You And I | h.s

f o u r

I stare at my ceiling, replaying last nights events in my head with no plans on moving for a while. It was a Sunday morning, I doubt any of my family members were even awake yet. I have been racking my brain, jumping from Jacob, to Harry suddenly being friendly towards me, to Ben and George's kiss, but mainly I was thinking about Ben. I was happy for Ben if he was happy. I would always support him and he knows this which is why I'm so shocked he didn't tell me his feelings towards George. I didn't even know Ben felt that way towards anyone, let alone George. I mean sure, he never told me he was interested in a girl but he never told me he was interested in a boy either. They've been friends or years. Or have they been dating for years?

Someone knocks on my bedroom door, causing me to jump. I sit up in my bed to prepare myself for whoever wanted to talk to me.

"Come in." I say and the door slowly opens, revealing Ben.

"So, we should probably talk." He clears his throat, shutting the door behind him.

"Sorry for walking in last night..." I trail off, not sure what to say.

"I didn't want you to find out like this."

"Why didn't you tell me you were gay? You know I would have supported you." I shake my head with confusion. He sighs, taking a seat on my bed next to me.

"I didn't even know I was...this all happened last night. This is all just as new to me as it is to you. And I know you would have supported me, trust me you would have been the first person I told if you hadn't, you know...walked in on us." He gives me a small smile at his confession. I throw my arms around his shoulders, hugging him. I'm glad he felt loved and supported enough to think he could come to me about this. It's a very personal and intimate thing to go through.

"I'm glad. Now that we have that sorted out, tell me everything." I sit back, waiting for the juicy story of their blossoming love.

"Before I do let me say, don't tell mom or dad or Will yet. I don't want them knowing. I don't know if they would react as kindly as you did." I can see the pain in his eyes. His words were true, regarding our parents at least. They were never home enough to actually come to a conclusion about anything.

"Will will support you, Ben. He loves you. He might say something stupid but what's new about that? And with mom and dad, they have to love you. You're their son. But I don't tell any of them, I promise." He nods along before jumping into what happened last night and what led to the kiss.

- - -

I stare at my plate of cold, burnt pancakes as my mom continued to gush about Will to everyone, as if Ben and I haven't lived with him our entire lives. My mom and dad had gotten back early this morning from whatever they were doing abroad that concerned their business. They were never home but when they were, all they talked about was Will. Ben and I would bet how many times my mom would bring up Will's accomplishments in a day and whoever lost had to buy pizza that night.

"Of course we had to come back this week, we wouldn't want to miss our little Will's big game on Friday." My mom coos, acting overly motherly by pinching Will's cheek and he blushes. My dad continued to text on his phone, completely ignoring all of us.

"Thanks for the pancakes mom, they taste great." I quietly scoff as Ben laughs at Will's compliment.

"Yeah, is burnt a new flavor?" I ask her and Ben kicks me under the table. My dad gives me a look to fix my attitude. It didn't really matter because she acted like she didn't hear me and continued to be excited about the big game. This game was so big because it was against our rival school. We usually won but people still got worked up over it.

During the split second of silence where my mom wasn't talking, I decided to butt in. This would be my chance to ask them, since they were never home.

"Since you guys are going to be home for Will's game Friday night, I was wondering if you would come to my art show Saturday night?" I ask, hopeful they would say yes. I mean they haven't come to any of my art exhibits so far, they've missed everything I've done my entire life from ballet recitals to debates to art exhibits so I don't know why I'm hopeful, I guess some things never change.

"I don't know, Chelsea. We may to leave early in the morning for London on Saturday." And there's the disappointment, rejection, lack of loyalty to their daughter, whatever you want to call it. I bite my tongue before I say something snotty and just nod in response. I see Ben staring at me out of the corner of his eye but I don't look at him. I don't look at him because if I do I know I'm going to start crying and it's only nine am so I'm not in the mood for that right now.

"Ben! Tell us about you now, we need to catch up! How's the mathletes? I heard you've got a competition coming up soon! First of the year, we might just have to make it." My dad asks Ben and he raises his eyebrows at them. I stab my pancake with my fork, trying to hold in my anger. Do I just have not good enough written on my forehead or something?