Let me live | Hardzello♡

Chapter 19

The next day, it's time for Joe to start with the second part of his medication. "And you're sure this doesn't have any side effects?" The ginger asks as he looks at the pills in front of him with a raised eyebrow.
Lucy nods. "Yes, don't worry. It might make you a bit drowsy, but that's all." She says, handing the boy a glass of water to flush down the pills.
Joe sighs. "I can live with that." He says before taking the pills and flushing them down with the water.
"Okay then, do you remember the schedule for tomorrow?" Lucy asks with a caring smile, knowing the boy is quite nervous about his surgery.
Joe nods with a frown. "Surgery starts at 10 Am, I should be out by 2 Pm." He says.
Lucy nods. "Good. I'll leave you alone now." She says before leaving the room.

When Joe looks aside, he catches Ben staring at him. "What are you looking at?" He asks with a grin.
Ben looks down, feeling his cheeks heat up. "N-nothing." He stammers.
Joe smirks and crawls out of bed. He sits down on the edge of Ben's bed, and leans in to place a quick kiss on Ben's lips. "Nothing huh? I'll keep that in mind." He whispers with a smirk. He smiles when Ben opens his arms to ask for a cuddle. He crawls close to Ben's body, placing his head on the boy's shoulder.
"Okay, well maybe I was just admiring you." Ben admits, his face the colour of a tomato by now.
Joe lets out a soft giggle, starting to blush a little as well. "C-can we, uhm, watch a movie or something?" He asks to change the subject.
Ben smiles and gives him a small kiss on the head. "Sure. Which one do you wanna watch?" He asks as he grabs his laptop.
"Mmm...- How about this one?" Joe asks with a grin, pointing at a movie on the laptop screen.
Ben smiles widely and nods when Joe points at the Bohemian Rhapsody movie. "Good choice." He says after kissing Joe's cheek.
Joe smiles sleepily, letting out a small yawn. "I hope I'll make it through the end though." He mumbles as he briefly closes his eyes.
Ben giggles softly. "I don't think you'll even make it to the start Joey." He runs his hand through Joe's hair.
"What do you mean by that?" Joe mumbles, his eyes closed again.
Ben smiles. "You're practically asleep already." With a grin, he starts running his fingers over the boy's back, knowing it's gonna make him even more drowsy.
Joe yawns again. "No m'not." He mumbles before snuggling closer to Ben. He intertwines their fingers, pressing a kiss on the back of Ben's hand. "See, I'm awake."
Ben chuckles, continuing to trace figures on Joe's back.
The ginger lets out a pleased noise. "That feels nice." He mumbles.
Ben smirks. "Then I won't stop." 
Joe shows him a small, sleepy smile as he nods. "Hmm please." He mumbles.
"Sleep well Joey." Ben chuckles before pressing a kiss on the boy's head.

:::::

After admiring the sleeping boy against his chest for a while, Ben can feel his eyelids slowly get heavier and heavier. Just before he can close his eyes, he gets startled by his phone ringing.
After quickly checking if the loud sound has woken Joe Ben answers the phone, excited when he sees it's Allen calling him. "Hey Allen." The boy says cheerfully, but not too loud so it could wake Joe.
"H-hey Ben. I... I need to talk to you." Allen says softly.
Ben immediately frowns when he notices the serious tone in the voice of his friend. "Is everything okay? What's wrong?" He asks worried.
It stays silent on the other line for a few seconds. "Well uhm, it's about school. And your home. And it's not very good." Allen says.
Ben swallows. "What about it?" He can hear Allen take a deep breath.
"I uhm, I biked past your house this morning on my way to school. There were men loading all of your and your parents' belongings into a truck. When I asked them what they were doing, they told me that you no longer live there because of the high rent due." Allen says, pausing a moment to give Ben some time to let it sink in. 
Ben's eyes widen. He tries to look for the right words, but it stays silent.
"They told me they called your parents several times, but didn't receive an answer. So that's when the company decided to put the house up for sale." Allen continues.
Ben can feel the tears well up in his eyes. "But- but how can they do that? My dad passed away and my mum is in some mental hospital. Of course they're not gonna answer the phone! How can they just take away all our stuff? They can't just throw away the memories of my father!" He rattles. He curses under his breath when Joe lets out a groan before stirring a little. "Ohw fuck. Please stay asleep." Ben mutters.
He really doesn't need Joe to see him crying right now. He lets out a sigh of relief when Joe snuggles closer to him and just peacefully continues sleeping.
"I really tried to stop them, Ben. I told them about your parents, but they said they're just following instructions. They took your stuff to some storage place, but it won't stay there for long, I'm afraid." Allen says.
Ben swallows and sighs loudly. "Well, thanks for telling me. I gotta go now, the doctor's gonna be here soon." He says, not wanting to hear the bad news about his school yet.
"But Ben, I-" Before Allen can finish his sentence, Ben speaks up.
"Just, uhm, text me the crap about school, okay? Tomorrow or something. I'll read it then." The blond says. 
"Yeah of course, will do. Things will be okay, I'm sure of it." Allen says in a reassuring voice.
Ben smiles a little. "Thanks mate. I'll talk to you soon." He says before ending the phone call. With tears in his eyes, the blond boy looks down at the sleeping Joe. "And just like that, life got even shittier." He whispers before gently pressing his lips against Joe's.

+++

"How- how long have I been asleep?" Joe mumbles confused as he slowly opens his eyes.
Ben gives him a small smile. "Pretty long. About four hours, I think?" He feels himself melt at the sight of Joe's cute tired eyes and his messy hair.
"Jeez, that long? How the fuck am I still exhausted?" Joe groans.
Ben doesn't say anything, and just shows him a forced smile.
"Are you okay?" Joe asks when he notices Ben is less talkative than usual.
Ben shrugs. "Not really." He mumbles.
"What's wrong?" Joe asks worried, taking Ben's hand in his own.
Ben shakes his head. "It's nothing, don't worry." He says. He doesn't want to bother Joe with his personal problems one day before the boy's surgery. "My pain relief is wearing off, so I'm just not feeling great." He says when Joe still looks at him full of worry. And he's not even lying. Since it's been a few hours since his last pain medication, his chest is really starting to hurt. "And I have to wait another hour before I can get some." Ben adds.
Joe frowns. "Anything I can do to make it better for now?" He asks softly before leaning in to place a tender kiss on Ben's lips.
The blond boy smiles a little. "Well that actually helped." He says with a smirk.
Joe's face breaks into a grin. "Oh did it? Maybe I should kiss you again then." He whispers.
Ben bites his lip. "Just because you're offering then." He mumbles, actually feeling better already.
Joe smiles before leaning in again, staring at Ben's soft lips. As soon as their lips meet, a passionate kiss begins.
When they break the kiss, Ben can see Joe isn't far from falling asleep again.
"I hate these drugs." Joe yawns. He closes his eyes and nuzzles his face into the crook of Ben's neck.
Ben can't help but smile. "They make you really cute though." He whispers.
Joe smiles sleepily, allowing himself to slowly fall asleep. 

____________________

Not a very heavy chapter today :)

Sorry for making you wait this long for the new chapter

Much love from me♡