Benny 5.0

Christopher wanted to smack both of them, but he was so tired of their bickering that it felt pointless to step in. Not to mention Christopher was currently in a hospital bed with an IV in his arm, making getting up rather difficult. He was also just mentally tired, and frustrated. Ignoring Ben’s gesture towards him, Christopher remained motionless. How could they do this? They were just like his parents, meaning well but getting caught up in themselves. “I’m sorry,” was all Chris could bring himself to say, in a tone barely more audible than a whisper.

Jen opened her mouth to strike back at Ben’s words, but stopped before she could say anything. The small sound of an apology heard from the bed possibly made her heart shatter. She closed her mouth, taking her eyes off of Ben, at whom she was still enraged, and focused her attention on Chris instead. Immediately, her mood shifted. All of her anger seemed to drain away, transform into sadness and worry, and then flood right back in. She took a breath through her nose and out through her lips. “I’m sorry, Chris.” Her apology was meant to be towards him for shouting in front of him, not towards Ben because she still maintained that he got what he deserved. She grabbed one of the chairs in the corner of the room and pulled it up to the side of his bed, sitting down beside him carefully. “Don’t apologize, okay? None of this is your fault.”

Ben lets out a frustrated sigh as he looks at Jen, of course his sister would chose to act like this in this situation. There’s a time and place for arguing with family and it’s not a hospital room, especially not after their brother just tried committing suicide. But it’s too late for that now. Folding his arms across his chest he moves closer to the bed, a small smile spreading across his face. “I’m sorry bud, how about we forget about that and just sit down and talk? Or maybe watch a movie?”he asks with a small nervous laugh, he’s not sure what to do at this point but a distraction would be good. “I made a new movie if you want to see it?”

Christopher couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable as his siblings talked over his bedside. He felt funny, but couldn’t describe it. They were paying more attention to him than they had ever done, and he knew it was just because of the situation he had gotten himself into. But their efforts for conversation were mostly fruitless, as Christopher was barely listening, his eyes glued to the ceiling, letting their voices go in one ear and out another and wondering why he had been too scared to go through with it. Shying away from Jen’s touch, Chris avoided making eye contact with either of his siblings, not wanting to engage either of them in conversation.

Blood getting hot, Jen turned on her older brother and her hand moved so quickly to slap him in the face that one might have only recognized it as a slap by the sound. “Don’t you dare tell me to shut up, Benjamin. Where the hell have you been this entire time? Fucking some guy’s brains out, getting so high that you don’t even know where you are, diving from some cliff into a lake just so that your sad and directionless life will feel thrilling for just a moment? Fine, you’re immortal, who cares if you spend a few years in the middle of nowhere? You’re not wasting your life, but you’re wasting ours. It’s obvious that our parents aren’t going to take care of this mental child here,” she waved at Chris’s bed without looking at him, “but who says you can’t? None of us are going to live forever, Ben, so who says once we bite the dust you can’t go back to your disgustingly lax way of life?! Do you realize as much as I hate school i’m still in it? Do you realize that I dropped important things to come here to see how he was doing? You, Ben, are the number one most selfish person I have ever met, and I can’t believe you actually have the audacity to tell me to shut up, when all i’m doing is worrying about Chris?!”

Ben looks down at Chris and nearly melts, he can’t stand seeing him like this it’s just not natural. “I’m sorry buddy”he tells him. He winces as he feels Jen’s slap across his face, “Oh because you’re really helping in this situation Jen”he retorts, “Calling it stupid? That’s a great way to boost confidence, I’m sure that it’s exactly what Chris wants to hear”he says with a sigh as he takes a step towards his sister, the anger boiling up inside. There’s a reason he does’t get along with his family he forgot about it until now. “Mental child”he says quietly, “Listen to yourself, you don’t care about him”he says to her, “You act like you do”he continues, “But you don’t”. “And don’t start, you have never been in my position, the worst thing I could be doing is living my normal life-because that consists of drinking, heartbreak, anger, depression- and we’ve all seen how well that turns out”he hisses, “And last time I checked, I’m here. I’ve always been here for Chris, and you know it.”

@benjamin-radcliffe @christopherradcliffe

“As much as I hate seeing you here of all places…” Jen declared, walking into the hospital room, her eyes lying on her brother sitting up in his bed. She had visited the day before as well, but because of her flight she had gotten there pretty late and Chris had been sleeping. “…It’s good to see you didn’t succeed in your stupid, selfish endeavor to take your own life and torture your poor sister on the phone as you did so. If you didn’t look so completely pathetic in that bed, I would have the right mind to slap you.” Instead, she walked to his bedside and kissed his cheek, laying her head on top of his brown hair. “You fucking scared me, Christopher Radcliffe.”

“Shut up Jen”Benjamin mumbles as he listens to his sister, “You’re not helping”he adds as he runs his fingers through his hair. “But, it is glad to talk to you Chris”he says with a small smile as he moves over to stand next to his brother’s bed. “I know I should probably visit more, and trust me I’ll work on it. But in the mean time, I have souvenirs?”he offers as he holds up a bag. He’s awful in these situations, and honestly he just wants to run and hide but he knows he needs to step up and be the big brother as much as he just wants to be the little brother. “I didn’t get any for Jen of course”he says with a laugh, “Just for you”

Jennifer: Good, then I approve. You do you, and him. I expect to see some professional shoots from his portfolio or something, just to be sure. Jumping off a cliff counts I guess, but it's less impressive when you land in an ocean or other assorted bodies of water. Well, as unfortunate as it is, it appears you don't have any other thrilling stories, so I guess I better make my own rather than sit on m fat ass and vent to you.

Jennifer: If I 'catch your drift' correctly, he better be hot or else that's disgusting. Anyway, taking pictures is so typical of you. Tell me something different.

Jennifer: Tell me an exotic story about whatever the hell you're doing so that I can live my fantasies through you and pretend i'm not trapped inside the confines of this god-forsaken asylum for fucked up kids known as a 'school'. And I swear to god if you ask what's been going on I will hang up because absolutely nothing has happened. Nothing.

“I know, but I know you two have a bit of a rocky relationship so,” He said with a shrug. “I’m.. pretty okay. You.. look like you could be better.” He paused for a minute, for turning toward him to ask, “Have you seen Kai recently?”

“True enough”he says with a laugh, “I reckon I could, but then again I’ve been living on the least amount of money that I can”he explains to him. He shakes his head, “No, it’s been a couple of months. Why do you ask? Have you seen him?”

Jack laughed, opening up the door. “Sounds perfect, c’mon in, Ben. Owen is out so you don’t have to deal with hm.” he shrugged. He motioned him in and took a sit down on the counter.

Ben laughs, “You know I don’t mind him but I’m sure he wouldn’t be happy with the booze”he comments as he enters the apartment. Placing the bag on the counter he sits down and looks at Jack, “So how are you?”he asks as he takes the bottle of cognac out of the bag.