Long Away

Chapter 36

With nowhere else to go, Ben made his way to Freddie and John's place. He was still crying when he rang at the door. It was John who opened. His smile immediately vanished when he saw Ben's face.
"What happened?" John put an arm around Ben as he followed him inside.

Ben swallowed hard. His throat was too tight to speak. He collapsed on the sofa.
"Freddie? Can you come here real quick?", John called out, before filling a glass with water for Ben. Freddie came out of his room.
"Ben? What is wrong?"
He hurried to his friend's side. John handed him the glass, and Ben took a large sip before answering.
"Rog thinks I am cheating on him with you."

The other two men's eyes went wide.
"What? What on earth has gotten into him?", Freddie gasped.
Ben wiped away his tears, but it was rather pointless as more kept dwelling up in his eyes.
"He knows I'm hiding something from him," he sobbed.
"And because I'm spending so much time with you, he thought..."
"Why the hell would he come to that conclusion just because we are hanging out?" Freddie sounded offended.

"Well... He thinks it's because he doesn't want to...do it."
"Wait, you still haven't had sex?", Freddie asked perplexed.
"No."
"Huh. Has he told you why that is a problem for him?"
Ben shook his head. Freddie groaned.
"I told him to tell you months ago. What is it with him?"
"Wait, do you know?" Ben looked at him, surprised.

"Yes. I would tell you, but I know it's not my place. You definitely have to ask him about it though."
Ben let out a sad laugh.
"That's gonna be hard. He said I shouldn't come back until I told him the truth."
"And why don't you do that?", John asked.
"I don't know how to without hurting him."
"Well, he is clearly hurt already," John interjected.
"Would you rather let him think you really are cheating on him?"

"No..."
"So, you know what to do," Freddie said.
"I'm not just gonna let him call me a homewrecker either. He should really know me better than that."
"Yes, you are right," Ben begrudgingly agreed.
"But I don't know how to tell him."
"The same way you told us?", John suggested.

"That is exactly the problem," Ben said.
"It went completely differently with each one of you. Freddie already knew something, and Brian took quite some time to believe me. I was so hesitant because I don't know how Rog would take it. And now that he thinks I'm cheating on him, this is just going to sound like the worst possible excuse. No, it's not even going to sound like an excuse, he'll think I'm mocking him."

"Well, that is a valid point," Freddie admitted.
John hummed.
"That is true. But if we show him all the evidence we have found so far, he might believe it."
"If he is even going to listen for long enough to look at it," Ben murmured.

"Now, don't give up before you even tried," Freddie said.
"I know that he cares a lot about your relationship. If there's any chance of you having an explanation, he'll want to hear it."
Ben sighed.
"I hope you are right. So, are you okay with helping me with that right now? I know it's already getting late, but I can't wait until tomorrow to talk to him."

Freddie nodded.
"Of course, darling."
"It might be good if we ask Brian to come with us as well," John said.
"He will be able to explain it best, and if Roger has doubts, with how things look right now he will probably be the most likely to listen to Brian."
"Good point. I'll call him right now." Freddie jumped up from his place on the sofa and grabbed the phone.
Ben looked up when John put a hand on his shoulder.
"It's gonna be okay," he promised.
"Thanks mate," Ben said quietly, though he was not sure of that at all.

Freddie quickly explained the situation to Brian, who was just as shocked as the rest of them. He told them he would come as fast as he could. While they were waiting for him, they grabbed all the articles and books they had on the subject from Freddie's room. It had become quite a lot over the past few weeks. Ben just hoped it would be enough to convince Roger.