Let Me In Your Heart Again | Hardzello♡

Chapter 83

Halfway through the movie, Joe gets distracted and looks around. He smiles when he sees that the boy in his arms must make an effort to keep his eyes open. Gently, he pulls Ben a little closer to his chest.
Next to them Joe sees Rami and Lucy almost holding hands. He knows that Rami stills loves Lucy, so he really hopes for his friend that Lucy feels the same.
When the ginger looks at Gwil he sees that the boy isn't even looking at the movie. Instead Gwil is focused on his phone, texting with probably Lina. Joe smiles when he sees Gwil sending a heart emoji before putting away his phone.
Then Ben shifts a little in his arms, driving back Joe's attention to his boyfriend. The ginger chuckles softly when Ben yawns.
With a playful grin, Joe does something he knows always put his little niece to sleep: He gently strokes over the bridge of Ben's nose with his finger.
At first Ben looks at him questioningly, but then looks back at the scenes on the TV screen. He actually likes the feeling. But it also makes him sleepy. More than he already was.
After a while he gives up fighting to stay awake, and closes his eyes. He snuggles close to Joe, nuzzling his face into the fabric of Joe's sweater.
Joe hears the blond making a pleased noise before Ben's head gets heavy on his chest.
The ginger smiles in victory. He knows that although Ben won't admit it, he is tired as hell.
'Sleep well honey. I love you.' Joe whispers softly, even though he knows nobody will hear it. Because Ben is really fast asleep already.

When the movie ends Gwil looks at his phone to see what time it is.
He wants to say something, but then he sees Joe gestures to him to be quiet. He smiles when he sees Ben being fast asleep.
'It's almost half past midnight guys. I should head home. I promised Lina to feed the girls this night so she can catch up some sleep.' He says softly.
Lucy smiles and gets up. 'I think we should all go home.' She says with her eyes on the sleeping Ben.
Joe smiles and nods. 'I had a good time tonight guys. We should do it again soon.' He says while gently playing with Ben's hair.
Rami nods. 'Yes, totally. Let's head home. Congrats again with your engagement boys.'

After they all said goodbye to each other, the door of the Hardzzello house closes.
Just a little to loud, because Ben wakes up from the noise. He looks around the room in confusion.
Joe hasn't noticed that he awake yet, and is humming softly.
'How long have I been asleep?' Ben mumbles confused. A small smile cracks on his face when he feels Joe's heart rate rise.
'Jeez baby, you scared the crap out of me.' Joe chuckles.
Ben lets out a sleepy giggle. 'Sorry. But for how long have they been gone already? Did I ruin it?'
Joe's heart warms when he sees Ben's sleepy puppy eyes. 'Don't worry baby, they only just left. And you weren't were asleep for that long.' He says, even though Ben has been asleep for almost two hours.
Ben smiles reassured and yawns.
'Let's go to bed blondie.' Joe says after giving a kiss on Ben's forehead.
But instead of getting up, Ben clutches his arms around Joe's chest. 'Hmmm I love that nickname.' He mumbles with closed eyes.
Joe giggles softly and runs his hand through Ben's locks. 'I'm glad you do blondie.' He whispers. 'Now let's go to bed, you're exhausted.'
Ben groans softly before Joe pulls him on his feet.
Once they're in their bedroom, Ben plops down on their bed and immediately closes his eyes again.
Joe chuckles softly. 'You can't sleep in that outfit baby. Let me help you.' He begins to take off Ben's shirt, which the latter allows without fighting it.
Once Joe has put Ben his sweatpants on, he too grabs his stuff to get changed.
He smiles widely when he sees that Ben, again, is fighting to keep his eyes open.
'Sweetheart, go back to sleep, I'll be right with you. I'm gonna brush my teeth real quick.' Joe bends down to give Ben a kiss on the cheek and tuck him in.
Ben's lips curl into a small smile. 'Hmmm I just wanted to watch you getting changed.' He mumbles with a slight smirk.
Joe rolls his eyes with a smile, and disappears into the bathroom.

When he returns, he sees his boyfriend curled up on bed, being fast asleep. He crawls next to him and gently brushes some hairs from Ben's face. 'Gosh you're cute baby.' He whispers with a small smile.
Suddenly Joe feels really tired. But despite that, he can't manage to fall asleep. He has this weird feeling inside. He feels like Ben is hiding something.
He already has a suspicion what the reason behind Ben's tiredness might be, and so he decides to stay awake.
To keep himself awake Joe is scrolling through some Instagram post. He could watch the art his fans make all day long. Sometimes he even makes a screenshot of edits that some fans made, containing pictures of him and Ben.
After one and a half hour, it turns out Joe's suspicion was correct.

He gets startled by Ben sitting up straight, covered in sweat and gasping for breath. The boy looks very pale, and looks around the room in panic.
Joe quickly puts his phone away. He takes Ben's hand and pulls him close to his chest. 'Nightmare?' He asks softly.
Ben nods, and still a bit shocked he buries his head in Joe's neck.
Joe can feel how tensed up the younger boy is. 'Shh, it's okay. You're okay.' The ginger whispers as he gently rubs with his hand over Ben's back.
Ben nods, his hand trailing down Joe's arm in search to find his hand. As soon as their hands touch, Ben intertwines their fingers.
'Sweetheart, how long has this been going on?' Joe asks after a few minutes of silence.
Ben closes his eyes and swallows. 'This was the first one since we're in New York.' He almost whispers.
Joe raises his eyebrow. 'Benny, don't lie to me.'
'I- I'm sorry.' Ben sniffles. He can feel a tear running down his cheek.
With his thumb, Joe gently wipes away the tear. 'You don't have to apologize for having nightmares. Just tell me when it happens. Wake me up. I wanna help you, angel.'
Ben smiles a little against Joe's chest. 'I love you.' He mumbles.
Joe smiles and gives him a kiss on the head. 'Do you wanna talk about it? Or do you wanna go back to sleep?' He asks.
Ben shrugs. 'Let's go back to sleep. You have an early audition tomorrow and I don't wanna ruin it for you. You deserve that part.'
Joe shakes his head. 'That wasn't my question blondie. I asked what you want.' He says. His heart makes a jump in his chest when Ben giggles softly.
The blond yawns and closes his eyes again. 'A little bit of sleep sounds nice.' He crawls even closer to Joe as he says that.
Joe grins a little, and does the same thing as before that night. Gently, he strokes over the bridge of Ben's nose with his finger.
Ben lets out a pleased noise. 'Mmm that feels nice.' He mumbles before nuzzling his face into the crook of Joe's neck.
Joe chuckles softly and pulls the duvet over the two of them. 'Sleep well my love.' He whispers.
'I love you Joey.' Ben whispers.
Joe smiles widely and gives the boy a small kiss on his nose. 'I love you too Benny.' He whispers back.
He starts humming softly, knowing how it always calms Ben down.
Not long after that, Ben's breathing slows and his head gets heavier. Soft, very subtle snores are coming from the boy.
With a satisfied look on his face, Joe too falls asleep, his arms tightly around the love of his life.

╳╳╳╳╳

Just a fluffy chapter today, since I think we could all use some fluf these days.

So, how's everyone doing? Still doing alright? I hope so♡

Anyways, sending much love to y'all❤ Xxx from me