The Grand Gesture

part 1

[A/N: I'm going to start out every chapter with a song that I think represents Ben and Joe. Also, they are just good songs so go listen.]

{Somebody to Love by Queen}

*Disclaimer: this may be inaccurate; I do not know where Ben lives nor do I care to. For the sake of this story, he lives in a loft in London (with Frankie).

It is 7pm on Friday and Joe has a plane to catch at 7am on Saturday, but wouldn't you know, he has procrastinated as long as possible to start packing. He finally puts down his phone and grunts as he pulls himself off the couch. He grabs his large suit case out from the depths of his closet, unzips it, and throws it on his bed. You'd think he would be excited to go see his best friend after a couple of weeks, right? Wrong. Joe was a nervous wreck. Unfortunately, Joe has a huge crush on said best friend. Every time he is in the same room as Ben, Joe can feel himself getting awkward and having a loss for words, which was very unlike him.

He starts by picking out the top he knows Ben likes because he once complimented Joe while he was wearing it. A navy blue t-shirt paired with a black and gray letterman type jacket. He sets that aside to wear on the plane, paired with some black jeans, so that he's sure that it's the first thing Ben sees him in. He grabs more clothes and everything he would need for this trip and shoves it in his suit case. Nothing is folded or even organized in the slightest but he zips it up and that was that.

He goes to get in the shower and out of nowhere he got an overwhelming feeling of excitement and could hardly stand it. He wanted to see Ben right now. During his whole shower he thought about Ben and how fun their time in London was going to be... and then he started the overthinking. He starts thinking about what would happen if Ben found out about Joe's little crush and then he spiraled out of control. He needed some distraction to get out of his head, and he knew exactly what that was.

Joe had the idea to FaceTime Ben, but he would need an excuse first.

As soon as he thinks of something, he picks up his phone and taps "Ben💜💦" (which was supposed to stand for purple rain but could mean something else *wink wink*).

The phone is ringing for what seems like an eternity and with each second that goes by Joe gets more nervous. Finally it stops ringing and all you can see is a very dark screen with the slightest features of a face.

"Hey Joe. Whats up?" Ben said. His voice was deep as usual but much, much raspier.

"Uh, hey Ben... Where are you?"

"In my bed. I was sleeping." Oh shit. Time zones.

"Shit Ben. I'm really sorry, I'll just see you tomorrow then-"

"No. Joe, you're fine. What did you need?" his raspy voice had a softness about it, one that couldn't be explained.

"Well I was just gonna confirm some things for tomorrow."

"Okay. Go ahead." Although Ben was woken up abruptly and could barely think, he was happy to hear Joe's voice. He's super excited to be reunited with his buddy tomorrow.

"Well, I'm still staying with you, right? Because I might still be able to get a hotel room." Joe was praying Ben would say yes. He wouldn't mind booking the hotel, but he really wanted to stay with Ben.

"No." No?

"Uh- no what?" Joe was laughing awkwardly, seeming to keep his cool, but he certainly was not.

"I'm joking mate. Of course you're staying with me." Phew. He was beyond thankful to hear those words.

"Okay, okay. Then are you also picking me up from the airport tomorrow. I should land around 7 to 8."

"Yes. I will make sure I'm there. Do you want a grand gesture too, or make it casual?" Oh wow. Joe sensed a flirtatious tone in that sentence and it made him smile.

"Only the grandest gestures for me, Ben. Come on. You should know this."

"Of course, of course, silly me. So is that all?"

"One more thing: I was wondering if there is anything special you want me to bring?"

"Just yourself." Joe about fainted. He had absolutely no clue what to say. He was thinking for an appropriate response when he was interrupted from his thoughts when Ben gives a big yawn.

"Fuck, go to sleep Ben! I'm so sorry-"

"Hey, if it was anyone else, I'd be pissed. Don't be sorry. Good night." And with that he hung up the phone, leaving Joe without a chance to respond.

'If it was anyone else... I'd be pissed.'
Now what the hell is that supposed to mean?

Joe begins physically pacing back and forth, talking to himself trying to work out what that meant.

"The only logical explanation is that he realized that he is picking me up tomorrow so he sees that it's reasonable for me to have questions. Yea, thats it. I mean there's no way he meant that in a flirty way, right? But he has been extra flirty lately. SHIT."

Joe tries to get ready to go to bed. It is now 10pm and he has to wake up at 3am to get to the airport my 4. The only problem is that the last sentence Ben said to Joe has been dancing around his brain for hours, and it doesn't seem to be stopping any time soon.