It's a Hard life | Hardzello♡

20. A bad feeling

About a week later, it's the day before Christmas eve.
Which means it's the death anniversary of Joe's mom. The ginger already warned Ben a few days before that he will probably be a bit down.
Which Ben totally understands, of course. 

Softly, Ben knocks on the door of Joe's room. Although it became practically his room too, since he and Joe sleep together in Joe's bed every night. "Hey, I'm going to Gwil's house to drop of some presents for tomorrow. You wanna come, or do you prefer to be alone for a while?" He asks the ginger with a small smile.
Joe looks up from his phone, and shoots the boy a weak but sad smile. "Alone, please." He almost whispers.
With a reassuring smile on his face, Ben walks over to the boy and sits down next to him. He briefly locks their lips together, and takes Joe's hand when they break the kiss. "Call me if you need me, okay?" He asks.
An already more believable smile appears on Joe's face. "I will, thank you." He says before placing a kiss on Ben's cheek. 
Ben smiles at his boyfriend before leaving the room.
Once Joe hears the front door close, indicating that Ben has left, he lets out a shaky breath.
He lets himself fall backwards on the bed, closing his eyes. On a day like this, the memories of his mom shoot past in his head. The good one's, and the less good one's.
The songs she used to sing while cooking dinner for Christmas.
The tears that sparkled in her eyes after she got a drawing from Joe and his siblings as birthday present.
The first time Joe came home in the middle of the night, and he got a lecture from her because she was worried sick.
The regular fights he had with her about cleaning his room.
All those things.
They all changed the moment his mom was diagnosed with cancer. The dynamic between him and his family changed. Because his mom and dad spent a lot of time in the hospital, Joe was the one who had to take care of his little sister. His older brother worked his butt off to help their parents out a little.
It was tough. For all of them.

Joe's thoughts are interrupted by his phone ringing. He sighs and opens his eyes. When he grabs his phone to see who's calling him, he sees that it's Gwil. "Now is not a good time Gwil." He says after answering the phone.
"Joe, frankly I don't care. This is about Ben, it's important." Gwil's voice sounds pretty desperate.
The ginger sits up straight. "W-what about him?" He doesn't know why, but he has a bad feeling. He has never heard Gwil panicking like this before.
"Well I uhm- I was calling with him while he was on his way. But then I heard someone yelling at him, and not long after that the call was ended. He should have been at my place already, so I'm now looking for him outside. Can you please meet me at the music store? I think he must be somewhere around there." Gwil rattles.
Joe jumps up from his bed and hurries towards the front door. He quickly grabs his jacket and his keys. "Oh god, yes I'm on my way." He ends the call, and runs towards the music shop.
His heart is beating in his throat, and tears already start to form in his eyes. He has a really bad feeling about this. Ben told him that he has been beaten up before, which is why Joe fears that this might be a same kind of situation. After all, Gwil heard someone yelling at Ben.
After a minute or two, Joe arrives at the music shop. There he sees Gwil talking to Brian.
"Hey guys." The ginger says, gasping for breath. "Have you found him yet?" He asks Gwil after he regained his breath.
The tall boy looks at him with a frown and shakes his head. "No, not yet."
Joe tries to hide that he is really panicking now, but still Brian notices.
"Don't worry Joe, we'll find him. I'll go that way, and you two are going this way. I think that's the quickest way to find him." Brian says.
Both Gwil and Joe nod before they split up, walking the other way Brian is going. 

"This is bad, Gwil. Really bad." Joe says, now breathing faster and faster.
"Joe, relax. We don't know even what's going on yet." Gwil says reassuringly. While talking, both boys scan the environment looking for Ben.
"Gwil, I just know something's wrong. I feel it. So I won't fucking relax." Joe says stressed.
Gwil is about to say something, when he sees someone lying on the grass a little further on. He takes Joe by the arm and yanks the boy along with him.
The two run over to the person, and to their horror they see that it is Ben.
For a few seconds, Joe just stands there, completely in shock.
Fortunately, Gwil can still think clearly, and immediately grabs his phone. He dials Brians's number, looking at Ben with concern. The boy has bruises and wounds all over his face, and some of the wounds are still bleeding. "Hi, Brian? Yes we found him. About two streets away from the store. Yes that's the street. I'll see you in a minute then. Bye." He looks at Joe for a moment before calling an ambulance.
The ginger has sat down in the grass, and has places Ben's head in his lap.
Gwil takes a deep breath before dialing 911. He walks away from Ben and Joe a few steps. Luckily he sees Brian approaching, so maybe he'll manage to calm Joe down a bit.
But Joe is far away from calming down. Tears are waiting to drop, and he feels this fear deep inside. Because what if Ben won't be okay?
Somewhere in the distance, he hears Gwil's voice, probably making a call.
But he doesn't pay attention to it.
All he sees right now is his boyfriend in his arms, still unconscious. "Please, open your eyes Benny. Come on, don't bail on me now. Please, if you're not by my side then what's the point?" He whispers, gently stroking the boy's hair.
After a while, he notices that Brian is on his knees next to him, talking to him. He quickly blinks away the tears, and looks up to the older man.
"He's gonna be okay Joe." Brian says reassuringly.
Before Joe can say anything, Gwil comes between them. "The ambulance is on it's way. If he still isn't awake in five minutes, he will be taken to the hospital. It's probably just a concussion, but they're not sure. It could be something more serious...-"

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The drama is backkkk😏 What do you think, will Ben be okay?

Because I'm nearing my final exams I haven't had much time to edit and re-read any chapters, so the next upload might take a while, I'm sorry💕

Anyways, kisses to y'all😘