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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[highfidelity]

She laughed despite herself at that one. "You never got to see me on top of you," she retorted. "But stay here till you get back on your feet. Figure out what comes next for you. I've got work, mostly so I'll be in and out, but the place is yours."

[singingdrummer]

"Sadly not. That's one of my biggest regrets."

Ben winked at her. There's no harm in a little flirting, especially with the second chance he'd been offered.

"I'll do something related to music.. I'm in between things now."

[highfidelity]

She chuckled softly. "It might be a while before you see that," she admitted. "What happened between us really hurt my self-confidence. I'm just very nervous about being touched again."

Meredith had thought she fumbled through it the first time and then after what happened it was hard to feel sexy right now.

"You look good though," she encouraged. "I like this look on you."

[singingdrummer]

Ben frowned. "I'm sorry. That was never my intention.."

The guilt grew tenfold at the knowledge that he'd managed to hurt her self-confidence, too.

"Yeah.. There's only so many years a guy can wear eyeliner and pull it off. Not to mention the fringe."

[highfidelity]

"I don't know, I kind of liked trying to fix it and how much that annoyed you."

Meredith laughed softly. She liked things very orderly and couldn't keep her hands off his hair, which was usually good for playful irritation on his part.

"You don't need the makeup. You never did," she encouraged. "I've always thought you were handsome without it."

[singingdrummer]

"That was obvious."

Ben laughed, too. He should've hired her as his hairstylist with how well she kept his fringe in check.

"Why thank you. You know how to boost a man's ego."

[highfidelity]

"I'm just telling you the truth," she said. "You never needed to be anyone other than yourself. That's what won me over, not all the other nonsense."

[singingdrummer]

"It's too easy to slip into that whole facade when you're in a band."

Ben flashed her a gentle smile, thinking to himself how beautiful she looked from the first moment he saw her.

[highfidelity]

"And that's why my father told me I should never date someone in a band." She chuckled. "He turned out to be right, in a way."

She finished with dinner and stood to carry her plate to the kitchen. She'd let him take his time while she did the dishes.

"I'll have to get you a key. Otherwise you'll be stuck when I leave for work tomorrow."

[singingdrummer]

"Good idea, yeah. Most likely I'll head out and meet up with some people. Need to get my solo career going."

He finished his dinner soon after, sitting back to take a look around.

"Any new bands for you to write about?"

[highfidelity]

"There's always new bands. Everyone wants to start a band," she said with a chuckle. "It's whether or not they last that you have to worry about."

He'd probably have seen her column anyway. She hadn't stopped writing over the last few months, not if she wanted to keep her job. She came back to the table to fetch his plate and finish washing up.

"Just like every girl between 18 and 25 wants to be a singer."

Not unlike her, back then.

[singingdrummer]

"Yeah. We'll see how long Swipe lasts.. The way they were going when I still drummed for them, it's not looking too good."

He did follow her work. That, and the thought of coming back to her, kept him going through his recovery.

"Is there any chance you could sing to me sometime?"

[highfidelity]

The question caught Meredith off guard.

"I haven't done that in a long time," she said as she finished cleaning up and came back to the table. "It's really not that great."

[singingdrummer]

"Didn't mean to put you on the spot. I'm just curious after reading those brilliant lyrics of yours."

He glanced towards the guitar again. In his mind he could see performing together with her someday.

[highfidelity]

She looked down shyly. "I only tend to perform when there's an open mic night or something," she said. "Don't want people putting two and two together, you know? I keep that to myself." In her eyes she had no chance of making it professionally. If she had, she figured it would have happened years ago.

She nodded toward the living room, walking back out and sprawling herself on the couch. She was tired, and seeing him again had been emotionally draining as well. She just wanted to unwind.

[singingdrummer]

Ben sighed to himself, the guilty feeling creeping up again. He wanted so badly to join her and wrap his arms around her like he used to. Not to mention the desire to kiss her.

"If there's an open mic night someday soon, we should go."

[highfidelity]

"You think? I guess it could be fun," she commented, shifting over on the couch so there was room for him. "I mean, it's far from the most embarrassing thing we could do."

She was eyeing him, too, wondering what was going through his mind. She was cautious but that didn't mean she needed him to be on the whole other side of the room like she had some kind of restraining order.

"Are you coming?"

[singingdrummer]

"Yeah. Of course."

Ben laughed softly, making his way to the couch. It was a little comfier than the one he had at their special place.

"It could be fun. If you want, I could play the guitar. Or we'll get a small drum kit up there."

[highfidelity]

"We'll turn ourselves into a band." She snickered at the idea. Both of them were probably well out of their depth for that one, but she saw that his intentions were good. And it made her smile.

She sighed and inadvertently rested her head against his shoulder. "I just want the world to stop so I can get off for a while. Why does everything have to be so difficult."

[singingdrummer]

"You and me both, Meredith. Things get so messed up."

He carefully placed his arm around her shoulders, hoping she'd be okay with it.

Ben could imagine performing together with her. They'd make a great team.

[highfidelity]

She missed his touch. Missed it more than she let on. Just because she wasn't ready to sleep with him again didn't mean she didn't want him near her.

"You really do look better now," she said absently. She could still remember how he felt.

[singingdrummer]

"I'll keep this look, then."

He grinned a little, squeezing her shoulder gently. He really missed feeling her close to him, the touch of her lips against his.

[highfidelity]

"Please tell me there weren't other options." She chuckled, turning her head to look at him. There was that moment where she contemplated kissing him but she was hesitant. Was that really the best thing for them to do? Could she trust him with herself like that again? He had that way of making her come undone. Particularly when a couch was involved.

[singingdrummer]

"I don't know. I decided on this one fairly quickly."

He met her gaze, acknowledging the short distance between them. There was a strong urge to kiss her, but he didn't want to scare her off by making a move.

"Why must you be so beautiful?"

[highfidelity]

"The last time I felt beautiful was when I was with you."

She admitted it easily. He had that way of making her feel sexy, like she was the one woman he'd been waiting for all this time. She hadn't had anyone look at her the way that he had that night. She just needed to know it was real, and not just the latest in however many flings he'd had before he met her.