Let me live | Hardzello♡

Chapter 17

"Good morning boys." Lucy says as she enters the room. "Joe, sweetie, can I talk to you for a sec?"
Joe lets out a soft giggle. "Lucy, I'm in the hospital. I have more than a sec." He says.
Ben laughs at that.
Lucy rolls her eyes with a smile. "Yeah yeah, alright." She says. "Anyways, I wanted to talk to you about your medication and upcoming surgery."
The smile on Joe's face immediately disappears, making way for a nervous look. "What about it?" He asks, biting his lip.
Lucy gives him a reassuring look. "Don't worry, nothing serious. It's just that because of your heart murmur we're going to add a new type of medicine to the preparation for your surgery. And since your surgery will be in two days, we're gonna start with that medication today." She explains.
Joe frowns. "Does that mean that I'm gonna be loopy for two whole days?"
Lucy shakes her head. "No, don't worry. The medicine we're gonna give you today will make you loopy. But tomorrow's won't have any side effects, luckily." She clarifies. 
Joe shows her a small smile, already a bit less anxious. "Okay then." He says with a nod.
"The doctor will be right here to attach you to the IV." Lucy says with a smile before leaving the room.

When Joe looks next to him, he sees Ben nearly falling asleep. "Hey you. How's the pain?" He looks at Ben's chest, which is still bandaged.
Ben yawns. "Hmm, it's great. I don't feel any pain at all. These drugs are amazing." The boy says in a slightly slurred speech.
Joe isn't sure whether he's slurring because of the drugs or simply because he's tired, but he can't help but smile.
"They do make you sleepy though." Ben adds with a sleepy frown.
Joe giggles softly. "Well maybe you should go to sleep then?" He suggests with a smile.
Ben smiles sleepily. "Yeah. Probably." He mumbles as he closes his eyes.
With a smile, Joe watches the boy slowly fall asleep. "Sweet dreams Benny." He whispers.
Ben mutters something inaudible back, before falling asleep completely.
"I just hope I won't wake you up when I'm high on medication." He whispers to the sleeping boy. He lets himself sink a little deeper into the mattress of his bed, waiting for the doctor to come in with the medication.

***

Ben isn't sure how long he has been asleep, but he wakes up because of someone crawling in bed with him. He yawns as his eyes slowly open. He immediately smiles when he sees Joe cuddled up against him. "You okay Joey?" The blond boy feels himself melt when the only answer he gets from Joe is a giggle.
"I missed my Benny booooy!" Joe says with a loud giggle.
Ben slowly wraps his arms around the ginger. He's glad that the high dose of pain relief from earlier still hasn't worn off. That way, cuddling with Joe now doesn't hurt. "How come you missed me?" He asks with a grin, loving how giggly the boy is because of the drugs.
Joe smiles widely. "Because you're my teddy bear! I love cuddling you." He giggles.
Somehow Ben finds himself blushing at that comment. He lets his forehead rest against Joe's, and closes his eyes.
For what seems like minutes, the two sit like that in silence.
Then Ben suddenly feels a finger tapping the tip of his nose.
"Boop." Joe giggles.
Ben opens his eyes again, looking at the boy with a huge smile. "Did you just-" But he doesn't get to finish his sentence.
"C'mon, you have to do it back!" Joe says full of excitement.
Ben giggles softly. "Okay then." He says. "Boop." He touches the tip of Joe's nose, earning a loud giggle from the boy.
Satisfied by Ben's actions, Joe nuzzles his face into the blond's neck. "That was fun." He mumbles.
Ben looks down at the boy in awe when Joe yawns. With an adoring smile on his face, Ben takes his hand in his own. "You should get some sleep Joey. You're obviously tired." He whispers.
Joe shakes his head. "Nooo, I wanna keep talking to my teddy bear." He groans.
Ben smiles. "Alright then. What do you wanna talk about?" He asks, knowing Joe will probably doze off soon anyway.

Joe thinks for a moment. "You wanna hear a little secret?" He asks with a mischievous smile.
Ben nods curiously.
Joe looks around, as if he's making sure no one is around to overhear his secret. "I have this big crush on someone." He whispers before letting out a soft giggle. "And I wanna kiss them sooo badly." He adds, his voice nearly above a whisper.
Without realising that's what that feeling is, Ben can feel his heart break a little. "Really? Who is this crush then?" He asks.
Joe giggles once again. "He has beautiful green eyes. And his smile is soooo cute. And- and I love talking to him. He makes me smile and I love it. He's my teddy bear. He is just so perfect I want to scream. Plus his blond hair is very soft." The boy rattles in one go before ruffling his hand through Ben's hair.
Ben's eyes widen as a surprised smile appears on his face. "Is- is it... me?" He asks full of hope.
Joe nods before covering Ben's mouth with his hand. "Shhhhh! Don't tell Ben." He whispers before he starts giggling again.
Ben frowns when the ginger suddenly sits up. "W-where are you going?" 
Joe yawns. "To bed. Need sleep." He mumbles.
Ben simply nods at that. He hesitates for a moment, but then grabs Joe's wrist to pull him closer. When the boy is just close enough, Ben gives him a kiss on the cheek. "Sweet dreams." He says softly.
Joe starts pouting, looking at Ben with big eyes. "More, please?"
Ben gives him a questioning look, not sure what the boy means.
"I want more kisses!" Joe giggles.
Ben bites his lip, not sure if he should do it. He knows Joe isn't saying all this stuff consciously, but only because of the medication. So kissing him again feels like taking advantage of that fact. But deep inside, Ben knows very well he really wants to. Before the boy can make up his mind, he feels Joe intertwining their fingers.
"Please Benny? Just one?" Joe asks with puppy eyes.
That's what makes Ben slowly lean in. But as soon as he does so, he groans softly in pain. And so instead of leaning in, he pulls Joe closer. He gently presses his lips against Joe's, starting a tender kiss. His heart flutters when he feels Joe's tongue running over his bottom lip. But despite that, the blond decides not to let the kiss go too far.
When they break the kiss, Ben can see Joe's eyes sparkle. "Sleep tight Joey." He whispers.
Joe gives him a goofy smile before crawling back into his own bed. "Goodnight teddy bear." He mumbles as he closes his eyes. It doesn't take him very long to doze off into a deep sleep.
Ben smiles at the boy, still feeling butterflies in his stomach from their kiss. When he feels the tiredness grow, he decides to close his eyes for a nap as well. Just like Joe, he quickly dozes off.

[][][]

That night, the side effect of Joe's medication has worn off. Ben is still asleep, but Joe woke up to the feeling of a huge headache. "My head feels like it's exploding." Joe says with a groan, answering Lucy's question about how he's feeling.
The girl frowns. "So not so good then. I'm sorry to tell you this, but I'm not allowed to give you any kind of pain relief at this hour." Lucy says.
Joe sighs, rubbing the side of his head in the hope to release some of the pain. "Well, when can you?" He groans.
Lucy checks her watch. "In about one and a half hours. Then I can give you a slightly higher amount so sleeping will be easier as well." She explains.
Joe nods, as a sign he understands. "I guess I'll see you in one and a half hours then." He mumbles.
Lucy nods before leaving the room with a sympathetic smile.

"Joey?" Ben suddenly speaks up.
A bit startled, Joe looks to his side. "H-hey, you startled me." He says. "I thought you were asleep?"
Ben yawns. "Hm. I was." He mumbles. "Can we cuddle?"
Joe nods, sitting up. "Okay. But tell me if I'm hurting you." He says as he sits down on the edge of Ben's bed.
Ben nods.
"Did I bother you when I was high from the meds this afternoon?" Joe asks once he's laying close to Ben's body.
The blond boy immediately starts to blush, thinking back to what Joe confessed to him this afternoon. "I uhm- I... N-no you didn't bother me." He stammers, not looking Joe in the eye.
The latter immediately notices that something is wrong. "Oh god, what did I do?" Joe asks worried.
But Ben stays silent.
And so, Joe intertwines his fingers with Ben's. "Please tell me?"
Ben feels his cheeks redden even more. "You uhm. You wanted to cuddle with me because you claimed I am your teddy bear." He stops talking, hesitating whether or not he should tell Joe about the next things that happened. "And then you... you told me a secret of yours."               
Joe immediately looks up, looking at Ben with a hint of anxiety in his eyes. "W-what did I say?" He asks, his voice barely above a whisper.
Ben takes a deep breath. "You said you like me, Joe. And that you want to kiss me..."

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Sorry to keep you waiting for this chapter, but I was on a school trip :)

It's almost confession time folks!

Kisses from me aka queenborhap_gifs♡