She Will Be Loved- Ben Tyler Cook

Chapter 9

Kasey's POV

June 15, 2015

I awoke in a bed that wasn't mine. I suppose I did that all the time since we've been to dozens of hotels on tour, but this wasn't a hotel bed. I was in a home, but it wasn't my home. I heard some chatter and clinking of dishes being washed downstairs, and the smell of coffee brewing filled the air. Sunlight flooded the room through the slits in the blinds. I rolled onto my other side to find Ben sound asleep, still in the same clothes as he wore yesterday. Then, the confusion faded and I realized I was in the Cook Household.

I fell asleep in the car last night, and someone must have carried me in. I scooted a little closer to Ben and kissed his cheek. A small, sleepy smile played with his lips, and I leaned my head on his chest, feeling his steady breathing that was somehow soothing. My eyes traveled around the room, realizing this was his old one. A "Ragtime" musical poster hung on one wall, and a bunch of photo collages were on another. Stacks of playbills peeked out of his closet. A bulletin board was above his desk, with photos and old reminders like "Tech Week starts next week" and "Don't forget- work on Saturday @ 7". I smiled at his sloppy handwriting and at some of the goofy photos.

"So this is where the famous 'Ben Cook' grew up, huh?" I joked, as I got out of bed to snoop around. Ben chuckled quietly, and his eyes fluttered open. He slowly sat up and watched me look through his playbill collection. After he'd finally gotten out of bed, he sat down next to me on the floor and put an arm around me as we looked through his collection together. True theatre nerds at heart. Once we'd reached the end, we put it all away and decided to go downstairs for the first time.

-

"Good morning- and hello, nice to meet you!" Mr. Cook chuckled. I laughed awkwardly, because I was nervous. I always hated meeting people for the first time, especially if neither of us knew what to say.

"Everyone, this is Kasey. Kasey, this is my mom and dad, Nick, Emma, and Kate," Ben introduced us as he poured us 2 mugs of coffee. We all exchanged our greetings, and chatted a bit, glad to get to know them. Nick and Kate were living in different states and had jobs of their own, but they were back in town to visit their family. DMC, Josh, and Sky were already in the living room playing Mario Kart with Ben's childhood friend, Jeremiah, laughing and yelling with him as if they too had grown up with him. Jeremiah seemed easy to bond with. Jeremiah was basically a family friend of the Cook family, and I'd met him over FaceTime with Ben. He was a sweet and funny guy, and I could tell Ben and him are good friends.

"Oh that's the last straw Sky. You told me you were good at this. We're doing solo version from now on," Jeremiah complained. He turned and saw me, and his face lit up and he smiled.

"Yo, Kasey! Good to finally see you not on a tiny screen! Has Ben driven you crazy yet?" He winked and extended his hand. I laughed and shook it. We talked for a little bit, I told him a little bit about tour and he told me stories of Ben, which Ben found embarrassing and playfully punched Jeremiah for it.

"Here take Sky's place, show us your skills." Jeremiah pried the remote out of Sky's hand as he complained. We played a couple of races, and we were all laughing and yelling at each other, and being jokingly aggressive.

"Beat THAT Sky." I got high-fived by everyone because of my first place win, and did a little victory parade around the living room, before getting called to breakfast. Mrs. Cook made waffles for all of us, which was really generous considering there were 11 people to feed.

"Is that a Michael Kors ring? I love it!" Emma exclaimed. We then spent the next ten minutes raving over our favorite jewelry we had, and moved onto our favorite makeup and clothes brands. She even told me about her high school, and the dance school she belonged to. I could tell I was going to be good friends with Emma and the rest of the Cooks. Everyone was chattering, contributing to the cheery environment. Why was I so nervous? They're all so awesome, I thought to myself.