OALL- Rewrite Ch7

Days passed by quickly, and the trio did the best they could to pretend that everything was fine, and nothing had changed. After leaving the beach the following day Gwen promised to visit frequently, and true to her word she stopped by every day, even if it was only to check in and see how Kevin was. And Ben? Well, Ben never left Kevin's side; knowing he was going to lose him made being away from him incredibly painful, and the brunette wanted to see as much of that beautiful face as he could before he lost him forever.

They stayed at Kevin's for several days, and whenever Sandra requested that Ben come home, he brought Kevin with him.

Currently, Kevin was asleep in Bens bed while Ben pulled on a pair of boxers, grabbing Kevin's black t-shirt and yanking it on before making his way out the door. He gently closed it behind himself before making his way down the stairs and to the kitchen. His eyes widened when he spotted his mother in the kitchen, confusion the first thing to register in his mind as she turned to face him. His brows furrowed

"Mom?" he asked curiously "Shouldn't you be at work? Is everything okay?"

"Your father and I wanted to talk to you first" she replied softly "Come on"

She turned and led the way into the living room, taking a seat on the couch beside her husband. Ben paused in the doorway, already having an idea what this was about and wishing he could back out and not have to talk about it at all. Heaving a sigh he dropped himself into the chair and raised a brow

"Whats up?"


"Its about Kevin" she began

His gaze darkened and he swallowed thickly, grip on the armrest of the chair tightening considerably

"What about him?"

"Is he okay?" his mother asked after a heavy pause

"We notice you won't let him out of your sight lately" Carl added, gaze giving away the worry he felt for his son, and his sons boyfriend

Ben forced a laugh, and Sandra couldn't help but hear the pained and frantic edge to it

"What, there has to be something wrong for me to want my boyfriend around?" he scoffed, gaze flicking rapidly back and forth between his parents and the direction of his bedroom

"Ben, honey, we're asking because we care about you" Sandra tried to assure him "Both of you. And if something is wrong, we want to help"

Ben slammed his eyes shut, taking a deep shuddering breath before responding

"You can't help, mom"

"Why? What's wrong with him?" Carl prompted

"Mom... Dad..." he looked to the ground, struggling to hold back his tears and keep an even tone in his voice "Kevin's... He's-" he broke off when he heard a crash upstairs. He was on his feet in a second, darting toward the stairs and frantically scrambling up them, throwing open the door to his room "Kevin, are you okay?" he asked worriedly

Kevin chuckled softly

"Yeah, Benji, I'm fine" he offered a warm and reassuring smile that had Ben relaxing in spite of himself "I woke up and noticed you weren't in bed. I was going to come investigate. But your smoothie slipped me up"

Guilt filled Ben's eyes

"Crap, Kevin, I'm so sorry-"

"Hey" he looked up, meeting Kevin's gaze "It's okay"

Ben smiled tiredly before pushing on Kevin's chest until the raven backed up, falling back onto the bed.

"Go to bed" he ordered

"Ben-" he tried to protest

"Sleep" he insisted, smiling triumphantly when Kevin groaned in defeat and pulled the blanket over himself. Ben tenderly brushed the ruffians bangs out of his face and offered a warm smile "Get a bit more sleep"

Kevin levelled him with a playful glare

"I can get up now, mother hen"

Ben shook his head adamantly

"No. You barely got any sleep, and you weren't feeling well last night"

Kevin sighed and nodded, closing his eyes and sighing once more as Ben stood and left the room.

His parents were already downstairs when he returned to the living room, and they were surprised to see how worried and exhausted their son looked. His mother stood as soon as he sat down, this time on the love seat couch, and she took a seat beside him, wrapping an arm around his shoulder

"There's something you aren't telling us" she murmured knowingly, suspicion confirmed when a pained look crossed his face "Are you okay? Is Kevin? What's wrong baby?" she felt tears pooling in her eyes at the obvious look of agony written across her sons face, his lips pursed "Ben, I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong" she whispered

He turned his head, gaze locking with hers, and his tears finally broke free as he forced himself to tell his mother what was happening

"Kevin... Is dying, mom" he choked out

Sandra stiffened, eyes going wide in shock. Of all the things she had expected to hear, that had not been one of them. The woman was confused; how was this even happening? Kevin looked perfectly healthy! Her train of thought was interrupted and she snapped back to attention when a sob escaped her son. She watched in stunned silence as he brought his knees up to his chest and curled in on himself.

Instantly she pulled herself up onto the couch, kneeling beside him as she threw her arms around him, holding him in a way only a mother can hold their child. He turned, pushing his face into her shoulder, and slowly but surely he uncurled until his arms were wrapped firmly around her, hands fisted into her sweater.

"He's d-dying, mom" he choked out once more, completely losing grip on the calm he had been struggling to maintain

Kevin's eyes shot open and he lurched up, ignoring the slight spinning in his head from his quick movement. When his suspicions were confirmed and he was sure he was, in fact, hearing Ben's sobbing he lurched to his feet, stumbling across the room and rushing down the stairs as quickly as his stubborn body would allow him to. As the spinning ceased, he increased his pace.

Ben's eyes flew open when he heard footsteps on the stairs and he broke free of his mothers grasp, getting to his feet just in time for Kevin to stumble into the room. Ben held his arms out to catch Kevin, noticing the sick look painted on his face from the spinning his head had been doing a few moments ago, and their knees gave out when their bodies met, sending both to the floor. Ben's arms tightened around the ruffians waist and Kevin brought the brunette closer to his chest.

"You're supposed to be in bed" he tried to scold the stubborn raven

"You were crying. I'm not leaving you alone" Kevin replied instantly

"You should be resting" was his attempt at scolding the other

"Well I'm not"

Ben sighed heavily, holding him closer and pushing his face into the other's chest. When his sobs finally stopped, he spoke

"Are you hungry?"

Kevin's grip tightened

"A bit" he replied "But right now, I'm content here" he pressed a gentle kiss to Ben's temple

The brunette pulled back a bit to press a gentle kiss to his lips before hiding his face in the ruffians chest once more. Sandra and Carl exchanged a glance, worry filled eyes moving back to the two teenagers on the floor. After a moment, Carl moved to sit by his wife, wrapping an arm around her

"This is horrible" she whispered "What are we going to do?"

Carl sighed heavily

"What can we do?" was his tired response