Let me live | Hardzello♡

Chapter 9

That night, Joe slept better than he did before while in the hospital. He just felt ten times safer cuddled up against Ben's chest.
Unlike other nights, he only woke up once. The previous nights here in the hospital he would wake up several times every night. He just didn't feel safe enough to close his eyes and trust nothing would happen.
But this night, it's different.
When he woke up this night because of a slight headache, he first startled a bit when he noticed that someone else was in his bed. But then he remembered it was just Ben. A smile appeared on his face when Ben stirred in his sleep and put his strong arms around Joe's small frame.
The ginger kind of feels like things were meant this way. Him and Ben meeting in the hospital. He can't imagine having someone else as roommate. Ben makes him laugh every day again, despite their situation and the fact that the boy has just lost his dad.
Joe feels like he made another best friend.

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The next morning, Joe is awakened by someone shaking him back and forth. He can feel the mattress denting a little, indicating someone is sitting down on the bed. The ginger groans softly, not wanting to open his eyes.
"Joey! Wake up, wake up, wake up!" Joe hears as he feels a small someone excitedly crawl onto his stomach.
Next to him, the ginger can feel Ben stir a little because of the voices in their room.
"Joey!"
"John, be gentle."
"But dad, he needs to wake up! I wanna show him my new teddy bear!"
That's when Joe slowly opens his eyes. He sees John sitting on top of his stomach with twinkles in his eyes. "What do you want you little monster?" He asks with a sleepy grin.
John looks at him with a big smile. "Look what I got!" He says excitedly before showing Joe his new stuffed animal.
Joe looks at the teddy bear. "Oh wow. How did you get this?" He asks John before winking at his stepdad, who's sitting in a chair in front of the window.
A bright smile appears on John's face. "Dad won it for me at the fair." The little boy says beaming.
Joe looks at his stepdad, who just nods with a smile.
"Hmm, the fair sounds fun." Ben suddenly mumbles. He opens his eyes and yawns.
John nods. "It was! I even got a cotton candy." He says as if he's bragging.
Joe rolls his eyes with a smile. "Oh, I'm so jealous." He says in a sarcastic voice. But despite that, he sees a proud look appear on his brother's face.

"Where's mom? At work?" Joe asks his stepdad.
The latter shakes his head. "No, she's still in bed. She has been throwing up all morning and she had a headache. So I figured she'd like some rest. Seemed a good idea to take that little bounce ball over there out of the house." Will says as he looks at John.
Joe giggles softly. "Yeah, I'd say so." He nods.
Ben looks up with a worried look, slightly alarmed at the mention of the throwing up. "Throwing up? Is your mum okay?" He asks with a worried look.
Joe smiles and nods. "Don't worry. This isn't something serious. It's kind of the good kind of being sick." He lets his head rest on Ben's shoulder, hoping the boy won't mind.
Ben raises his eyebrow. "How is being sick good?" He asks confused.
"Mommy is having a baby!" John cheers before Joe can answer.
Ben immediately smiles widely. "Really? Congratulations!" He says to Joe and his stepdad, who both just smile widely at that.

After a bit of chit chatting, Will sits up a little. "So, how do you get through the evenings? Don't you get bored?" He asks the two boys.
Ben shrugs. "Well, last night we compared our lives to see who's sucked the most." He mutters, not sure if Joe's stepfather heard what he said.
But judging by the frown appearing on the man's face, he did hear what Ben just said. "And what was the final score?"
Joe sighs. "We called it a draw." He mumbles. "How about you? How is the bedtime reading going?" He looks at John, who is still sitting on top of him.
His stepdad rolls his eyes. "Ugh, don't even get me started. That teddy bear was our last hope to get him to sleep at night." He says with his eyes on his son.
John, pretending he doesn't hear his father, plops down on top of Joe with his head resting on the ginger's chest.
"Has he really been that fussy?" Joe asks with a chuckle.
Will nods. "Apparently your mom and I are both not as good at reading stories as you are. We even took him to the library so he could pick a story himself, but to no avail. Last night it was 01:00 Am, and he still wasn't asleep." He says with a sigh.
A loud giggle is heard from John, who has just been playing with his teddy bear against Joe's chest.
Joe's stepdad crosses his arms. "See? He even thinks it's funny."
Ben looks at the little boy, seeing the mischief in his eyes. The blond has to make an effort not to laugh, but he doesn't want to encourage John.
Joe chuckles softly at his stepdad's despair. With his index finger, Joe lifts John's head so the little boy has no choice but to face him. "Listen to me you little monster." He says with a stern look in his eyes. "You're gonna stop fussing when it's bedtime. Because Dad has huge bags under his eyes and it's not suiting him." The ginger smirks a little as he winks at his stepdad.
John starts pouting. "But Joey, I can't sleep without you telling me our story. Mom and dad don't know it." He says softly.
Joe smiles, now finally understanding what this is about. When John was born he made up a small fairytale that he has been telling the little boy every night since. "Well, how about I call you every night to tell you our story? But you have to promise to go to sleep after that." He suggests.
John nods with a big smile. "Yes!" He exclaims.
Then Will gets up. "So uhm, could I maybe leave John here with you two for a while? I have to do some groceries." He asks.
Joe smiles and nods. "Yeah sure. Could you bring me and Ben some popcorn? Then at least we have something to eat while watching movies. Hospital food is gross." He says with a disgusted look on his face.
Ben smiles at that, actually quite excited to cuddle with Joe while watching movies.
"Yes, of course." With those words Joe's stepdad leaves the room.

"So... just to clarify, that was your stepfather, right?" Ben asks once the door of the room is closed.
Joe giggles and nods. "Yes. But I actually see him more as my real dad. And my biological father feels like a stranger to me." He mutters.
Ben yawns and nods. "Yeah, I get that." He whispers.
John giggles. "Benny is a sleepyhead too, just like you!" He says, pointing at the blond.
Joe laughs when he sees the indignant look on Ben's face. "Thanks John."
The blond boy gets up slowly and sits down on the edge of his own bed.
John takes that chance to roll off Joe's chest and to take Ben's place. He curls up against his big brother and closes his eyes.
"Great, now I'm stuck with two sleepyheads." Joe says with a smirk.
Ben chuckles softly and closes his eyes as well.

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Hi guys. I'm sad to tell you that my cat passed away yesterday.
Which is why this chapter hasn't been proof-read, and I probably won't write the upcoming weeks. So uploads might take a while. I hope you'll understand💔

Love from me xxx