I'm going slightly mad // Hardzello

Chapter 43

Hey!

Make sure you read the last chapter because I uploaded that one yesterday!

Have fun reading!

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"I got a call yesterday. They have rescheduled some of the scenes for x-men. I tried everything I could, but there is no other way. I can't come along to Japan." Ben says. Joe's eyes slowly widen.
"Are you being serious?" He asks. Ben nods while carefully biting the inside of his cheek.
"I already informed my manager and she talked to the whole crew coming along with you." Ben says. Ben sighs loudly before mindlessly digging his fork into some of the food on his plate.
"When are you leaving?" Joe asks as his mind is racing with questions.
"In two days." Ben says. Joe's eyes widen again. Joe rubs his hand over his face while he tries to come up with everything they need to do before that. 
"Really?" He asks. Ben doesn't answer verbally,  he just nods.

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It is Saturday. The day Ben needs to leave to shoot his scenes in x-men. Ben was happy to have a flight during day time so he didn't have to get up early. Joe has made breakfast for him and they are currently sitting across from each other.
"I'll miss you so much." Joe mumbles. He hadn't slept at all last night. It didn't matter that he was very tired. He just couldn't fall asleep. 
"I'll miss you too. You are going to have fun with Gwil and Rami though. Believe me." Ben has grabbed Joe's hand that is laying on the table. The latter looks up from his plate and smiles at Ben.
"So, I'm leaving this Monday and I will be back exactly a week later. You are coming back on Friday, right?" Joe asks to clarify everything for himself. Ben looks puzzled but nods at the end.
"I think I am going to brush my teeth and then my Uber should be here." Ben says while getting up. Joe stays seated. He watches his boyfriend walk away.

Not that much later Ben is walking towards the front door with all of his stuff. He places it next to the door before walking back into the living room to say goodbye to Joe.
"We'll find a way to call or text every day, alright?" Joe nods as he feels tears stinging in his eyes. He doesn't know why he finds it so hard to go without Ben. It feels like it would be safer if Ben is there. To have someone that can help him. Someone to cuddle with. Someone to have fun with.
"I love you." Joe leans in to kiss Ben. The latter wraps his arms around the older man's neck. Joe's hands find their way around Ben's waist as they keep kissing each other hungrily.
"I love you too. I'll let you know when I landed. Have fun. And say hi to Gwil and Rami for me." Ben says while pulling away.
"Good luck with shooting. You can do it." Joe gives Ben another hug before Ben walks out of the door.
"I'm going to miss you." Joe says before Ben gets the chance to shut the door.
"I'm going to miss you too, princess. We will talk every day if you want to." Joe places one more kiss on Ben's cheek before the latter closes the door behind him.

As soon as the door is fully closed Joe walks to the kitchen to do the dishes. He knows that he has to keep himself busy enough to not think about not seeing Ben for such a long time. The first two days will be the hardest because Joe is all alone in the house where he hasn't been for longer periods of time without Ben. After that, he will be accompanied by Gwil and Rami. Joe nearly drops the plate he is holding as soon as his phone starts ringing.

Lucy impatiently hops on her feet. The evening before Rami and Lucy were talking about Ben leaving. They both know Joe has a hard time dealing with loved ones leaving for longer periods of time. Rami suggested to distract him from that and take him out or something, but as he had work to do, Lucy was left to make plans. She found a cute little cosy restaurant she wanted to try. So she planned on asking Joe to eat lunch with her.
"Hello Rami's girlfriend." A voice suddenly blasts in her ear. She starts giggling at the greeting.
"What are you laughing at? That's how you named yourself on my phone."
"I know. But listen up. Do you want to eat some lunch together in an hour or so?" It stays silent on the other end of the line for a few seconds.
"To be honest Lucy I would rather stay home." Lucy rolls eyes at the stubbornness from Joe.
"Then I will come over to your house. I will be there in fifteen minutes." She can hear that Joe tries to argue with her, but without giving him enough time to talk she ends the line.

She changes out of her pyjamas and into some nice clothes. She walks over to the bathroom to put some make-up onto her face. After that, she grabs her purse and heads out of the door. She walks over the Hardzello household. Lucy knocks on the door and it doesn't take long for Joe to open the door.
"How much I appreciate this I would rather just be alone Luce." He hopes the nickname he gave her at the beginning of shooting BoRhap will convince her to leave him alone.
"Too bad. I'm already here and I'm not leaving." Lucy pushes herself past Joe to sit down on the couch.
"I have lots to do. I didn't even pack my suitcase yet. We have been busy packing Ben's as he had to leave so early." Joe says before letting his back rest against the wall. Suddenly he feels very tired again. All he wants to do is crawl underneath the blankets and sleep.
"Alright, let's go pack some stuff then. I already packed Rami's suitcase for him because he is working a lot. I love packing stuff." Lucy has already got up from the couch she suited herself on.
"Fine." Joe sighs out loud. He starts to make his way towards his bedroom. Lucy follows him closely.

After a little over an hour, Joe's suitcase is completely packed. They are now sitting in the living room watching some tv.
"Are you excited?" Lucy asks after a while.
"Yeah, I am. Although, I really wished that Ben could come along." Joe turns to look at Lucy.
"I know. Rami feels the same with me. But you are going to have fun. How could you not with Gwil and Rami?" Joe nods.
"You're right." Joe says. He knows that. There hasn't been a time hanging out with Rami and Gwil hasn't been fun. Although most of the time they were accompanied by Ben too. They are such a tight group that it's hard to miss one person in the group.

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A few days later Joe tiredly pushes his suitcase over the airport floor. He is looking for the place where he would meet up with Rami, Gwil and the rest of their team. He closes his eyes for a second. It is way too early to be walking at an airport. He opens them as soon as he hears someone call out 'Joseph'. He sees a grinning Rami sitting on one of the benches. Joe gives him a small smile before walking over. As soon as he sits down he sees Gwil walking over to them as well.
"Ready?" Rami asks as soon as Gwil is seated.
"Ready Freddie." Both Gwil and Joe roar at the same time. People standing around them give them weird looks, but the three are to busy laughing to notice. The crew come walking towards them.
"Surprise. I'm coming along." Scott jumps from behind some other people. Rami, Gwil and Joe happily greet the older crew member.

They get through check-in and security just fine. They all have flown so much the past years that everything feels normal. As soon as they are in the gate they decide to make a picture for Ben and Lucy. One of the crew members takes a picture from the three standing in front of the window. Joe in the middle of the three, Rami and Gwil at either side. They try a few before they got one they are all happy about. Joe sends the picture in the group with Rami, Gwil, Ben and himself. As soon as Rami receives the message he sends it to Lucy. They have no time to wait for the response because they are already need to start boarding. The crew arranged three seats next to each other for Gwil, Joe and Rami.

Halfway during the flight, Joe feels a head resting on his shoulder. He carefully looks to his left to see Rami dead asleep. Without trying to move much he turns towards Gwil who looks in awe at their sleeping friend.
"We should take a picture of Ben and Lucy." Gwil whispers. He whips out his phone. Joe immediately tries to pout for the picture.
"We should send it to them with the captions 'two boyfriends missing their girlfriends.'" Joe says.
"Ben is not going to like that." Gwil says laughing.
"Probably not, but I will." Joe says which earns a burst of laughter from Gwil. Who immediately slaps his hand in front of his mouth to keep quiet. 

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Hi lovies,

This was the chapter I promised yesterday because we reached the 10K reads! Right now, we already reached 10.5K. It's going so fast and I love it.

Anyways have a good day/night.

I love y'all.

Goodbye,

Xx Itsametaphorjoe