Chapter Text
Ben wakes up slowly with his arm tightly wound around Leslie's middle. He smiles at the sight of her in his bed, stretching his arms up and being careful as to not jostle her too much, sitting up.
His phone makes a noise and he groans sleepily as he turns it on.
Cindy - Hey, Ben. Sarah wants to go on a double date. When are you free?
Ben - Anytime. Leslie's suspended and I'm unemployed.
C - We're thinking Wednesday night. Is that good?"
B - Perfect.
Leslie chooses this moment to wake up, slowly rising into a seated position the way Ben had just minutes before.
"How are you doing?" Ben whispers to her happily.
"I'm going crazy. I want to go to work!" Leslie whines.
"I know." He scoots closer to her, resting his hand on her thigh. He leans back against the headboard and Leslie rests her head on his shoulder. He brushes his lips against her forehead, his right arm coming up to wrap around her shoulders, and she smiles.
"I know you want to go to work, but maybe there are some other things we can do to pass the time."
"Like what?" Leslie asks, feigning innocence.
"I think you know exactly what I'm talking about," he says as he kisses her.
"I think I do."
//
"What restaurant are we going to?" Sarah asks as she applies her pink lipstick.
Cindy runs her hairbrush a few more times through her waist-length hair just to be safe before turning back to her girlfriend and saying, "Italian food. That one we went to a few months ago, when Ben kept texting me stupid shit."
"Ooh, I like that restaurant. What's it called?"
"Antonelli's," Cindy says, coming out of the bathroom.
"You look beautiful, by the way."
"You're not so bad yourself."
"You suck," Sarah says, pushing back a loose strand of red hair in the midst of faint laughter, her green eyes sparkling, matching her dress.
"You love it," Cindy retorts, giving herself a once-over in the mirror before coming out of the bathroom, smoothing out the non-existent wrinkles on her burgundy dress. "Why are we doing this double date again? I'm not against it; I just wanna know."
"Because," Sarah starts, "We have all been through so much dumb shit that it would be nice to have a moment to reflect on how things have changed. Also, Leslie's losing her mind with the suspension."
"Yeah, it's actually kind of funny."
"She called me at 3am yesterday asking me if I wanted to bake cookies with her,so no, it's not that funny."
"But as an unaffected outsider, it is," Cindy points out.
"First of all, you're not an outsider in this. Second, you'll be singing a different tune the moment Leslie asks you to do something weird."
"Not really. My entire personality is being a chaotic dumbass."
"Yeah, true. Are you ready to go?" Sarah asks.
"Yeah. I gotta go bay at the moon real quick; give me a minute."
"Cindy!"
"Fine, I'll do it later," Cindy huffs in mock offense as they leave, shutting the door behind them.
//
"How early did you guys get here?" Cindy asks as she and Sarah approach Leslie and Ben at their table.
"Too early. I told Leslie we didn't need to," Ben defends himself.
"Well, I'm sorry that I want to get here on time to not inconvenience Sarah and Cindy."
"You can get somewhere on time without showing up 40 minutes early," Ben says, laughing at her.
"Shut up."
"This is off to a nice start," Sarah says.
A waiter arrives at their table after Cindy and Sarah sit down. "Order a calzone and I'll kill you," Cindy threatens him.
"Me too," Leslie says.
"Me three," Sarah pipes up.
Ben glares at the three of them as they put in their orders. Sarah orders fettuccine Alfredo, Cindy and Leslie order penne pasta, and Ben orders a calzone both for his own benefit and to spite everyone else.
"You suck," Cindy groans as he does.
Leslie nods her head ardently, and Sarah rolls her eyes at Ben.
"Why is everyone ganging up on me?" Ben asks.
"Because you did a stupid thing. Speaking of stupid, a little birdy told me you bought a Batman costume. When were you gonna tell me about that?"
"You did what?" Leslie asks, choking on her wine.
"I was going through some stuff!" Ben defends himself.
"Apparently."
"Who told you that anyway?"
"I don't reveal my sources."
"It was Donna, wasn't it?"
"Damn it. How did you know?"
"Just a guess."
"Speaking of Donna," Sarah says, holding her phone out for everyone to see.
Donna - How's everyone doing?
Ann - Fine, you?
Donna - On fire! I have a date with a sure thing.
Cindy - I get the sense the reason you asked us is so you can brag about that.
Donna - Bullseye.
April - Ew, this is gross.
Cindy - Agreed. But not worse than Ben's nerd sex, right?"
April - God, no.
Sarah - ...
Leslie - Guys-
April changed the chat name to Opposers of Nerd Sex.
"Can you guys stop talking about me in that group chat?" Ben interrupts their passionate texting, stabbing his calzone with his fork in frustration.
"We don't talk about you that often. You're not that interesting," Cindy goads him.
"More importantly, is the nerd sex thing a jab on both of us, or just Ben?"
"No, just Ben. Don't worry, Leslie, we love you."
Leslie cheers while Ben takes an annoyed sip from his glass of red wine.
"What? They like me," Leslie says, her bottom lip jutting out in a pout.
"If you weren't so cute, I'd kill you," Ben whispers to her, pressing a chaste kiss to her lips.
Cindy covers her eyes. "Gross," she says.
Ben's glare reappears as he gazes at Cindy. "However, I can always settle on killing Cindy."
"Way ahead of you," Sarah says, taking a bite of her fettuccine.
"I don't think you'll win," Leslie says, "I'm pretty sure Cindy here has a collection of knives."
Cindy snaps her fingers at Leslie. "Correct. I also have a number of other weapons."
"Is it just me or would she get along perfectly with Ron?" Leslie asks, turning to Ben.
"They hate emotions, drink alcohol, and love weapons. She already gets along with April, so why not?"
"How's the job search going, by the way?" Sarah asks Ben.
"Fine. I've been offered a few jobs but there's nothing that really speaks to me."
"You know what job speaks to me?" Cindy says.
Sarah rolls her eyes. "What, Cindy?"
"Coroner."
Sarah rolls her eyes. "Well, Lucinda, let's maybe not talk about dead people right now."
"Lucinda?" Ben whispers to them confusedly.
Cindy facepalms. "Sarah."
"That's a pretty name. I don't see what the big deal is," Leslie says.
"Me neither. Sarah thinks this is funny for some reason."
"Because it is."
"Moving on. How are you dealing with the suspension?"
"I. Am. Going. Crazy," Leslie says.
"She really is."
Leslie growls at Ben.
"That was weird," Sarah remarks.
"It was hot," Cindy quips back quickly.
"Uh, what?" Sarah turns to her with a bewildered look on her face.
Cindy rolls her eyes. "You know, Leslie, if you want we can do some stuff together to pass the time," Cindy offers, sending a subtle wink over to Sarah.
"Yes, please."
They eat the rest of their dinner happily, ganging up on Ben multiple times and discussing the infamous group chat. When Ben goes to the bathroom, Cindy puts a whoopee cushion where he was sitting while Sarah and Leslie hold back laughter and questions about why Cindy had a whoopee cushion with her in the first place.
They drink a more wine and then talk outside for a little bit, waiting for the alcohol to wear off, and when it does, Leslie and Ben drive off together, and so do Sarah and Cindy.
Sarah was right; it was a good idea to go out tonight.
It's coming full circle now. Several months ago, Cindy and Ben went on a date where they agonized over their wanting what they couldn't have.
Now, after a lot of unnecessary drama, like Cindy's parents, Leslie and Ben's breakup, the fights, and the trial, they all came out on top.
Cindy and Ben became friends because they wanted to vent about their mutual frustration, and although things didn't turn out exactly how they had planned, it's not frustration anymore.
It's satisfaction.