I Choose You

One Month Later

One Month Later

Cassie stretched her tired limbs and opened her eyes against the harsh light coming into the bedroom. She smiled when she felt Ben's arm come around her stomach and hold her close. This is usually how it is every morning.

She turned to him and he was already giving her that cute Benedict smile. "Good morning, love," he said in a harsh morning voice. Cassie gave him a chaste kiss and said, "Good morning, Mr. Cumberbatch. Sleep well?"

"With you in my arms?" He asked. "Of course I did." He brought her in for another kiss, then dreadfully watched as she got out of bed. "Where are you going?" He asked. "It's Sunday, neither of us have work today." 

She peaked her head out of the bathroom and said, "And neither of us have packed for our three week long trip to my parents, which is what we will be doing all day." She went back into the bathroom as Ben thought about that. 

He was meeting her parents. Tomorrow. They've been dating for almost a year and this will be the first time he's meeting them. Somehow, it seemed wrong to him that he hasn't met them yet, but he obviously hasn't had much of a choice. Still, he knows it's the nerves talking and telling him that they won't like him and say that he's not good enough for their daughter.

Of course he knows he's not good enough for her and of course they know that, but it's not something to worry about. Right? He asked himself. Christ, just the thought of meeting them is making me sweat. Her family is so much larger than mine and not to mention her dad is like the fucking Hulk! If she gets mad at me and tells him, I'm afraid that'll be the end of my life.

He looked over to her nightstand and saw the family picture of her, her parents and Jordan the day she left for school. He gulped when he looked at her dad. With his smile, he looked like he could be a warm teddy bear, but fuck with his family and Ben can tell he'll stop at nothing until everyone who has ever hurt them is dead. 

Not to mention that her mom looked like one tough cookie, as well. 

"You okay?" Cassie's voice asked, causing him to jump a little. He looked over and saw her standing in front of the bed with some shirts in her hands, eyeing him curiously. He gulped and cleared his throat before telling her, "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Breakfast?"

She nodded and said, "Sure. Eggs?" As he got up from bed, he told her, "Let me see if we have any. If not, I'll grab us something at the café." Since they were living in a studio apartment, he only had to walk a few feet to the kitchen.

Their place was very small, but cozy enough to where they could last a couple more weeks. After they come back from visiting Cassie's parents, they'll only have two more weeks until they'll need to move back to Manchester. Luckily, they found an even bigger studio there and for a lot cheaper than this place. 

Ben looked in the fridge for anything they could eat, but didn't find anything but yogurt and beer. He hummed, then shut the door. "Right," he breathed, before calling, "I'm going to the café! Want the usual?"

He could hear her muffled voice in the bathroom call, "Yes, please! Extra fruit this time!" Smiling, he grabbed his jacket and wallet, then headed down to the bustling streets of London. He only walked to the store right next to the building. 

"Benedict!" A man cheerily greeted. "The usual?" Chuckling, Ben told him, "Yes, thank you and extra fruit with Cassie's please." The man started gathering their egg sandwiches together, warmed them up, then put them in a bag. 

Ben paid him, then made his way back to the studio. "I've got an egg sandwich with a side of extra fruit," he called, as he walked through the door. Cassie came bounding out of the bathroom, as he was taking them out of the bag.

"Thank you, babe," she said, then gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Let's try and eat these while we pack. We really need to get this done." She took a bite of her sandwich as she grabbed her suitcase from underneath the bed. Ben just leaned against the counter and ate his. 

A moment later, he heard her voice say, "Benedict, I'm serious!" Sighing, he made his way over and grabbed his suitcase. He may be a little annoyed with her now, but he loves every second of living with her. 

He gets to fall asleep and wake up to her every single day. He gets to be goofy, they have their game nights and ice cream nights...they have each other. If it weren't for her, he would be going to work in wrinkled clothes, or going out on their dates in yellow shirts and maroon pants.

Not to mention the privacy. They haven't touched up on sex yet, which he is perfectly fine with because she isn't ready. They've explored other things since the month they've been here, but it was even better because there was no fear of someone barging in on them.

"What time is our flight again?" He asked. "Early," she told him. "And I mean early, so no funny business tonight." He snickered and grabbed a handful of his shirts from the drawers and dropped them in his suitcase. They were already folded (thanks to his girlfriend who always made sure they were folded and unwrinkled), so it was an easy pack. 

He tossed all of his shirts and all of his shorts and jeans into the suitcase, along with his underwear and socks. He went into the bathroom, where Cassie was packing up a bag with her toothbrush and everything else in it. 

"Almost done?" She asked. He nodded and told her, "I just threw everything I owned into that massive case." They both packed up their toiletries together and sighed triumphantly when they were done. 

"Okay, now leave," Cassie demanded. He gave her a double take. "Why?" He asked. She started to lightly bounce up and down as she said, "Because I have to pee! Go!" He chuckled, but stood his ground. "It's not like I haven't seen you before," he said. 

She rolled her eyes and tried to push him out, but he wouldn't budge. "Fine," she huffed, before going over to the toilet and pushing down her pants. Ben was getting some shaving cream from the cupboard, when he said, "I don't hear anything."

She took a toilet paper roll and threw it at him. "I can't pee when you're in the room!" He laughed and tossed her the toilet paper. When he looked down, he said, "Oh, you shaved!" She shook her head and covered herself. 

"That was for tonight," she told him. "And if you don't get out, you won't see it for another three weeks." He pouted, then said, "You can't be without my tongue for three weeks and you and I both know it." When she gave him a glare, he sighed and walked out of the bathroom. 

In the meantime, he closed up his and her's suitcases and set them by the door. They were both very quick and efficient packers, which is what made them a great traveling duo. 

A few minutes later, she came out of the bathroom and said, "Well, now that that's done, we can started packing for our new home!" Ben whined and fell face first into the couch.