I'm going slightly mad // Hardzello

Chapter 45

Hey! Not everyone got the notification for the last chapter. So, make sure you read that one before you read this one. Have fun reading!

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Rami is sitting in a chair in the lobby. His is mindlessly scrolling through some news articles on his phone. Every time someone enters the lobby he looks up to see if it is either Gwil or Joe. He was relatively early. When one of them finally enters Rami looks up again. Joe walks towards Rami and lets himself fall in one of the empty chairs.
"What is up Joe?" Rami's face immediately drops into a frown as soon as he sees the look on Joe's face. The mix of stress and anxiety radiates of Joe's face.
"It's Ben. There has been a huge explosion near his shooting place around 3 hours ago. I've been trying to call and text him since. He doesn't respond and I'm really worried." Joe's eyes are wide and Rami can see his chest rising and falling in a quick tempo.
"There is nothing but we can do but wait. Just know that you will be the very first one he will contact as soon as he is in a safe place, alright?" Joe nods. Rami's words didn't exactly make him feel better.
"Hug?" Rami asks as the look on Joe's face remains. Joe doesn't say anything he just walks over to Rami who has already opened his arms. He wraps his arm tightly around Joe. He hopes it will calm Joe down a bit. It doesn't help that Rami is stressing himself. He really hopes his best friend is alright, but right now he knows that he needs to be there for Joe. The latter tugs his head in Rami's neck which is a little difficult because they are the same height. He still manages to do it when he slightly bends his knees. That is the scene Gwil walks into.

"What is go-" Without being able to finish his sentence Rami starts shaking his head furiously. Gwil opens his arms to ask Rami non verbally if he should join the hug. Rami nods so Gwil walks over to the two. He wraps his arms tightly around the two. His chin is resting on top of Joe's head.
"Are you alright mate?" Gwil says as soon as they all pull away. Joe once again explains the story.
"Oh damn. We will just hope that he is alright then. There is nothing more we can do." Gwil wants to say that Ben probably will be alright. But he doesn't know it.

"Ready to leave guys?" Scott walks into the lobby. He notices the tense atmosphere and wants to ask about it, but he knows it isn't his place to do that.
"Yeah." Joe says and he stands up to grab his bag. He stands still to close his eyes and take a deep breath before he walks towards the door. His phone is in his hand. He holds it so tightly that his knuckles are turning white. Rami and Gwil meet each others eyes with a look of worry.  Both of them don't know what to do. They walk behind Joe who is constantly looking at his phone. Scott leads them towards their bus. It stayed silent during the whole bus ride. Joe tried to call Ben once again. He cursed under his breath once Ben didn't pick up.

Joe hasn't said anything until they arrive at the set. They are guided to their own seats. Joe had asked if it was okay to keep his phone nearby in case Ben would call. So that was why Scott was sitting directly next to the camera with Joe's phone in his hand. He checked it every so often to make sure that they didn't miss a text or call. Rami could see that Joe was trying to be calm and normal during the interview. He even laughed at some of the jokes he or Gwil made. As soon as the camera is turned of Scott hurries to give Joe his phone back. They have five minutes before the next interviewer comes in. Joe tries to interact with the boys like normal, but he catches himself glancing over to his phone every now and then.

During the next interview, the familiar sound of an incoming message is heard. All the heads turn towards Scott immediately. He opens the phone to read the message. It takes him two seconds before he jumps up to give the phone to Joe. He nods at the other two as a way of telling them that it is Ben.

This is Ben. You're are probably very worried, but I'm okay. Call this number as soon as you are done with your interview.

"I'm sorry, but can I please call really quick? I will be back in five I promise." The interviewer nods and Joe jogs out of the room. He rushes outside so he could have some privacy. He hits the call button as soon as he is alone.
"Hey." Ben says. Joe lets out a deep breath as soon as he hears Ben's voice. He feels the muscles in his shoulders loosen. He didn't even know that he was so tense.
"Ben, I'm so glad you're okay. I was so worried about you." Joe admits.
"That is what I thought. I don't have my phone on me. This really kind women in the hotel let me borrow her phone so I could reach out to you." Ben says. Joe takes a deep breath before letting his head rest against the brick wall behind him.
"That is kind of her. Thank her for me will you? What happened?" Joe asks. He tries to control his breathing by taking deep breaths. 
"We don't know what caused the explosion but it was very close. We heard the sound and were told by our crew to stay inside. Soon we were escorted by the fire brigade. We all had to pay a visit to the hospital to check for any chemicals. As far as I know is there nobody who breathed in any chemicals. Right now they are checking the shooting space and if it is safe than our crew can go in to grab our personal belongings. Then I will have my phone too." Ben explains as quickly as he can. He knows that Joe has probably been stressed the whole morning. He tried to contact him as soon as possible, but due to the circumstances, it was very difficult.
"You probably have around 20 missed calls and 50 texts from me." Joe rubs the back of his neck as soon as he thinks about it.
"I'm sorry to make you so worried. I wish I could have called you earlier." Ben admits.
"No worries. I am more than glad that you are okay. I would have talked longer if I didn't run off during an interview to call you. So I really need to go back in there." Joe says. He wants to say that he doesn't want to do the interviews. He would rather stay here and talk to Ben but he knows it's his job to do the interviews. 
"Alright, have fun. Tell the boys I said hi." Ben says. 
"Will do. Cheers." Joe ends the call and shoves his phone back into his pocket.

Once he is inside all eyes are on him.
"I'm sorry about that." He looks at the interviewer before turning towards Gwil and Rami.
"He is safe and not hurt." Joe says. Both Gwil and Rami let out a relieved sigh. 
"I'm so glad." Rami says. Gwil nods to tell Joe that he agrees with Rami. Joe sits down in the chair and they continue the interview where they stopped

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The evening they are walking back from their dinner when Joe's phone starts to ring. An unknown number calls him. Thinking that it might be Ben he picks up the phone.
"Hello Joe." Joe hears a familiar voice in his ear, but he can't quite place who it is. He tries to think of the most polite way to ask for the person's name without insulting them.
"I'm sorry I'm in a rather busy place I can barely hear you. Who are you?" Joe says after a few seconds.
"It's Nathan." Joe suddenly stops walking in the middle of the lobby. Gwil and Rami both share a look before walking to the elevator. They have no clue who is on the other side of the line but they figured Joe would want some private time calling. That, however, is the last thing Joe wants. He closes his eyes and tries to get his thoughts in order.
"What do you want?" He asks his exboyfriend. His head is bonking. He softly cursing for picking up the phone call from an unknown number. 
"I want you back." Nathan says.
"Well, too bad you can't." Joe immediately says. He doesn't want to explain to Nathan that he is in a new relationship. Because it will only make him angrier.
"It doesn't matter what you think. I want you back. So you come to my house right now." Nathan exclaims. Joe shakes his head. Although, obviously Nathan can't see that from the other side of the phone line.
"No, I'm not coming. You had your chances with me. And you ruined every single one of them. I stayed longer with you than I ever should have." Joe sighs before he walks towards the elevator. He hopes with all his heart that it is empty.

As soon as the doors open he sees nobody in it so he steps in.
"Joe, I command it. You know what happens when you don't come to my house." The tone in his voice brings back memories Joe desperately tried to push away.
"Nathan, I'm not a person you can just call when you need to get your anger out. As I said you had your chances to keep me in your life, but you blew them. If you don't mind I'm going to end this call." Joe says. He rubs his hand over his face while he is leaning against the side of the elevator.
"I didn't even do anything reasonable enough for you to leave me." Nathan says. Joe feels his eyes getting bigger. His mind immediately thinks back of all the things that happened.
"You've abused me, Nathan. One of the times I ended up in the hospital because of you. Do you call that nothing?" Joe tries to take deep breaths to keep himself calm. He watches the numbers on the elevator jump up with every floor they pass. Five floors to go. Joe nervously scratches the back of his head. Four. Joe takes a deep breath and lets it out immediately. Three. It stays silent on the other side of the line. Two. A small cough is heard. One. Joe ends the line without waiting for the answer. Ping. The door of the elevator slowly open. Joe shoves his phone in his pocket. Tears start streaming down his face as soon as he realises what just happened. He doesn't see the persons walking past him in the hallway. Suddenly he starts to feel dizzy. with one hand forward he walks towards the wall. He let himself sink against it. His head is buried in his hand. Muffled voices are heard all around him. No one seems to notice him or wants to notice him. 

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Heyyy!

Man, do I love cliffhangers. 

As some of you know am I working on a second BoRhap fanfiction. I already have a few scenes written. It's not a Hardzello fanfiction, but a fanfiction that starts off as a Hardlee story and slowly turns in to a Hardzellee story? Would y'all be interested in reading that?

I hope y'all have a good day/ a good night rest. 

Goodbye,

Xx Itsametaphorjoe