Long Away

Chapter 6

Freddie unlocked the apartment door and they stepped inside. Roger and Brian were lounging on the couch together. "Oh, hey guys!" Ben waved to them while he took off his coat and boots.
"Hello!" Brian waved back.
Freddie let out a deep sigh.
"Roger, we've talked about this. No dogs on the sofa."
"Oh right, sorry. Brian, shoo!" He lightly kicked him in the side.
"Ey!"
"But look what Brian brought," Roger said, pointing at a mattress on the floor.
"Oh that's good! Now you don't have to sleep on the sofa anymore, Ben," Freddie said.
"Thank you Brian," Ben said happily.
"You're welcome."
"I helped carry it upstairs," Roger stated proudly.
"Geez Rog," Freddie said, "do you want a biscuit for that or what?"
"Yes, actually."
Freddie rolled his eyes, but couldn't suppress a smile. Neither could Ben. He looked away, afraid he would start blushing again. God, why did Roger have to be so damn cute? Freddie rummaged through a kitchen cabinet, and actually found a metal box with some biscuits.
"You may have one," he said, holding it in front of Roger's face. He took a handful.
"That is not one," Freddie scolded and pretended to hit Roger's head with the box.
"Ow!" Roger pouted.
"There is only room in this household for one hysterical queen," Freddie warned him. He handed the box on to Brian, and then to Ben.
"Thanks!" He grabbed a jammie dodger and bit into it. It clearly had been in that box for a while, but it was still fine.
"We should make more for Christmas together," Roger said, his mouth still half full. Freddie gave him a skeptical look.
"Can you do that without poisoning us?" Roger shrugged.
"I don't know. But I can try."
"Sounds good enough to me," Ben said.

Brian got up from the couch.
"I think I'm gonna get going now," he said. "Mary wanted to come over tonight."
"Your girlfriend?", Ben asked. He remembered she was dating Brian before Freddie. He wasn't sure how they broke up. He felt bad when Brian nodded with a smile.
"Yes."
"Alright, you should not keep her waiting," Freddie said. "Tell her I said hi."
"Will do."
"Bye, Bri!" Roger said.
"Bye, bi's", Brian replied.
Freddie sighed heavily.
"Get out."

Ben accompanied Brian to the door.
"Have a good night. I'll see you this weekend, right?", Ben asked.
"Right. I might stop by again before that though. I'm not sure yet."
They hugged each other good-bye. Ben waited in the hallway while Brian made his way downstairs. He kind of dreaded going back inside. He had so many things he needed to think about in peace. He wouldn't get any of that with Roger around though. Why did this always have to happen to him? It had taken him over a year to get over his crush on Joe. While he didn't feel the same way for him anymore as he once did, he still missed him so much it was painful. And now he was catching feelings for someone else, all in this terribly confusing, scary situation. Ben felt a lump in his throat.

"Ben? Is everything alright?" Ben flinched. Roger suddenly appeared behind him.
"Sure." He forced himself to make an unbothered impression.
"That's not true, is it?" Roger looked him deep in the eyes. Ben's heart started to beat faster. He looked away. "It's nothing. I'm just tired, is all."
He could hear Roger shifting from one foot to the other. Ben looked back at him. He seemed nervous.
"Is something up?," Ben asked. Now it was Roger who avoided his gaze.
"You just seem like you're not feeling well. Does that have anything to do with me? Did I make you uncomfortable today? If so, I'm sorry. I know I can come off a bit presumptuous. I only wanted to joke around. Did that come across wrong?", he babbled nervously. His words were like a stab to the chest. So he was just fooling around after all. Of course. Ben didn't know what he had expected. In an attempt to hide his dissapointment, he shook his head.
"It has nothing to do with you. I've been feeling off for a while."
"If you want to talk, I'm here for you. Freddie is too, if you'd rather talk to him."
"Thanks," Ben said quietly. Freddie peaked around the corner.
"I don't wanna interrupt you two, but are we having dinner together?"
"I'm actually not hungry," Ben said. Freddie and Roger exchanged concerned looks.
"Don't worry, it's not anything serious. I'd just rather go to sleep," Ben added.
The two didn't look convinced, but didn't say anything else about it.
"Is it okay if we put your mattress in my room?", Freddie asked instead.
"If it's okay with you, sure."

Without talking much more, they cleared out some space for Ben in Freddie's room. The clothes they had given him were already in a drawer next to Freddie's. Other than the mattress they also brought a blanket, some pillows, and a cardboard box as a replacement for a nightstand. When they were done, Freddie and Roger went to cook themselves some pasta. Ben headed to the bathroom. After brushing his teeth, he got in the shower. The warm water was soothing on his skin, and still he couldn't hold himself back from crying any longer. All of this was driving him crazy. He wanted to do something, he had to. But what? He went over his last memories from the future again, but nothing new came to mind. Maybe he just had to come to terms with the fact that there was nothing he could do. Frustrated and tired of everything, he turned off the water and grabbed his towel. He put on a t-shirt and some sweatpants before heading to the bedroom. Freddie and Roger were still eating when he walked past them.
"Good night, guys," he uttered, hoping they would not hear he was close to crying again. Without waiting for an answer, he closed the bedroom door behind himself.

He let himself fall onto the mattress and buried his face in the pillows.
"Ben?" He flinched. That was not Freddie or Roger's voice. He looked around. It was not completely dark in the room yet, so it was easy to see that no one was there. Creeped out, Ben sat rigid for a few seconds. Nothing happened.
"Yes?", he whispered. Still nothing. He lied back down. Minutes passed, and eventually Ben calmed down again. He was probably just tired. His imagination was playing tricks on him. That had to be it. He closed his eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.
"Ben? I'm here."
He jolted upright.
"Who is there?" His voice trembled with fear. Again, he got no answer. He could not remember his heart beating this fast ever before. The voice sounded familiar somehow, but he could not put his finger on where he had heard it before. He got up and walked to the window. He cracked it open and let the chilly night air fill his lungs. He hoped it would wake him up from this nightmare. It did not. Maybe he had gone completely crazy now, he thought. One thing was for sure, he was not going to be able to sleep. He shut the window again and stepped out into the living room.
Roger and Freddie were playing cards at the table. They looked up at him.
"Are you alright?", Freddie asked. "You look like you just saw a ghost."
"I just can't sleep," Ben said. He was not about to tell them that he had hallucinations, or whatever it was that he just heard.
"Mind if I join your game?"
"Of course not," Roger said. Ben grabbed a glass of water before sitting down with them. This was going to be a long night.

***

Heya guys!

Fun fact: I was completely sleep deprived when I wrote this chapter. You might be able to tell lol.
Anyway, I hope it turned out alright? What are your thoughts on the story so far? Let me know if you have any theories! Until next time!

Tay