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By some source of magic Leslie sleeps in until 6:30. Smiling softly at the very faint rays of sunlight just beginning to sift through her blinds, before snuggling into Ben's arms.
Except she doesn't feel Ben's arms wrapped around like she had all through the night.
No, instead Leslie rolls over to a very empty left side of the bed.
No messy haired Ben telling her to go back to sleep by kissing her shoulder. No long fingers combing through her hair or rubbing circles on her hip.
Just an empty bed.
Leslie tries reasoning with herself as she crawls out of bed. Trying her absolute hardest not to let her mind spiral. Because this is Ben. And there's no way that Ben, her absolute best friend since kindergarten, would sneak out of her apartment after ridiculously amazing sex.
"He's probably just in the shower or bathroom," Leslie tells herself as she pulls on pajama pants and her old Harvest Festival t-shirt before making her to the kitchen. Walking through her room that no longer had different articles of Ben-clothing scattered across the floor.
She bites back the disappointment and sadness when she walks by the very empty and very Ben-less bathroom.
Leslie feels her eyes brim with tears when she walks into the kitchen, once again Ben-less. She pierces her eyes shut, willing herself not to cry over a boy.
Knope girls should not cry over boys.
Even if said boy is an amazing friend and adorable nerd with a cute butt, who only showed up to a New Years Eve party because he found out she was there.
There might've been a family emergency, Leslie thinks to herself as she stands on her tiptoes to grab the brownie mix. Ben would tell her that brownies aren't really breakfast food if he was here.
But he's not. Because he left. Without so much as a "see you around," before leaving. No matter how much her heart would like to insist that Ben would never just leave like that; Leslie feels herself bitterly realizing that that is indeed the reality.
It shouldn't hurt, they never even said they were dating, it was just one night. Leslie repeats that phrase in her head over and over, as she spoons the brownie batter into a pan and places it in the oven.
Leslie tries to tell herself that it's pointless to be upset. They weren't dating. They were never dating. Absolutely not couple. The complete opposite of a couple, really. So she really has no reason to be-
The sound of the front door unlocking immediately brings Leslie back from spiraling thoughts.
She expects it to be Ann, even though beautiful sun ray Ann Meredith Perkins would never wake up this early.
But it's not Ann.
It's Ben.
Ben holding onto the spare key to her apartment in one hand and two styrofoam containers from the nearby diner in the other. Wearing the same clothes as the night before with hair just as messy and unkept as when he fell asleep on her shoulder.
Ben grins at her like he's the happiest he's ever been, Leslie's 99% sure that his face could easily split in half from his smile.
"Well I see my plan to wake you up with waffles was a bust-"
Leslie's heart flutters and she feels the tears that she was holding back start to leak from the corners of her eyes.
"I really need to get that absurd idea of actually waking up before you out of my head and," Ben's smile falls the second he catches a glimpse of Leslie's teary eyes.
"What's wrong, is everything okay?" There's genuine panic and concern laced through his words as Ben walks over and pulls Leslie into a hug.
He pulls back, only slightly, to kiss away the tears. No, not brush away her tears, kiss away her tears. Leslie's heart all but bursts because that's definitely a knew phenomenon that she has no trouble admitting she could definitely get used to.
When he's kissed every inch of her face that had a single trace of a tear, Ben lets his forehead rest against hers. His brow still wrinkled in concern as he whispers "please don't cry, I can't stand to see you cry."
Leslie somehow forces a soft smile before whispering, "you kissed away my tears." It's not exactly what she wanted to say, but it's what comes tumbling out of her mouth and she can't seem to form any sentenced to take it back.
Ben softens, most of his worry slowly slipping away, and nods before pecking her nose.
And then he freezes.
"Is- is that okay? I know we didn't really talk about it last night, but I just kind of assumed... Unless you know you don't, that's okay! We can go back to just being uh, just the friend thing? It's your, it's whatever you-"
Leslie kisses him before he can continue babbling.
"You do that a lot." Ben murmurs into Leslie's hair as he hugs her closed.
"Do what?"
"Kiss me to shut me up," Leslie doesn't have to be looking at him to see the smirk she's sure he's making.
"Well, It's effective," she whispers into his shirt before pulling away slightly, "come on let's go eat those New Year's Day wake up waffles."
"Alright, then we'll talk about what was bothering you so much?"
Leslie shakes her head while opening the styrofoam container, "it wasn't important, just stupid-"
Ben's warm hands are on her shoulders, turning her to face him before she can even finish the sentence.
"Nothing about you is ever stupid, Les." His eyes that normally resemble chocolate brownies are a little dark this morning, more serious, more concerned. He peppers featherlight kisses across her cheeks, waiting to see if she'll tell him what was wrong.
Ben's kissed her nose for about the fifteenth time when Leslie finally blurts out, "I thought you left,"
Ben frowns at her words, opening his mouth to likely assure her that he would never leave, but Leslie continues before he gets the chance.
"I thought you left and I was upset and disappointed because I didn't think you would do something like that. Then I thought maybe it was a family emergency or something, but I was really just worried that you'd left and I can't not have you in my life. You're too important to me."
By the time every thought and feeling had spilled from her lips Ben was kissing her again. Similar to how he had last night, but different, softer and more calculated. As if he had to catalogue every detail and make sure that this was the best kiss for Leslie. (It was.)
"I'm not going anywhere Les," Ben mumbles against her lips after their kiss, to happy to pull away from her completely. What he says next is practically inaudible. A quiet whisper as if he's telling her his deepest secret.
"You're the most important person to me."