The Boy in the Lake (BEN Drowned x Female Reader)

Chapter 20- Lies

"Ah, well... that sucks."

Ben and I sat in an awkward silence for a few minutes. I knew the guilt would eat me up soon, I just needed time to figure out how much longer I would lie to keep Ben around. But ignoring my dishonesty, I invited Ben to sit on the bed with me.

Ben raised a brow. "You're kidding, right?"

"You're not a soaking wet ghost as of right now," I stated. "I was just trying to be nice, but if you don't want to-"

"I can do whatever I want," Ben huffed. He sat on the bed, and I saw a slight smile crease his lips.

I sucked in a breath. Ask him about the kiss, I told myself.

"So," I began, bracing myself for the big question, "are we going to talk about what happened at the lake?"

"What, the smooch-fest?" Ben smirked.

I chucked a pillow at his head. Unsurprisingly, the pillow phased right through him. "Don't call it that," I demanded.

"I'm only calling it as it was," Ben shrugged.

"Whatever," I mumbled. "I just want to know why."

Ben's smug expression didn't falter. "I just felt like it."

"Right," I rolled my eyes.

The room went quiet again. Ben and I continued to glance awkwardly at each other, not knowing what to say. 

"I'm going to go to bed," I told him, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"Oh, okay," he got off the bed and gave a thumbs up. "Goodnight, (Y/N)."

And just like that, he glitched out of sight.

I sighed as I laid back onto my pillow. My brain was thinking at a thousand miles per hour. Did the kiss mean anything? I thought to myself.

I continued to tell myself not to read into it. But, it was hard not to. It felt wrong to be in love with someone who wasn't even alive. It was wrong. 

It was wrong.

But still, my head wrapped around the idea that maybe if he were alive...

No.

He's dead.

I began to feel more restless than I already was. I kicked off my blankets and went downstairs. The kitchen light was already on, so I went to see who else was up.

Alex was hunched over the counter, taking deep breaths and covering his face. Caffeine pills were spilled over the counter. He was shaking, and I'm almost positive I saw his shoulders shake with sobs. I approached my brother cautiously.

"Alex?" I asked. "Are you okay?"

He jumped up and whipped around to look at me. His bloodshot eyes had dark circles under them. He wiped away his tears and scowled at me.

"What do you want?" He asked.

"Are you okay?" I repeated, a bit harsher this time.

Alex chuckled dryly. "Do I look okay?"

"No, that's why I was asking."

Alex rolled his eyes. "If it was obvious, then why did you ask?"

"Okay, forget I asked then," I scowled back at him. "Sorry for being concerned about your well being."

There was a pause.

"Dude, something is wrong with this town," Alex said.

"I know," I said, before grabbing a glass of water and leaving the kitchen.