Oliver Thorton

Benjamin felt as though his jaw was about to hit the ground. James was spluttering, unable to form words.

To say that they hadn’t been expecting that little bit of news was...well....

“H-How can you be pregnant...I thought...I thought you - what? When?” James finally found words. Benjamin still hadn’t found a way to close this mouth yet. Of all of the things that he thought Johanna would say, that was surely the one that never crossed his mind.

James was simply flabbergasted. He thought Johanna stayed home all day with Sam. When did she find time to go out and get herself knocked up again? And by whom? Whenever he came home, Johanna was always there...a good girl...or so he thought.

“Can you two sit down please?” She finally muttered, a tear rolling down her cheek.
Benjamin and James quickly fell back onto the sofa, they weren’t sure what else to say. What could they say? What did Johanna want to hear?
Benjamin snuck a glance at Oliver. He was tightly holding Sam on his hip...he looked absolutely exhausted. If one baby was almost too much for him, what would another one do? And another one that wasn’t even his!

“I guess I should...start explaining myself.” She began, wringing her hands together and looking down at her feet. “Um... long story short, I had - I had gotten one of my old friends to watch Sam for me while I went down to the community college to find out if I could start enrolling in some courses for the upcoming semester.” She sniffled and brought a hand up to wipe her tears away. “There were...there was this group there when I first started coming and they wanted to be friends and they just all seemed so nice. It had been so long since I’ve made friends and - and had plans for a weekend for a change and I just...” Tears rolled down her face in torrents. No matter how much she wiped, they just kept coming back. “I started hiring a sitter for Sam for a couple of days during the week with some money that I had saved up and I just started going out again and having fun and being young.”

Benjamin saw all of the tears and saw her heartache, but he could not find it in himself to feel bad for her. Here she was telling Oliver that he was a bad parent because he worked so much and ‘went out’ so much while she was hiring a sitter without anyone’s knowledge and going back to her partying ways. He wanted to tell her that she had this coming. But it was worrying to wonder how Oliver was going to deal with all of this. At least Sam was his child...

“We went out a dorm party one day and I maybe had just a bit too much and I just...I don’t know. I found out a little over a month ago and I didn’t know how to deal. I didn’t want to happen again and I just couldn’t believe that I let this happen...again!” Oliver sat beside Benjamin on the sofa and placed Sam in his bouncer. “I didn’t mean to go off on Oliver like I had, I was just so stressed out. I didn’t know what to do about this and I couldn’t believe myself. And when I was talking to my mother, I, of course, told her everything and asked what I should do about this.”
It seemed like she was done. James still couldn’t find words.

“So...” Benjamin attempted. “What are you going to do?”
Her eyes watered again.

“I’m not ready to be a mother again. It was hard enough with Sam and look what I did to lash out about it, but...I don’t want to get rid of it.”

“Adoption...?” James attempted. “I hear open adoption is a good choice for those who aren’t ready to be parents but don’t want to be completely out of their children’s lives.”

Johanna heavily dropped herself onto the armchair and placed her red, tear streaked face in her hands.

“I don’t know if I’m strong enough to carry it for nine months and then just walk away. I already tried that with Sam! My mother thinks that it would be best if I come home. She can help me take care of it because she’s retired and I can go to school at the same time and -”

“What about Sam?” Benjamin quickly cut in. He needed to know if he was going to have to prepare saying goodbye to Oliver.

“I can’t take Sam away from Oliver.” Both Benjamin and James let out audible exhales of relief. “I don’t think anyone could be cruel enough, but I don’t know how I’m going to be able to leave him. He’s my son and I love him with all my heart, but I’m clearly not ready nor am I responsible enough to take care of him. I’m not ready for this one either but I don’t really have a choice. I can’t stay and make Oliver care for a baby that’s not his. It’s already hard enough on him working so much to care for Sam.”

It went quiet. No one was sure what to say to dispel the awkwardness of the situation. All three men were shocked at Johanna’s confession. They had all thought that she stayed home all day and cared for her son. How had none of them seen this coming?

Oliver was the most angry at the situation because she had the gall to pay a watcher to care for his son. A complete stranger was in his home caring for Sam while Johanna was out partying and having fun. He agreed wholeheartedly that she really was not responsible enough to care for a child. Oliver had given up so much to become a father and she couldn’t stop herself from whoring around again.

He felt guilty thinking this because Johanna was one of his best friends - not to mention the mother of his child - but it was true. He thought she had changed once Sam was born, but he had been wrong.
But he had almost seen it coming. Johanna was burnt out and overworked being a stay at home mom, it was only a matter of time before she snapped. Oliver had just wished that she would have come to him with this before it got this far. Before she got herself pregnant yet again. And this time, the man was anonymous.

A horrifying thought had crossed Oliver’s mind. But only for one second before it was dispelled in a fit of self disgust.

Oliver had wondered if Sam was even his. What if Johanna had been with more than one man after him and Oliver was simply the only one whose name and face she could remember? But Sam looked too much like Oliver to not be his - their baby pictures were pretty much identical.
Oliver wondered who the poor bastard was who was going to have a baby without even knowing about it. Would he have been like Oliver? Wanting to keep his child or would he have wanted nothing to do with it? Oliver had been in the same situation as him and he couldn’t imagine a life without Sam.

What about this man? This unknown man.

It took a while for Oliver to snap out of his thoughts to realize that the three people around him had broken out of their stupor and were speaking to one another.

“You’re sure that you have absolutely no idea who the father is? Maybe he’ll want to be a part of the baby’s life.” James spoke.

Johanna shook her head and explained that she really had no memory of that night. It had been so long since she went out and partied that she had gone just a tad too far and drank much more than she could handle. The night had been a blur for her, but she was sure living with the consequences.



Benjamin was in his element. It had taken him longer than he would like to admit to get into it, but once he smelt the wonderful aroma of spices surrounding him, it was no trouble remembering why he loved to work.

Today was especially a wonderful day for the restaurant, there had been surprise visits from critics. But not just any critics. The professional inspectors from the Michelin Guide. Their word was law. It didn’t matter what any other critic were to say about their restaurant, if Michelin gave the Maiden Fog the third and last star in the rating....Benjamin couldn’t even think properly.
Edward ran into the kitchen and straight for his son.

“Augustus Ramon is coming back here to do an inspection of the kitchen!” He breathed out, beaming. “Do you know what this means?”

Benjamin became starry eyed. When they do an inspection of the kitchen...that was it. That was the star. If they like what they see...

Benjamin could have cried.

The rest of the kitchen staff had been uninformed until the man walked into the kitchen alongside Edward, but they weren’t aware of what this meant, so they continued to work as usual.
Benjamin was petrified. He had waited for this moment since his father first opened up the restaurant before he was even born! He knew that if he let his fears overtake him, he would mess with the orders, so he tried his best to remain calm. He had waited for this for too long to mess it up.

And just like that, it was over.

The man had walked around the kitchens, watching as the cooks worked and communicated with one another. He had stood over Benjamin as he practically made love to a dish and then he left without saying a single word.

...

“Don’t worry Benji, I’m know you did amazing. That star is as good as yours.” Oliver giggled, running his hand down Benjamin’s back much like the older man had done to him in the middle of his many mental breakdowns. It had been a week since that day. Him and Johanna were still talking things out, but she had made up her mind that she would leave before the end of the month. She was trying to spend as much time with Sam as she could.

As soon as his shift was over at the restaurant, both Benjamin and Edward decided that they had better go home. That was enough excitement for one day. Benjamin had immediately called Oliver, freaking out and begging the boy to come make him tea.

“But he didn’t say anything! He just watched...and then he left! Just like that! And we won’t even know his critique until May! MAY!”

Benjamin began whining and buried his face into his pillow. Oliver sighed and lied next to the man, soothingly running his fingers through his hair.

They were too close to be friends. Anyone could see that and they both knew it. But they were both too cowardly to do anything about it. Oliver wished that Benjamin would find the balls to ask him out. He was sure that the older man wanted to and with everything he was going through with Johanna and her little ‘surprise’, he could use something wonderful to get his mind off of it.

“You know the restaurant is practically three star already. You guys are always booked solid for months and everyone loves your food. It’s going to be no surprise when you see that review, saying that Maiden Fog is the best restaurant the UK has ever seen and there is absolutely no competition when it comes to having the best chef in the world.”

Benjamin allowed a small smile to carve his lips. It was hard not to when someone like Oliver was complimenting you. If there was anyone whose word he trusted, it was Oliver. Benjamin turned his head to the side to look at the boy lying beside him. They were close. Almost too close.
Oliver almost had to go cross eyes just to look at Benjamin since their noses were practically touching.

“How do you always know what to say to make me feel better about myself?” Benjamin muttered, bringing a hand up and moving a lock of Oliver’s chocolate hair from his face.

“I don’t know...I sort of just say the first thing that comes to mind, you’re just easy.”
Oliver was flushed and felt as though his heart was about to beat straight out of his chest. He had never been this close to Benjamin before. He had wished for this to happen many times when they were together, but he didn’t know that this was how he was going to react to it. He wondered how Benjamin was so calm at their proximity.

The older man let out a soft chuckle that turned Oliver’s insides to goo.

“I’ve never been told that before. I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or not.” Another chuckle. “But thank you if it is.”

That smile.

“It is a compliment. It means that I’ve never met someone who I’ve been able to communicate this easily with.” That took every shred of confidence that Oliver found in himself to be able to say without stuttering even once. His face did heat up another two shades though and his lips all of a sudden became very dry at the thought of Benjamin looking into his words.

Benjamin tried not to whimper too loudly at the sight of Oliver’s little pink tongue darting out to lick his full lips. He allowed his eyes to follow the movement and perhaps he might have kept his eyes on Oliver’s lips for just one second too long.

Oliver noticed this. He did. He had never wanted anything as bad as he wanted Benjamin’s lips pressed against his. Of course he could always take the initiative and do it himself, but Oliver had always felt that he was a stand-by type.

‘But how long am I willing to just stand by and wait for something that might not happen otherwise?’ He thought to himself. It was a good motivator. Unfortunately it wasn’t just the fact that Oliver was the stand-by type that made him physically unable to make a move. He was also a coward. A very big coward.

Benjamin wanted to say that this just all in his head. That he and Oliver weren’t moving closer together. He couldn’t believe that he would have been able to actually charm Oliver into liking him. Him! The man who had been ruined by his first and second relationships. He didn’t understand how someone like Oliver, who was so amazing in every way could possibly like someone like him with all of his imperfections.

But there they were.

Oliver realized this slight movement as well. He wasn’t sure when he himself had started moving closer to Benjamin, but he had. It was just a fraction of an inch at a time seeing as they had already been close to one another to begin with, but it was enough.

Both men could feel each other’s breath mingling with their own. Neither were 100% sure of what would happen after...if anything happened. Would their friendship dissolve? Would more begin? Benjamin thought that the world could end after this and he really wouldn’t be able to care. Not even a bit.

Oliver had expected the cliche phone call to interrupt the moment, but there was nothing. They were as close as they could get. It was now or never.

Benjamin closed the gap.