Let Me In Your Heart Again | Hardzello♡

Chapter 79

'Aunt Alisa? What about her?' Ben asks concerned when he sees the look on his father's face.
Joe softly draws figures on the palm of Ben's hand to calm him down and to let him know he's there for him.
'Well, she found out that your mom left you all her money. And she didn't like that. She texted me and asked me if I knew where you are. Of course I didn't tell her. Then she swore that she would get her part of the legacy. And I know I'm probably too worried, but I just want you to be careful. Things could get... ugly.'
Ben's eyes widen slightly.
When Joe sees the shocked expression on his fiance's face he frowns. He and Ben had never actually talked about the rest of his family. Only about his father and mother.
Ben tries to look for the right words, but cannot find them. 'W-what? Do you think she- that she?' He stutters. 
Peter shrugs. 'I don't know son, but I just want you to be careful. She lives in New York, so she's close.'
Ben nods. 'Uhm yeah, I will.' He says, trying to give his father a reassuring smile. But it isn't very believable.
'Okay, well I have to go. Congratulations again on your engagement boys. I am so happy for you.' Peter says with a smile.
'Thank you Peter. We'll talk to you soon.' Joe says when he notices that Ben is a bit speechless.
'B-bye Dad.' Ben quickly adds before the call ends.

Without saying a word, Joe opens his arms for the younger boy.
Ben takes gratefully advantage of this and snuggles close to him and buries his head in Joe's neck. He closes his eyes, and smiles a little when Joe starts humming softly. 
And even though it's only morning, Ben suddenly feels like he hasn't slept in a week.
Still listening to the humming of his fiance, he feels himself slowly drifting off. The last thing he feels is Joe kissing his forehead.

********

During the time that Ben was asleep, Joe did not leave his side. He spent all this time staring at his sleeping boyfriend and scrolling on Instagram.
But despite the peaceful look on Ben's face right now, the ginger is quite concerned about him. The conversation with his father about his aunt really upset him.
Joe is happy that he decided not to ask any more questions after the call ended. That was a good choice.

After an hour, Ben is still asleep.
Too bad for Joe he really needs to go to the bathroom now. After trying to suppress his urgent need for more than half an hour, he decides to try to slip away without waking Ben. And to his own surprise, the ginger succeeds. 
He quickly puts a pillow under Ben's head before he tiptoes to the bathroom.
When he returns, he sees Ben sitting up in bed.
'Oh sorry baby I didn't mean to wake you. But I really had to pee.' Joe says with a chuckle.
Ben looks at him confused.
'Sweetie are you okay?' Joe sits down next to him on the edge of the bed and takes his hand.
Ben doesn't say anything and just stares straight ahead. 
'Benny, what's going on?' Joe asks when Ben doesn't answer the question. He bites his lip ever so slightly when he can feel Ben's hand tremble in his own.
'Yeah I'm okay, that story about my aunt just took me by surprise I guess.' Ben mumbles with a tiny smile.
But despite that little smile, Joe sees that things are deeper than that.
'Honey, you know you can tell me anything, right? Maybe it helps to talk about it?' Joe tries carefully. 
Ben sighs and nods. 'Yeah. Maybe you're right.'
Joe moves closer to him, and gently he rubs Ben's knuckles with his thumb. He can clearly see that Ben is upset. 'Now tell me what's going on? I wanna help you, you know that.' 
Ben nods and takes a deep breath.

'It's just that... my aunt can get a bit aggressive. She has been having drinking problems for a long time now. Eight years ago my cousin graduated, and he threw a party. When he was getting everything ready, including all the booze, my aunt drunkenly tried to snatch the bottles away from him. He tried to hold on to them, because he didn't want her to drink even more. They started struggling all over the streets and....-' Ben suddenly stops talking, staring straight ahead.
It hurts Joe to see him like this. He sees how hard Ben has to try to find the right words.
'My aunt eventually managed to get a hold of the bottles by yanking them out of my cousin's hands. My cousin fell backwards, hitting his head to the pavement. He was still unconscious when that car approached and....-' Ben looks down, not wanting to finish that sentence.
But Joe already gets it.
Because of his alcoholic aunt, Ben's cousin did not survive. No wonder he panicked when his father called. 
Joe puts an arm around Ben. He can feel the younger boy tremble.
The blond boy puts his head on Joe's shoulder, trying to hold back his tears.

'It didn't even bother her that her own son died because of her.' Ben whispers when he feels a little calmer again.
'How awful.' Joe can't believe that a mother wouldn't care about the dead of her own son.
It stays quiet for a while.
Joe just plays with Ben's hair, to make him comfortable. But the latter doesn't seem calm at all.
'Baby, you're shaking all over. Talk to me. What are you so scared of?' Joe's heart aches when he feels some tears soak through his shirt.
He hates to see Ben cry. Unless the tears are tears of happiness, of course.
'W-what if the same happens to me Joey? What if she comes to me for the money so she can buy more alcohol?' Ben whispers. 'M- maybe I should just give her the whole legacy. T- then I'm safe right?' He says with a tone of doubt in his voice.
'I don't know honey. You have to do what feels best. I want you to feel safe. Whatever choice you make, I'll support you.' Joe says. His heart starts to glow as his words put a smile on Ben's face.
'I love you Joey.' Ben whispers with a smile. He is happy to have Joe next to him. Without him, he would be desperate in a situation like this. 
Joe smiles widely, and gently presses his lips onto Ben's. 'I love you too baby.'

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Hey guys!
Sorry I'm being so inactive on both Insta and wattpad lately.
But me and my family have just gotten off the plane. We (well, my parents) bought a house in England and sold ours in Holland. So I'm now officially living in England again. I gotta say I really missed our other relatives❤

Anyways, how was this chapter? I'm not sure if I like it yet, I might add some small things later.

Xxx from me♡