"are you asking me out, ben tyler cook?"
"i think so, yeah."
"i guess it's a date."
there's no doubt that eliana dempsey is the best gymnast in the world.
national championship? check.
world championship? check (twice).
rio 2016? she'll be t...
sunday, february 8 eliana watched the newsies do their last curtain call in chicago, waiting for ben to bow. she cheered extra loudly for sky, and then stood up when ben came tumbling out on stage. he bowed, then winked at her and blew a kiss. at the stage door, the security guard let her in before any of the actors came out. several of the girls behind the barrier whispered as she went inside. ben jogged down the stairs, and eliana smiled. "happy closing." ben wrinkled his nose. "don't say that. just kiss me." "i can deal with that." she pressed her lips to his as sky came down the stairs. "ew. get a room." he stuck his tongue out at them. ben broke away from her to stage door with sky. after a couple minutes, he poked his head back inside the door. "ready to go?" "yep!" she followed him outside and they walked towards lorelei's. they'd been there many times since their first date, so when they walked in, the waitress immediately started on their order. "what time do you leave?" eliana asked him as their waitress handed them their drinks. "the flight's at 12:30, but we have to take the bus there, and it leaves at 10:45." ben said dejectedly. eliana reached over to his hand. "we'll see each other in houston." "i know. but what about after that?" his usually clear blue eyes were clouded with worry. she sighed. "we'll figure it out as we go, okay?" he nodded. "i'm sorry, i'm being such a downer right now. i just-i'm really gonna miss you." she laughed, which made him smile again. "me too. now stop being a loser, and let's do something fun." she got up and grabbed his hand, pulling him out of lorelei's. "does watching a movie count as fun? i'm exhausted." he laughed. "as long as it's with you." she reached her head up and kissed him on the cheek.
monday, february 9 eliana put on a pair of leggings and a sweatshirt, then threw on her jean jacket as she walked out of the house. she met ben outside his hotel, where the bus was waiting, at 9:30. ben snapped a picture of her in front of the bus, and she sat next to him on the curb. "i'm really fucking sad, ellie." "don't be." she said. "what if-" "ben." she stopped him. "you're being such a downer right now." he laughed half-heartedly. "sorry." "tell me three cool things about boston." she said. "why?" "you need something to be happy about." "um, the crowds. there's cool historical stuff there. and i really like the opera house. it was one of my favorite theatres when i was in billy." "okay. that's three things to look forward to." she smiled and laid her head on his shoulder. "it's only a month until houston." he nodded. the rest of the cast started to come out of the hotel, so eliana stood up and held her hands out to ben to pull him up. he took them, looking increasingly sadder by the second. "you know," she said, "i'm gonna keep in touch with sky to make sure you're not this moody all the time." he laughed and smiled for the first time. the director, jeff calhoun, came out of the hotel and whistled to get everyone's attention. "alright, guys. start boarding." ben looked over to him, and his smile left immediately. he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly, never wanting to let go. she pulled away and kissed him one last time. "i'll see you soon, okay?" he looked like he was about to cry. "okay." he kissed her quickly and got onto the bus. as it pulled out of the lot, sky waved to her from the window. she blew ben a kiss and smiled sadly. tears sprang to her eyes as she walked home. ben scrolled through instagram as he waited in the airport, and came across a new post of eliana's. it was a picture that she must've taken on a saturday in their dressing room.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
elianadempsey: bad quality picture, high quality "men" 💙 gonna miss these newsie boys and our tabloid headline adventures :( 3,485 comments user1: are you and ben dating? skyflaherty: excuse you we are men elianadempsey: i had to kill a spider in your dressing room bc you were too scared to do it but ok user2: they are soooo cute user3: sky's muscles HELLO ddeluca12: wow. i see how it is. elianadempsey: gonna miss u too danny bentylercook: ❤️❤️ user4: wait is she dating ben or sky nicodejusus: please send pizza :((((
he sighed, but smiled, already looking forward to seeing her again.
