Chapter Text
If Ben were being honest with himself, it had been a bad idea from the start. Inviting his straight best friend to come and stay with him during the lockdown period that swept over the nation had seemed like an excellent idea to begin with. The thought of being able to spend so much time together in complete isolation had seemed like bliss.
When he’d first suggested it, he hadn’t really expected Callum to agree but as it turned out Callum’s girlfriend Whitney had decided to stay with her family whom she’d been spending time with recently so Callum would be on his own anyway. It made sense and was a win-win situation for both of them: neither of them would be alone during what would be a difficult and scary time, and Ben would be able to get his best friend all to himself for weeks on end - the best friend that he just so happened to be head over heels in love with.
It was a disaster waiting to happen.
He and Callum had met three years previously when Ben had returned to Walford after spending a year travelling. He had arranged to meet his brother Jay in their local pub for a drink and when he arrived he saw Jay talking to the very tall, very handsome looking man behind the bar. Ben had wasted no time in introducing himself, earning himself an eye roll from Jay who knew him all too well, but the moment Callum’s hand had come into contact with his, a burst of electricity had rushed through him and yes, he was glad to be home.
Ben had been eager to get to know Callum after that and despite Jay’s warnings to stay away and not mess with the “nice bloke”, Ben continued to turn up at the pub in the hopes that Callum would once again be working a shift.
Over time, they had got chatting and Ben realised that not only was this guy attractive, but he was funny as well. The two of them were very much on the same wavelength, they understood each other’s humour, and even though Callum would often blush at some of Ben’s comments, he couldn’t help but laugh along anyway.
It wasn’t until Callum agreed to go on a night out alongside Ben, Jay and Jay’s on-off girlfriend Lola, that Ben had realised Callum was straight. The four of them had been in a club, they’d spent hours dancing, laughing, and drinking together. He and Callum had been getting along brilliantly. There was just something about him that Ben was instantly drawn to, not just in the way he looked – though the way the bright, colourful lights illuminated his skin was a sight Ben would never forget – but he had a vivacious personality and was extremely endearing. Callum Highway was unlike anyone he had ever met before.
Ben had been considering making a move, taking his chances in the hope that the man might want to spend the night with him. He’d been picturing what Callum might look like lying at the centre of his bed since the day they’d met. Just as he was about to pull him closer, a girl had approached them and asked Callum if he wanted to dance. Ben was about to laugh at the absurdity of it, tell the girl she was barking up the wrong tree, but then he’d seen Callum’s face, the look of wonder in his eyes as he said that yes, yes he’d love to.
“You don’t mind, do you?” Callum had asked, looking back at Ben.
“No, no, why would I mind?” Ben had fumbled back and Callum had grinned at him brightly before taking hold of the girls hand and pulling her further into the crowded dance floor. Ben had watched them go, a sudden feeling of emptiness in the pit of his stomach. Not once had he thought Callum could be straight. To be fair, Callum had never given Ben any indication he wasn’t but Ben was very rarely wrong about these things.
Despite that night, Ben and Callum had soon become good friends. Ben had thrown aside his initial attraction for Callum and accepted that it just wasn’t to be and he had moved on in the best way he’d known how – by finding different men to spend his nights with in order to get Callum out of his system once and for all.
Callum meanwhile seemed to go from one girl to the next. He was always going out on dates that would fizzle out a few weeks later. Jay said he had a problem with commitment. Callum said he was simply looking for the right person to spend his life with and so far he hadn’t found her and, “Why should I sleep with the first girl that comes along?”
In a way, Ben was glad that Callum wasn’t the settling down type. Every time Callum met someone new and it came to taking things up a gear, he would end it by saying she just wasn’t the right one. Ben hated to admit it, but he hoped Callum would never find the right one. The more time they spent together, the more Callum wormed his way under his skin. He had always been so against the idea of falling for someone. You fall for someone, you get hurt. It was why he himself stayed far enough away from commitment. And then Callum had come along and changed everything. He was no longer the person Ben wanted to spend just one night with, but the person he wanted to spend all his nights with. Callum quickly became the first person Ben would think about in the morning and the last person he would think about at night. Ben loved and hated it in equal measure.
When Whitney came along, Ben didn’t think she would be any different to anyone else Callum had dated. He assumed it would fizzle out after a few weeks and that would be the end of it. So when Callum had excitedly told him that this was it, “She’s the one!”, it had taken Ben a little while to process. He’d seen the way Callum’s eyes had gleamed as he talked about her, heard the happiness in his voice, and felt the break of his own heart at the thought of him maybe losing Callum now for good.
That had been almost a year ago. In that time Callum and Whitney had become closer and closer to the point where she had practically moved into his flat, she had started to work at the pub alongside him, and even though Ben knows he's being stupid, he feels like he's lost his best friend a bit. They still spend a lot of time together but Ben always feels a pang of jealousy whenever Callum has to leave, knowing he's returning to her.
The infuriating thing is, Whitney is a lovely girl. Ben has come to find that he has a lot in common with her and she’s good to have a laugh with. He’s certain that if circumstances were different, they would probably be very good friends. He figures it would be so much easier if he could just hate her, but she doesn’t have a bad bone in her body. Sort of like Callum. In fact, they make a sweet couple and Ben’s happy for them even though it hurts his own heart.
When news broke about the coronavirus pandemic, Whitney took some time off work to go and visit her family. Callum had spoken to him about Whitney’s worries and wondered just how bad it was going to get and Ben had assured him it was all going to be fine and that it wasn’t even that bad yet.
Only then it got bad. Ben and Jay came to the difficult decision of closing down the Car Lot business they both owned together and the pub closed down not long after that leaving both Callum and Ben out of a job for the time being. As the virus spread and news of an impending lockdown came about, Ben had taken it upon himself to invite Callum over to his house so they could wait it out together.
And so far it's been nice to have Callum across the hallway from him on a night time, waking up in the morning to find Callum making breakfast for the two of them and then spending their days whiling away the hours watching movies and playing games. Who better to spend isolation with than your best friend?
But now here they are, two weeks in, and Ben’s feelings for Callum are growing more by the day and he’s found himself falling deeper and deeper. There’s still an undetermined amount of weeks to go until this is all over. Until they can go back to living separate lives again. Ben didn’t know living with his best friend could be both a blessing and sin.
This is going to ruin him.