Status: permanent hiatus - sorry

Benji

025; the date.

What am I doing?

What the hell am I doing?

Oh my God, I’m going to fuck this up.

I really shouldn’t be doing this.

What am I doing?!

“Fuck!” I swore, hopping on one foot so I could clamp my hand around the toes of my other foot.

“Reid, what are you doing?!” Mum shrieked as she came downstairs to see the havoc I’d wreaked in the kitchen.

“I don’t know,” I groaned, sitting at the kitchen table after Mum shooed me out of the way.

She pulled a pot off the stove that was in danger of boiling over, moving it to the side before she opened the oven door. A cloud of smoke billowed out, clearing when Mum opened a window.

“I’m sorry,” I mumbled, resting my head against the table. Everything was turning out to be a disaster.

“What were you trying to do?” Mum asked, sounding exasperated.

“I… I asked Benji out on a date and I thought it would be nice to go on a picnic, so I was trying to make fudge and cookies and I was going to make some sandwiches but I really don’t know what I’m doing in the kitchen and I kicked the cabinet and my toe hurts and now everything’s ruined.” I knew Mum wouldn’t mind that I was planning on going on a date with Benji – in fact she’d probably be ecstatic about it – and some part of me didn’t want to tell her, but she was my mother, so I figured if I spoke really fast she just might not pick up on it.

“You’re going on a date with Benji?” She asked, smiling widely. “Oh, that’s wonderful! He’s such a lovely boy, and you haven’t been on a date in so long. This is great.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, it would be great, if I hadn’t ruined all the food.”

Mum sighed. “Also, Reid? You said you wanted to take him on a picnic?”

I nodded in response.

“Have you, uh, looked outside this morning?”

My eyes widened and I darted to the window, peering through the blinds. I felt my heart sink when I saw grey clouds and rain, so much rain. It was pouring down and I wondered how I hadn’t heard it earlier.

“Fuuuuuuuck!” I yelled, not caring that my mother scowled at my choice of language. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!”

Everything was ruined. The food was ruined, the weather was shit, and there was no way we could go on a picnic. Fuck my life. I’d tried to plan something nice, something special, and it had all gone to shit. Fuck, I couldn’t do anything right.

As I paused in my rant there was a hesitant knock and I spun to see Benji peering around the door, his hair plastered to his forehead.

“Hi,” he grinned, his cheeks the usual flustered pink. “I know you told me not to come until later, but I was bored so I thought I’d just hang upstairs with Kyle.”

I smiled at him, my frustration immediately moving to a distant corner in my mind. I led Benji to the linen closet, where I grabbed a towel and covered his head with it, gently beginning to dry his hair.

“Did you walk?”

“I ran,” he said, reaching up to still my hands and remove the towel from his head. “But it’s really raining.”

“I noticed,” I sighed, looking down to where his hand still clutched mine. “It’s kind of ruined the plan I had for today, but… I’ll figure something out.”

“Oh,” Benji frowned, sounding disappointed. “What was your plan?”

“Well, I was going to take you on a picnic, but yeah, I only just noticed that it’s raining.” I led Benji upstairs and into my room, where I helped him out of his soaked cardigan and hung it on the door to dry. I turned to rummage in my drawers for anything that would fit Benji’s small frame, but came up with nothing and instead just grabbed a warm hoody.

As I slung it over his shoulders, Benji looked up at me with a grin on his face.

“I have an idea.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Yeah? And what’s that?”

He pushed his still-wet hair out of his face, the sleeves of the hoody hanging over his fingers. “Don’t worry about it. You just continue doing what you were doing, and I’ll sort the location.”

“Are you sure?” I questioned.

“Yes,” he insisted. “I’ll be back soon!” He shouted, and turned and quickly trotted down the stairs.

“Wait, Benji! Take an umbrella!” I called out, but was answered with the slam of the front door, signalling I’d been too late and he was just going to get wet again.

I sighed, shaking my head with a grin on my face. And then something occurred to me.

“Mum! I need your help!”

*

Benji was back within half an hour, as wet as he was the first time, with a huge smile on his face.

“All good?”

“Yeah,” he replied. “Ready to go?”

I grinned and grabbed the cliché picnic basket off the table (which, I feel like I should mention, Mum made me use). “Are we driving?” I asked, pausing with my hand hovering over my car keys.

“Nope,” Benji replied, popping the ‘p’. “We’re going to my house.”

I raised a questioning eyebrow, but followed nonetheless when he grabbed my hand. Just before we left the house, however, I reached behind the door and pulled an umbrella from the basket there.

I opened it and held it over our heads, giving Benji a pointed look. He just laughed and looped his arm through mine, seeing as he couldn’t hold my hand because I had the umbrella in one and the basket in the other.

We got to Benji’s house, and I was still confused. Did he need to pick something up or what? How were we going to have a picnic if it was still raining?

I followed him inside, mimicking him when he left his shoes inside the door. I paused there, unsure of what to do.

Benji turned to me as he started up the stairs. He giggled at my confused expression.

“Come on,” he motioned. “And bring the basket!”

I followed him upstairs, trying desperately to be a gentleman and not look at his ass (which, I must admit, was difficult, but I managed). He cautiously took my hand and led me over to his room.

“Benji, what are we…” I trailed off though, when I saw what he’d done.

The curtains in his bedroom were closed, blocking out all natural light. Sometime between now and the last time I’d been in his room, he’d strung fairy lights all over the walls, and these were on now, casting a low glow over the room. He’d spread a blanket over the space on the floor with a mound of cushions next to it, and there was a pile of DVD’s and CD’s on the floor in front of the TV.

“I was thinking we could just… have the picnic here,” Benji mumbled, slowly looking up at me through his eyelashes.

“Aw, babe, this is amazing,” I told him, lifting our linked hands so I could kiss his knuckles.

“Really?” His cheeks were, once again, dusted pink and he bit his lower lip.

“Yes, really,” I laughed and pulled him through the doorway.

I sat down on the blanket, setting the basket next to me and watching Benji as he kneeled in front of the TV.

“We’re watching Peter Pan this time,” he told me, smirking.

“Fine with me, love,” I said, and started pulling stuff out of the basket. “There’s cake, muffins, sandwiches and apple juice.”

Benji grinned as he sat next to me, surveying all the food. “Did you make all of this?”

I cleared my throat awkwardly and looked down, ashamed to admit my failure. “Uhh, no. I kind of ruined all the food that I was trying to make, so I made Mum go and buy some.”

The blond boy next to me giggled sweetly. “It’s fine, Reid. I love it.” He got up on his knees and shuffled toward me. He was blushing madly and his movements were small and hesitant as he reached out, placing his hands on my jaw.

I wound my arms around his waist, closing the distance between us to meet his movements. His lips were only an inch from mine when I paused, inhaling everything that was Benji. He smelt amazing, sweet like strawberries and a scent that was uniquely his own. I could feel his warm breath fanning across my face and I think that’s what made me close my eyes and close the gap.

It was soft and intimate, but chaste with no tongue. Somehow, it felt so different to any other kiss I’d ever shared with anyone. This was… amazing. It was sweet, and slow, and gentle. Just holding him, feeling his soft hands on my jaw, it was enough to stir up insane amounts of butterflies within me.

Our lips parted but I held him close, resting my forehead against his.

“Be my boyfriend?” I whispered, my mouth brushing his as I spoke.

“Yeah,” he breathed shakily, and leant forward to connect our lips again.