Chapter Twenty-Two: Benjamin
“There once was a prince,” Nana whispered to Ben as he lay in bed.
“No, superhero!” he exclaimed. He liked superheroes. Spiderman was his favorite. He looked down at his hands and wished he could shoot webs.
“There once was a superhero. His name was Ben.”
“No! No-ah!” he said as he thought of his brother. He frowned when he remembered his brother leaving.
“You miss Noah don’t you?” Nana whispered and Ben looked up at her. He nodded slowly.
“I want see him,” he whispered and she smiled.
“Sweetie you can still see him on TV. You know we see him every Saturday,” she said and kissed Ben’s forehead. He closed his eyes. He liked watching TV and seeing his brother sing.
“Not enough. I want see him here,” he answered and Nana smiled.
“He’ll come back soon enough. He’s trying to win, for you,” she said and he smiled back.
“No-ah miss me?” he asked and felt scared that his brother would forget him.
“Of course he does!” she exclaimed and rubbed his shoulders. She smiled again. “Actually, I think it’s time for his show again. It should be done recording right about now!” she said and grabbed the remote control. Ben grinned. He loved watching his brother on TV with Nana by his side. He didn’t know who all the people were and Nana would explain it to him. She’d tell him who everyone else was and Ben liked watching Noah have friends. Noah never brought friends home and Ben was scared that Noah was alone at school. But when he saw Noah laugh with his friends Ben wanted to laugh too because his brother was happy.
“Nana, you sit with me?” he asked his Nana and patted the bed. She smiled and got up from her chair as she got into bed with him. Finally feeling relaxed Ben settled to watch the TV. He saw people crying. “Why they cry?” he asked.
“It’s Vulnerability Week,” Nana explained softly.
“What v-v-vulmerbill?” he asked and crinkled his nose. He hated not knowing how to get the words out of his mouth. He knew his Nana had said vulnerability but when it came time to say it, he couldn’t.
“It’s something that makes a person…not strong,” his Nana explained.
“I vulmerbill?” he asked and pointed at himself. He knew he had to be. He wasn’t strong. He could barely walk without any help. His Nana’s face looked like she was ready to cry.
“No,” she whispered softly. “You are the opposite of vulnerable.”
“I thought I was a singer…but I’m not. So I quit,” the pretty girl from the TV said as she cried. Benjamin gasped. He liked pretty girl. She talked and laughed with Noah.
“Why she quit!” he yelled and Nana shushed him.
“I don’t know honey, she just did,” she replied. He nodded and turned to watch the screen as he noticed a guy with blue eyes and black hair running away.
“He like pretty girl,” Benjamin guessed. He knew the guy was one of Noah’s friends. He noticed Noah and the rest of his friends getting up and running after him too. “Where No-ah going!” he yelled and Nana shushed him again.
“He’s probably going to help his friend,” Nana replied. Benjamin nodded because that made sense. His brother was good.
“No-ah not vulmerbill.”
“No, your brother isn’t vulnerable either,” she said and smiled.
“Let’s take a look at what the camera has captured this past week. Other contestants at their most…vulnerable,” the scary man with the mean eyes said and seemed to look right at Benjamin through the TV screen. He whimpered and Nana frowned at him.
“What’s wrong Ben?” she asked and he shook his head as he saw a video of his brother with his friends sitting in a room. He heard his brother and his friends singing. He liked hearing his brother sing. Benjamin watched his brother stop singing.
“I don’t know how else to say this so I’m just going to say it…I have a twin brother,” Noah told his frowned. Benjamin gasped.
“Nana! He tell bout me!” he yelled and smiled at Nana who looked scared. Benjamin couldn’t understand why his Nana was scared. He felt happy because his brother was talking about him. If Noah’s friends knew about him maybe they’d want to play with him like his brother did. They could talk to Benjamin and he’d be on his best behavior so his brother wouldn’t feel bad.
“What did he do?” Nana asked Benjamin.
“He tell bout me!” Benjamin repeated not understanding why she would ask after he’d already told her. “No-ah want me to meet his friends!” Benjamin exclaimed. Nana got up from the bed and looked at the door in horror. Benjamin’s heart sank. He wasn’t sure exactly what was wrong but if Nana was scared it was probably because of his mom and dad. Maybe they didn’t want Noah to talk about Benjamin. He flinched as the door flew open. His mom came into the room looking mad. Benjamin had never seen her look that scary. Her eyes fell on Benjamin and then to Nana.
“Did you see what that, that boy did!?” Benjamin’s mom shrieked. He closed his eyes not wanting to see her mad face anymore.
“H-he told his friends,” Benjamin heard Nana mumble.
“On TV!” his mom yelled. “Now everyone’s going to know we have another son! A broken son!”
“I not broken!” Benjamin blurted and opened one eye to look at his mother. She leaned in close to him. He could smell her breath and he didn’t like it one bit.
“I promised your brother that the moment he opened his mouth about you I’d make sure you were sent far away. And I plan to keep that promise!” she yelled and Benjamin closed his eyes again. He didn’t know what she meant. Where was he supposed to go?
“That’s enough Laura,” Nana’s voice spoke quietly. Benjamin opened his eyes and saw his mom turn to Nana.
“What did you just say? Did you just give me an order mother?” Benjamin’s mom spoke and he saw Nana flinch.
“I am still your mother. I can very well order you around,” she spoke slowly. Benjamin’s mother laughed and he wanted to laugh along with her so she wouldn’t be mad anymore but he stopped himself when he saw Nana’s face.
“You gave up the right to be my mother when you ruined my life,” Benjamin’s mother spoke. “Or have you forgotten that you were the one who urged me to take the pills that left this,” she said and pointed at Benjamin. “It’s your fault he’s even like this.”
“Nana!” Benjamin exclaimed when he saw her crying. She sat down on the armchair beside Benjamin’s bed.
“I didn’t think, I didn’t know,” she whispered and Ben’s mom laughed again.
“Of course you didn’t. But the damage was done wasn’t it? Face it you were just like me and no matter what you do for the rest of your days you won’t be able to undo the damage.”
“I will never forgive myself for being the cause of Benjamin’s disability. But I have done nothing but show love to your children. I’ve even kept the fact that I’m their grandmother a secret. I pretend to be your children’s nanny, a maid. All because I love them and I love you,” Nana whispered and Benjamin frowned.
“Nana you grandma?” he asked and she shook her head.
“Please mother you don’t love anyone. I’m just like you.”
“I never let my life be controlled by my husband,” Nana answered and Benjamin’s mother took a step forward and slapped her. Ben flinched and yelled. His mother turned to look at him.
“Shut up!” she yelled at him and turned to look at Nana. “Get out of my house. Now!” she yelled at Nana.
“Nana! No go!” Ben yelled and tried to get up. His mother turned to him and grabbed his arm. She squeezed it till it hurt. She looked down at him.
“You’ve caused enough trouble in my life as it is. Your brother opened his mouth and now you’ll pay the consequences.”
“No, I’ll leave. Just don’t do anything to him,” Nana whispered.
“I want you to leave. Don’t come back. You’re dead to me,” his mother whispered. Benjamin started crying. If Nana left he’d be all alone.
“Nana, don’t leave me,” he whispered and his mother turned to look at him again. She didn’t seem angry anymore.
“Everyone that you love leaves you. It’s the way life is. They hurt you. They make you cry. You’re not loved Ben,” his mother whispered. He didn’t understand what she meant except for the fact that if Nana left he’d be alone.
“I want No-ah,” he mumbled as Nana walked out of the room.
“I’m so sorry,” Nana cried before walking out.
“Nana!” he yelled and he tried to get out of bed. He couldn’t get his blankets out of the way and he fell off his bed hitting himself on the floor. He felt the pain spread everywhere and he couldn’t help himself when he cried. He looked up at his mother who stood there watching him. “Nana help!” he whimpered.
“Nana left. Noah left. They don’t want you Ben. Do you understand what I’m telling you? You’re alone. I don’t want you. Your father can’t even bear to look at you.”
“I want No-ah,” he said and tried to get up. He grabbed his bed and pushed himself up on the bed. The tears fell down his face. He wanted his brother more than anything. Noah promised that he’d come back for him, but he missed his brother. He didn’t know how many days it had been but he knew it was a lot. He didn’t just want to see his brother on the TV. He liked when his brother hugged him and told him that he was important. He loved when his brother made him laugh and tickled him. He liked watching his brother eat food because his brother ate a lot and it always made Ben smile. But when he thought about all of that he couldn’t smile. He cried more. “I want No-ah, pease?” he asked his mom. Maybe she could bring Noah back.
“I don’t think he’s coming back for you,” she said and Ben felt like she punched him in the stomach. He remembered when he was younger a bully had punched him in the stomach and called him stupid. But what his mom said hurt more than those hits. His brother wasn’t coming back? “He lied to you Benny. I think it’s time we leave this town don’t you?” she asked and walked out of his room leaving him all alone. Ben was all alone now.
The next few days came and went and still Nana didn’t show up. Noah didn’t show up. No one came to talk to him. Except for his mom. But she never spoke a word. She just brought his food to him. But he didn’t want the food. He wanted his brother. After a couple of days his mother came to get him and helped him take a shower. She put on nice clothes on him and helped him down to the dining room table. Once he was sitting at the table his father walked in and looked at him once before ignoring him. They sat in silence.
“I’ve given my two weeks’ notice at the hospital,” his mom said and he didn’t know what that meant.
“Good. We’re leaving as soon as possible. What your son did is inexcusable. Because of him we’ll have to face the public. It’s best if we leave this town soon before we get people at our doorstep asking questions,” his dad replied. Benjamin didn’t like the sound of that.
“We moving?” he asked quietly but they ignored him.
“He’s not just my son you know? What are we going to do with…the other one?” his mom asked.
“I don’t know. Don’t you know some doctors that can take him to some institute? I don’t want him living with us anymore. It took you long enough to get rid of your mother. I don’t want to wait that long for this one to leave.”
“What about Noah?” she asked. And Benjamin tried to sit up straight when he heard his brother’s name.
“No-ah!” he blurted but they continued ignoring him. He looked down at his plate and remembered how his brother would help him with his food. He’d cut up the meat and help feed him.
“I don’t know. He can live on the streets for all I care.”
“But that would cause more drama. We’d have people knocking on our doors no matter where we went. We need to fix this mess,” his mother replied.
“I know! I know we need to fix this fucking mess! Because of that dumb ass everyone at work keeps asking me why I’d hide my own son and force my other son to keep it a secret! Your fucking children have ruined my life. I need to get out of here. I need to be far away from them both because I swear to you I’ll-,” he stopped himself when he heard the doorbell ring. He turned to look at Ben’s mom. “Get the door and get rid of whoever is there.”
Ben watched his mom get up and go out to get the door. Then it was just Ben and his dad. He always tried to remember a time when his dad was nice to him but the memories never came to Ben.
“D-d-dad,” he stuttered and hoped his dad wouldn’t be angry with him.
“What?” he snapped and Ben looked down at his hands. He wondered if maybe his dad hated him because he never said I love you to him. He watched a lot of movies where the kids told the parents that they loved them. And maybe it was Benjamin’s fault that his parents didn’t like him. It was his fault for never telling them he loved them. Even though he did love them. It wasn’t their fault he was stupid.
“I l-l-lo,” he stuttered and felt himself shaking. He wanted to say it to his dad but his stupid mouth chose that moment not to work. His father sighed and stood up.
“I told you not to speak if you’re going to fucking stutter,” he said and started walking away.
“I love you,” Benjamin whispered and for a second he thought his dad had heard him because he stopped walking away. But after a few seconds he walked out of the room leaving Ben alone. “I love you,” Benjamin repeated quietly.
“Who the hell do you think you are!” he heard his mother yell. He heard a lot of voices yelling and they were coming closer. Benjamin wiped his tears out of his face; he hadn’t even noticed he was crying. He saw several women come into the dining room. One of them took a step forward. She had brown hair and warm brown eyes. She looked at him with tears in her eyes. She shook her head and looked back at Benjamin’s mom.
“How could you?” the woman asked.
“Get out of my house! All of you!” she yelled at them. Ben thought they all looked like moms. The first woman shook her head.
“Just like you took it upon yourself to get my son fired, I’m taking it upon myself to make sure you never hurt either of your sons again. If you don’t want them, we’ll take them. I know they aren’t property. But we will take care of both of them. All of us. Your son Noah has befriended our sons and we know what a good person he is. We’re positive Benjamin is just as amazing as Noah.”
“I don’t know what you think-,” Noah’s mother started before another mom took a step towards her and slapped her.
“Ohhh. I’ve been wanting to do that ever since I saw that you didn’t even bother to go to the airport to say goodbye to your son. I love my son Declan and if anyone ever did anything to hurt him I’d crush them. I can’t believe you call yourself a mother,” the second lady said and looked back at Benjamin. The first lady took a step closer to Benjamin.
“Hi Ben,” she whispered. “Can I hug you?” she asked and he looked at his mother not knowing what to say.
“I know you don’t want your sons anymore. Your mother came and talked to us. We know the situation. So we’re begging you, if you don’t want them or more drama. Just hand over custody to us. My son, Mason he loves Noah like a brother. Noah and Benjamin would be more than welcome to live with us.” A third lady spoke and Benjamin’s mother kept staring at Ben. He gulped and wondered how these ladies knew his brother.
“They could live with any of us,” a fourth lady added. “We’d make sure they were healthy and happy.”
“Not that you would care,” the first mom replied coldly and then smiled at Ben. He had never seen a smile like that on anyone but his Nana and his brother. It made him smile back at her as tears filled her eyes. Without a warning she took a step forward and grabbed Benjamin into a tight hug. He hugged her back when he realized how much he missed someone hugging him. He didn’t know who she was or why she was being so nice. But it felt really nice to Ben. It made him think of Noah.
“I love you,” he whispered because how could he not love someone that didn’t know him and saw him broken and still wanted to hug him.
A/N: I don't know maybe you didn't like this chapter? Or maybe it wasn't what you expected. If that's the case, I apologize. But this is Benjamin. I tried to keep the thinking simplistic because while I know he's a complex character his thinking isn't all that complex. I love Ben, leave me alone. Hopefully you love him too. I almost cried writing this chapter. Ha. Ugh. So sad. Or is it? What's going to happen? Ahh. I hope you understand what happened at the beginning. As you all know when Madison quit, Owen went out to follow her. Followed by the rest of the boys. Darren took that opportunity to show footage of several of the contestants talking. Including the one where Noah confessed to his friends about Ben. So what does that mean? Darren has cameras everywhere. In every single room. He has eyes and ears everywhere so he knows a lot of what's happening to these people. He took the chance and showed it on TV for everyone to see. The next couple of chapters you'll see how this affects Noah. Because now everyone knows the truth. I was actually going to include this scene in Chapter 21 but Madison leaving totally clouded my mind. So it happened here. And likewise. Their week five of the competition was happening during Ben's chapter. So Chapter 23 will actually begin with their week six. So who got out during week five? Find out soon! Does this all make sense?
In a couple of days I'm starting school again. Summer has ended *sigh* which means this is my last time uploading for a while. I'm taking a break from uploading at least just until I get used to the way my life will be now. It's my sophomore year of college. I'm taking harder classes that I'm not excited for. And I have a club I'm in that will no doubt with a new president bring some changes. Not to mention I'll still be working on the weekends. So my life is gonna suck. But I'll keep writing whenever I can and have time. The good news for you guys is I have planned out the rest of the chapters for Part Two. I'm so excited. So please hang in there with me, don't forget me or the story. I'll be uploading as soon as I can. I promise it'll be worthwhile. Just wanted to say thanks to those of you that do read my story it means more than you will ever know. Your comments always make my day. And even you silent readers. >.> Believe it or not I really do appreciate you. I'd thank you personally if you know, you took a chance and commented every once in a while haha.
So your sneak peek is actually going to be the title for the rest of the chapters of part two with a small synopsis of what each chapter will be about. Don't worry the synopsis won't give away major spoilers. It's just teasers. But nonetheless if you don't want to know. SPOILERS AHEAD (not really).
Chapter 23- Heart Palpitations
Various stages of heart problems are unleashed among the competitors with heart breaks, heart aches and growing love. The songs of love and broken hearts are played. Meanwhile Declan and his friends consider their own issues and try to help out Owen.
Chapter 24- Freedom
A Fourth of July concert is held stirring stress, tension and excitement. Aiden’s mom visits bringing shocking news to Noah.
Chapter 25- Youth
Age is but a number as the contestants look to the past and look to the future. Later Owen searches for answers, pertaining to Madison, in his laptop.
Chapter 26- Generosity
Darren, Mitch and Clara seek to teach the contestants a thing or two about not letting fame go to their heads. Mason receives a surprise.
Chapter 27- Standing Out
Songs of standing up and standing out are performed as the guys face the truth they've all been trying to avoid. And one takes a stand sending a ripple effect that will change the course of their lives…forever.
Chapter 28- Darren’s Redemption
Synopsis may contain spoilers, so no synopsis given.
Chapter 29- All For One…
Synopsis may contain spoilers, so no synopsis given.
Chapter 30- …and One For All
Synopsis may contain spoilers, so no synopsis given.
*Cold For All*- An extra special treat (Read @smidorii's story Cold Waters beforehand to get the full experience).
So 8 more chapters plus a special extra are all that's left of Part Two! Thanks for everything guys! Enjoy!
P.S. Just because I won't be uploading so often for a while doesn't mean I won't be here to talk to you guys or read your writing. So keep in touch!