Ben Hardy Imagines

I've Been Stood Up.

"Hi, I'm Becky. I'll be your waitress for this evening. Would you like anything while you wait for your date?" Becky asks, a radiant smile placed on her face as she sets down two menu's on either side of the table.

"Please can I just have a rum and coke? He shouldn't be too long." I say and the waitress quickly walks away to get the drink. I sigh and look around me, seeing all the lovely, happy couples sitting together, smiling, laughing and having fun. I never understood what was so great about valentines day and their dinners, seeing it as just an excuse for stores to sell their products, but I decided to give it a shot this year.

A guy from work, Elliot, who I've been eyeing for some time as he was always very good looking yet mysterious to me, and he actually asked me out for Valentines day. I look at my phone to check the time to see that it is five minutes until the time we agreed to meet up.

Becky places the drink in front of me and with a giant smile, she says; "If you need anything else, please let me know." I say a quick thank you before she walks away. I wonder if she smiles like that the whole night. Don't get me wrong, it is nice, I just hope her cheeks don't become too sore.

I sit there and wait, sipping at my drink as the time goes on, until Becky comes up to me 20 minutes after Elliot was supposed to have arrived. She looks at me with a now more sympathetic smile. "Are you sure you don't want me to get you anything?"

"No thank you. I'll give him ten more minutes and then I'll just take something to go if he still hasn't arrived, if that's fine?" I ask with a small, hard to place smile of my own.

"Of course that fine. Let me get you another drink. On the house." She quickly adds before I could protest and once again walks away.

I look around the restaurant to see others giving me looks of sympathy. These looks, although they might be giving me kind thoughts, they make me feel more alone than anything. Becky comes and places down another drink before soon disappearing.

Why would Elliot do this to me? Why would he stand me up? Was it some kind of joke? I know him, I know at work he is always super punctual, so I don't know why I'm holding out hope that him, or anyone for that matter, would come and save me from this embarrassment. Maybe I should just go home.

"I am so sorry I'm late." This blonde haired, green eyed guy drops into the seat in front of me, catching me off guard. This is not Elliot. Who is this guy? "You wouldn't believe what I had to go through before I could get here." He leans slightly closer and in a whisper he says; "play along." I instantly let out a sigh of relief, smiling at the stranger.

"That's okay, you can explain over dinner." Becky comes up to the table, the bright smile back on her face as she looks from me to the stranger.

"I'm glad you showed up. I was worried you stood up your date." She says as she takes out her notebook, ready to take our order.

"I know I'm late, and again I am so sorry." He says. I really have to applaud his acting skills here. We order our food and once Becky leaves to go back to the kitchen, I quickly look back to the guy.

"I'm Y/N."

"Ben." He replies with a smile.

"Ben." I repeat softly and I lean forward slightly in my seat. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but why are you doing this?" Ben leans forward in his seat so that we're close enough to hear one another.

"I also just got stood up, which reminds me, these can be for you now." He hands me a bunch of, not red roses, but blue roses, which I quickly thank him for, surprise on my face. "I was walking to my car from just down the street at the Portside restaurant, when I saw you. You looked like how I felt when I got stood up, and I didn't want you to go through the same thing I did, so I made a quick decision. But that guy is a complete idiot for standing you up. You look beautiful, Y/N."

"Thank you." I reply, a blush heating my face. "But it takes more than just looks to keep a guy. Or girl in your case, seeing as you look damn fine." Did I really just say that? Did I just completely embarrass myself? It seemed to be a good thing to say, though, as he starts laughing and he has a really nice laugh. I have to hear more of it. "I'm sorry about what happened. Isn't Portside that crazy expensive place?"

"Yeah, and it was our first date. The only reason why I chose to go there was because she wanted to go."

"What a bitch."

"Yeah, and your guy is a dick."

"I'll drink to that." We spend the rest of the meal talking, laughing and having fun. After paying for the meal and leaving a huge tip for Becky, we head outside together. "Thank you for saving my ass." I say through laughter.

"Thank you for saving mine." We stop walking, turning to each other and I look at him with a smile. What happens now? "Would it be too much if I asked for your number? I just - I really want to take you out on a proper date some time."

"Proper date?"

"Yeah, one where we both start the date with the person we asked." He says with a laugh and I hold out my hand.

"I'll put my number into your phone." He eagerly takes out his phone and I put in my number before giving it back.

"You better follow through with that invitation because I would love to go on a proper date with you. It was nice meeting you, Ben. Thank you for tonight." I lean up and kiss his cheek.

"Trust me, I will follow through."