The Breakup (Parks and Rec | Ben and Leslie)

Ben and Leslie

Ben looked across the table and straight into Leslie's eyes.  Looking into her beautiful bright blue eyes always took his breath away.  This was making it harder for Ben to say the words he needed to say. 

"We have to break up."  He swallowed his emotions deep inside him as he said this.  Leslie was not as good at hiding her emotions.  He saw her eyes swell with un-shed tears.  He wanted to reach across and wipe the tears away.  He wanted to take her into his arms and tell her that everything would be OK.  But he had to be strong.  He had to make sure that the woman he was falling in love with could achieve her dreams even if that meant that he had to distance himself from her.

Leslie's voice shook as she asked her questions, "Why? Why do we have to break up?"

"Well, Leslie, everything you've accomplished, you have earned and you have worked for. I don't want anyone to think that you got where you are today by sleeping with your boss."

"But I really like sleeping with my boss."  A small laugh escaped from Ben's lips.  Leslie always knew how to make him laugh.

"Yeah. Yeah. Okay, look. I'm gonna make this real easy for you. Um, it's not you, it's me."  Ben continued when he heard Leslie's soft chuckle.  "I'm not ready for a commitment. I just don't like you anymore. I know it's hard to hear that, but you're boring, and frankly you disgust me. Echh!" Each sentence Ben uttered made Leslie smile, masking the pain that they were both feeling at the moment. 

"How did you figure it out?"

"Leslie, there was a dude in the ladies' yacht club."

"Yeah, but I covered that pretty well."

Ben looked solemnly at Leslie.  "Also, you've been making campaign speeches in your sleep. Granted, you always do that, but they got really specific and moving."

"Did I have a good opening line?"  Leslie asked hoping that this change of subject would make her heart stop feeling so heavy.

"It was simple, but I liked it."  Leslie looked into Ben's eyes as he said this, her heart as heavy as she'd ever felt it could be.  Her mind was riddled with a million questions.  One of which was how she would be able to do all this without Ben by her side.  The past few months that she had been dating Ben were the times she'd been most happy.  She half questioned if she even really wanted to run for city council.

Ben saw the hesitation clouding her eyes and he knew he had to end this soon.  He reached for the opened box and took the button out.  He stood up and hovered over Leslie, taking the flap of her blazer into his fingers as he started attaching the pin.  He tried to avoid looking into her eyes while he did this.

Leslie stared hard into Ben's face throughout this whole process.  She sat as still as she possibly could because she didn't trust herself not to start bawling, knowing that this was it and that they were over.

"I know you will win this, Leslie.  You have my full support.  As a friend."  Ben gave her one last longing look before he turned and walked out of the room.

******

It was a clear day, a perfect weather to make an important announcement.  Leslie stood tall in front of the podium looking out into the group of people gathered in front of her, wearing buttons with Knope 2012 written on them.  Behind her were balloons and a banner with her name on it.  This was the moment she had dreamed of her whole life.

She hardly slept last night thinking about this momentous event.  Half the time her thoughts were around Ben and talking herself out of calling him.  The only thing that kept her sane was knowing that he would still be a part of her life. 

Leslie took a deep breath as she readied to make her announcement.  "Friends, honored guests, Pawneeans.  I am Leslie Knope, and I am running for City Council."  She smiled as cheers and clapping erupted from the crowd.  She looked into their faces and found Ben beaming at her.  She felt her heart fill up at the thought that he was there supporting her.  Leslie thought that it was enough for now.  She would figure everything out one step at a time.