It's a Hard life | Hardzello♡

30. Exhausted

After two minutes (which actually felt like two hours) Ben arrives at home. He can't be home soon enough. He just wants to hold Joe close to make him feel a little better.
After accidentally dropping his keys twice, Ben manages to open the front door. He quickly takes off his jacket and walks into the living room.
There he sees his boyfriend sitting on the couch, his eyes puffy and red from crying.
As soon as Joe sees Ben, he gets up from the couch and walks towards him.
Ben knows all to well that the boy needs a hug, and opens his arms. "Shh, I'm here." He whispers during the hug. "You'll feel better, I promise."
Joe just nods against the blond's chest, as he feels too weak to speak.
When they let go of the hug, Ben notices the glassy look in Joe's eyes. "Joey?"
Joe opens his mouth to say something, but doesn't. Instead, he seems to be slipping further and further away from reality.
And before Ben even realizes what is going on, the ginger collapses. Luckily, Ben is quick enough to catch the fainting boy before he hits his head. "Joe? Baby can you hear me?" He whispers in concern.

After a few seconds of Ben sitting on the floor with the boy in his arms, Joe's eyes slowly open again with a loud groan.
"Thank God, you're okay." Ben whispers. "Can you tell me your name?" He doesn't really know what to do, but he once saw on tv that they ask this kind of stuff.
Joe nods slowly. "Of course I can blondie. I was hoping you'd remember it by now." The boy mumbles.
Ben laughs and gives the boy a kiss. "I remember it, don't you worry about that sweetheart." He smiles.
The ginger closes his eyes again and yawns.
Ben lets out a relieved breath, glad that the boy didn't get hurt. "Baby you're exhausted." He whispers before giving Joe a kiss on the forehead.
Joe shows him a tired smile, and snuggles a little closer to Ben's chest.
After sitting like that for a few minutes, Ben sees that Joe is practically fast asleep already.
He puts his arms around the boy, and carefully lifts him up. He carries him to the bedroom, and gently puts him down onto their bed.
After tucking the ginger in, the blond just stares at his boyfriend for a moment with concern.
Then he leans in, to give the ginger a gentle kiss on the cheek. "I'll be right back Joey. I'm not leaving you, I promise." He whispers as he runs his hand through Joe's hair.
He walks out of the room, and grabs his phone.
After dialing Gwil's number, he impatiently waits for his friend to answer the phone.

When Gwil picks up the phone, Ben doesn't give the boy time to speak. "Gwil, I need your advice." He says immediately.
Apparently Gwil is quite surprised by this sudden call, because it stays silent for a few seconds.
"Well hello to you too Ben. But advise? Yeah okay, about what?" Gwil asks curiously.
Ben bites his lip. "It- it's about Joe." He says in a quite trembling voice.
"Everything okay man?" Gwil asks when he hears the concerned undertone in Ben's voice.
Ben shakes his head. "Uhm not quite. Joe has been having trouble falling asleep since a week ago. And a few minutes ago, he literally fainted because of the tiredness. He's asleep now, but should I take him to the doctor or something?" While explaining what's going on, Ben nervously walks back and forth across the room. 
It stays silent for a few seconds again, which is why Ben assumes Gwil is thinking. 
"Oh, uhm... no, I don't think you should take him to the doctor. Just let him sleep, he must be exhausted." Gwil says. "If you check on him every now and then he'll be fine."
Ben breathes a sigh of relief. "Thanks Gwil." He says with a small smile on his face.
"No problem mate. Call me whenever you need me." Gwil says.
"I will, thanks."

Ben ends the call, and walks back to the bedroom.
In the meantime that Ben was making the call, Joe has wrapped himself in the duvets like a burrito.
Ben smiles, and walks over to the bed. He puts his phone on silent before quietly crawling next to the boy. He snuggles closer to the ginger until he is fully spooning him, including the whole duvet burrito. After putting his arm around his boyfriend, Ben closes his eyes.
Joe shifts a little in his arms before turning around slowly.
For a moment, Ben is afraid he has woken the boy.
But Joe just lets his head rest on the blond's chest and peacefully continues sleeping.
Ben can't help but smile, and runs his hand through Joe's hair. "I love you." He whispers before closing his eyes again.

<><><>

Ben doesn't know how long he has been asleep, but when he opens his eyes it's already dark outside, he sees. Only then he realizes what woke him.
Joe's phone is ringing. The ginger is still fast asleep against Ben, and doesn't seem to notice the noise of his ringtone.
Carefully, Ben maneuvers out from under Joe and walks over to the nightstand.
It's Joe's dad who wants to video call.
Ben takes the phone and walks out of the room before answering it.
Luckily, Joe has introduced Ben to his father as his boyfriend a while ago already, which makes things less tense and awkward.
"Hi Mr Mazzello." Ben says with a kind smile after answering the phone.
"Hey Ben, is Joe around?" Joe father asks, with quite a serious expression on his face.
When Ben sees the concerned look in the man's eyes, he already knows that Mr Mazzello isn't just calling to catch up. "Uhm, yeah he is." He says a bit hesitantly.
"Could you please fetch him for me? I need to ask him something." Mr Mazzello asks.
Ben looks at the closed bedroom door, where Joe is still peacefully asleep. "Well ehm, I don't know if Joe told you about his insomnia of the past weeks?"
Mr Mazzello nods, to say that he knows about his son's insomnia.
Ben takes a deep breath. Of course he'd rather not to wake the boy, but he can see that this might be something very serious. Maybe Joe's bad feeling inside was right after all. "Well, he has finally fallen asleep, so...-"
Mr Mazzello shakes his head. "No, let him sleep then. But can you ask him if he has heard anything from Mary the past fifteen hours once he wakes up? She went to her boyfriend yesterday and promised she'd be back before midnight. But she still isn't home yet, so I'm worried." The man says. 
Ben's eyes widen slightly. "Oh gosh, yes I'll ask him. Any idea where she could be?" He asks. He has never met Joe's sister before, but he knows how important his family is to the boy.
Mr Mazzello shakes his head with a frown. "No, not a clue. But she's been acting different lately. She has been distancing herself from me and her brother, and she seemed quite unhappy. So I'm just afraid she ran away." An even sadder look appears on the face of Joe's father.
Ben really pities the man. He can't even imagine how he must be feeling right now. "I'm sure she'll show up again soon Mr Mazzello. She probably needed some time to think or something. Me or Joe will call you as soon as we hear anything, okay?" He says reassuringly.
He sees Mr Mazzello's lips curling up into a small smile. "Thank you Ben. I really needed to hear those words."

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Ayoo!

The drama is back hehe

How was this chapter? Because I'm not really sure

Anyways, stay safe everyone♡