The Grand Gesture

part 5

[IMPORTANT: I added a lot to the last part so I strongly recommend rereading part 4 before you continue with this part! Otherwise some things might not add up. Thank you!]

{I Want To Know What Love Is by Foreigner}

Joe's eyes begin to flutter open with the light shining in from the window. Once he opens his eyes and his brain actually begins to process where he is, he remembers what happened last night. He gives a huge smile because there is no reason to hide it. He tries his best to stay as still as possible but he notices Ben's hand gripping his upper thigh and his pants get tight. He grabs Ben's hand to remove it, and he starts moving on his own, giving Joe the impression that he's waking up.

"Shit," Joe whispers.

"Hmm?" Ben hums.

Joe freezes and doesn't say anything in the hopes that Ben he was talking in his sleep. He slowly looks over and sees Ben's eyes starting to open.

"What'd you say?" he says, his voice cracking because his throat is so dry.

"Nothing. I uh- I'll be right back." Joe tries to get up and make his way to the bathroom without Ben noticing what's going on, but he definitely noticed.

He watched Joe awkwardly make his way to the bathroom and he smirked. He wanted to do something to mess with him since he does have an immature side to him, but he also didn't want to cross a line. He waits a couple seconds and then gets up to follow. He puts his ear up to the door but all he hears is running water from the sink. Ben is still having the urge to mess with Joe, slightly in the hopes that it may turn into something more, but mostly in a childish manner.

To not get too involved, he simply pounded on the door twice, which he regret afterwards because he was suffering from a massive headache thanks to his current hangover. "Y-Yeah?!" Joe forced out. Ben was holding back a laugh so he stumbled to the bedroom to get it out of his system. He put on gray t-shirt and navy blue gym shorts and laid on the bed. He heard the water turn off and forced himself to stop laughing.

Joe comes out and starts walking back toward the living room. He begins explaining himself as he walks down the hall. "Okay, listen. I know what you're thinking but-"  He looks up and realizes Ben isn't there so he stops mid sentence. "Uh- Ben?"

Ben hears Joe talking but he can't make out the words. "Bedroom!" he shouts.

Joe just pauses for a minute. He closes his eyes and debates going in. He finally turns around and makes his way to the room and prays that he doesn't try another stunt. His mind is also going a mile a minute, still trying to catch hints to see if he remembers last night at all.

He gets to the room and sees Ben laying on the bed, now clothed, with his hands behind his head. He somewhat misses the sight of his perfect abs, but this way Ben is showing of his impressive biceps, so it was a fair trade.

Joe stands there, not knowing whether to say something about the boner situation or not. Before he can make up his mind, he sees Ben give a nod to the right side of the bed, which he assumes is Ben telling him to go lay down next to him. Ben has had last night on his mind all morning. He can't forget it. How could he? He was trying to think of a way to smoothly let Joe know he remembers and still feels the same way, without saying it word for word.

Joe makes his way over to the other side of the bed and climbs on, laying flat on his back looking up at the ceiling. They are both silent until Ben finally speaks up.

"So-" is all he says. He rolls over so he's facing Joe, laying on his right side. Joe does the same; he rolls over on his left side to face Ben. "So," he mimics. Joe is smirking, faking his confidence level. All he has wanted for about the past year is to share a bed with Ben Hardy, and the moment was here- maybe not exactly how he imagined, but still.

"When can I have that kiss you promised me?" Ben says bluntly. Joe drops the smirk immediately. He was absolutely not expecting that to come out of his mouth. That let Joe know exactly what Ben wanted: he remembered last night and he meant everything.

"Can you- uh- what?" Joe asked, squinting his eyes. He did want to clarify, but he also just wanted to hear him say it again.

"You know what I'm talking about." Ben's confidence was not quivering and Joe saw that, which made him that much more attracted to him. "Last night you said that you didn't want to kiss me until I was sober and you knew I really wanted it. Well, I have a killer hangover but I'm definitely sober. So, here I am, letting you know that I was serious."

Joe was absolutely dumbfounded. He had no idea what to say. He knew he wanted it as soon as possible, but the moment is here and he simply can't get the words out.

Ben could tell Joe was flustered so he decides to make the first move, even though he kind of already did.

He adjusts his body and moves closer to Joe. They were close enough to feel each others breath when Ben starts to lean in.

"I'll go slow. Stop me if you don't want this." Ben wanted to make sure Joe wanted this as much as he did. If he was judging purely from last night, he would think he did, but people can change their minds over night.

Joe nodded. His lips were slightly parted and he couldn't take his eyes off Ben's lips. Ben closed his eyes and began moving closer. There was no way Joe was stopping him. Every ounce of his being wanted this to happen.

Joe decided Ben was moving too slow, so he leaned in the rest of the way, surprising Ben with the sudden contact. He raised his eyebrows and kissed back, putting his hand on the back of Joe's neck.

Joe inches closer. He wraps his arm around Ben and puts his hand on his lower back. He leans further in, kissing Ben harder. Ben is shocked by this side of Joe. Who knew behind the kinky instagram comments there was actually someone in there that meant all of it?

Ben reaches around and puts his hand under Joe's shirt, rubbing up and down his back. Joe pushes his hips forward, grinding against Bens. Ben let out a quick moan and that was music to Joe's ears. Just knowing that Ben did that because of him was an accomplishment in and of itself.

Ben breaks away from Joe's lips and moves down to his neck. That sensation was everything to Joe; his neck has always been his most sensitive area, and in situations like this it was pure ecstasy.

"Wait- wait," Joe says with a shortage of breath. "Try not to leave any marks, or at least any marks that can't be covered. I told Gwil that I liked you and he told me to try something with you. If he sees a hickey he'll know we did stuff." He didn't want to keep Ben a secret by any means, but he didn't want the whole world to know they hooked up, especially if they weren't going to be an official couple.

Ben stared at him for a second and then went straight back to his neck. Joe tilted his head back with his mouth wide open, panting with every breath.

Ben wanted to take it up a notch. He broke away and sat up, then began taking his shirt off. He tossed it to the side of the room and went back to Joe. He pushed Joe's shoulder so now he was on his back, and put one leg on either side of his waist. Joe couldn't help himself. He reaches up and caresses Bens torso, intimately, taking a break from the intense moment. As much as Ben likes the feeling, he wanted action. Now. He leans down and begins kissing him again, harder. His left hand moves to Joe's head, combing his fingers through his auburn hair. His right hand found Joe's, intertwining their fingers and holding it like that for the duration of the kiss. Ben was grinding his hips against Joe's, more aggressively than before. They can each tell that the other is hard.

They both wanted this so bad.

Ben stretched over to the bedside table, making sure his legs don't leave Joe. He opens the drawer and grabs something that Joe can only imagine is a condom.

Lo and behold, he shows him a small gold square and smiled, biting his lip. Joe smiled too; he was ready. He nodded, giving Ben permission.

"Are you sure?" Ben asked. He wanted his consent. You can never be too certain.

"Yes. Please." Joe whined in between breaths. Exactly what Ben wanted to hear.

This is it. This was that night that Joe has been waiting months for, and the night Ben only discovered he wanted a few days ago, yet somehow they both wanted it just a bad.