Let Me In Your Heart Again | Hardzello♡

Chapter 40

After the conversation between Ben and his father is over, the two hang up the phone.
Joe looks at the clock in his room, and sees that it is only half past eight. Ben will be home in ten minutes, so the two of them have all night to spend together. He quickly sends Rami and Gwil a message about how the conversation went.

(20:33 Pm) Joe: Ben talked to his father. It went much better than expected. They will try to contact each other a little more. Ben is now on his way home. I'm so relieved :)

Joe puts his phone away and gets up to get himself a blanket. He also already grabs a bag of chips from the kitchen for when Ben gets home.
*Beep Beep*
Joe rushes to his phone, hoping Ben has messaged him. He is slightly disappointed when he sees that it is a message from Gwil. He sits down on the couch with his phone and settles into the blanket. Then he opens the message.

(20:41 Pm) Gwil: Phew, good to hear everything went well. And good for Ben that he finally has contact with a family member again. I am almost at the end station by the way. I'll let you know how the baby is doing :) Talk to you guys laterrrr

Joe giggles softly. He can read Gwil's excitement through the message.

***

Twenty minutes later, Ben still isn't home. And since he should have been for ten minutes already, Joe is starting to get worried. The ginger nervously walks around the room, checking his watch every few seconds. He isn't sure whether to call someone. He knows that Rami is probably already asleep because his alarm goes off at 5:00 in the morning. And he doesn't want to bother Gwil either, because he would come home right away. And Joe doesn't want to ruin the moment of Gwil seeing his child for the first time.
And so he tries to call Ben once again.
In vain.
He gets voicemail every time. 'Ben where are you? Please call me back. I'm really worried.' Joe says, feeling his hands shaking.
Thirty minutes later, still no Ben. Thirty-five minutes later, Ben is still not home.
Joe is really panicking now, and storms out of the hotel room. He walks down the hall towards Rami's room. He knocks on the door, trying to take deep breaths.
After a while he hears some thumping and the door opens. Rami looks at Joe with a questioning and somewhat sleepy look. 'What's going on?' The boy asks confused.
'Ben did not come home after talking to his father. I am so worried Rami.' Joe says before he falls into Rami's arms.
'I'm sure he's okay Joey.' Rami whispers during the hug. 'Why don't you come in and calmly tell me what happened.'
Joe blinks his tears away and nods.

Inside, Joe and Rami sit down on the couch.
'Now, tell me exactly what happened.' Rami says, knowing this is serious.
Joe takes a deep breath. Sniffling softly, he tells about how Ben would come home after buying a rose. He checks his watch. 'And now he should have been home for fourty minutes already.' Another tear finds its way down his cheek.
Rami listens to Joe's explanation with wide eyes, not knowing what to say.
Then Joe receives a message. The boy jumps up and grabs his phone with trembling hands.
'Want me to do it for you?' Rami offers him when he sees his friend struggle to type in his password.
Joe nods and hands his phone to Rami.
The latter opens the phone and sees that Joe has a message from Roger. When Rami looks up from the phone, he sees Joe's hopeful look. He shakes his head. 'Sorry Joe. It's Roger.' He turns the phone to Joe so he can read the message.

(20:14 Pm) Roger: Hi Joe, I was wondering how the conversation between Ben and his dad went? He told me about it through messages. He said he was quite nervous. I've already tried to contact him but he doesn't respond to his messages. Is everything alright?

'What do you want me to respond?' Rami asks Joe.
'Nothing for now. I want to make sure Ben is safe first.' Joe mumbles, trying to wipe away his tears.
Rami nods. 'I get that. What if we go to the park? Maybe Ben was upset about the conversation and just needed to think. He must be just sitting on a bench somewhere. Safe and well.' He suggests.
Joe nods. 'Let's go.'

~~~~~

Ben wakes up with a huge headache. He blinks a few times, and looks around confused. Where is he? This isn't his hotel room, nor is it the movie set. He's in a big room, with concrete walls. Only now does he notice that he is sitting on a chair with his hands tied behind his back. There is a chain around his hands, and as soon as he moves it cuts into his wrists. 'Hello?! What kind of sick joke is this? Untie me immediately!' He shouts. His voice echoes through the empty space.
After several minutes of yelling and wriggling, he gives up. He hangs his head. What did he end up in? He closes his eyes and tries to stay calm.
After what seems to be an hour he hears a door open. He raises his head and sees two men enter the room. Suddenly Ben realizes that his phone is still in his pocket because of the conversation with his father.
The men enter the room, see that Ben is awake, and exit again through the large concrete door.
As soon as the door closes, Ben wriggles his arms so he can reach his phone. He can press the emergency button he had ready just in time in case his father got mad. The button sends his location to the phone's of Joe, Rami and Gwil. When he tries to put his phone back in his pocket, he is caught by one of the men.
'Fuck he's trying to get his phone.' He shouts to the other man, who has just entered the room.
The man walks up to Ben and takes his phone. 'You can give that to me. You don't need that tonight. We're going to have some fun together, my friend.' He says to Ben with a mean smile on his face.

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Well, that's a twist, isn't it? Told ya it was gonna be heavy. Prepare for dramaaaa (imagine me sitting here with an evil smirk😏)

Stay safe, stay happy❤
xxx from me♡