A Night In

[singingdrummer]

 It all started with Ben tugging Meredith onto his lap, lips pressed against hers in a heated kiss. His hands roamed on her figure while his desire for her grew. He had wanted her ever since their first encounter at the bar but Ben never imagined something would actually become of it.

"I want you to know you're not some groupie to me, Meredith. I really want this with you."

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[singingdrummer]

"Maybe."

Ben laughed softly, fingers tracing patterns on her skin. If only he knew that the next day would be far from pleasant. The only date they were having was at a hospital, with Ben sobering up from a near-fatal experience.

"That'd be great. We can go somewhere nice."

[highfidelity]

"Sounds like a plan then."

She traced her fingers down his chest before she shifted. She didn't want him to leave but she knew he had to, and may as well get it over with. It would take him time to drive her back to her apartment. And she still had to dress at least.

"Come on. As much as I don't want you to go, you did say you have someplace to be."

[singingdrummer]

"You're right. We should head off.. We'll meet again tonight anyway."

Ben got out of bed half-reluctantly and went to fetch his clothes, putting them on. Little did he know that this would be the last good moment they'd share in a while.

He gave her a kiss before grabbing his jacket and car keys.

"Let's go, baby."

[highfidelity]

Meredith gathered her clothes and dressed, fixing her hair. She hated to leave and hoped he didn't think she was trying to usher him out either, but she knew the longer they stayed the more it would hurt when he left.

When he dropped her off at her front door she leaned in and gave him a long, slow kiss. "I'll see you tonight," she said honestly, playfully fixing his hair just like she had the night they met. "Don't stay out too late."

[singingdrummer]

After the kiss he wrapped his arms around her, giving another long one in return. He flashed a charming smile.

"I'll see you."

With that, he stepped in to get ready for the eventful night ahead.

[highfidelity]

Meredith smiled to herself and walked inside to get a shower and a change of clothes for their date. She didn't want him to pick her up in the same clothes he'd left her in. And she wanted to pick out a decent restaurant they could go to, not too fancy because it would be late and they'd both be tired.

But she worried when it got to ten and he hadn't come back. It was verging on too late now to go out anywhere. She tried calling him, hoping that he'd just forgot and not the alternative...her fear that everything he'd just said to her was bullshit, a move to get into the bed of the one woman he knew didn't want him. Was he bragging to his friends now about sleeping with her?

She kept calling, hoping eventually he'd pick up.

[singingdrummer]

Ben didn't know what the 'friend' had given him, but it wasn't good. The hours passed and the spinning feeling got worse. He barely felt the buzz of his phone, but he finally managed to pull it out of his pocket while sitting with his back against the couch. His legs wouldn't let him stand up anymore.

"Babe, that you? I feel weird.."

[highfidelity]

"Ben? Where are you?"

Meredith was on her fifth call and she was terrified. She could hear something was wrong.

[singingdrummer]

"At my mate's. Tim gave me something dodgy.. Can't fucking stand up anymore."

Her voice was the only thing keeping him conscious. He wanted her there, so he gave her the address.

[highfidelity]

"I'll come to get you."

Meredith grabbed her keys and ran for her car, trying to talk to him while she drove. He would hear her arrival by how she pushed her way to him, literally fighting off his drunk friends who wanted to hit on her or wonder why she was killing their buzz.

"Don't fucking touch me... Come on, Ben, I'm getting you out of here."

[singingdrummer]

"There she is.. The most beautiful girl in town," Ben grinned. He was really out of it by then, eyes barely staying open as he held out his arm for her to take.

"How come you're spinning like that, baby?"

[highfidelity]

She took him by the arm and helped him to her car, driving straight for the nearest hospital. She was in a panic. "What did you take? What happened?"

[singingdrummer]

Ben tried his hardest to remember but it was getting difficult to focus. The figure next to him turned blurry.

"Tim had something.. Bastard never takes no for an answer. Pill or something."

He placed his hand lazily on top of hers before everything went black.

[highfidelity]

She rushed him to the emergency room, though utterly useless because she didn't know what he had taken or who he had gotten it from. Not that he could tell them either. It would be a while before she saw him again, and when he came to in a hospital bed she didn't know whether to be thankful or upset with him. Or both.

[singingdrummer]

He came to a long while later, not feeling good at all. To be honest he didn't expect her to be there after witnessing him all messed up, like some typical rock star. But he was happy to see her face.

"Hey.."

[highfidelity]

"Hi." She was sitting by his bedside just sad and disappointed more than anything else. "You overdosed on something. You could have died," she told him. Unable to resist the dig: "I guess getting back to me wasn't that important."

[singingdrummer]

He deserved that.

"Meredith.. I should've stayed with you. Going there was clearly a bad idea."

This hadn't happened before. Ben was becoming one of those rock stars he always read about, and it was a scary thought.

"I'm sorry. I ruined our night.. I did a messed up thing to you."

[highfidelity]

"Don't apologize," she said softly. "It doesn't matter. I can't see you again."

She stood then, heartbroken but determined. She didn't want to be part of this world, and she couldn't afford to have his reputation pull her down. She could lose her job if anyone thought she was mixed up in something.

"I'm just sorry I wasn't enough for you," she replied as she grabbed her coat. "You just turned out to be one of those same idiots I hoped you weren't."

[singingdrummer]

"Wha..? Babe, it's not that. You're more than enough."

He watched helplessly as she walked out, realising that she was right about one thing; he was an idiot. An idiot who needed to do something, to fix this before it's too late.

"Fuck. That's the last time I'm going near that twat and his 'good stuff'.. I can't lose her like this."

[highfidelity]

If only he knew how much it hurt Meredith to leave him there. But all she thought was that she had been right about him all along. She had taken a huge risk by asking him to be her first, the person she wanted to fall in love with. And then he'd gone and blown it like this. In her eyes if he had really cared about her, he wouldn't have gotten messed up. He would have remembered she was waiting for him.

But she just went home and cried, feeling like a fool for wasting herself on a man who had sweet-talked her and she'd fallen for it.

[singingdrummer]

The same day he got discharged, he packed his bag and said his goodbyes to the band. He couldn't live that life anymore, not after it cost him the first thing that had actually meant something to him. The woman he had fallen in love with.

Ben wouldn't be seen in that town for the next month or two.

[highfidelity]

Meredith didn't notice he was gone. She didn't say anything about it to anyone, and she didn't date either, too ashamed to allow herself to get close to someone like that anymore. She kept her head down and kept to herself, until she got home one day to find him on her doorstep. So shocked she dropped her bag.

"...What are you doing here?"

[singingdrummer]

"Hello, Meredith."

He had changed his hair to a shorter style and said bye bye to eyeliner. Ben Lacey was Ben Sergeant again.

"Is it alright if I come in?"

[highfidelity]

"I suppose."

Since he was between her and the door anyway. She was shocked but also guarded. Picking her bag back up and moving past him to unlock the door, letting him follow as she moved to put her groceries into the kitchen.

"What do you want, Ben?"

[singingdrummer]

"I wanted to see you. To talk."

He closed the door behind him, following her with slightly unsure steps. This was the first time he'd seen her since his massive mistake.

"I left town.. and the band. That night made me realize what I had become. And seeing the hurt and sadness on your face.. Losing you, the love of my life. I couldn't live that life anymore."