golden girl (b.t.c.)

chapter twenty-three

thursday, march 19
     ben knocked on eliana's door with a bag of takeout in his hand. her voice came through the door. "give me a second!" she said. she opened the door, her hair still damp from the shower. "ben! come in!"
he smiled and followed her inside. "i like your hair all wavy like that."
she smiled. "thanks. it never stays like this, though."
"i brought food." ben held up the bag and set it on her table. eliana blinked. "i-uh-i already ate."
"oh, okay." he said, suspicious. "i'll just put in in your fridge, then." he opened her mini fridge to find it empty. eliana cracked her knuckles nervously.
"el, there's nothing in here." ben said.
"yeah, i-i've just been eating out."
"yesterday you told me that you had food in your room." he said, not buying her excuses. she stuttered for a minute. "well, i thought i did, but then i realized that i already ate it."
he nodded slowly, then opened his sandwich. eliana glanced at it, practically drooling at how good it looked. she forced herself to look away.
"so," ben swallowed a bite, "how was practice today?"
"it went great, honestly. i think i'm gonna do really well tomorrow." she smiled, remembering the coaches' feedback.
"károlyis compliment you again?"
"again?" she repeated.
"you said last thursday that they said something about your beam work." ben explained. eliana furrowed her eyebrows. "i don't remember telling you that."
ben laughed. "you were a little intoxicated."
"i was drunk?" she yelled.
"you showed up at my room and said that you had some of cally's drinks."
she turned back around to him as her ears went red. "did i say anything else?" she said, obviously worried. ben smirked at her. "just that my eyes were pretty and that you thought i was cute."
eliana laughed. "drunk me knows what's up."
ben finished his sandwich and set the box aside. eliana sat down next to him. "i'm sorry you had to deal with whatever i did."
he laughed. "it was pretty easy to convince you to come back here."
"oh. good. i hope i wasn't much trouble."
"ellie, you are worth every bit of trouble." he smiled, then came forward and kissed her. she softly played with the little curls on the back of his neck as his hands started to wander away from her waist. she broke away from him. "ben."
he blinked at her. "what?"
"i'm not-i don't..." she trailed off. ben's eyes widened. "oh my god, i wasn't-jesus, i wasn't trying to...oh my god." he pulled away from her. "i am so sorry, ellie."
she sat up and giggled softly. "it's okay. just...not right now."
"oh god, i feel like an idiot." ben laughed. eliana pulled his face towards her and kissed him. "you're my idiot."
he grinned and kissed her on the cheek. an alarm buzzed on his phone and he sighed, disappointed. "i gotta go."
"ugh." she frowned. 
"i know." ben kissed her again and stood up. "make sure you eat that salad." he said.
"of course." she lied through her teeth. "have a good show!"