galileo figaro magnifico ➳ ben hardy [1]

real life

      theodosia stood on her balcony, taking one last look at the lit up eiffel tower. she decided then that she would miss paris as much as she wouldn't. turning away, she tiptoed back into the flat, trying not to wake timothée. the two would be leaving for the airport in a good hour, and she wanted to let him get some sleep to avoid dealing with his grumpiness.
      checking her phone, she flinched at the bright light, feeling a mixed sense of relief and sadness at the lack of messages. she missed ben just as much as she didn't. it was a recurring theme, this back and forth feeling. liking things and not liking them, missing people and not missing them, regretting and feeling no remorse. there were mornings where she hated herself, laying in bed all morning until tim forced her out and into the shower, where she would grow numb and forget all about why she was upset in the first place.
      theo went out to the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of orange juice from the refrigerator as she began to go over the plans in her head once more. the vast majority of her belongings had already been shipped and likely delivered. in a matter of hours, she would board the plan with tim and, upon landing in new york, she would meet joe, whom of which she was moving in with. her heart warmed at the thought of the man who had become her closest friend and confidante. with the exception of ben, it was him that she missed the most.
      as she sat on the kitchen counter, she could hear tim's phone go off, a familiar melody floating out to her. there came a thump, his figure appearing minutes later. "how come you're up already?" he mumbled, grabbing his own bottle of juice.
      "couldn't sleep."
      "couldn't sleep or didn't want to sleep?"
      theo glared at him briefly, leaping off of the counter to go to her old room. she looked around the now barren room, letting out a puff of air. "fair well, paris,"  she whispered, grabbing her suitcase and leaving.
      tim was already standing by the door, duffel bag in hand. "get everything?"
      "i believe so. if i forgot anything then it obviously wasn't important to me."
      "a very good point. are you ready to go?" she nodded. the two of them made their way out and down to their waiting taxi, arm-in-arm, tears in their eyes like the stars i the sky.
      hours later, theo found herself in joe's bed, wearing a pair of sweatpants and one of his sweatshirts, eating ice cream and crying. joe wiped at her tears and smoothed her air, cooing to her. "it's all going to work out, theo. you just need to relax."
      "i miss paris," she choked out. "yeah, a lot of shit things happened there, but a lot of great things happened, too! and i miss ben. and i miss happiness in general."
      "you'll have that happiness again, i promise. but like you told ben, you need to sort yourself out. you aren't yourself, buddy."
      she set her empty pint on the nightstand and proceeded to wrap her arms around him, holding on tight. he held her in turn, ignoring the painful thump in his chest as she whispered, "thank you. i love you, dino deaky."
      "i love you, banana elephant."

FIN