❛❛𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐀𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐲𝐚𝐫𝐝❜❜ || SBG Oneshots

𝐓𝐨𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬. (Benlyn)

A/N: I've seen a few videos with these two, and honestly they're growing on me.. so I figured why not write about them?

Any forms of hate will not be tolerated.

Now onto the story :)

𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙧𝙙 𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙋𝙊𝙑:

Ashlyn paced around inside the bus, the others were outside checking on their supplies. The girl had been stressing out for a few days now, things were growing more dangerous every day.

Their lives were at risk more and more each night.

How could she protect them? She wasn't cut out for this, at least that's what she thought. Ashlyn vowed to protect them no matter what and she could barely keep that promise. Her mind raced with endless thoughts.

'How am I supposed to keep them alive?'

'What if I let them all down?'

'I promised I'd protect them, but I don't know how..'

'Why did I think I could be a leader.'

Her pace increased as she walked back and forth, her breathing was growing jagged. These thoughts were so overwhelming, she wanted them to stop. Ashlyn wished there were easier ways to keep her friends safe from the danger lurking in that forest outside the graveyard. But she was only one person, a child nonetheless.

What could she do?

She had to do something, anything. Ashlyn needed them to stay alive, even if she didn't in the process. She couldn't risk losing them at all.

(↑ Gotta love foreshadowing right?)

Especially him.

The girl was so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't even realized someone entered the bus. Well, at least not until she could hear their footsteps, a good thing about sensitive hearing. Ashlyn paid no attention to that person though, she was too lost in her own complicated mind. Inaudible mumbling could be heard, she was talking to herself. Asking question after question.

Her hands were placed over both sides of her head, grasping onto her short hair. From another point of view, it looked like she was attempting to stop her overwhelming thoughts. Desperate for a moment's peace. Her pacing back and forth never seemed to cease.

Ashlyn would've continued pacing if it hadn't been for a hand placed on her shoulder, she yelped in surprise and whipped her head around. She had to look up at the person, her eyes were still wide and frantic. It took her a moment to recognize the tall figure in front of her.

"Ben?" She choked out, how long had he been there? Ben already had his notebook and pen in hand, Ashlyn watched as he wrote something down.

'I can tell something is wrong, do you want to talk about it?' She read, then stayed silent in thought. Did she want to talk about it? Ashlyn had to admit it would be nice to talk to someone, she was way too overwhelmed right now. Ben waited patiently for an answer, the girl appreciated his patience.

After a minute of contemplating, Ashlyn decided maybe talking to someone wasn't such a bad idea. Ben was still standing there, waiting patiently. "Okay, you got me.. something is wrong." She mumbled, Ben gently grabbed her hand and led her to one of the seats on the bus.

He sat down, and Ashlyn sat beside him. 'Talk to me, I'm listening.' Ben wrote. The shorter girl exhaled and began explaining what was wrong. She started by telling him that she was overwhelmed, that she didn't know how to keep him or the others safe. "I don't know why I chose to take the lead, I don't know what I'm doing.. I don't want to lose you guys but I don't know how to protect you all." She rambled.

Ben sat there in silence and listened to all of it, he studied Ashlyn's frantic body language, and watched as tears welled up in her eyes. He felt bad for her, she took on the 'leader' role because no one else was capable of handling it.

Maybe Ashlyn wasn't either.

But there was nobody else.

"I'm afraid, Ben.. I'm terrified, I don't want to lose anyone especially you, I can't." Ashlyn choked out, keeping her gaze on the floor beneath her. Her breathing was uneven from crying.

"I don't know how to keep you all safe." She whispered, placing both hands on the sides of her head. Ben began writing something down, Ashlyn watched curiously. She couldn't really understand what he was writing from the angle but he was writing a lot it seemed. Around two minutes later Ben showed her the notebook.

'Ash, you don't need to worry about keeping all of us safe. That's a lot of pressure for a single person, we don't want you to stress yourself out, we're capable of protecting ourselves and each other, including you. We worry about you as much as you worry about us, and it hurts me to see you so overwhelmed, we're all still young teens dealing with this together, let us help you. You're more than welcome to communicate any worries with all of us, or even just me alone, we'll listen and do our best to help, because we're a team. Okay?'

More tears formed in Ashlyn's eyes as she read the words on the notebook, despite her rude personality she wondered how she got so lucky to have friends like these ones. "But--" she started, only to be cut off by a hand on her shoulder. Ben gave her one look that said everything she needed to hear.

'No buts, I mean everything I wrote.'

Ashlyn moved closer to Ben and wrapped her arms around him, her face slightly buried in his chest. Ben wrapped his arms around her frame and held her close, rubbing her back reassuringly. Quiet sobs could be heard from the shorter girl, she was relieved to have people to rely on. All of this pressure was admittedly too much for her, but she was too afraid to admit that.

In her mindset, asking for help meant that you were weak, incapable. Ashlyn didn't want to feel that way, so she always handled things herself. But now, with her new friends, she was starting to feel different, and she was taught that it's okay to ask for help. Because she had five amazing people who would drop everything to help her in a heartbeat, and she would absolutely do the same for them.

Ashlyn held onto Ben for dear life, she didn't want to let go, at least not right now. Ben held her and waited until she began to calm down, he continued to rub her back, his way of reassuring her that everything would be alright. He was here, and he was going to do everything in his power to make sure she knew that.

Even if he never said anything to anyone, Ben had ways of letting his friends know that he cared. He had ways of reassuring Ashlyn when she needed it most. He didn't need words.

After around 10 minutes, Ashlyn finally calmed down. She slowly sat up so her face was no longer buried in Ben's chest, the taller boy looked down at her and gently wiped away her tears. "I'm sorry Ben." The girl apologized, Ben raised an eyebrow, as if saying 'for what?'. Ashlyn wiped away the remaining tears on her face, "for randomly springing this on you, I know we have more important things to worry about." she muttered.

Ben began writing in his notebook again, Ashlyn sat there waiting. He eventually showed her the notebook. 'Don't apologize Ash, you're just as important as anything else. Whether you believe it or not. I'm more than glad to listen to you and help out in any way I can.' the paper said.

Ashlyn exhaled and rested against him, "how'd I get so lucky?" she questioned, a hint of comedy was present in her tone. Ben smiled and rested his head on top of hers, he shrugged his shoulders. Ashlyn knew he was saying 'I don't know', it was obvious.

Ashlyn didn't know what she would do without him.

Or without any of her friends.

She was extremely lucky.

A/N: Okay yeah this is growing on me, they're kinda sweet :,)

Wrote this at 2am because my sleep schedule is fucked up🫡