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]

"We'll manage. It takes some compromises surely."

He stood up to help out. They lived together now and Ben wanted to do his part.

"You got pretty cuddly, but I didn't mind."

[highfidelity]

"Of course you wouldn't." She said it gently, clearly teasing. He was a red-blooded man so of course he'd like a woman trying to cozy up to him. Like many of them before she suspected. Except she still had her clothes on.

But this time she was joking, and playfully squirted him with the faucet.

[singingdrummer]

The old Ben would've cozied up with any girl in town, but meeting Meredith changed him. Now all he could think about was her and how much he really loved her.

"Oi," Ben laughed, squirting her too.

[highfidelity]

"Your aim is terrible," she laughed, splashing him a little. She had no problems playing around with him, she kind of liked this idea of the two of them being cute and doing cute couple things together. The kind of nice normal relationship without people staring at them or other girls trying to hit on him.

"We should do this more often."

[singingdrummer]

"We'll get plenty of chances now that we're under the same roof."

Ben hadn't laughed so much in ages, let alone felt so happy. He didn't need drugs and partying to make his life fun. She was so much better at that and he wanted to see this through with her.

He paused for a moment to just look at her.

"You're so beautiful, you know that? I've been a right twat to you."

[highfidelity]

Him saying that made her smile and blush slightly, the same way she had the first night they had met. Meredith had never seen herself as that beautiful until he kept telling her that.

"Thank you," she said. "On both counts. It means a lot, to hear that from you."

There was something in having the man that every other girl in the room was trying to go home with, making you the object of his attention that boosted her ego. And even now he had this way of making her feel special.

"I count myself lucky that you ever noticed me," she said, not to belittle herself but to say how much she thought of him.

[singingdrummer]

"About time I grew up and became more like the man you deserve."

Ben cupped her cheek, caressing it gently as he leaned in for a soft kiss. Not too much, because he respected her wish to take things slow.

"I'm happy you feel that way.. It's mutual. I never expected you to fall in love with this scruffy drummer with too much make-up."

[highfidelity]

"I tried not to," she laughed softly, thinking of how nervous she had been to kiss him the first time. "But you convinced me to give you a chance."

A small smile. "Still the best first date I've ever been on and we never actually got to the date part."

[singingdrummer]

"My schedule was unforgiving back then. Now that I'm going solo, I won't have to live according to my band mates' schedules."

The thought of doing his own thing had Ben excited. The future looked bright, even more so with Meredith by his side.

"But it was fun. I couldn't have asked for anything better."

[highfidelity]

"Just mine, I guess, with me going back and forth out of the office and whatever gigs they send me on."

She chuckled. Having finished with the dishes she leaned up against the counter and just enjoyed being there with him for a moment.

"I'm sorry I wasn't honest with you, before. About my music. I try not to tell anyone, I don't want anybody getting the wrong idea about me."

[singingdrummer]

"I can live with that. Things might pick up for me soon, too. There's a potential magazine shoot, which would be fun to do."

Ben kissed her shoulder, enjoying their moment together. Things looked better now and he wasn't about to ruin it.

"Don't worry, Meredith. It's not easy telling people you're a musician. Everyone immediately wants a piece of you and it gets crazy."

[highfidelity]

"And I'm sure you'll talk all about your wonderful girlfriend."

Meredith teased. She didn't expect him to mention her, she didn't feel like he needed to, but the idea of thousands of teenage girls getting their hearts broken did kind of amuse her in an odd way. She exhaled and wrapped an arm around his waist.

"I didn't want you thinking I was just getting with you to further my career. Either of them. I don't know, I just sensed you'd been through a lot of bullshit and I had to be different."

[singingdrummer]

"Perhaps I will. I'm not going solo to become the target of overly eager groupies, I'm doing it for the music."

Ben wanted to do it properly. He'd be a dating rock star, not some douchebag that hides his girlfriend from the world.

"There have been girls who tried to use me to become famous. You were different from the beginning 'though, and I really loved that. I still do."

He gave her a soft kiss on the cheek before wrapping his arms around her.

[highfidelity]

She hugged him back, resting her head on his shoulder. Just appreciating the simple closeness between them, the small affection. The little things he did to show her that he cared. He'd always done those, but now he seemed even more attuned to what she needed and to making her feel appreciated.

"I love you," she said softly. "And I always will."

Even when she was mad at him, she had never stopped loving him. It was her deep love for him that had made her so upset in the first place.

[singingdrummer]

"I love you too."

Ben smiled softly as he held her close. He wanted her to feel appreciated and special, the opposite of what his stupid stunt had caused.

His fingers ran up and down her back gently, caressing in a loving manner.

[highfidelity]

She relaxed beside him, enjoying the affection even though they had other things to do. Meredith could stand there forever.

“This won’t bore you? Being domesticated with me?” she asked.

[singingdrummer]

"No. It feels right, Meredith.. All of it."

There were things to do but Ben didn't want to pull back just yet. Two months was a long time to be apart after all.

[highfidelity]

“We’ll need space for your drum kit. Maybe you can teach me to play. And a parking space for your car so I’ll clean out the garage. And my closet.”

She was thinking out loud now. Building their life in her head.