Bennett Neely Bale (bennett_bale) wrote in btvsal, @ 2009-11-25 01:37:00 |
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Current location: | apartment above avarice |
Entry tags: | ben bale, neely bale, place: la |
Breaking Down Those Walls
Who: Neely and Ben
Where: The Apartment above Avarice
When: Sunday Afternoon, Nov. 22st (1pm, almost directly after this scene with Bronte)
Neely had, gasp, finally moved into Ben’s old apartment above Avarice. Although “moved” was stretching it a bit, since she didn’t technically have anything to move. Apart from her sexy-self and her travelling backpack full of clothes. Everything else she owned was either at her mom’s or… more likely, in storage. The only thing she really needed at the moment was a bed for allll the sleeping she was going to do. Her smile was a little bittersweet at the thought. She sighed as she walked through the place, trying to familiarise herself with everything so she was less likely to stub her toe against something. She hadn’t bothered to change from her impromptu morning of surfing and was still wearing her purple boardshorts with a purple bikini top. She considered calling Ben again, but… again, she put it off. What a terrible cousin she was.
Luckily for her, she didn't have to think about it, because now? He was right outside her door, wrapped-up package in hand. Yep... Ben had brought her a housewarming gift. The best part? He was the ONLY person side from her now who knew how to get up here without being LET up by security. Standing outside the door, he rang the buzzer and grinned.
"What the fuck?" Neely jumped, since the place was pretty silent up until that point. She rolled her eyes and padded barefoot over to the door and did the mandatory check of the peephole, since she wasn’t a complete fucking idiot. She opened the door for him and smiled, "speak of the devil … or think of the devil and he appears."
He handed her the package, which was roughly the size of her entire upper body. Hey... she had superstrength too. She could deal. "How's my favorite cousin doin', hm? Lovin' the place yet?"
She accepted the package easily enough, although she did frown at the size of it. What the fuck came in a package that big? She internally chuckled at the dirty thought that soon followed. "Alright, alright. How’s my favourite cousin doing? And God yes, this place is fucking sweeeet."
"I'm a little nervous, I won't lie... This is going to be the first time since Sofia all those years ago that I bothered meeting a girl's family, and the first time ever that what they think of me actually MATTERS to me." Oh my GOD. Was Ben honestly becoming a family man?!? "I think you'll like the gift..."
"Awuh, it’s okay." She bundled the package under one arm and pinched his cheek with her free hand, "who couldn’t love you, Ben? Honestly. It’s a no-brainer." She chuckled and made her trademark thoughtful face, squinting one eye at the box under her arm. She placed it on the floor and ripped it open like a kid at Christmas, "ohmygod. You didn’t!" She launched into him into a hug, "thank you!" and then… "Holy shit! I didn’t break anything, did I?"
"Only thing you could break on me is my heart if you ever go away again, kid." He hugged her back, kissing her forehead. "Ready to have a great thanksgiving?"
Awuh, wasn’t he a sweetie? She kissed his cheek. And then … "Oh. Um." She winced. "About that."
"Whoa whoa..." He sputtered a little. "What's this? Do I hear uncertainty in that voice? What's going on, Neely..." Oh damn. If she bailed on him now... "Come on, I need ONE other Bale there..."
"I know! I know. And I’ll go if you need me to. It’s just…" she made a cute little pained face at him. “Rachelle, she… um.” Wow, she had mastery over the English language, huh?
"Oh, for.." Ben looked obviously annoyed... but he'd shock the hell out of her with WHY. "Just bring her. I'll talk to Skylar. And for the love of Christ, do us all a fucking favor and just date the girl already? Broody and angsty is Bretton's gig, not ours."
Sure, there was shock there, but her first reaction was to growl at him. She blinked and moved around the apartment, "how did you even…?"
"You weren't here, Neely. The way you're acting, right now... The look, the stammering... its exactly how I was every time I thought about Skylar for two years until the day she finally told me she was mine. I may be a cad, but I know love when I see it." Well fuck... true wisdom... FROM THE MOUTH OF BEN.
Neely made a cute whiny sound and dragged her fingers through her blonde hair. God she felt so… ugh. She bit down on her lip, "how… how did you know that she was right for you?"
The part of Ben that was used to always acting the part, even around his family, wanted to make some remark like 'she felt good riding me', but he knew she looked up to him, and needed him right now. Sigh. Time to lower those defenses again. "Neely... I felt... SOMETHING the first time I layed eyes on her. Some spark. By the second or third time we talked... she was all I could think of. I tried one night stands to forget her. Fun, but they didn't work. I tried relationships to forget her. All I did was hurt two good women who didn't deserve it. But that was because Skylar was taken at the time. If you think you love this girl, Neely, and she's THERE... don't be a fool. Casual sex is great, god knows I've had more than my share... but nothing compares to being with the person who makes your heart beat faster."
She sat down on the floor and leaned her back against the wall, letting her true vulnerability show as she looked up at him. "Ben…" she whined. She hated herself like this, she really did. She didn’t trust it. "I … I like her," she had trouble saying the more important ‘L’ word, "but I honestly don’t know whether… I’m scared, Ben. I’ve never been more scared of anything in my life."
Damn. She had it for the girl worse than he thought. Sighing, he sat down next to her, hugging her to him sweetly. "Love hurts, kid. And until you know it's here to stay, it hurts every day. Until Skylar told me she loved me back, said she wanted to be with me forever... Just THINKING of how much I loved her hurt. That's the hardest part, is taking that leap. Taking that risk of getting hurt. And you might. There's no promises. You could get hurt bad. But trust me... if it works out?" He gave that old snarky grin again. "The rewards are DEFINITELY worth the risk."
She put her head on his shoulder and started absently picking at his t-shirt, just above his heart. She felt like such a little girl, then. A whiny little bitch. "And all of the other stuff … the women," she sucked her lip between her teeth, "are you still tempted or was it just … easy to let go of that?" That was clearly a worry of hers, that she’d make a mistake and fall back into old habits. She’d already slept with two women since her conversation with Rachelle. She felt guilty for it, but she still did it. "Opening myself to hurt… t-to love?" She whined again. "And what if I do something stupid? What if I hurt her? God, I’m sorry. I’m such a fucking whiner-baby."
"Shuddup, Neels. You're not stupid or a whiner. Those are all legitimate concerns. As for me... Temptation is tricky. Do I see women and want them? Badly, even? Yes. But then I think of Skylar, and how empty I would feel if I lost her by doing something stupid, and let's just say I suddenly have a LOT more willpower." Ben just held her, reallllly feeling for her. She really was a Mini-Ben, down to having the same problems. "What's meant to happen will happen, Neels. But trust me on one thing: if you DO love this girl, if you really think what you feel is love, and you don't at least try? You WILL regret it for the rest of your life."
She snuggled closer to him and those fingers that were picking at his shirt gradually grasped it. There was that word again. Regret. Guilt and Regret did not sit well with Neely; they gave her a tummy ache. And the whole ‘L’ word thing just made it hard to breathe and her heart beat faster. She was just a nervous ball of energy. Suddenly denying Rachelle this one thing seemed … stupid. It would have hurt them a hell of a lot less if she’d realised sooner. She sat up again and looked him in the eyes, a little hope sparkling in her own, "I think I get it now."
"Whatever you do, I love and support you. I just want you to be as happy as I am now. That's all I want." Still... he had to admit he wanted to see the girl give this a try. Time to tell her something he'd, well, never told anyone. "Neels... I don't want you to make the mistakes I made. I had fun, but... the life I had before Skylar... it was empty. Meaningless. And frankly, you deserve a hell of a lot more. If you really think this girl could be the one you need... you need to get up right now, run as fast as you can to her, and tell her before its too late."
The funny thing was … she was starting to see the same thing in herself. She leaned back in and pressed her forehead against his affectionately. God, she loved him. And honestly, this was something she really needed to hear. She met his eyes and just grinned, a stupid, goofy head-over-heels grin. "I love you," she pecked his cheek, got up, and bolted out the door, still in her swimming gear.