I'll Never Get Over You [Ben Hardy x Reader] Part Five
Authors Note: Hello! Here is part 5, thank you for the love for this story so far guys, it means the world!! I hope you enjoy this next part and please as always, let me know what you think but leaving a reply and also if you would like to be tagged!
Pairing: Ben Hardy x Fem!Reader
Side Note: I'm sorry that there isn't a line break in my posts, I write all my work on my phone and I don't have a laptop so I can't put one in on my phone app. I know this is frustrating to those who don't read my work but there is nothing I can do about it unfortunately. I do apologise.
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Monday morning soon arrived and so far everything had gone to plan. You had no temper tantrums or fuss from Molly and she went to school excited for the day ahead, leaving you to get to work early for the first time in weeks. You sat at your desk after making yourself a strong coffee and began to answer the customer enquiries that had flooded your inbox over the weekend. You loved your job and always got stuck in but today was different. Customers were being particularly demanding, wanting a free gift here or a voucher there and normally you would have a high amount of frustration at their rudeness. This morning, however, you weren't letting it get to you, there was no need to.
You found yourself looking up at the clock after lunch and saw you only had a half an hour before it was time to collect Molly from school and get home to start dinner.
"Oooh, Y/N, it looks as if someone has an admirer,"
The excited shrill of Lucy's voice made you jump as you swirled around in your chair to see her holding an enormous bouquet of flowers in her hands.
"For me?" You said puzzled as she placed them on your desk.
Lucy clapped her hands quickly in excitement, waiting for you to read the card attached.
"Aww my some my favourites, although I would've preferred peonies," you said, admiring the gorgeous sight of pink and white roses, surrounded by delicate gipsophilia flowers.
"Well come on, who sent them?" Lucy pressed eagerly, patting you on your shoulders.
You picked up the small card and read the back, furrowing your brows in confusion.
"To Y/N, thought these might brighten up your day like you always brighten mine, from B.H," you read aloud.
"B.H?" Lucy questioned, "Who's initials are B.H?"
You rolled your eyes as a smile crept on your face. You popped the card back in its holder and put the flowers to one side, getting back to your work.
You chuckled lightly, biting your thumb nail as you blushed. How could Ben know where you worked, you didn't recall telling him the other day. Then again, he always did work in mysterious ways. You felt a little foolish that you were getting hot and flustered over his gesture; it was well and truly over between you both. Still, you couldn't deny that he still had the ability to make you weak at the knees.
"I'm sure whoever they are, I will find out very soon," you smirked as you tapped away at your keyboard, answering a customer question about whether or not you could determine their skin type over the internet.
No longer entertaining Lucy's giddiness, you soon finished your work and got ready to leave. Grabbing your car keys, your bag and the flowers, you bid Lucy goodbye but not before she stopped you at the door.
You sighed and turned to her, your eyebrows raised.
She tapped her finger nails gingerly on her desk then gave you a hopeful expression. You knew where this was going.
"Rami and I are having a get together with some of the guys Friday night, we were wondering if you'd like to join us?"
Not this again? Was she ever gonna get the hint, you weren't interested of mingling with Lucy and Rami's friends.
"Hear me out, you haven't had a night out for ages, you're still young, you need to get yourself out there,"
"I'm fine," you tell her, a weak laugh escaping you.
Lucy sighed through her nose and stood up to face you.
"Honey, be honest with me, are you really? You haven't had a date since your split with Ben, I mean how do you cope?"
"I don't need a man, besides, Molly is my main priority, she comes first, Luc,"
"I know but you must miss the dating scene surely,"
She just didn't get it, the only reason you weren't on the dating scene was because of Molly. You didn't want to bring a stranger into her life who wasn't her Daddy, it would confuse her to no end. Besides, no matter how much you tried to ignore it, your heart still only had space for Ben. If you couldn't have him, you didn't want anyone else.
"Not really Lucy, I have everything I need," you assured her, although neither you or her were entirely convinced.
Lucy rubbed your shoulder lightly, giving you a flat smile.
"At least think about coming for a drink? I'm sure someone can look after Molly for one night?"
She wasn't going to back down and you were already running late to pick Molly up at this point. Maybe she did have a point, the liklihood of rekindling your love with Ben was very slim. You weren't even sure why you were letting him back into your life if you were being honest.
"I'll think about it, anyway, I need to get going, I need to get Molly and prepare dinner," you said in a rushed tone, checking your watch before scurrying out of the door, "See you tomorrow!"
You hot footed it out of the office and down the stairs almost making it out before you were stopped by a colleague.
You looked up at the man before you, trying to pin point who exactly he was. You'd seen him around the office before and from where he was standing you guessed he worked in payroll.
"Erm hi - uh -," you said, trying to read his name badge.
"Oh, it's Bradley, Bradley Hargreaves," he smiled.
"Yes of course," you chuckled, "Bradley, you work in payroll right?"
"Just been promoted to head of visual marketing," he told you, matter of factly as he straightened his tie.
You nodded, a pained smile creeping onto your face as you sensed the awkward tension building.
"I'd love to chat but I need to pick up my little girl from school," you said, inching closer to the door.
"You got the flowers then?"
You stopped in your tracks and turned to him giving him a questioning look.
He gestered to the bouquet in your arms and smiled proudly.
"A little birdy told me you liked roses,"
That's when it dawned on you. These flowers weren't from Ben at all, but from this Bradley that worked in payroll - oh, visual merchandising, sorry.
"You - you sent the flowers?" You asked, your eyes wide in surprise.
"Yes - do you like them?"
Gulping you nodded almost too enthusiastically.
"They're lovely, but if you don't mind me asking - why?"
It may have been a bit of an abrupt question but you had to know. He scuffed his feet, pushing his glasses up his nose anxiously. He looked a lot older than you, maybe in his late thirties and certainly wasn't your usual type. He sported a thick head of mousy brown hair, brown eyes and a beard that really needed tidying up and as flattered you were, you couldn't help but feel a little grossed out.
"I've seen you around the office, in the break room with Lucy and I just wanted to introduce myself," he said, "She told me you liked roses,"
"Damn it, Lucy!" You seethed in your head
He could've just said hi but each to their own.
"Well, thank you Bradley, they are beautiful but I must go, my little girl will be waiting,"
"Uh - yes, I have someone coming over for dinner, so I really need to get going," you said, making a final attempt to leave the building.
"What about tomorrow?" He asked, following you.
You sighed, rolling your eyes, turning to him.
"Uh, sorry, tomorrow I have plans too -,"
"And Wednesday," you said firmly, hoping he'd get the message.
You smiled flatly before turning once more to the door.
You technically didn't have anything on on Thursday but the last thing you wanted to do was spend it with this stranger who was starting giving you stalker vibes. By this time you had a run out of excuses. Maybe it was just better to be honest.
"Thank you for the offer Bradley, I'll let you know tomorrow but I really need to go now, I'm sorry,"
He frowned, it was almost sulky as you flashed him a light wave before finally running out of the building rushing to your car as quickly as your legs could carry you. Chucking the flowers on the backseat, you jumped in and drove to Molly's school just in time to collect her.
"And then Mrs Coleman said that we can bring our Mummy's and Daddy's to school and show them our prodecs,"
You chuckled lightly, keeping your eyes on the road.
Molly scrunched up her nose.
"Progdecs, prodgecs, prod -," she huffed in frustration, "I can't say it Mummy,"
"It's okay sweetheart," you smiled at her as you pulled into the space outside your house.
"When is Ben gonna be here Mummy?"
"Very soon, so we need to get inside and get changed and ready," you told her with a big smile as you helped her out of the car.
The last time you'd seen Molly this excited was the time you took her to Disneyland Paris, which cost you an arm and a leg. Since meeting Ben the other day, she hadn't stopped talking about him, every other sentence was about Ben and it filled you with emotion.
Once you were ready and waiting for Ben's arrival, you and Molly sat in the living room together. Molly was sat at the small coffee table drawing and humming her favourite Disney song and you couldn't contain the amount of love you had for her.
"What are you drawing honey?" You asked as you peered over her shoulder.
Molly paused her colouring and held the page up to you. From what you could make of it, it looked like a park, similar to the one the two of you always visited at weekends. There were three people depicted in the picture and what looked like a small dog playing with a tennis ball.
"Wow, this is brilliant darling, who do we have here then?" You asked curiously as Molly pointed at the figures on the page.
"This is Mummy and Molly," she exclaimed before pointing to the other person and the dog, "And that is Ben and Freddie,"
You pulled her into a side cuddle and kissed her hair softly.
"It's amazing sweetheart,"
"I'm going to take it to school and show everyone," she told you, a huge grin etched on her face before sitting down again, picking up another pencil to give her picture some finishing touches, "I wish Ben was my Daddy,"
Your heart sank, knowing you could never let her know that he was in fact her father. Before you could even begin to reply, the doorbell rang.
"Ben!" Molly gasped happily, jumping up and and running down to the front door.
"Molly, not so fast!" You yelled after her.
Molly had made it to the bottom of the stairs and managed to open the door to a unsuspecting Ben.
"Ben!" She said excitedly, jumping up and down as you reached the bottom of the stairs.
"Molly, what have I told you, no answering the door to strangers,"
Molly gave you a strange look
"Ben's not a stranger, Mummy," she giggled.
Ben chuckled as you rolled your eyes at her sassy comment.
"Alright smarty pants, upstairs," You tell her in an amused tone, "Mummy and Ben will be there in a minute,"
Molly ran back up the stairs in a flash, probably to grab another one of her toys to show Ben in hopes that he would play with her.
"Sorry," you said sheepishly, "She's grown rather fond of you,"
"It's alright," he said, brushing off your comment before handing you a bunch of flowers and a bottle of wine, "These are for you and Molly, well except the wine, that's just for Molly,"
You chuckled at his joke and took them, thanking him.
"Do you want to come up?"
Ben nodded following you up to the first floor landing of your house, groaning as he smelt the dinner cooking as he reached the top of the stairs.
You blushed as you poured him a glass of the wine he had brought you, handing it to him before putting the gorgeous pink peonies in a vase and placing them on the kitchen table.
"Oh, looks like someone beat me to it," he said, gesturing to the huge over the top bouquet on the kitchen side.
You swigged a bit of your wine and rolled your eyes.
"Oh, don't ask," you say as you checked on the dinner in the oven.
"Secret admirer?" He asked, nosing at the card.
"Just some guy from work, hardly know him, he asked me out this Thursday and I'm trying to find a good excuse to let him down gently,"
Ben read over the card a few times, furrowing his brows at the initials signed at the bottom.
"Oh, his name is Bradley Hargreaves," you explained.
Ben nodded, putting the card back, taking another sip of wine.
"So, how do you plan on letting him down gently then?" He asked, taking a seat at the table.
You let out an exasperated sigh as you began to plate up.
"God knows, hopefully something convincing will come to me,"
Ben pondered for a moment, tapping his index finger to his chin in thought.
"You could always already be busy that night?"
You scoffed through your lips, an amused chuckle escaping them.
"Yeah right, like I'm not always busy as it is,"
"Well - just say you're on a date with someone else,"
"Like who?" You smirk, placing Molly's dinner on the table beside Ben, "Molly pops, dinner's ready,"
"Okay Mummy," you heard her call from the living room.
You turned back to the side and finished plating up yours and Ben's dinners while Ben came up with, what he thought, was an ingenious idea.
You shot him a questioning look.
"Yeah, you can't possibly go out with him on Thursday night because you're already going on a date with me," he smiled cheekily.
Did Ben just ask you on a date? Or did he just ask you on a fake date to get you out of a potential date? Your head was frazzled. Before you had a chance to answer, Molly came running in.
"I'm here Mummy," she beamed, tucking into her spaghetti.
You hadn't completely heard her, you were too busy staring at Ben who was now in deep conversation with Molly about her project at school.
Why did you feel nervous and incredibly shy all of a sudden? Ben had offered to help you get another guy off of your back and you knew it was purely platonic but you couldn't help but feel a little excited about it. Of course, if this 'fake date' were to happen, you'd need someone to look after Molly for the evening, but that shouldn't be a problem.
Trying to put it to the back of your mind, you all enjoyed your dinner, talking and laughing together like a family, which was exactly what you were, although Ben and Molly just didn't know it. Once, dinner was over and done with, you cleared up the kitchen, letting Ben help this time and it was soon time for Molly to go to bed.
"Right Molly pops, time for bed, say goodnight to Ben,"
Molly pouted, rubbing her eyes.
"Can Ben read me a bedtime story?"
You were about to protest but something stopped you. Maybe it was the fact that both Molly and Ben were looking at you hopefully, their matching emerald eyes gazing up at you, making your heart ache.
"Alright, but only one story okay, come on,"
To your surprise, Molly lifted up her arms, gesturing for Ben to pick her up. He looked at you for permission and you nodded lightly with a small smile. He was her Dad after all. Ben picked up the sleepy child in his arms and carried her up the stairs with you following close behind. He gently placed her down on her bed and you both tucked her in. She grabbed her favourite book and gave it to Ben, awaiting him to begin the story.
"Right, what do we have here then?" He asked, reading the cover, "Goldilocks and The Three Bears, this was one of my favourites as a kid," he cleared his throat lightly before beginning, "There once were three bears who lived in a wood -,"
You stood by the door frame and watched on as Ben read his daughter to sleep, only getting through a few pages before her sleepy eyes began to flutter closed. He shut the book and placed it on her bedside table, stroking her hair gently before she stirred a little.
"Goodnight, Daddy," she whispered and suddenly she was asleep.
Ben gulped, his stomach dropping as she muttered the words. Instead of being shocked and apologetic, you simply shrugged as he stood up and joined you on the landing. You pulled the door to, making sure it was still open a little and turned to Ben.
"Kids these days," he said nervously.
"It's fine Ben - you know what kids are like,"
And with that you made your way back downstairs to the kitchen, Ben following closely behind.
"Thank you for doing that, she seems to really like you," you told him as you lifted yourself up onto the kitchen counter.
"She's a great kid, her dad is missing out,"
There it was again, that twinge of guilt that spread across your body like wildfire.
"Just tell him!" Your conscience screamed at you.
"I should probably make a move -,"
Ben was a little startled and you tried to play it cool when he turned to you. You didn't know what you were doing, perhaps you were playing with fire keeping him here but something kept telling you that you wanted him to stay a little longer.
"Y/N, listen - these past few days have been -,"
"Ben," you said, stopping him before he said something he may later on regret saying.
He hung his head in defeat, biting his bottom lip nervously.
"So, how about that date Thursday? Think you could fit me in?"
You blushed. It was your turn to hang your head and bite your lip.
Ben felt a pang of hurt hit his heart but he agreed none the less.
The pair of you stood very still and very close to one another and you could feel the fire inside you burning, every fibre of your being daring you reach forward and kiss him. Ben was thinking the same thing as his eyes flickered from yours to your lips. He gingerly leant in, his lips pressing against your ear
You closed your eyes at the touch of his lips to your flushed cheek and within minutes he was gone, leaving you to catch your breath, wanting so much more.
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