Eggs Benedict

“Morning, sleepyhead,” I laughed, as I placed a glass of water on the bedside cabinet.

Bleary-eyed, but as beautiful as ever, Benedict woke up slowly, a look of sheer confusion on his face. “Um... good morning?”

“How are you feeling?” I asked, unable to hide the amusement in my voice.

“Um... I'm okay. What's going on?”

“You remember coming over after work last night?”

“Yeah...”

“You fell asleep on the sofa, so I let you stay here.”

“Why don't I remember?”

“You were completely out of it, Ben.” I laughed gently, sitting on the edge of my bed. “You were so tired when you got here, that I'd only gone to get us some drinks and you'd dropped off in front of the TV.”

“I'm so sorry,” he muttered, taking a sip of the water I'd provided.

“Why are you apologising?!” I slapped his bare arm gently, realising once again how much I loved the feel of his skin against mine. “I should be the one saying sorry – I'm the one that insisted you come over last night.”

“Yeah,” he looked earnestly into my eyes, “as if I wouldn't have just shown up anyway! Hey, why am I in your bedroom?”

“Where else would you be?”

“In the living room! Or the spare room!”

“You were dead to the world, Ben,” I laughed, “so it was easier to get you in here than have to prop you against the wall to clean up the spare room first.”

“You shouldn't have given up your bed! I would have slept on the floor, if what you're saying is true.”

I laughed, gently moving some hair from his forehead. “Don't be silly.”

“Thank you,” he muttered.

I squeezed his hand and stood to leave, “Breakfast?”

“Please.”

“I'll see what I've got...” I flashed him a smile and waltzed out, grinning to myself.

Several minutes later, I heard my bedroom door opening, so I shouted, “Eggs, Benedict?”

His low, heart-stopping laugh sounded through my home, “You're an angel.”

“Is that a yes to Eggs Benedict, Benedict?” I returned the laugh.

“You know I'll eat anything, especially if it's already got my name on it,” he made his way to me, and pulled me into a gentle embrace. His cupid-bow lips softly touched upon the skin of my temple, before he twirled me away from him, and greedily eyed the ingredients I'd pulled out. “Need any help?”

“If you're willing?”

“Always,” he grinned sweetly, and grabbed the eggs and ham. “Also,” he seemed to be thinking aloud, more than talking to me, “I need to apologise again.”

I pointed my muffin-cutting knife at him jokingly, and glared playfully, “You need to stop being so damned polite, Mr! What could you possibly be sorry for now?”

He chuckled guiltily before looking at me seriously, “You called me here last night to tell me something, didn't you? And I fell asleep before you could, so I'm sorry!”

I felt blood rush to my cheeks as I remembered how determined I'd been the night before. Once and for all, I was going to tell Ben that I had feelings for him and that I hoped we could be more than friends, but when he'd fallen so soundly asleep, I hadn't had the heart to wake him. He looked far too adorable, and my resolve utterly drained from me.

“What did you want to say?” he continued to make breakfast, as I stood there, mind racing to make something up.

“Doesn't matter,” I smiled.

“Sounded pretty important yesterday,” he mused.

“I just wanted to see you, more than anything else,” I bumped my hip against his playfully.

“If you say so,” he laughed, brushing his elbow against my arm in retaliation.

After almost starting a full-blown food fight, we finally managed to scramble together some sort of breakfast, and settle ourselves in front of the TV.

“You know I'm going to annoy you until you tell me what was going on yesterday, don't you?” he asked, holding the remote captive so I'd listen to him.

“Honestly, it was nothing,” I assured, but lying was never a skill I could take pride in.

“You'll never be Oscar-nominated with a performance like that,” he teased, slapping the remote into my hand.

“Really, it doesn't matter,” I smiled, pressing the power button he could never find on the remote, then passing it back.

“Thank you,” he flicked through the channels, finding something I absolutely hated to watch, and putting it on loudly.

“Hey!” I complained.

“Tell me,” his eyes glinted mischievously.

“Benedict, you are an evil man,” I laughed, my heart banging loudly in my chest, my eyes searching his for a way out of this. I couldn't find one. “What time do you have to leave today?” I redirected the conversation, knowing it would only gain me a little time. Part of me would be glad if he could stay for a while, but the other part hoped that he had to leave immediately after I told him, so I could keep the pain and embarrassment of rejection to myself. I was sure that it would play out that way, but I'd decided the night before that I could, and would, no longer live with this secret. His blue eyes glinted as he looked at me, his smile now faded as he saw the seriousness on my face.

“Don't stall. Tell me,” he urged, worried now.

“It's nothing bad,” I started, “at least not yet.” He looked puzzled, but allowed me to continue. I picked at my food, as I tried to find the words. He muted the TV, and made every beat in my chest seem more prominent, each blink of my eyelids last a lifetime, and every breath feel like it could be my last one. I glanced at the door, but knew there was no getting away from this. I couldn't find the perfect words, so I just ran with the first thing that came to mind - “Please don't freak out and leave me...”

His face was gentle, yet intense. He half-smiled, and urged me with his eyes to carry on. “I've known you for a long time now, Ben, and I thought maybe it was just a phase, but it never went away. I mean, what woman in the world would be able to resist such a beautiful feeling, created by such a beautiful human being?” I paused, almost laughing at the confusion on his face, but I was too invested in this terror I'd created within myself to allow happiness now. “You're the best thing that ever happened to me, mister, and I don't ever want to think of a day where I don't at least get to talk to you, or hear you laugh. Benedict, all I'm trying to say is that even if you don't feel the same, please don't leave me. I need you in my life, and I guess that's just one symptom of loving someone, but I'll suppress the rest if I have to.”

I took a deep breath, and realised how little air I'd actually taken in during those last few sentences. Ben's face was unreadable.

“Did that make sense?” I laughed nervously, having no clue what I'd just said.

Silence dominated the next few moments, before he pleaded with his ocean eyes, “Can you break it down a little, please? A lot happened then, and I need to know I understood you.”

I took the slowest breath of my life, before simplifying it as best I could, “I love you, Ben. More than as a friend.”

Benedict's eyes closed for a moment, and he unknowingly steepled his hands beneath his chin as he thought. “You're serious?” he questioned quietly.

“I'm sorry,” I muttered, trying to keep myself from launching my body out of the window.

“Don't be,” he looked at me urgently, as though he could read my mind. “You've nothing to be sorry for. Ever.”

I smiled quickly, before my anxiety of the situation settled back. I watched his eyes move over my face, as he thought for what felt like an eternity.

“Ben?” my voice was barely audible.

“You know,” he spoke, but his face was blank, “I've suspected this for a while...”

I could feel my heart breaking.

“And honestly, I never thought the day would come... I mean, I certainly didn't think it would come about this way. It was so different in my head.”

“You can leave if you want to?” I asked, fighting back tears.

Again, he looked at me with importance, “No! Why would I leave?”

“It's okay,” I reassured both him and myself, “I understand.”

“I don't think you do, my angel. I don't think you do.” His head tilted to the side as he seemed to evaluate me for a little while, before he confidently placed his hand over mine and leaned in to kiss my forehead. “I never pictured today happening this way, because I always thought I'd be the one to finally get this out in the open. I'm so glad you're the brave one, because if it were up to me, I would never have had the chance to do this today.” And with that, he leaned over and placed a gentle, yet passionate kiss on my lips, before pulling my body closer to his, and kissing me more intensely than anything I'd ever known. I kissed back, love and relief flowing through my body like someone had injected happiness into my veins and it was reaching for every millimetre of me. I'd never known anything like it could even exist. I wrapped my arms around him, and felt him do the same, but something was wrong.

“Ben...” I whispered against his lips.

“Mm,” he moaned, smiling against mine.

“Ben...” I repeated after another stunning kiss.

He chuckled, and pecked my lips, as I tried once more, “Ben.” I giggled, “Eggs, Benedict.”

Both of us looked down at the same time, to find our breakfasts spilled all over our laps. In synch, we both burst into laughter, and brushed the food onto the floor. “I'll sort it later,” I smirked, before placing myself in his lap and saying, “But first...” and kissing him the way I'd always dreamt I would.