Feeling Faint (BxB)

Chapter 13

Ben's P. O. V.
I've been driving myself crazy with worry. I finally made up my mind to just call him, but he never answers. I bite my lip and dial his number again, only to get the answering machine.

"Hey, it's Jay. Leave a message and I'll get back to you later." I take in a nervous breath before speaking. "Hey, it's Ben. Can we talk? Just... call me back please."

I hang up the phone and fall back against the couch that I've been on all night. I haven't been able to get any sleep as usual, but coffee has been helping me function fine so far. I'm starting to drive myself crazy without something productive to distract me.

Even though it's early in the morning, I decide to change and go down to the bookstore.

I get dressed and slide on my jean jacket, then head down the street to the shop. The streets are mostly quiet, except for a few elderly couples out shopping. I get to the store and bang on the glass since the door's still locked.

River's head of spiky blue hair pops out from behind a shelf and hurries to unlock the door for me. "Someone's early." He comments as he lets me in.

"Couldn't sleep again." I mumble, followed by a sigh. River looks me over. "Well, you don't exactly look on top of the world, but at least you got a little sleep yesterday." I feel my cheeks heat up as I remember cuddling with Jay.

"Someone's blushing." River smirks at me. "Am not." I say, trying to hide my smile. "Yeah, yeah, sure you aren't. I'm willing to bet money you called him already."

I bite my lip. "Yeah... he didn't answer though." River shrugs. "He's probably still sleeping right now. Give it some time." I sigh, shoving my hands in my pockets. "Yeah, I guess so." "C'mon, we've got a lot to do today." He says, motioning for me to follow him.

I reluctantly go with him and start to work on some number crunching for the event.

After a while I let out a huff of frustration. "This would be much better organized if we could put all these numbers and plans on an online document. I'm going to go get my laptop so we can figure this out better."

"Alright. Actually, Emerson should be here soon too and it's nearly lunch time. Why don't you just go pick up some food for all of us while you're at it? I can pay you back." I nod and grab my keys, waving to him on my way out.

I check my phone again, hoping for some kind of response from Jay, but there's nothing. I bit my lip and text him against my better judgment. 'Call me?'

I slip my phone back into my pocket and try not to worry about it as I figure out where to get food from. An idea clicks into place and I rush the last few steps into my apartment to grab my laptop before leaving again.

As I head outside, I check my phone again only to find that he's left me on read. I let out a sigh but put on a determined face and drive hurriedly to my destination.

The restaurant is pretty crowded when I rush in, but I spot Devon at the front counter and stride confidently to him. "Oh hey Ben! How're you doing?" He greets with a smile.

I rub the back of my neck with an awkward smile. "I've... been better." He finishes scribbling something on a piece of paper and raises an eyebrow at me. "What's up?"

I lean an elbow on the countertop and let my head rest in my hand as I aimlessly draw invisible shapes across the counter top that separates us.

"Jay and I..." I pause. "We kind of had a fight." He grimaces. "Over what?" I sigh. "Well... the other day he'd seemed really shaken up after looking at his phone. His eyes were just staring glassily at the screen and his hands were shaking. I could tell something was bothering him but he didn't say anything and disappeared down the hall, locking himself in the bathroom."