Chapter 1
Benjamin Stolbert was a good looking guy. Not very tall, only about 5"7, but he was definitely a looker. His build could be described as a 'runner's body', lean and fit with a certain curvature to his build. He had bright red hair that flopped in chaotic waves on his head, a section of bangs cutting across his right cheek. As predictable, he was covered in freckles, a shadow of them covering his body with larger, more bold ones accenting in random places. His bright green eyes could capture anyone's attention as he wore them with a bright smile everywhere he went. But despite his non-intimidating and friendly demeanor, the young redhead was a sort of troubled kid.
Just when Ben thought he was comfortable being able to be himself, he felt that he had ruined his best chance. Ben had come to terms with being gay, coming out several years ago when he was 16. He told very few about it, only his close friends Adena Bellini, Beck Radcliffe and Zeke Black knew. All of Adena's large adoptive family knew as well, being that he practically lived and grew up at their house over the hedge. Ben had somehow managed to work up the courage to tell his only favored brother, Travis, who was second oldest of his four other brothers, when he was home on his last leave from his military tour. Ben could not believe or express how thankful he was to everyone for being so supportive of him, not being phased in any way to him coming out. Adena liked to joke with him that she knew he was gay before he even did, Ben would laugh it off...but Adena was being serious.
Adena was Ben's absolute best friend, and she knew he was always in an internal struggle with himself, given his abusive home life with the only brother who cared for him being over seas in the military, and the fact that he had no relationship of any kind with his own parents. Ben could be described as 'an accident child', not being planned with the already existing four brothers before him. His parents were overseas trade marketers who spent most of their lives in places like Japan and India working on deals; it was a rare occasion when they would grace their family with their presence.
The oldest was Tyler, a charming and snake like man with red-brown hair and deep brown eyes. The second eldest was Ben's favorite brother Travis; Travis was kind and strong, always looking after Ben and was truly invested in his little brother's life, until he joined the military and was shipped off for months at a time. He had bi-colored eyes, one green like Ben's and one brown like the others, and he had two small scars across his left cheek bone. The next oldest was Matt, a colder, less talkative brother out of the total five; he had a stockier build and was shorter like Ben but with dark brown hair and hazel eyes. The brother just 4 years older than Ben, was Adrian, who could simply be described as a computer tech stoner who was too smart to try at anything.
Ben never felt at home with his siblings, always getting the feeling that he never should have happened, given the large age gap between most of them. It was hard for any kid to grow up that way, it gave him all sorts of negativity towards himself. But Adena could always tell there was something more bothering Ben, especially when they started growing up. He got teased a lot in high school because he wasn't as rough and tumble as the other boys in his class; the only sports he tried out for were track and baseball but he was damn good at them.
The sports part seemed perfectly fine, he was great at both of them, but Ben also had a passion for dancing. Nothing 'girly' but he loved to dance around to techno and hip hop, he got really good at freestyle dancing at a young age, sharing his passion with Adena as the two would always take over the dance floor during any school dances. Bystanders would be confused and caught off guard by the relationship Adena, Beck and Ben shared; they were all super close, touchy feely and it pretty much looked like Adena was dating both of them.
Part of the reason Ben got picked on was because of his timid nature, that is until you royally pissed him off. Being a redhead, he got the 'ginger' lines all the time, also being teased about his massive amount of freckles. He was well liked by most; happy, upbeat and friendly to everyone who gave him the chance. But there were a select few that made it their mission to make his life at school hell. A kid named Lance Wood, who had been in the same grade as Ben since 2nd grade, took a certain shine to Ben and not in the good way. The poor redhead would find himself confronting the bully everyday at school, the torment ranging from book checking, verbal teasing and flat out beating the crap out him after school.
Adena would step in whenever she saw it happening or saw the bruises following, the 5-foot-nothing girl properly kicking the absolute hell out of Lance for what he did to Ben. It's not that Ben couldn't fight back...but he was conditioned by his homelife where it just made everything worse, so he would just take the beatings when they came.
Luckily for him, the beatings at school stopped when he turned 16...but the reason was worse than the beatings themselves. Ben was hit by a car one morning before school when him and his oldest brother Tyler had gotten into an argument the night before. Tyler was trying to finish it when Ben was sneaking out of the house for school.
Ben had been super pent up the past week or so, struggling with his internal thoughts, trying to deny that he was gay as more and more things were starting to prove him wrong. He got lippy, more so than his usual sarcastic attitude he was known for. The escalating argument on the front lawn of their house led to Ben being shoved backwards and right in front of a speeding car through the neighborhood.
Adena had seen the whole thing, rushing to her friend's side as he laid motionless and unconscious on the warm morning pavement. The damage was massive, not only was Ben's right leg broken mid femur, but he was now covered in grueling scars. His legs sustained some large scars...but his back was were the real damage took its toll. Being drug underneath and then behind a speeding vehicle caused large and numerous scars to cut their way along every inch of Ben's back, leaving behind not only disfigured cuts, but nerve damage. They became unbearably sensitive, even the feeling of a shirt on his back would send painful shots through his body, making him gasp for air and often left sobbing in pain.
After about a year, he was semi back to normal, the scars finally healing together and his leg out of a cast. Ben had been a runner throughout school, but once he got his mobility back he went full on runner lifestyle. He would run mile after mile every day, increasing his distances and speeds at a pro status; he soon became the track team captain and was already being sought after by the local college in Ryan for a scholarship to run for them. Ben enjoyed running, the freedom it gave him, knowing that only he had control over how fast and how far he could go..and that nothing was going to take that away from him.
Ben's senior year was pretty light, he had been taking college level classes and skipping lower level classes pretty much since he started high school. He was not only given the track scholarship but was also accepted into their advanced mechanical engineering program; he was a tinkerer, always wanting to pull things apart, figure out how they worked and them putting them back together ever since he was little. Despite the increased workload from his program and demanding track team, he still found time to lounge around the Cratchet/Stone household with Adena and Beck; and Zeke, whenever he hung around.
Ben was now 21 years old and in his 3rd year of college, turning out to be a good looking young man as he matured physically. His excessive workouts from running gave him a sleek, tight figure; he wasn't necessarily 'buff' but he did have some muscle on him from his team's weight lifting regimen on the weekends. Even though it was clear that Ben grew up into an attractive young man, he still battled with self negativity, feeling that he wasn't worth anything and that he was just a skinny nerd. Adena would promptly slap him upside the head and tell him why he was awesome on a daily basis. She was about the only person who could get a little rough with Ben without him having a sheer panic attack from physical contact like that.
Even though he was attending college now, Ben still lived at home. It would be pointless, and lonely, for him to live on campus just a few minutes from his house. However, Ben didn't enjoy living at home; he was an adult now but he was still subjected to beatings and bruises on the occasion by his brother Tyler. That trend never wore off. But despite the thing that should have made him hard and cold hearted, Ben was still a happy, caring and friendly guy, wearing a bright smile with his bright green eyes everywhere he went.