Chapter 13
The first week of classes started and Ben and Felicity began their new routine of classes and work. They spent each evening together and every other spare moment between classes. Ben had started his paramedic job a couple days before school started and was really enjoying the experiences. He worked two 12 hour shifts each week. He came home from his shift all excited to tell Felicity about what had happened. She told him every day how proud she was of him.
But, Ben still had his doubts. He couldn't help but be intimidated when he saw his class syllabi and realized he had no idea what most of the subjects were about. He figured he had to buckle down and study hard or he was never going to make it. His first chemistry class was tough, he could tell that professor, Mr. Hodges, was going to be really difficult to please. And he seemed way too eager to scare people away, to weed out the unworthy people. And Ben feared that was him. But he tried to remain focused and told himself he would give it six weeks, then see where he was at and determine if he would continue in pre-med. He didn't tell Felicity that, because she seemed so certain he would succeed.
It was the last day of the first week of classes, and Ben was on his way to meet with his guidance counselor to finalize what classes he would keep and the one he had been considering dropping, this challenging Statistics class. He wasn't sure he could handle that one on top of the really tough chemistry class. As he was walking there, he looked at the hustle and bustle on the streets of New York and smiled. He could still not believe sometimes that he lived in New York. He had fallen in love with the place though and could not imagine living anywhere else. He thought back to his first semester here and how he had escaped his life back home by moving to the big city. He knew it was a good decision and had only brought him great things, like Felicity. He smiled more just thinking about her and again his mind drifted to their happy times. He often thought about how it had all begun, how he had fallen in love with her. It gave him strength, gave him focus. Which he needed now more than ever as he embarked on his biggest challenge yet.
Felicity was driving and Ben was flipping through the tour book about Yosemite. "It says here that they have campsites, would you like to do that?"
"Hmm...camping in the middle of Yosemite? How would we do that, we don't have the equipment?"
"It says you can rent it. Come on, it would be fun, don't you think?" Ben smirked as he looked over at her.
"Don't look at me like that!"
"What am I doing?" he smirked again. "You're giving me that look again, the one that I can't ever resist."
"Oh good, I will use it more often then," he said and chuckled under his breath.
"Really, you want to camp out? What if we see spiders or something?" Felicity laughed, trying to take the attention off her and how nervous she was at the idea of camping alone with Ben.
"Ah come on, you said no more spider jokes," Ben looked down, embarrassed.
They hiked some beautiful trails in Yosemite once they got there. The weather was perfect and the view from atop the peaks was amazing. Felicity did not think she had ever seen anything so beautiful in her life. They rented camping equipment when it started to get later in the day and found the camp site just as the sun was about to set. After setting up the tent, they sat eating sandwiches and enjoying the sun set behind the trees in the distance.
"Wow, this place is so beautiful. I am so glad we stopped here," Felicity said as she wiped her mouth.
"Yeah, it really is. So, what do you want to do now? You want to make a fire and roast some marshmallows?"
"Do we have marshmallows?"
"Yeah, I got us some. I couldn't get that silly campsite tradition out of my head. Plus, I thought you might like it," he said quietly as he looked at her face.
"Well, I love the idea. Thank you," she said with a smile. Then she reached over and kissed him on the cheek.
"No, thank you. I mean, thank you for coming with me on this trip. It has been so much fun," he said, starting to reflect on their trip so far.
"Ben Covington, are you getting sappy on me?" she asked with a grin.
"Nah, not sappy, just...whatever. You know what I mean," he said nervously.
"Luckily for you, yes I do know what you mean," she said smiling at his nervousness. "I am having a wonderful time with you, and am very glad I came with you."
"Really? You don't ever think about what it would've been like to be with Noel in Berlin instead?"
"No, not really. I mean, I am sorry that I hurt him, but I don't regret going with you, not at all. It's been fun getting to know you. You are...never mind," she started, but then got self conscious.
"What? I'm what?"
"You're a bit different than I thought you'd be, but still the way I imagined in a lot of other ways."
"How am I different?" he asked curious.
"I don't know, I guess I always thought of you as this amazing athlete and really popular with all the girls, and here you are with me, and it seems odd. I mean, you seem to be happy and you have been so sweet to me. I think...I guess you are just nicer than I thought you were, and more, I don't know sensitive."
"What, you thought I was mean? Or insensitive?" he laughed.
"No! I don't mean it that way. You know what I mean. You're not just some tough guy, you feel things. You're sensitive. And you're talking to me like I am a regular person and not some silly girl who followed you across the country," she said a bit nervously.
"Of course I am. You know that I like you. And you are not silly. I admired you for that, following me. I'd never have the guts to do something like that."
"Really?"
"Yeah," he said smiling at her. "Besides, you are different too."
"I am?"
"Yes, you are. You're not as shy as I thought you were. And you're even smarter than I thought. And you really care about things, about people. And I have a lot of fun with you. I didn't realize how amazing you really were."
Felicity looked down at the ground when she heard these statements about herself, not used to hearing such compliments and blushing a bit as she realized Ben meant every word.
"Hey, I mean it, you are amazing. You're an incredible person and you're so beautiful," Ben said as he brought her face up to his so he could look into her eyes. "You are, you're beautiful."
Felicity smiled at him slightly, awaiting his next move. It was one she had hoped for, as he brought his lips to hers. They kissed slowly at first, then it became more passionate. Their tongues moved in each other's mouths as they tried to quench their thirst for each other. Then Ben stood and led her into their tent. They lay on the sleeping bags, kissing each other into a frenzy, touching each other's bodies freely. Ben did not ever want to stop, and Felicity was losing herself in his touch. She could not believe it, but she was certain that she saw Ben look at her with more than just passion from their kisses. She was almost afraid to think it, but she wondered if he felt the same way she did. And later, as they roasted marshmallows over their fire, Ben thought to himself that this girl was so much different than any other he had ever been with. He could feel himself responding to her in different way, too. He couldn't put words to it yet, but he knew it was special.
Ben smiled as he remembered that night and he knew then what he had not known then, that he had fallen in love with her over the course of their trip. He could not recall ever being so comfortable with anyone as he had always felt with her and it was because of that, he knew he had to succeed in his classes. He had to prove himself worthy of her love and do everything in his power to show her how much she meant to him. That was his purpose, that was his way.
He was still thinking that when he sat in front of his guidance counselor. He told him he was considering dropping Statistics, and he did not like the response he got right away.
"Ben, I really have to recommend against that. You really shouldn't drop any classes. You know that you need 18 credits each semester to graduate."
"I know, but can't I sign up for something else. I mean, it just sounded really hard and with everything else I am taking, including that killer chemistry class, I just don't know if I can swing it," Ben replied.
"Okay, but this is your first week of classes, you can't start second guessing yourself now. You need to stay sure of yourself. I mean, you're still committed to this right?"
"Yes, sir. I am committed, I just want to be realistic."
"Well, realistic means that your next two semesters are going to be hellish. You have to accept that and get moving. You won't get many second chances now, you are pre-med."
Ben could feel himself getting more and more insecure as he sat there, but he shook it off. "I know, and I am ready for that. I know this will be hard, but it is what I want to do."
"Then my recommendation is to stay with what you have and try your hardest to do the very best you can. And remember they are tutors, if you need that." Ben shook his head, "No tutors, I can do this on my own."
"Okay then, I suggest you leave here and get to studying."
"Well, Felicity and I, I mean, that's my girlfriend, we are going out tonight so studying will have to wait," Ben said. He noticed the way his counselor reacted though and added, "But I will study lots this weekend."
Meanwhile, Felicity was enjoying her new semester of classes. She had been accepted into an Honors Art seminar with this amazing professor, Mr. Cavolo. He made her nervous because he had so many great ideas and she was not certain all the time that she could do everything he had in mind for the class, but it was still exciting. She also asked her counselor about taking a beginning education class and was looking forward to that. She was even going to get to observe a classroom, which was something that really made her happy. She had renewed faith in her decision to be an art major and to one day teach students about the world of art. Her dad still sent her little cards asking her if she was certain about not going pre- med, as he had seen this or that article about people, young and out of med school, doing great things. But she shook it off, knowing he would probably always long for her to change her mind, but she wasn't going to. She knew what she wanted in life and was not going to let him make her feel bad about herself.
She and her mom had had many phone conversations about her engagement and her mom had confessed her concerns that she was too young. Felicity told her that she and Ben were certain of one thing in life and that was that they wanted to be together forever, so she knew no matter what else happened, they would be fine. Her mom was still worried though, especially about how they would support themselves out on their own. She reminded her about Ben's paramedic job, but did not tell her about his decision to be pre-med. Ben had asked her to not tell her parents until the first couple of weeks of classes were over and he knew for certain he would make it. She just smiled at him and said "of course you will make it, you can do anything." She never understood why he couldn't see things the way she did. Javier told her she was a romantic, and not everyone else was, which is why they got along so well. They were both incurable romantics, which only made Felicity giggle again as she remembered.
Felicity was sitting on the couch at the loft reading her beginning education textbook when someone knocked on the door. She got up to answer it, since she was the only one at the loft at the moment. She was shocked to see Ben's dad on the other side of the door.
"Oh, hi Felicity. I didn't expect to see you here," Mr. Covington said, with just a hint of nervousness after what had happened the last time he visited. "Uh, hi, Mr. Covington. I, I mean, we didn't know you were in town," she replied nervously, wishing Ben were home from his paramedic shift already.
"Well, I didn't tell him I was coming. I wanted to surprise him."
"Yeah, well he will be surprised. But he isn't home yet, he is still at work," she said as she realized she had better let the man come into the apartment.
"Thank you, I won't stay long then. I can come back later. So, Allison told me the big news. Congratulations, "he said with a smile.
"Yeah, thank you. Thanks. We are really happy," she replied with a small smile. Again she was overcome with giddiness when she looked at her ring.
"Oh, is that the ring? Can I see it?" he said as he moved closer.
"Yes, it is really pretty," she said, but only held her hand out, not letting him touch her, which he respected, only glancing down to look at her ring.
"Yes, it really is. Ben did a good job, a really good job all around," he smiled at her, which he could tell made her nervous. "I know I made you uncomfortable last time I was here, so I promise to do better. I am really just here to see Ben, to see if he will talk to me again. Do you think he has forgiven me?"
"I don't really know, he doesn't talk about it much."
"Oh. Yeah, I guess that is to be expected. Well, I guess I better get going. Do tell Ben that I was here, won't you?"
"Of course I will. Is there a number I should have him call you at?"
Just as she said that Ben walked in the door. And he was less than thrilled to see his dad in the loft.
"Hello son, I was just going to leave you my number at the hotel. I am glad to see you," he said as he approached him for a hug.
Ben backed away and asked "What are you doing here?" He then walked over to Felicity's side, knowing she was likely still a bit uncomfortable with his father.
"That's all the welcome I get? I know you are less than happy to see me, but I just heard from your mom about you and Felicity's engagement and I wanted to congratulate you."
"Well, thanks," Ben replied in a dismissive manner.
"Okay, well I can see you don't want to talk right now, but call me. I will be in town for awhile. I'd like to talk to you."
"Yeah. Yeah maybe," Ben said without emotion.
"Well, I will get going now. You two enjoy the rest of your evening," Mr. Covington said as he showed himself out.
As Ben closed the door, he sighed and said "God, why does he show up like this? I don't need this."
"Ben, I think he is just here to talk to you. He is happy that we are engaged, and he was really glad to see you I could tell," Felicity said, trying to calm him a bit.
"Yeah, well I don't want to talk to him. I don't want to deal with him right now. I have enough to worry about with classes and all, I don't need him here breathing down my neck to make up with him or whatever," Ben replied somewhat more angrily than she expected.
"Ben, what is the matter? He is your dad. I know he hasn't been easy to deal with, but he does care about you. He just wants to talk to you, just give him that one chance," she said as she moved closer to him.
Ben moved away, walking toward their room. "Yeah, well I am not in the mood for it right now. I am going to bed."
He left so abruptly, Felicity stood there for a moment, shocked. She had not seen Ben this upset in awhile and wondered what was really going through his mind. And if he would ever tell her how he really felt about his dad.
The first week of classes started and Ben and Felicity began their new routine of classes and work. They spent each evening together and every other spare moment between classes. Ben had started his paramedic job a couple days before school started and was really enjoying the experiences. He worked two 12 hour shifts each week. He came home from his shift all excited to tell Felicity about what had happened. She told him every day how proud she was of him.
But, Ben still had his doubts. He couldn't help but be intimidated when he saw his class syllabi and realized he had no idea what most of the subjects were about. He figured he had to buckle down and study hard or he was never going to make it. His first chemistry class was tough, he could tell that professor, Mr. Hodges, was going to be really difficult to please. And he seemed way too eager to scare people away, to weed out the unworthy people. And Ben feared that was him. But he tried to remain focused and told himself he would give it six weeks, then see where he was at and determine if he would continue in pre-med. He didn't tell Felicity that, because she seemed so certain he would succeed.
It was the last day of the first week of classes, and Ben was on his way to meet with his guidance counselor to finalize what classes he would keep and the one he had been considering dropping, this challenging Statistics class. He wasn't sure he could handle that one on top of the really tough chemistry class. As he was walking there, he looked at the hustle and bustle on the streets of New York and smiled. He could still not believe sometimes that he lived in New York. He had fallen in love with the place though and could not imagine living anywhere else. He thought back to his first semester here and how he had escaped his life back home by moving to the big city. He knew it was a good decision and had only brought him great things, like Felicity. He smiled more just thinking about her and again his mind drifted to their happy times. He often thought about how it had all begun, how he had fallen in love with her. It gave him strength, gave him focus. Which he needed now more than ever as he embarked on his biggest challenge yet.
Felicity was driving and Ben was flipping through the tour book about Yosemite. "It says here that they have campsites, would you like to do that?"
"Hmm...camping in the middle of Yosemite? How would we do that, we don't have the equipment?"
"It says you can rent it. Come on, it would be fun, don't you think?" Ben smirked as he looked over at her.
"Don't look at me like that!"
"What am I doing?" he smirked again. "You're giving me that look again, the one that I can't ever resist."
"Oh good, I will use it more often then," he said and chuckled under his breath.
"Really, you want to camp out? What if we see spiders or something?" Felicity laughed, trying to take the attention off her and how nervous she was at the idea of camping alone with Ben.
"Ah come on, you said no more spider jokes," Ben looked down, embarrassed.
They hiked some beautiful trails in Yosemite once they got there. The weather was perfect and the view from atop the peaks was amazing. Felicity did not think she had ever seen anything so beautiful in her life. They rented camping equipment when it started to get later in the day and found the camp site just as the sun was about to set. After setting up the tent, they sat eating sandwiches and enjoying the sun set behind the trees in the distance.
"Wow, this place is so beautiful. I am so glad we stopped here," Felicity said as she wiped her mouth.
"Yeah, it really is. So, what do you want to do now? You want to make a fire and roast some marshmallows?"
"Do we have marshmallows?"
"Yeah, I got us some. I couldn't get that silly campsite tradition out of my head. Plus, I thought you might like it," he said quietly as he looked at her face.
"Well, I love the idea. Thank you," she said with a smile. Then she reached over and kissed him on the cheek.
"No, thank you. I mean, thank you for coming with me on this trip. It has been so much fun," he said, starting to reflect on their trip so far.
"Ben Covington, are you getting sappy on me?" she asked with a grin.
"Nah, not sappy, just...whatever. You know what I mean," he said nervously.
"Luckily for you, yes I do know what you mean," she said smiling at his nervousness. "I am having a wonderful time with you, and am very glad I came with you."
"Really? You don't ever think about what it would've been like to be with Noel in Berlin instead?"
"No, not really. I mean, I am sorry that I hurt him, but I don't regret going with you, not at all. It's been fun getting to know you. You are...never mind," she started, but then got self conscious.
"What? I'm what?"
"You're a bit different than I thought you'd be, but still the way I imagined in a lot of other ways."
"How am I different?" he asked curious.
"I don't know, I guess I always thought of you as this amazing athlete and really popular with all the girls, and here you are with me, and it seems odd. I mean, you seem to be happy and you have been so sweet to me. I think...I guess you are just nicer than I thought you were, and more, I don't know sensitive."
"What, you thought I was mean? Or insensitive?" he laughed.
"No! I don't mean it that way. You know what I mean. You're not just some tough guy, you feel things. You're sensitive. And you're talking to me like I am a regular person and not some silly girl who followed you across the country," she said a bit nervously.
"Of course I am. You know that I like you. And you are not silly. I admired you for that, following me. I'd never have the guts to do something like that."
"Really?"
"Yeah," he said smiling at her. "Besides, you are different too."
"I am?"
"Yes, you are. You're not as shy as I thought you were. And you're even smarter than I thought. And you really care about things, about people. And I have a lot of fun with you. I didn't realize how amazing you really were."
Felicity looked down at the ground when she heard these statements about herself, not used to hearing such compliments and blushing a bit as she realized Ben meant every word.
"Hey, I mean it, you are amazing. You're an incredible person and you're so beautiful," Ben said as he brought her face up to his so he could look into her eyes. "You are, you're beautiful."
Felicity smiled at him slightly, awaiting his next move. It was one she had hoped for, as he brought his lips to hers. They kissed slowly at first, then it became more passionate. Their tongues moved in each other's mouths as they tried to quench their thirst for each other. Then Ben stood and led her into their tent. They lay on the sleeping bags, kissing each other into a frenzy, touching each other's bodies freely. Ben did not ever want to stop, and Felicity was losing herself in his touch. She could not believe it, but she was certain that she saw Ben look at her with more than just passion from their kisses. She was almost afraid to think it, but she wondered if he felt the same way she did. And later, as they roasted marshmallows over their fire, Ben thought to himself that this girl was so much different than any other he had ever been with. He could feel himself responding to her in different way, too. He couldn't put words to it yet, but he knew it was special.
Ben smiled as he remembered that night and he knew then what he had not known then, that he had fallen in love with her over the course of their trip. He could not recall ever being so comfortable with anyone as he had always felt with her and it was because of that, he knew he had to succeed in his classes. He had to prove himself worthy of her love and do everything in his power to show her how much she meant to him. That was his purpose, that was his way.
He was still thinking that when he sat in front of his guidance counselor. He told him he was considering dropping Statistics, and he did not like the response he got right away.
"Ben, I really have to recommend against that. You really shouldn't drop any classes. You know that you need 18 credits each semester to graduate."
"I know, but can't I sign up for something else. I mean, it just sounded really hard and with everything else I am taking, including that killer chemistry class, I just don't know if I can swing it," Ben replied.
"Okay, but this is your first week of classes, you can't start second guessing yourself now. You need to stay sure of yourself. I mean, you're still committed to this right?"
"Yes, sir. I am committed, I just want to be realistic."
"Well, realistic means that your next two semesters are going to be hellish. You have to accept that and get moving. You won't get many second chances now, you are pre-med."
Ben could feel himself getting more and more insecure as he sat there, but he shook it off. "I know, and I am ready for that. I know this will be hard, but it is what I want to do."
"Then my recommendation is to stay with what you have and try your hardest to do the very best you can. And remember they are tutors, if you need that." Ben shook his head, "No tutors, I can do this on my own."
"Okay then, I suggest you leave here and get to studying."
"Well, Felicity and I, I mean, that's my girlfriend, we are going out tonight so studying will have to wait," Ben said. He noticed the way his counselor reacted though and added, "But I will study lots this weekend."
Meanwhile, Felicity was enjoying her new semester of classes. She had been accepted into an Honors Art seminar with this amazing professor, Mr. Cavolo. He made her nervous because he had so many great ideas and she was not certain all the time that she could do everything he had in mind for the class, but it was still exciting. She also asked her counselor about taking a beginning education class and was looking forward to that. She was even going to get to observe a classroom, which was something that really made her happy. She had renewed faith in her decision to be an art major and to one day teach students about the world of art. Her dad still sent her little cards asking her if she was certain about not going pre- med, as he had seen this or that article about people, young and out of med school, doing great things. But she shook it off, knowing he would probably always long for her to change her mind, but she wasn't going to. She knew what she wanted in life and was not going to let him make her feel bad about herself.
She and her mom had had many phone conversations about her engagement and her mom had confessed her concerns that she was too young. Felicity told her that she and Ben were certain of one thing in life and that was that they wanted to be together forever, so she knew no matter what else happened, they would be fine. Her mom was still worried though, especially about how they would support themselves out on their own. She reminded her about Ben's paramedic job, but did not tell her about his decision to be pre-med. Ben had asked her to not tell her parents until the first couple of weeks of classes were over and he knew for certain he would make it. She just smiled at him and said "of course you will make it, you can do anything." She never understood why he couldn't see things the way she did. Javier told her she was a romantic, and not everyone else was, which is why they got along so well. They were both incurable romantics, which only made Felicity giggle again as she remembered.
Felicity was sitting on the couch at the loft reading her beginning education textbook when someone knocked on the door. She got up to answer it, since she was the only one at the loft at the moment. She was shocked to see Ben's dad on the other side of the door.
"Oh, hi Felicity. I didn't expect to see you here," Mr. Covington said, with just a hint of nervousness after what had happened the last time he visited. "Uh, hi, Mr. Covington. I, I mean, we didn't know you were in town," she replied nervously, wishing Ben were home from his paramedic shift already.
"Well, I didn't tell him I was coming. I wanted to surprise him."
"Yeah, well he will be surprised. But he isn't home yet, he is still at work," she said as she realized she had better let the man come into the apartment.
"Thank you, I won't stay long then. I can come back later. So, Allison told me the big news. Congratulations, "he said with a smile.
"Yeah, thank you. Thanks. We are really happy," she replied with a small smile. Again she was overcome with giddiness when she looked at her ring.
"Oh, is that the ring? Can I see it?" he said as he moved closer.
"Yes, it is really pretty," she said, but only held her hand out, not letting him touch her, which he respected, only glancing down to look at her ring.
"Yes, it really is. Ben did a good job, a really good job all around," he smiled at her, which he could tell made her nervous. "I know I made you uncomfortable last time I was here, so I promise to do better. I am really just here to see Ben, to see if he will talk to me again. Do you think he has forgiven me?"
"I don't really know, he doesn't talk about it much."
"Oh. Yeah, I guess that is to be expected. Well, I guess I better get going. Do tell Ben that I was here, won't you?"
"Of course I will. Is there a number I should have him call you at?"
Just as she said that Ben walked in the door. And he was less than thrilled to see his dad in the loft.
"Hello son, I was just going to leave you my number at the hotel. I am glad to see you," he said as he approached him for a hug.
Ben backed away and asked "What are you doing here?" He then walked over to Felicity's side, knowing she was likely still a bit uncomfortable with his father.
"That's all the welcome I get? I know you are less than happy to see me, but I just heard from your mom about you and Felicity's engagement and I wanted to congratulate you."
"Well, thanks," Ben replied in a dismissive manner.
"Okay, well I can see you don't want to talk right now, but call me. I will be in town for awhile. I'd like to talk to you."
"Yeah. Yeah maybe," Ben said without emotion.
"Well, I will get going now. You two enjoy the rest of your evening," Mr. Covington said as he showed himself out.
As Ben closed the door, he sighed and said "God, why does he show up like this? I don't need this."
"Ben, I think he is just here to talk to you. He is happy that we are engaged, and he was really glad to see you I could tell," Felicity said, trying to calm him a bit.
"Yeah, well I don't want to talk to him. I don't want to deal with him right now. I have enough to worry about with classes and all, I don't need him here breathing down my neck to make up with him or whatever," Ben replied somewhat more angrily than she expected.
"Ben, what is the matter? He is your dad. I know he hasn't been easy to deal with, but he does care about you. He just wants to talk to you, just give him that one chance," she said as she moved closer to him.
Ben moved away, walking toward their room. "Yeah, well I am not in the mood for it right now. I am going to bed."
He left so abruptly, Felicity stood there for a moment, shocked. She had not seen Ben this upset in awhile and wondered what was really going through his mind. And if he would ever tell her how he really felt about his dad.