This chapter is just relationship snippets. After this, no more pre-invasion chapters unless I decide to insert flashbacks. Because I kinda really like writing pre-invasion fluff.
Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever claim to, own TNT, Falling Skies, or any of its characters/plot scenes. I do, however, own any OCs and plot twists that I throw in.
WARNING, if you haven't noticed, I changed a LOT of the content from earlier chapters. Meaning, the only element that wasn't changed was Ingrid's name.
It was Sunday, April 3; one of the happiest days in my life.
We were sitting criss-crossed applesauce on his bed, opposite one another. We were playing 'slaps' when I looked up at him, suddenly desiring to know what was going on in that head of his.
"What're you thinking about?"
"What are you thinking about?" Ben asked instead of answering my question, his brown orbs meeting my gaze.
"I asked you first," I sang to him, sticking my tongue out childishly.
"I asked you second," he countered.
We had a mini stare down before he broke the stalemate.
"Rock, paper, scissors?"
"You're on," I said, grinning deviously.
"Rock, paper, scissors, SHOOT!"
"Oh!" My victorious scream was paired with my happy dance at beating the freshman, my rock crushing his scissors.
"So," I prompted. "What's been distracting you? I slaughtered you at 'slaps' today, when usually I'm the one who sucks ass at it."
His eyes flickered around the room, not meeting mine.
"I was thinking about how much I wanted you to be my girlfriend."
I tackled him back into his pillows, hugging him tightly.
"I'd love to be your girlfriend, Ben," I mumbled to his chest, not having to look up to know his heart melting grin was firmly in place.
BIBIBIB
'You got these little things that you've been running from...'
The music was paired with static before I adjusted the knob to get a clearer sound. I smiled at Ben when I was done fixing it.
'You either love it or I guess you don't.'
I leaned back against Ben's chest, humming along with the song. I wasn't much of a singer, but I still loved it the same.
Right now I was currently reclined on top of Ben in the shotgun seat. We were in my mom's old car that I inherited. She let me out of the house under the pretense that Ben and I were going to an open field to stargaze. We were planning to do that, but with the pesky Mosquitos, suspicious sounds lingering in the background and my general dislike for the dark, I ushered Ben in the car to listen to music instead.
'So tell me right now, you think you're ready for it?'
I shifted on Ben, facing him. Our eyes locked as I leaned in. Ben tilted his head towards mine, anticipating the action. Before we could actually kiss, an annoying noise filled the car.
"Hello?" I snapped, frustrated at the timing. I moved so I was once again in the drivers seat and not awkwardly lying in Ben's lap.
"Where are you?"
I groaned, not exactly thrilled to hear Steph's trill voice on the other end. Her shrieking was usually not a good omen.
"With Ben," I answered. My gaze flickered to Ben, who looked suspiciously embarrassed. My brow furrowed as a thought occurred to me - was that going to be Ben's first kiss? My tone was angrier this time as I continued. "What do you want?"
"I know you have a boyfriend and all, but you can't just blow us off! We were going to the boardwalk tonight, remember?"
Oh.
"Sorry," I mumbled into the receiver. "I'm kind of busy though.."
I looked to Ben again and noted he was still slightly red. I bit back my grin as I realized how adorable he was when he was embarrassed.
"But you were supposed to be our ride, Ingrid," Steph whined.
I mentally cursed, before sighing and responding to her.
"I'll be there in 20. Ben can come along, right?"
"Sure," Steph replied, surprisingly welcoming. "It'd be nice to meet the little shit who's been corrupting our Ingrid."
I rolled my eyes. Of course she wasn't inviting him to be friendly, this is Stephanie after all.
I didn't bother dignifying that with an answer, so I ended the call before turning on the car.
"You wanna meet my friends at the boardwalk?" I asked Ben as I shifted the car into drive.
"Um, I'm not sure."
Ben's hesitant voice caused me to smirk.
"You're not nervous, are you?"
"No!"
"Chicken."
"Shut up," Ben muttered.
I put my car in park on the deserted road, then faced Ben and cleared my throat.
"Mr. Benjamin Mason," I began in my best posh accent. "You have been cordially invited by Miss Stephanie Colvin and co. to accompany me, Ingrid Connery, to the boardwalk this evening. Do you accept?"
Ben stared me down and I raised my eyebrow, daring him. He rolled his eyes, but played along.
"Why I would love to, Miss Ingrid."
"Oh, and Ben?" I asked while my car was still in park.
He hummed in return, eyes focused on the road. I grabbed his cheek with my hand, turning it towards me before leaning in giving him a short kiss. As I pulled away, I noticed his blank face slowly turn into a hazy smile.
With that, I returned to driving down the dirt road, headed towards what was hopefully going to be a great night.
BIBIBIB
"What's this?" I asked, turning over an acoustic guitar in my hands. It looked worn, and was covered with a few faded band stickers.
"Oh, that's an old guitar of my friends. He gave it to me when he was teaching me to play a few months ago," Ben said nonchalantly, returning to his book that he was reading on his bed, while I looked about his room, thoroughly bored. That is, until I came across this.
"You play?"
"Not really," Ben answered, still distracted by his book. He held To Kill a Mockingbird down for a minute to look at me. "I can play most chords, but haven't learned any songs yet. I actually haven't touched it in a few weeks. I kind of forgot about it."
"Why?" I questioned curiously.
Ben smirked at me.
"I think something more important than a guitar has been occupying most of my thoughts."
"Oh," I forced out, blushing.
Gah, Ben was so cute.
"Teach me?" I asked when I no longer felt like my face was on fire.
Ben sighed, but put his bookmarked his page and placed the novel on his nightstand. He gently took the guitar from my hands and led me to the edge of his bed. After placing the guitar in my hands, positioning them correctly, his arms encircled mine and his hands covered mine.
And once again, I was beet red. Great.
He applied pressure to my fingers on the guitar's neck, and used my other hand to strum something softly.
"That was a C major."
I hummed, trying to focus on the guitar playing and not the feeling of being in Ben's arms. Two weeks of dating, and I still blushed every time we touched.
I looked up to him, enjoying the way he looked when he was concentrated. I smiled to myself, and his eyes lifted up to mine. Last week I had kissed him, and eight days later, he still had yet to initiate anything. But, as his head dipped down to mine, I didn't have time to worry about whether or not he wanted to kiss me in the first place. The feeling of his warms lips on mine sent tingles through my body, every nerve on end. He cut it short, leaning back to look at me. I gave him a Cheshire smile before moving the guitar to the side and snaking my arms around his neck, kissing him further.
BIBIBIB
The large popcorn tub was placed between us. We had lifted our armchairs so it could fit securely in the middle.
I dragged Ben to some generic family movie, using it as an excuse to spend time with him, not really caring what we were seeing.
As I saw him reach in the tub for popcorn in my peripheral vision, I thought of something semi-romantic and completely cliché; my hand dove into the popcorn, searching around for his before intertwining our hands.
Which quickly became both awkward and greasy.
Seconds later, I was wiping my hand with multiple napkins, attempting to rid of the butter and salt that covered my slick hand. I saw Ben laughing quietly into his hand and I threw the dirtied napkins at him.
"You suck," I whisper-yelled at him, trying not to disturb everyone else.
The only reply I got was more laughter, so I stuck my tongue out at him and returned to watching the animated film.
Ben moved the popcorn tub out of the way and scooted closer to me. He snaked his arm around my shoulder. I cuddled into his side, curling my legs up underneath me. He gave me a reassuring squeeze and I wore an impenetrable smile for the rest of the night.
BIBIBIB
Ben and I were lying on my bed. I had pushed him backwards into the pillows and then jumped over him so I could lie down next to him. I was facing him on my side, and he shifted so his body was turned towards me as well. I reached for his hand and he met me halfway, lacing our fingers together.
"I love when you do that," I said, not really sure what I was referring to.
I rolled onto my other side, using our entwined hands to pull his arm over me. It was a half hour or so after school and it would be a few hours before my mom got home, so I decided to just relax with Ben and take a nap. I nuzzled into his back, closing my eyes and letting the stress of that day go as I drifted into unconsciousness.
I woke up at 5, pushing myself up into a sitting position. I noticed our hands were still clasped together and smiled to myself. Ben was still sleeping, so I snuggled back into him, knowing he didn't have to leave until 6 when my mom got home.
BIBIBIB
"Let's play a game," I said, jumping onto Ben's couch.
His parents went out for a 'date night' while Ben and I watched Matt. We had left him in his room to hopefully go to bed a few minutes ago.
Ben situated himself next to me.
"What game is it?"
"Well, it's not really a game, per se," I admitted. "We just go back and forth saying what we like about each other."
"Okay," Ben said, despite the fact that he looked utterly confused as to why we would be doing this in the first place. "I'll go first. I like that thing you do with your wrists when you get nervous."
I giggled before taking my turn. "I love your face when you're confused. Just adorable."
"I'm always adorable," Ben countered, eliciting another laugh. "I love your laugh."
"Good, because I like yours, too. And I love how you can always make me laugh."
"I love," Ben started. "The way you can make me feel better with just a look."
He bopped my nose, making me feel like a child.
"I like when you do cute stuff like that."
Ben thought for a moment, before his eyes lit up and he continued our 'game.'
"I love how you let me ramble about comic books even though you have no idea what I'm talking about half the time."
I smiled brightly. "I love hearing you talk about something passionately. It doesn't matter what it's about- a dumb teacher, a book, some kid who said something ignorant. I love how you just talk with so much emotion," I said. "Even if it's silly or insignificant. The way you speak about it fascinates me; even makes me feel like it's the most important issue in the world at the moment." I paused, thinking. "You should join the debate team," I concluded.
Ben kind of got this far away look in his eyes, before focusing his attention on me and speaking. "I love how you make me feel like we're the only two people in the world. And when I'm with you, I feel like the luckiest guy ever."
My breath caught in my throat.
"I love you."
My words hung in the room, now empty with silence. I broke a sweat wondering why the hell I would say something like that.
"I'm sorry," I tried to backtrack. "I'm so sorry. I don't even know why I said that, I mean we've only been dating for like five and a half weeks and I just-"
Ben cut me off with a kiss, effectively silencing me. He shifted our bodies so he was hovering over me, and I brought my hands to his head, combing my fingers through his hair. I pulled him down as I pushed my body towards him, desperately trying to get closer. His tongue trailed my bottom lip, asking for entrance. I gave it to him, deepening the kiss, wanting more. I sighed heavily when he pulled back, both of us panting.
"I love you, Ingrid."
So, I'm starting from Season 1 tomorrow, and most likely after Season 1 I'll skip forward a bit. My main goal is to reestablish a relationship during the time gap from Season 2 - Season 3.
Thanks for reading!
Jackie