Blake/Ben fic - yes years after the movie has come out and yes in a fandom that's dead but I recently saw San Andreas at a hotel and this story just hit me! Check it out and let me know what you think! I'm quite proud of it (as far as random inspiration, written quickly with no real editing goes) :)
Blake closed her eyes as the gentle breeze tickled her face. She was reveling in the warmth that the sun provided as she lay in the cool grass. Stretching, she ran her fingers through the soft blades and lazily twirled them. This was paradise. That was until she felt a cool shadow cover her; she sighed loudly.
"You're ruining my tan," Blake complained but smiled as she opened her eyes. Kneeling over her, with just as wide of a smile, was Ben. "Well, I don't mind that." He brought his head down to kiss her on the lips. "Wouldn't want you to glow any more than you already are. You're distracting to me enough as it is."
Blake couldn't help rolling her eyes, but she pulled him down for another kiss anyway. Ben nipped on her bottom lip as she pulled back. "You cheeky cheeky boy." She grinned. Ben laughed, playing with Blake's hair that lay on the grass. "Mmm, I love it when you speak my language." He kissed the tip of her nose, and then quickly flipped them over so that she was lying on top of him.
Blake giggled and playfully slapped his chest. "Hey! Calm down you bucking bronco." Ben ran his hands down her back and rested them on her butt. "Well," he smirked, "I do love it when you ride me." Squeezing her cheeks and pulling her hips against his as he said that. Blake let out a mix between an exasperated sigh and a moan. "Bennnn."
Ben's smirk grew wider as he took in her reaction. "Don't get too excited babe," he joked. She cleared her throat and looked at him, ready to make an equally snarky comeback when he quickly, but tenderly, kissed her lips. His green eyes gazing at her with gentleness and affection now. "Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?" He caressed her cheek with his hand, bringing his thumb down to trace the outline of her lips.
She could feel her cheeks reddening. "A few times," she smiled shyly, "a day." He began to pepper her face with kisses. "Well, that's not nearly enough." Blake was sure she was the shade of ketchup now. "Oh hush," She loosened the grip that Ben had on her so that she could slide down next to him. "You're too good to me." She rested her head on his chest and he wrapped his arm securely around her waist.
"Impossible." He looked down at her as he slowly ran his fingers up and down her side. "You deserve more than anyone in this world could give you." He paused. "And I would say that even if you hadn't saved my life." Blake cuddled further into his side laughing. "You're ridiculous sometimes, but I do love you." He kissed the top of her forehead. "I love you too."
Blake took a deep breath, enjoying their moment together. This was perfection.
Suddenly Blake felt the ground rumble beneath her. They both sat up. "What was that?" Unable to hide the panic from her voice, she looked at Ben who appeared to be just as worried as her. He took her hand and pulled her up to her feet. "I don't know." His eyes darted around as if trying to make sense of the eerie shift in the atmosphere. Blake looked towards the nearby forest curiously. "Do you hear that?" She craned her neck. "It's coming from the trees." She took a cautious step forward.
"Yeah." Ben followed her gaze. "I don't - I don't know. It's almost like -" He shook his head as if trying to clear his vision and squinted. "Like it's moving." As if on cue, the sky exploded as thousands of birds flew from the forest. Blake and Ben quickly ducked down to avoid the mess of leaves and twigs that were falling as the birds flew overhead. The ground started to shake again. Blake lost her balance and screamed as she fell completely to the ground. Ben grabbed Blake's arm and pulled her to him. "Stay close to me Blake!" Blake grasped onto Ben's shirt tightly and they made their way towards the entrance of the park that they were in.
In a blink of an eye, hundreds of people materialized. Running, screaming, frantically pushing past each other; getting as far away as they could from whatever the imminent disaster was.
Blake couldn't stop the panic that was steadily rising within her. "Ben," she looked up at him, tears forming in her eyes. "I'm scared. Why is this happening again?" Ben looked down at her and after seeing her distress turned her so that she was directly facing him. He cradled her face in his hands, wiping away the tears that were rolling down her cheeks with his thumbs. "Blake, it's going to be okay. You need to breath okay? Please, breathe." Blake closed her eyes as her head bobbed up and down quickly, trying to reassure him, and herself, that she was going to be okay. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes, expecting to see the comforting eyes of her lover looking back at her. Instead, she was met with cold, brown eyes; attached to a sneering face. "Daniel?" She screamed, thrusting her arms against his chest trying to distance herself from him as much as possible. "Get off of me!" He pushed her to the ground. "With pleasure."
Blake tried to get back on her feet but the ground shook even more violently. She looked around and saw that trees were being ripped from the ground, water pipes were exploding, and electrical lines were snapping as the earth started to tear apart. Daniel started to laugh loudly which caused Blake to look back up at him. His face was contorting, switching from his normal face to something more sinister. "Who would ever want you?" He walked towards her. "Your precious boyfriend left you all alone with me." She scrambled backward in an attempt to get away but it was to no avail. He was much faster. He grabbed her wrist so harshly she felt as if it were breaking. "Please!" She sobbed uncontrollably. "Let me go!" He lifted her off the ground by the wrist that he was holding. The pain was unbearable. She locked eyes with his inhuman ones and her stomach twisted at the smile he gave her. "Okay." He walked over the now larger schism in the ground and held her over it.
Blake's hysteria was bubbling over as she looked down into the dark endless abyss. "Please please please!" Blake choked out. He calmly leaned in and kissed her forehead. "Bye." He let go.
xxxxxxxxx
Ben's eyes slowly opened. It was still the middle of the night, but something woke him up. He was a fairly light sleeper, so he could be awoken easily when noises were made, and in this case, the noises were coming from his girlfriend Blake. She seemed to be having a good dream. She was smiling and he heard her say his name a few times. "Don't get too excited babe." He whispered as he pulled her into his side. Her head now resting on his chest. She mumbled something unintelligible but remained asleep. He couldn't help smiling as he drifted back to sleep.
It seemed only minutes passed by when Ben was awoken again, only this time the sounds weren't gentle. Blake was whimpering and crying. She was having a nightmare.
Though Blake was more affected by them than Ben, they were no strangers to nightmares. Ben tended to dream about the many ways that Blake or Ollie could've died and Blake's dreams centered on her being abandoned or trapped in a dark or small space. She wasn't claustrophobic before the earthquake, but after being pinned in Daniel's car in the parking garage and nearly being crushed to death, and then being trapped in a room and drowning, she gained the fear.
Shortly after the earthquake, Emma pushed for the family to seek therapy together, not only to work through the trauma caused by the disaster but also on their family issues. That ended up being a Godsend for Blake as she was riddled with nightmares at the time and she needed the support. It wasn't as bad when Ben and Ollie were still with the Gaines but after they returned to England Blake could count on one hand the number of times that she was able to sleep through the night in a month. She leaned on her therapist who diagnosed her with PTSD, to no one's surprise, and was able to learn methods to mitigate her bad dreams.
Ben did what he could from abroad. One convenience was that when she was woken up in the middle of the night it was daytime where he was, so she was able to call him and talk to him until she calmed down. Ben's heart ached every time he hung up the phone. Though he enjoyed being back in England, spending much-needed quality and healing time with Ollie and his parents (not facing death) he always knew that he would return to America. He needed to be near Blake and with the mass disaster, he knew that he wouldn't have any problems finding a job as an architectural engineer. After spending two months away he flew to Seattle to visit her for a week where he experienced her nightmares first hand. Every night he had to wake her up before she descended further into the terrifying ordeal.
Ben knew he had to get her out of the dream before it got worse.
He sat up and gently brushed his hand across her forehead, wiping the sweat that was fast forming. She was burning. "Blake? Blake, sweetie? Wake up." She was still distressed, breathing faster than before. He stroked the side of her face with his other hand. "Baby, you need to breathe okay? You're having a bad dream. Please breathe." For a moment she calmed down and Ben thought that she would go back to sleeping peacefully when suddenly she convulsed. She seemed to be struggling against some invisible force. "Blake, you're having a bad dream. Please, wake up!" That didn't work. At this point, Blake was getting worse. She appeared to be choking but her cries grew louder, and she was now shaking. Ben moved his hand that was holding hers down until he reached her wrist. He held it down to control her thrashing. "Blake!" He felt his panic rising as he watched her devolve into a further mess. Ben didn't want to scare her but he had no choice. He needed to wake her up. He firmly placed his hands on both of her shoulders and shook her forcefully. "Blake! Wake up, you're having a nightmare. Wake. Up!"
Blake's eyes shot open. Piercing blue orbs clouded with fear stared back at him. She was gasping for air, still in a frightened state. He raised his hand, in an attempt to push her damp hair out of her face, but she flinched. She pushed him away, crying 'please' over and over again. Ben's brow furrowed in confusion. "Blake?" He felt sick. "Blake, it's me. I'm here." This seemed to reach her. She blinked and Ben saw her eyes clear and focus on him; she was back. Her body seemed to be alive with excess energy, her sweat covered body glowed in the moonlight that streamed in through the window, her eyes were wide with residual fear, and her hair was all over the place, but she was back.
"Ben?" She whimpered quietly. He waited and watched her. "Oh, Ben." She threw her arms around him and held on to him so tight he could barely breathe. He didn't mind as he wrapped his arms around her as tight as he could. "Oh, Ben." She cried again, weeping hysterically. He pulled her onto his lap and, running his hands up and down her back, started rocking back and forth. He kissed the top of her head and gently shushed her. "I'm here Blake, we'll get through this." He felt her trembling against him. "I'm here." He slid one of his hands under her shirt — well his shirt, and rubbed comforting circles onto her back. Her skin still damp with sweat.
It wasn't until after ten minutes that her breathing finally evened out. She sniffed loudly and let out a deep breath, pulling her head back to look at him. "I'm sorry," she looked back down at his bare glistening chest. "I got you all wet." Ben's eyes shone with mischief. "While I prefer us being wet in other areas," Blake nearly choked at that unexpected joke, "don't apologize." His face sobered. "I didn't know you were still having nightmares," he placed both of his hands on the sides of her arms, lovingly stroking her cooling skin, "that were this bad." Blake sighed and looked away. "Well I wasn't… for a while." Ben brought his hand under her chin and lifted it so that she was looking at him.
"How long have you been having them?" He asked, trying not to sound too stern. Not being able to look away, Blake had no choice but, to be honest with him. "About three weeks." She whispered. Ben's eyebrows shot up. "Three weeks?" He asked incredulously. "Why haven't you told me?" Blake could feel her eyes moisten. "I — I just didn't want to worry you… you were coming anyway and I didn't want to ruin your trip here with my complications." She covered her face with her hands. "I was hoping that by the time that you got here it would've stopped happening." She groaned. Ben took her hands in his and pulled them off of her face. "Even you know that doesn't make sense Blake. You don't have to hide anything from me." He kissed her knuckles. "And your nightmares don't just stop on their own. Have you not been seeing your therapist?" She shook her head. "I haven't seen her in maybe three months? I don't know,' she shrugged," I thought I'd be okay."
"Well, maybe we should give her a call tomorrow? I don't want you to go through this every night again." Ben frowned, feeling guilty about all the turmoil she had been going through without him knowing. He thought back to that morning when Blake picked him up from the airport. He had noticed that she looked fatigued but he assumed it was because her university's testing season just wrapped up. And before he got the chance to investigate further she pulled him in for a kiss so good that his toes would've curled even if he hadn't waited over four months for it.
"What have they been about?" He asked, not sure if he wanted her to relive traumatic dreams. "Well," her shoulders slumped, "they've mostly been about you." She said reluctantly. Blake stilled, willing himself to control his emotions so that she could speak freely. "I — I've just been seeing you every night. In different settings. They always start great but in the end, you always leave me." Blake frowned, clearly uncomfortable sharing this information with Ben. "Some disaster will happen and then you either vanish, or run away, or tell me that I'm not worth staying. And then —" Blake laughed coldly. "Daniel shows up. He really likes to rub it in." Blake's gaze lost their focus as she drifted off into her thoughts.
Ben couldn't help his own thoughts from running wild. So that was it, this was his fault. He'd been gone too long. He visited her two months after he and Ollie left to go back to England but it's been another four months since then. How could he leave her to battle her demons alone? Obviously, after she stopped seeing her therapist her demons found her again, especially with him coming back to see her; she was already subconsciously anticipating his departure. What Blake didn't know was that Ben had surprising news to share. Why hadn't he told her earlier? It would've alleviated her concerns and spared her from these terrible past few weeks. Feelings of shame swept over Ben. "I'm so sorry." He scowled which caused Blake to wake from her trance.
"Ben, no!" She took his face in her hands and kissed his cheeks, his eyelids, the tip of his nose - everywhere her lips could find space. "This is why I didn't want to tell you, I didn't want you to get bogged down with this. They're just nightmares, they're not real. I just need to figure out why it's happening like this again. Going back to therapy is a good idea." She smoothed out the wrinkles in between his eyebrows with her fingers. "Don't get into a bad mood. This isn't your fault." She reassured him.
Ben couldn't help the slight tug at the corner of his mouth. Her attempt to cheer him up was sort of working. "Well, I can't help but feel responsible." He paused, pursing his lips as he considered his next words. "It's just — I —" He sighed, examining her face. He could never get over how beautiful she was.
Sometimes he would find himself losing focus if he looked at her too long; especially at her eyes. They were impossibly blue pools that never failed to captivate him. While the circumstances of them coming together definitely wasn't ideal, Ben couldn't believe how lucky he was to not only meet Blake but to still have her in his life. She was stunning on the outside, of course, but her inside was just as, if not more, incredible. There's a lot that he loved about her; she was funny, adventurous, intelligent and resourceful — even without getting them through one of the worst natural disasters in history. She was also extremely kindhearted, she didn't think twice about giving herself to someone in need. She graced everyone, no matter who they were, with the same warm smile and compassionate heart.
She was unbelievable.
"Bennn." Blake whined loud enough to snap him out of his thoughts. "Hmm?" He blinked rapidly, his surroundings coming back to focus. "I tried getting your attention but you were completely zoned out." She giggled. "And you were saying something was unbelievable?"
"Sorry, I got sidetracked," Ben leaned forward and placed a tender kiss on her lips. "I love you." He could feel her smile as she deepened the kiss, spurred on by his declaration. She pulled him closer and rested her hands on the nape of his neck where her fingers began to play with his hair. Ben ran his hands down her body, resting on the small of her back and the other on her hip, enjoying the feeling of her soft skin beneath his fingers.
They broke their embrace only when the need to breathe became increasingly necessary. "I love you too." Blake managed to get out between heavy pants for air. Ben smiled brightly, feeling happier than he could remember in a while. It's one thing to say it over the phone, but sharing their love for each other in person was infinitely better.
He kissed Blake's forehead and then laid back down on the bed, pulling Blake down with him. He wrapped his arm around her and she curled up into his side, resting her head on his chest. She sighed contentedly as he took her hand with his other arm and interlocked their fingers. He brought it up to his lips and brushed gentle kisses across her knuckles.
"I have something to tell you." His warm breath lightly caressing her skin as it left his mouth. "Hmm? And what's that?" Blake asked drowsily, finding their current position incredibly comfortable. "Well…" he paused, still feeling guilty about not telling her earlier. Blake sensed his hesitance and shifted back so that she could look up at him. "What's up, babe? Is something wrong?"
Ben quickly shook his head. "No, nothing at all! It's good news actually. I just wish I told you sooner is all. Maybe you wouldn't have had your nightmare if I did." Blake frowned, obviously confused, she opened her mouth to inquire further but he quickly covered her mouth with his hand.
"I got a job here I'm moving to America!" He blurted out, his sentence sounding more like one word. Blake shot up, completely awake now.
"WHAT!?"
Ben sat up, laughing at how shocked she looked. He particularly liked her cheeks, now flushed a deep, rosy color. Blake felt like her mouth couldn't open any wider and her mind had a million thoughts bouncing around it. "Oh, so this is funny to you? Explain yourself, mister!" She almost yelled. "Well yeah," he cleared his throat, attempting to sound serious. "I've been applying and interviewing around for the past few months - since I got back to England. I knew there'd be a lot of opportunities in my field - there's a lot to be planned, fixed, and built, but I had to wait until I found the perfect one." He looked down to where their hands were loosely intertwined, resting on her lap. "The perfect one for us." Ben looked back up to see two bright blue eyes glistening with tears staring back at him. "Babe?" He rubbed circles on the back of her hand with his thumb. "What are you thinking?"
"Where in America would you be working?" Blake sniffed. Ben detected the slight worry in her voice, "I would be here in Seattle," he responded quickly to assuage her fear. "The company used to have its headquarters in San Francisco but moved up here after the earthquake." Blake looked like she was about to explode at this point. "They have offices and sites all down the west coast though so if we wanted to we could even spend some time in Southern California to be closer to your parents."
Blake squealed and, for the second time that night, threw her arms around Ben in a body-crushing embrace. Except for this time he laughed as he wrapped his arms around her and the tears that soaked his chest were tears of joy.
"I'm so happy!" Blake yelled out, overcome with emotion. "When? When?!" She pulled back, bouncing in anticipation. Ben's mouth hurt from smiling so hard. "Well I sign the paperwork this week," Blake's eyebrows shot up high so fast Ben was surprised they didn't keep going, "and they've given me until the month to get settled. I figured I'd use this time to find a place? I know you have to stay in this lease for a little while longer so I've been looking at flats nearby. Do you want to look at them with me this week?" Ben asked, already knowing the answer. "Yes! Of course! I'm so excited!" She clapped in delight. "I'll have to approve obviously since I'll be there all the time. You'll be much better company than my roommates." She brought his face closer to hers and planted kisses all over. "Not that I don't love them, I just love you more."
Ben laughed and cupped her face in his hands and pulled her back, ending her loving assault, so that they were looking at each other. "So," he took a deep breath, "does this mean that I'm forgiven for keeping this surprise from you?" Blake smiled. "Forgiven? There's nothing to forgive." She leaned in and captured his lips in a sweet kiss, but as she pulled back Ben held on for a little too long, grazing the supple skin of her bottom lip with his teeth in the process. In the blink of an eye, her smile turned devilish. Ben felt his body heat up just at the sight of his beautiful girlfriend looking at him like she was at that moment.
"You know what?" Blake placed a firm hand square in the center of his chest and pushed him down, so that he was laying on the bed, and straddled him. "I can think of something you can do to make it up to me." She leaned down and slowly licked Ben's neck causing him to shiver. "Oh yeah?" His heart rate increasing as she trailed kisses lower down his neck. "And what's that?" She stopped at a particularly sensitive spot for him and began to suck and bite at his skin. Ben's hand flew to her hips and strongly gripped them as he moaned. Blake could feel his pulsating skin beneath as she soothed it with her tongue, enjoying how much he was enjoying this.
After a while, Blake pulled back and smirked, pleased with her work and she took in the sight of a now flushed Ben with a bruise-like mark on his neck. Almost identical to the mark on the other side of his neck that she gave him during their activities earlier in the evening. He looked up at her, eyes hooded but pupils dilated. "I thought," he said between heavy breaths, "that I was supposed to be making it up to you?" He ran his hand up her sides and stopped right under her breasts. Taking pleasure in the goosebumps that were forming underneath his fingertips.
Blake took a long breath in and another long breath out. Drinking in everything about this moment; his hands on her body, his love for her, their love for each other, their future together. She couldn't believe the good that has come from an awful tragedy. She looked back down at him and smiled. "I guess you're right. How are you going to make it up to me?"
Ben grabbed her waist and swiftly flipped them over so that he was on top, with her giggling underneath him. "Well, how's this for a start?" He asked as he pulled her — well his, shirt off her body leaving her completely nude beneath him. "I think this is going to be the start of many long nights… together." Her eyes seemed to twinkle as she said that.
To Ben, that sounded like a dream.