Long Away

Chapter 24

Once they were out of the house, Roger couldn't hold himself back from crying any longer. He let himself fall into Ben's arms.
"I'm so sorry, precious," Ben whispered, rubbing his back.
"It's okay," Roger said. "Thank you for sticking up for me."
"That goes without saying. Afterall, you're my boyfriend."
Roger took a step back, wiping off his tears.
"I said that, didn't I? I wasn't really paying attention to it, I just got so angry..."

"So not boyfriends?" There was a hint of disappointment in Ben's voice. Roger tripped over his own words.
"What? No! I mean yes. I mean... I don't know. Do we want to be? I mean, do you want us to be?"
Ben chuckled softly as he leaned in for a kiss.
"I do want that," he said, before bringing their lips together. He felt Roger's hand in his hair as they both melted into the kiss. Seconds later they were startled by the door swinging open. They jumped, but quickly caught themselves again when they saw who had followed them outside.

"Ah, finally something interesting happening in this place," Clare commented, and closed the door behind herself. She leaned against the wall, hands in the pockets of her coat, trying to play it cool, but Ben could see that she too had been crying moments ago.
"Did dad send you away too?", Roger asked her. She shook her head.

"No. Actually he's throwing a fit right now because I didn't stay."
A concerned frown clouded Roger's face.
"Then you should go back inside. I don't want you to get in trouble with him as well."
"Why? Because we both know he wouldn't accept me either if I was honest with him? Why do you think I want his approval?"

Roger sighed.
"So what are you going to do now?"
Clare shrugged.
"I don't know. What about you two?"
Roger gave Ben a questioning look.
"We didn't talk about that yet. But if you want to do something with us, that's fine by me," Ben said. Roger smiled at him.
"Thanks sweetie."
"Thanks. So, do you want to go home or should we do something else?", Clare asked.
"We could go to a restaurant," Roger suggested.
"And then we can decide what to do next."
"Great idea. You pay," Clare decided.

The three ate at an Italian place and went to a small Christmas market after. Despite the fight earlier in the day, they had a good time together, and Ben found that Clare was a lot of fun to hang out with. He caught himself thinking that he wouldn't mind having her as his sister in law. It was already a couple of hours after sunset when she decided to head home. Ben and Roger accompanied her to the nearest bus stop.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?", Roger asked her while they were waiting for her bus.
"You can spend the night at our place, Freddie is with his family for the weekend."
His sister declined.
"Thank you, but it's fine. It'll probably just make them more angry if I stay away for longer."
"You might be right," Roger admitted.
"But call me if you need to."
"I will. Thanks for taking me with you today. It was nice."

When her bus came, the siblings hugged goodbye and Ben and Clare exchanged another fist bump.
"Bye you two! And take care of my brother for me, Ben. He needs it."
"Oh I will," Ben assured her.
"I'm not going to argue against that, but it's not actually necessary  at all," Roger threw in. Clare rolled her eyes.
"Sure." Before Roger could defend himself, the doors of the bus closed behind her.

Ben took Roger's hand as they walked back to their apartment.
"Did you have fun today, precious?", he asked him.
"It was good enough. Thanks for saving the day," Roger said.
"Oh that wasn't just me," Ben humbly responded.
"It was mostly you. I don't think either Clare or me would have had the guts to stand up to our father like that."
"I honestly didn't mean to be so harsh. But I couldn't keep listening to him talking to you like that."
"I think you were great," Roger said with a playful sparkle in his eyes.
"That was long overdue."

Back at home they watched a movie on the TV before getting ready to sleep. Ben took a shower and was about to say goodnight to Roger, but when he stepped out of the bathroom his boyfriend wasn't in the living room anymore. He went to look for him in his bedroom, and sure enough he was already sitting on his bed.
"Are you coming?", Roger asked. Ben faltered.
"You want me to sleep here?"
"Oh, did you not want to? That's okay, I'm sorry I assumed...", Roger babbled nervously.

"No, I do if it's okay with you," Ben quickly clarified, "I just wasn't expecting it."
He laid down next to Roger and opened his arms for him to crawl into. Roger rested his head in the crook of Ben's neck and wrapped his arms around his upper body.
"You're cozy," he said. Ben smiled and placed a kiss on his head.
"I'm glad you think so, darling."
Roger lifted his head to look into Ben's eyes.

"I know I'm repeating myself, but what you did today really meant a lot. It's probably silly but I've been wanting to tell him for a while that I didn't agree with his plans for me. But somehow I just couldn't."
"That's not silly at all. Sometimes it's just hard to stand up for yourself. Especially when you don't want to dissapoint someone," Ben said. Roger hummed in agreement.
"That's very true." It was silent for a while, and Ben wasn't sure if Roger was even still awake, but then he shifted in his arms again.

"Ben?"
"Hm?"
"I'm really glad to have you."
"And I'm glad to have you," Ben whispered back. He felt Roger's fingertips caressing his cheek, and moments later his lips were tenderly pressing up against Ben's. His heart started to beat faster and he parted his lips just enough for Roger's tongue to glide into his mouth.

Ben's hands travelled up Roger's neck and through the soft strands of his hair. They kissed again and again, until Roger quietly mumbled something that broke Ben's focus.
"I lo-ike you."
"What was that?"
"Nothing. I just said I like you," Roger lied, trying to hide the nervous tone in his voice. Ben smirked.
"No, I think you were going to say something else."
"I most definitely was not. You're probably just tired."
Ben rolled his eyes.
"That's too bad," he said, and gave Roger another peck on the lips.
"Because I lo-ike you too, cutie."

Roger froze. It was too dark to see, but Ben was pretty sure he was blushing.
"What? Is something wrong?", Ben asked innocently.
"No," Roger mumbled, hiding his face in Ben's chest. Ben smiled over how flustered he was.
"Good night, cutie," he whispered.
"Good night, sugar cookie," Roger said. Ben chuckled.
"Did you just call me sugar cookie?"
Roger grumbled and pulled the blanked over his head.
"I said good night."

***

Hey guys! Here's some wholesome content to make up for last chapter. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Tay