Ben 10 Universe Imagines

Softer Side

Pairing: Ben x reader

Genre: Fluff

Characters: Ben, Y/N

T/W: Autism Meltdown.

Description: Y/N has autism and has a meltdown in the middle of the school hallway. Ben comes to their rescue and shows his softer side by helping them through it.

Anxiety was beginning to get the better of you as you wandered around the school halls. The sights and sounds that surrounded you heightened your nervousness and anxiety; you felt as though the world was closing in around you, your mind began to close in on itself, unable to process anything that was happening around you.

You fell to the floor and screamed, throwing your books down beside you. Students stopped and stared at you as your meltdown progressed which was making things a whole lot worse. You curled into yourself and cried, rocking back and forth in an attempt to calm yourself down.

Sniggers and laughter came from the circle that had quickly surrounded you which caused your screaming to get louder. You felt as though the world was closing in around you and you couldn't escape.

Hushed whispers circled around you as your rocking became more severe. You didn't know what to do in this situation, so you just stayed in your spot in the middle of the hallway, rocking back and forth, until a loud voice came to your rescue.

"Hey! Why doesn't somebody help them instead of standing around/! You can see that they're in distress!" You peeped through the hole in your crossed arms to see a boy in a green jacket standing above you, smiling gently.

With tear-strewn eyes, you hesitantly looked up at him but tilted your head to the side in confusion. The boy knelt down in front of you and tried to make eye contact, but you looked away.

"Hey, I'm Ben Tennyson. What's your name?". You stayed silent. "Whadd'ya say we get out of here and you can tell me what's wrong?" Through the hole between your arms, you peeked at Ben and nodded your head. He stood up and held his hand out for you to take, which you did hesitantly.

You kept your head down as you walked past the other students and made your way out of the school. Ben led you to his car and stood at the side of it, giving you a small smile. "I just realised, you never told me your name." Ben bowed his head to meet your eyes.

"Y/N. My name's Y/N." Ben placed his hand on your shoulder and waited for your reaction before speaking. At first, you moved away from Ben's hand, but the longer you stayed in his presence, the calmer and safer you felt. "So, where do you wanna go?"

You began to rack your mind of all your favourite places to go when you needed to think, and one particular place stood out to you. "The beach." Ben's face lit up with a smile. "Fantastic! I love the beach!" He opened the passenger door for you to get in and ran around the car to the driver's side.

As soon as you got to the beach, you instantly felt all of your anxiety melt away/ The familiar scents engulfed your senses and you immediately felt at home. The beach was your safe place; and you never wanted to leave.

You led Ben down the concrete stairs and sat down on the warm sand. You closed your eyes and felt the tranquillity of your surroundings move through your body. Your fingers sifted through the grains of sand, causing a small sigh to escape your lips.

"So, Y/N. Do you wanna tell me what happened back there?" You lay down on the sand, letting the warmth of the sun engulf your body. "It's quite hard for me to talk about with somebody I hardly know but, for some reason, I feel a sort of safeness with you, Ben Tennyson."

You opened your eyes and turned to him, a small smile becoming evident on your features. "I have autism, and what you witnessed back at school, was a meltdown. Sometimes, the environment that I'm in becomes too much and the only thing I know to do is scream. My senses become overloaded and I can't cope with the change."

Ben nodded in understanding. "When people laugh and stare at me, it makes things worse. I know that I'm being judged by people for things that I have no control over and it makes me angry. I just don't know any other way of dealing with things."

Ben leaned over and grabbed your hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. "I just want to let you know, Y/N, that I'm glad that you opened up to me, especially because you don't know me. I'm never going to judge or laugh at you for what you do; and I am going to support you through your meltdowns."

Your smile became wider as the last few words came from Ben's mouth. Nobody had ever offered you support, so you were very thankful when Ben uttered those words. Usually, you didn't like hugging people, but an overwhelming urge caused you to reach over and wrap your hands around Ben's shoulders.

"Thank you."

From that day, you no longer felt alone with your autism and you always knew that somebody understood what you were going through and how you were feeling. Ben always made sure he was by your side and he tried his upmost best to support you.