𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 (𝘣𝘹𝘣)

twenty four

TW: talk of abuse

**

Benjamin wakes up, having slept over at his mom's house after his talk with Noah. He knows he shouldn't have left, it was stupid.

He sits up in bed and checks his phone. Noah had blown up his phone, and he had a few texts from Gabi and even Lucas.

He frowns and clicks on Noah's contact, hoping he'd answer. "Hello?"

Noah sounds restless. "Hey."

"Uhm. I-... I'm sorry. I'm at my mom's house. I shouldn't have...Stormed out like that it was childish."

"You gotta talk to someone, Benjamin. What's been going on? And don't say nothing."

Benjamin sighs and shrugs his shoulders. "I-... It's complicated...I don't know what it is."

"Seriously?" Noah shakes his head. "Can you just meet me at the place?"

"Yeah. I'll be over there in a few."

**
Benjamin knocks on the front door. He'd usually just walk in since he had a key, but after last night he felt too bad.

Noah opens the door and sees Benjamin. He moves out of the way and lets him walk inside the apartment.

Benjamin walks in and sets his bag down. Noah could tell he hasn't slept well and was obviously in a bad mood.

Noah sits down on the couch, leaning forward to rest his arms on his legs.

Benjamin takes a seat next to him. They both don't say a word for a few seconds.

Benjamin speaks up first. "I'm sorry for storming out of here like that."

Noah nods his head. "I knew what I'd be getting myself into when I got back with you. I know you, Benjamin. And I know when things aren't right."

Benjamin bites down on his lips and nods.

"I need you to be open with me. Because right now, it feels like we're just friends again. And I don't wanna lose you again."

Benjamin nods his head and reaches out to grabs Noah's hand. He intertwined their fingers and places them down on his lap to comfort himself.

"..I'm ready to tell you about Markus."

Noah looks at him and nods. He reaches out with his free hand to fix some of Benjamin's hair. "Okay."

Benjamin takes a shaky deep breath. He clears his throat. "We met at a party one of my friends was throwing. We were both kind of third-wheeling so...We sat outside together and talked for hours."

Benjamin looks down at Noah's hand. "He was really nice to me and...We started dating a month later. He'd never hit me or anything. He was like...Perfect, I guess."

Noah watches as Benjamin's face begins to change, almost as if he was gonna pass out.

"First time he hit me was after a party that we threw. I was drunk and exhausted...But he wanted his place to be clean. He was a very clean person. He hit me because I was..."disrespecting' his home. I wasn't allowed to sleep until it was spotless."

Noah rolls his eyes.

"He'd always buy me gifts after an attack. He'd make me breakfast in bed and we'd watch my favorite movies...I'm so stupid...I just brushed it off."

"Hey. Don't say that. You didn't do anything wrong, Benjamin."

Benjamin shrugs his shoulders. "All the fights would be because of random things like...I spill coffee on accident or...I say no to sex...Maybe I was out too late or...The meal I cooked was nasty."

Noah frowns at that.

"I'd never truly feared my life until one night. We'd been arguing for...Almost a week and...He just got angrier every day. He waited until I was asleep to...You know, hit me. It was almost like I was defenseless. He just kept hitting me over and over again."

Benjamin turns his face to Noah, opening his mouth. "He fucked up my mouth."

Two of his teeth in the back of his mouth were gone. Noah frowns as he grabs Benjamin's face. "Oh, baby."

Benjamin keeps his eye contact as it helped him stay calm. "I thought he was gonna kill me that night...But, he stopped...Backed away and apologized. Then he cried for hours. He made me feel like I drove him to that place."

"Why didn't you report him?"

Benjamin shrugs and can feel a lump forming in his throat. "Any piece of evidence I had was gone. He was monitoring my phone and all that. That's why I gave him sleep pills that night and left."

"I'm so sorry, baby."

Benjamin shrugs. "That's why I freak out over messiness. Or...Don't speak up about how I feel. I just don't ever wanna be back in that place. Anything and everything I did made him upset."

"But you're not in that place anymore, bebesita."

Benjamin cracks a smile, feeling tears begin to run down his cheeks. "Bebesita?"

Noah smiles back at him. "You're safe, okay? I know it's gonna take some time for you to feel one hundred percent, but I just need you to trust me."

"I do. I'm sorry for avoiding you. Thank you for being patient with me."

**