Chapter Text
“Well?” Lucy asks insistently with her eyebrows up to her hairline as she keeps her eyes on them, going from one to another. There’s no getting away with things this time. Not that they have anything to hide or want to do so but this isn’t ideal. Being found out isn’t ideal. Especially not when getting to this point had been a real emotional struggle for both of them. They had barely talked about being on the same page about this all-too-new relationship a few days ago. It hasn’t even been a week. They haven’t even gotten to the point where they discussed telling people yet, and Ben has to admit it unnerves him a little to think about what could possibly go on in Joe’s mind right now. He recalls this very clearly as one of the items on the very long list of Joe’s concerns. And they promised each other they will work things out together. But here they are, caught completely off guard by Lucy suddenly appearing on Joe’s front door, wanting to know what’s up with them. It feels a lot like things are happening despite him thinking that perhaps they’re not ready for this yet. But then again, when in life are you given the chance to do something or not just because you’re not ready anyway?
Ben glances from Lucy to Joe and honestly, he fully expects the redhead to reflect some of his worries too. But when his eyes land on Joe, he actually looks relaxed. He holds his gaze on Joe for a while, not quite believing what he is seeing. He looks calm and composed, not even fidgeting in any way or stringing his fingers together like sometimes he tends to do out of habit when he’s anxious. And that is definitely a huge relief. So, he walks further into the living room with Lucy, telling himself to watch Joe closely and take his cue from him.
“Look, Luce--” Joe says, pausing to take a deep breath, “do you wanna sit maybe?”
“No.” She answers curtly.
“I’ll sit.” Ben says, hoping the way he says it reflects the calm in Joe’s tone of voice. He walks towards the couch, sits down comfortably with legs slightly apart and Joe does the same, both of them now looking up at Lucy, whose arms are crossed on her chest as she purses her lips, looking mildly irritated.
“Okay, I’m listening.”
Joe speaks again, clearing his throat as he does so. “We didn’t mean to disappear completely like that, okay? It just sort of--happened,” he shrugs.
“So you two are a we now?” she raises an eyebrow at them.
“Yes,” Ben offers, turning to Joe as he says it, looking right into his eyes for any adverse reaction, and he finds none.
“Yes,” Joe says, confirming it as he looks unwaveringly at Lucy, “yes, we are,” he says again as he turns to look at Ben now, and the blonde can’t help but smile at the way Joe said those words, they’re not even the grandest words or a lengthy monologue but they’re more than enough. Isn’t it the craziest thing, this swelling and bursting feeling he has in his chest just because Joe said a few words affirming the fact that they’re together? He is both aware and yet could barely care less about the way they must look like in front of Lucy right now, him smiling up to his eyes as he looks at Joe and the redhead mirroring his looks. It feels like exhaling after holding a breath for far too long, and Ben is proud of the way they’re handling this unexpected surprise, and the fact that Joe does not intend to hide or lie about their feelings for each other.
“Can you two cut it out?” Lucy snaps her fingers in front of their faces. “I’m trying to be mad at you here and it’s not working when you’re looking at each other like that! ” Both men chuckle, their gaze lingering for a moment longer before turning to look at Lucy again. She has a hand on her hip, and is sighing dramatically. “Seriously, boys,” she says in a resigned tone, “we were really worried.” And then, getting a little worked up again, she raises her voice slightly, but all three of them know it’s just for theatrics, “couldn’t you have let us know you were okay at least? Because apparently, you are. You are more than okay!” She stretches out both hands in front of her with both palms up, gesturing at her two very underdressed friends.
“We are now .” Ben says, stressing the last word. “But we did have some shit to figure out by ourselves before this,” he glances quickly at Joe, wondering if they’re going to say more beyond that.
As if sensing it, Joe adds, “we weren’t exactly talking after London.”
Lucy nods. “Yeah, I noticed it when we were in New York.” She says solemnly. Her arms are both down and relaxed on her sides and she is not clutching her phone tightly anymore.
“You did?” Joe asks, frowning a little.
“Yes, Joseph, of course I did. Give me a little credit.” Lucy huffs and walks around the coffee table to sit on it, opposite the two.
“Well you never said anything,” he retorts.
Lucy sighs. “You should see the way you moped in New York. And I did say that you could tell me if anything is bothering you. And if it’s about London, or Ben,” she gestures at the blonde with her chin. “Twice,” she puts up two fingers in front of her. She opens her mouth to continue but doesn’t when her phone dings. She looks at the screen instead. “It’s Rami,” she says, and then looks up at her two friends. “Says he’ll be here any minute now. He stopped by the hotel first to leave our luggage.”
“Oh please come over uninvited whenever you like,” Joe says with his usual sarcasm and Ben grins when Lucy rolls her eyes.
“Not my fault that you two were too busy that you didn’t even check your phones,” she replies with equal amount of sarcasm in her tone.
“Okay, okay, fair point,” Joe offers, palms up in surrender and Ben laughs next to him, trying to hide the slight blush he feels creeping up his cheeks.
“Look at you two, blushing like that,” she coos, continuing to take a jab at her friends, but she is also genuinely smiling now, and brightly too, for a change. “ I’m so happy for you two. Really. It was about damn time too.” When she says the latter, she looks especially at Joe. “I’m really glad you are more than okay and here, and together.” She claps once and adds, “but you should change before Rami gets here though, go get decent.” She shoos them off with her hands, and they both get up from the couch without much fanfare or protest.
They head to Joe’s bedroom in silence, and Ben wonders if Joe feels the same amount of surrealness that he is feeling right now, and if he is a little dazed by this, and the fact that Rami is going to be here soon too. He doesn’t know how it makes Joe feel, having to suddenly face his friend of 11 years and tell him about this. About them . “Do you think they will tell Gwil too?” he asks Joe about Gwil instead, studying his expression closely even as they start taking off their t-shirts almost at the same time, but this time, for the first time in a few days, without any suggestiveness involved.
“Knowing Lucy?” he shrugs, “yes, Gwil will definitely hear about us too,” he chuckles for good measure before turning to Ben to smile at him, genuinely and reassuringly this time, as if telling him that he is okay, he is handling this fine. Ben smiles back at him too, wanting so badly to kiss or hug him right now but they do have this getting dressed thing to take care of at the moment. So they set about their task quickly without anymore talking, getting in and out of the bathroom and pulling out whatever clean clothes Joe has that Ben could wear.
Ben had just finished putting on one of Joe’s more baggy jeans which hugs his hips and legs in a snug fit, and is about to put one of Joe’s white undershirts on when the doorbell rings again. Joe has a pair of khakis and his white undershirt on too, and is grabbing a sweater to pull over the undershirt.
“I’ll get it!” Lucy calls out from the living room. It turns out that the food Joe had ordered earlier had arrived, and a few feet behind the delivery guy, Rami is walking up the path towards the door.
“We ordered so much food?” Rami asks Lucy as he steps into the house. “Hi Joe,” he says to the redhead who is walking into the living room. Ben shows up immediately after. “Oh, hi Ben,” he says, smiling wider now, genuinely happy to see the blonde unexpectedly at Joe’s. He places the food he’s carrying on the coffee table in the living room. Rami’s infectious smile makes Ben forget momentarily about what’s happening, or about to happen, especially since Rami is now pulling him into a tight hug. “Great seeing you here in LA.” Rami is still looking at him with that warm and generous smile on his face, and it’s hard to say what’s exactly going on behind those large doe eyes trained on him so intently. But Rami does not say or ask anything else after that, and Ben breathes easy again. They move to the dining area with all the packed food, and begin opening boxes and packages to lay out all the food on the table.
“So Ben, what are you doing back here in LA so soon?” Rami asks curiously after filling them in about why Lucy and him are here, which is mostly because of work, he tells them. “Something work related too?” By this time they are all seated at the dining table, and have begun digging into their food.
Ben almost chokes on his pasta, not seeing the question coming and definitely neither expecting the spotlight on him, nor to be the one telling Rami about him and Joe. The words get stuck in his throat and he looks at Lucy next to Rami who is grinning from ear to ear, almost bouncing on her seat. Then he looks at Joe. He is somewhat relieved to see that Joe still looks as calm and composed as before, and something in his eyes is telling Ben that it is okay for him to say anything that comes to mind. He holds his gaze on Joe for a couple of seconds more, just to see if anything would shift or change, but the reassurance he sees there, stays.
He takes a deep breath, finally taking his eyes off Joe’s. “Umm… no, nothing work related,” he starts, and is about to continue when Lucy stops him.
“Wait,” Lucy says, “are you telling him now?” she asks, grabbing her phone as she does. Everyone stares at her.
“What’s going on?” Rami asks, completely lost, looking from his girlfriend to his friends in front of him.
“What are you doing?” Ben asks in the middle of a nervous-sounding chuckle.
“I’m calling Gwil,” She says matter of factly.
Ben looks over at Joe next to him with his eyes widened and Joe raises his eyebrows at him by way of a reply, shifting his eyes to Lucy’s direction, as if telling him, ‘I told you so’. He picks up his glass of water to drink from it, but not before grinning at Ben, and it puts him at ease. We’re in this together , Ben tells himself, as if it’s exactly what Joe is telling him too, so he relaxes and smiles back at the redhead. What he doesn’t realise is that Rami has been watching this little exchange they had, smiling to himself in the process.
“Hi Lucy,” they hear the Welshman’s voice after the line connects.
“Hey Gwil,” she pauses, a wicked grin on her face, “So, I found Ben and Joe,” she pauses again for emphasis. Ben almost winces. “And we’re having brunch here at Joe’s in LA, the four of us,” there’s a short pause and she continues, “and I think Ben wants to tell us something.” She’s not cackling evilly after saying that, but she might as well be.
They all hear Gwil sigh at the other end. “Hello, everyone. Glad to know you’re alive, Ben,” he says.
“I’m glad too, thanks?” Ben says, rolling his eyes a little. “Hi, mate.”
Everyone greets Gwil as well and Lucy continues, “So Ben, you were saying?”
Rami looks from the phone to Lucy with a lot of amusement in his eyes. If he had any doubt about what he thought he saw when his two best friends were exchanging looks and smiles earlier, looking at Ben now, in front of him, shifting in his seat uncomfortably and looking at Joe unconsciously for support or reassurance or both, all of his doubts would have been obliterated completely by now.
“Well I was just gonna tell Rami--” Ben says, pausing and starting again, “about what I’m doing here in LA again,” he puts a hand to the nape of his head and glances quickly at Joe, trying not to look flustered. He keeps getting caught off guard today and feels put on the spot, which he’s not really enjoying or handling well. And it’s not that he is uncomfortable about the fact that he and Joe are no longer merely friends but in a relationship now, he has never felt something as right as this in his life before, but all the unnecessary attention his friends are putting on this, on them , is grinding on his nerves a little. And apparently Joe is reading his mind. Or honestly, he just has a pair of functioning eyes and could see how uncomfortable Ben is right now so he speaks up instead.
“He came to see me,” Joe continues, “we had some things to sort out after we last met in London.”
“Weren’t really talking to each other then,” Ben adds, and if Gwil or Rami are surprised to hear this, none of them show any trace of it. Or maybe they aren’t?
“Yeah, but we’re alright now,” Joe says reassuringly, as if it’s not apparent enough that they’re talking to each other fine now, they’re even finishing each other’s sentences. There’s a pause before anyone says anything else.
“Uh-uh.” It was Gwil, over the line, expecting to hear more.
Neither of them speaks immediately, and he knows if he doesn’t, Joe will say it. But what’s stopping him from saying it instead?
“And we’re,” he clears his throat a little, “we’re together now, Joe and I.”
Lucy is grinning so wide now that she’s almost squealing. Meanwhile, Rami breaks into one of his perpetually amused smiles, before looking over at his over-the-moon girlfriend, shaking his head and running his palm over his face. There’s a long pause, so pregnant and thick in the air, where Lucy is just staring at her phone expectantly. No one says anything for what seems like forever, until Gwil breaks the silence from the other end.
“Bloody hell, you two!” the Welshman exclaims. As if she had been waiting for her cue, Lucy immediately starts laughing hysterically.
“What the fuck?” Ben mutters out of surprise, loud enough to be heard by everyone.
“I knew I was right!!” Lucy squeals excitedly, cackling a little for good measure. “Ah, the sweet taste of being right and winning.” she says dramatically, as if she’s reading a line onstage.
Joe chuckles defeatedly, shaking his head, not altogether surprised at where he thinks this is going. “Okay, what’s going on here?”
“Gwil and I had a bet going on for the past several days,” Lucy starts explaining.
“On second thought, maybe I don’t want to know,” Joe says quickly, but Lucy ignores him and continues.
“When you both disappeared completely I said you two are together in LA and he said he didn’t think so,” Lucy says, playfully making fun of Gwil.
“Well it’s not my fault that I saw Ben a few weeks ago and he was being bitchy about Joe, I thought they fucked everything up!” Gwil complains on the other end of the line.
“Hey!” Ben protests.
“I caught them,” Lucy tells Gwil in a conspiratorial tone, “ red handed , you would have loved the scene I walked into today Gwilym.”
“No, Lucy,” Joe deadpans, “you did not catch us red-handed at anything, everyone was dressed, thank you.”
“Yeah, in your underwear ,” Lucy retorts. Beside her, Rami splutters.
“TMI, guys,” Gwil warns.
“I honestly expected better from you two,” Joe says in feigned disappointment, even as he could feel blood rushing to his cheeks. When he glances quickly at Ben, the blonde is trying not to look visibly upset. “Especially you, Gwilym.”
“Well if you two disappear without saying anything, does that leave us with any other choice?”
“I just want to add,” Rami chimes in, “that I had nothing to do with this bet,” he says solemnly before putting his food in his mouth.
Lucy rolls her eyes, “Only because you were too scared to take a side! I added him to the group chat and he left immediately. Now Gwil and I have a group chat called ‘The Bet’ and it’s just the two of us telling each other conspiracy theories about you two.”
“Unbelievable,” Ben says, shaking his head. He thinks it’s not too much to admit that he’s a little frustrated that their friends are having a laugh about this when he’s been going through hell for the past three weeks . But then he glances at Joe who’s shaking his head and smiling, unperturbed and seemingly amused by their friends’ antics and Ben takes a deep breath. Maybe he’s looking into this way too seriously. Maybe it’s just the way their friends are. Well-meaning but annoying, all at the same time.
“Speaking of wild theories,” Lucy smirks.
“Nope.” Joe says despite his smile, putting his palm down on the table.
“I second that,” Ben says quickly.
“Aren’t you at least a teeny bit curious?” She bats her eyelashes at them, pouting a little.
Ben glances at Joe and he actually looks a little swayed by her antics. “Actually, no,” he says firmly this time, neither giving the time nor chance for Joe to change his mind. “I think that’s quite enough, don’t you think?” he says, looking at Joe.
As if regaining his full consciousness, Joe clears his throat and agrees. “Yes, I think so too.”
“I second that,” Rami agrees quickly.
“You guys are no fun,” Lucy complains, still pouting. “Anyway, next time we all get together, whenever that is, the meal is on Gwil,” she declares triumphantly.
“Well, excuse me for not being a psychic,” Gwil says, and Ben thinks he could see the tall Welshman rolling his eyes to the back of his head. “But I’m more than happy to pay for everyone’s meals and seconds because this is the best bet I could have ever lost and I’m more than happy I did,” he says in a much warmer and happier tone, and Ben couldn’t help but smile genuinely this time. He imagines that if Gwil was actually in front of them right now, he’d have some more choice words to say to them both, but would also instantly give them one of his big and heartfelt hugs. Ben kinda misses him now.
“Thanks big man,” and it’s the first time since Lucy rang the doorbell earlier that Ben’s voice sounds relaxed, “With that said,” Ben puts his cutlery down on his plate and pushes his chair back, standing up with both palms on the table, “I’m going to go for a smoke,” He squeezes Joe’s shoulder before walking away from the table and out to the patio.
Lucy follows Ben with her eyes and is biting the inside of her lips for a moment. She leaves the phone on the table and looks at Joe, “I’m just gonna...?” She points with her head towards where Ben left just now and Joe signals her with his hand as if saying ‘go ahead’ “Leave you with the boys Gwil, bye!” She stands up from the table and makes her way out to the patio. Behind her, she could hear Joe sighing loudly while Rami is laughing at something that Gwil said, right before she steps outside. The noise dies down the moment she closes the glass sliding door behind her.
“Hey,” She stands next to Ben, who’s standing behind the wrought-iron table where an ashtray is placed as he smokes away. She presses her shoulder to his and bumps them before looking up at him and smiling cheekily. Ben nips at his bottom lip with a smile and shakes his head. “You know I’m just taking the piss, right?”
Ben nods before exhaling smoke away from her, “Yeah, I know.”
“You’re not upset, are you?”
“Not upset,” he ponders for a moment, “Just--caught off guard. I feel like it took me forever to get here and now we went from 0 to 100 in a second.”
Lucy chuckles, “aren’t you the expert on that?”
“You’d think I am,” Ben chuckles along with her because she’s right, and he’s been told this a lot , “but not when it comes to him ,” he looks past her towards the sliding door and back at her.
“Well, if it makes things any easier, and all joking aside, we are just genuinely happy for you two,” she pauses and adds, “ finally .” He chuckles at her word and despite his curiosity, doesn’t ask. He doesn’t want to know what her ‘ finally' means. In all honesty, he could probably make a good guess. Maybe he just doesn’t want to know how obvious he could be around the redhead. She half turns to stand in front of him and opens her arms, bringing him in for a hug and he steps forward hugging her back.
“Thanks Luce,” he says, and Lucy can’t seem to stop smiling even when they pull away from each other. “This is good, you know? Both of you look happy. He,” Lucy gestures with her eyes and chin to Joe behind the glass door, now laughing too hard with both palms over his eyes, “was a mess in New York, just saying.” She chuckles a little, still looking inside through the glass door. Then Ben sees Joe removing his palms from his face quickly and start shouting at Lucy’s phone, while Rami is holding it up on one hand, and trying not to cry from laughing too much. It looks like a certified mess. Ben shakes his head, resisting to say more. He could go on and on about it if he wants to. Perhaps it really wasn’t the best decision to make, to put the distance and silence between them after what happened in London. But he has made amends, didn’t he? He’s in LA now. With Joe. And they had finally agreed to give being together a shot.
Lucy steps away and walks back to the sliding glass door. When she opens it, the laughter of the two men spills out, roaring against the peaceful silence of the afternoon. Ben finds himself grinning, looking at Joe, laughing so much that his eyes are closed, and he’s almost doubled over. He still has half of a cigarette still, so he takes another drag as Lucy slides the door close. Rami and Joe have just ended the phonecall with Gwil apparently, since her phone is left lying on the table, its screen display already turned off. “I’m gonna use the bathroom,” she says, turning to her right and disappearing behind the corner of the hallway.
Joe and Rami look at each other now that their laughter has subsided. They’re still grinning. It’s always a riot when they’re talking to Gwil. Joe then looks up and ahead of him, through the glass sliding door and to the patio where Ben is exhaling smoke, the cigarette between his fingers almost worked halfway up to its stub. Rami then looks ahead too, and smiles slightly as he looks at the way his friend is looking at the younger man smoking outside on his patio.
“Isn’t it a wonder,” Rami says, pausing without meaning to continue.
“What is?” Joe asks without turning to him.
“This movie. Has it been a year now? More than a year.”
“Depending on when you start counting,” Joe says, turning to look at Rami now.
“It just--” he pauses, “has a way of bringing happiness to people,” Rami says and Joe raises an eyebrow inquisitively. “Allen is married, I found the girl of my dreams, you and Ben found each other,” Rami continues, before turning to look at Joe.
“You got your first Oscar, too,” Joe adds.
“Yeah, that too.” Rami smiles then. They both fall silent for a while. “I think it’s Freddie.”
“You think so?” Joe asks.
“I think so, yeah.”
Joe nods quietly, looking ahead of him. The glass sliding door opens and Ben steps in. When their eyes meet, Ben smiles. “Yeah,” Joe agrees with him, smiling back at Ben. His entire figure seems to glow, framed by the sunlight coming in through the opening behind him. “I think so too.”