Who Would I Be Without You? //Ben Cook fanfic// *FINISHED*

Twenty: Community Love

This 'Hangout' Melina and the boys invited me to turned our to be a makeshift den set up in a dark and quiet corner of Central Park. Turns out a lot of homeless people set up camp here as there were quit a few makeshift campsites and tents pitched up all over this small section of land.

As they lead me to their den, we walk past small families huddled around fires and couples of all ethnicity's and gender combinations huddled in sleeping bags. My stomach churned looking at all the helpless faces with sad eyes that stared up at me.

What they named the Hangout was made really hastily against a tree and was made up of a bunch of bed sheets and waterproof covers stitched and tied together. There was a trash can balanced precariously on the roots of the tree, and once peering inside it, I could see ash and soot had slowly been piling up inside of it, most likely from fires being made to cook food and keep warm.

"Do you guys actually live here?" I ask once we're inside the den.

"Yup! Last year or so we've been situated here." Melina says, smiling at me and flopping down onto the worn leather armchair at the other end of the  den.

I nod at her words and take that time to have a good look around. It's a lot cleaners than I imagined it to be from when I saw outside;
There was a huge mattress in the middle of the 'room' and a small camper bed opposite it. There's also a bunch of fold-up chairs and some wooden crates covered by a sheet, paper plates and plastic cutlery still in the packaging were piled surprisingly neat on the crates.

"Aren't these living conditions...ya' know...poor and unsanitary...?" I ask, feeling like an ignorant dumbass as soon as the words left my mouth.

Thankfully, none of them made me feel like one as they just all chuckle good heartedly. "I feel safer here than I do at my own so called 'home'." Adrian replies, putting air quotes around 'home.'

"Same here," Alejandro chipped in, starting to in wrap the paper plates and cutlery. "We've found more community here then in any other neighbourhood in this city."

"Or anywhere in the country!" Melina mumbles, taking off her jacket and pulling the hair ties and pins out of her hair, letting the long black locks tumble down her shoulders.

I had a lot of questions, but just as I was about to start asking them, the curtain doorway of the den opened up a crack and a dark skinned old man with a scraggly grey beard wearing a fedora and large overcoat, poked his head through and looked at us.

"Hey kids! Just swingin' by to remind ya'll that grubs bein' dished our real soon," he says in a deep southern drawl, smiling crookedly at us as his eyes land on me. "Who's this lil' lady?" He asks in a welcoming and friendly manner.

"This is our new friend Olivia, we brought her by to check out our place, it alright if she stay for some chow?" Alejandro asks and the old man smiles the warmest and most kind smile I've ever seen.

"Why gosh darn it of course she can! Always an honour to meet a new friend of these here kids! Names Amus lil' lady, pleasured to make your acquaintance!" The old man tells me, tipping his hat and taking my hand in his and giving it a small kiss.

I smile up at Amus, feeling my cheeks become hot and a warm fuzzy feeling overtaking my whole body.

"I'll see ya'll kids in 10 minutes!" Amus muses To is all before striding out of the den.

"Gotta love Amus!" Adrian laughs good naturedly as Alejandro passes the plates around to us all.

"Is everyone just as chipper as that?" I ask, taking a plastic knife and fork from Adrian.

Adrian shrugged. "Depends on the person, depends on the day most likely; some are harder than others." He explained opening the curtain door for ya as we all stepped out.