Barefoot IX
A/N: WHOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Things gon' only spice up from here, y'all! That said, chapter 10 won't be out until way later in August (taking a break / vacay) It will be in the drafts though!! Also, please let me know how I'm doing! I LOVE hearing from you guys, but I feel like I should tag this as a soft!Ben fic even though it's kinda dead dove-ish with the age gap? idk. Comments and reblogs are always appreciated! Constructive criticism too!
Summary: Things are starting to get tricky and will only move faster from here. Can Ben keep up or will he give in completely?
WC: 4.5k (We're getting girthier boys)
>> CHAPTER 8
>> READ ON AO3
CW: Mentions of assault and anxiety
A few days later, she's back home and walking around like a 90 year old. It is difficult, but she manages. Just as her parents had said, her mom did indeed stay. Thankfully, Susie and Don actively avoided each other after getting into another heated argument. Finding out that her dad was a cheater wasn't entirely a surprise as he did frequently go out when he was married. That point was brought up in all of their fights.
“Honey, are you sure you don't want to move in with me and Uncle Lawrence?” Susie sits next to her daughter, handing her a warm cup of tea. “I think you'd be better off with us than your dad.”
She hesitates for a moment, holding her tea and staring out into space. “I don't want to have to deal with two drunks.” She's exhausted. “Don't deny it, mom. Uncle Lawrence is a bad influence and preys on your misery so he doesn't have to drink by himself.”
“What has gotten into you!? For the last couple days you've been so moody!” Susie stands up, scowling. “I am offering you a chance to get away from him and you're coming after me? Am I such a bad mom that you'd rather live with your narcissist father!?”
She would rather not live with either of them. Emotionally immature and emotionally unavailable were not a good combo. “No! Just, leave me alone!” Setting the tea cup down, she hoists herself up with difficulty and limps over to the porch facing the woods. She slams the door and hears her dad scream about it as she hobbles down to the edge of the porch. Carefully, she sits down with her feet dangling over the edge. The wind chimes sing gracefully as a breeze gently rolls in. Closing her eyes, she takes in the sounds of the leaves rustling, birds chirping and cicadas. Was she really so alone? Only a few people reached out to check in on her, most of her friends were busy, Kevin didn't care (not that she cared one bit about him), her parents were too busy fighting, and Ben was busy with his girlfriend.
Don had said something over breakfast that Ben and Clara had gotten together, and it nearly made his daughter puke. Both of her parents were rather displeased with Ben's decision, too. Susie looked especially offended.
Why though, did she feel so empty? She knows she can't have him, he's too old and just a fantasy. Treat him like a celebrity crush; out of reach, never going to happen, be happy with what she has currently.
The sound of the door opening has her flinching and placing a hand over her healing wound.
“I told you a thousand times since you were a kid not to slam the fucking door. Unless you have enough to pay for it.” Don's tone is harsh, but he isn't yelling for once. “Speaking of which, back at the hospital, what did that nurse mean by a ‘large sum of cash’. You selling yourself or something?”
She swears her complexion can't get any more pale as her dad asks her. “Editing! Editing. He has a podcast and films it and needs someone to clean up his takes and make everything neat.” Back in high school, she did take a few computer classes as she thought she might be interested in maybe coding or something of the like. After all, she played plenty of games and also liked to draw digitally. Her excuse was sound enough.
Don sighs, scratching his bald head and looking out at the woods. “Could've gotten a career in that.”
“Dad, please. Don't.” She waves her hand, stomach still twisting at the lie.
“I'm just saying. Anyway, you didn't need to talk to your mother like that. We both know she… and I, have issues.”
She doesn't have a reply to that. What more could she possibly say? It was a vicious cycle that never seemed to have a break. “Did you ever love mom?”
Don is taken aback by her question, brows knitting together. “What? Of course I-” he stops himself and purses his lips. “It's complicated, but yes. I would rather not go into details of what exactly went down. I already told you it was my fault and that there is nothing more to it.”
“But there is.” She looks over her shoulder. “I won't ask, but I know there is.” She turns away again to look out at the tree-line.
There's a moment of silence between them. The trees sway listlessly in the wind, grass blows softly and flowers flutter gently. She is the one to break the quiet, “Who is Clara, really?”
‘Officers report the body has been identified as 34 year old Kenji Miyashiro. The details of the crime are mostly unknown at this moment, but is suspected to be a hate crime from the audio captured during the time of the murder-’
Ben turns the TV off and looks over at Clara, “You were near there last night, yeah? Downtown?”
“Hm? Oh, yes. Very unfortunate.” Clara frowns, shaking her head in dismay. “Too young, but perhaps he should have chosen a better path instead of delinquency.” She raises her brows and shrugs. “Too many of those nowadays.”
Ben nods and sighs, standing up from the couch. His arm encircled her waist as he pulled her close to him with a smirk on his face. He hadn't thought about Don's daughter for a few days and was starting to feel normal for once. As normal as he could, anyway. “Late shift tonight?” His eyes scan the black scrubs she wore.
“Mm. That facility would fall apart without me, that is for sure. Plus, the patients adore me! How could they not?” Clara winks, relaxing against Ben and looking up at him with her deep brown eyes. She stands on her toes, lips near his ear “I know I will be thinking about you all night considering you will be dripping down my thighs.”
The Veteran chuckles and gives her ass a hard smack, pulling her into a heated kiss. He knew she had to go to work, but what kind of boyfriend was he if he didn't steal kisses before she left?
The time was 11 PM now and Clara had long since left Ben's house. The building she worked at was a psychiatric hospital that she so affectionately referred to as ‘the lunatic asylum’. It was further away from the city and tucked away in a forest clearing. She steps out of her car, smiling up at the beautiful night sky. Inhaling the crisp night air, she sighs through her nose and makes her way toward the ominous ward.
As the doors open, she is greeted by an officer who openly wears an iron cross pin. “Evening, Mrs. Vought.” He tips his hat and gives her a friendly smile.
Don did not give his daughter an answer to that question from earlier. As soon as she had spoken Clara's name, he almost went into a meltdown and told to never ask about her again. It appeared she had a reputation and not a very good one. Still, she can't help but wonder what intrigued Ben about those cold, malicious eyes of Clara's. She was beautiful, yes, but there was something malevolent about her.
She shifts in her bed, trying to get comfortable as best as she can. It's hard when the stitches are itching and she is still very sore. Just as she closes her eyes, there's an annoying ticking noise at her bedroom window. “What the hell?” She groans, sliding herself off the bed and landing on her butt. “Ow!” Right on the tail bone. Her hands grab the edge of her bed as she struggles to pick herself up and walk over to the window. Once over there, she pulls the curtain back and frowns at the person outside who was throwing pebbles.
Kevin.
“Fuck no.” She mutters, shutting the curtains and not even WANTING to check her phone. If Don heard even a peep out of Kevin, he would grill his ass and get him arrested for trespassing. Maybe she should make a scene. Nope. She groans and opens the curtains. The threat of the pictures and video still loomed over her. As silently as she can, she opens the window and leans out a bit. “What the fuck do you want?”
“Come down here.” He nods his head to the side, flashing a grin.
“Yeah, I'm gonna climb down while I have a 7 inch incision that is still healing. That sounds like a good idea.” She rolls her eyes, expression still not amused.
“Quit being a fucking bitch, babe.”
“Don't fucking call me that, bro.”
Kevin raises his brows at her retort and sighs deeply. “Look, I've been doing some thinking and you're right. We don't really know each other and I've done some pretty horrible things to you.”
“Nooo, you think? If this is you asking me to take pictures while I am healing, think AGAIN.” Her scowl is still stuck on her face. She's had enough of this idiot's antics and would rather try and catch up on sleep.
“I'm serious! I'm trying to get you to go out with me! I really do think you're hot and you seem like a cool person outside of the sarcasm.” He gives a sheepish grin.
There was something he wanted and she knew it. Why the hell else would he show up at 1 in the morning? “If you really liked or cared about me, you would go home and text me when the sun is shining. You are lucky that I am in the situation I put myself in, or your ass would have had a restraining order yesterday.” Part of her still longed for that freedom and to be rid of Kevin from her life. If only she took college more seriously, if only she wasn't peer pressured by college friends to party, if only she didn't play games or skip class, if only she knew what she truly wanted.
“Geez, sorry I tried being nice to you. Maybe I should wake your folks up and tell ‘em what their daughter is doing.”
Oh she was so tired of that line. “Kevin-” she rubs her temples, a headache beginning to throb through her skull.
“Or that guy at the diner. Donny's buddy. He here, too? Maybe you'd like it if I showed him those pictures.” He can see that she's practically squirming at the suggestion. It delights him to know he had her on a tight leash. “What's his name, huh?”
“Ben.” She answers quietly, looking down at the ledge of her window. “Please, Kevin. I'm sorry, okay? I just want to go to sleep.” She didn't know what was worse, playing stupid and suffering for it later or suffering now and feeling empty later.
“Gimme his number and then you can go to sleep.”
Give me his number and then you can go to sleep. Her jaw drops in horror, “Wh-What!? No! Kevin, please!! I didn't do anything wrong! He can't know either! I'll do anything, please!” If Ben saw those images and that video, he would absolutely tell Don. Nevermind her sick fantasies of wanting Ben to see them and jerk off, that wouldn't happen. She's babbling at this point, begging and pleading with Kevin not to.
“You were mean to me earlier, so if that's how you wanna play, then two can play at that game. Give me his number or I'm waking your parents up.” He wasn't going to give her any other choice. It was that or her parents found out right away.
Her teeth sink into her bottom lip hard, trying to fight back tears. God, she was sick of crying. If she did this now, then it would give her some time to plan where she could stay. It certainly wouldn't be with Kevin. “His… His number is,”
As she gives the number to Kevin, the grin on his face becomes more impish. He quickly puts the number into his phone and sends Ben 2 of the most lewd images taken of her. “He's getting a preview. Who knows? Maybe he'll subscribe! Night night!” He waves his hand and walks off to where his car is parked further away.
The tears won, falling down her cheeks and she crumpled to the floor. Exhaustion pulls her into an uncomfortable slumber right at her window. There was no going back now.
Ben's alarm goes off at 10 AM and his hand slams down on the clock to silence it. He grumbles something about it being too early and he's too old for this shit. Next to him, Clara lays sound asleep having gotten back just a few hours ago. Sitting up, he looks at her for a moment and brushes some hair from her face.
Carefully, he gets out of bed and begins his morning routine: breakfast, work out, shit, shower and mull over what deeds he needed to do for the day. Fresh out of the shower, he walks back to his room to grab his phone. Unlike this younger generation, he wasn't glued to the device. His brows furrow at the unknown number that sent him a text. “What the fuck?” He mutters, opening the text message-
Unknown Number: [attachment x2] Hey Ben! This is _____’s BF. Wanted to show u what kind of stuff she does. Maybe u would be interested in subbing? 👀🙏🏻
He makes the mistake of opening the images and just about drops his phone. His hands tremble slightly as he stares at the pictures of Don's daughter, his pants becoming extremely tight. “What the fuck is this?” Ben can't stop staring at them, hypnotized by the way her body curves, the lewd expression on her face, the trimmed bush between her legs, and the microkini. That same God damn swimsuit that she had showed up in only just a few nights prior.
Looking up from his phone, Ben looks at a still resting Clara. She should be the only woman that he is romantically involved with, he did care for her didn’t he? So why was he now rushing over to his bathroom and locking himself in? Why is he stripping down and getting in the shower when he just got out? He’s reaching for the hot water when he should be reaching for the cold. Ben is painfully hard at this point as he stands under the spray of water. “I can’t.” He tries, he really tries to pull himself away from the temptation of jerking off to her again. But… He’s so tired of fighting and lying to himself about how he feels for her. It wasn’t just lustful desire for her body; it was everything. Her smile, her laugh, their banters, the way she chewed on her cheek, and she was everything that Clara wasn’t. Could it be love? Ben isn’t sure he wants to confirm that’s what the tight feeling in his chest is. Either way, he succumbs to his own selfish desires as those pictures of her haunt his very mind.
After the 5th time furiously jerking off to those images, Ben forces himself to stop. He had practically done this all day, excusing himself to the bathroom a few times and claiming that it was something he ate.
“We didn’t have anything weird last night, if I recall correctly. Perhaps the pork was undercooked?” Clara takes a sip of her wine as the day is headed to evening. The two are sitting at the dining room table, having dinner.
Ben wipes his mouth with a napkin, reaching for his own glass of wine. “Maybe. I don’t eat a ton of pork to begin with.” He finishes off his wine and stands up, grabbing his empty plate and reaching for Clara’s. “You gotta work tonight?”
The German woman shakes her head, swirling the wine in her glass. “No. I have tomorrow off as well so I was thinking we could spend some time together? Perhaps in bed?” Her lips quirk up into a smirk.
“I gotta stop by Don’s so maybe tomorrow. He called earlier this morning asking about helping him with moving a tractor.” The lie slips easily from his lips as he walks to the kitchen, placing the dishes in the sink and rinsing them.
Clara is not pleased with the answer, but sighs to herself and sips her wine. “It’s not to see that girl is it?”
Ben freezes up for a moment, opening the dishwasher and placing the rinsed off plates inside. “No, but it would be nice of me to check on her to see how she’s doing after those cum guzzling soy boys rocked her shit.” He turns around, walking back to the dining room and placing a kiss to Clara’s cheek. “I was the one to take her to the hospital, too. Don’t get your panties up in a fucking bunch… Gonna make it more difficult for me to eat that pussy.” He chuckles.
“You have such a way with words, my dear.” She laughs and grabs him by his shirt collar, pulling him in for a kiss. “Don’t keep me waiting.”
Was it wrong of Ben to feel disgusted after that affectionate kiss from his girlfriend? The woman who he had convinced himself he was madly in love with? He felt hollow inside around her, like she was some stranger. This was not normal at all and Don’s daughter was in fact the reason for him going over there. “Wouldn’t fuckin’ dream of it.”
She picks at her food with her fork, expression blank and eyes tired. Sleeping under the open window last night wasn’t a smart idea, but how could she have helped it? This was all Kevin’s fault.
“Are you not hungry? Is your stomach hurting?” Susan reaches out, placing a hand on her daughter’s forehead. “You’re a little warm, honey. Maybe you should go to bed early tonight.”
“I’m alright, mom.” She closes her eyes, stomach indeed hurting but from intense anxiety. It was only a matter of time before Ben told her parents about what had been sent to him. She didn't have enough strength to start packing.
“You'd probably be a hell of a lot better if you didn't sleep under that window last night.” Don chuckles, chewing a bite of his dinner. “Your mother is right though, get some rest early tonight. Don't need you to be catching a cold on top of all the mess you've got going on.” He gives her a nod and takes another bite.
It was odd having the house this calm for once, but she didn't hate it. Her parents weren't fighting and things seemed normal as they could be. This is what she had longed for all her childhood, so she was a little reluctant to leave the table. She wanted to relish in the moment of what could have been if her dad didn't cheat and poo poo therapy.
She gives her dad a small smile and nods back. “Yeah. I'd rather not deal with a runny nose or phlegm blasting cough either.”
“I’d be more afraid if you burst open from a cough like an overstuffed plush toy!” Susie raises her brows, chuckling.
“What a lovely image to think about while we’re all eating.” Don can’t help but smirk at his ex-wife’s comment. He stops for a moment to look at his daughter and Susan, thinking of how nice it would have been to experience this all the time… A pit of guilt begins to spoil his appetite as he thinks about when he was deployed back to Germany and ruined everything. How Clara ruined it all.
The three of them look up as there’s a knock at the front door. “I got it.” Don gets up, making his way to the foyer and opening the door. “Benjamin. What the hell are you doing all the way out here?” He smiles, letting his brother in arms inside. “You know you have a spare key to come in, yeah? Don’t need to knock.”
“Yeah, well, I forgot.” Ben steps in and sighs, hands in his pockets.
Oh no. Her blood runs cold as she hears Ben’s voice. This was it. He was over here to tell them what Kevin had sent. She has to force herself to remain completely calm on the outside, but inside her guts twisted and panic had her in a chokehold. A bead of sweat rolls down her temple as Ben enters the kitchen, eyes sharp as they land on her.
“Ben! Well, this is unexpected. Did you eat? Please, come have some dinner. I made a lot!” Susie gets up, placing a hand on his shoulder and ushering for him to sit.
“I already ate, but thank you. Had steaks with Clara tonight.” The mention of her name makes everyone inwardly cringe, but Susan has a more visceral reaction. “She says hi.”
The kind smile on Susie’s face drops and she lowers her hand from Ben’s shoulder. “I think you know how we both feel about your… Lover.” She says the word like it’s poison on her tongue. Clara, the woman who sabotaged her marriage and insulted her very existence. “But that’s neither here nor there. Please refrain from bringing her up.” She grabs her empty plate, turning her back on Ben to wash the dishes.
It was a really stupid move to get together with Clara and Ben knew it. He was just bored and lonely was all. “Anyway, I’m gonna pretend you didn’t say that. No regards from either of you.” Ben pulls his cigarettes out and nods toward the back porch. “I need to talk to you, kid.” He places a stick between his lips. Just as he’s pulling his lighter out, Don and Susie scowl at him. “Relax, I’m gonna smoke outside.” He rolls his eyes and heads on out.
She gets up with some difficulty, grabbing her plate.
“Don’t worry about that for now, sweetie.” Susie grabs the plate, taking it from her. “Go on ahead. If you get too tired, let us know and we’ll come grab you.”
“Thanks, mom.” She sighs, following Ben outside. She can practically feel her parents' eyes on her back as they watch her walk out onto the porch. Anxiety still crawled under her skin, eating at her. If he didn’t tell her dad outright then, he was definitely going to confront her alone.
As soon as the door shuts behind her, Ben turns around with his phone in hand. “So you gonna tell me what really happened or am I going to spill whatever bullshit this is to your folks?” He waves his phone. “You're an adult, ______. I'm gonna give you the option to confide in me and not have to fucking tattle tale like a toddler.”
She swallows hard and limps toward the edge of the porch, carefully sitting down and letting her feet dangle off the edge. “I did work that day.” She starts, her nails picking at the wood. “And I did technically swim, but…”
“But?” Ben walks over, standing behind her as he takes a drag off his cigarette. The nicotine was helping him focus on the conversation at hand. He absolutely wasn't about to tell her how gorgeous she looked and that he masturbated all day to her.
She feels her throat tighten up again and embarrassment warm her cheeks. “This isn't easy to tell, you know! I-I can't do this.”
“Would you rather I make up some shit to tell Don? Imagine how much harder it’ll be explaining it to your old man, instead. I’m giving you an out, kid. You tell me or you face the consequences-”
“How do I know you won’t turn around and tell him?! Ben, you know how my dad is and once he finds out or if he finds out, I’m toast! I’m fucked! I’ll be on the streets and then Kevin will find me and force me to do more stuff and force me to live with him, a-and touch me and, and-” Her vision blurs a little from panic rising up and causing her to hyperventilate.
Ben puts his cigarette out and kneels beside her, gently grabbing her face with his hands. “Look at me, ______. Look at me. Breathe. That cock sucker isn’t here.”
The warmth of Ben’s hands and faint scent of nicotine brings her back down. She takes deep breaths, looking into his beautiful green eyes. “I just wanted to make money fast.” Tears slid down her cheeks. “I wanted to move out and get away. I’m stupid. I’m so fucking stupid!” She is trying to control the volume of her cries, holding her face in her hands as Ben lowers his.
“You’re not stupid. You just make stupid fucking choices. I get it, though.” He sighs, rubbing his beard. “I know he and I are more old fashioned and he would kick you out. To be honest, if you were my kid, I’d do the same thing.”
She continues to cry, her palms wet from tears. “That’s not helping! He’s gonna find out and I c-can’t go to the police be-because Kevin will pay them off and then he’ll do so much worse to me.”
“He’s already done something to you?” Ben’s tone becomes a bit more stern.
Looking up from her hands, she nods. “H-He made me suck him and three of his friends' dicks. He has a video of it and threatens to post it all the time.” A fresh wave of tears hits her and the sobbing continues.
Rage swells inside Ben. He knows that this is absolutely none of his business, but he can’t just leave her alone. If he remembered correctly, Kevin Moskowitz was the son of some senator and a spoiled brat. At least from what Don had told him back when he worked as a drill sergeant for the army. “Fucking figures.” He mumbles, looking back down to his phone. “Has he done anything else to you?”
She shakes her head no, sniffling. “I’ve never done anything but that and maybe making out with boys at college.”
So she was a virgin, then. Ben couldn’t say he was too surprised given Don’s strict no boys policy, but he would have thought that college would have been the time and place to lose the v-card. Apparently, she was not one of the “lucky ones”. He pushes that thought to the back of his mind for now as that didn’t matter. This was a tough situation indeed. He couldn’t just ask her to move in with him as Clara was a frequent flyer and would make her jealous. That was something he was getting tired of quickly. He can’t fixate on the fantasy of having her with him, either… So he decides on a more tricky solution. “What if I subscribed to your page?”
