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Raindrops were hitting the window softly as the rain began to pick up outside. Ben watched them carefully as they covered the window pane in much the same way they did that fated night all those years ago.
He was sitting in a motel room waiting for Klaus to get back from the ice machine down the hall. He hadn't gone with him because well he'd thought perhaps they did spend too much time together. The man might need his space. He... he kind of needed space.
It was an odd thing being dead, being a ghost doomed to haunt someone you loved. You saw the good and the bad of it all. You got to see everything, every ugly little detail.
It had been quite a while and Ben was sitting on the edge of the bed trying desperately not to think the worst about Klaus. He was just getting ice, he wasn't... he couldn't be getting high somewhere. They were here in the 60's for a reason, they had limited time to figure out how to fix things. He wouldn't do that.
Ben sighed to himself as the rain came down harder outside, the cloudy gray sky beyond the parking lot looming over the shabby little motel. The wind picked up howling against the window and door and the sound seemed to take him back to years before even against his own wishes.
He didn't like thinking about that night or about the way he felt betrayed by Klaus. He didn't like blaming him but he also didn't like his own shame he felt about what had happened.
The sound of rain outside when one is alone can be a very lonely sound, isolating with it's power to make you feel just that more small and helpless.
Ben fell back against the queen mattress, shutting his eyes against the dim light of the lamp beside him. He tried not to think about how rainy it had been the night he had died, how mesmerizing the raindrops on the window had been to him as he lay losing consciousness on their bedroom floor.
He tried not to think about these things, but the thoughts still came and with them, the heartache too.
Swallowing hard, Ben tried to remember that Klaus was coming back with the ice soon. He was probably right around the corner now. He'd be jogging back inside from the rain any second now and he'd see him so miserable like this and Ben would immediately regret it.
Any second now.
Any second.
Ben's breath caught in his throat, his eyes still screwed shut as he listened to the hard rain pouring down on the motel. He took a deep breath in through his nose and tried not to remember the look on Klaus' face when he found him lying there on the carpet.
He tried not to think about the immense sadness he'd felt immediately after taking the pills, tried not to regret the hasty action he'd taken in anger.
He'd wanted to forget his problems but they'd only seemed to multiply since that night.
Ben drifted through time for a bit, unsure of exactly how long Klaus had been gone. Upon the sound of the room key card being scanned and the door opening, Ben sat up quickly and tried to look nonchalant and peaceful as he always did.
Klaus held the ice bucket in hand full of ice and carried a big grin on his face. "Dude!" He said excitedly, depositing the bucket on the desk nearby and pulling numerous candies and chips from his pockets. "I got us snacks! I put in a few coins for a chocolate bar and a shit ton of stuff came flying out!" He laughed triumphantly. "Can you believe that?"
Ben stood and joined him by the desk looking over his pile of goodies. He frowned as he looked at him, having judged him rather unfairly for taking so long. He'd assumed the worst, assumed he'd abandoned him again to go get high, just like so many times before, like that night.
"What's wrong?" Klaus asked him, quickly noticing his dour expression. "Oh, I know you can't eat any. I just... sorry, I was just excited."
"It's okay." Ben said, barely audibly, mesmerized by the side of the man's face.
Klaus turned his full attention to Ben and moved to gently touch either side of shoulders. He was still relishing the way he could actually touch Ben again and had to be very careful with just how eagerly and frequently he did so. He smiled coyly at him. "Did you miss me?"
Ben answered honestly and nodded. "Yeah. I did."
"Aww... " Klaus gushed and quickly swooped him up into a hug.
As the rain and wind continued outside, Ben hugged him back tightly, enjoying the feel of the other man's unyielding affection towards him.