~

"Take a seat."

Elena pointed towards her couch and saw Ben walk over to it, a little wobbly in her opinion. Anybody else would've probably not noticed, but for her it was very obvious he'd been drinking. She'd never seen him like this and wasn't sure what to make of it.

"Oh, cool. You've got Dragon Ball on!"

She'd forgotten about that. "Uh, yeah. Hang tight, let me make you some coffee." Black, because he needed it right now. She quickly went to boil some water for fresh coffee and poked her head out towards the living room to see what he was up to. He was still sitting on the couch, enthralled with whatever was happening on TV.

What could've caused him to be drunk and at her house at almost two in the morning? Maybe it had to do with Sherry? She did see her at work yesterday looking like she had been crying.

When she'd gotten the coffee ready, she brought it over to him.

"Watch your hands, it's very hot," she warned him as she placed it on the coffee table and went to sit on the other couch. He took a sip and made a face.

"Why is it black? It has no sugar!"  

"Seems like you need black coffee." She raised an eyebrow at him and nodded at him to keep drinking. He did with a scowl still on his face. "Mind telling me what you're doing here at almost two in the morning? Don't you have somewhere to be tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Work. You?" He said nonchalantly. 

"Uh. I don't work tomorrow. I didn't realize you were making extra hours."

"Wait what." He frowned at that. "What do you mean extra hours?"

She gave him a confused look at seeing the confused look on his face. "What do you mean...It's the 23rd tomorrow. It's the Holiday Party tomorrow and we have the rest of the week off for Christmas?" 

A look of confusion, followed by bewilderment came over his face. He threw a hand to his face with a groan.

"I'm so stupid! I completely forgot about that..." She was confused. Okay, so he may  have been drunk, but to completely forget in the days following up to Christmas? Even with her issues, she still kept track of the days. "No wonder Sherry said she would be gone a couple days!" So, he was here because Sherry wasn't available. She wasn't sure what to make of this discovery. He had also been here Friday because Sherry was mad at him.

"So, don't you have somewhere else to be at?" She inquired again, trying to remain calm, because even if she didn't want to, she felt a bit ticked off.

"No." He leaned back against the couch. "I thought we had work tomorrow."

"Uh."

"What are you doing tomorrow?"

"I was going to head over to a friend's house and spend Christmas Eve with them. My mom is going out of the country to see her mother." He nodded. "Are you going to visit your parents as well?"

"Ha!" She jumped slightly at his passionate snort. "As if they'd care where I was on Christmas day." A confused look passed over his features. "I haven't spoken to my mother in about four years." He had finally completed med school at about twenty-nine and he'd made sure to send his parents a picture of himself with his diploma and jacket, and one with his graduating class. When he'd started his first job, he'd made sure to send them a picture of himself standing by the plaque of his office,  BENJAMIN A. ROSS, MD.

Face set to a smirk, he had raised his middle finger to his face as if wiping a tear away, a big F- you to his father. He felt bad for his mother seeing that, but he was sure she'd understand.

"How come?"

He snapped out of his reverie and looked over at Elena who was giving him an interested look. "My father hates me for some reason and my mother is scared of him. I left their house after high school, moved down to California with my Nana and never looked back."

"At least you have your grandma."

"My Nana. She was grandma's friend from childhood. She's still living down there." 
"Why don't you go visit her then?" And stop bugging me, she thought to herself, just because your booty call is unavailable.

"I should. Wanna come with?" He asked with a grin and she scowled.

"Uh, I don't think so." She stood and walked to her kitchen to get some coffee for herself as well. He wasn't a crazy drunk, just weird, but he apparently was going to be up for a while.

She jumped, startled when she turned around and found him leaning against the counter, staring at her. "Why not? I think she'd like you since I like you." She could feel her cheeks heating up, she held her mug tighter. "You have a spunky personality underneath the shyness."

She watched him saunter himself over to stand in front of her and leaned over. Heart pounding, she froze, "You’re drunk.”

“Yeah, a little,” he leaned over and Elena closed her eyes in a panic. When she opened them again, he was walking back to the living room. Puzzled, she looked behind her and saw that he’d dropped his empty cup in the sink. She let out a sigh, Jeez Elena.

She went back to the living room and took her seat on the couch. He was engrossed in the show again and she liked silence, so she didn’t say anything else to him. She continued on the sketch she’d been working on and thought about how she’d get him home. If he didn’t have a car, did that mean he’d taken an Uber or something?

“What are you drawing?”

She looked up at him. “Just doodling.”

“You should draw me,” he started and then threw himself backwards, posing for her, “Draw me like one of your French girls.” She snorted at him.

“I don’t think so.” 

"Come on, I can be a very good assistant. Or you can draw me and I can hang it up on my office." He nodded as he grinned at her. He insisted until she agreed.

"Fine! But you better stay still. I'm not that great at portraits, so don't say anything if I give up and just draw you looking cartoonish." She grumbled as she found a clean page on her sketchbook and some pencils. "I haven't done anybody's portraits since tenth grade's art class." With a glare and another 'stay still', she started sketching him.

Ben couldn't tell exactly how drunk he was anymore. He knew he was drunk, but the black coffee that Elena had made him got him a little more alert. He couldn't exactly remember the reason why he had decided to come over to see her instead of staying home, but honestly, didn't care anymore.

Now, here he was, sitting in her couch, past two in the morning, while she drew his portrait. He tried to sit as still as possible, knowing quite well that he'd already annoyed her with his insistence that she drew him, but if he moved she'd more than likely scream at him.

He watched her hand move swiftly across the page, stopping every once in a while to go over a part in detail or to look up at him and observe him.

Her hair was down, falling around her shoulders as she worked on her sketch. He finally noticed what she was wearing- a baggy dark grey sweater, wide at the neck so that it fell slightly off her right shoulder leaving it bare, except for the red strap of whatever she was wearing underneath. That and a pair of shorts.

He looked away. 

Because he had been noticing her appearance too much lately and he didn't like his body's reactions.

Think of Sherry, stupid.

 He glanced back at her, at the lip that she bit between her lips as she concentrated on her sketch, at the way her eyes would studied him from behind thick lashes to catch his essence and try to transmit it into her work.

He glanced down at her feet as she sat cross legged and saw a little series of black dots at her ankle.

"You have a tattoo." He blurted it out before he could stop himself and her face snapped up to his in surprise.

"What..."

"On your left ankle. You have a tattoo." He pointed at her foot and she blushed, looking down at her foot. 

"Oh. Yeah."

"What is it?" Who would've thought his serious nurse would have a tattoo. On her ankle. Think of Sherry, stupid.

"A Narwhal," she grinned as she resumed her sketching. She had to smile at that. It was her brother's favorite animal. Out of all the animals in the entire planet, he liked that one. That unicorn of the sea.

"A what?" Ben laughed at that. 

"Dolphin like animal with a horn on its forehead?" She saw the amused, yet confused look on his face. "You've never heard of it? A narwhal. Look it up. It was a thing on YouTube a couple years ago."

"Out of all the animals in the animal kingdom, why that?"

"It's my brother's favorite. I was eighteen, it was a dare and my brother chose it." He could hear the love in her voice for her brother. He nodded and went back to sitting still. She wasn't done with her sketch and she tried to concentrate as best as she could. For her, it felt a little awkward, having to blatantly study him to draw him. She had never just sat there to stare at him before, so it made her a little nervous; but then, she felt oddly comfortable at the same time. They sat in silence as she worked, and it was rather...soothing.

"You know, I'm very glad I'm here with you right now."

Elena looked  up at Ben when he said that. She frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I've been having some issues lately. I'm glad I can have someone to talk with. It gets pretty lonely and I'd rather not talk to myself before people start thinking that I'm crazy." He noticed the way she was squinting at him, like if she didn't believe a single word he was saying. "I know it sounds crazy. I just... it's true. I'm not lying."

She looked back down at her sketch. "It can get lonely. Ruby- you know, from work- she's always trying to get me to go places with her. She is just...amazing. I wish I was more like her. She's got her degree, she's a Public Health nurse, musically talented, has a good-looking boyfriend, does freaking modeling side jobs, and she's barely twenty-two." I couldn't deal with myself at that age, she thought to herself. It was a wonder she made it through nursing school in the first place with everything she had going on emotionally at that time.

"How about you?"

"I'm just...myself." Elena cocked her head to one side, "Every once in a while, I let her boss me around and drag me places."

"Besides that, do you have someone in your life?" Ben, Ben, Ben... It was probably getting way too personal, but he really was curious as to what her answer would be. Ever since he'd overheard her talking to some guy named Elliot, he was burning to ask her that. Not that it should be any of his business.

"Like... a guy?"

"Yeah."

"No." She looked off to the side, an uninterested look on her face. "I don't need one."

"Really?" Relief flooded him, quickly replaced by confusion at her cold 'I don't need one.' "What do you mean? I know it's not my business, but I am just curious. I don't think, in the year or so that I've worked with you, ever heard you talk about dating anyone."

Elena didn't really know what to tell him. 

His questions always caught her off guard. She wasn't quite sure why he asked so many questions, why he wanted to know about her life, why he kept coming over. Didn't he have enough with seeing at work.

She laughed at herself internally when a tiny thought crossed her mind that he might be interested in her. Yeah, for what? Sex? He already had Sherry and she didn't care to be a replacement for something she wouldn't give out.

With a sigh, she ripped out the sketch from her notebook and stretched her hand out to show it to him. He grinned widely when he saw what she had completed.

"Wow! This is amazing!" He really was amazed at her skills. She'd said that she hadn't done this in a while, but the sketch proved otherwise. Maybe it was one of those muscle memory things? He glanced up and noticed the name on her wrist. 

ZACHARIAH.

"Who's that?" He nodded towards her wrist and she pulled her hand back, frowning. 

"You're just so full of questions today, aren't you?" she told him as she stared at him. "But if you really must know, that's my father's name."

She'd gotten that tattooed onto her wrist as soon as she'd been able to do so. She loved her mother, but there were times that she wished her father was still alive. He had been a big tall man, loud and funny, and it reminded her of a bear. A big cuddly bear that would rip your head off if you mess with his family.

She really wish he was still alive now.

"Did you have a good relationship with him?"

Elena nodded. "Yeah. There are times when I miss him more than others. I was about ten when he died. It came as a surprise since I thought he was so big and invincible, you know?" He would have helped her with everything she went through with Kyle. "I definitely miss him when times are hard."

"My parents are still alive," Ben mused, "But I don't care whether my dad is doing fine or not. I miss my mom sometimes, but then I remember that she lets my dad walk over her, and I tell myself I'm being stupid."

"You don't... get along with your parents?"

Ben shrugged. "My dad is a mean, sarcastic, piece of- uh," he paused when he realized that Elena was studying him intently "I mean, he's just a mean, sarcastic, hateful man. He's self-absorbed, cheats on my mother, and always liked to put me down. So I left that house when I finished high school and never looked back."

Elena felt blessed to think that she'd grown up with her parents. Her mother was the most dedicated person anyone could meet, and even though she spent most of her time worrying over her brother Elliot, she always made sure that Elena had everything she needed. Her father was always there, helping and working hard to provide for them. He used to have Elena help him when he was working on his truck, when he was cutting the lawn, when he was working on some kind of project at work.

She had loved being with her two parents and sibling. 

She eyed Ben curiously. She'd never seen this angry side of him and she wondered whether it was his heart speaking or the alcohol. Although, people always say that drunk people and children always speak the truth, so...

"That sounds kind of sad," she commented as she sat down next to him on the couch. "My folks were always together. Did you become a doctor because of your dad?"
"Yes and no. Yes, because that bastard always said I wouldn't amount to anything, and no, because I did this for myself, to help people. I don't need his approval." Ben yawned widely. "Anyways, what else do you have going on? Is Dragon Ball on Netflix or did you buy the DVDs?"

Elena grinned.

"Well see, my brother gave me the DVD set for my birthday."

"Damn, I wish I had a brother. I have Caleb, but now he's married, and he wasn't into the show as much as I was. He liked other stuff. Not as cool as this, but eh."

"Oh, really? What else did you guys watch?"

"Well, I liked..."