the soft peck he leaves upon her cheek sends a warm, honeyed sensation through the brunette’s bloodstream. she’d seen benji mooching around the house but had been so busy trying to figure out what the hell to do with the pregnancy that she’d neglected whatever they now were for the past few days, weeks… or however long it had been. ‘ hey, i missed you, ’ reassurance laced her tone as she rested her partially sweaty palms on his shoulder, pulling him in for an embrace. holding him there for a few moments, she felt safe and secure; like she was home. but alas, that was not long-lasting as his following comment caused her visage to drop, bewilderment noticeable in her demeanor. ‘ w-wait, what ? ’ she stammered, her petite frame frozen in time. ‘ the article ? ’ a lump forged in val’s throat, meanwhile her brain tried to process how the hell the tabloids had found out about her news that she’d only told two people - seb (of course) and oli (accidentally). fury began to engulf her as she began to connect the dots and come to terms with the fact that it was probably seb who had spilled to them for the sake of a story. he had no reason to like the mother of his child after how she’d treated him so why would he spare a thought for her emotions like he said he would ? ‘ i swear to fucking god, ’ she muttered under her breath, beginning to pace around the room, her hands resting on the back of her head, allowing greater room for frustrated grunts to escape her lungs. eventually tracking her gaze back towards benji, as she began to calm down, the brunette rubbed her hands against her face before taking a seat next to him on the bed. ‘ i’m sorry about that— ’ came the utterance, as she tried to steady her breathing which was still shaky from the fire that raged in the pit of her stomach, ‘ —here, hold out your hands. ’ it was not a request, much more a demand. fumbling in her track pants pocket, she pulled out the white stick and rested it in his upturned palms, the two bold lines, indicative of a positive test result, unmissable. ‘ there’s your answer. ’ she was only just about able to get the words out before her voice trailed off into sobs. enough tears had already been shed but benji was her safe haven so if she was going to cry in front of anyone, it was going to be him.
he can’t help the immediate rush of nervousness that surges through his being when seeing her for the first time , but it’s different. for reasons he knows that she doesn’t know he’s aware of. while her head rests to his shoulder , he can’t help but be reminded of their evening the other night ; they spent a lot of it together , so surely he’s bound to think of it here & there. “ it’s just . . . a lot i guess ? i think it’s just really setting in stone that you were fucking seb too , but that’s just the icing i guess. ” benji says with a small nibble of his bottom lip , a relatively anxious motion as he just looks over to val & she looks relatively stressed out because he’s essentially asking the hard questions. he really didn’t know she was pregnant because he hasn’t seen her , but now that he’s around her he can just tell. it’s some strange gift that he has when it comes to all of his female friends , but he’s not in the mood to really mention that now. “ nothing to be sorry about , i guess ? it’s not really my place to be upset anyways. it’s just . . . complicated a lot more than i had imagined it was. ” he continues on , not sure where to really aim for in this conversation but damn if he isn’t going to try & keep the best of his composure when he’s clearly bothered about it. “ i want to know your side . . . and your feelings though ? like . . . are you keeping the baby ? i suppose seb’s the father so does he know ? how did he take it ? ” benjamin asks with a nervous look upon his features on quite literally receiving any of these answers.