Love Someone {Hardzello love story}

Four

They had been together (truly, together. Open and out with no regrets or worries) for a year when Ben decided he wanted to marry Joe.

Well, to be honest, he knew he wanted to marry Joe a week after they first started sleeping together. It was a sunny afternoon. They had taken a break from clearing out Ben's old loft and decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather.

It was always wet in London. Always rainy and dirty. On tv and in movies, they make the city seem more magical than it really was. Don't get Ben wrong, he loved the place like no tomorrow and he was eager (at that point at least) to return to it. But it was dark and cold most of the time.

California was warm and welcoming. Lots of pretty people filled with dreams welcoming you with open arms. They went to the beach and sat in the sand, drinking beer and eating food truck tacos.

They had been talking about the ups and downs of their careers. Joe told him about all the auditions he had been one and mentioned the worst of them all. Some pilot show about space or whatever. Ben didn't even know if the damn thing got picked up, but it didn't matter because he wasn't apart of it. He auditioned for the role of one of the scientist and was more or less laughed out of the room.

Nobody took him seriously. All kept commenting on how good looking he was and how he was far too handsome to play a scientist. Like to the tv world, all scientist were ugly, unfuckable nerds. Someone suggested putting glasses on him, but apparently, that just made it worse.

When Ben returned home, he broke almost all the mirrors in his loft. It was shit to replace, but at the time it felt like the right move to make.

"These fucking people, man. They don't care about talent anymore. All they want is someone who looks the part so they can put them up on the building board." Joe had grumbled, taking a larger than life bite of his taco.

Gwilym had teased him about it once, how Joe could practically unhinge his jaw like a snake. It came in handy in the bedroom and Ben focused on his own meal to keep those thoughts at bay.

"If it's any consolation, I think you'd make an amazing scientist. With or without glasses." Joe told him after a moment of silence where they just listened to the waves and munched on their tacos. "You're more than a pretty face, you know that? A hell of a lot more." Joe added.

The conversation ended there but Ben already knew he was falling in love with that man. With Joe fucking Mazzello.

Ben did end up playing a scientist and was damn well nominated for an Emmy because of it. His show was doing better and better and had been picked up by HBO for extended seasons. He had people coming to him now, wanting him to audition for this part or that part. It was more than he could have ever imagined.

He and Joe traveled together whenever they could and found different places to live based on where they needed to be. If he was shooting in Vancouver, they rented a small cottage along the green grass. In LA, Joe kept his home, which had ultimately become their home. If it was London, then Ben had his own flat that they could go home to.

It was so strange, calling places like this home. Before, they had just been places that he'd stay between here and there, but with Joe, they were his home.

Joe was his home.

Ben had gotten a dog in between shooting episodes. A small little pup that he had named Frankie that he adored to the end of the earth and back. Joe loved her too and Ben couldn't ignore the way his heart soared when he saw them together. Whether it was playing with one of her toys or cuddling on the couch together.

They were one big happy family and Ben wanted to make it legal.

He had been thinking it over for a while not, trying to plan out the perfect proposal. He didn't want to just get down on his knee. This was Joe. This was the man that got him out of his funk and made him feel like he walked on air. No, no. Joe deserved something special.