? The Ruins of Dawn ?

16 || chugging my problems

Oh fuck what am I getting myself into.

No Millie you need this. Ben is trustworthy. He isn't going to let anything happen to you.

I lean the crutches up against the marble wall and hop onto his back. When we make it to the top of the stairs, he carries me to the beautiful bar and sets me down on the counter. I check behind me to make sure none of the boys have entered.

He climbs up on the counter behind the bar and opens a cupboard far above his head.

"Please don't fall, Ben." I whispered.

"Don't worry I won't. Remember I've done this before." he answered a little too smugly. The door he opened is so full of liquor I don't want to know why. Ben grabs a bottle of Smirnoff vodka and hops down more gracefully than a boy of his size should be allowed to.

He passes me the bottle and I get back on his back, him wrapping his arms tightly around my thighs and me wrapping one arm around his neck and protecting the vodka with the other. The floor creaks and my heart drops.

"Sorry, that was me." Ben whisper hissed. And I could breathe again.

"Fucking hell you scared the shit out of me." I grumbled, whacking him on the head.

He laughed as silently as he could and that made me giggle too. I took a deep breath and we continued to make our way to the stairs. Then we heard a noise from one of the rooms.

"Noah for fucks sake turn down your tv!" Blake yelled. Me and Ben stopped in our tracks and tried so hard not to laugh.

"Just call Stacy with your airpods, it's not my problem!" Noah yelled back. It felt illegal to be listening to them argue when they had no idea but it was hilarious. I'm guessing Stacy was Blake's girlfriend.

Who would want to date his grumpy ass though?

We tiptoed to the stairs when the arguing had stopped. Once we'd made it back to our floor, relief washed over me. We made it.

Ben put me down on the bottom step and I passed him the vodka, thankful the weight of that responsibility was now off my shoulders.

Good job, Ben mouthed as he gave me a fist bump with his free hand.

"Let's go back to our balcony." He said leading the way, he hid the bottle under his hoodie in case we ran into anyone, which was unlikely.

I hopped up, grabbed my crutches and followed Ben to the end of the hall. We took a seat on the outdoor couches and Ben took a swig of the vodka. He sighed and looked up at the sky. I wondered if he was thinking about his mom. I didn't ask though as he passed the bottle of clear liquid to me. As I reached out and grabbed it, something in the back of my mind makes me hesitant to take it, but I shake away the thought and I remind myself that I need this, to relax and let go, for once while Mum is away.

I take a deep breath and let the strong taste of vodka burn its way down my throat. I sputter and cough when I swallow and my eyes water. Ben looks back at me and grins in the darkness.

"Woah, easy there, here pass it over." Ben said with an outstretched hand. We went on like that for a while, us passing the bottle back and forth and admiring the stars in silence.

Then I remembered something that happened yesterday and I stretched my leg out, rested it on the table between us and pointed to my cast.

"Look Benny, I got me an autographed cast!" I giggled.

Ew since when did I giggle.

"Oh ya? Who from?" he asked excitedly.

"Meh, just a really hot new kid in my class."