golden girl (b.t.c.)

chapter thirteen

sunday, january 18
eliana's phone buzzed non-stop as she made her breakfast. she finally picked it up to see a string of texts from the team usa group chat.
cally: ELLIE WTF
sophie: what did she do this time
cally: ANOTHER NEWSIE????
grace: what happened to the first one?
eliana: what the heck r u talking about
cally sent a link to an article.
Team USA's Eliana Dempsey spotted
with second Newsies tour cast member
she groaned at the picture of her and sky hugging in front of the coffee shop.
     eliana: i stg if i'm in one more tabloid
article i'm gonna sue
sophie: isn't this the second newsie
you've gone out with???
eliana: bro😂i wasn't "oUt WiTh" sky
grace: girl what were u doingggg
eliana: we were literally talking about
ben and how idk if i wanna date him
cally: i see what's goin on here
grace: ????
cally: ellie u sneaky devil
using the blondie to get to the redhead
eliana: omg cally stoppp
i'm turning dnd on byeeee
cally: ELIANA MARIE DEMPSEY
sophie: YOU CAN'T ESCAPE US
eliana muted the conversation and snickered to herself.
sky laughed out loud as ben brushed his teeth in their hotel bathroom. he poked his head out towards where sky sat on the bed. "'sup?"
"team usa's eliana dempsey sported with second newsies tour cast member." sky read, laughing uncontrollably. ben narrowed his eyes as he read on. "after her date with ben cook, dempsey seems to have moved on to another member of the touring disney show, red-headed fan favorite sky flaherty."
"jesus." ben shook his head. he pulled out his phone to text her just as a message came in.
    eliana: DID YOU SEE THE ARTICLE???
ben: sky's been laughing his ass off for
like ten minutes
eliana: oh u mean my boyfriend sky
he's definitely my fan favorite if u know
what i mean ;)))
ben showed this to sky, who had another fit of laughter. "better luck next time, kid." he said.
"you're the one who got my sloppy seconds, apparently."
sky paused for a second and looked up at ben, like "damn, i can't believe you said that," and then burst out laughing even harder. ben texted eliana back.
     ben: you gonna work your way through
the whole cast or what
eliana: i mean, go big or go home
maybe dan'll be my next victim
ben: helllllll no
dan would actually take it seriously

monday, february 2
ben and eliana walked down the pier at sunset after another full day together. they came to the end of the dock and looked out at the empty water.
"so." she started.
"so."
"it's your last week here." she said. ben sighed. "yeah."
"are-are you excited for boston?" she tried for a smile, but it looked pained. ben laughed and shook his head. "no, not really."
"oh." she said. "i'm sorry."
"i was." he said. "excited, i mean. but that was before i met you."
eliana propped her elbows up on the railing and looked over at him.
"tour has been amazing, but these weeks with you..."
"probably the best weeks of my life, honestly." she said.
"yeah."
she watched him look out at the water, his eyes focused on the easy waves and the gulls swooping in.
"ben."
he looked over at her.
"do you want something more than... whatever this is?"
he paused for a second, then nodded. " i do."
"okay." she smiled. "good to know."
he blinked at her. "that's it?"
eliana rolled her eyes and laughed. "isn't it your job to ask?"
"ask what?"
"oh, ben." she shook her head. "you are so dumb sometimes."
he just looked at her, still a little lost. she leaned over and kissed him. when she pulled away, their faces still inches apart, she giggled at him. "to answer your unspoken question, yes, i will be your girlfriend."
"oh. nice." he grinned and kissed her again.