Deep Like Water (Yandere!BEN Drowned X GN!Reader)

I'm A Tree Now

 You felt rather stupid for realising that BEN wouldn't have any spare clothes until you were three-quarters of the way home. Once the thought had entered your head, you made him follow you to the nearest clothes shop so you could buy him something to wear while his current clothes were in the wash.

'I've been wearing these since I died,' he said with a frown, a whiney edge to his words. 'I'm pretty sure that a few more hours won't be the death of me. C'mon, can't we go tomorrow or something?'

You shook your head, grabbing his wrist to make him pick up the pace. 'Nope. We either go now, or we go tomorrow with my guardian—that's assuming he isn't in the hospital from the shock of me bringing home a boy, circumstance be damned. This our only chance.'

'Oh, he's one of those, isn't he? Protective older brother who'll try and murder all of his little sibling's partners?' You could practically hear his eyes rolling in their sockets. 'Joy. I've got a lot to compete with with you lot, don't I? It seems I've already won you over, though.'

'I have no idea what you mean.'

'My dear darling (Y/N), you're holding my hand.'

In the short time that you had been holding BEN's wrist, your hand had slipped into his like a cheesy rom-com. Once he was sure that your gaze had fallen upon the position of your hand, BEN immediately laced your fingers together and began to swing your arm like a love-struck fool. You quickly yanked your hand away, putting it into the nearest pocket to hide it and your embarrassment.

'You are so lucky that I'm already friends with you,' you spluttered out, refusing to even look at him in case he took another chance to further fluster you. 'Otherwise I'd—'

'Chop my hand off? Feed it to someone's dog? Slice it off with a guillotine?' He chuckled to himself. 'You do realise that friends can hold hands too, right? It's not just reserved for people in relationships.'

'I know that! I just don't wanna cause trouble for you if someone sees. People here fucking love rumours about what they've seen and heard. Fifty percent of the population are old; they have nothing better to do then watching the "young folk" and trying to set people up. You'll be cornered in like, five minutes.' Your train of thought came to a sudden halt. Frankie had lived with you for nearly two full years and had legally adopted you shortly after your eighteenth. You had dealt with the pitying looks, the not-so-sneaky whispers and gestures. You had successfully ignored their opinions and verdicts about 'what kind of person would leave a teenager all alone.' Who cared if you were seen holding hands with a boy that none of them had ever seen before? 'Fuck it.' Your hand slid out of its pocket and firmly grasped BEN's.

'Oh? A change of heart?'

'I just realised that I don't care what people might say. If they have a problem, they've gotta go through me.' Your cocky grin was slightly forced, yet it brought a smile to BEN's face nonetheless.

'Are you my knight in shining armour now?' he teased. 'Protecting me from the scary nags of the town?'

'Exactly! Our first challenge: clothes shopping.'

The pair of you had arrived at the shop. It was quite quiet, so you managed to slip in and make your way through the labyrinthian layout of clothes that soon surrounded you on either side.

'I'm gonna be honest,' you said in a low whisper, 'I very rarely buy clothes in-person. I get them online. I've forgotten how to do this. Do you want to start with the children's section...?'

The glare that you received as an answer was enough to make you hold back a laugh, holding your free hand in front of your mouth to hide the smile as you asked: 'Is that a no?'