It's a Hard life | Hardzello♡

4. Brian

"What if they start asking questions?" Ben asks Gwil nervously when they're in front of Joe's house.
"Then I'll cut them off. Or just say that weren't feeling well because of your pneumonia so you needed some fresh air. Don't worry okay?" Gwil says reassuringly.
Ben takes a deep breath, and nods with a smile. "Thanks. And I don't have a pneumonia, I told you I'm fine." He says.
Gwil rolls his eyes and knocks on the front door. 
Soon, it's opened by Joe. "There you are. Are you okay? You were away quite a long time." The ginger immediately says to Ben when the door opens.
The blond just briefly nods, without saying anything.
"Yeah he's fine, can we come in? It's pretty cold outside." Gwil says before Joe can ask any more questions.
"Oh uhm, yeah sorry. Come in."

When Ben enters the living room, he sees a blonde girl sitting on the couch next to Rami.
"Ben, this is Lucy." Rami says.
The girl gets up. "Nice to meet you."
Before Ben can even respond, she is already hugging him. A small smile appears on his face. "Nice to meet you too Lucy." He says softly.
"Lucy brought some antibiotics for your pneumonia." Joe says when they're all seated on the couch again.
Ben opens his mouth to argue, but Joe is faster. "Yeah yeah, I know you're saying you're fine. But you're not, so just take the meds." The ginger says.
Ben closes his mouth and nods. "Fine. Thanks Lucy." He says gratefully. 
Gwil sees that Rami opens his mouth to ask about Ben leaving the house earlier.
But as soon as the boy sees Gwil shaking his head, he closes his mouth again.

***

The day after, Ben and Joe are going to the mall to buy some stuff for Ben.
"Okay, for starters, we need to order you a bed." Joe says with a smile.
Ben smiles and nods. "Uhm yeah okay, but I don't have any money. I mean, I had some money I earned with babysitting, but my parents took it from me. So that's kinda a problem." He says with a frown.
Joe says nothing to that and pulls him along along all the shops. "Who cares, I do have money. You can pay me back later or something. We'll figure it out." He says reassuringly.
Ben smiles gratefully and nods. "Okay then."

After they got Ben a bed and some winter clothes, they have everything they need.
"Hey uhm, can we maybe go that music shop before we go back to your house?" Ben asks shyly. 
Joe shrugs. "Yeah sure." He says with a smile.
Ben looks at him in surprise. "Really?"
Joe chuckles softly and nods. "Yeah why not? I love that shop. Which is why I work there." He says with a grin. "Also, stop calling it my house, it your house too now. So just call it home."
Before Ben can say anything, Joe has already pulled him into the shop. "Hi Brian!" The ginger says cheerfully to the man behind the counter.
Ben's eyes widen slightly when he recognizes the man. It's the man with the white curls that gave him his scarf the other day.
"Hey Joe. Ah, you brought the ice boy with you, I see?"The slightly older man, apparently named Brian, says with a grin as soon as he sees Ben.
The blond boy smiles when he hears the nickname the man gave him.
Joe looks at the two in confusion. "The ice boy? You two know each other?" He asks.
Brian smiles and nods. "Yeah, we accidentally bumped into each other on the streets. I gave him my scarf when I saw he wasn't wearing winter clothes." He explains.
Ben nods. "Again, thank you for that." He says gratefully.
Brian smiles. "Glad you didn't freeze to death." He says with a wink.
Ben gives the man a smile before walking towards a shelf with Queen vinyl albums.
"Well, he did almost die, but I found him just in time." Joe says to Brian.
Ben is standing with his back to the two, just flipping through the music albums. He hears some whispering behind him, and slightly jumps when Joe taps his shoulder.
"I think I fixed your money problem. If you want, you can come work here in the shop, just like me?" Joe says with a small smile.
Ben nods. "I'd love to actually. Thank you." He says with a big smile.
Joe smiles when he sees Ben loosen up more and more the more time they spend together.

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A pretty short chapter today guys, I'm sorry🙃
I think you're really going to like the chapter coming after this one. That's all I'm saying🤫

Much love from me aka queenborhap_gifs