Page 15 of Beauty and the Nerd

“You don’t have to defend her Em. I can’t begin to defend her, so you certainly shouldn’t.

” He was not about to let her think it was right.

Hell, even if a girl had played him, he still wouldn’t let his mother act like that.

He wasn’t that much of a loser that he needed his mama to protect him.

Her dad’s protectiveness was entirely different from the shit his mom just pulled.

It came from a place of concern, while his mother’s didn’t really make a lot of sense other than that she wasn’t in control of the situation.

“Come on, let’s get the hell out of here.

I’m not going to let her upset you further. ”

“I’m okay now.” She lifted her face to his with a soft smile as he wiped away the traces of her tears. “I’ve had other moms say that at least I was pretty, even if not smart at dinners before, I guess I just wasn’t expecting to hear that first thing.”

“You shouldn’t have heard it period because my mom never should have said it.

She really shouldn’t have said you were just sleeping with me so I’d do your homework because at least then I wouldn’t have told her you were still a virgin,” he countered putting a new smile on her lips and a blush into her cheeks.

“Please tell me you didn’t Ben.” She let out a soft groan at his nod. “Now I really can’t show my face in there again.”

“Why? Because you think she’ll be thinking that you’re just stringing me along with the hope that I’ll get the chance to rid you of yours, so I won’t leave school one?

” She shrugged lightly, making him laugh.

“Don’t worry, I told her I wasn’t one already, so she could stop thinking she knew what was going on when she doesn’t. ”

She gasped, her jaw dropping slightly in surprise. “You told her? Ben!”

“Now she can think like your dad is that I’m trying to talk you into sleeping with me,” he added, kissing her neck making her laugh. “That’s better, I hate it when you’re upset.” He cupped the back of her neck gently before kissing her. “I love you happy, baby.”

“Me too.” She sighed, her eyes shutting as he kissed her forehead.

Comfort washed through her with the soft gesture giving her the strength to pull back and look at herself in the mirror.

A soft groan slipped from her lips seeing her eyeliner smeared from trying to stop the tears along with the tracks of it down her cheeks.

It was awful. She looked like a raccoon and dug into her bag for the little packet of makeup remover wipes she carried in case of rain or the unexpected overnight stay with friends.

She mopped up her eye makeup before using the mascara to brighten them and hide the redness a bit better.

Then swiped a little powder onto her cheeks to hide the last of her tears before turning back towards Ben with a half-smile.

“Gorgeous as always. I really like you without makeup though, you don’t need it,” he stated, and she grinned lifting up to kiss him softly.

“Thank you.” She slid her hand into his, ready to face someone other than just him now.

He moved them out of the bathroom, sliding his free hand onto her back to guide her to the door for her coat and stopped when he heard his dad call his name.

“Come back to dinner Ben and please bring Emma,” he said as he turned to face them.

“No, I’m not about to let someone upset her again,” Ben stated, keeping his arm around her as his mom came out into the hallway.

“I’m sorry,” his mom said meeting his gaze. “I just…I just don’t want you being hurt Ben.”

“And naturally, because Emma’s gorgeous, you think that she couldn’t possibly truly be interested in me.

Like I said before, way to have confidence in me Mom and way to judge someone based solely on looks.

” His jaw tightened in irritation again.

“Emma’s had enough people judge her based on her looks, think she was just another pretty face.

I thought that my family would be different.

That even if it surprised you, that you’d trust my judgement.

Know I’d never be stupid enough to let some pretty face fool me.

Take the time to get to know her the way I did, so you can see why she means so much to me, see how amazing she is.

Especially after I told you how special she is to me.

I told her that you’d all love her, but you wouldn’t even give her a freaking chance.

So no, I’m not going to make her stay and eat dinner while she feels like she’s being judged.

You don’t get to judge her. You don’t get a say in who I date, period. ”

“Ben we’re sorry,” his dad said with a smile at his insistence of protecting Emma. “We can clearly see that you’re invested in this relationship, and we’d like the chance to get to know Emma.”

Ben shook his head at them putting a smile onto Emma’s lips. “Maybe another night when I know Mom will act like an adult.”

“Hey, it’s alright,” she said softly resting her good hand on his chest. “We can stay.”

“I don’t want you upset, especially not because of my family, Em.”

“I’m fine, really.” She just wanted to get this over with; she didn’t know if she’d be able to face coming back another night after this. “Dinner’s already ready, and we’re here. Let’s just stay.”

“You’re sure?” he asked, and she nodded smiling when he dropped a kiss onto her temple bringing her into his hold. “Alright but I swear if you so much as…”

“Ben, stop,” Emma said, trying not to smile at the look he gave his mother.

She’d never had someone stand up for her so much, especially a guy against his own family.

While it wasn’t the first time a date’s mother hadn’t liked her on sight, they’d never been this blatantly antagonistic towards her and she really hoped it was just because she didn’t know her.

“Never when it comes to you Em,” he stated, before walking her back to the dining room tossing a ‘shut up’ look at his brother when he started to ask him about not being a virgin.

“Please tell me it wasn’t that crazy Crystal person that’s always calling the house because she can’t get you on your cell,” Daphne said, and Emma lifted a brow at Ben in surprise at that news. “Eww, that’s so gross. Seriously big brother, you need your head examined for that one.”

“You slept with Crystal from the academic bowl team?” Tara asked, gripping her water glass tightly barely breathing.

“Can we not discuss this right now?” Ben stated, feeling his ears redden now that the rage that caused him to blurt that out wasn’t feeding his anger to the same point.

“I think it’s a conversation we should have, just perhaps not with your brother and sister around,” Simon suggested letting Emma relax into the seat glad to be beyond it.

“Alright, so we hear you’re still a virgin and Homecoming Queen?” Adam said, earning a dark glare from Ben putting a blush on her cheeks.

“Stuff it, Adam, or else,” Ben warned before leaning over to give Emma a soft kiss.

“Ah man, not while I’m eating.” Adam groaned as Daphne giggled watching them.

“Hush both of you,” Tara stated, as they passed the food around to fill their plates. She kept an eye on Ben and Emma, meeting her husband’s gaze when Ben reached over her to take the heavy plate of the meat before Emma could begin to attempt it.

“Would you stop?” Emma said with a grin at him.

“No, not when you’re still wearing that brace,” he stated, putting a piece onto her plate before taking the heavy ceramic casserole dish from his aunt that contained the baked beans.

“What happened to your arm?” Daphne asked, looking between them. “You’re a cheerleader, right? I remember seeing you at the football game we went to earlier this year.”

“Yes, I’m a cheerleader,” Emma said watching his mom for her reaction to that news. She saw Tara’s eyes tighten slightly but that was as far as it went, and she relaxed further. “I was in a car accident two weeks before break. I broke my arm and then sprained it this weekend.”

“That wasn’t very long to be wearing a cast; most doctors go with six weeks not four, don’t they?” Tara said, and Ben nodded.

“It was a light break, and someone made sure I wore the sling and didn’t use it letting it heal quickly,” she stated, shooting Ben a smile.

“I doubt you would have sprained it if you were still wearing the cast though, sometimes I think doctors purposely do things to get you back in there,” Tara said, and Ben slid a hand over taking Emma’s hurt one into his, his thumb rubbing across the top of it, jumping in to stop her rant.

“She wouldn’t have sprained it period if her ex hadn’t been a jerk this weekend while we were at the mall.

He wasn’t happy that Emma broke up with him and didn’t like that we were walking around enjoying our day,” Ben said, and Emma gave him a light smile.

“We haven’t told everyone at school we’re dating yet.

It’s none of their business what’s between us, whether we’re just friends or more, and we didn’t want to deal with their questions, but it seems that Carter doesn’t want Emma to be happy period. ”

“What happened?” Simon asked, seeing the look that crossed their faces.

“Carter grabbed my arm and twisted it. I felt a small pop, and we ended up going back to my house, putting some ice on it to see what it did. My parents came home from their anniversary trip, and it was a little swollen, so we stopped by the hospital for them to x-ray it, make sure Carter hadn’t broken it again.

He was driving me home when the car accident happened,” she clarified seeing the women’s brows lift in surprise.

“Was that this past Saturday?” Adam asked, and Ben nodded. “I heard that Carter Donovan got his nose broke at the mall this weekend. Joe said the cops stopped by his house later that night after he came home with his nose taped up.”

“Let’s just say that Carter now knows better than to mess with Emma and leave it at that,” Ben suggested.

“I don’t think we will Ben,” Simon said studying him closely. “Did you get into a fight with him?”

“I don’t like people calling my girlfriend a bitch, okay?

He wouldn’t shut up, was calling her nasty things, and he’d already hurt her, so I punched him.

A couple of the other guys stepped in after hearing about what led up to the car accident until the security guards got there to escort him out of the mall,” Ben said keeping his hold on Emma’s hand as she breathed in deeply at the statement.

“No way,” Adam said looking between them in shock.

“No way, what?” Daphne asked, wanting to know what was going on.

“Let’s just say that Joe heard the cops say they were informed that the accident happened because he’d tried to sexually assault the girl with him,” Adam stated, and Ben shot him a dark look. “Hey, that’s what he said.”

“Is it true?” Daphne asked with a glance at Emma.

“We were at a friend’s place at the lake, I told him I wanted to go home, and he wasn’t happy that I didn’t want to sleep with him.

He grabbed me and pulled me over towards him when the accident happened.

I hit my head on the steering wheel then flew forward hitting it and my arm against the dash, and I passed out after the paramedics got me out of the truck.

When I woke up at the hospital all I wanted was for Ben to be there with me, to stop pretending I liked someone I couldn’t actually begin to stand,” Emma answered leaning her head against his shoulder as he hugged her to his side.

“I wasn’t about to let her go after hearing what happened, so no matter what anyone thinks or says, this is happening. If you don’t like it, then just keep it to yourself,” Ben stated, calming her enough that they could eat without worrying.