Time After Time~Ben Hardy

Chapter 13

October 7, 2008

Alli's POV

The past two weeks have been the hardest two weeks of my life. I've been in and out of the hospital constantly, not because I have to be there, but because I'm worried about Ben. I feel like he's just become a very fragile person and someone needs to be there for him through his recovery.

Today I decided that I'd take the day off from school and go visit him. 

His face lit up when I walked into the room.

"Hey Al. Shouldn't you be in school?" 

"Yeah, but I've got better things to do." I threw my bag on the floor and slumped down into a chair.

"I'm on your 'better things to do' list?"

"Of course." I smiled at him and he smiled back. 

"So, what do you want to talk about today?" I asked, scooting my chair to the side of his bed.

"Well, I was thinking that we could restore my memory of us."

"That sounds good. Do you want me to start from the beginning?"

"Please."

I had to take a second in order to recall the first time we met.

"We were only in second grade when we met. I remember we sat beside each other in class. You invited me to your birthday party and I came. You took me to your bedroom and showed me all your cool toys and we just sat there and played together for hours. Your mom had been looking for us the entire time. She thought we ran away." 

Ben had been watching me intently the entire time. When I finished, he looked down at his hands and quietly laughed to himself. 

"Really? What else?"

"In fourth grade, I got my first 'boyfriend'. You were so protective of me and you always asked me if I was happy with him. Turns out you had liked me the entire time, but I didn't like you back. That's when the friend rules were established." I was about to go on to my next story when he stopped me.

"Wait...what are the friend rules?" He seemed intrigued, so I had to tell him.

"Oh, it's silly." I cracked my knuckles to relieve the stress that was building up inside of me. "One of them was that we have to stay friends forever, no matter what."

"I guess we've been following that one pretty well." We both laughed.

"Uh—well, another one was that we weren't allowed dating...b-because it would've been 'gross'." I was too scared to hear his response.

"Oh..." He looked down as if he was disappointed.

The room went silent.

"I-I think I have a chem test today. I should probably get to school." I got up and grabbed my things. 

I was lying. I just wanted to get out of that room. 

When I got in my car, I put my head in my hands and began to cry. I should've known to not speak of those damn rules. He probably hates me now.