problems // ben tyler cook

Chapter Thirty Three

I roll out of bed early in the morning, my jaw falling open in a yawn.

My first stop is to the kitchen to make myself a cup of coffee, realizing that I'm only in a bralette and sweatpants since I shiver a bit. I turn up the head a bit and find a note from Ella that tells me she went to work out for a few hours, then she's going to walk around a park and take pictures. I probably won't see her at all before I go for Wicked tonight.

I sit down at the island, enjoying the quiet apartment. It's times like this I wish I had my fire escape back in New York. It was always so peaceful and quiet out there. The cars beneath me were oddly soothing, even though some find it annoying and noisy.

My homesick thoughts are wiped away when there's a knock at the door. "I'll be right there!" I call as loud as I can, rushing into my bedroom to get a sweater.

I pull it around my chest so I'm not too exposed, then go to answer the door.

I gasp as I find Ben behind the door, throwing my arms around him. "I thought you weren't coming for another three days!"

"I told you that so I could surprise you." He says, wrapping his arms around my waist and walking me inside, shutting the door. He pulls away from me and grins. "Hi gorgeous."

"Hi lovey." I smile, placing my hands on his cheeks. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too." Ben tells me. "I love you."

"I love you." I repeat, going on my toes to kiss him.

Ben's hands move for a moment and rest on my stomach, and he quickly pulls away. "Hold on! You opened the door like this?!"

"I covered up!"

"Barely." Ben rolls his eyes. "I don't want anyone else to see what's mine."

I smile at him, leaning into his lips again. My hands start to wander, and I reach for his shirt.

"Is Ella here?" Ben mumbles against my lips.

"No." I quickly blurt out, pulling his shirt over his head.

****

"What a welcome that was." Ben teases as we settle onto the couch.

"Oh shush." I roll my eyes, throwing my legs over his lap.

"I mean, I don't mind. I didn't expect it right away though." Ben smirks, placing his hand on my ankle.

"I haven't seen you in such a long time, Ben. It's gonna happen." I respond. "So what's your Newsies schedule like for these wonderful two weeks in England?"

"Well, I talked my way out of any event for tomorrow so we can spend our whole anniversary together. But everyone is going out to dinner tonight and I was wondering if you'd wanna go with me."

"I can come after my show tonight." I offer.

"I'll text them, I'm sure they won't mind as long as you're coming." Ben tells me, pulling out his phone. "How's Wicked going?"

"It's amazing and I love being Elphaba. I pretty much just get to riff whenever I want and nobody will say anything about it."

"Oh, that's your favorite part? The riffing?" Ben teases.

"It's freeing to not be a damn Disney princess. Of course it's amazing to be a princess on broadway, but I always felt like I had to be perfect and prom and proper. And now I don't have to do that, I can just break the rules." I let out a sigh. "Sorry, I just said a lot in a very little amount of time."

"Can I tell you something?" Ben says, grabbing my hips and pulling me up so I'm straddling him. I giggle, nodding as I wrap my arms around his neck.

"Of course you can."

"I'm really proud of you." Ben tells me, placing his hands on my bare waist. "When I first met you, you were so insecure and pretty quiet. And now you're walking around your apartment in a fucking outfit like this and valuing life and you know who you really are and that really makes me happy to see. I'm happy that you're loving yourself."

My eyes stray from his to prevent myself from crying, yet failing horribly, feeling him pull me even closer to him.

Ben laughs, swiping his thumb across my cheek. "Don't cry, Rose."

"No one ever really tells me that they're proud of me. Nobody really knows the full story of what I've been through. Everyone just tells me I'm a good singer or that I have nice hair but nobody ever tells me they're proud of me."

"Well that's what you've got me for." Ben smiles, pressing a kiss to the tip of my nose. "You let me compliment you because I've got a lot to say."

"Oh shush." I roll my eyes, pulling on his hair a bit.

"Come on, let me go compliment this beautiful body of yours."