“all i’ve ever wanted is to make you happy…”
“You do.” There wasn’t even a second of hesitation in Ben’s voice before he answered, head turning to look at Finn. “I’m just -- a little nervous. It’s new, is all." It’s been a few weeks now since the probably most important conversation in their relationship. And it’s been blissful weeks ever since. They’d fallen back into casual affection easily and things felt just as they had before, only better. Finn still ate Ben’s cereal without asking, Ben still threatened to kick him out of the window at least once a day and they still yelled anime impressions at each other at random times. But they also cuddled while watching those animes, had moved to sleeping in the same bed most nights and Ben had generously accepted a kiss as an apology for the cereal debacles.
This, though, was the first big public event since then. Playlist was great since it meant being in Florida and seeing a lot of their friends within the few hours they actually left the hotel room but it also meant a lot of people with cameras and a ton of eyes on them at all times. They hadn’t exactly discussed what they were going to do about that and how open they would be. Personally, Ben leaned towards just slowly easing into being more public and letting everybody make their own conclusions instead of sitting down for an actual video since that just seemed like the biggest cringe-set-up ever. But exactly how far could one go during the very first public event?
So far, they’d done pretty good, he’d say. Thanks to keeping a close eye on his Tumblr tag and twitter mentions, Ben would be aware of any larger pieces of ‘proof’ slipping out. Currently, they were at one of the after-parties, stood off to the side where the chance of someone trying to drag them onto the dancefloor was little to none. The fact that those parties had an unspoken no-vlogging rule made the atmosphere much more relaxed as well as that eliminated the worry of accidentally spilling the beans.
His slight general nervousness seemed to show though, if Finn’s worried expression was anything to go by. Since The Talk, Ben had started being a lot bolder about these things -- instead of offering small words of encouragement and then trying to lighten the mood with a joke, he actually wanted to be helpful these days. So, he set the drink he’d been holding onto the armrest of one of the couches next to him -- probably a terrible idea in hindsight -- and easily slipped an arm around Finn’s waist.
“I’m happy, I promise. It’s just been a stressful day, you know, trying not to casually give you a cheeky grope in front of some thirteen year olds which might have gotten us arrested. But now that we’re here, I’m gonna chill and just enjoy the next hour of forced socializing before I go back to my room with my boyfriend, alright?” A smile stretched over his face which only grew when Finn moved in and tucked his face into his shoulder. Yes. he was happy.
Turning his head, Ben pressed a light kiss into Finn’s hair. And if three seconds later, a screaming Louise made them the center of attention, that was alright too. Eliminated the worry of how to tell their friends, anyway.