He moves, and I hear a crunch as his fist lands directly in the skinny guy’s face.
Fuck –fuck.
There’s two of them, and one of him.
But the guy drops like a stone, and Ben looks over to his drunk friend. “Don’t come back here.”
The guy’s eyes widen and he backs off, holding up his hands. “Fine. She’s not fucking worth it.”
Ben waits for him to grab his friend and walk away, before he swings around to me and points. “I’m walking you home. No arguments.”
I’m not an idiot. “Fine.”
We walk in silence for a few minutes, until I can’t take it anymore. “Nothing like that has ever happened before.”
He huffs. “There’s always a first time.”
“Why did you come back?” I stop short, folding my arms around me. “Why bother?”
Ben pauses, a step ahead of me. My eyes drop to the swollen knuckles on his right hand.
When he doesn’t say anything, just watches me with those brown eyes that see too much, I swallow. “I didn’t imagine it.”
“No.” His voice is rough. “But I told you, I’m leaving.”
“They have these magical inventions called phones.”
“I don’t have a phone.”
I stare at his back as he turns away. “Come on.”
“What do you mean, you don’t have a phone?”
Who doesn’t have a phone anymore? How does he survive?
“Exactly that,” he says shortly. “I don’t have a phone.”
“When are you leaving?” His strides are twice as long as mine. I shuffle to catch up with him and he slows to match my pace.
“I don’t know,” he says quietly. “Maybe a few months. Maybe sooner. I’m not sure yet.”
He’s not looking at me, and I study the side of his face. “A few months is a long time.”
“No, it’s not.” His voice is more abrupt now. “It’s barely anything, Emmy.”
“So that’s it?” I stop again, calling after him as he moves ahead. “You’re… what? Going to walk me home, and that’s it? One day you disappear?”
Ben swallows as he turns back to me. And there’s so much pain behind his eyes in that moment that something close to fear clenches my stomach. “Yeah, Emmy. That’s all I can give you.”
I tilt my head. “What are you not telling me?”
He half-smiles. Tired and rumpled, in another faded band tee. “It’s not that deep. I just… I’ll have to leave. And if we start this… I don’t know if I’d be able to stop.”
It sounds cheesy as hell. And yet… it doesn’t.
Because I know what he means.
“Somebody told me that life is too short to waste the good times worrying about the bad,” I say softly. I take a step toward him, and he doesn’t move.
