It's a Hard life | Hardzello♡

9. Baggage

"Morning." Joe mumbles when he hears footsteps behind him.
"Morning, have you seen my red sweater?" Ben's voice says, still rough and husky.
Joe turns around, gulping when he sees that Ben isn't wearing a shirt or something.
He just walked into the living room with a bare chest.
The ginger has to make an effort not to stare. Jeez he looks good. He turns around again and shrugs. "Uhm no, maybe in the laundry machine?" He says while pretending to be occupied with making some breakfast.
"I'll check. Thanks." Ben says.
"So, any plans today?" Joe asks when Ben returns with his red sweater on. Apparently he found it.
The blond nods. "Yeah, I'm heading off to work in a few minutes. And you?"
Joe shrugs. "Nah, not really. Maybe I'll ask Gwil to come over or something. I just hope I won't die of boredom." He says with a smirk. 
Ben rolls his eyes and smiles. "You'll survive. Don't worry." He chuckles.
Joe giggles softly.
Ben smiles and walks towards the hallway to get his coat.
Joe sees the boy struggling to get the coat on because of the sling. "Are you even allowed to work with your bruised shoulder?" He asks concerned.
Ben nods. "I think so. It will be fine. It doesn't hurt anymore already. And in two days I can lose the sling, so don't worry." He says while trying to get his coat on.
Joe shrugs. "Okay, if you say so. Let me help help you with that coat, I can't watch this any longer." He says with a grin.
Ben giggles and nods.
The ginger takes the coat, and helps Ben to take it on.
Ben mumbles a 'thanks', and tries to zip up the zipper. But that's quite difficult with one hand, and so Joe comes to his aid again.
Their hands briefly touch, and they lock eyes for a moment.
"I uhm- say hi to B-Brian for me." Joe stutters, his cheeks as red as Ben's sweater.
The blonde takes a step back and nods. "Uhm y-yeah, I will. See you later. Bye." He quickly rushes out of the room, towards the front door.

Joe lets out a shaky breath as soon as he hears the front door close.
What just happened?
Their hands touched, they made eye contact. And the weird feeling in Joe's stomach was there again. It almost felt like some kind of tingle.
Quite overwhelmed by all this, Joe sits down on the couch, and dials Gwil's phone number. He impatiently waits for his friend to answer the phone.
"Hey Joe, what's up?" Gwil's voice says cheerfully.
"Uhm, hey Gwil. Could you maybe come over? I need someone to talk to." Joe says. 
It stays silent for a second.
"Uhm yeah sure. Are you okay though? You sound a bit... off." Gwil asks when he hears Joe's trembling voice.
Joe takes a deep breath before answering the question. "Yeah, I'm okay I guess." The ginger says.
"Okay, I'll be right there then." Gwil says before ending the call.  

And so, not much later, the doorbell of Joe's house rings. Joe opens the door, giving his friend a small smile.
"I just saw Ben on his way to work. What happened to his arm?" Is the first thing Gwil says when the door opens.
Joe sighs and walks towards the living room, followed by Gwil. "He bruised his shoulder a few days ago. He fell down the stairs." The ginger explains before they both sit down on the couch.
Gwil raises his eyebrow. "How? You don't even have stairs in your house." He asks confused.
Joe looks down and plays nervously with the cords of his hoodie. "Well, we went to a nightclub, and he was wasted as hell. So yeah. That's how." He says softly.
Gwil sighs and shakes his head with disapprovingly. "Joe, you gotta be gentle with that boy. He is, well... vulnerable." He says.
Joe nods. "I know. And that's what I wanted to talk about with you. Because Ben clearly has some baggage. Yesterday he had a really bad panic attack. He said they just happen sometimes, and he doesn't know why. But I don't believe that and I'm worried about him." He rattles in one breath. He takes a deep breath, and looks at Gwil.
The latter seems to understand what he just said, but because of the dubious look on his face Joe isn't a hundred percent sure.
"You know what this baggage is Gwil. You don't have to tell me exactly what happened in his past, but just the outline of the story. Please? I can't help him this way." Joe says, almost begging to his friend.
Gwil thinks for a moment, and then nods. "Okay then. But you can't tell him that I told you, because actually I promised to keep my mouth shut."
Joe nods as a sign he won't say anything.
"Ben saw someone die. Someone he cared about a lot. And because he was there when it happened, people are blaming him. They say that it was his fault and they keep calling him a murderer. And he started to believe that. Which is why he hasn't told you about it yet. He is scared that you too will think that he has killed someone. I think he was trying to get out of this village the day you found him in the snow." Gwil tells.
Joe's eyes widen. "Oh my god. Poor Ben. How dare they call him a killer. Ben would never do something like that!" He almost yells because of anger.
Gwil nods in agreement. "I know. And don't worry, I think he will tell you soon. He trusts you." He says reassuringly.
Joe shrugs. "Apparently not enough yet." He mumbles.
Gwil shoots the boy a smile. "Maybe if you start opening up to him, he will do the same. You'll figure it out." He says.
Joe sighs and nods. "I'll try. Thanks Gwil." He says gratefully. Now he finally feels like he can help Ben.

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Hi everyone! Welcome by the first upload of 2022😍 Let's hope this year will be a better one.

Not a very long or spectacular chapter today, I'm sorry. But I still hope you liked it?

Anyways, take care💕