BEN HARDY LOVEBOT

“We’re only going for milk.” He quietly mumbled as he aimed the keys at the car and pressed the lock button, hearing the sound of the mechanisms working to ensure the car wouldn’t get stolen from the car park. He held his hand out for you to take before he crossed the zebra crossings, giving a silent nod to a car that’d stopped so the two of you could pass.

It was a gentle reminder but also a jest at himself, considering the last time he’d gone to Asda this late, he’d returned home with a new DVD player for your living room, an abundance of on-sale Easter chocolate, and a DIY friendship bracelets set (it was located in the 6 years and over section, but he wouldn’t tell anyone that part.)

The bracelets aforementioned had been tied to your wrists for a month and a half now, yours was a braided black, white and yellow band while his was black, white and red. He somehow matched his outfit, black jogging bottoms, a red Nike hoodie and the best part of all…. socks with sliders. You’d claim that if he wore those out of the house, you’d pretend not to know him, but later decided that it was more endearing than embarrassing. His socks were black with red love hearts printed all over them, some you’d got him for Valentine’s Day as he claimed that “a pair of socks is the best present you could ever buy a man.”

You, on the other hand, wore a pair of black leggings, paired with an extremely worn “Rolling Stones 1979 Tour” acid wash t-shirt. Ben had insisted that you wear one of his jackets, given the fact that your local Asda always seemed to be freezing around this time, so it was topped off with a navy blue Nike Air Max windbreaker. Your fluffy bed socks really pulled the outfit together.

You each had one of Ben’s AirPods in your ear, currently listening to a song by The Lumineers, one that Ben described to you as making him feel as if he was “running down a sandy beach trying to get to you.” His pinky finger slid around your pinky finger as he strayed to the shelter where all the trolleys (shopping carts) were located.

He always pushed the trolley, claiming his driving skills were better than yours, but you knew the only reason he enjoyed pushing them so much was so he could “fly down the aisles”, an act in which he would push the cart extremely fast when there was nobody near you, and lift his feet from the ground, letting the cart take all his weight.

The song ended and changed to a Snoop Dogg song, to which you quirked an eyebrow, asking, “What fucking playlist is this?” with a laugh.

You walked through the sliding doors, Ben already getting distracted by some plants that were on clearance at the front doors, silently placing 2 small plant pots with some sort of pink flower in the middle into the cart.

There was a display as soon as you entered the shop floor, a large green cardboard cut out of the grinch, next to it sitting a handful of Christmas DVD’s, letting all the customers know that they could “Buy 1 Christmas DVD and receive a free 9” pizza”. Ben’s eyes immediately lit up, turning his head towards yours as he exclaimed that Christmas films and food are two of his favourite things ever. You shook your head in disbelief as you picked through the DVD’s, most of them being new and animated films you’d never heard of.

You were looking for one in particular, though you had little faith that it would be in the same pile as these cartoon ones. Ben loved The Nativity, one of the funniest Christmas films in the world, he reckons. He thought Martin Freeman was one of the best actors ever, and that along with Marc Wootton, it had to be the best film ever.

You rifled through the array of cases, finally picking out a white cover that read, “The Nativity!” You placed it in the cart, seeing Ben’s eyes light up as he bounced up and down in excitement, like a child.

“Can we get pepperoni on the pizza? Please!” He whined, earning a “yes” from you, to which he skipped down the aisle and giggled like a schoolboy.

You reached the fridges, Ben picking up 2 pints of milk and putting them in the trolley before giving an accomplished nod.

“Can we ‘ave a look at some vinyls?” He asked, with a pleading pout that he knew always won you over.

“Ooh, yeah actually, Gwil said he wanted the Hamilton vinyl a couple of weeks ago. Might be a good present, yeah?” You suggested, knowing it would result in Ben realising he hadn’t yet bought Christmas presents for any of his friends yet, something you’d been trying to gently remind him of for the last couple of weeks.

You made your way to the music section, getting distracted by anything and everything you could find. Ben was clinging onto a t-shirt with a green dinosaur on it, lit up by Christmas lights with a star on top of its head, the phrase “Tree-Rex” printed underneath it.

He held up the knitted fabric to you, and you both whispered, “Joe.” at the exact same time. It was folded and placed into the cart.

A pack of 250 small Christmas cards was the next thing to grab your attention, Ben telling you that the two of you “had to send the neighbours a card this year, considering the amount of times they’ve had to endure foolish giggles and the  creaky bed really late at night!” You’d simply nodded with a chuckle, though he didn’t put them in straight away. He noticed the box had been busted open at the top and went on a hunt for an unopened box. He reached his arm all the way back into the shelf, jokingly asking you to hold his hand so he didn’t get lost. He finally grabbed a pack, throwing them into the trolley from about a meter away and doing a celebratory dance when they went in.

One of the lights overhead flickered, which caused Ben to turn to you with an over-exaggerated gasp, claiming “Asda is haunted!!!!” and running away from you frantically. You guffawed at his antics, lightly jogging after him while trying to catch your breath from laughing.

After collecting your pizza on the way to the music section, Ben made a quick turn down the homeware section. He browsed the cushion cases, holding up a few colours and patterns that he thought may match your living room sofa, all of which received a horrified glare from you (this was the exact reason you didn’t let him take the lead when you decided to start decorating your flat together… his first suggestion was warm brown walls with a stripy turquoise and black sofa…)

He reached the mirror section, finding an extremely large plain mirror, with no frame, slowly running his finger over the edge of it.

“Might buy us this for Christmas.” He stated.

Your brows raised in confusion, tilting your head to tell him you were unsure why he’d said it.

“One of them naughty mirrors…… when you put it on the ceiling so I’d be able to see everything when you’re ridi-“  your hand quickly shot over his mouth, your eyes widening as you took in what he meant. You could feel his lips sporting a smirk beneath your palm. You shook your head and giggled along with him.

“C'mon babe… know you’d love seeing this juicy cheeks every time I’m on top of you…” you lightly smacked his chest and delivered a sharp, yet humorous, “enough!”.

Once you’d finally made it to the music section, Ben appeared to be in his element. He’d picked up the Hamilton vinyl for Gwilym, as well as a new Ariana Grande record for Lucy. He was eyeing up Taylor Swift’s newest release, hoping you wouldn’t notice when he slipped it into the cart. He groaned when you looked him directly in the eyes and shook your head with a knowing smile on your face.

“I was gonna give you that for Christmas! Now you’ve ruined the surprise!” He whined with a pout.

“You are all I want for Christmas.” You replied, already cringing wondering if anyone else had heard you.

He, too, shook his head, but still gave you a quick kiss on the cheek to show his appreciation for you.

The next aisle was the clearance aisle. This was a dangerous one for Ben. His Mum had always taught him “never to pass up a bargain, cause you’ll see it one day, regret not buying it, go back the next day and it’ll be gone!”.

Within 5 minutes of browsing the shelves, he’d picked up a large Christmas-themed Yankee Candle gift set for his brother, a turkey-shaped dog toy for Frankie (this one you’d suggested) as well as a pack of 3 photo frames and a new flower vase for his mum.

Walking to the checkout was always a dangerous game, as the bakery part of the shop was located right next to all the tills. He’d always claim to be “just looking” while you unloaded the trolley onto the moving belt so the cashier could scan your items, and most times he only came back with a box of flapjacks or at the most, 2 jam donuts and a reduced fat chocolate eclair cake.

What you weren’t expecting today, however, was for your boyfriend to return with a basket he’d picked up from somewhere, filled with pastries and cakes that made your mouth water.

“These’ll be alright til Christmas Eve won’t they? Can watch Nativity with our little pizza ‘n then fill ourselves wi’ these after? Yeah?” You didn’t really get a chance to reply before the food was placed down onto the belt. You’d never seen him so happy with himself, thinking he’d just come up with the best idea in the entire world, even though you’d done basically the same thing for the last 2 years of spending Christmas together.

The cashier gave you your total, a whopping £110, even though you’d originally come in for 2 pints of milk, which should’ve brought your total to around…. £3.

He shook his head with a small smile as he took his card out of his wallet, swiping it over the reader and thanking the lady when she gave him his receipt. He rolled the trolley out onto the car park, you following closely behind telling him to unlock the car so you’d be able to hear the beep it made and find it, considering how dark it was outside. After locating the vehicle, he gently placed all the items in the backseat, taking extra care to make sure the pizza was cushioned by Joe’s new shirt and Frankie’s new toy. He dropped the trolley back off at the shelter before getting into the car, strapping his seatbelt and turning the radio on.

Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime” filled the speakers, causing Ben to let out a quiet, “What a fuckin’ banger!”.

Olivia’s tiny feet are resting on the bathroom counter, but most of her body is being supported by Joe’s chest, his eyes looking directly in hers in the mirror. They only woke up 10 minutes ago, evident by your daughters messy hair and your husband’s drowsy eyes, clearly not yet fully awake.

He’d begun these little pep talks years ago. When she was a tiny baby and could barely support her own head on her neck, he held her so she could see herself in the mirror and moved to her ear so he could whisper the little mantra he’d memorised. Now, 5 years later, not much has changed. Though now he makes her repeat after him, he still whispers the words in her ear, chuckling when she gets all giggly because of his stubble tickling her cheek.

Today’s no different. You’ve grown used to seeing them two doing their thing every morning when you wake up, and usually it doesn’t affect you, sending them a smile and a kiss on both their cheeks to show your affection.

But something was different this morning. Maybe it was the fact that it was a Sunday, and neither of you had to be anywhere, meaning you could completely relax with your little love cuddling in between you. Maybe it had something to do with the pregnancy test you’d taken last night, confirming the fact that you’d soon have another angel in your arms, and another child for Joe to inspire with his words. He caught your eye through the mirror, though they soon moved to your stomach in the reflection, wondering if you were showing yet (despite you reminding him that when you were pregnant the first time, it took you just over 3 months for any significant change to occur.)

You’d never seen him look this content in the morning, and he could say the same about you.

He shook his head with a smile, mouthing an “I love you” through the mirror. You padded over to the counter, standing behind him with your hands covering Liv’s little feet to hopefully warm them up some.

“Are we ready?” He asked, gently resting his head against his daughters. He was replied to with a small ‘yes’, and a deep breath. She’d started trying to say it all herself, dedicating her days to learning the mantra with her dad so she could hopefully take the lead one morning.

“I am kind.”

“I give people second chances.”

“My actions reflect the person I am.”

“I treat everybody equally.”

“I am beautiful, smart, caring and unique.”

She repeated after her father, tilting her head to rest on top of his and looking into your eyes through the mirror, though they contrasted deeply to the look your husband was giving you. He looked almost smug, as he gave his daughter a kiss on the cheek and whispered,

“I am going to be the best big sister in the world.” She repeated him without really thinking, but when her mind comprehended what she’d just said, her little mouth broke open into an ‘o’ shape and her eyes lit up with excitement.

waking up next to ben was one of her favourite things on the planet. something about the way his hand would rest underneath her shirt (if she had one on) and rub small circles under her breast settled her like nothing else could. she normally woke up to ben cooing to her, usually murmurs of how beautiful she was when she slept, or if she’d overslept it would be gentle reminders of where she had to be - which was why she was surprised to wake up to dead silence.

she yearned to feel his hands on her skin, as she was so used to, but instead, her hand simply rested in ben’s. her palm face down on ben’s larger hand while he traced one pointer finger over her freshly manicured nails. they were painted a pastel blue colour, completely matte except for a shimmery top coat applied to her ring finger. she’d been on the phone ben while she was getting her nails done, asking him what he thought she should get done when the nail lady asked her what colour she’d like. he asked her what clothes she had on at that moment, to which she replied a light blue jumper that had a sparkly carebear printed on the front of it. he simply gave a ‘well then…’ and told her he’d ring her back when she was done. so to see him admiring her fresh set wasn’t surprising.

his eyes flashed to hers as she roused herself from sleep, carefully removing her hand from his to wipe the drool from her chin. he gave her a light chuckle as her body strung completely taught before laying entirely limp back on the bed and stretching her arms across his chest. she clung to him like a koala, pressing a couple of kisses to his neck when she had enough energy.

“you like my nails?” she whispered, pressing one final kiss to his neck before sitting up.

“yeah.” he chuckled, resting his hand on her hip as she reached to the bedside table to retrieve her phone.

“i’ll make some breakfast.” she said, leaning down to place her hand on ben’s cheek before leaving the bedroom.

she walked down the stairs, calling for frankie as she reached the bottom step, happy to receive many sloppy kisses to her face when she bent down to give the dog her favourite behind the ear scratches.

there was a pink bottle stuck in her mouth, which y/n speedily removed and wiped on her t-shirt to get rid of all the dog spit. it was her nail polish, a cheaper dupe of some dior varnish she’d seen on instagram. the colour, effectively called ‘cha-ching cherry’ was a hot pink, and she’d bought it purely because it was on sale at the drugstore and reminded her of the dior version.

“how’d ya get this, silly girl?” she cooed to the dog, stamping kisses on the top of her head. she wondered how she even reached and opened the polish in the first place, she was sure it had still been in the plastic wrap it came in when she went to bed last night… no, it definitely was. she remembers placing it on the shelf next to the tv when she emptied her bag after she came home. so how had a three year old dog opened protective packaging? it was a mystery to her. instead of going full sherlock mode, she cracked some eggs into a pan and discarded the thought to the back of her mind.

she had to shout ben downstairs, which was unusual, because normally he’s downstairs as soon as she is, offering to help her make breakfast and playing whatever music he was in the mood for over the apartment speakers. he came down the stairs looking rather sweaty and she wondered what he’d been up to. looked like he’d just run a fucking marathon, but he was still dressed in his pyjamas (a pair of calvin kleins couldn’t be classed as pyjamas, surely?) so she knew that answer was out of the equation. maybe he’d been brushing his teeth super violently. she knows that’s not true when he goes to kiss her cheek as a good morning and she shies away from him with a ”morning breath!” and a playful grimace. he chuckles at her, bending down to pat frankie on the head.

he got frankie’s food ready before even realising he had a plate of eggs and fruit waiting in front of him. he sat at the rather small dining table, pouring them some orange juice and handing her the glass once he’d finished. even gave her a little more than he had, because he always complains she doesn’t get her 5 a day.

he just wants her to feel happy and healthy! can he complain, when she treats him so well and even leaves his eggs on for a whole minute longer than hers because she knows he doesn’t like it when the yellow is all runny? when she takes care of a dog that originally was the shared pup of him and his ex?

he has no time to think before she’s giggling a little, pointing to frankie in the corner of the kitchen who had somehow managed to eat all her food and drink all her water in the space of 2 minutes. he giggled as well, taking a bite of his eggs and calling out a ”good girl” to the beagle.

“yeah, well our ‘good girl’ somehow managed to open my new nail polish and came to me this morning with it in her mouth like it was some sort of present she bought! might have to start calling her father christmas!” she jokes, taking a bite of banana before breaking some off and making a kissy sound to garner frankie’s attention before placing some on the floor next to her for the dog. she did love her banana.

ben places his hand quickly onto his thigh beneath the table after he caught sight of it on top of the tablecloth, hoping she hadn’t noticed how quickly he made the movement. she simply furrows her brows at him, tilting her head as she asked if he was okay.

“yeah, ‘m fine just got a cramp.” he lies straight through his teeth, not being able to look her in the eyes and instead offering frankie a piece of watermelon to frankie, which was unusual for him as he never gave his food to her, claiming it ‘only gives her a bad tummy and then i’m the one who has to clean up all the sick she leaves on the bathroom floor!’, which y/n notices and gives a sigh.

“ben.” she deadpans, setting the banana peel down.

he removes his hand from his leg and sets it upon the table, in a fist originally, before he unclenches his hand and then she sees it. his ring and middle finger nails are painted pink. he looks carefully at her reaction, even though there isn’t much to go off, just a look back to his eyes after she’s seen his hand.

“are you… angry?” he questions, eyes still avoiding hers.

“i’m not angry at you for using my nail polish without telling me ben…” she says with a slight chuckle, her face looking awfully confused, “...what’s mine is yours, and all that.”

his eyes flit to her’s at this, a brow raising as he asks, “so you’re not… weirded out?”

she can’t actually tell if he’s joking or not until she looks at his hands, where he’s nervously pulling at his knuckles in hopes to make them crack. it was one of his worst habits, something he only did when he was really going through it. she realises he must have been embarrassed or feel ashamed when she tells him she wasn’t, if the way his shoulders fell from near enough above his head showed her anything.

she decides he wants to leave the conversation at that when he picks up his fork and begins eating his eggs, looking a hell of a lot less stressed than he did before.

“why were you so sweaty when you came down before?” she questions, though she’s careful to make her tone sound as least judgemental as she possibly can, offering an inquisitive smile at the end.

“i um- wanted to get it off. before you saw it.” he purses his lips before he speaks again. “i couldn’t find any of that horrid-smelling remover stuff so i was trying to scrub it off with that lemon exfoliating shit you’ve got in the shower. worked up quite a sweat.” he chuckled, and she smiled at his first genuine laugh this morning.

“ben, why did you think i’d care so much?” she asks, and she can actually feel a pain in her chest as she realises it must have been eating away at him all night after his reaction to her seeing it. the pain in her chest only deepens when she hears a muttered, “i thought you’d think it was … really weird and like… not normal.” he continues, his voice getting louder and louder as he carried on, “cause it’s like… a girls thing. and i’m not a girl. and i know you’d never think that i was stupid or weird so i don’t even know why it ran through my head cause i did it last night when you went to bed and i was still downstairs… i saw it and i just wanted to put it on me like… for fun. and then i thought you might be angry at me for opening it so i just went to bed but i couldn’t sleep cause i was worried you’d be annoyed at me so i just… spent all night looking at yours. your nails, i mean.” once he’d finished rambling, she reached a hand out to his, pulling him along until they’d settled onto the sofa in the living room.

her on her back against the arm rest, with him on his stomach laying between her legs. maybe not the most flattering position on her part, but she felt closest to him this way. she reached a hand up to his hair, running her fingers through the golden locks before sighing.

“ben, i need you to listen to what im gonna say really closely, yeah?” she whispered.

he nods, and she takes that as her cue to continue.

“it isn’t ‘a girls thing’. and i’m not angry at you, and you’re right, i’d never think you’re weird for doing anything ever. i love you, and i’m in this for the long haul, so speak to me. tell me when you wanna try new things. ‘cause you know i won’t be angry, or annoyed, or weirded out… because it’s you.” she could see his eyes softening as he stared directly into hers.

it felt like he was reaching deep inside her mind and pulling out every honest word he could find. he laid his head down on her stomach, before giving a simple, “i love you.”

“do you want me to paint the rest of them?” she asked after a couple of minutes of stroking through his hair.

“please.” he replied, and she felt his smile on her stomach as he heard frankie pattering through the doorway and coming to lie on ben’s back to join them both. he lifted his head up and formed his lips into a kissy shape, to which she leant down and pecked him.

he followed her into the kitchen to retrieve the nail polish, clapping like an excited kid as she led him upstairs. she walked into the bathroom and sat on the countertop, ben bringing a chair from the bedroom to sit in front of her. she spread her legs and placed his hand flat on the surface of the counter, protected by an old sheet of newspaper in case of a polish accident.

once she’d painted one hand, he rested it on her thigh, only beginning to stroke it once she told him his nails were dry enough. she’d finished his other hand, commending her own painting skills as she skipped the two nails he’d already done the night before, he kissed her thigh, just below where his dry hand sat, before lifting himself off the chair to press a kiss to her forehead, then her left cheek, and finally her lips. she pulled her head back as soon as she felt how dry his lips were, telling him he needed some vaseline.

he looked behind her, seeing her collection of lip products before picking up a familiar tube. it was one she used constantly, which meant it must have been good, which was the reason why he asked her to put some on him a couple of seconds later.

“vaseline isn’t the same as lipgloss, but i’ll let this one slide, my dear.” she chuckles, opening the tube of clear, strawberry scented lipgloss. it had a slight shimmer to it, especially when in the sun, and she was unbelievably excited to see it on him.

“i only picked it cause it tastes nice.” he mentions before she has the chance to apply it.

“ben! you’re not meant to eat it!” she scolds, pulling back and taking the applicator with her.

“i know! i don’t do it purposefully, i just get a mouthful sometimes after you snog me.” he says,

smiling when she laughs.

yourinstagram

Liked by brianmayforreal, mrgwilymlee and 438,209 others

yourinstagram frankie clearly helping in our failed attempt at baking 🖤

benhardy It only failed because you couldn’t keep your hands to yourself 

yourinstagram @benhardy it’s not my fault you look so hot while you bake jesus 🥺

joe_mazzello Cannot believe I’m witnessing porn of my eyes. Get a room please, @benhardy @yourinstagram

lucyboynton1 Hope you saved me some, I miss you and need an excuse to come round🙈💕

yourinstagram @lucyboynton1 you would thank me for throwing it all out, trust me x

mrgwilymlee Gutted I missed out on this! I’ll come round next time, I make a mean Victoria Sponge x

benhardy @mrgwilymlee I’m down as long as we can turn it into a competition somehow, purely so I could see your face when mine turns out better than yours. 😁

“let’s take a quick look at what we’ve got” james announced, a nervous smile on his face as he looked at you with raised brows. you nodded and took a deep breath, grimacing as you saw some of the plates.

“hot sauce, bird saliva, there’s… a giant water scorpion” the entire audience groaned and your face turned up in disgust.

“we’ve got some jellyfish” james said and your eyebrows raised, “is that real? holy shit”

“oh but wait ‘cause there’s bull testicles” the audience chuckled and you added, “oh yes, ofcourse! just some casual bull testicles!”

“and our last three… salmon smoothie, bug trifle and the one they’ve all been waiting for…” the audience jeered him on, “…cod sperm!”

you groaned and contorted your face, “what have i agreed to” you whined, jokingly.

“okay so, we’ll have y/n ask me a question first… oh god i am so not ready for this” he concluded.

“so if you wanna pick my forfeit meal for me, y/n.” he breathed deeply, looking at all the substances in front of him. you spun the table so the hot sauce sat in front of him.

“great.” he said, straight-faced.

you picked up the small card on the table that sat next to you and eyed the question before you chuckled and covered your mouth with the card to stop you from cackling.

“this is a good one,” you said. “james.” you deadpanned, “what is my worst song?” you asked with a smile. “come on, it’s not that hard!” you giggled.

“yeah, it’s not you answering the bloody question!” james bantered.

the audience were shouting encouragements and you looked at james with a raised brow as he looked down at the sauce. he grimaced as he sat back on his chair.

“okay, y/n, you know i am a massive fan of all your work and i have endless amounts of respect for you and your music.” he began, “but, i’m gonna have to say….” he moved his finger to his chin as if to look like he was thinking. he named one of your very old songs, one from your first album.

“i hate that one too, its alright, james” you teased.

“i never said i hated it!” he defended with a chuckle.

“my turn” he smiled slyly, before turning the table so that the salmon smoothie was in front of you.

“oh god” you muttered.

he picked the card up and gave it a once over.

he chortled as he read it and the audience wooed in anticipation.

“if you answer this, i’ll drink the bloody smoothie myself” he joked.

your eyebrows shot up as he read the question, “y/n, your new world tour is almost here, but which city are you least excited to perform in?” he covered his own face with the card as he rocked back and forth in laughter.

“oh that’s unfair!” you complained jokingly, “i’m excited for all of them!” you whined. you couldn’t answer the question, simply because you didn’t have an answer, so you picked up the smoothie and took a sip. you purposefully blocked out the sound of the audience groaning as you drank it. you moved the cup away from your mouth and spat the sip out in the bucket next to you. you washed your mouth out with the water provided and shivered as you were hit by the aftertaste. the audience laughed and you frowned playfully.

you picked up a card for james after you selected the scorpion as his forfeit. you gasped as you read his question and repeated his earlier statement, “if you answer this one i’ll eat the scorpion for you”. he shook his head as he realised how bad the question must have been, and still appeared to be shocked as you asked him “who has been the most boring guest on the late late show?” his face contorted as he chuckled in terror.

“i’m gonna have to eat the scorpion… i have the answer, though.” he wiggled his brows before eating the scorpion. his reaction was hilarious, but before you knew it the cod sperm was in front of you and james was laughing at your face as you eyed it.

james giggled for a while before he showed the camera the question, the audience wooing as you got more and more nervous. “this could be an exclusive people!” james shouted before asking you the question. “who was the last person you kissed, y/n?” you gasped dramatically.

the public didn’t know about you and ben yet, though they’d probably seen the shameless flirting on their instagram feeds. “but wait, wait, wait- before you do anything, let me bring someone out who could help your decision…” as you looked up you saw ben walking towards the table, a smirk on his face. the last time you’d seen ben was before you came on stage.

you’d asked him to come with you to the show so that you could both go out for a meal after. you looked at him with raised brows as he sat down on a chair next to james.

“were you in on this? you little shit” you chuckled.

ben held his hands up in defence, “no idea what’s going on love, just got asked to come out here.” he said with an innocent smile.

the last person you kissed happened to be ben, in the green room just before you came on, he swept you into his arms seconds before your name was announced.

you didn’t really want to announce your relationship with ben when you two hadn’t agreed prior, especially not when you were both unprepared to answer questions. so you picked up the cod sperm and looked directly into ben’s eyes as you placed it into your mouth.

you gagged as you tasted it, watching ben and james laughing and clapping, “you’ve basically just given us the answer, y/n” james joked, to which you flipped him the bird, playfully. ben applauded you as you grimaced at the taste.

“now y/n, to spit or to swallow…?” james quipped, you spluttered as you heard him asking, “why don’t you answer that one for us ben?”

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Liked by lucyboynton1, brianmayforreal and 540,622 others

yourinstagram should we just search romantic comedies on netflix and see what we find?

View all 70,492 commentslucyboynton1 YESSS! Finally I can fangirl over the two of you without having to worry about slipping up 💞 Love you both dearly

mrgwilymlee And they called it….. Puppy Love! Best wishes to you both x

ynfan1 DOES THIS MEAN THEY’RE DATING??? W H A T ????

benhardy @ynfan1 She doesn’t use Harry Styles lyrics if she doesn’t mean it.

yourinstagram @benhardy 🖤

benfan1 I CANT BELIEVE THIS OH MY GOD 🥺🥺💛💛💛

brianmayforreal Aah ! Polaroids posted to Instagram, that’s a bit backwards! Wishing you both the best x Bri

…

benhardy

Liked by joe_mazzello, yourinstagram and 689,844 others

benhardy I would also use a Harry Styles lyric, though I think “I love you” is just as effective.

View all 84,886 comments

joe_mazzello Announcing this doesn’t give you both the right to PDA, by the way. ❤️

benfan33 HE LOVES HER??? HE JUST PUBLICLY ADMITTED IT OH MY GOD

benhardy @benfan33 Guilty as charged. X

yourinstagram i love uuu 🖤ps i told u to clean ur counter before u post this

benhardy @yourinstagram As if it wasn’t your fault in the first place? Love you also

yourinstagram i would like to let everybody know that ben and i were very drunk and i accidentally knocked over a candle that happened to be brown. whO BUYS A BROWN CANDLE IN THE FIRST PLACE?

ynfan1 THEY HAVE POLAROIDS OF EACH OTHER OH MY GOD

yourinstagram @ynfan1 many 🤫

ynfanxx and she calls him bubs? i’m gonna cry

…

joe_mazzello

Liked by yourinstagram, mrgwilymlee and 593,781 others

joe_mazzello He’s still mine.

yourinstagram never.

benhardy @yourinstagram @joe_mazzello Ladies, please. There’s enough of me for both of you. 😏

benfan1 this is the best thing i’ve ever seen.

yourinstagram

Liked by mrgwilymlee, benhardy and 287,263 others

yourinstagram turns out i didn’t like the makeup i spent 4 hours on 🍒

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ynfan1 YOU LOOK SO GOOD

arianagrande and u still look THAT good ...? a crime.

yourinstagram @arianagrande ily 🥺

benhardy Is this why you were late? Ridiculous

yourinstagram @benhardy leave me alone it takes time to look this good

benhardy You could make a plastic bag look good and you know it.

benfan1 LATE FOR WHAT????? WHAT WAS SHE LATE FOR?????????

/

benhardy

Liked by lucyboynton1, yourinstagram and 292,061 others

benhardy Apparently they were dancing to Harry Styles and this happened?

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lucyboynton1 Don’t blame us!!! Its Harry’s fault. He shouldn’t be making songs that sound this good 🙈

yourinstagram @lucyboynton1 exactly ..... now come back to me lucy i miss dancing to sunflower vol. 6 with you already :(

benhardy Are you two ganging up on me? Wow.

benfan1 AND NOW HE’S LETTING HER TAKE CARE OF FRANKIE???? she’s living THE life

yourinstagram @benfan1 i really am 🥺

it wasn’t even cold outside, which made ben giggle as he looked at your puppy dog eyes pleading him to take you to the ice rink.

“the one downtown?” he asked with a chuckle.

“yeah” you replied with a small smile on your face.

“lets do it.” he confirmed, racing you up the stairs to retrieve his shoes.

you sat on the sofa in your apartment, chuckling as you saw him walk into the living room wearing a bobble hat and an array of your woolly scarves.

“ben it’s like 100 degrees! you’re gonna melt!” you warned jokingly.

“gotta get out!” he joked before taking off the garments and taking his phone from his pocket to check the opening times of the rink.

“got everything?” he asked with a smile as you scratched behind frankie’s ears, something you always did before leaving her for the day.

“yeah” you replied, picking up your phone, keys and polaroid camera and putting them into the small black rucksack ben was carrying.

before you could leave the house, ben startled you with a loud “wait!”. you spun around to see what was so urgent and laughed as you saw ben holding his phone in the reflection of the ceiling-length mirror he bought for your apartment. he held a peace sign on his right hand, phone in left, and a large pout on his lips.

you joined him, turning your back to the mirror, your head over your shoulder with a wink and a lip-bite to finish the pose. ben took the picture and uploaded it to his instagram with the simple caption, “❄️❄️❄️ (just kidding it is actually extremely hot at the moment)” .

you both left your apartment, hand in hand, taking the underground subway down to the ice rink. he got a text from gwilym as you were riding, something about him and the boys being at the beach if he wanted to join. he replied “baby’s in town, we’re doing winter things mister lee!” which made you blush lightly.

after you finished your time at the skating rink, polaroids developed, you left for your apartment. as soon as you both entered, ben ran to your shared bedroom and returned with a larger rucksack. “what’s that for?” you wondered. “we....” he took a deep breath as he picked frankie up in his arms. “are going to a little cabin to pretend it’s actually cold outside.” you shook your head with disbelief and agreed.

so you both ended up in a cosy, warm cabin in the middle of the countryside. you both laughed, laying next to the small fireplace in the corner of the cabin with frankie on your chests.