Summer Nights- Chapter Three
Summary: After nearly dying, you’ve seen a softer side of Ben that you never knew was there, and the two of you decide to go on a date
Your eyes fluttered open lazily to be nearly blinded by the bright hospital lights. As you woke up, the pain that lingered in the back of your head increased tenfold and you squeezed your eyes shut. After a few deep breaths, you turned to your right to see Ben dozing on your shoulder. So it hadn’t been a dream after all. You stopped to admire Ben, his expression which not too long ago had been nothing but sneers and smirks was so peaceful, so adorable, it sent butterflies into your sore stomach. Suddenly you didn’t mind the pain in your head. You smiled and leaned forward, placing a small kiss on his forehead before resting your head on his.
A few minutes passed and you felt completely content. Then you felt movement on your cheek as Ben opened his eyes and lifted his head, his glance immediately falling upon you. He grinned and sheepishly rubbed his eyes.
“I’ve never been better.”
Ben chuckled and extended his hand to play with a strand of your golden hair.
“Well it would be nice if my head didn’t feel like it’d been hit with a bowling ball, but to be honest there’s no where I’d rather be.”
A small smile poked out of the corners of Bens pink lips, filling your heart with a warm sort of joy. He brushed your tangled hair out of your face and bent foreword, lips hovering just above yours as a nurse knocked on the door. Ben pulled back, a rosy blush overcoming his cheeks. The nurse entered, her hot pink lips plastered with a peppy smile.
“Alright Ms. Y/N, glad to see your finally awake! You had us worried,” the nurse chuckled. “It’s a good thing your boyfriend was a life guard.” You raised your eyebrows at the word boyfriend and Ben lowered his eyes in embarrassment.
“Well your CT scan actually came back not too bad, so you can go home today! You do have a concussion thought, not a bad one not a bad one. Just take a week off to relax and rest, with very little light and take a break from television alright? Your clothes are in the bag on the table, I’ll give you some privacy to change.”
Immediately you turned to Ben and asked, “boyfriend?”
“I had to tell them something so that I could stay with you. I didn’t have your password so I couldn’t call your family and I didn’t want you to be alone.”
You rubbed circles on his cheeks with your thumbs, making them flush scarlet again. Then, nerves filling your body, you leaned forward and kissed him. You’d never kissed anyone before, but you loved the feeling of your lips melding with his. You pulled away, this time it was your cheeks that were blushed. *************************************************
“Thank you for the ride. And for saving my life. And for staying with me.”
Ben pulled your face to his, placing a soft kiss on your lips.
“It was no problem. Y/N if you ever need anything, anything at all, I’m just a phone call away.”
“I might just take you up on that Superman, because my mom is probably going to kill me so I’ll need you to come save my ass.”
Ben chuckled as you wobbly stepped out of the car and tried to make your way towards your house. As you heard him drive away, you came crashing back to reality. Holy shit. You’d been gone for two days. Your mom was probably worried sick, and she’d probably already called every police station in the county. Shit. Shit shit shit.
You knocked on the faded yellow door, anxiously awaiting your fate. Your little brother, Tommy, opened the door and his jaw dropped.
“Mama! It’s Y/N!” He cried. “We thought that you were dead or something Y/N.”
“Well I kinda was for a little bit Tommy.”
“You mean you’re a zombie!”
“No that’s not what I’m saying.”
Suddenly the terrifying, five foot two shape of your mother appeared behind Tommy. You twirled your hair nervously.
Your mother took in your bruised and bandaged head, your tangled hair, and the shiner forming on your left eye. She fidgeted with the cross she wore on a chain around her neck, as if thanking God for bringing you back to her.
“Where the hell have you been Y/N? What happened to you? We have been worried sick. You didn’t even call. You can’t do that to us, not after what happened to your sister.”
“I’m sorry mama. I hit my head at the pool and the other lifeguard took me to the hospital, but since I was unconscious he didn’t know your number to call you.”
You waited nervously for her to say something, to lecture you like she’d always done. But instead, she wrapped you in a big hug. “I’m so glad your safe baby girl. I love you.” *************************************************
You hadn’t anticipated how awful it is to have a concussion. No, the pain was not what was bothering you, though it was a pain in the ass. The boredom was by far the worst part. You’d only been lying in your bed for about half an hour, but already it was torture. No TV, no music, no light. What were you supposed to do, sleep for a week? During the school year that would have been tempting, but you only had two months until you started college at UCLA and you were itching to have some fun. But you couldn’t do anything fun, you couldn’t do anything period, until next week.
Below your room, you could hear your mom hollering at someone. Curious, you crept to the hallway to see what was going on.
“My daughter doesn’t know any boys. You stay away from her!”
Shit, it must be Ben. But you’d warned him that your mom was a piece of work, apparently he’d underestimated her.
“I’m sorry Mrs. Y/LN. I don’t want to be a bother. Could you please just give this to her?”
You saw your mother snatch something out of his hands. It looked like a piece of paper, but you couldn’t quite make out what was on it. Your mama chuckled.
“Alright Mr. Hardy. I’ll give it to her,” she said, and her voice grew softer. “You really like my daughter huh?”
You imagined Bens cheeks growing red and Jim biting his lips, wishing that you could see his face. He was so cute when he was embarrassed. You heard the door shut and you raced back to your room, leaping on the bed, which was not the wisest choice as you bumped your sore noggin on the wall next to you. Your mother burst into your room and paused in front of your bed with one hand behind her back.
“You have a delivery from a Mr. Ben Hardy.”
She placed the paper on your lap. You eagerly grabbed the paper and saw that Ben had painted a beautiful watercolor picture of a water lily. On the bottom he had left a note that read ‘sorry that it took thirteen years for me to give this to you. Love, Ben.’
You’d never been the emotional type, but suddenly tears filled your tired eyes. It had been a long time since you last cried. Your mama stroked your hair.
“Maybe there are some nice boys out there.” You grinned up at her, then resumed admiring your gift. *************************************************
June had turned out better than you’d ever dreamed that it would be. Sure, you’d nearly died, but other than that your life was great. Every day, Ben would sneak up to your bedroom window and bring you a gift. Tuesday it was a box of chocolate covered strawberries, Wednesday a bouquet of lilies, Thursday a little night light that projected a picture of New York (which you’d dreamed of visiting since you were eight), Friday a mix tape (he remembered you bragging about having a Walkman), Saturday waffles from your favorite brunch place, and Sunday a pretty little necklace with an infinity symbol pendant (you’d always loved the idea of infinity, it had made the loss of your sister less painful). And every day, as soon as Bens shift at the pool was over, the two of you cuddled for hours. Once your mom nearly caught Ben in your room, but luckily he’d rolled under your bed just in time.
On Sunday, you lay in Bens arms, discussing what you were going to do as soon as your sentence was up.
“Maybe we could go on a date,” Ben suggested.
“Doesn’t cuddling count as a date?’You pouted.
“I’m sure it does. But I want to do something special.”
“What could be more special than this?”
“You’ll see. I’ll surprise you. Just be ready at 8.”
You raised an eyebrow, curious. Ben knew you loved surprises. So the minute the pool closed on Monday you raced home and hopped in the shower. By 730 you had quickly finished your makeup, but you faced the classic wardrobe dilemma. You decided to go with a yellow off the shoulder dress, with a slit that showed off your long slender legs. Fearing that your mother would lecture you, you carefully waited until you heard her head into the restroom to sneak outside.
Ben was already waiting out front, his golden hair slicked back, giving him a classy look. Upon seeing you he bit his lip longingly, taking in your seductive dress.
“You do too,” you joked, which brought a sheepish smile to his face.
He opened the door for you and you curtsied jokingly. During the car ride, you excitedly tried to guess where he was taking you. You recognized that you had entered Anaheim, maybe he was bringing you to Disneyland? The child within you cheered. But instead, he turned into the parking lot to Angeles Stadium. You had never been a fan of baseball, so you wondered why he’d chosen this venue. He hopped out of the truck without a word and you followed suit. Then he took the cover off the back of his truck, revealing blankets, candles, a speaker, and bags filled with takeout. He extended his hand and helped you up, then clambered in behind you.
“Is this what you expected?” He asked, his competitive side resurfacing.
“Not at all. This all looks great, but to be honest, I’m not sure why you chose tailgating at a baseball game for our first date.”
A loud, cracking sound filled the air, and he happily glanced at the sky.
“That’s why,” he said, pointing up.
You glanced upwards to see the sky filled with hundreds of bright lights as dozens of fireworks launched into the air.
“When my family had just moved to the country we didn’t have a lot of money for entertainment. So, whenever the angels had a game, we would park our car and watch the fireworks.”
“Oh my God Ben. I love it.”
Ben grinned at your wide eyes, filled with joy that his surprise was a success.
“Well your about to love it even more.”
He whipped out his phone and turned on the speaker. Within seconds, Love of My life began playing.
“You remembered I love Queen. You remembered everything.”
Then you hung your head, filled with regret.
“What’s the matter love?” Ben asked, his voice etched with concern.
The sound of him calling you love filled your stomach with butterflies, but it only made you feel more guilty.
“I don’t deserve this. I don’t deserve any of this. I was so horrible to you for so long.”
“Well you thought that I was an asshole. And frankly I deserved it. But none of that matters now. I love you. That’s all that matters.”
You froze upon hearing the words, and happy tears filled your eyes.
