He's standing in their kitchen looking over the recent apartment bill on his phone, shaking his head. Rent being raised for a pool. Nothing wrong with pools. They're great. But raising rent for it when the money could be used elsewhere for the building? No, not in agreement with this raise. Just as he's thinking of how to go about talking to Rey about this, Ben hears the door to the apartment open then close.
"Hi Ben!" Rey's glorious voice rings out across the space.
Ben can't help but feel his chest grow warm and lighter despite the negative news. He turns around and smiles as he sees Rey bounding towards him. She leans in and wraps her arms around him for a big hug, which he returns without hesitation. It's over before he's ready to let go of her. Someday Ben hopes he'll be able to hold her as long as he wants…if this day ever comes.
"How has your day been, Rey? How was lunch with Rose?" he asks.
Hearing her name on his lips will never not make Rey tremble. She's learned to mask it over the years but it's still a challenge. And the fact he remembers everything like where she goes during the day…he's really the dream.
"It was…interesting," Rey answers slowly.
"Ooh, do tell," Ben replies.
He rests his elbows on the kitchen counter and props his head on top of his hands. His eyes show his eagerness in wanting to hear. Another thing Rey loves about him. She smiles as she takes a deep breath.
"Well, from looking at me, she could tell something was up. I told her how our rent went up and it's so ludicrous. She said she knew of a way which might help us," Rey explains.
"Really?" Ben asks, cocking his eyebrow in intrigue.
God, he's so cute. How she's been able to last so long without kissing him will forever be a mystery to Rey. She can't help but smile more at his expression as she readies him for Rose's idea.
"Rose spoke of this site where content creators can get money from people who subscribe to them. Apparently people make a lot of money on it in one particular section of the site," Rey continues.
"Is she talking about YouTube? It's great for content and some creators. But it does take these creators years, sometimes longer, to get enough recognition to be approached by the heads at YouTube to get sponsors and become salaried. It's a good idea, but not exactly timely for us," Ben shares with a sigh.
"No, it's not YouTube Rose mentioned," she says.
"Oh?" he asks.
Rey takes another deep breath as Ben straightens back up. One of his large hands presses onto the counter while the other rests on his hip. She tries not to get distracted by how sexy he looks whenever he stands like this. But, to be fair, he's always sexy in her eyes.
"What's the site then?" Ben prompts.
"…OnlyFans?" Rey squeaks.
Ben's hand slips a bit from where it presses against the countertop, making a slight noise as he straightens back up. Of course Ben has heard of OnlyFans. Before Rey came into his life, his friends had tried to get him on there to "enjoy himself." This happened to be during a time where Ben put dating off and just lost interest. He almost made one just to get his friends off his back when Rey graced his presence with all the brilliance she holds. From that day on, he never needed one. Realizing it's been a few moments since either of them have spoken, Ben clears his throat.
"OnlyFans," he echoes.
"There are people on there who make content for money that doesn't have to do with sex," Rey says quickly.
"Not as much as the sexual content creators, though," Ben states.
She blushes at his words. Her eyes widen as he takes a few slow steps towards her until he stands just a few inches away. If she was bold enough, she could place her hands on his chest with little effort.
"Is this something you want?" he whispers softly.
"What I want?" Rey echoes.
Ben steps closer, reaching out to lay his hand on top of her own gently. Her eyes look up into his face and her heart flutters from how he looks at her. All doubt leaves her body and Rose's words from earlier come back into her ears. But she still holds her breath, not wanting to give in to the hope.
"Would…would you be comfortable?" Ben purrs gently.
"With you? Well, I…I'm always comfortable with you, Ben," Rey admits softly.
A warm smile spreads on Ben's cheeks at her words. His heart is racing as he takes all of her in. Although he's been in love with her the whole time he's known her, he never wanted to make a move which would jeopardize their friendship. She's his world and he didn't want to do anything where he'd lose her forever. Carefully he slides his hand from hers up to her shoulder while his other hand reaches around her back. He hugs her softly and he trembles when he feels her return the hug.
"So…we're really doing this?" Ben asks.
Rey nods against his chest. Then she pulls back enough to look up into his smiling face. All of her unease washes away anytime he smiles at her.
"We'll go slow. If you're ever uncomfortable with anything, we'll stop immediately," he continues.
"Same goes for you," she agrees.
They look at each other for a few quiet moments. Both want to say what they've always wanted to say but don't know how just yet. For now, they smile at each other as Ben walks over to grab his computer. Rey stands close to him as he sits at the counter and searches up OnlyFans on Google. When he finds the site, he turns to her with a small smile full of hope. She returns the smile and squeezes his shoulder.
"Let's get started," Rey says.