Say Something | Ben Tyler Cook/Newsies

Chapter Thirty-eight

I woke up too soon to the incessant buzzing of a cellphone in Ben's jacket. He groaned softly, obviously unenthused by the interruption, and slowly retrieved the nuisance from his pocket. This was one of those rare occasions when I wished cellphones didn't exist and people could only communicate through carrier pigeons. Especially since I'd been running off embarrassment and adrenaline for the last twenty-four hours and was in desperate need of a full night's rest. But apparently the universe was against that now.

Pretending to be asleep, I shifted and took a deep breath of faint cologne mixed with detergent. Now I really didn't want to move. Not that I could even if I wanted to. My head was probably frozen onto Ben's shoulder.

He raised the device to his ear and said in a low, lethargic voice, "Hello? Josh? Really?"

Honestly, the bits of conversation on Ben's end were so vague and uninformative that I tuned it out and tried falling back asleep. Thankfully the phone call didn't last long, and Ben cautiously slipped the phone back into his pocket with a sigh. I had hoped he would rest his head on mine again to conserve heat, but he didn't.

"Angelina," he whispered, gently nudging my head with his shoulder, "are you awake?"

"No," I mumbled, wholeheartedly wishing I was.

Ben chuckled and I knew there was no chance of sleep now. Begrudgingly, I opened my eyes and rubbed the glaring sun out of them. At least the view was nice with the lights and snow-capped streets. It looked like a Christmas card.

"That was Josh," Ben informed me, still looking over the cityscape. "Apparently there's a lot of traffic because of the blizzard so the roads are back up pretty badly. They're on their way though so they assured me they'll be here as soon as they can."

He didn't tell me to sit up so I kept my head on his shoulder.

"Did you tell him to assure Ginger we're alright? I can only imagine who freaked out she is," I replied with a smirk.

"Josh sounded pretty concerned too. Honestly, I don't blame them. He told me the storm was so bad it knocked down a bunch of trees and completely froze over some cars. He was surprised to hear we made it through the night."

"I am too," I said frankly. "My legs are still numb, but I guess that's what I get for finally letting Ginger talk me into wearing a dress."

"I don't know why you don't wear them more often. You look really nice in them."

An unmistakable heat warmed my cheeks as I pursed my lips to keep from grinning like an idiot. "You look really nice in coffee-stained white t-shirts," I joked, embarrassed by his unexpected compliment.

Ben laughed softly. "Thanks a lot, but I'm being serious."

"I am too," I replied in mock seriousness. "I don't think you realize how good brown looks on you."

"Angelina." He pulled his shoulder away from my head so I was forced to look at him. Snowflakes melted on his dark lashes and his impossibly blue eyes looked even brighter against the white snow. "Why do you do that?"

"Do what?" I asked, genuinely confused.

"You can't take a compliment."

"I can take a compliment!"

"Oh, really?" The corners of Ben's lips quirked up in a smile. "Anytime someone says anything remotely nice to you never take it seriously."

"That's not true," I countered less confidently than I intended. "And even if it was, how would you know? You've never given me a compliment before...besides right now."