It's a Hard life | Hardzello♡

12. Nightmare

That night, Joe has a hard time falling asleep. His mind is racing. Everything that happened this night shoots by in his head. How would he feel if he would lose Gwil or Rami and people would start to blame him? No, don't think about that.
He takes his phone from the nightstand to see what time it is, and groans. Three o'clock in the morning. He sits up straight, and decides to get himself a glass of water.
But when he walks past the door of Ben's room, Joe gets distracted. Because from the room comes a whimper, almost a yelp. He keeps standing in front of the door for a moment, to listen if the noise continues. But then he hears a loud bang. The ginger quickly opens the door to see what the loud bang was. 
In bed, he sees Ben tossing and turning with a frightened look on his face. Another whimper escapes his mouth. Joe quickly walks over to the bed, and starts trying to wake Ben up. "Ben? Ben you gotta wake up. It's just a dream blondie." He gently shakes the boy back and forth.
Ben turns around in his sleep, away from Joe.
"Ben." Joe says, this time a bit louder.
Ben's eyes shoot open, and are full of tears. "Joe!" He chokes out relieved.
Before Joe can say anything, Ben is already hugging him. Loud sobs escape from his throat.
The ginger softly rubs his hand over Ben's back. He notices how fast Ben is breathing. "It's okay, I'm with you." Joe whispers during the hug.

After a while, they let go of each other.
Joe can see the stains on Ben's cheeks from all the tears. Some last tears are still sparkling in his green eyes. With a small smile, he uses his thumbs to wipe them away. Then his gaze falls on Ben's hand. It's bleeding, and some bruises already start to form. Which means the boy must have been hitting and kicking pretty violently in his sleep. "That must have been a scary dream." Joe whispers softly.
Ben sniffles softly and just nods.
"You just bumped it, I think plasters will do. I'll be right back." The ginger gets up and walks towards the bathroom. When he returns, he sees that Ben still hasn't fully calmed down. He sits down on the bed next to the boy, and starts taking care of his hand.
"Thank you." Ben whispers when he is done. "You should go back to bed, I'm sorry for waking you."
Joe shakes his head. "I'm not gonna leave you alone right now. I'll move my mattress to your room." He says with a caring smile. "And I brought you some sleeping pills. They will help you to calm down and to fall asleep."
A weak smile cracks on Ben's face. "Thanks." He says, barely audible. 

After Joe laid his mattress on the ground next to Ben's bed, the boys both agreed to try to get some sleep.
Joe is almost fully asleep when he hears some soft sobs coming from his side. He bites his lip as he can feel his heart ache. He really wants Ben to be happy, and so he decides to make a move. A very daring move, but everything to comfort Ben.
Joe gets up, and walks over to Ben's bed. He squads down, so his face is the same high as Ben's. "Hey, need someone to cuddle with?" He whispers to the boy while taking Ben's hands.
The blond boy opens his eyes, and nods. "P-please?" He sobs.
Joe smiles. "Anything for my blondie." He walks over to the other side of the bed and crawls under the sheets next to Ben. He snuggles closer to the boy until he is fully spooning him.
Ben's chest rises and falls quickly because of the sobbing.
Joe puts his arm around him. "Shh, I'm with you. You're not alone." He whispers.
After a while, Joe can hear the sobbing stop, which makes him happy. And just when he thinks the Brit has fallen asleep, Ben turns around, now facing Joe.
A tiny smile has formed around the blond's lips. He places his head on Joe's shoulder and yawns.
"Well, I guess the sleeping pills are kicking in, aren't they?" Joe asks with a smile while stroking some hairs out of Ben's face.
Ben nods and yawns once again. "I'm tired." He mumbles.
Joe pulls him closer and smiles. "Then go to sleep. I won't leave you, I promise. I'll be here when you wake up, okay?" He says.
Ben smiles and closes his eyes. "Thanks. I love you Joe." He mumbles. 

Less than a minute later, the boy is fast asleep.
But the ginger is wide awake. Ben's words keep ringing through his head.
He said I love you. But what did he mean with it? 
Did he mean I love you as a friend?
Or does Ben really love him? In that case, Joe's prayers have been heard. He would love nothing more than to be with Ben. But did Ben say it consciously, or was it due to the effect of the sleeping pills?
Joe has so many questions and thoughts right now.
But all those thoughts pause for a moment because of Ben stirring a little, turning Joe's attention towards him. Joe looks at the boy, and pulls him a little closer. A small smile appears on his face when he can feel his heart glow. "You're cute. I love you too Ben." He whispers to the sleeping boy.
He crooks his nose in Ben's blond hair and closes his eyes. Slowly, he drifts into a deep sleep.

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Just some hardzello cuteness today, nothing very spectacular🤷🏼‍♀️

I said it on instagram before, but I have covid again and I feel like shit. So idk when I'll upload again❤

Stay safe, okay🥺