F•R•I•E•N•D•S

N•I•N•E•T•E•E•N

Benjamin

Cool whispers of air dance about my skin, sending deviant shivers cascading down the length of my arms. My decision to refuse a shirt tonight was coming back to bite me in the rear end, but I didn't care.

I had to leave those four walls for a bit, clear my mind some. Tonight has been a rollercoaster of emotions, all taking place inside my mind and body. For if they ever were to come out, it would go against all that I've trained for and worked hard against.
I couldn't show emotions, at least not when anyone was around.

Now as I sat on the back porch of my place, the lamentation came in like a tidal wave. Droplets of tears patter a tune on the stone beneath me as my eyes yield to my heart.

I could've almost lost my Dad tonight.

The thought was more icy than the bone chilling wind. He was my only guardian, besides the Banks of course. Even after losing the love of his life, he kept moving on. He didn't forget her though, no. The memory of Hermione Suareź continued to live on in both our hearts.

She was the epitome of strength. Even when her bone cancer repeatedly immobilized her, she refused to be catered to unless the situation was dire.
When it was time for school, there was always a crumpled brown paper bag waiting on the counter of our previous house, for me; made with love.

My mother never cared that we didn't have much then. She always quoted some verse about how having little but with love was always better than a feast filled with hatred. And to this day, her words still rang true.

I was a mere ten years old when she finally succumbed to her ailment. A firm indignation deep within me knew things were not right when one morning I came down to grab my lunch, only to be met with a bare counter. I remembered how shaken I was because not once in almost a decade did she ever forget to prepare a meal for her only son.

Everything after that was such a blur. Through tears I remember faces coming up to me at her funeral, bidding empty condolences.
My father though, he changed. And it wasn't necessarily for the worse either. He was just... different.

But who could blame him? His support system, his lifeline, his heart had been viscously taken away from him.

Faint rustling of bushes snatch me out of my reverie, as I quickly swipe my eyes dry.

"I thought I'd find you here."

Kennedy wore a dainty sleep set, her pink shoal fluttering in the wind. Those onyx coils of hers, bleached at the tips wisps about her face, while her tired eyes roam over my person. Even now, ready for bed and halfway asleep, she was beautiful. Too beautiful.

When my Dad took the job after we moved out here, to be apart of her family's security, I thought it would be the most dull occupation in the world. Little did I know, I was going to meet the person who has come to mean so much to me. The young woman whose life I would protect with my own.

"I couldn't sleep," I half-lie. Truth is, I didn't want to. I feared that in the time that I'd be resting, those men would return to finish the job. At the thought of the bastards, my hands involuntarily ball up into fist, my jaw set and rigid.

It was the fact that they had the audacity to intrude on the Bank's residence and somehow found a 'secret' way in. That, or they had an inside tip. Whatever the reason, that fact still remained.

They were able to get in.

The moon is taken from view as Kennedy looms closer, taking the open space next to me. Without words, she slips her slender hand into mine, immediately muddling my thoughts. As my fingers close around hers, she sighs, finding comfort in our close proximity.

It was always like this, between her and I. From the first day we met there was always some form of solace residing between us. She was always the frost to my flame, daily, as I had to battle inner demons as well as the ones around us.

Deciding to become part of my father's team wasn't necessarily a personal choice, but I'm certain that it was the best decision made at the time. Even though the betraying thought would pop in and out of my mind, I'd always wonder how different her and I would be if protecting her wasn't part of my job description.

"Ben, I think I've known you long enough to know when something's bothering you," she begins. "Please, just tell me. I'm here."

And she was.

Always to listen to my woes and aches, never judging or misleading. Even when matters were pressing. It seemed as if there was nothing she couldn't do.
Kennedy Banks was indeed a sanctuary.

"I'm just worried, you know? How can I protect my Dad if I'm all the way in another state." The words seem to fall easily. "I mean, just think. What if backup hadn't reach when it did. What would have become of my father? Of your parents?"

My words cloud over her like a storm. Urgent and dangerous, nevertheless existent. She was digesting it all, coming to terms with the facts. "You've got a point. But what can you do? You have to live a life for yourself Ben, that's why your in college," she encourages.

My hand slips out of hers. The words on my tongue just begging to be said. I didn't want to say anything I'll regret, but the temptation was more adamant than Joseph with Potiphar's wife.
"You don't understand, Kennedy."

My tone is clipped and strained. Bare feet shuffle across the pavement in noiseless distraction, desperate to place my attention elsewhere. The wind seemed to have picked up, its glacial tendrils coiling around me.

"I do! You just need-"

"No Kennedy, you don't know what I need. You don't understand," I stress desperately. "All this was your choice. The college, the state, this big change. It was all you. And guess what I had to do? Up and follow you, wherever you went."

My sudden outburst catches her off guard. Her next words are cautious, calculating. "I had no idea you felt this way."

Her arms move themselves to wrap around her frame. She shivers, but I doubted it was because of the wind.
I never wanted my true thoughts to reveal themselves like this, but emotions were at a high for me right now.

I sigh, running my calloused hands up and down my face. "I'm sorry." The words taste foreign on my tongue. "I didn't mean to take out my frustrations on you I just... I want to do what's best for everyone. My Dad, your parents..."

Even though she's distanced herself from me, my heart would not let me keep it so. Standing completely, I trek the minuscule distance to her, pulling her to her own feet but keeping my hands where they were.

On her waist.

"...and you, Kennedy. I want to be there for all of you. I just need to find a way to make it happen so I don't have to feel so helpless next time."

Her stony reserve cracks as the makings of a smile peeks through. Words are at a loss for me as she unexpectedly brings me in for a hug. Instantly my mind clears, and at least for right now, in this moment I shared with her, my worries were all gone.

"I understand, Ben. But if you're going to be there for everybody, then I'll just have to be there for you."

As she pulls back, the sparkle in her mocha brown eyes transfix me. My heart beats just a little faster, expelling blood to my extremities.
"Yeah?"

I just needed to confirm. I needed to hear that she's got my back no matter what. I'm there for her as much as she'll be there for me. And nothing could stand to change that.
Not even when hindrances interfered, or testing times came. I needed to know that'll be her and I in this.

I needed to know that it'll be us.

"Yes Benjamin; always."