You did nothing wrong

"I am glad that you are." Benjamin said, a small smile of relief plastered on his face.

He was seriously relieved right now, he was just too tired to show it. He took one look at her bright eyes and the happy smile on her face and he was certain that she was back to being her normal self.

Yesterday, she had been so down and depressed that he was starting to lose hope that she would ever get back to being her normal sweet self, but he guessed that his worries were all in vain. Lulu was back and you could not tell how relieved he was about that.

"Mhmm me too, I want to say thank you Ben, yesterday when you told me that I would feel alright later, I didn't believe you, I thought that everyone was just lying to me, I was so gripped by fear that I was unable to see the light at the end of the tunnel." said Lulu.

"But you said that I would feel better in the morning and Joy, oh she was just so sweet and understanding and I know it's weird to say that five year old gave me one of the best pieces of advice I've ever had in my entire life." said Lulu as she smiled.

"When I woke up, I couldn't believe that every inch of fear, every doubt, every hopelessness that I felt, I couldn't feel it any longer." said Lulu as she smiled in ebullience.

"When I tell you that I've been bubbling with joy and energy all morning until now, it feels so surreal that I was contemplating the essence of life yesterday." she said as she giggled, noticing that Benjamin was not laughing at all, if anything he looked a little bit sad and guilty.

"Ben... what's wrong?" she asked, noticing that he had been colder than usual since she got here, and it was not in his usual mean way, but in a sort of sullen way.

"Nothing, I'm just tired." he replied as he looked away.

"No, no, that's a lie Ben, I know you, and you've been colder than usual ever since I got here." she said in concern as he said nothing in reply.

"Oh... I get it... I am bothering you, you should have just said so, I'll leave then so you can rest." Lulu said as she got up and was about to leave.

"Wait, that's not it, you're not bothering me at all." Benjamin surprisingly replied as Lulu turned to look at him confused.

"I'm not?" she asked as Benjamin shook his head.

"Then what is it?" she asked as he looked away.

"You know what, there's no point staying here if you won't tell me what's going on with you." said Lulu as Benjamin took a deep sigh.

"I feel bad for what happened to you yesterday." he said as he looked down and Lulu frowned and sat down again.

"What do you mean feel bad?" she asked.

"Well I didn't want to go with you in the first place, and the only reason I ended up going was because we made a deal that you wouldn't bother me for a week." said Benjamin.

"To think that if I hadn't had done something as simple as just following you, you would have been severely injured, or worse..." he said his tone sullen. Now it was Lulu's turn to be silent as she was processing his words.

"Wait... so you feel guilty?" Lulu asked as Benjamin nodded and she laughed.

"Oh but Ben, don't be, what are you feeling guilty for? You weren't the one that asked the elevator to malfunction." she said as she laughed, finding his guilt cute, he looked as if he had done something unforgivable.

"But if I hadn't gone with you... the worst could have happened." said Benjamin.

"Why are you being so pessimistic? The worst didn't happen, and you still came along with me regardless of how annoyed you were. You had a choice and every right to just leave me but you didn't, so you didn't do anything wrong, get over the unnecessary guilt you feel." she said seriously.

"But I do... I treated you so badly and for what? I am the worst friend ever. All you ever did was be nice to me and treat me like you would want tot be treated, and yet I called you annoying and irritating and reckless and I frowned and I argued with you, meanwhile I forgot that you're a person like anyone else, I took you for granted and I'm sorry for that." said Benjamin.

"I feel guilty because I was terrible to you, I feel guilty because I don't deserve your friendship." he said as he sighed and Lulu smiled with sincerity.

"Oh Ben, gosh you're so adorable, I don't hate the way you treat me, I did force you to be my friend." said Lulu as she chuckled and Benjamin looked at her.

"You don't deserve to be treated like I treated you, no one does." said Benjamin.

"And you are completely right, but don't beat yourself up because I don't see it like that, I just see it like you being yourself, and I like that you are yourself." said Lulu as she smiled.

"And stop making yourself look more terrible than you are, you're a wonderful friend, you always deal with my impulsiveness, you follow me everywhere regardless of the plans you have, and even though you murmur, you're still there, and that's what to me that matters." said Lulu as she smiled and reached out to hold Benjamin's hand as he looked at her.

"So I forgive you, and the only way for you to accept my forgiveness is to stop feeling guilty and return back to your normal annoying self." said Lulu as she chuckled and unconsciously a smile appeared on Benjamin's face.

"Thank you Louise." he said in gratefulness and sincerity.

"Don't mention it, besides, after almost dying together, we are definitely closer than before." she said as she laughed and Benjamin chuckled.

"So I'm stuck with you and you're stuck with me hehe." said Lulu as she smiled and surprisingly Benjamin smiled as well.

"Are you hungry?" he asked as Lulu shook her head.

"How about some coffee?" he asked.

"Sure, you look like you really need it." she said as she giggled and Benjamin stood up and walked to the kitchen.

"What were you so busy with anyway?" asked Lulu as she looked around while Benjamin prepared coffee.

"Some stuff." he replied vaguely.

"Mhmm." replied Lulu as in the corner of her eye she saw a cardboard box behind the couch and she moved closer and picked up the box in intrigue.

She took one look inside the boxed and gasped as she instantly saw familiar materials in the box.

"Ben, there's a box in your living room." she called out as Benjamin walked towards her and handed her a cup of coffee as he was surprised that she was holding the box already, but he could not lie that he had not expected her to not look at what was inside the box.

"I know." he replied.

"And it's filled with exactly all the materials and colours and palettes that I was going to show Dom yesterday." she said in a mix of confusion and excitement.

"I know... I ordered everything." said Benjamin as he sat down and Lulu gasped.

"How and why??" Lulu asked in surprise as she looked at him.

"I used your laptop, and even though it was extremely difficult getting to all the orders and websites you've been on since you instantly close all your tabs, I found everything that you've spent the past two weeks working on and I placed an express order and they happened to arrive just this afternoon." he said as Lulu was at a loss for words.

She honestly did not know what to say. She was at a loss for words, which was nearly impossible for her.

"But why...?" she asked, unable to think of a reasonable reason why Benjamin would do this.

"Because I knew that losing everything you worked so hard on would make you sad, and I didn't want you to feel any more sad than you already did... so I wanted to find a way to cheer you up, and I did this..." Benjamin said, his head low as he was avoiding eye contact.

He had not expected her to find out about this so soon, he definitely was not ready to face her.

"Oh my goodness Ben, you're so sweet." she said as her face lit up and she placed the box down on the ground and she walked to Benjamin and gave him a hug.

"And so adorable as well, look at me." Lulu chuckled as Benjamin reluctantly turned to look at her.

"Thank you, and you say that you're not a good friend, you're a wonderful friend, there's no one I know that would go the extra mile just to make me feel better, so thank you." said Lulu as she smiled and gave him a little kiss on the cheek.