Training Wheels ♥︎ Book 1

Chapter 17

Ben shoved his hands in his pockets, briskly walking against the crisp fall air. While controlling his breathing (as a way to try and calm down), he decided he'd listen to Panic! at the Disco. Rey's favorite band was starting to grow on him anyway, and he liked their recent album. He fingered around in his pockets but felt only the keys, and he realized that he didn't have his earphones with him and Rey had his phone back at the dorm anyway. He cursed. He decided he wasn't going to turn back, that he was going to walk as far as he wanted to and he'll decide then whether or not he wanted to turn back.

Ben hummed "House of Memories" by Panic! at the Disco as he walked. He had walked all the way over to the sophomore's building, where they had all the restaurants and snack places. Ben felt in his back pockets for change- he was sort of hungry and food always made him feel less angry. He found a fiver and walked into Subway.

After ordering a turkey and Swiss sandwich and paying the cashier, Ben sat down to think while the people in the kitchen made his sandwich. He rested his head on the table and closed his eyes. Like instinct, his thoughts went straight to Hux. How Ben wanted him here right now to make him feel better. For Hux to give him the gentle kiss on the lips that he'd been waiting for. For Hux to take him back to his dorm and for there to be no one but Ben and Hux alone (except for maybe Millicent the cat). The things that Ben would allow Hux to do to him and for him to want to do to Hux. 'Oh God,' Ben thought.

But Ben supposed that that was just the way things had to be. The people and things you take for granted aren't there when you really need them.

Ben hadn't taken Hux for granted of course but right now... he honestly wanted nothing more than him.

His name was called from the counter and Ben stood up to get his sandwich, thanking the person at the counter who'd given it to him. He sat down again and took a small bite out of it, chewing it for longer than he should. He was deep in thought about Hux (obviously) and school, more especially the fact that he had a 35-problem math assignment due tomorrow that he hadn't even gotten started on yet. After Ben had slowly eaten his sandwich, he had an idea. He decided he'd go over to see Hux at the gymnasium because he knew that Hux did cardio on Thursday, so he'd be there. Ben didn't even want to tell Hux about what had just happened to him- he wanted Hux's company, not a 2-man pity party. He got up and started toward the gym, feeling a little bit happier.

But that didn't last long. Ben and river to the gym and looked into the track, expecting to see Hux. And he saw him, looking like he'd just finished working out and he was wearing the adidas again, with a towel around his neck. Ben smiled and blushed at the sight of him, and then got closer. He didn't want to feel like he was stalking Hux, so he came out in the open.

Now that Ben had gotten closer, he could see that Hux seemed to be hissing at someone. Ben could hear him say, "Is it even working? Is it?" Ben looked to see who he was talking to.

A short brunette with a purple streak in her hair was in tears. She was keeled over, but Ben could tell that if she stood up, she'd be at least 10 inches shorter than Hux. She sniffed and gave Hux a dirty look before spinning around in her heel and leaving the track before Ben could even hear her voice. But then Hux chased after her.

Now Ben knew he was really stalking Hux. But he didn't care... he was very curious to what the hell was going down between Hux and the short brunette. He crept up a bit farther to see them. What Ben saw next was horrible.

He could see Hux moving his lips, but he was too far away for Ben to hear a word he was saying. Hux leaned in and tried to kiss the girl, but she pushed him off and turned around again and left the track for good, without Hux chasing her again. Hux glanced in Ben's direction, and Ben ducked out of Hux's line of vision and ran all the way back to his dorm, not stopping.

When he got into his dorm, he leaned back, screaming at the ceiling at the top of his lungs. "AAAAAHHHHAAAAHHHH!!!!!" He screamed for so long, until his voice got hoarse. Then he kicked the bed with all his might, only to find out that the bed was extremely hard and it hurt his toe. "OH MY GOD!!" He yelled, and started to punch the bed, grunting with every punch he dealt. He then screamed 1 more time when he got tired of punching the bed. He was exhausted from all the rage, so he gripped the bed and halfway laid on it. He looked towards Rey, who was staring at him with shock and horror. She said in a shaky voice, "Auntie Leia..." and Ben knew at that moment what she was going to do. Ben could tell that Rey was about to tell his mother what had been happening, and in less than 5 seconds, Ben ran towards Rey, snatched his phone out of her hand and hung up.

Rey started to cry. Ben shoved the phone into his pocket, trying his hardest not to break down as well. Rey sniffed, wiping her face with good the backs of her hands, and looked up at Ben, her eyes bloodshot red. "What the hell happened out there while you were gone?!" She asked, starting to sniff again.

Ben didn't know what to say. He couldn't say it out loud, but he already admitted it to himself. There was no use trying to hide the truth anyway, when deep down you already know it.

So he just managed to say, "I'm sorry," while beginning to sob. He went into the bedroom, tears already starting to run down his face. He couldn't tell what time he fell asleep, but he was asleep all the way until the next morning.