--(benji) i'llbe your number one

[MIRA CITALIX SANTIAGO]

Though she didn’t say anything to Benji about it, Mira was starting to feel like either the tour was a curse on her or she was a curse on the tour. According to the people she had talked to while she was gone, the tour site had been pretty quiet and chill in her absence. The day she flew in to Cali and spent the night in a hotel with Benji? Not a word. Then, literally, after being on the bus at the tour site for a few measly hours all fucking hell breaks loose. Was it any surprise that it came in the form of a text from David Harlem? Probably not. But the big surprise was it ended with her trying to kiss and quietly calm her boyfriend down after cleaning up his hand because he punched a window in the bathroom on their bus. Yeah. That bad. When the scene had turned less volatile and the two of them were wrapped up in each others arms trading words of love and had decided to go out in to California and wander the streets together.

Hours later, Converse shoes with her socks stuffed in them in one hand and Benji’s fingers laced with her own of the other hand, they walked along the sandy shores of California. The sun was setting and it was one of the most beautiful things Mira had ever seen. She had been to California before and knew all about how the Pacific ocean was more clean and beautiful than the Atlantic and how California sunsets beat out New Jersey sunrises any day. But it was a whole different experience when you just got done watching the Hangover II and having real Mexican food with the person you’re head over heels in love with.

“Let’s stay at a hotel tonight, baby,” Mira leaned her body in to Benji’s and rested her head on his shoulder. The fact that she could call him that still got her giddy. She had truly missed his constant presence when he was in New York. “It just… seems like bad luck, you know? It‘s like they wont just let us be...” Her head tilted back and she looked up to study his face and her voice lowered a little, “Sometimes I think about doing what Trin said, you know, and just… quitting the tour. I know I did all that talking about what my dad was saying and all but-- it’s easier said than done.”

The arm lugging her Chucks wrapped itself around the front of his waist. “Do you think we’d be happier if we just left? I mean… look at today. Just a couple of hours around them and look at what happened.” Her tell tale nervous tick, chewing on her lower lip, started up. That just showed she was truly giving the question real thought. “I don’t want every day to be us fighting with people and letting them get to us, Benji.”

tagged: benjaybanjo • word count: 497
lyrics: sugar, we're going down by fallout boy
››outfit‹‹

[BENJI UMBERTO MORETTI]

you think i'd leave your side, baby?
you know me better than that

benji didn’t know what had come over him. at one point he was fine. sitting around with mira doing nothing and enjoying her return from new york, and then the moment was snatched from them by none other than david harlem. benji had gotten so angry that he sent a threatening text to dave and reply after reply david fucking harlem poked and prodded at his intelligence. benji snapped. to say the least. luckily for david, jimmy had been on the bus at the time and stopped the young guitarist from getting off the bus. which only made benji more angry. he stormed through the bus, kicking and punching things in anger til, eventually, he made it to the bathroom where he punched out the window and injured himself pretty badly. luckily for him, he had a girlfriend that could handle him when he was angry. and she, mira, came into the restroom and succeeded in calming him down after a while. then cleaned up his hand and moments later, the love birds had flown out of their nest and onto the streets of california. they went for a movie, ate some amazing authentic Mexican food and then went for a walk to the beach.

and here they were, shoes in one hand and the other hand laced with their lover’s. it was peaceful, and benji was happy. there was nothing, he knew, that could bring him out of that mood right then. he couldn’t help but smile when she suggested they stay at a hotel. he nodded. “of course, mio amore.” he said before kissing her forehead gently. he shook his head. “that’s what haters do, babe. they get off on that shit. screw everyone that’s against us.” he said, his voice serious. it seemed that, lately, everyone wanted to do something to get in between mira and benji. maybe it was his mind being over analytical, but he didn’t know who he could trust to be around mira and not try anything. part of him thought he had a point, the other part thought he was just being paranoid. of course, he woudn’t say any of this to mira because he didn’t want her to think he was crazy, but still.

“no, screw trin. it’s an obstacle that’s meant to make you stronger, this tour. I know it. cuz it’s the same with me. you just gotta… we just gotta stick it through. we got each other, right?” he asked, smiling down at her slightly. of course they had each other, benji knew he needed her. he sighed some. “today… today was… today was shit.” he admitted. “but, we won’t let it get to there. we can’t. we’re finally together and we’re happier together than apart. screw everyone else that’ll try to fuck this up for us, mira.”

TAGGED mira moretti WORD COUNT 486MUSE okay. LYRICS 'by your side' by beachwood sparks NOTES love mira & benjo.

[MIRA CITALIX SANTIAGO]

As her boyfriend spoke a small smile slowly began to form on her face. When people brought up Benji’s level of intelligence it always spun her in to a defensive rage. Part of it was because Mira was so fed up with people picking at his biggest insecurity. The other part was, well, because she truly didn’t believe that he was unintelligent or slow or whatever else other people (and sometimes himself) would say about him. It might not make sense to those who knew Mira was usually his first stop for knowledge. How could the person he ask the most questions to not think that he was an idiot. That was because of moments like this. And the moments when she explained things to him and he turned around and repeated the information in his own way or when she heard him use certain words or theories to other people later. Mira refused to think he was dumb. Just like other people, there were things Benji hadn’t learned yet. That’s all it was.

When he was done, her smile had grown considerably. Less over the realization that he was completely correct-- that she’d be happier with Benji on this tour, fighting side by side to keep other people from dragging them in to misery than without him back in New York or New Jersey wishing she was with him every second-- and more because her wonderful boyfriend, who she loved, just gave her a sensible peptalk to keep her there with him. “I love you.” It was random, but Mira was a firm believer that there wasn’t a specific time or place that you should say it, nor did you need a reason. “I’m not leaving and we’re not leaving together. You’re right. We can do this.”

She rose up on her tip toes so she could give him a quick kiss on the lips then kept walking towards their unknown destination. The view was wonderful but the smell of the ocean and Benji’s cologne, the feel of the breeze gradually becoming colder as the sun set and the presence of the person she was always meant to be with was almost overwhelmingly perfect to Mira. Most people used the term ‘now I could die happy’ loosely-- but to Mira, it meant something totally different. Benji brought a whole different aspect to her life that she never thought she would truly get being she was sick. But now that she was having the perfect moment with the perfect person, she truly thought that now she could die happy.

“I was thinking about what you said that one day-- about how you’d move to New York for me cause I wanted to be close to my parents… Well, maybe after the tour we could… you know… look in to stuff like that.” Too early? Not really, considering that for the six years they were practically joined at the hip as ‘best-friends’ they could have easily been living under each others roof.

tagged: mister moretti (; • word count: 501
lyrics: sugar, we're going down by fallout boy
››outfit‹‹

[BENJI UMBERTO MORETTI]

you think i'd leave your side, baby?
you know me better than that

mira was the only person in the world – besides his family - that could make benji feel like he was smart. whenever he was feeling like shit and feeling like a total dumbass, he could always count on her to help him out of the dumps and make him feel good once again. I love you. she’d said. and benji looked down at her. he rested his cheek on her head for a second and took a deep breath. “I love you too.” he said, with every ounce of feeling and love he had thrown into each and every letter. benji smiled wide and nodded. “yeah. we got each other. we’ll be perfect. we’ll be fine. nobody’ll be in our way, babe. just me and you. forever and ever.” he laughed lightly to himself and kissed the top of her head before she planted a kiss on his lips. benji moretti was a very happy man right now. and he was sure he’d be a happy man til the day mira santiago left him forever.

a heavy, happy sigh left his skinny body as they walked in the sand. her hand in his, the sun setting. it was like a scene from the sappiest chick flick in the world. benji smiled happily at the thought, ecstatic that his wasn’t a movie. this was his actual, no shit, life. mira started talking again and benji put every ounce of attention he had on her. “mhm?” he said at the start. he laughed from excitement. “yeah! yeah we can, babe. of course. I… I’d be fucking geeked if we did.” he laughed again then stopped walking and wrapped both his arms around mira’s waist. “we’ll look into houses... apartments, whatever. and..” he put on a thinking face for a moment. “and then we’ll get married, yeah?” he smiled wide and planted a soft kiss on her lips. “and we’ll have kids. I should tell you now, a little mira is in my heart. a little girl that can be just as fierce and strong as her mother. and as beautiful – of course.” he kissed her again and took a deep breath. “course, a little benji would insure some good times. moretti men are difficult, if you haven’t already noticed.” he pressed his nose gently against hers. as he took in her coconut scent and positive energy around her, he couldn’t help but wonder why the hell he hadn’t just come out with his feelings earlier. if he had, then maybe – just maybe – they’d be past this and already getting settled in the perfect place for the two of them….

“mira?” he said softly, taking his nose from hers and looking in her eyes. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I loved you when I first knew. back in high school…” he frowned slightly. then he leaned in and kissed her lips. “I will make it up to you though. I promise.” he said, smiling again. benji looked around and pointed towards the water. “let’s go lay out on the sand, yeah? we might not see many sunsets like this after the tour, love.”

TAGGED mira moretti WORD COUNT 522 MUSE okay. LYRICS 'by your side' by beachwood sparks NOTES love mira & benjo.