It's a Hard life | Hardzello♡

48. Mrs Leech

In the middle of the night, Ben wakes up in cold sweat. He sits up straight, gasping for breath. Soon the first tear finds its way down his cheek.
When the blond looks next to him, and lets out a sigh of relief. His nightmare didn't wake up Joe.
"It was just a dream. It was just a dream." Ben whispers to himself, although it doesn't calm him down.
His head is pounding with a huge headache, and his mind is racing. He takes a few deep breaths so he won't start sobbing.
But it doesn't work.
The headache gets worse, and more tears start to fall.
When a nauseous feeling rushes through his body, Ben knows that he's about to have a panic attack. He gets out of bed, and tiptoes over to the door of the room.
He doesn't want to wake Joe. After everything he put the boy through yesterday, the least Ben can do is not disturb his sleep.
Ben quickly walks into the kitchen, grabbing himself a glass of water. But after one sip, his hands start to tremble. He puts the glass down and takes a deep breath.
The last thing he needs is a breaking glass because of his panic attack.
That would wake up Joe for sure.
What the blond boy doesn't know, is that Joe woke up the moment Ben started tossing and turning in bed. When he heard Ben murmuring some frightened cries in his sleep, he was positive that the boy was having a nightmare.
With his eyes closed and his breathing under controle, he listened to the soft sobs coming from his side. He knows all too well that Ben doesn't want to bother him with his nightmare. Which is why Joe pretended to be asleep.
Not long after he heard Ben sitting up, soft footsteps followed by the sound of the door opening and closing were heard.

When Ben still hasn't returned after a few minutes, Joe gets out of bed as well. Barefoot, he walks towards the living room. But halfway through the hall he can already hear the broken sobs coming from his boyfriend.
In the living room, Joe sees Ben sitting on the floor in front of the couch, his head lowered between his knees.
Joe whispers some soothing things as he walks over to the boy.
But Ben doesn't seem to even notice him.
Joe hears him breathing really fast, almost panting. But also kind of wheezing.
The ginger sits down next to the boy, and immediately pulls him close. He has seen Ben having panic attacks before, but never as bad as now. "Benny, I need you to listen to me, do you hear me?" He says.
The blond manages to nod in between sobbing.
"Focus on my breathing, and repeat what I say, okay?" Joe says as he places Ben's hand on his chest. "You're okay, nothing is gonna happen to you." He bites his lip when he sees Ben almost choking on his tears.
"I- I am..." The blond starts. But he can't manage to finish the sentence. He tries to synchronize his breathing with Joe's, but it takes a lot of effort.
Joe gently grabs Ben's chin to make the boy look him in the eye. "You can do it sweetheart. You're okay, nothing is gonna happen to you." He whispers.
Ben swallows. "I am o-okay. N-nothing is going ha-happen to m-me." He stutters after a few deep breaths.
Joe smiles. "Very well Benny. Now take a deep breath and say it again." He says softly before pecking Ben's cheek.
Ben takes a shaky breath in before repeating the sentence.
"And breathe in again." Joe keeps coaching the boy through his attack like this, not intending to stop until Ben has calmed down again.

When Joe sees that the tears have stopped falling after a while, he smiles. "You're doing so great baby."
When Ben's breathing is back to normal and he's able to talk properly again, Joe pulls the boy with him on the couch. "Talk to me, my love. You're still shaking." He whispers to the blond.
Ben puts his head on Joe's chest so he can listen to his heartbeat. "I- I dreamt that everything went wrong Joey." He says softly. "What if Corey's parents will hurt us?"
Joe immediately starts rubbing his hand over Ben's back to comfort him when he hears this. He doesn't say anything yet, and only gives the boy a kiss on the forehead. "They're not just Corey's parents Benny. They're Allen's parents too. He was your best friend. You told me several times that they saw you as a child of their own. That they helped you whenever your parents were being completely unreasonable again. I can't imagine they'll hurt you. And besides, you're not going alone. I'm going with you, and I won't let them hurt you. That's a pinky promise." Joe sticks out his pinky for Ben to link.
Which the blond does with a smile on his face.