Another book of Basketball Imagines

Ben Simmons 4

Ben plops down on the bed and looks up at the ceiling, his hands behind his head. The game has been good, but there seemed to be something off with him personally. He had been playing really good, averaging 22.5 points per game, 8.6 rebounds, 5.6 assists, and only 2 turnovers in the past 5 games. He would be good at games, but when we get home he doesn't talk as much or smile as much which was really odd for Ben.

"Are you hungry?" I ask as I go over and sit down beside him.

He shakes his head and closes his eyes.

I grimace, "Ben, what's wrong?" I cup his left cheek and rub my thumb in small circles on it.

He sighs, "Nothing."

"Ben, please talk to me. I know something's up."

He opens his eyes and stares at the ceiling again. "I'm not ready to talk about it yet, Kim."

I let out a sigh and retract my hand, "Okay, well I'm not going to push you into telling me, but I'm not letting it go. I still want you to talk to me about it, okay?"

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather just get 176 miles away from me?"

I knit my eyebrows together, "What?"

"You heard me. Why don't you just leave and go off to a place where there are so many people like you? The smart people who you can connect to more, the ones who are bright and who you will feel more at home with."

"Ben, where is this coming from?"

He sits up and looks at me, "Oh it's been bottled up this past month, and I know you've seen it. I know you've seen the change in the atmosphere here, the change in my mood where I don't even want to smile or talk anymore. Why do you want to leave me?"

"Ben, I don't want to, trust me I don't. This has just always been my plan. Go to a bunch of other colleges then go to Yale and get my masters there, you know that."

"Yeah, but remember when you said that we would be together through it all. No matter what, the good and the bad, when we needed each other the most? I need you right now, the year is becoming new and you're leaving."

"Ben, you know very well that I do not want to-"

"Then don't!"

"It's not that easy! I made a promise to myself and to God and to my parents, that I would be successful, that I would go great things. That I would graduate from Yale with my degree."

"And what about the promise you made to me? That you would always be there for me, that you would be here all the time, that no matter what you will be with me, does that promise mean anything to you?"

"Yes it does Ben." I say, my voice cracking with tears forming in my eyes.

"Well maybe not as much as that other one does."

I look at him in disbelief, the tears threatening to spill on my cheeks. "I would never make you choose between basketball and me, why should it be any different the other way around?"

Ben stares at me, taking deep breaths.

"Why are you talking like I'm leaving you forever? I have never wanted to leave you, but I had to, and when I went to Auburn, you were okay with that, what makes this any different?"

"The fact that I am in love with you Kimberly. I realized this last month, and just as you finished school here, I realized that without you, I don't know how I would stay sane. How will I stay calm, how will I have fun, how will I not be as lonely as I was before? How will I feel when my best friend leaves me and she's the only one I want around because I know her intentions are pure, and if you leave then what am I going to do?" He says shaking my shoulders so hard the tears in my eyes fell onto my face.