what's your damage? (a toursies fanfiction)

chapter seven

@bentylercook: what the heck i gotta do to be with you?

    tweet deleted.

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a few weeks after receiving jared's message, ben was still unwillingly following his instructions. he blocked mair on almost every social media and had turned off his read receipts so mair wouldn't know that he had read jared's texts. guilty was an understatement and useless was as well. every part of him ached for mair, longed for mair, missed mair; but what else was he supposed to do? forget her? try to help her? ben had no doubt that jared's threat was legit, and that he was not the kind of guy ben wanted to get in a fight with. and that he was not the kind of guy that mair belonged with.

"benji," sky said for the fourth time in a row, trying to get a reaction out of his friend, who has been lying motionless on the hotel bed for hours "watching" the tv. ben rolled onto his side and looked at sky, momentarily dragged out of his thoughts.
"dude, are you feeling ok? it's a new city, we can go get some lunch and explore until call tonight."

"i'm alright with staying here." ben said flatly, his voice emotionless in a way that was new to everyone. no one, not even josh, knew what had happened that was making ben act such a way. like he had been broken.

"alright, ben. i'll catch you later i guess," sky murmured walking away and turned to josh standing in the doorway, " you gotta talk to him, man. something big happened and i'm almost positive it has something to do with you - know - who, and you're the only one who can get him over it." before josh could answer sky added, "i'm going to be in the hall for the next 15 minutes. if you and ben come out together, we'll go to lunch. if not, i guess i'll starve to death. good luck man," and with that, sky patted josh on the head and closed the door behind him, leaving ben and josh alone.

"hey ben." josh said quietly, slowly making his way over and sitting in the bed opposite ben,

"hey." ben replied in the same emotionless tone. josh reached over to where the tv remote was resting on the side table and pressed the off button, "we have to talk man. it's been weeks since whatever happened happened and you haven't even told anyone about it."
"it's nothing," ben lied, not making eye contact with his best friend.

"you and i both know that is bullshit, benjamin," josh's voice was stern, something that rarely happened.

"it's stupid." ben sighed slightly, making eye contact with josh for the first time. "but i know you, and you won't leave me alone until i tell you. it all started with jared.."

"jared mcryan?" josh interrupted. of course he knew it had to be that specific jared, but ben certainly didn't need to know all the details.

ben winced at his name said aloud, as if someone had just touched an open wound. "yes. him. anyway, that one day when i got mair's number he answered the text i sent and gave me some crazy ass threats, and like if i didn't leave mair 'alone', he would beat my ass. so i blocked mair on every social media and blocked her number, and i just feel, i don't know, just kind of guilty, i guess. it's not like i really know her, but like i kinda miss her. which is completely fucking stupid because i barely know her and like we've never even met or anyth-"

"ben." josh cut him off, "breathe, man. you're rambling."

"thanks." ben followed josh's instructions and took a breath. "i just don't know what to do," for the first time since the incident, ben felt tears well up in his eyes, but he couldn't tell if they were sad, angry or both. josh's face melted. he had only seen ben cry less than a handful of times, and never over a girl. he got up and sat next to his best friend on the other bed, wrapping his arm around ben's shoulder. "if i were you, i would talk to mair. somehow find a gentle way to say 'your boyfriend is a dick and he threaten to kill me'. i feel like she would need some explanation of why you literally blocked her on everything and why you've been a distant little shit."
"i hate when you're right." ben said, revealing his first glimpse of a smile in weeks.