That night, fully recovered from my hangover, I take a shower and prep my stuff for uni in the morning. As I get myself ready for bed, my phone calls.
"Three times in one day? To what do I owe this pleasure, Mr Sutton?"
"Do I need a reason to call? I just wanted to hear your soothing tones before bed. You in uni tomorrow?"
"I am indeed... you?"
"Yes, mum... I'm going to class tomorrow."
"Good boy!"
Ben laughs. "Do you want a lift?"
"I'm completely in the opposite direction!"
"So? I'd happily drive out of my way, just to spend 20 minutes with you."
"Aww... then, how can I say no? What time are you heading to Bristol tomorrow?"
"After class, I'm taking James, so I'll pick him up and get on the road."
"Cool... I'm glad you're going."
"Me too. Right, as much as I hate to get off the phone, I better get ready for the morning."
"OK, thanks for calling."
"Sweet dreams tiger."
"Night."
"Holly?"
"Yeah?"
"Love you."
"I love you too, loser."
Ben laughs. "Night."
I lie back on my bed, our call giving me all the warm, fuzzy feelings. A few minutes later, I get a text.
Fuck, you make me so damn happy. Love you xx
***
The next morning, I wake up early, refreshed and excited to see Ben. I quickly get dressed and head into the kitchen to see mum.
"Morning love – you look happy this morning!" she says, giving me a quick kiss on my temple.
"Aren't I always happy?" I ask, heading straight to the coffee pot.
"Not recently, sweetheart. Glad to see you back to your old self."
"Thanks."
"Do you want me to make you some toast to take to the bus stop?"
"Actually, Ben's picking me up, so I can sit here for a bit to eat it."
"Oh... I see" she says, giving me a knowing smile and I roll my eyes.
"I like that one," she says, squeezing my arm.
"Only because he complimented your coffee!" I joke, putting some bread in the toaster.
"Not just that... he makes you happy. After you met him, you stopped complaining about moving back here." She smiles and walks out the kitchen, leaving me to my thoughts.
After finishing my coffee and toast, there's a knock on the door. I hear mum answer it.
"Ben! We've missed you round here!" she says, and I can't stop my eyes from rolling again.
"Thanks San, I've missed being here. Is she ready?"
"Yeah, she's in the kitchen."
"Is there any coffee in the pot?" He asks, and I can't help but laugh.
"Of course, love, help yourself. Hol will put a bit of toast on for you as well if ya like?"
"Oh, will I now?!" I reply loudly and hear them laugh.
I pop in two more pieces of bread and pull the lever down. Ben walks into the kitchen and I set a coffee down in front of him. "Toast will be two minutes and then we can go."
He pulls me in for a hug. "You're a sweetheart."
"What do you want on it?"
"Marmite, please... ever since I met you, I've not been able to stop eating the stuff!"
After prepping his toast, I wrap them into a tissue, and we head to the car.
"Do you want to put some music on?" he asks, pulling on his seatbelt with a slice of toast secured in his mouth.
"Actually, I wanted to hear what you're listening to right now."
He smiles and connects his phone to the car. As we pull away, The Used starts playing. Followed by The Kid Laroi a few minutes after. Then Harry Styles.
"Have you figured it out yet?" he asks, as The Menzingers start to play.
"Figured what out?" I say, confused.
"It's all the songs that remind me of you."
The realisation hits me. It's literally every song I've been listening to or have made him listen to since we met.
"Oh Ben... that's..."
"Super lame?"
"No!" I say, tapping his arm. "It's the most romantic thing I've ever heard."
"Bloody hell, you've got low standards!" he jokes, and I hit him again.
"I'm serious... it's so sweet."
"I'm gonna miss you this weekend," he admits and squeezes my knee gently. "I feel like I've been given a second chance to get close to you again and now I have to leave."
"You can call and text me as often as you like."
"Deal! You too... don't try and be cool and not text me! I want to hear from you – about anything!"
I laugh. "OK, I will."
Ben parks up and we head into campus. When we reach reception, we turn to face each other.
"Thank you for the lift this morning." I say, brightly.
"You're welcome. Thank you for the coffee and toast. Enjoy classes today."
"I will, safe journey to Bristol, ok? Text me when you get there."
"Will do. Love you." He kisses the top of my head and I light-heartedly push him away.
"Love you."
As he walks off, I hear gagging noises from behind me. I instinctively know it's Lizzi, and don't bother to turn and give her the attention she so desperately wants.
***
"So, you made it then?" I ask when Ben calls later that afternoon. Having finished classes for the day, I headed to the shops to buy some new mascara.
"We did. The drive was actually pretty quick... Pete's place is great. His housemates are really nice and we're just walking to the local shop to buy a few beers. James says 'Hi'."
"Tell him I say 'hi' back."
"Holly says hi... no, I'm not asking that! ...Do you want me to pass the phone over, for fucks sake?!"
I laugh. "James told me to tell you that happy Ben is weird."
"That's what I said to Leila!" I reply, laughing.
"That's what she said to Leila – fuck off the pair of ya!" he jokes, and I can hear James laughing in the background, which makes me giggle.
"Do you have plans tonight, Hol?"
"Nope... It's Friday and I promised Leila we'd hang out this weekend, so I'll probably invite her around here for a Chinese or something."
"That's nice – tell her I said hi."
"I will – let me let you get back to the boys."
"OK, love you – talk later." I hear the boys taking the mick in the background. "Oh, fuck off, I'm gonna smack your heads together in a minute!" He jokes and I giggle again.
After hanging up, I'm left with full blown butterflies, and I can't wipe the smile from my face. Elated, I text Leila to invite her round.
Sounds like a plan, just about to talk to Pete – I'll leave in a bit!
When she knocks 45 minutes later, she's giddy with excitement.
"Pete said Ben is like a lovesick puppy dog! Apparently he's opened up about his problems and keeps telling the boys about how happy he is and his plans to win you back!"
I roll my eyes and usher her up the stairs.
"What's this?" Sandra says, appearing out of nowhere.
"Hey San, just telling Holly about how much Ben's into her."
"Aww, is he? Such a nice boy. Do you girls fancy a drink?"
"Ooh, I'd never say no to a Sandra special!" says Leila.
"You mean any old wine?" I joke and mum clips me round the ear.
"Ouch!"
"I've got a lovely red in the decanter, come through to the kitchen, ladies."
We sit in the kitchen with my mum, discussing Pete, uni and ben, of course, when the doorbell rings. I oepn the door to see a delivery man, with two bags stuffed full of what smells like incredible Chinese food.
"Erm, we didn't order anything?" I say, puzzled.
"Holly Taylor?" he asks, and I nod. "It's from Ben."
Utterly surprised, I take the bags and thank the driver.
When I walk into the kitchen, Leila squeals.
"He did it!"
"Did you know about this?!"
"Of course, I did – you think I was gonna trust him to order my chinese – no way! Pete told me, so I made sure to include some bits."
"Oh Holly!" my mum coos, "That's so bloody thoughtful. You must give him a call or a text to thank him."
"Thank you, mother, I will." I say sarcastically, grabbing my phone.
Thank you so much for the dinner, it's so sweet and unexpected! xx
You're welcome – u can blame Leila if u don't like the weird ones xx
Not possible, all Chinese is amazing. Love you, thank you again xx
Love u xx
Dad's working away this weekend and with so many dishes, we're able to share it between the three of us easily.
"Oh girls, this has been such a lovely evening! But I'm gonna go up and get out of your hair..."
"Oh San, don't go!" says Leila, legitimately gutted to have my mum leave.
"I must, that wine's gone right to my head!" she walks round and gives Leila and I a hug.
"Night mum, love you!"
"Night love, he's a keeper that one!" she says, referencing Ben. I roll my eyes, but it makes me really happy to hear her say that.
When she's upstairs, Leila turns to me. "Well?"
"Well, what?"
She groans. "Come on! How are you feeling? That was such a sweet gesture, and your mum loves him!"
I shake my head. "I know... maybe more than she loves me! Honestly, I'm happy, but so scared."
Leila turns her nose up and fills our wine glasses with the remnants of our third bottle of wine. "Why are you scared?"
"I'm just waiting for something to happen that's gonna fuck everything up again." I sigh.
"Oh, Hols! Just have a little faith. He's trying... and for the record, Pete told me that he's never seen Ben like this before. And you're literally glowing. You bring out the best in one another... it's meant to be."
I smile and feel my cheeks heat. "I need a cigarette!" I say, getting up from the island.
"Yeah, I should probably book a cab in a minute."
"You're welcome to stay, if you want?" I ask, grabbing my cigarettes and lighter.
"Thanks, but I promised Pete I'd call him when I got in."
"Too cute! How are you two doing? Come with me?" I ask and she nods, standing.
"We're really good. He's the complete opposite of Mark – he's really open and honest, and we talk all the time. He's giving me all the feels!"
I laugh. "That's great Lei, you seem super happy. And you guys make a really cute couple."
"We do, don't we?!" she says, slipping her feet into my dad's gardening shoes to head outside, which makes me guffaw.
***
When Leila leaves, I head back out into the garden for a final cigarette before bed. Feeling very tipsy and sentimental, I decide to give Ben a call.
"Hey! I was just about to text you." He says, his deep voice soothing my soul.
"Was you now?"
"Yeah... Pete is expecting a call from Leila, so we've come back from the pub early. The guy has it bad!"
I giggle.
"He's not the only one... did I tell you I love you today?"
"Only a dozen times..."
"Good! Doesn't hurt to say it again. How was the Chinese?"
"It was delicious! Thank you so much – there was so much there that Sandra ate with us and we ended up going through three bottles of red!"
"Good old Sandra... I like your mum. She reminds me of my mum."
"I'd like to meet your mum..." I say, surprised by my own admission. Damn that red wine!
"Whenever you want to, I'll organise it." My heart constricts.
"What are you doing now?" he asks, and I hear a door click in the background.
"Just having a cigarette before bed. You?"
"Ditto."
"Cute. Did you have a good night?"
"Yeah, I really did. I've missed seeing the boys... we talked about my bender, and I told them I'm working on it, and they were really supportive."
"That's great."
"Yeah, it is. They also told me that you were sort of the catalyst for this catch up?"
"...I was worried about you." I say in a small voice.
"Thank you for caring about me. After everything I put you through... you still want to help me." I hear the crack in his voice and I feel my chest tighten.
"Of course... I love you."
"I don't deserve your love, but I'm so glad I have it." His words settle over me like a warm blanket and I smile.
"Fucking hell, a few drinks and I turn into a right emo mess!"
I laugh. "Well, I like it."
"Me too... it feels good to admit it all, finally."
I smile. "Let me let you get back to the boys, before they wonder where you've gone."
"OK, thanks. Sweet dreams, speak to you tomorrow."
"Looking forward to it – night."
"Love you."
I stub out my cigarette and head up to bed, cloudy with nicotine and love.