The Barefoot Violinist

The Hangout

Sunday morning and Cory was feeling edgy. Would it be too soon to call Bennett, he wondered, picking up his phone and walking into the kitchen. What was he going to say? He frowned at his phone, thumb hovering over Bennett's number. Suddenly his mouth felt dry and his heart rate seemed to be picking up, as if he was about to bungee jump off a bridge.

Come on Huyssen, you can do it! It's just a phone call anyway. No problem. You've made lots of phone calls like these before. He tried to psych himself up to call Bennett. Closing his eyes, he pressed the dial button before his courage gave out.

"What?!" Bennett's voice barked loudly over the line. His irritated tone didn't do much for Cory's confidence.

"Eh, em Bennett?" Cory stuttered unsure.

"I told you not to touch them!" Bennett shouted.

"Eh, Bennett? What are you talking about?" he was so confused that he forgot to be nervous. What was he going on about? He sounded pissed off as well.

"No! Leave them!" Bennett shouted again at the top of his voice. Cory heard a muffled response over the line.

"Bennett? Can you hear me?" Was there something wrong with the phone? He could hear Bennett alright. Well the fact that he was shouting made him hard to ignore.

"No!" he heard again before a door slammed.

"Hello?"

"Who's this?" Bennett rudely asked, still in a bad mood.

"It's Cory." he said uncertainly. Bennett sounded really pissed off.

"What do you want?" he snapped.

Okay, this isn't going as well as he expected. In fact it couldn't get any worse. 

"Em, I thought maybe we could hang out together for a bit." He unconsciously held his breath. Who knows what Bennett would say in his current state.

"Why not." he sighed. "I need a break here anyway. Be here in thirty minutes or don't come at all!" With that he cut the line leaving Cory staring at his phone.

What the hell did just happen? He'd never heard Bennett like that before. What could it really all be about? It must be really special if it would set him off like that. Deciding to worry about Bennett's mood when they were together, he rushed up the stairs humming.

"At least you're on time." Bennett said sourly as soon as he opened the door for Cory.

"Eh, hi?" Cory was caught off guard by his severe frown. It seems that Bennett's mood had not improved. Stepping inside he greeted Chrissie while Bennett went upstairs.

"It's nice to see you again." Chrissie beamed at him.

"Is everything okay?" he asked concerned. Bennett seemed royally pissed off and yet his mother seemed as calm as can be. Something was off.

"Oh, don't worry. Bennett is in a bit of a mood." she grimaced. "I did something to his socks again and he's about to murder me." she laughed. "Don't let him scare you off. He'll be moping for days and if you get on his wrong side, you'll come out second best. Just ignore him, he'll come round." she said trying to settle his nerves. "Eventually, who knows." she sighed, shaking her head and moving off.

"Ready?" Bennett asked Cory, his violin in hand.

Cory grinned and nodded. He couldn't speak. Bennett was standing in front of him and even with his frown and troubled eyes, Cory was still caught off guard. As they were leaving, Chrissie came walking after them.

"Have fun boys!" She cheerfully called out. When Bennett didn't say anything, she added. "Thanks mum, you too!"

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