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It turns out there's (oxymoronically) a rather easy yet simultaneously challenging solution to being to the loneliest boy in the world: adopting cats.
It’s easy because adopting rescue cats, as it turns out, is rather simple. It requires a few google searches, one phone call, and a disappointingly easy conversation with his parents. He expects them to have more objections to the idea of him adopting a pet, but they don’t. Even though they’re both home for once, it’s as if Ben’s words go in one ear and out the other. Ah well, not that he expected much from his mom and dad anyway.
It’s complicated because — and Ben realizes this only once the adoption agency worker has left him with two 6-month-old kittens, an orange tabby with big green eyes who he names Morty, and sooty grey shorthair with ice blue eyes who he names Heathcliff — he has no idea how the fuck to take care of animals.
Purchasing food, an abundance of toys, and a litter box is easy enough, but Ben realizes with alarm as he’s eating his dinner that night he hasn’t seen either of his new cats all day. The bowls with their food, he realizes as he steps toward the mat where he’s laid out food dishes and water, are still full. He’s only had cats for approximately 6 hours and he’s already screwed it up. Fuck!
The panic fades when he steps into his room and peers under his bed and finds both his new cats are laying there.
Well, he might just have to leave food bowls in his room from now on.
Being the overachiever he is, Ben wants to be the perfect pet parent, but things certainly aren’t progressing as planned. He tries to tough it out on his own for a while, three days to be exact, believe him, he really, really does, but here are three main obstacles.
- Both Morty and Heathcliff seem to want breakfast as soon as the sun is up and make it very clear by meowing to wake him up. (Ben is definitely losing sleep because of this.)
- He now feels like he’s constantly tracking cat litter around his house.
- Morty has gotten better at exploring and even tolerates being carried, but Heathcliff spends 90% of the day hiding from him and Ben is concerned, to say the least.
Apparently caring for animals isn’t exactly something Ben can handle on his own, so he contacts the person who’s kind of, ridiculously enough, the only friend he has, Devi.
They bounced back from the initial awkwardness of their Malibu make out session pretty well. Devi had told him that she wasn’t ready to throw herself into a romantic relationship and they’d both agreed that while feelings were there, it was best to keep things between them platonic. There was still a ton of bickering and bantering between them, but with a new layer of caution, because things couldn’t go back to being the same, not after he’d had his tongue in her mouth.
They were friends now though, Ben even sometimes eats lunch with her and Eleanor and Fabiola.
He opens up the messaging app and spots his contact photo of Devi. It’s from when she was living with him and wearing a pair of pyjamas as she studied for their organic chemistry test. When she’d spotted him pointing his phone at her to take a picture, she chased after him trying to knock the device out of his hand to no avail. She’s smiling in the contact picture though, a big genuine beaming smile that lights up her whole face.
After a few minutes of hesitation, he finally shoots Devi a text.
Ben: I really need your help.
He receives a reply five minutes later
Devi: With the AP calc assignment? I’ll say I’m impressed you toughed it out this long, but I knew you’d be asking for my help eventually
Ben: Not with calc, David, I finished that ages ago.
Devi: Well then what exactly do you need my help with?
Ben: Uh…. can you just come over and I’ll show you?
Devi: Not happening, tell me what it is.
Ben: …. I may have adopted two cats and I have no idea how the fuck I’m supposed to take care of them.
He hears the woosh of a sent text and imagines Devi laughing ridiculously hard at his current predicament.
Devi: You adopted cats?
Ben: I did.
The next text message he receives from Devi includes three facepalm emojis and several crying with laughter emojis
Ben: David, seriously, I need your help.
He watches three dots appear on the screen and panics about what her response will be. What if she says no? Will her mom let her come over to help him? (What if she says yes? Isn’t that scarier in a way?)
Devi: I’ll be there in 10 minutes.
Ben tosses his phone down, flopping onto his bed letting out a sigh that’s somehow both a combination of relief and weary simultaneously wondering what the fuck he has just gotten himself into.
True to her word, Devi does knock on Ben’s door, ten minutes later. She isn’t exactly sure why she agreed to help him, but she and Ben kind of are friends now, so she did. Plus, seeing him struggling with kittens, of all things, might provide some good ammunition for insults.
He answers the door seconds after she rings his bell, with one of his new kittens cupped in his palms.
She’s never really noticed how large Ben’s hands are, until now, both of them cupped together completely dwarfing the cat. She feels her heart twist and twinge as she looks at the small animal, curled up and fast asleep.
“You really weren’t kidding,” Devi says as he lets her into his house and leads her into his living room.
Ben arches an eyebrow at her. “Did you think I was kidding, David?”
She shrugs her shoulders. “I don’t know, I thought you just didn’t want to admit you couldn’t crack a few of the integrals on our AP calc assignment.”
“I solved them all just fine thank you,” Ben answers, his tone sounding slightly annoyed.
Devi laughs and playfully nudges his shoulder with hers. She gestures to the kitten still cupped in his palms. “So, what’s his name?”
“This is Morty, the one who’s still hiding under my bed about 90% of the time is named Heathcliff.”
Devi frowns at that as she reaches over to pet Ben’s new cat. “You named your cats Morty and Heathcliff?”
Ben snorts. “Obviously, David.”
She rolls her eyes. “The Rick and Morty reference, that I’m unsurprised by, but a Wuthering Heights character? Really, Ben?”
“Well I wasn’t going to do what most cat owners do and name him after a candy brand or something, his name had to be something substance!”
Devi groans and swats his arm playfully. “Must you be pretentious in everything you do?”
Ben smiles at her, the soft, muted smile she’s come to love. Of course he still likes it when she teases him. He clears his throat. “You can hold him if you want.”
Devi’s aback by the offer. “Really?”
Ben nods his head and passes her — there’s no more eloquent way to put it — Morty. (Devi does her best to ignore the way her heart speeds up at the brief contact between their hands.)
Morty is astonishingly small, Devi notes, realizing even she can completely cup the kitten in her palms. He’s also ridiculously soft and for a moment Devi understands why Ben thought getting cats would be an effective cure to his loneliness.
Eventually, Morty wakes up and mewls the sound coming out as more of a whimper and Devi sets him down on the ground. The kitten skitters away in a flurry of orange and Devi can’t suppress the twinge in her heart, she can’t believe she’s gotten so attached to his new cat in the span of five minutes.
“So you said you needed me?” Devi says, placing her hand on her hip.
“Yeah, you’ve met Morty and he seems to like you and he’s totally happy exploring my house, but I can’t get Heathcliff to come out from under my bed.”
Devi barks out a laugh. “Ben, how long ago did you adopt them?”
Ben rubs the back of his neck looking slightly nervous. “About three days ago.” He narrows his eyes. “Why?”
Devi finds herself laughing uncontrollably again. “Oh my god, you're so dumb.”
Ben doesn't even take offence at that, he just gives her a quizzical look, his eyebrows knit with confusion.
“You adopted from Morty and Heathcliff a shelter, they’re in a completely new environment, and probably both terrified out of their minds.” She nudges his shoulder with hers again. “And I wouldn’t exactly blame them, you are a lot to handle.”
“I could say the same about you, David.”
“Look, the best way to get cats to like you is to sit quietly and let them come to you.”
Devi makes her way over to his sofa and sits down, stretching her arms over her head. Ben takes a seat next to her and Devi notices he’s careful about the distance between them. (She does her best not to let it bother her that he’s holding her at arm’s length, really she does.)
“One question for you, David,” Ben says as he turns to face her, propping his elbows on his knees. “How exactly do you know so much about cats?”
Devi shrugs and offers a half-smile. “Eleanor adopted two a few years ago and I went over to her house all the time, so I learned how to take care of cats decently well.”
They sit in silence and though Devi’s not a quiet kid by nature, she finds it comforting rather than stifling. She leans over half an hour in and jabs Ben’s shoulder. “Are you sure you don’t want my help with the AP calc assignment? I’m amazing at integrals, as you know.”
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I already finished the assignment, Devi.”
Devi swats him again and rolls her eyes. “Yeah, yeah.”
They eventually agree to watch some TV together because they’re both done all of their homework and settle on What We Do In The Shadows.
Devi will never admit this to Ben, but it’s a ridiculously funny show and she finds herself keeling over with laughter at the antics of Nandor, Laszlo, and Nadja.
Three episodes in, Devi notices a tuft of gray fur nestled next to her. Heathcliff is somehow even smaller than Morty, curled up into a little ball, making soft purring noises.
She pets Heathcliff, relishing the feeling of his soft fur beneath her fingertips and looks up to notice Ben is no longer paying attention to the TV show, rather he’s staring at her with wonderment. His voice comes out quiet. “How did you do that?”
The softness of his tone makes Devi’s heart pick up speed and she feels the temptation to do something similarly stupid to what she did in that car on the beach, but instead, she smirks and tosses her hair over her shoulder. “I’m magic.”
It comes as no surprise to Ben that he and Devi manage to turn taking care of his two new cats into some sort of competition. That’s the way they both tick, after all, they thrive on competition even though they’re no longer rivals.
Ben isn’t surprised either when Devi shows up at his house one afternoon with an entire point system written up to determine which one of them is a better cat parent. (Ben knows he’s the better parent obviously, they are his cats that he adopted, but Devi’s never been one to back down from a challenge.)
They compete over who can get the attention of Morty or Heathcliff with various toys, Devi always managing to snatch this elaborate teaser known as a cat dancer first, much to Ben’s annoyance. (He ends up playing with both kittens with a laser pointer, which gets him points on some days and is of interest to neither cat on others. Cats are fickle in their interests, he realizes, not terribly well suited for strategizing how to win a competition for their affection.)
He and Devi compete over who feeds the two kittens faster, Ben even takes it upon himself to use the timer on his phone to see whether the kittens run up to their food mat faster when he’s feeding them versus when Devi is. (It’s inconsistent, Morty always seems to show up more quickly and with more enthusiasm when Ben is feeding them, whereas Heathcliff seems more eager when Devi takes the responsibility.)
They somehow manage to turn every aspect of pet care into a competition. There’s no real end goal for either of them, no set number of points that will crown either of them as a better pet parent. Ben just likes competing against Devi and from the glint in her eyes he often catches, he can tell she enjoys the competition too.
Heathcliff is rather attached to Devi, running up to the door every time she arrives, rubbing his head against her leg. He even lets Devi pick him up and cuddle him, which he never lets Ben do. (Ben is not jealous, he’s definitely not, it’s a well-established fact that Morty likes him better, anyway.)
The only thing that actually annoys him is that Devi gives herself a point in their competition every time Heathcliff greets her at the door.
“David,” he says one day when they’re sitting at a small table in his backyard, having just finished working on some thermochemistry problems. “You can’t keep giving yourself points every time Heathcliff greets you at the door.”
“Why? Upset you’re losing to me, Gross.”
Ben pinches his brow. “I’m not losing,” he points a finger at her, “you’re cheating.”
Devi rolls her eyes. “Don’t you always give yourself a point every day when Morty greets you at the door?" She tosses her head back and forth. "I’d say we’re about equal.”
Ben chuckles and can’t keep himself from grinning. “Fine. You’re right.”
Devi smirks at him. “Did you just admit that I’m right?”
Ben grumbles. “Don’t get too used to it, David.”
Devi laughs at that, the sound ringing joyfully out into the air and reaches out to quickly squeeze his hand, before pulling away upon seeming to realize what she’s doing.
It doesn’t mean anything, Ben tells himself, clasping his hands together nervously, squeezing someone’s hand is an appropriate action for a friend and nothing more.
It’s later that particular night when Morty is curled up on his lap as he reads a book and Devi is sitting on his couch petting Heathcliff that Ben realizes he wants to stay like this forever.
He’s known he’s liked Devi for a while, first realizing it the night of his birthday party, the flame growing brighter the day she kissed him at the beach, but this, whatever this realization is, goes far beyond the line of like.
They haven’t exactly talked about what they are to each other since they spoke about the kiss and agreed that it was a one-time thing. Agreed they were better off as friends who enjoyed endless amounts of competition.
Ben knows it’s selfish, but he can’t help but want more. He wants to not have to stop himself every time he wants to hold her hand. He wants to not be forced to squash the temptation down every time he wants to kiss her again (which is an alarming amount.)
As Devi continues to pet Heathcliff, he studies her. She has this soft contented look on her face, tension seeming completely absent from her body. She seems relaxed and calm in a way he’s never seen her at school. He can’t deny that he’s physically attracted to her too, she’s wearing red today, a colour that perfectly complements her skin. Ben knows a fair amount about colour theory that red is often associated with passion and fire and determination, all the perfect adjectives to describe Devi and it’s just a bonus that she looks amazing in it.
He doesn’t even notice he’s staring until Devi, in typical Devi fashion, very bluntly calls him out for it. “Ben, you’re staring.”
Ben ruffles the fur of the ball of fluff currently asleep on his lap and turns back to look at Devi. She’s still petting Heathcliff, but she’s looking at him quizzically. Rather than denying it, Ben smiles softly at her. “You look really cute.”
Devi’s confusion melts into a gentle upturn of her lips and Ben knows he’s said the right thing.
Huh, Devi thinks, this is unexpected.
She lets herself into Ben’s house for a project they are working on for AP Biology, completely expecting Heathcliff to appear and nuzzle legs like he always does, but he is nowhere to be seen.
Interestingly, Ben doesn’t greet her at the door either. She’s all too used to seeing him with his arms crossed over his chest in a way she will never ever admit to him she finds devastatingly attractive, a smug smirk on his face.
She steps further into his house, slipping her shoes off her feet and enters the next room, spotting him and his two cats a second later.
Ben is sound asleep on the couch with both Morty and Heathcliff asleep on top of him. Morty is on his lap, curled up in a ball as usual and Heathcliff is nuzzled next to Ben in the space between his outstretched arm and curve of his hip.
The image is far cuter than she wants to admit, and Devi kind of hates the way her heart flutters when she sees him.
(It’s because of the cats, okay? Not Ben, she doesn’t think Ben is cute.)
He looks peaceful in his sleep, his face relaxed, shoulders completely free of tension, jaw unclenched. The only thing Devi doesn’t like about Ben’s sleeping form is that she can’t see the striking bottle blue of his eyes. She doesn’t want to wake him, so she curls up in the armchair opposite the couch and pulls a book out of her bag, flips to the page marked by her bookmark and begins to read
There’s an ease to just sitting here and though Devi isn’t usually one for silence, she likes the quiet. She always likes quiet moments when she’s with Ben.
Ben doesn’t remember falling asleep, but soon enough he’s waking up, rubbing sleep from his eyes, and blinking as he surveys his surroundings. He notices both his cats are asleep with him, Heathcliff tucked into his side and Morty resting on his lap. He cranes his head and notices Devi is sitting on the armchair across from the couch, nose buried in a book, earbuds in her ears.
He can’t suppress a chuckle when he notices what book she’s reading.
Devi probably hears him laugh because soon she’s slipping out her earbuds and placing her book down on the end table next to the chair. She looks up at him, slightly confused. “What?”
“You’re reading Wuthering Heights?”
“Yeah, it’s a classic, isn’t that what you said?”
“I’m disappointed you haven’t read it before, David,” Ben says through his smirk.
“Sorry my taste in literature is less pretentious than yours, Gross.” She steps up off the chair, takes a seat next to him on the couch, and Ben tries to ignore the way his heart picks up speed when their thighs brush together. “It is a good book though,” she says smiling at him. It’s that soft smile she doesn’t give all that often, the one that makes her brown eyes glimmer, that he’s come to love.
Ben lifts up Heathcliff and places him on Devi’s lap and smiles when Devi immediately begins petting him. Something about the quiet makes Ben feel more open, vulnerable and before he can stop himself, he’s spilling open the complicated bottle of his emotions. “I’m sorta like these cats, you know?”
Devi furrows her brow and frowns slightly. “What do you mean?”
“Abandoned,” he blinks back the tears that threaten. “Unwanted.”
“Ben...
He laughs bitterly. “You know, we abandoned ones gotta stick together, right?” he murmurs, scratching Morty under the chin. “Gotta be there for each other when no one else is.”
Devi looks at him sadly, her expression one of a heart that is both full and broken all at once, paradoxical as Ben knows that is.
“I know I’m really lucky,” Ben continues, “to be rich and live in this massive house, but what I’ve always wanted is someone to love me. To stick around and choose me.”
He scratches behind Morty’s ear and lets out another brittle laugh. “Until these guys, no one ever wanted me around.”
Devi reaches for his hand, her eyes blooming with determination. “I did.”
“Devi,” he says with a shake of his head, “you don’t have to say that just to make me feel better—”
“I’m not saying it to make you feel better,” Devi interrupts, squeezing his hand. “God, Ben, you were there for me when no one else was, I owe so much to you.” She cocks her head. “Besides, I was never exactly one to say or do anything to boost your ego.
Ben chuckles at that, feeling a little lighter.
He’s a little shocked when he feels one of her hands stroke his cheek. “You are not unwanted,” she says firmly, staring deep into his eyes. “You are so, so loved, Ben.” The way she’s looking at him now is all soft and sympathetic and warm.
“But what if I’m not? What if I’m never anyone’s first choice?”
Because that is his deepest fear. He’s painfully used to everyone walking out, leaving him, neglecting him, what if he never gets anything better?
(What if he doesn’t deserve anything better?)
Devi’s expression hardens, shifting into something akin to anger. “God, Ben, why don’t you get it?”
“Get what?”
Devi grumbles in annoyance. “That there are so many people who care about you and love you.”
“Like who?”
“Like me, you idiot!”
Ben blinks a few times trying to take in Devi’s words. Surely she can’t mean what he thinks she means? “What?”
Devi sighs, the noise a weary combination of exasperation and fondness. “Ben, for one of the smartest people I know, you really are a fucking idiot.”
Before Ben can dignify that with a response or defend his own intelligence, Devi’s cupping his face in her hands and leaning in and— oh, she’s kissing him.
Her lips against his are soft and she tastes sweet and saccharine like her sparkly bubblegum lip gloss. He moves one of his hands to thread through her hair and finds it’s just as soft as he remembers— how does he remember? — as he deepens the kiss.
He hasn’t kissed anyone else since his first kiss with Devi — the Malibu skyline stretching endlessly behind them — and while that experience was scenic, cinematic, somehow this sloppier kiss on a couch in his massive house has more meaning. He feels her lips turn up into a smile and pulls away quizzically.
Devi’s hands are still cupping his cheeks as she laughs.
“What?”
“I just,” she giggles. “I can’t believe you really didn’t know.”
Ben frowns at her. “Know what?”
“That I love you.” She shakes her head and sighs, though this time, Ben can tell it’s completely out of fondness and affection. “Ben, I’ve been coming over to your house every single day after school for the past 2 months.”
“I thought you were just coming over because you really love Heathcliff and Morty.”
Devi touches her forehead to his and when she speaks her breath ghosts over his lips. “Well, yeah, I love them both too, but I love you most.”
His eyes glint with intrigue. “Most, huh?”
“Yeah,” Devi answers, her eyes brown eyes filled with syrupy fondness. “It’s a little funny that you’re scared you’ll never be someone’s first choice.” she strokes the underside of his jaw with her thumb. “Because you already are, Ben.”
She pecks him quickly on the lips.
“You’re mine.”