II - Awakening
Ben went outside the shower with only a tight black boxer to cover his body. He saw his grandfather sleeping so he decided to silently sneak to his room. He went to grab a black shirt and gray shorts, seeing Gwen with her eyes closed, she must've been asleep by now. He locked the door he decided to wear his clothes behind a wardrobe and decided to go to bed aswell. What the hell am I doing? I was supposed to stay up all night! He looked grumpy, and groaned but silently. Maybe I should turn off the lights? Probably not.
After 30 minutes, he still couldn't sleep. Come on Ben! It's been a long time since you've slept properly. What happened to Ben, anyways?
FLASHBACK - A Month Ago: At school..
"Hey Ben!" Said Roy, a random classmate of his. "Uh, Hi?" Ben said before taking a sip at his smoothie. "Your cousin was at the bleachers with some emo kid." He told Ben. "Oh, you mean Kevin? Yeah they've been dating for almost a month now." Ben said as they both walked to the cafeteria. "Aren't you gonna do something like I dunno beat the guy?" Roy said as they grabbed lunch. "What? and as much as I want to kick some ass, I have no reason to. Especially someone Gwen loves." Ben looked at Roy with no idea why he would say something so foolish. "I think you have a good reason to do it now alright." Interrupted Damon, another random classmate that just popped out of nowhere. Ben still didn't understand the two guys so he sat on a table to eat instead. "Dude, just look and listen to us for once." Damon said as Roy and him sat with Ben.
Ben groaned. "Fine, what is it?" Roy just pointed behind him. Ben's eyes went to look at something. Kevin was talking to Julie and a Cheerleader, doing a smooch sign. Is he flirting? No, no, this isn't any of your business. But why Julie of all people? Ben took a picture, Kevin and a cheerleader close to each other. "They're just friends." Ben told them. "You are so dense sometimes, you know that?" Damon sighed. "Yeah, I know. I need to go somewhere." Ben ran out of the cafeteria and ran to the library. He looked at some bookshelves until he saw Gwen. "Gwen? I know this isn't any of my bizz and I'm probably wrong as always, I'm not trying to hurt you or anything but you gotta see this." Ben was about to regret this because he knows how sensitive and how fast Gwen can get emotional especially about Kevin. But he still showed Gwen a picture from earlier.
"No, I'm not trying to ruin your relationship or your life, but after he tried to kill you, he's been a douche." Ben told her. Gwen just stood there, looking down. She was trembling. I knew it! I'm the real douche here. Agh, next time I'lll just keep my mouth shut. Ben became very concerned. "I-I'm sorry." Ben told her. "It's okay." She said. "You're not, let's go, you'll have to talk to him." He grabbed her hand forcefully but not tightly and they walked away the library, trying to find Kevin. Through Ben's perspective, he felt wet, hot tears fall to his hand, a girl, shaking, not knowing what to do. "Hey now, maybe it's a misunderstanding, I'm a douche aswell, afterall." Ben smirked as he heard a soft gigglle. She'll be fine for now, I'm really sorry Gwen.
"Forgive me, will ya?" Kevin held Gwen's hands. Ben stood about loads of centimeters away from them, but heard the conversation loud and clear. Gwen nodded as she kissed Kevin softly. Ben smiled, knowing everything was fine was enough for him to know. A tap from a shoulder was what he was encountering, looking behind him was some of Kevin's buddies. "Follow me, Tennyson." One of them said. Ben just nodded and they went inside a classroom. One of the shorter member was grabbing a fire extinguisher. "What the heck are you doing?" Ben was walking backwards but Kevin's friends blocked him. He knows what was going to happen next, he looked back the the short guy and abusively, intensely hit Ben's chest. Worse part is, hit by the extinguisher's head, the iron part. "Next time, you just keep your mouth shut." The short guy exclaimed. They continued to do it until his his shirt was torn, one of them grabbed a blade writing something on Ben's chest.
FLASHBACK ENDS
Ben's eyes were widely opened, gasping while he quickly sat down, heavily breathing. He kept thinking and dreaming about this over and over and over again. He froze for a moment, one tear shed down. He touched his right cheek, where the tear was falling. He covered his right eye with his right hand while the other was about to just pull his hair off. He broke down, crying was more hard, he started to groan. What did I do wrong? Many thoughts came to his head as he silently whimpered in pain. "I don't want to. . .think of this anymore. . . But I just. . ." Both of his hands ran through his hair. Ben finally reached his limit. "Can't!" He exclaimed, forgetting he was in the RV, forgetting both his grandfather and cousin was sleeping. The way he shouted echoed, loud enough for even birds to hear it and flew away.
Gwen was awaken by this, she looked at his cousin who was crying. She stared at him with worry in his eyes. But before she could say something their grandfather Max knocked at the door. "Kids are you two alright?!" Max shouted. "E-Everything's f-f-fine! I ju-just had a nightm-mare!" Ben shouted. Why is he lying about this? "Okay son! I'm going to sleep now!" They both heard the footsteps that became loud to quiet. Ben sighed. "I can't let them know about this. No matter how much I need to." He punched himself at the temple of his head over and over. As he was about to hit his chest, a hand grabbed his wrist, making him silently gasp. "What do you think you are doing Ben?!" Gwen looked at him in the eye.
Ben looked back towards her, eyes was big, mouth was half open, tears were still shedding down. He closed his eyes once more, turning his head to the left. ". . .Go-A-Away!" He stuttered. He didn't feel her move but instead, a warm embrace is what he received. "Get away." He whispered. This just made Gwen hugged him more tightly. He broke the hug and stood up. "Just rest, okay?" Ben told her. "What is going on?" She asked. "If I wanted you to know, then I would've done it earlier." He said coldly. He looked away from her, still sobbing. His own eyes were red because of crying. Realizing this, realizing his mistakes, realizing his immaturity he turned back towards her. "I'm sorry. . . f-f-or saying that, I'll be fine." He told her with the best smile he could do. Gwen looked at him, silently she ran back to him and buried her face on his neck. "You idiot, you're going to tell me tomorrow, alright?" She said. "I can't promise you but alright." Ben said, resting his chin on her head.