problems // ben tyler cook

Chapter Sixteen

I bite my lip as I wander into the hotel, sighing. Well, how am I supposed to know where to go now?

I've gotten this far, I can't turn back now.

Before I can even begin to bribe the hotel manager to give me information, I hear a loud gasp.

I turn and find the lovely Josh Burrage standing behind me, a towel around his waist and his hair soaking wet. He went in the pool? It's pretty cold out today.

"Rose! Holy shit! Holy shit!" He runs up to me and tries to hug me, but then remembers he's soaking wet. I laugh, shaking my head.

"Hi Josh." I smile.

"What are you doing here? You got out of- oh, shit. I hope you don't mind. Ben told me about you going to, you know, rehab and stuff."

"It's okay, Josh. I trust you." I respond. "The only thing is that I don't even know where Ben is so-"

"Oh yeah! Duh!" Josh laughs, rolling his eyes at himself. "We share a room. I'll bring you up. Just let me change first before you two start having sex all over the room."

I giggle as Josh giddily leads me up a few floors. It was quite entertaining to see him running around with a towel around his waist.

"Enlighten me as to why you chose to go swimming today?" I tease as he starts to reach for his card key.

"I'm gonna fucking swim whenever I wanna fucking swim, Rosalina." Josh spits at me, dramatically opening the door. "Hey brother!" He shouts before the door closes behind him.

I can hear them chattering behind the room, something about Josh trying to downplay his sudden burst of energy.

The door opens again so I take a step over just to assure that Ben won't see me just yet. "I'm going out with Sky for a little bit because I need to get something." Josh vaguely responds before quickly shutting the door.

"You're an actor, Josh." I tease. "You can't lie?"

"I did lie!" Josh gasps.

"You did an awful job at it though." I respond. "Thank you though, Josh."

"No problem. Anything to make my OTP happy and loving again." And now that he's dry and in fresh clothes, he gives me a hug before running down the hall and into a different hotel room.

I'm surprised no one has caught me yet.

Taking a deep breath, I knock on the hotel room door. I put my finger over the peep hole so Ben can't see, and wait patiently.

The door starts to open and I excitedly drop my arm. I grin as Ben's face completely changes.

"Oh my god, Rose!" He exclaims, pulling me into a tight hug, lifting me off my feet. The door closes in the process, but I guess that's better than letting everyone hear and see us. "You're here! H-How? When? Y-You didn't even call me! You-"

"Ben, shh." I hush him, giggling.

I bury my face in his neck, closing my eyes. Ben thankfully stays quiet, just holding me as tight as possible.

"I missed you so much." I whisper in his ear.

"I missed you too. I was so worried about you."

"Why?" I pull away to find Ben eyes filled with tears.

"Because I couldn't protect you. I-I couldn't help you."

"I'm okay, baby." I murmur, placing my hands on his chest. "I feel so much better now. You don't have to protect me."

"I'm your boyfriend, it's what I'm supposed to do." His hands rest at my waist. "You look so good though, babe. You look amazing."

My cheeks turn red. "Thanks. It's been a long two months but I feel a lot better and I don't think I would've lived if I kept living the way I was."

"I'm so happy you're here." Ben sighs.

"Ben, I love you." I blurt out, not being able to hold it in any longer. "I love you so much. And I'm sorry it's taken me so long, plus two months of rehab, to realize that. But I love you more than anything and I can't live without you and-"

"I love you too, Rose. So fucking much." Ben grins, pulling me into a kiss.

I haven't kissed my boyfriend in over four months. I never want to pull away.

Me and Ben just stay there with me in his arms, kissing. We don't pull away, we don't talk, we don't do anything but embrace each other.

"Do you have anything to do today?" I break the silence quietly.

"Well, we have a show tonight. But we don't even have to be there for a long time. I was actually planning on seeing my family today. I mean, we are in Virginia."

I quickly lift my head from his shoulder. "Oh my god, I didn't even think about that. I'm so sorry!"

"No, don't even apologize. I don't even mind that you're here, I'm so happy about it! This just means that you'll have to meet them and-"

"That's okay. I'm okay with meeting them, I really want to!" I respond, smiling.

"And besides, I've already spent like, two weeks with them. We've been here for a while already. How long are you staying for?"

"Just a few days." I tell him. "I have to get back to Beauty."

Ben places me back down on the floor as a grin appears on his cheeks. "Speaking of Beauty and the Beast."

"What about it?" I furrow my eyebrows.

"I don't know." He shrugs casually. "Maybe just that you got nominated for a Tony for Best Actress in a Musical!"

My jaw drops. "I did? What the hell?!"

"Selfishly, I'm really happy I'm the one who got to tell you." He hugs me again. "I'm so proud of you. So, so proud. Not even about the Tony's, even though I am proud of you for that. I'm proud of you for getting better."

"I love you, Ben."

"I love you too, Rose."