I'm going slightly mad // Hardzello

Chapter 34

When Rami opens the door Lucy is standing behind it. Rami looks her up and down. He hadn't been there when she left. He admires her outfit for a few seconds before looking up to meet her eyes. 
"Hey honey. I didn't know you would be back so early?" Rami asks.
"Yeah, well, Theresa wasn't feeling so well. So we decided to go home early." She says while leaning in for a kiss. Rami steps aside on the last moment to reveal Gwil sitting on the bed.
"Oh, hey Gwil. I didn't see you." She awkwardly waves at him.
"That doesn't happen that often." He jokes while standing up. His words earn a giggle from Lucy. Which causes Rami to smile at his girlfriend.
"Anyways, I should go. I am starting to get tired." Gwil says before walking past Lucy and Rami to the, still open, door.
"Gwil, thanks for telling me. We can talk about what we are going to do tomorrow if you would like?" Gwil has turned around to nod as an answer to Rami' question. Right before Rami shuts the door Gwil can hear Lucy asking what it was about. And Rami replied: "Nothing to worry about sweetheart." Gwil smiles at the couple before he walks back to his own room. He feels himself getting more tired with the second. As soon as his door is slammed shut behind him he takes off his clothes and flops on the bed. He doesn't even make the effort to brush his teeth.

************
Ben and Joe, on the other hand, are sitting on Joe's bed. They didn't plan to sleep together in one room but because they went out together they were so caught up in a conversation that they didn't want to cut it short.
"Are you free tomorrow evening?" Joe asks while leaning to his headboard.
"I think so, yeah. Why?" Ben asks while he whips out his phone to check it.
"Would you like to go on a date with me? Not just grabbing some food but a real date?" Joe asks. Ben eyes light up instantly. Joe can feel his stomach turn upside down at the sight of his happy boyfriend in front of him.
"Yes, please. I would love that." Ben says. 
"Great, then I need to ask you to leave now so I can plan some things." Joe smiles while looking at Ben. The latter pouts at the words but stands up anyways. He leans forward to give Joe a short, sweet kiss.
"Goodnight." He follows the kiss with a hug before he walks towards the door.
"Night baby." Joe says right before Ben closes the door.

Once the door is closed behind him Ben can feel the butterflies flying through his body. He is so happy to have Joe in his life. They are only dating for a little over three months but it feels so much longer. Probably because they have gone through some stuff together. Ben falls asleep with a huge smile on his lips. Joe, on the other hand, has started to make a list of things they could do for their date the next day. The list grew longer and longer, but there was nothing that really caught his eye. So he ended falling asleep and moving his brainstorm to the next day.

******************

The next evening Joe is in front of Ben's door. He knocks and the door flies open. Joe's eyes widen at the sight. Ben has a pair of black high waisted jeans, with a black shirt tugged into it, on. A leather brown jacket carries the whole outfit. Ben has his hair brushed his hair upwards a bit. He stands casually in the door opening while he looks at Joe's reaction. Who curses a soft 'jesus' under his breath. After that Ben takes his time to look Joe up and down. Joe pulls of a full black outfit. With a black leather jacket to give the outfit a little more depth.
"Did we accidentally kind of match our outfit?" Joe asks while he looks down at himself.
"I think we did." Ben says before giving Joe a kiss. They here an 'ew' sound behind them. Ben turns around to tell the person of. Until he realises that it is Rami who has walked passed them.
"Have fun on your date." He smirks before he continues walking down the corridor.
"Let's go." Joe says while he walks the opposite directions. Followed closely by Ben.

Joe pulls into a parking lot very close to the centre of the city. Ben jumps out of the car and sprints around it so he can open the door for Joe. Who shakes his head laughing. Ben let his hand glide through his hair. Which causes Joe to bite his lip while they walk towards the place for their date. Ben still has no idea where they are going. Until the moment Joe stops walking.
"So this is a comedy club. I think we both can use a good laugh. If I am correct there will be eight different comedians performing." The door slides open as soon as they step in front of it.
"Good idea." Ben says while Joe guides them towards a little table against the wall. They both sit on the couch with their backs against the wall. After ordering their drinks it doesn't take long before the first comedian walks onto the stage.

*************

Halfway through Ben grabs Joe's hand under the table. Their eyes lock. Instead of saying anything Joe gives Ben's hand a little squeeze. He knows how scared Ben is in showing their relationship in public. So the fact that he grabbed Joe's hand is maybe small but means a lot more for Joe than it might seem in the first place. Ben has looked at Joe a lot during the evening. Whenever Joe started giggling over a joke he couldn't help but watch the boy next to him. Joe doesn't seem to notice the attention he gets as he is focused on the comedians and slowly sips at his drink every now and then. However, their hands never left each other.

As soon as they call for a little break Joe turns his head towards Ben. The latter immediately smiles when they lock eyes.
"So, I have something I want to talk to you about." Joe says.  Ben raises his head in anticipation.
"We wrap in two weeks. That means we will be seperated as we both go to our own homes. And I was wondering, what would you think of the idea to find a house together?" Joe uses his left hand to scratch the top of his head before continuing to talk:  "We don't have to if you don't want to but I just think that it will be difficult to live so long without you." Joe has moved his gaze towards his lap.
"Of course, I would want that, Joe. You shouldn't worry this much." Ben has used his finger to lift Joe's head.
"Really?" Joe asks in disbelieve. His eyes are slightly bigger than usual. His lips pushed into a smile. 
"Yes, really. You still don't believe that we are together do you?" Joe shakes his head. Ben cups his face in both hands and gives him a gentle kiss. He doesn't go far given the fact they are still in public. Joe looks at towards Ben. What happened to the guy that was too scared to come out?
"Look at those two lovebirds over there." They were so caught up in the conversation that both of them haven't noticed that the next comedian has walked on stage again. He has a finger pointed in their direction. Both Joe and Ben turn towards the stage immediately as they feel the gaze of all the people in the club burning through their skin. Ben is bright red within seconds. Joe has grabbed his knee under the table. He carefully moves his thumb up and down the side of Ben's knee. The comedian notices Ben's discomfort and immediately makes a quick joke to distract the audiance. Joe keeps running his thumb over Ben's knee as he knows that his boyfriend probably still is a little shaken up.

At the end of the evening, Joe let go of Ben's knee. Ben immediately looks up at Joe who is already standing. Joe sits down again once he sees the look in Ben's eyes.
"Nobody is giving us any attention Ben. They all have already forgotten about what happened earlier." Joe says.
"Hey fags." A guy, who judged on his looks is probably a rugby player, comes walking up to them.
"Or someone does." Joe sighs, while he stands up. He grabs a hold of Ben's wrist before guiding him towards the exit.
"Where do you think the two of you are going?" Joe suddenly feels a hand on his shoulder. He turns around to see the same guy standing behind them.
"We are going to our homes." Joe says before yanking his shoulder away. He holds his hand behind him to grab Ben's wrist again but instead, someone grabs both of Joe's arms. Which makes it impossible for him to move. When he turns around he sees another guy holding Ben. Who clearly struggles to set himself free.
"What do you want?" Joe says while he looks at the guy who talked to him earlier. 

**************

Hey lovies,

Yes, of course, I left y'all on a cliffhanger again. I think you guys know by now that I love cliffhangers right? 

Anyways, I was wondering what is your favourite scene from this book so far?

Have a great day/night!

Goodbye,

Xx Itsametaphorjoe