked Laura, not from the first time I met her, but I like you, Dean."

Dean swallowed hard. "Thank you," he whispered.

Molly snorted. "You're welcome, but it's not something you need to thank me for," she dismissed. "Eat your food, Ben, before it gets cold."

The whole thing was so off kilter, but also exactly his sister. "Fine, I'll eat, but not because you told me to," he snarked.

"Mmm-hmm," Molly replied, her mouth full of food. She swallowed. "Whatever you need to tell yourself so you can sleep at night."

Dean reached over under the table and took Ben's hand. Ben looked up at him in surprise, but Dean ignored him. "Eat your food, Ben," Dean said, the hint of command in his voice.

Ben ate his food, mostly to keep his attention away from that tone of voice having blood flowing to places he couldn't while they were with his sister. Molly looked at them both with a smirk, smiling a secret smile.

"You two are just precious," she commented.

"Precious?" Dean coughed again. "You, ah, really don't mind?"

"That you're fucking my brother?" Molly asked, sounding innocent.

Dean sputtered and Ben was glad he hadn't taken a bite recently. "Jesus, you're both, do neither of you think before you speak? You don't have a filter, either?!" Dean caught himself and looked a little scared. "Sorry, sorry, I shouldn't'a said that."

Molly chuckled. "Why not?" she asked. "Say what you want, this's a safe space. And, no. I think it's cute, and I think you'll be good for him, in the long run. He's so much more obedient than he used to be..."

It was Ben's turn to choke. "What the hell are you on about?!"

Dean's leg started bouncing against his. "He is, isn't he?"

Ben's head turned so fast towards Dean that he was dizzy for a second. "I'm what now?"

Dean's whole head was pink. Molly laughed. After a second Dean joined in, then he did, too. It surprised him how good it felt. "Fuck you both," he retorted when they all calmed down a bit. "But, seriously. Molly, like, you, um. You know. Mom. She, ah, didn't take it well."

Molly nodded. "Yeah, I know. She was about out of her mind when I got there with the kids, four empty boxes of tissues on the counter, a million balled up tissues overflowing from the bin. I thought you'd died for a minute with how distraught she was." Molly rolled her eyes. "Not dead, only gay." She sniffed.

"It's pretty common," Dean agreed. "There's... Well, it can be a shock. I didn't want him to tell you guys at all."

Ben harrumphed. "I'm not gonna pretend you don't exist, Dean."

"It'd be better if you did!" Dean snapped. "You think your mom's-"

"Hey, hey," Molly cut in, her mom-voice activated. "Dean, that's no way to think about it, and I thought you'd know Ben well enough by now to know he's not gonna back down from this. He loves you, or he wouldn'ta, you know," she waved her hands around, "all this. Don't throw that in his face."

"Yeah, Dean, don't throw that in my face!" Ben agreed, nudging him with his knee.

Dean snorted, one eyebrow raised in a sign that meant he'd be getting punished later. He couldn't allow that to distract him now, though. "I'm not trying to, I just, it would all'a been easier if you'd just pretended-"

"Dean?" Dean stopped talking and Molly continued. "Listen, Ben's pretty predictable, and he's not shy. There was no way he was ever gonna pretend he didn't know you, and it was only a matter of time before he told us."

"I'm not predictable," he jumped in. "And, I'm proud of you, proud to be dating you, Dean. Stop thinking that you're some dirty secret I need to hide. I'm proud of you, and I love you."

Molly blushed at his declaration. "See what I mean?"

Dean looked down at his now-empty plate. "Just, your mom..."

Molly shrugged, pushing her plate away from her. Dean picked it up and stacked it on his, then put it at the end of the table. Ben handed his over, too. "Mom's in shock. She'll get over it, Ben's always been her favorite."

"Am not!"

"Are so," Molly retorted instantly. "She's gonna need time, but she'll come around. Don't give me that look, Dean, she will. I know my mother, and I know Ben." The waitress chose that moment to come get their plates, interrupting all of their thoughts. She laid the check down and Molly grabbed it before Dean could even move, and it was too far away for Ben to have grabbed first. "I got it, guys."

"Molly, you don't, I mean, you don't know how much it means to me, that, um, this." Dean nodded towards Ben.

"Breakfast?" Molly asked, a coy smile on her face.

"Sure," Ben replied. "That's all, just wanted to thank you for breakfast, nothing else."

Molly snorted. "Oh, before I forget, here's your phone. I couldn't get Tennille in her carrier or I woulda brought her home, too. She won't leave your room, and she hisses whenever someone comes near her."

"How'm I supposed to get her home?" he lamented. "My poor baby."

Dean was watching him out of the corner of his eyes. He turned to Dean and he looked away.

"I did bring your other stuff, though. It's in my car. Jamie wanted to come see Uncle Rice as well, but Ollie woulda wanted to come, too, and I had enough kids in vehicles to last me a week already today."

"Bacon," Ben said. "She loves bacon. Put some in her carrier and see if you can catch her that way. Maybe have Max help, he should be patient enough now. If you catch her I'll drive down and pick her up."

"If we catch her I'll meet you halfway," Molly said. "I'll try that tomorrow. You guys all good?"

He and Dean both nodded. Dean reached out and took his hand and squeezed it. Molly watched with her coy smile, then looked away as if she weren't being a voyeur. "Thanks, Molly," he said.

She stood up. Dean scooted out of the booth and Ben followed him. They all coated up and she led the way to her car. He grabbed his suitcase, and before he could turn around she grabbed him and hugged him hard enough to make him grunt. "Love you, Ben. I'm so proud of you."

Ben hugged her back the best he could with one hand. "You're proud of me for being gay?"

She sniffed and Dean coughed. "I'm proud of you for being you, and for finding someone and not being ashamed of your relationship."

Ben fought back tears as he hugged his sister. "Thanks, Molly. Love you, too."

Molly let go and stepped back, wiping a tear from her eyes before she wrapped her arms around Dean and squeezed just as hard. At least it looked like it was just as hard from Dean's reaction. "You too, Dean. I'm so glad to meet you, and I hope you take good care of my obnoxious brother."

Dean hugged her back, not even trying to hide his tears. "You don't know how much this means to me," he whispered. She kept hugging him as he cried, rocking gently like she was soothing one of her children.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Ben couldn't help but notice that the height difference between the two was comical. He wanted to say something snarky, but he held it in, not wanting to ruin the moment for Dean.

Dean tapped out of the hug-hold his sister had him in. "I wish I had a sister like you," he whispered as he pulled away from her, wiping his eyes.

She closed her trunk and turned back to both of them. "Well, stick around for a while and you kinda will." She grabbed Ben again and hugged him hard, kissed him on the cheek, then sent him reeling. "I'll call you when I catch your cat. Also, I'll work on Mom. Bye Ben, bye Dean. It really was my pleasure to meet you! See you guys later."

She got in her car and drove away, waving once before she turned the corner and drove off. A cold wind gusted around them and Dean turned and headed back to Ben's car. Neither of them spoke as they got in and he turned the car on, then the radio off.

"I like your sister," Dean said, facing away from Ben. "And not just cause she wasn't freaking about your new boyfriend. You guys are a lot alike."

"I like her, too. We were always close growing up, especially after Dad left. And doubly when he tried to come back." Ben sniffed out a laugh, then threw his head backwards on the headrest. "God, that was so stressful!"

"I... Your sister..." Ben looked over to find Dean crying again. "I didn't wanna even hope..."

Ben reached across the car and grabbed his boyfriend into a hug. "I feel great, like, shit. Yeah. I feel good, Dean. How do you feel?"

Dean buried his face into Ben's coat. "I feel good," he said, muffled by the fabric. "You wanna go back to your place and change?"

"What!" Ben said, pretending to be offended. "I'm wearing boyfriend shirt!"

Dean sniffed and pulled away. "And day old drawers."

Ben pouted, then sighed. "Fine, you have a point."

Dean was quiet for most of the drive, watching the world stream by as Ben drove. They were only a few blocks from his place when Dean spoke.

"Your sister totally has you pegged. Us pegged."

"Huh?" he asked, sparing a quick glance at Dean.

"She made a joke about it, um, like, she knows that you're. That we, um, do, like, that you listen to me." Dean's rosy cheeks were back. Ben focused on the road so he didn't get a boner.

"I'm not very good at it," Ben said. "You'll probably have to punish me for it."

"Mmm-hmm," Dean hummed his approval. "You don't mind, that she knows?"

Ben shrugged. "She knows me, I dunno. I dunno what to say. She's gonna be her, no matter what I do."

Dean snorted. "You two are so alike."

"Then I'm glad you're into guys." He was fishing, he knew it, and so did Dean.

"I'm into you, Ben. Just you."

Ben's face burned and butterflies filled his stomach, making him a little light-headed. "Love you, too," he whispered as he pulled into his driveway. He turned the car off and Dean got out without a word, then walked around to the back seat and grabbed out Ben's luggage.

"You didn't have to do that," he complained.

"Shut up, Ben, and open your door for me."

He swallowed hard, then jumped up to perform Dean's command. "Yes Sir," he whispered as he passed Dean, carefully walking up the snow-covered steps. "Careful, I didn't get to shovel or salt yet."