One bottle of beer on the wall…
…and that's the one I'm gonna drink today! Maybe. But I can now, legally, so that's what counts.
Summary: Ben's not a teetotaler or a Lemonade Lucy. He just doesn't drink. Future!fic tag to "Swan Song." Outsider POV.
AN: This fic is mainly about Dean's drinking problem. It really started getting bad in Season 4. However, this story also covers its effect on Ben, seen through an outsider's eyes. Oh, and in this version, Sam doesn't come back. I know, he's supposed to in the new season (eep! Spoilers, sorry), but I like my story better this way.
Enjoy this last birthday installment, and thanks so much for sticking with me this far!
Designated Driver
Ben's not a teetotaler or a Lemonade Lucy or a believer in temperance or any of that kind of shit. He wouldn't give a crap if the whole school wanted to get drunk and throw a toga party. He just doesn't drink.
It's not a huge problem; his friends know him well enough that it's not because he's a wimp or because he's afraid of his parents finding out that he's been drinking. Ben's beat up and laid out enough guys who've suggested that for people to simply accept that Ben Braeden doesn't drink so don't ask why or offer.
It's cool; a lot of kids don't drink at parties. Well, a lot of those kids are losers and/or geeks, but Ben's very obviously not in either category. He's on the baseball team, on the honor roll, and has a reputation with the ladies. He's cool, an all-around great guy. He just doesn't drink.
But whatever, man. It's a free country.
Peer pressure's tough to fight. Ben's friends have seen his hand twitch towards a proffered plastic cup more than once, but suddenly get snatched back by some inner control. Ben doesn't do the whole share-and-care thing, but Russ remembers what happened a few years back, a short while after Ben first moved to their neighborhood. He's probably the only one of Ben's friends who knows.
Ben's dad, the guy who gave Ben that shining bitchtastic beaut of a car for his sixteenth birthday (built it up from scratch, according to Ben), is actually his stepdad. Russ remembers how the man first started being spotted around the block, kind of shabby and tired-looking, worn about the edges, and a drunk (or so Russ overheard his mom telling his dad). People started talking and he remembers his mom and other neighbors going over to talk to Lisa Braeden, Ben's mom, about the "problem."
Ben's mom is one tough lady, Russ'll tell you that. Mom came home in a fuming rage, talking about God and immorality and "that stupid woman, letting a man like that near her son," and Russ's mom isn't a particularly religious person.
You can still see the big black car under the blue plastic tarp whenever the Braedens' garage door is open, next to Ben's mom's navy-blue minivan. Russ remembers when Ben's dad drove it right into a lamp pole once, soon after he came, he was so drunk. The car went into storage after that.
He drives a boring white truck now.
That streetlight's never worked right since that night. It flickers whenever the wind blows east.
Bottom line is, Ben's dad used to be drunk all the time. All the time. He was nice, a genuinely nice guy, still is, but you could tell he wasn't quite all there whenever you bumped into him in the street, or whenever he waved hi to you while he was mowing the lawn (or trying to, at least—"butchering" was more like it). He smelled like what Russ imagines a whiskey distillery smells like.
The guy was seriously damaged. War, maybe, or lost a close friend. Russ never got nosy enough to ask.
Ben was Russ's best friend back then, and he still is to this day. Russ remembers how ecstatic Ben had been when Dean first came. It was "Dean this," "Dean that," and "Dean saved my life," and eventually, Russ got swept up in Dean worship too, without even meeting the man.
A few days after that, Ben started being not-so-enthusiastic about Dean, mumbling non-replies to queries about what the "awesome Dean" was doing, and could Russ please go over to meet him?
The "mysterious drunk stranger" rumors started flying around the neighborhood the following week.
Ben began coming to school with dark circles under his eyes, yawning during classes, and generally being unresponsive to Russ's attempts to get him to tell him what was wrong. He got really quiet during that time in their lives, where before, he'd been funny and outgoing and loud.
He still played Hot Wheels and Legos with Russ, but it was half-hearted. Russ's mom fussed over him and fed him cookies and milk. Ben started coming over to hang out more and more. He slept over a lot, too. Sometimes his mom would even bring him over in the middle of the night and whisper to Russ's parents in the hall.
It got so bad that Mrs. Greaves, their teacher, drove over to talk to Ben's mom about his "home situation."
There was a huge load of emptied out glass bottles in the Braedens' trash that week. The hollow clinking and clanking inside the big plastic trash bags echoed throughout the whole neighborhood. Mrs. Braeden started driving Dean out somewhere every Thursday and the bags under Ben's eyes faded away. He didn't stop coming over to play but he didn't stop over at night as much as he used to either. Dean gradually stopped acting weird and calling all the neighborhood boys "Sammy." Gradually.
He totally earned the "Dean worship" of the neighborhood kids after that. He was the go-to guy for tips on how to beat up bullies, teaching them how to get two gumballs out of the machine with only one quarter, toddler matchmaking, lighting fireworks, playing catch, patching up scrapes and stopping tears…He did it all in a way that made each kid feel like a star. They all loved him. Some of the girls even had crushes on him, which he took good-naturedly.
Russ doesn't really remember at what point "Dean" became "Ben's stepdad," then "Ben's dad" after that. It's hard to tell, since he and Ms. Braeden never got married. They act like any other married couple he's seen though, so it's not hard to forget. Once, Russ overheard Dean call Ben's mom "Gumby Girl," and asked Ben what he meant by that. He got a very expressive grimace in lieu of a reply.
So really, they're just like any other couple, and probably the coolest parents in the neighborhood to top it all off.
Maybe that's why Ben's a good kid and doesn't get in trouble a whole lot. That's not to say there's not the occasional fist-fight, but it's always for a good cause, and Ben's never alone in that. Russ always has his back. Always.
When they got old enough to start wanting to go to parties (thrown at night, on school days), Ben never drank. Russ did at the first party they went to. He threw up straight away, and Ben had to call his dad to come pick them up. Russ doesn't remember much of the trip home, but he thinks he heard Ben say vehemently, "You know I wouldn't, Dad. I wouldn't."
Russ could almost swear he heard Dean say something in response. He thinks it sounded something like, "I know. I know. I'm sorry, Benny. So sorry you had to see that. You were a kid, you still are, and I had no right to come barging in on your life and ruining things—"
If Russ hadn't been asleep, he would have heard Ben sniffle (stupid, 'cause Ben never cries) and cut his dad off. "You're my dad. I got that out of it. And I wouldn't change a thing. For one thing, Mom likes having you around."
The soft laugh was quiet, so as not to wake the drunken passenger sprawled in the back seat. "Your Mom likes having me around? Well, thanks for putting up with me for her sake, brat."
"Ah, I guess I like you too." There's the unmistakable sound of flesh hitting flesh, albeit very gently. "Owwww, child abuse!"
But of course, that never happened, because Russ was in a drunken stupor at the time and would never, ever dream of teasing Ben about practically telling his dad that he loves him and besides, Russ loves his own dad too, in a very manly way, so you know, that's not something you mess with.
Russ never asks why Ben doesn't drink, either. He doesn't have to; Ben knows that Russ knows why. He also knows that Russ will never tell another living soul to the day he dies. He's got Ben's back.
Russ isn't a saint. He gets drunk, once in a while. He knows he's got a ride home any time, though. Ben's always the designated driver for their group; he's got everyone's back.
The only rule is, you puke in The Car, you clean it up once you're sober.
AN: Would you believe I wrote this entire chapter in under two hours? I'm getting fast at this.