Chapter 9
Felicity spent the three remaining weeks until Ben got home walking around New York with a big grin on her face, smiling and laughing at the silliest things. People at the museum started to wonder if she had taken up drinking, and whenever she talked to Elena on the phone, she could hardly keep from telling her the news. But she and Ben had talked and decided that they wanted to tell their friends and family together, so she had not told anyone, even her parents. And some days she felt as if she would burst.
She spent most of her evenings looking at bridal magazines and surfing the internet for the perfect honeymoon getaway. She still wanted to go camping like they had wanted to this summer, but Ben kept insisting on taking her to an island getaway, "so I can see you in a bikini every day, and take it off quickly every time the mood strikes me," he whispered one night while they talked on the phone. Just the thought of that made her tingle, as she missed his touch so much. She knew they would not be apart much longer though and then they had the rest of their lives together.
She and Ben had talked about getting their own place last night on the phone, but no one had made any definitive statements one way or the other. They just sort of chuckled about their first place, the hellhole apartment, and wondered what their first real place would be like. But even though Ben had not really said he wanted to get a place now, at least not in so many words, Felicity was convinced that was what he really wanted. He was just too shy to say it. So she had started looking around in Brooklyn for a studio apartment. She was a bit nervous telling Ben about her search, but she really felt they were ready and that he wanted to live together just as much as she did.
She was looking forward to Meghan and Sean returning from their trip in a week, because she was getting very lonely at the loft. Noel had not been by recently, and had seemed to get the majority of his stuff while she was in Kansas City. She had seen him once, at Dean and Deluca. He came in to get some coffee and to see how she would react, but she just wasn't able to talk to him. He told her then that he would be by to get the rest of his stuff soon. He had briefly apologized but she had not been able to listen to him, so she asked him to leave, which he did. She just wasn't sure she was able to forgive him, even though the thought of losing his friendship made her sad. But she felt like he had betrayed her, and she was simply not ready, or able, to let go of that hurt.
As she walked home from the museum, she found herself drawn to a different subway then the one that would take her back to the loft. Before long, she found herself back at the building where their first apartment had been. She knew that it had been a mistake to rent that place, but she couldn't help but smile as she remembered the night they had finally christened the place. Their last night there had been one of the most romantic nights of her life. The candles everywhere, beautiful music playing in the background, making love in the living room bathtub. She smiled at the memory, wishing she could be with Ben now.
She found herself thinking back to their road trip, as she often did this summer. She couldn't help it, it was the only summer they had any length of time together. And it was filled with so many wonderful memories. Plus, she couldn't help but laugh out loud at the thought of the bugs in their first apartment, and how Ben thought he could kill that massive roach with his shoe. It made her remember the night that Ben had pulled the covers down to discover the enormous spider on their bed. She had never laughed so hard in her life.
"So, you ready for bed?" Ben asked quietly, as she stood in the bathroom brushing her hair one more time.
"Yeah, just give me a minute," Felicity replied. Ben came over to the doorway and stood watching her, causing her to ask, "what?"
"Nothing, I just really love your hair like that, I mean, when it's down," Ben said shyly, looking first at her face, but then looking down at his feet.
Felicity put the brush down and walked over to him, "Really? You really like my hair? I think it gets so out of control sometimes."
"Yeah, it's really great. It's beautiful. I used to be just fascinated by your hair, when I watched you in class."
"You watched me in class?" she asked with surprise in her voice.
"Yeah, of course I did. I thought you were beautiful," he said as he walked closer to her.
Felicity blushed and looked at the floor, not really believing what he said. Ben moved closer and took her face in his hand, lifting her eyes to his. "You are beautiful. So beautiful," he whispered. Then he kissed her slowly and hungrily, moving his tongue into her mouth. He stopped, taking her hand in his, as he led them both to the bed. He leaned down, moving the cover off the bed.
Lying on the bed was the biggest spider either of them had ever seen. Felicity shrieked and Ben jumped back, saying "Jesus!"
"Oh my God, yeee! Ben, get that thing off of our bed!" Felicity screamed.
"Okay, okay, relax" Ben said as he went into the bathroom and got a cup. He took a magazine off the nightstand, and used it to coax the spider into the cup. He finally managed to get it, and as he was walking to the door to let it outside, he started to scream. "Oh shit! Eeeeeee! Get this off of me! Eeeeee!" The spider had gotten out of the cup and was crawling up his arm. Ben kept screaming, and flailing his arms about. Felicity tried to calm him down.
"Ben! Ben, it's okay, just let me open the door," she said. "It'll fall off, just stop moving so much. Calm down, it's okay. Just push it off."
He moved out into the hallway and was finally able to get the spider off of him. But he kept moving about the hall, shaking his arms. By then the hotel manager had come to see what the noise was about.
"Is everything okay here?" the manager asked.
"Yes, yes. Everything is fine now, we just had a huge spider in our bed, and it was crawling all over my boyfriend," Felicity replied.
The manager couldn't help but stifle a chuckle when he realized that the screaming had come from the young man. "Oh, as long as everything is okay."
"Yes sir, everything is fine. Thank you," Felicity said.
"Yeah, yeah, thanks," Ben finally managed to get out before ducking himself back into the room.
Felicity couldn't help but giggle herself as she closed their door. She kept trying to stop, but every time her laughter just got louder.
"That's great, great. You are laughing at me. Thanks a lot," Ben said self- consciously.
"I'm sorry, Ben. But you....you were moving around, screaming like a girl. I can't help it," she replied as another laugh took her over.
"Great, can't we just forget about it? I mean, Jesus, that was a HUGE bug! You would've been screaming too," Ben said.
Felicity kept laughing, so hard her face was turning red. She sat down on the bed and tried to stifle her laugher by covering her face with her hands. "Okay, okay, I think I am okay now," she said with a smile.
"Good, now can we get into bed, like we were going to?"
"You sure you don't want to check the bed thoroughly for another spider?" she asked with a smile, as she tried not to laugh.
"I'm sure, let's just get in bed," he said with a shake of his head, embarrassed at her continued laughter at him. "Come on, just stop okay? This has totally killed the mood I was going for."
Felicity chuckled, asking "Oh, what mood was that?" She got into bed next to him, after looking briefly under the covers.
"This mood," he said as he took her face into his hands and kissed her intently. The kiss didn't last long, as Felicity started to laugh all over again.
"I'm sorry, Ben. I just can't get it out of my head. You were so scared," she laughed.
"I was not," Ben insisted. "I wasn't. Okay? But that was a huge spider. It could've been poisonous or something."
This caused Felicity to laugh even harder.....
Felicity smiled to herself as she remembered that night in the hotel. She had been unable to stop laughing for the longest time. Ben kept trying to distract her by kissing her or touching her, but she couldn't stop. It was just too much. Felicity started to walk back out of the apartment building, stopping briefly to look at the manager's office. She stood there thinking for a minute, then walked in. What was the harm in asking anyway?
Ben and Matt left their last class of the day and headed to the deli to grab something to eat. Matt was joking about the observation that they had gone on with the paramedics yesterday. They had got called to a woman's house out in the suburbs, who was convinced she was having a heart attack, but it ended up being some sort of panic attack.
"Man, she was nuts. She kept holding her arm like she was unable to move it. What was with her anyway?" Matt asked.
"Some sort of anxiety problem, I guess. Sounded pretty severe to me. She seemed really bad off, thought she was really sick. I just hope she gets the help she needs," Ben replied.
"Yeah, me too," Matt said. "Hey, man, you ever gonna tell me what is going on with you anyway? Nothing seems to upset you or rattle you anymore. Where is all this new confidence coming from? And what is with the grin that is plastered all over your face 24/7? Come on, man. Spill it."
"I told you, Felicity and I are doing great, that's all." "Nah, there is more to it than that. Ever since she was here, you have been walking around, off in your own world. Half the time I am not even sure you even hear me when I talk to you. It must've been some getaway, man," Matt teased.
Ben laughed and said, "It was." He smiled, then decide to share his news. "All right, all right. We decided to get married. I mean, I asked Felicity to marry me."
"What? Oh my God, that is incredible. Congratulations, man!" he said as he patted him on the back.
"Yeah, yeah. Thanks. It's pretty amazing. I can't even believe it sometimes," Ben said nervously.
"So, when is the big day?'
"Oh, we haven't got that far yet. Sometime after graduation," Ben said shyly.
"Man, this is great. I am so happy for you," Matt said, as he smiled at Ben.
"Yeah, I am happy, too. I just hope everything goes okay with this training, because I need some sort of career to start out with, since we are going to be married and all."
"You're doing good, man. Plus, have you given any more thought to what I said the other day, about maybe being a doctor? I think you'd do great at that, you have the passion and the caring to make a good one."
"Yeah, well, I suck at taking tests, so that is not gonna happen," Ben said as he shook his head. "I mean, I'd like to do more than this paramedic thing, but being a doctor? No way. I could never make it through med school."
"Well, I still think you should think about it," Matt insisted as they finished their dinner.
As they walked back to their dorm, Ben couldn't help but think what it would be like to be a doctor. Some of the things he had seen happen in the ER after the paramedics dropped the patients off amazed him. It was so fast moving in the ER, everything was so important. It was life or death. He got an adrenaline rush just thinking about it. But he shook his head again, ridding himself of the thought. He didn't see how it was possible.
Later, Ben was studying his manuals when the phone rang. He glanced at the clock, it was early for Felicity to be calling. "Hello?" Ben asked.
"Hey, sweetie! How was class today?" Felicity asked excitedly.
"Oh, hey babe. I didn't expect you to call so early. How are you?" Ben asked with a smile, putting his book down so he could concentrate completely.
""I'm good, real good actually. I am sitting here looking at the beautiful ring you got me and thinking about how much I miss you," she said
"Hey, it's okay. We only got about twelve days left to go, then we will be together. I can't wait."
"Yeah, me either," she sighed. "Ben? You remember how we were talking last night about our old apartment?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, I went by there today, just to see how it was looking. It was rented out, but it got me thinking. Do you think we could maybe, I don't know, get our own place?" she asked slowly, judging his reply. Then she continued quickly, "I know we tried that last year and it didn't go well, but now we are doing so good and I thought..."
Ben laughed as he tried to interrupt her. "Yes, yes. I think we could try that soon. Maybe after the first semester. You know, give me a chance to tell Sean and all."
"Really? You mean it?" Felicity asked with happy surprise.
"Yes, I have been thinking about that myself actually. I mean, we practically live together anyway because we are always at the other's place. So why not?"
"Oh, Ben I was hoping you'd think that. Because, well, because I have been looking around and I found us this perfect place in Brooklyn..."
"Wait, you've been looking?" Ben asked, stunned.
"Yeah, I couldn't help it. I just was so happy when we got engaged I started to think about us getting our own place," she said with a sigh. "And Ben, this place, you will love it, I just know it. It is a studio, and it looks out over this cute little patio, where there are tables and chairs and these beautiful trees..."
"Whoa, hold up. Did you rent this place too? Like the old place?"
"No, no, I didn't yet. I wanted to ask you first. So...what do you think?" she asked nervously.
Ben didn't answer for awhile, thinking about this question thoroughly. Then he smiled and said "I think we are getting our own place."
Felicity spent the three remaining weeks until Ben got home walking around New York with a big grin on her face, smiling and laughing at the silliest things. People at the museum started to wonder if she had taken up drinking, and whenever she talked to Elena on the phone, she could hardly keep from telling her the news. But she and Ben had talked and decided that they wanted to tell their friends and family together, so she had not told anyone, even her parents. And some days she felt as if she would burst.
She spent most of her evenings looking at bridal magazines and surfing the internet for the perfect honeymoon getaway. She still wanted to go camping like they had wanted to this summer, but Ben kept insisting on taking her to an island getaway, "so I can see you in a bikini every day, and take it off quickly every time the mood strikes me," he whispered one night while they talked on the phone. Just the thought of that made her tingle, as she missed his touch so much. She knew they would not be apart much longer though and then they had the rest of their lives together.
She and Ben had talked about getting their own place last night on the phone, but no one had made any definitive statements one way or the other. They just sort of chuckled about their first place, the hellhole apartment, and wondered what their first real place would be like. But even though Ben had not really said he wanted to get a place now, at least not in so many words, Felicity was convinced that was what he really wanted. He was just too shy to say it. So she had started looking around in Brooklyn for a studio apartment. She was a bit nervous telling Ben about her search, but she really felt they were ready and that he wanted to live together just as much as she did.
She was looking forward to Meghan and Sean returning from their trip in a week, because she was getting very lonely at the loft. Noel had not been by recently, and had seemed to get the majority of his stuff while she was in Kansas City. She had seen him once, at Dean and Deluca. He came in to get some coffee and to see how she would react, but she just wasn't able to talk to him. He told her then that he would be by to get the rest of his stuff soon. He had briefly apologized but she had not been able to listen to him, so she asked him to leave, which he did. She just wasn't sure she was able to forgive him, even though the thought of losing his friendship made her sad. But she felt like he had betrayed her, and she was simply not ready, or able, to let go of that hurt.
As she walked home from the museum, she found herself drawn to a different subway then the one that would take her back to the loft. Before long, she found herself back at the building where their first apartment had been. She knew that it had been a mistake to rent that place, but she couldn't help but smile as she remembered the night they had finally christened the place. Their last night there had been one of the most romantic nights of her life. The candles everywhere, beautiful music playing in the background, making love in the living room bathtub. She smiled at the memory, wishing she could be with Ben now.
She found herself thinking back to their road trip, as she often did this summer. She couldn't help it, it was the only summer they had any length of time together. And it was filled with so many wonderful memories. Plus, she couldn't help but laugh out loud at the thought of the bugs in their first apartment, and how Ben thought he could kill that massive roach with his shoe. It made her remember the night that Ben had pulled the covers down to discover the enormous spider on their bed. She had never laughed so hard in her life.
"So, you ready for bed?" Ben asked quietly, as she stood in the bathroom brushing her hair one more time.
"Yeah, just give me a minute," Felicity replied. Ben came over to the doorway and stood watching her, causing her to ask, "what?"
"Nothing, I just really love your hair like that, I mean, when it's down," Ben said shyly, looking first at her face, but then looking down at his feet.
Felicity put the brush down and walked over to him, "Really? You really like my hair? I think it gets so out of control sometimes."
"Yeah, it's really great. It's beautiful. I used to be just fascinated by your hair, when I watched you in class."
"You watched me in class?" she asked with surprise in her voice.
"Yeah, of course I did. I thought you were beautiful," he said as he walked closer to her.
Felicity blushed and looked at the floor, not really believing what he said. Ben moved closer and took her face in his hand, lifting her eyes to his. "You are beautiful. So beautiful," he whispered. Then he kissed her slowly and hungrily, moving his tongue into her mouth. He stopped, taking her hand in his, as he led them both to the bed. He leaned down, moving the cover off the bed.
Lying on the bed was the biggest spider either of them had ever seen. Felicity shrieked and Ben jumped back, saying "Jesus!"
"Oh my God, yeee! Ben, get that thing off of our bed!" Felicity screamed.
"Okay, okay, relax" Ben said as he went into the bathroom and got a cup. He took a magazine off the nightstand, and used it to coax the spider into the cup. He finally managed to get it, and as he was walking to the door to let it outside, he started to scream. "Oh shit! Eeeeeee! Get this off of me! Eeeeee!" The spider had gotten out of the cup and was crawling up his arm. Ben kept screaming, and flailing his arms about. Felicity tried to calm him down.
"Ben! Ben, it's okay, just let me open the door," she said. "It'll fall off, just stop moving so much. Calm down, it's okay. Just push it off."
He moved out into the hallway and was finally able to get the spider off of him. But he kept moving about the hall, shaking his arms. By then the hotel manager had come to see what the noise was about.
"Is everything okay here?" the manager asked.
"Yes, yes. Everything is fine now, we just had a huge spider in our bed, and it was crawling all over my boyfriend," Felicity replied.
The manager couldn't help but stifle a chuckle when he realized that the screaming had come from the young man. "Oh, as long as everything is okay."
"Yes sir, everything is fine. Thank you," Felicity said.
"Yeah, yeah, thanks," Ben finally managed to get out before ducking himself back into the room.
Felicity couldn't help but giggle herself as she closed their door. She kept trying to stop, but every time her laughter just got louder.
"That's great, great. You are laughing at me. Thanks a lot," Ben said self- consciously.
"I'm sorry, Ben. But you....you were moving around, screaming like a girl. I can't help it," she replied as another laugh took her over.
"Great, can't we just forget about it? I mean, Jesus, that was a HUGE bug! You would've been screaming too," Ben said.
Felicity kept laughing, so hard her face was turning red. She sat down on the bed and tried to stifle her laugher by covering her face with her hands. "Okay, okay, I think I am okay now," she said with a smile.
"Good, now can we get into bed, like we were going to?"
"You sure you don't want to check the bed thoroughly for another spider?" she asked with a smile, as she tried not to laugh.
"I'm sure, let's just get in bed," he said with a shake of his head, embarrassed at her continued laughter at him. "Come on, just stop okay? This has totally killed the mood I was going for."
Felicity chuckled, asking "Oh, what mood was that?" She got into bed next to him, after looking briefly under the covers.
"This mood," he said as he took her face into his hands and kissed her intently. The kiss didn't last long, as Felicity started to laugh all over again.
"I'm sorry, Ben. I just can't get it out of my head. You were so scared," she laughed.
"I was not," Ben insisted. "I wasn't. Okay? But that was a huge spider. It could've been poisonous or something."
This caused Felicity to laugh even harder.....
Felicity smiled to herself as she remembered that night in the hotel. She had been unable to stop laughing for the longest time. Ben kept trying to distract her by kissing her or touching her, but she couldn't stop. It was just too much. Felicity started to walk back out of the apartment building, stopping briefly to look at the manager's office. She stood there thinking for a minute, then walked in. What was the harm in asking anyway?
Ben and Matt left their last class of the day and headed to the deli to grab something to eat. Matt was joking about the observation that they had gone on with the paramedics yesterday. They had got called to a woman's house out in the suburbs, who was convinced she was having a heart attack, but it ended up being some sort of panic attack.
"Man, she was nuts. She kept holding her arm like she was unable to move it. What was with her anyway?" Matt asked.
"Some sort of anxiety problem, I guess. Sounded pretty severe to me. She seemed really bad off, thought she was really sick. I just hope she gets the help she needs," Ben replied.
"Yeah, me too," Matt said. "Hey, man, you ever gonna tell me what is going on with you anyway? Nothing seems to upset you or rattle you anymore. Where is all this new confidence coming from? And what is with the grin that is plastered all over your face 24/7? Come on, man. Spill it."
"I told you, Felicity and I are doing great, that's all." "Nah, there is more to it than that. Ever since she was here, you have been walking around, off in your own world. Half the time I am not even sure you even hear me when I talk to you. It must've been some getaway, man," Matt teased.
Ben laughed and said, "It was." He smiled, then decide to share his news. "All right, all right. We decided to get married. I mean, I asked Felicity to marry me."
"What? Oh my God, that is incredible. Congratulations, man!" he said as he patted him on the back.
"Yeah, yeah. Thanks. It's pretty amazing. I can't even believe it sometimes," Ben said nervously.
"So, when is the big day?'
"Oh, we haven't got that far yet. Sometime after graduation," Ben said shyly.
"Man, this is great. I am so happy for you," Matt said, as he smiled at Ben.
"Yeah, I am happy, too. I just hope everything goes okay with this training, because I need some sort of career to start out with, since we are going to be married and all."
"You're doing good, man. Plus, have you given any more thought to what I said the other day, about maybe being a doctor? I think you'd do great at that, you have the passion and the caring to make a good one."
"Yeah, well, I suck at taking tests, so that is not gonna happen," Ben said as he shook his head. "I mean, I'd like to do more than this paramedic thing, but being a doctor? No way. I could never make it through med school."
"Well, I still think you should think about it," Matt insisted as they finished their dinner.
As they walked back to their dorm, Ben couldn't help but think what it would be like to be a doctor. Some of the things he had seen happen in the ER after the paramedics dropped the patients off amazed him. It was so fast moving in the ER, everything was so important. It was life or death. He got an adrenaline rush just thinking about it. But he shook his head again, ridding himself of the thought. He didn't see how it was possible.
Later, Ben was studying his manuals when the phone rang. He glanced at the clock, it was early for Felicity to be calling. "Hello?" Ben asked.
"Hey, sweetie! How was class today?" Felicity asked excitedly.
"Oh, hey babe. I didn't expect you to call so early. How are you?" Ben asked with a smile, putting his book down so he could concentrate completely.
""I'm good, real good actually. I am sitting here looking at the beautiful ring you got me and thinking about how much I miss you," she said
"Hey, it's okay. We only got about twelve days left to go, then we will be together. I can't wait."
"Yeah, me either," she sighed. "Ben? You remember how we were talking last night about our old apartment?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, I went by there today, just to see how it was looking. It was rented out, but it got me thinking. Do you think we could maybe, I don't know, get our own place?" she asked slowly, judging his reply. Then she continued quickly, "I know we tried that last year and it didn't go well, but now we are doing so good and I thought..."
Ben laughed as he tried to interrupt her. "Yes, yes. I think we could try that soon. Maybe after the first semester. You know, give me a chance to tell Sean and all."
"Really? You mean it?" Felicity asked with happy surprise.
"Yes, I have been thinking about that myself actually. I mean, we practically live together anyway because we are always at the other's place. So why not?"
"Oh, Ben I was hoping you'd think that. Because, well, because I have been looking around and I found us this perfect place in Brooklyn..."
"Wait, you've been looking?" Ben asked, stunned.
"Yeah, I couldn't help it. I just was so happy when we got engaged I started to think about us getting our own place," she said with a sigh. "And Ben, this place, you will love it, I just know it. It is a studio, and it looks out over this cute little patio, where there are tables and chairs and these beautiful trees..."
"Whoa, hold up. Did you rent this place too? Like the old place?"
"No, no, I didn't yet. I wanted to ask you first. So...what do you think?" she asked nervously.
Ben didn't answer for awhile, thinking about this question thoroughly. Then he smiled and said "I think we are getting our own place."