It's a Hard life | Hardzello♡

32. No longer missing

"Joey? Can you, uhm, end the call? You need to see this." Ben says upon entering the bedroom.
Joe looks at him questioningly.
"Just trust me, please? You can call your dad back later." The blond says.
Joe sees that his boyfriend means it, and nods. "Dad, I'm gonna have to call you back. Yes, I will. Love you too Dad." He says to his father before ending the call.
He gets up from the bed, and walks over to his boyfriend. "Everything okay sweetheart?" He asks a bit worried.
"Well why don't you come and see who's at the door?" Ben says with a sigh.
Joe gives the boy a puzzled look before following Ben towards the front door. "Benny, you're scaring me a little." He admits. 
Ben gives the boy a quick peck on the cheek as some kind of reassurance.

As soon as the front door has opened, Joe's eyes widen immediately, his jaw drops. "MARY?!" He exclaims in shock.
A young girl with pale red hair is standing in the doorway. She looks down at her shoes while fidgeting with the zipper of her jacket. "Hi." She says, barely audible.
"What the fuck are you doing here?!" Joe says, still quite in shock of this sudden appearance of his sister.
Mary swallows. "I uhm- I just needed some time away from home." She says softly.
Joe gives her an angry look and a shake of the head. "And so you took a plane to another country? What the hell Mary!" Joe exclaims.  He and his dad have been so worried about his sister, and now she just shows up out of the blue.
"Easy Joey. Let her come in first. Then she can explain." Ben says to avoid a sibling feut right at the front door.
A small but grateful smile appears on Mary's face.
Joe sighs and nods. "Yeah yeah, you're right. Come in sis." He walks back into the living room, followed by his boyfriend and his sister. 

After Ben got Joe's sister a glass of water, he sits down next to Joe and immediately takes his hand. He gives the ginger a reassuring smile, telling the boy to stay calm.
Joe gets the hint and nods. He takes a deep breath, and turns to Mary. "So will you now please explain to me why you ran away from home, to another country?" He says.
Mary avoids his gaze, and says nothing. Then, she tries to speak but her voice cracks. She clears her throat, and says the sentence again. "Because my life is a mess right now. And it's my own fault." She bites her lip to keep the tears away, but miserably fails.
When Joe sees the first tears glide down his sister's cheeks, he frees his hand out of Ben's and walks over to Mary. He sits down next to her and puts his arm around her. "What is going on? This is unlike you." Joe almost whispers while pulling his sister into a hug.
Ben can't help but watch with a little smile how Joe is comforting his little sister. He sees that she's whispering something in Joe's ear. Not long after that he sees the eyes of his boyfriend widen.
"WHAT?" He exclaims. He gets up from the couch, and looks in shock at Mary. "You're kidding, right?" He asks his sister. Ben looks at the ginger questioningly.
Mary shakes her head, tears still flowing down her cheeks.
"Mary you're fucking 16!" Joe almost yells. Causing his sister to start sobbing even louder.
Ben notices the panicking look in Joe's eyes, and decides to do something.
He gets up, takes Joe's hand, and pulls him along into the kitchen. 

"Joe, calm down. What is going on, I don't understand?" Ben asks as soon as they're in the kitchen.
Joe closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. "She is pregnant." He says.
Ben's eyes widen slightly, and the only thing he manages to say is a soft 'wow'.
Joe nods. "Yeah. Wow indeed." He says.
Ben intertwines their fingers to reassure Joe. He can see the concerned look in the boy's eyes. "Then talk to her, calmly. She probably came here to talk to someone. And because she didn't wanna hear this reaction from your father. She'll be okay." Ben says before pulling his boyfriend into a hug.
When they let go, Joe looks at the blond with a small smile. "Can I say something? It's makes me look bad, but still." He says.
Ben chuckles and nods.
"I feel relieved actually. My sister isn't kidnapped or something, and my bad feeling inside is gone. At least that mystery's solved." Joe says.
Ben giggles, and presses his lips against Joe's. "We're gonna help your sister, okay? She won't be alone." He says when they break the kiss.
Joe takes a deep breath, and nods.

When the two walk back into the living room, they hear some broken sobs coming from Mary.
Joe sits down next to her again. "I sounded pretty much like Dad there, didn't I?" He asks his sister softly.
Mary wipes her tears, and shrugs as she's still avoiding Joe's gaze.
"I'm so sorry." Joe whispers while pulling the younger girl close against his chest.
After a couple of minutes, Joe can feel his sister relax in his arms.
Ben smiles when he too can see that Mary has calmed down and is able to smile a little again.
"So, who's the father? You did pick a hot one, right?" Joe asks with a big smirk.
Mary giggles softly at his face, which makes Joe happy. For the first time since his sister has arrived in the UK, he sees her truly smiling.
"Matt is the father. You remember him?" Mary asks.
Joe nods. "Of course I remember Matt. He spend the last two Christmases with us. He's a great person to be a baby daddy." He says with a wink. 
Mary nods in agreement. "I know he is. But it was an accident. Clearly." She almost whispers the last part.
"I thought you were on the pill?" Joe says.
Mary looks up in a slight surprise. "I was. But apparently my doctor gave me a pill that wasn't strong enough. And how do you even know I was on the pill?" She asks her brother.
A big smirk creeps onto Joe's face. "Trust me, I've been in you're room more than you know." 

When the doorbell rings, Ben gets up to get it. He shoots Joe a quick smile before leaving the living room.
He returns with two boxes of pizza. "Lunch is here." He says with a smile as he places the boxes on the table.
Joe laughs and looks at his boyfriend. "You ordered pizza as lunch?" With a smirk, he crosses his arms.
Ben nods. "Yeah. Mostly because I might have forgotten to do groceries." He says with a guilty smile.
Joe rolls his eyes and giggles softly.
Mary looks at the two and smiles. "You two are such a goofball." She says with a chuckle.
Joe shrugs. "I like being a goofball." He says before stuffing his mouth with pizza.
Earning a bunch of laughter from both Mary and Ben.

+++++

"So, are we the only ones that know you're here?" Ben asks after the three of them have finished their lunch.
Mary shakes her head. "No, Matt knows about it too. He also knows about the... baby."
Joe can see that his sister has a hard time saying the word baby. "Well, what does he think of it?" The ginger asks.
A small smile appears on the girl's face. "He really wants to raise the baby. But he also supports me if I don't wanna have it, or keep it. He wants whatever I want. But that doesn't make the choice easier." She says with a sigh.
Ben smiles. "It's good to have some support."
Mary nods in agreement. "It is. He is the sweetest. He even helped me to get here by getting me a plane ticket."
Joe is about to say something, when his phone beeps. He quickly checks who's messaging him. "It's Dad. Again." He says to Mary.
Immediately, he sees a anxious look appear on her face.
"So, I'm just gonna tell him that I know where you are, and that you're safe. I'll say that you won't be away for that long, and that you just needed some time to think. Okay?" Joe says with a reassuring smile.
Mary smiles, and whispers a soft 'thank you'. 

When Joe's eyes meet Ben's, the two of them share a look.
The blond smiles at Joe, and answers his questioning look with a nod.
Which Joe correctly translates as: 'Yes, she can stay with us for a few days.'
The two got to know each other so well in a short time, that they don't always need words to talk. "So, if you'd like you could stay here for a couple of days?" Joe asks his little sister.
She looks up with a grateful smile. "Really? Thank you." She says softly.
Joe smiles and pulls his sister in a hug again.
After he lets go of her, Mary curls up against him and closes her eyes. "I missed my big brother." She mumbles.
Ben, who has been watching the two with a huge smile on his face, gets up from the couch. "How about I go to the supermarket for some shopping, so you two can catch up in the meantime?" He says with a smile.
Joe can feel his heart glow when his boyfriend is being so thoughtful. He nods gratefully with a smile.

Ben walks to the hall to get his jacket, and smiles when walks back into the living room.
Mary is still lying against her brother, her eyes closed.
"I'll bring some extra cookies today." Ben says to the ginger with a wink.
"That's sweet. I love you." Joe says softly.
Ben smiles and blows the boy a kiss before leaving.

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Hey guys!

So, a few days ago I uploaded the first two chapters of my hardzello one shots. Check them out if you like🙃

How was this chapter? We now know who was at the door😜

Anyways, sending you all of my love♡