Ten Minutes Ago // Ben Tyler Cook

Part One / Chapter Eleven

Ben and I talk for a while, and we end up going back to his apartment, since it's closer than mine.

"Do you want to watch a movie or something?" He asks.

"Do you watch The Office?" I ask. "We could watch a few episodes."

He smiles and nods. "Sounds like a plan." Standing, he offers me his hand. I take it gladly, and we begin the walk to his apartment. Since the lights of the apartment are off, Josh must still be out with Sky and Noelle.

"C'mon," he says, pulling me to the couch and sitting down next to me. He turns on the tv and picks a random episode of The Office. I happily curl into Ben's side, and he puts his arm around me. I don't know if I mean to, but I slowly begin falling asleep. Before the second episode ends, I surrender to my exhaustion and fall asleep.

Ben's POV
By the third episode, Marlee's asleep next to me. I don't want to move, wishing we could stay in that moment forever. I keep watching the show until Josh arrives.

"Oh, hey, Ben. I-" he starts, cut off by my glare. When he sees Marlee, his surprised expression changes into a smirk. Oh, he mouths. He winks and quietly goes to his bedroom. Let me add that Josh is incapable of winking smoothly, so it was more of an awkward blink.

Much to my dismay, Josh's loud entrance wakes Marlee. She sits up slowly. "What time is it?" she mumbles.

I check my phone, noticing a few texts from Noelle for the first time. "It's almost 9:45."

"I should be getting home."

"Can I drive you?" I ask her.

"Sure, if you really want to." She stifles a yawn and stands. "Sorry I fell asleep on you." Her cheeks color a light pink.

I smile slightly. "You seemed tired. I didn't want to wake you." I get up, turn the tv off, and grab my car keys. "Josh, I'm taking Marlee home!" I call down the hallway.

"Okay. Don't stay out too late, kids!" comes his reply.

I roll my eyes, grinning, and walk downstairs to my car. We arrive at her apartment sooner than I want. "Let me walk you in," I say.

"Okay," Marlee says, a bit surprised. We get out and go inside the building. After climbing the stairs to the second floor, we stop at her door. "Well. This is me."

I nod. "I had a lot of fun," I say with a small smile.

"Me too, Benji." She returns my smile. "Thanks for taking me out."

I nod again. "I'm proud of you, MJ. For auditioning."

"Thank you." She smiles softly. "Hopefully we'll hear soon."

"We should do something again soon. I like being with you, and I like talking to you. I'm glad we met."

"You should thank Noelle. That would mean the world to her." Marlee nods slightly. "Thank you. Again." She breathes a laugh. "Goodnight, Ben."

"Goodnight." I smile as she goes inside the apartment. As I turn away and head back to the car, I let my mind wander over everything that had happened that evening.

As I'm pulling into my parking spot at home, I think of her. I think about the way she looked when she was nervous for the audition, the relief when we arrived, the excitement when she exited the rehearsal room, and how her eyes lit up as she described how it went. Her eyes. Gosh, her eyes. They're the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen. A mixture of green, blue, and grey, alight with radiant joy when she smiles, brightening her whole face. Her laugh can convince the sun to shine on the stormiest day. Every time she looks at me and smiles even the slightest bit, my heart begins to race, pounding against my rib cage making it rattle with excitement. I can hardly think straight when I'm around her. Everything about her is lovely, gorgeous, pure perfection. She's the most beautiful woman I've seen.

Then it hits me. I'm in love with Marlee Jane Granger.

~~~~~
credits to my wonderful friend Eden for helping me write that last part :)
also, I'm gonna go ahead and point out that even though I wrote this about two months ago, I realized that the whole auditioning process and stuff is different than I wrote it, but I'm too lazy to change it. so y'all are gonna just have to deal with it, sorry.
anyway, thanks for reading!!