Love Of My Life

74

Ben

"Ben?" Aria asks, coming into the hotel room after she got coffee with Glenn Close. "Sweetheart? What the hell is this picture I found on my phone? And why is it set as my background?"

Aria comes over to where I am seated and shows me her phone. Sure enough there's the picture of Gwil and I, holding the golden globe that Aria won. The both of us kiss it as well. I snicker. 

"Can you send that to me?" I ask. I vaguely remember taking it. I do believe there was a lot of champagne coursing through my body at the time however. 

"I don't even remember you taking the award, and then taking picture of it," Aria mutters, examining the photo. Her eyes narrow. "Is your tongue on it? Ben.." she whines. 

I stand up and engulf her in my arms. She doesn't hug me back, but rather attempts to wriggle out of my grip. 

"Ben," Aria complains. 

I kiss the top of her head and let her go. She looks back at me with flushed cheeks and a smile. 

"Are you sure you don't want to go with Gwil, Joe and I hiking?" I ask. 

Aria shakes her head. "Go have fun. Lucy, Rami and I are going to get lunch and then I have that interview with Rami, remember?" 

How could I forget? "Right," I say, like a fool. "I forgot,"

"It's okay,"

Aria moves away and to the bedroom area of our suite. I rub my face with my hands and then glance at the clock. It's a quarter past eleven. 

"Ari, I'm going to head out," I call to her. 

She pops back in the doorway. 

"Okay, love," she says. "Have fun. Take pictures. And for the love of God don't get lost," 

I roll my eyes. "Aria it's Joe, Gwil and I. Do you really think we'll get lost?" To that she says nothing. "Listen I love you. We'll be fine, okay?" 

"I love you too but Ben please," Aria says. 

"We won't get lost," I tell my girlfriend. "I promise,"

...

"We're lost," Joe says. 

"Don't say that," I tell him harshly. 

"Yeah who's idea was it to go off course?" Gwil asks.

The three of us trek through the wilderness. The sun is hot and I feel myself starting to sweat. It's not that it's necessarily hot, but it is hotter than England. We've been here since the Golden Globes and my body still hasn't adjusted to the temperature. 

"It wasn't off course," Joe says. I look over at him. He looks mesmerized by something. He stares off into the distance, before running off and leaving Gwil and I. Gwil looks at me and shrugs, and then the both of us jog after Joe.

I guess we weren't lost. We just took a little detour. Because when Gwilym and I go after Joe, we find him staring off at one of the most beautiful views I have ever seen. We didn't reach the top of the mountain, but we're surrounded by greenery and lakes. It's so different than what I thought it would look like. 

"This is much better than the trail Gwil wanted to take," Joe mutters. 

"Rude," Gwil says.

"No offense, Gwily. But you would have taken us through the dead of the mountains. This is what happens when you drive a couple hours away," 

Joe's right. Gwil wanted to go right in town but it's not as green there. 

The three of us spend the next however many minutes just staring out at everything around us. It's peaceful here. Maybe we are lost because there's no one else around us, but I don't care right now. I wish I could stay here forever. Except I wish Aria was here. 

I take out my phone and take a few pictures, making a mental note to show them to her later.

"I wish the whole squad was here," Joe says. 

"Me too," Gwilym says. 

Joe takes moment to take out his phone. I barely have time to react when I see him take a selfie of him, Gwil and I. I'm mid saying "What" when he snaps it. 

"At least Gwil is smiling," Joe says when he examines it. 

"You didn't give me time," I mutter. "Can we at least take another?"

Joe shakes his head and grins at me. "Nope," he says, popping the 'p'. "I like this one. I like the authenticity,"

"That's a big word. Take it from Rami's Golden Globe speech?" Gwilym teases. 

Joe rolls his eyes so hard I think I might see them fall out of his head. 

"Fuck. Off," he says. 

As the sun begins to set, the three of us reluctantly leave this beautiful place to try and find our way back to where we parked. It takes a couple hours, but we finally find it. I'm clammy as hell when we finally pile into Joe's car. 

"Well that was an experience," Joe says. He starts the car and begins our journey back to the hotel where we are staying at. 

"I hope we didn't get too sunburned," Gwilym says once we're well into the drive back.

"You would say that," Joe mutters.

"What? We're presenting in a couple days at the Critics Choice Awards,"

I almost forgot about that. 

"Oh shit," Joe says. He must have forgotten about it as well. 

"We're just presenting right?" I ask. Gwilym seems to be on top of it. 

"Yeah, I mean Rami is nominated too. So is our costume and makeup team," Gwil tells us. "I won't be there unfortunately," Joe and I groan. "I have a movie to tend to,"

"I have a movie to tend to," Joe mocks. 

Gwilym laughs. "Shut it,"

"Well before you go, we need to discuss some important business," Joe says. He looks at me through the rearview mirror. My face heats up. 

Gwil furrows his eyebrows before a look of realization spreads across his features.

"Oh! Yes. Ben, we need to discuss," Gwil says. 

This is going to be a long car ride.