More than Anyone

Ben collapsed on the couch, loosening his tie and immediately turning on the television, flipping to the National Geographic channel. There was a special on ancient Rome that he had been wanting to watch and it was being rerun that night. He had enjoyed himself that evening. Harry and Anne always made him feel completely at ease whenever he was in their company. They were an interesting couple to say the least. Harry was loud and boisterous while Anne was soft-spoken and well-mannered. Of course, Ben was sure that most that knew them probably thought he and Olivia made a just as interesting couple.

He could hear Olivia walk around in the kitchen, watering the vase of purple heather that he had brought for her earlier that evening. She was humming a song to herself softly and Ben smiled as he listened. They had only been together officially for three months but it already felt so much longer to Ben. Perhaps that was because he thought of her so much before they started dating. There was a small part of him that still couldn’t believe that he was dating none other than Olivia Grange. And he couldn’t believe that she was the one responsible for his happiness at the moment. He was really and truly happy being with her. He never would have thought – especially after their exceptionally rocky beginnings. How was he initially supposed to know that the girl he had written off as an ice queen bitch was the girl he found himself wanting to be with?

The phone rang and Olivia answered it, still in the kitchen. It was Anne, calling to make sure that they had made it home from the restaurant alright.

Ben kicked his shoes off underneath the coffee table and stretched out across the couch cushions, watching the reenactment actors begin to murder Julius Caesar on the Senate floor. He wished he had his Rome DVDs here at Olivia’s apartment. He could go for a couple of episodes now. He sighed softly, closing his eyes for a brief moment. He loved being at Olivia’s apartment. Yes, it was small and it wasn’t air-conditioned in the summer and in the winter, her radiator decided to be stubborn when it came to working properly. But if he had to name on place in Chicago where he felt most comfortable, it would be Olivia’s apartment. He felt more at home there then he did in his own apartment.

His father had always loved National Geographic and when it became its own television station, that, and the news stations, was the only television Patrick Norfolk ever watched. He had loved reading the magazine, pouring over the articles and studying the colorful photographs that splashed every page. Instead of bedtime stories out of nursery books, Patrick used to read Ben stories from the magazine. They would pretend that they were visiting the exotic locations: chopping through the jungles of Africa, chugging down the Amazon River in a boat, stopping at the ancient temples in Sri Lanka. Patrick and Ben used to turn the highlands around their home into far-off destinations Ben could only dream about seeing one day.

When Patrick had died, his entire library of National Geographic had gone to his son. Ben had every issue of the magazine printed since the early 80’s in tall stacks around his apartment. He was never going to throw them away. They belonged to his father. There was no way he would ever rid himself of anything that had ever belonged to his father.

Olivia, still wearing the purple dress she had worn to dinner but barefoot after taking her high heels off, came into the living room from the kitchen. They smiled at one another and she sat down on the floor in front of him, her back resting against the couch. Ben leaned over and wrapping an arm around the front of her neck, he kissed her cheek. With a smile, she turned her head and met his lips with hers. The kiss was sweet and undemanding. It was slow and Ben moved his lips lazily over hers. She tasted like the strawberry cheesecake she had had for dessert. He leaned more into her, kissing her a bit more deeply, wanting to taste more.

She smiled against his mouth, lifting a hand to rest on his cheek rough with stubble.

“I like you scruffy,” she decided, pulling her lips away. She rubbed his cheek and he smiled. “I don’t know though how you’ll look with a shaved head and a beard though.”

“I’d look pretty bleedin’ hot,” he said and she laughed with a shake of her head. Ben grinned and laid back down, turning his attention back to the television. The actors portraying Marc Antony and Octavian were preparing themselves to battle Brutus. He doubted though that the National Geographic channel would show the sheer brutality however that came with ancient warfare. He really wished he had his Rome DVDS here.

Olivia watched the show with him, finding his infatuation with the channel endlessly endearing. “What is this?” She asked, reaching behind her and starting to pull out the first of the dozens of bobby pins she had pinned her hair up with.

“Battle of Philippi,” he answered. “Fight for the Roman Republic.”

She nodded her head, watching the soldiers fight it out. “I wish you had your Rome DVDs here,” she said, reading his mind. He grinned, his eyes still watching the show. She continued pulling the bobby pins from her hair, shaking her head slightly so the locks began to tumble down her back again. “You’ve made me completely addicted to that show.”

“Good,” he said. “There are far worse things to be addicted to and HBO makes the best shows anyway.”

They continued watching the show in silence and Olivia finally finished taking down her hair, yawning tiredly. She put her hands back up on the couch and hoisted herself up. Ben scooted over so she could lie down in front of him and he could wrap his arms around her. He kissed the back of her neck, smelling her hair, before resting his head up on the arm of the couch. She situated herself a bit better, pressing her back more into his chest.

“Ben?” Olivia asked, after a few minutes of silence except for the clashing of swords on the screen and the voice of the narrator. “Are you getting impatient with me?”

The question was unexpected to say the least. Yes, he was thinking about sex at the moment with her body tightly formed to his and yes, he was waiting, desperately, to have sex with her, but he was not about to rush her into anything. She had only had sex one time and that was in college. She was nearly a virgin in his eyes. And since he was pretty sure he was falling in love with her, he wasn’t about to pressure her into sleeping with him. True, he wasn’t used to waiting for a girl to have sex with him but Olivia wasn’t just any girl to him.

“You mean getting impatient to see you nekkid in my bed?” He grinned and she couldn’t help but laugh.

“You’re such a Scottish brute,” she said, still laughing and Ben, chuckling, leaned forward, pressing into her back, and kissed her in the crook of her neck.

“Aye but you love me anyway,” he said, moving his lips across his skin to kiss her ear.

Olivia bit her lip, nodding her head. “I do,” she whispered, unsure whether or not she should have admitted it to him.

Perhaps it was too early to speak of such things. Perhaps he wasn’t looking for love. What if Ben was with her simply because he wanted a good time? Of course, as soon as she had those thoughts, Olivia shook them from her mind. If all Ben wanted was a good time, he wouldn’t have been with her for three sexless months. He would have left her before they even started dating if that was what he was after.

He was completely silent behind her and Olivia was certain that if it was at all possibly, she would will her heart to stop beating and die. She shouldn’t have said anything. She had always spoken her mind while around Ben. That was rather obvious but there were certainly some things that should have been kept internally instead of spouting it all out.

Ben shifted behind her, his arm snaking around her middle and his lips moving to her ear. His breath was hot on her skin. “Say it again,” he whispered.

“Say what?” Olivia asked, feigning innocence.

He chuckled lowly in her ear. “You know what, Liv,” he said, still whispering. His arms tightened around her and she shifted, trying to move her head away from his heated and heavy breath. It was distracting her, having some sort of hypnotic effect on her currently.

She laughed when he snorted playfully in the crook of her neck then tried to move away when the hand tucked between her ribcage and couch began to tickle her side. “Ben!” She shrieked, laughing and he grinned against her skin.

“Say it again, Liv,” he said, his tickling unrelenting. “Say what you said and I’ll stop.”

“I love you!” She nearly shouted through her laughter and immediately, his tickling fingers stopped.

He was silent behind her once again but Olivia hardly noticed as her breathing regulated.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” he murmured and she smiled, turning her head so she could look back at him.

“Yeah,” she smiled shyly. “I’m not too sure when I happened either.”

After another moment of the words truly settling in his mind, when his mind finally realized that Olivia Grange had just told him that she loved him, Ben broke into a wide grin. She smiled when he leaned down and planted a firm kiss on her lips.

“But it’s happened?” He asked, the teasing smile now once again pulling at his lips.

Olivia mocked glared up at him before turning her head back towards the television. “I’m not saying it twice,” she said and he laughed, rubbing his hand in soothing circles over her stomach.

They watched the rest of the show in a comfortable silence, Olivia almost drifting off to sleep with Ben rubbing her stomach like he was. He had done this for her before. Once, last month, she had had the worst cramps and the Advil she had popped weren’t helping. Ben had laid behind her just as he was doing now and had rubbed her stomach until she fell asleep. She loved him for doing this for her. It always made her feel so good.

Ben leaned over her body and grabbed the controller from the coffee table, beginning to flip through the rest of the television stations. She didn’t have nearly as many channels as he did but he didn’t mind. Most of the channels his satellite dish gave him, he didn’t even bother to watch.

Olivia lifted her head from his arm. “What time is it?” She looked at the clock on the bookshelf across the room. “Turn on Bravo,” she said softly, reaching behind him and taking the blanket draped across the back of the couch. She covered them as best as she could and Ben rested his chin on her shoulder as he flipped slowly to the requested station, knowing what was awaiting him.

“Fuckin’ Project Runway,” he grumbled, dropping the controller in front of her and burying his face in the back of her neck dramatically. She smiled. Bravo was having a marathon of the popular reality show of which Olivia was a closeted fan. Ben, though, did not care for such programming and usually fell asleep even before the contestants knew of their challenges.

“I just watched Brutus kill himself,” Olivia reminded him. “And I told you I loved you. You could at least deal with the creations of couture dresses for an hour.”

Ben squeezed his arms around her, his face still buried in the back of her neck. “Yer aff yer heid,” he said, his voice mumbled against her skin and it was only from being in his constant company that she understood his words. “National Geographic shows make ‘ya actually learn somethin’. This is just a bunch of self-indulged dramatic baw jugglers!”

Olivia smiled. “Baw jugglers?” She asked, almost afraid to. She was still discovering that Ben’s use of Scottish and British slang was an entirely different language. She was secretly grateful that he only used it occasionally.

“Aye. Baw juggler,” Ben said. “A total tit who goes out of their way to piss everyone off with dumb ass remarks.”

The definition made Olivia laugh. “No wonder Harry was so amused tonight. Say something else,” she requested, her eyes on the television but her attention on her boyfriend.

He shivered underneath the blanket and hugged her closer. “Your apartment’s caulder than a witches tit, Livi.”

“Hence the blanket and combined body heat,” she said. “And I’m sorry. The radiator is on the outs again. The super said he’ll get to it sometime on Monday.”

“I’m freezin’ my arse off in the meantime,” he grumbled.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized softly, sincerely. “I don’t know why you like being here.”

“’Cause you’re here,” he said just as softly before dropping a kiss on the back of her head. “And besides, I know a way we can warm up.”

She stiffened in his arms. “Oh?” She asked, slightly apprehensive.

Ben kissed her head again. “I was talkin’ about dancin’, Olivia. Git yer head out the chunty.”

She turned to look at him. “You want to dance?”

He shrugged. “Why not?” And with that, he scooted of the couch, taking the blanket with him. He went to the bookshelf and turned on her stereo. “Whatcha listin’ to?” Without waiting for a response, he hit play on the CD already in the player. “Samson” by Regina Spektor filtered softly out of the speakers and Ben nodded his head in approval. He knew that this was one of Olivia’s favorite songs. He turned to her, seeing her still lying on the couch. “Come on, ‘ya dobber. Get off yer erse.”

You are my sweetest downfall.
I loved you first.
Beneath the sheets of paper,
Lies my truth.
I have to go. I have to go.
Your hair was long,
When we first met.

“English, Ben,” she said, frowning slightly as she stood up. “I want to know whether you’re calling me names or not.”

He grinned. “Oh, I am.” He winked at her then opened his arms. Olivia couldn’t help but laugh softly with a shake of her head before going to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and he circled his arms around her shoulders, both now encased within the blanket’s warmth.

They began moving slowly to the song, Ben resting his cheek against her temple and Olivia pressing her body against his, closing her eyes. She was no longer surprised by the flutter felt within her stomach. She felt it now constantly whenever she was near him. She’d be more concerned if, one day, the butterflies were gone.

Samson went back to bed.
Not much hair left on his head.

“No, Livi,” he whispered in her ear. “I’m not getting impatient with you. I love ‘ya.”

Despite having confessed the same words to him, albeit a Scottish accent, hearing them come from his mouth and directed towards her, Olivia inexplicably felt tears swell her eyes. She blinked quickly, not wanting him to see her cry. But Ben sensed it and looked down at her, his blue eyes boring into her brown. She smiled despite the single tear now trailing down her cheek. He smiled faintly then leaned down and kissed the tear away.

Samson came to my bed,
Told me that my hair was red.
He told me I was beautiful,
And he came into my bed.

Oh I cut his hair myself one night.
A pair of dull scissors and the yellow light.
He told me that I’d done alright.
And he kissed me till the morning light,
The morning light,
And he kissed me till the morning light.

“Say it again,” Olivia teased softly with a playful smile.

Ben smirked then kissed her on the lips, a soft kiss – a kiss that left her wanting more from him despite how great the prospect of going further with him terrified her. He pulled back so he could look upon her face. “I, Ben Norfolk, love you, Olivia Grange,” he said softly yet firmly. She couldn’t help but smile when more tears brimmed her eyes. “I love you. I think that even when I thought I hated you, I probably loved you.”

“You always tease the ones you love,” she said softly.

“Well, I think our relationship surpassed teasing, Livi,” he grinned. “We full blown-out wanted to kill each other.”

“Yes… but after you carrying me up to my apartment on my birthday then coming back with cupcakes, enduring a day at the aquarium with me and Sammy, buying me popcorn at the movies… and that little trip we took to Scotland…” she smiled. “You made it very difficult for me to wish for your death.”

“Which was exactly my plan,” he joked. “Kill you with kindness.”

Olivia laughed which was quickly smothered with his mouth over hers. They kissed one another, she lifting her arms to wrap around his neck. Their kisses were hungry and heated and Ben wanted to live within her kisses and her mouth if it was at all possible. It was interrupted however when she began to laugh.

He scowled. “Not what my kisses are supposed to do to you.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, still laughing. “I just can’t believe how much I love you. You!”

He couldn’t help but smirk. “Kind of unexpected, huh?”

She smiled softly then kissed him gently on the lips. “I’m glad it’s you. I’m glad that it was you who I let in.”

“Me too,” he said, brushing a stray hair out of her eyes. “I can hardly believe it myself but I don’t know what I’d do without you. I don’t know what I did do.” He cleared his throat. “I used to have all of these ridiculous dreams for myself. Getting married, moving to Scotland, having kids…”

Her eyebrows furrowed. “You don’t want those things now?”

“I do,” he quickly reassured her. “But they were ridiculous because I actually couldn’t picture the woman who I was doing all of these things with.”

Despite her best efforts, Olivia’s eyes welled with tears again. “And now?”

He smiled. “And now they’re not so ridiculous since I know exactly what you look like.” She blushed and he kissed her. “We’ve known one another for almost two years now. It’s not like we’re rushing anything.”

Olivia laughed, shaking her head. “What exactly are we not rushing?”

“Well,” Ben said, stroking his chin playfully. “Me seeing you nekkid for one.”

-~-~-~-
A/N: I hope I haven’t lost everyone due to my lack of updates lately. Please read and review for me. It makes me feel so happy. Also, if you ever get a chance to listen to “Samson” by Regina Spektor, I highly recommend it. The story is almost done and yes. I already have the next idea rolling around in my head. As for the Scottish slang, my husband is Scottish and is always throwing words like that into his sentences.