A Picture says it All (Benedict Cumberbatch FanFiction)

Chapter 10

A/N: sorry it took so long, writers block is a bitch. I do hope this makes up for it, the next chapter will follow this weekend as I am already working on it. Please leave a review, tell me where I can improve, suggestions will also be helpful.

He smiled as he knocked on the door, waiting for his mom to open it. He could hear her shuffling on the other side of the door, trying to hide the big smile on his face, knowing it will give him away immediately, and his mother always read him like an open book. But he wasn’t quick enough, when she opened the door she gave his face one look, took his arm, pulling him inside, he was quite surprised at how forceful she could be. “Who is she and when did you meet her?” She said with a big grin on her face. Benedict gave her a quick kiss on the cheek walking into the living room where he found his father sleeping in a chair, the evening paper open on his chest. He walked over to him, giving him a quick kiss on the head, which woke the old man from his slumber. “Benedict! Good to see you son.” Timothy gave him one look and with a wicked grin, he beckoned him to sit down in the chair across from him, “Who’s the bird Benedict?” His mother came bustling into the room. “Don’t tell the story before I’m done with the tea.” She said excitedly, running out again. Benedict sat down on the chair, stretching out his long legs, his parents were always so enthusiastic about his life.

When his mother came back she was carrying a tray with a teapot, three cups and a large plate with assorted cookies on. He smiled at her taking the tray from her, placing it on the little table in the middle of the chairs. He quickly poured them each a cup, handing each on theirs in turn. When he sat down, he gave a sigh, knowing he should probably start before his mother got on his case. He took a long sip from tea, savouring the wonderful taste; his mother knew exactly how he likes his tea. He could see she was getting impatient with him; she gently drummed her fingers on the arm rest, clutching the cup in her other. His father watched him over his tea cup while taking sips of tea. “Go on then!” his mother finally exclaimed, “You are going to give me a nervous breakdown” she placed the untouched cup of tea back on the table, leaning forward in anticipation. Benedict gave her his most dashing smile. “You are always so impatient mother, probably where I got it from.” When his cup was empty, he placed it next to Wanda’s sitting back in his chair, crossing his legs. “I met a gi-“

his mother squealed and Benedict just shook his head at her. “Do you want to know or are you going to make up your own story?” His mother smiled, clamping a hand across her mouth. “Go on son.” His father said encouragingly. 

He took a deep breath starting over. “I met a girl, we’ve only been out a couple of times, Martin and Amanda have met her.” he saw his mother wanting to say something and he held a hand up to stop her. “Her name is Lisa, she is a” he stopped, wondering if he should tell them about her career, “Photographer, yes she is a photographer.” He smiled brightly at their confused faces. “Have we seen any of her work?” his father asked genuinely interested. “I’m not sure dad, she is new to London, she is from South Africa.” He sat back, watching them process the news. He could see the wheels in his mothers head starting to turn. He waited patiently for her to start firing with all kinds of questions, he wasn’t disappointed, and it didn’t take her long. “Is she planning on staying here permanently? What about her parents? Does she always want to be a photographer? How many kids does she want?” With the last question Benedict quickly stopped her. “Hold on mum, you know that isn’t a question you land on a girl this early on. As I said we’ve only been out a couple of times.” With that he looked desperately at his dad, pleading with his eyes for a change of subject. Timothy quickly caught it, and tapping his nose with his forefinger, “What did you think of the F1 last weekend?” Benedict smiled gratefully at him, thanking him. “It was good, I have news, I might be going to the Malaysian F1.” His dad and he started talking cars, while Wanda watched him closely. She could tell this girl was good for him, but she needed more information about her.

It was getting late, and Benedict excused himself, heading to his old room, as he got ready for bed he could only think of one person, he quickly send her a text. He slipped into bed and fell asleep with a big smile on his face

***

The next afternoon, while Lisa was getting ready to go explore her local surroundings she received another text from Benedict asking her where she would be. She send him the details, while checking her mails on her laptop and could see someone was attempting to call her on Skype, when she opened the window she quickly sat down, smiling at her mom and dad. “Hey guys how are you doing?” Her dad waved enthusiastically at her while her mom nudged him in the ribs to sit still. “We are good, your dad just finished watching rugby and as you can see his team won.” Her dad waved a big Cheetah team flag across the screen, obscuring her view of her parents, singing the Cheetah song, which irritated her, but she kept smiling, clapping her hands to show her support. “Tell me what you did today mom.” Her she asked her mom. “No you first” she said eagerly, Lisa knew it was a lifelong dream of hers to see London, and she hoped they could come and visit soon, she smiled to herself, thinking of how she would introduce her parents to Benedict. “Earth to Lisa” her mom brought her back to the present day. Her mom almost knocked her dad out of the way, grabbing their laptop and Lisa could see she was moving with it. “Mom what are you doing?” she asked staring at the screen, feeling kind of sea sick from the movement.

Her mom stopped, looking closely at the screen. “Lisa, do you have something to tell me?” her mother asked sternly, she knew she would be less than pleased to hear Lisa had a boyfriend, as she wanted her to focus on setting up her career. She blushed, nervously tucking her hair behind her ear. She could hear her front door open and Karen waltzing down the hall, she wished she would come into the living room, so she wouldn’t have to explain to her mother at this stage, but she heard Karen going into the kitchen. She turned back to her mother, smiling nervously. She started mumbling and her mother almost shouted at her “Stop with the mumbling and come out with it. Are you in trouble?” Lisa stopped looking shocked at her mother, “No mom! It’s not like that. I met someone, we are just getting to know each other, it’s nothing too serious.” She slumped back in her chair, crossing her arms, huffing at her mother. “Lisa sweetie,” her mother said soothingly. “I have your best interests at heart, just be careful. Do you want to tell me about him? What does he do? Is he handsome?” Lisa smiled, and answered all her mother’s questions “He is an actor, a very good one, and he is gorgeous mom, he is also incredibly intelligent, he knows about anything and everything.” She could see her mother smiling at her and she knew that she was happy with Lisa’s answers.

A text alerted her to the fact that she had told Benedict where they could meet, “Um, mom that is him, we are meeting soon; I need to go, talk to you later?” They waved their goodbyes and she could still hear her dad singing the song in the background, their poor neighbours she thought to herself. She quickly ran to her room, grabbing her handbag making her way to the park a block away.

***

When she arrived she was surprised to find Benedict already waiting for her. He gave her a quick hug. “Hey, it’s my job to be late.” He said jokingly. She smiled at him as he hooked her arm in his, and they started walking along the footpath. “Sorry my parents wanted to Skype, and I couldn’t say no.” She looked at him, blushing slightly. “They guessed there was someone in my life by the way.” He looked at her, a big grin spread across his face. The little crinkles forming at the corners of his eyes. “Mine too, I was put through the third degree last night.” He placed his arm around her shoulder holding her close, “I guess people will know sooner or later. Maybe I should get my publicist to announce something?” Lisa found herself shaking her head, “Please not yet, I like it just being between us for now.” He smiled at her, leaning down kissing her softly on the lips. He took her hand, leading the way to one of his favourite pubs. “Have you had pub food yet since you’ve been here?” she shook her head, following him.

They spend the rest of the afternoon talking about their childhoods, education, favourite movies, to which Lisa replied she recently changed her favourite. “Third Star. It made me cry like a baby. Let me tell you one thing, I never want to watch another movie where you die, do you hear me? He chuckled shaking his head, “Sorry, but that is a promise I cannot keep and you know that.” He leaned across the table, kissing her again. Their hands interlaced joining them across the table. He gently rubbed his thumb across her knuckles. “I need to go to Malaysia this week, what is the chance of you joining me?” he whispered in her ear. She looked at him surprise in her eyes, “If my passport allows for it, I will love to join you.”