It Was You

Chapter 15

I explained everything to my dad. I expected him to be mad or upset with Ben, but he surprisingly wasn't. "He's the new kid in school," he told me, "he doesn't have many friends, besides the three of you. He's a good kid, Cass. He wouldn't intentionally hurt you like he did tonight. He wants more and new friends and that's all he was trying to do tonight. He didn't know about Hallie. The drinking part I may have to kill him for if he was planning on getting you home like that."

My dad always made me feel better. I could be having the worst day of my life—which, I've had plenty of those—and he would still make me feel better somehow.

A few minutes after our talk, I went to bed. I heard mom come home and dad explain everything, but then I was out like a light. It was only a few minutes later when I heard loud knocks on the front door. Curious, I got up and opened my door just a crack so I could hear who it was.

"Ben," I heard my dad say, "come in." I listened closely as I heard Ben say, "Mister Hansen, I'm sure Cassie told you what happened and I am so sorry and if I could just tell her that—." My dad gently shushed him, then said, "Sit down a moment, son."

I carefully opened my door and went to the stairs. I sat down on the very top step and leaned against the rail. "Ben," my dad said, "I don't want you to worry yourself about this. Cass is a sensitive girl and she always has been. Remember our first talk?"

"Yes," Ben told him. Now I was really interested. What was their first talk? I know it was when he picked me up for our date, but was it that serious? "Alright," my dad told him, "just keep that in mind next time. Okay?" Ben didn't answer, but rather asked, "Can I see her? Please? I feel awful."

A small smile played at my lips. "Maybe tomorrow," my dad told him, "she's asleep right now." After a few minutes, Ben left. I stayed sitting on the stairs and stared at my phone. It was filled with text messages from Ben;

Where did you go?

Seriously where are you?

Did you leave?

Someone said they saw you leave. Did you? Please, baby, I am so worried.

I called Lee and she cursed me out. She also said she and Aaron took you home. Can I come over? Please? I really want to talk to you.

I'm sorry I was such a prick. I didn't know about Hallie and the others and if I did, I wouldn't have dragged you to this stupid party. I'm going to sober up and I'll be right over.

On my way.

I'm here.

Hey. Your dad said you were sleeping so I'll come over tomorrow and we can talk. In the meantime, I really am sorry. You're the best thing that's happened to me, Cassie, and I don't want to mess this up. I can't wait to see you tomorrow. I'm going to give you a big hug, a sloppy kiss and the best apology a man could say to his girl. Sleep tight, love.

I had a desperate urge to text him and tell him to come over right now, but I think we both needed some space, even if it's only for a few hours.

After going back to bed and not being able to fall asleep until three in the morning, I woke up to my phone going off. It was almost nine and my alarm was reminding me to take my medication. I dragged my tired ass downstairs and got my smoothie from my mom before going to my medicine basket.

The amount of medicine bottles I had in here were insane. I think I counted sixteen.

Once that was finished and I ate my hearty breakfast (a smoothie and some fruit), I made my way to the carriage house and turned on the T.V.. Today was going to be one of those days where I just wanted to be alone. I wanted to relax and just have a chill day, you know? Last night's party mentally wore me out, even if I was there for only fifteen minutes.

Turning on the T.V., I was sad to notice that the Halloween marathon was gone. Not a year went by where I missed it, except for this one. That thought was depressing. Oh, well. Time for Christmas movies? No, that would be lame. It's not even Thanksgiving yet.

Playstation it is.


As I was shooting virtual people down in Black Ops III, I heard the door open to the carriage house. "I still have another smoothie left in the fridge," I said, assuming it was mom. When I felt the couch dip beside me, I looked and saw it was definitely not my mom.

It was Ben.

"Hey," he sheepishly said. I immediately turned off the game and turned to him. "Hey," I said. I knew what conversation we were going to have and I was prepared for it, though maybe not completely. I knew what I needed to say, but what if he says something that completely throws me off? I'm not prepared for that.

"So," he continued, "I think it's obvious that we need to talk. If I may, I'd like to start off by saying how sorry I am, Cass. You were already having a shit day and I made it worse. I regret going to that party. It wasn't even fun, if I'm being honest, especially after you left. I'm sorry for making you go, I'm sorry for suggesting you drink, I'm sorry for not going after you when you walked away. I am also sorry for trying to make friends with those pricks."

Yeah, he definitely threw me off. I was prepared for a fight! Yelling, saying things we regret, then apologizing by making out. Isn't that what usually happens? I could see he was getting angsty at my not saying anything. I rattled my head for a few minutes trying to think of what to say...

"It's not your fault," I ended up saying. "I understand why you wanted to go and that was to meet new people, make more friends. You didn't know about Hallie and her group and that's not your fault, either. Honestly, I just want to forget about it if that's okay with you."

Smiling, he scooted close to me and said, "I'm okay with that. Fresh start starting now?" Feeling a little bold, I told him, "Fresh start starting after this." I leaned up a kissed him. I could feel him trying not to smile because he would have broken the kiss.

He put his hand behind my head, just under the blue bandana I chose to wear today and I could feel his thumb trace over where my sparse hair was. When he pulled away, he placed a warm kiss to my forehead, then asked, "Can I take you to your hair appointment today? I feel it's the least I can do."

A few hours later, I was sitting in my usual chair at the salon. I could see Ben sitting in a chair behind me through the mirror. He gave me a smile every time I glanced over to him. Eventually, he got bored and started making funky faces. I was laughing so hard, I got scolded by Susanna, my stylist, for moving around too much.

After I was finished and completely bald, Ben came up to me. "You're beautiful," he said. He placed a kiss on top of my head, then helped me put my bandana back on. I wanted to melt. "Can I take you out to dinner before Lee and Aaron come over?"

I forgot that it was Saturday and that we postponed our movie night to tonight instead of yesterday. "That sounds nice," I told him with a smile.

We ended up going to Mountain View, but instead of my usual, I had to get something healthier. It wasn't all that filling, but I knew the smoothie I had at home would finish the job. When we finished dinner, he drove us back to my place.

"Hey, you two," my dad greeted when we walked in. "I see you worked everything out." He glanced down to Ben and I's intwined hands. "Yeah, we did," I told him. "Lee and Aaron will be here in a little bit, so—."

"Send them out to the carriage house, yeah, yeah," my dad finished with a small smirk. "Thanks, dad," I said before dragging Ben along with me. "Hey, so I have a question for you," I told him as we walked into the carriage house. "What's that?" He asked.

As I got out my chemo stuff, I said, "You don't have to, but starting next Saturday I have these competitions for band. We just go and preform against other schools in different cities. I was wondering if you might want to go? Again, you don't have to."

He put the tape over the needle in my arm, then said, "I would love to go and support you! Are these competitions every Saturday?" I nodded, so he continued, "Then I shall be there to support you every Saturday." I immediately told him, "You really don't have to—."

He cut me off with a kiss. "I am going to be there," he told me.