I'm going slightly mad // Hardzello

Chapter 80

Joe hesitates a second before knocking on the door of his brother's house. Ben is standing right behind him.
"I'm coming." Someone shouts on the other side of the door. Not that much later the door opens, revealing John standing behind it. 
"Hi, how are you doing?" John asks before giving Joe a short hug.
"I am doing great actually," Joe says. Ben and John give each other a friendly hug before they all step inside. 
"What do you guys want to drink?" John says. Joe looks at Ben for him to answer first.
"Some tea would be nice," Ben says. Joe nods to agree with Ben. John disappears into the kitchen to make the tea. The moment he leaves the room, Joe intertwines his fingers with Ben.
"You're fine, love. He will say yes, don't worry." Ben whispers right into Joe's ear. Joe nods before closing his eyes for a second. 
  
Not that much later John comes back with a tray full of filled tea glasses. He places the tray carefully on the table before placing the glasses on coasters.
"So, anything special that brought you two here?" John asks before grabbing a cookie out of the jar that is placed on the table as well.
"I thought we would just stop by and say. You know, my favourite sibling." Joe says. He sticks out his tongue while he looks at John, the latter rolls his eyes.
"What, do you want, you idiot?" John asks. Joe's eyebrows furrow for a second.
"Hey, I'm not an idiot." He exclaims loudly. Ben chuckles softly from beside Joe.
"Well, yesterday you-" Before Ben can continue, Joe has slapped his hand in front of Ben's mouth. 
"You better keep that to yourself." He shoots Ben a death glare before removing his hand. Ben can't help but laugh at the way Joe is looking at him.
"We do want to ask you something," Joe says while bringing his attention back to John.
"I knew it." John mumbles. Joe lets his hand run through his hair. He looks at Ben for a few seconds. The latter nods, barely noticeable, as a way to agree that Joe has to ask their question.

"We were thinking of making Leah our ringbearer." Joe spills out. Ben and he talked about it a few days ago. She is one of the only young kids attending the wedding. Besides, Joe has a very strong love for his little niece. He adores spending time with her. When he has time he likes to babysit her. Usually, he takes her to a park nearby. They walk a bit before he lets her play on the playground. It gives John and his wife a nice break of parenting for a few hours. John's eyes grow wide for a bit until he seems to catch himself.
"Really? Are you sure?" John asks, unbelieve straining his voice. Joe and Ben nod in unison.
"We don't have any small children close enough in our family to even be the ring bearer except for Leah. Ben and Leah absolutely adore each other. You also know that I love her infinitely." Joe says. He grabs Ben's hand in his own again.
"Also not in Ben's family?" John asks, he hesitates for a few seconds before starting to speak again, "I make this sound like I don't want Leah to be the ring bearer. I totally do. I just want to make sure you have thought this through. It's your special day." John explains. As soon as John mentioned Ben's family, Joe immediately squeezes Ben's hand a little to let him know that he is there for him.
"There is only one person from Ben's family coming. That is his grandma." When John opens his mouth to ask about it Joe shakes his head. Which causes John to immediately close his mouth again. 
"We have really talked about this trough. Leah is without a doubt our first choice." Ben says to avoid the topic around his family. John takes a deep breath, a sudden smile appears on his face.
"Of course, she can be the ring bearer. I just wanted to make sure you weren't feeling forced to choose her." John explains. Joe and Ben lock eyes for a brief moment before breaking out in smiles as well.
"That is sweet. Talking about Leah, where is my adorable niece?" Joe asks. He looks around the room as if Leah was somewhere hiding from him.
"Her and Liza are out shopping. Leah needed a new jacket." John says.  
"If you can ask Liza tonight, we will come by and ask Leah ourselves somewhere later this week," Joe says. John agrees and with that their conversation continues with random things until it's almost two hours later.

"Sorry to interrupt this conversation but Joe, we have to be at Mary's in like ten minutes," Ben says. He had been texting one of his friends while Joe and John were talking about the latest baseball games. Joe takes his phone out of his pocket to check the time.
"You're right. We've to go." He stands up to give John a quick hug. He reminds him one more time that he needs to talk to his wife about Leah being their ring bearer. 

After eating dinner over at Mary's house they drive home in silence. Ben flops onto the bed face first as soon as they get inside.
"Are you okay, buddy?" Joe asks. He lets himself fall onto his back next to Ben.
"Yeah, being introverted sucks," Ben says. He has turned his head so his voice isn't muffled by the blanket.
"What if you take a nice, long, hot shower. That usually gives your mind some peace, right?" Joe suggests. Ben distances his eyes for a second before letting them focus on Joe's face again.
"It does," Ben says. He, however, remains laying on the bed. 
"What are you waiting for? Come on, get your ass into our shower." Joe says. He places a kiss on the back of Ben's head. Ben smiles before finally getting up. He leans in to briefly kiss Joe.
"Thank you," He says after pulling away. Joe's lip corners push up immediately. 
"Nothing to thank me for, sweetheart."

*********
Hey guys,

It took quite some time to edit this chapter because believe it or not, it really sucked before. I even thought about not uploading it but after spending quite some time editing it I almost doubled the word count I think this is fairly okay. At least, I hope it is.

There are some really fun scenes coming up so stay tuned. 20 more chapter until the final chapter. I am sure y'all are going to like the ending a lot.

I love y'all. Take good care of yourselves!

Goodbye, 

Xx Itsametaphorjoe