Nothing

(Tuesday Afternoon, August 13th)

"Ben." Noah says in surprise, as he moves out from behind the register.

He notices his expression and awkwardly smiles, "You look like if have bad news." His blue eyes scan him, and Ben assumes, "I missed to many days, didn't I?"

He hesitates, "If you're still sick—"

"I'm not sick," Ben interrupts. "I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have let me out of the hospital if I was."

Noah eyes over him again, "You look sick."

Ben frowns, "What do you mean?"

He glances over the store, "Let's discuss this in the backroom." Ben notices the woman staring, follows Noah into the back, and he faces him. "You've lost a lot of weight, there's dark circles under your eyes, and you look weak."

Ben's eyes shift, as he mutters, "Why's everyone upset that I'm losing weight?"

"You need help," Noah proclaims, and Ben looks away. "Now, I don't know what kind of help that is, but I'm not letting you work like this."

He sadly laughs, "Are you firing me?"

"We can discuss your employment here when you're doing better."

Ben wets his lips before sternly eyeing him, "If you really think I'm ill, there are laws that say you can't fire me for that."

"We're a small, family business." Noah informs, "I have every right to choose who can work here, and I can't have someone who looks as sick as you representing our business."

Ben tears up, "You're not serious?"

"This is a health store," Noah refutes. "We already attract people who have unrealistic body goals. If they see you like this and they ask you for unhealthy tips, we could be sued."

"So, that's it, then?" He strains a smile, "You don't want me anymore."

"Come back when you've gained ten pounds," Noah instructs, and Ben gulps, eyeing away. He takes deep breathes, as his heart pounds. He turns to the door, and as he leaves, Ben hears, "You're a hard worker, but—" That's it. He strides out of the store, finds a table at the corner of the mall, and he hides his face in his hands.

"How was it like going back to work?" Charming inquires.

Ben leans his head against the window, "I was fired." Charming fails to respond, and Ben explains, "He said I wasn't healthy enough to work at a health store." The car stops, and Ben questions, "What are you doing?"

"Turning us around," he informs. "I'm going to talk to him."

"No," Ben complains, and Charming looks at him. "I have my money back. I don't need the job anymore, and it's not like I'll have the time when school begins anyway." Charming tightly holds the steering wheel, and Ben meets his eyes, "Please. I just want to go home."

He sighs, "Alright. If you're sure."

"I am," Ben assures.

Charming nods, "Okay. Let's go home."

"And now Belle's supposed to look after an entire school of kids?" Mal disbelieves. "She couldn't even take care of her own." Evie hums, and Mal turns to her, "Eves." She spots the phone, "Who are you texting?"

"Texting?" Evie grins at her, "I'm not texting. It's, uh, my mirror app."

"It sounds a lot like texting," Mal accuses, before she strides towards her.

Evie pulls the phone closer, "It's no one, M. Really."

She snatches the phone from her and sees the name, "Ben?" Mal gapes at her, "How long have you been talking to him?"

"M," Evie says again.

Mal speeds up, laughing in disbelief, "You've been in contact with him this entire time, and you didn't tell me?" Evie fails to answer, and Mal shakes her head, "No one else has been able to reach him. Why would he—"

When Mal's expression falls, Evie tries the sneak the phone back, "That really is private, so…"

Mal takes a step back, and Evie folds her hands. She sternly eyes her, "What the hell are you sending him nudes for?"

"M," she sadly whispers.

She reads through the texts, "You two comparing weight? The shit, Eves?"

"It just came up," she uneasily responds.

Mal continues to read, before she takes a deep breath, "That's it."

Evie watches her hold the phone to her ear, "Mal. What are you—"

When Ben answers, and unsurely says, "Evie. Are you okay? What's up with the call?"

"What's up with you texting Evie?" she voices.

"Mal?" he questions.

"No." She sarcastically replies, "The Easter rabbit. Now, answer me or I will huff and puff and light your lying ass on fire."

"Could you slow down?" he requests.

"Why the hell," Mal emphasizes, "are you giving Evie tips on weight loss?"

"It's not for weight loss," Ben denies.

"No." Mal huffs, "It's for anorexia. Why would you do something so stupid?"

"Mal." He pauses, "I—"

"If you ever," Mal snarls, "talk to my girlfriend again, I will fry you to a crisp and swallow you whole."

After she hangs up, Evie disproves, "You know you can't breathe fire right now."

"Yeah," Mal sits on the bed. "He doesn't need to know that."

Evie watches Mal go back to the texts, "Can I have my phone back, now?"

"Not until I know everything he's put in your head," Mal insists, before her face relaxes. "This is Ben?"

Evie notices the picture of his abdomen, "Yeah. It is."

"He looks worse than you."

"I know." Evie flips her hair over her shoulder, "I was so jealous when I saw that."

Mal gapes at her, "You can't even see how bad you are."

"I know I'd rather look like that," Evie points, "than the blob I am right now."

Mal glances at the photo, before she stands, "I'm showing Belle."

"What?" Evie says in shock, before she blocks the door. "Mal. You can't do that."

"Why not?" Mal quotes, "Or Ben could die?" Evie falters, and Mal widens her eyes, "Get out of my way."

"Please, don't do this," she pleads.

"I need to help him," Mal insists.

"By ratting him out?" she accuses.

Mal's expression slips, "You two are like firewood and gasoline, I swear." before she shoves past Evie and through the doorway. "I'm not letting either of you go up in flames." She strides down the staircase, heads to the school side of the building, and finds the library. "Belle," she shouts.

"Mal?" she stands up, and Mal strides over to the front desk.

"I caught Evie and Ben texting each other," she informs.

"What do you mean, caught?"

Mal takes a deep breath, "Just look." before she shows Belle the photo. "That's Ben right now." Belle takes the phone, and Mal informs, "They've been helping each other to lose weight. You have to do something."

"Don't worry," Belle evenly expresses. "I plan to." She thinks, "I'd like to keep the phone for an hour. I want to make a copy of these conversations for Charming to see."

Mal frowns, "Do what you have to do."

"What does 'swallow' mean?" Ben questions. Derek gives the French translation, and Ben's eyes shift, "What about 'fry' and 'crisp'?"

The guard's grey eyes narrow, "Your Highness, what's going on?"

He stares at his phone, "Mal doesn't want me to talk to Evie anymore."

"Do I need to worry about her?" Derek insinuates.

"No," Ben denies. "I mean, she's just protecting her girlfriend. She's allowed to do that."

"She threatened to burn you alive and eat you whole," he reminds him.

"A real dragon wouldn't think twice about eating me alive," Ben tries to smile, but the guard continues to frown. "Okay. Not a great argument, but so long as I stop stepping on her tail and taking her treasure, I'll be fine." He fails to respond, and Ben points out, "She's at Auradon Prep. What's she going to do? Cast a spell on me?" His expression slips, "I'm shutting up now."

"We have Queen Belle at the front door for King Charming." Ben turns to the guard, and the earpiece erupts again, "I repeat, we have Queen Belle here to see King Charming."

Ben raises an eyebrow, "Do you have to get that?"

Derek presses the mic, "In route. Give me a minute." before he nods Ben over. "It's my job to watch you. You're coming with." Ben stands from the chair, follows the black-haired guard through the halls, until they find him in the living room. "Your Highness." He looks at them. "Queen Belle is here to see you."

He finds the roman numeral wall clock, "At eleven thirty?"

"Yes, Your Highness," he confirms.

Charming sighs, before he removes his arm from Ella's shoulders, stands, and slowly lays her down on the couch. He moves the blanket over her, and she whispers, "Charming?"

"I have some business to take care of," he softly speaks.

"What time is it?" she questions.

"Don't worry about it. Go back to sleep." She shuts her eyes, and he walks over to them. "Do you know why she's here?"

"She said she wanted to see you," he repeats.

He glances at Ben, "Hide him in the wine cellar."

"Wait. What?" Ben voices.

Charming places a finger to his lips, before he glances back at the couch. He faces him and whispers, "Your mother is supposed to plan her visits with me. We don't know what she's doing here. What we do know is that she has a history of… wanting to speak with you."

"You mean use her love as a currency," Ben interprets.

"A fake currency," Charming enforces. "Whatever love she might have for you, she's not showing it in the way she treats you." He meets the guard's grey eyes, "Wine cellar. Now."

The guard presses his mic, "King Charming is coming down." before he starts to leave; however, Ben continues to stare at Charming. "Your Majesty. Time is essential."

After Ben follows him out of the room, Charming makes his way to the main floor. He finds Belle sitting in the lounge area, "Do you realize how late it is? You can't just show up uninvited. You know that."

"It's important," she insists.

Charming takes the seat across from her, "If you're here to see Ben—"

"I already have." She offers him the papers, "He's been talking with Evie."

"They're friends."

"They're a bad influence on each other." She pushes the papers towards him, "See for yourself." He takes them, and his expression darkens. "These are from Evie's phone. Mal's really worried about it."

"Wait." Charming notices, "This was when Ben was in the hospital, when the police were coming to get him to talk."

"He's been talking with Evie almost every day," Belle informs.

He stares at the paper, "Maybe it's good that he talks to her."

"You're not serious?" Belle's eyes widen.

"Look at this." Charming shows her, "He talked to her about it. We've never been able to get him to open up about it. It just comes out in bursts of sarcasm."

"And the rest of the conversations they have are completely unhealthy," she opinionates. "You can't believe the tradeoff is worth it."

He takes a moment, "I'll talk to him."

"I want to talk to him," Belle requests.

He shakes his head, "No."

"He's my son," Belle enforces.

Charming stares at her, "He's not available right now."

"It's past sunset," she notes. "I know he's awake."

"Maybe he's getting reacquainted with the other side of his family," Charming proposes. "You can't come here on a whim and expect to see him."

"I need to know if he's as bad as the photo shows," she disagrees.

Charming's frown deepens, "He is."

"It's two weeks until he has to get settled into the dorm," Belle starts.

"I'm not putting him back into the hospital," he rejects.

"He needs intervention."

"He's had intervention," Charming counters. "The only thing we haven't done is corner him and list off everything that's wrong with him."

She straightens, "You make it sound so horrible."

"Carnivores are more likely to lash out when they're cornered," he reasons.

"He wouldn't want you to box him in as a carnivore," she points out.

"It's what he is," Charming comments. "He might not like it, but his biology isn't going to change because of that. If he's cornered, his instinct will be to fight. Now, maybe I'm wrong, but I feel like that's going to hinder his recovery, not make him better."

"We can't just stand by and let him starve himself to death," she worries.

"And putting more pressure on him to eat isn't going to get him to do it," he rebuttals. "He's eating. He just needs to eat more. To do that, we need to make him comfortable."

"I want to see him," she says again.

"No," he denies, and Belle rises to her feet. "What are doing?"

"He's my son," she repeats, before she heads for the staircase. "I'm seeing him." Charming takes a minute, before he follows her up to the bedrooms. "Ben," she calls. "Ben."

Chad opens his door, "Dad. What's—"

"Back in your room," he commands, before Belle opens Ben's door. "I told you. You can't see him right now."

She turns to him and yells, "Where is he?"

"He's not here."

"He's my son," she reminds him. "You can't keep him from me."

"I'm happy to schedule something," he starts.

"I want to see him now," she demands.

"And I said no," Charming emphasizes.

"He's my child. I have every right to see him."

"Not if I take custody," he evenly expresses.

Her eyebrows raise, "You have no grounds for that."

"I was there when you and Adam weren't," he debates. "I'm the father-figure in his life."

"He's over sixteen," Belle backtracks. "They would ask him who he wants to be with, and he won't say no to me."

"If the court found out that he's developed feelings for you and that you've been entertaining him for your benefit," Charming counters, "they can't place him with you."

Belle's mouth cracks open, "You wouldn't embarrass Ben like that."

"I don't want to," he agrees, "but I will if it means he will be kept safe."

"So, I'm a threat now?" she disbelieves.

He takes a moment, "I think you need help. You care about him. I know that, but you don't realize how much you're hurting him."

She widens her eyes, "You can't keep me from him."

"We can schedule something," he starts again, and she turns his back on him; however, as she starts to walk away, she stops in her steps.

She sighs and turns around, reaching into her purse, as she walks back over to him, "I almost forgot." She takes the thin wallet out and takes a business card out of it. "Here."

Charming takes it, "What's this?"

"Ben missed his dentist appointment, while he was in the hospital," she informs. "It's very important you make another one."

"He hasn't said anything," Charming unsurely replies.

"He complained about how the last dentist thought filling the centers of his teeth would take care of his cavities." She points to the card, "This dentist specializes in carnivores. He should be able to take care of the cavities that were left on the corners of Ben's teeth."

Charming nods, "I'll ask Ben about it."

She frowns at him, "You can't always just ask him what he needs. If you're really wanting to act as his father, you need to be able to tell what he needs just by looking at him." She uneasily laughs, "You want to take custody from me? Tell me what Ben eats when he's sick."

"He said something about beef sticks at the hospital," Charming mentions.

"That's the hospital," she negates. "When he gets a cold he likes eating oranges, dark chocolate, and beef broth." She questions, "Do you have almond milk?"

"I don't think so," he answers. "No."

"Get some," she instructs. "The unsweetened vanilla. He likes partially freezing it and having it as a snack."

"Milk isn't a snack."

"It is if he's not eating anything else," she disproves. "He also likes that hazelnut spread."

"Which still isn't meat." He advises, "Ben needs nutrition, not empty calories."

"Ben needs to put on weight," she disagrees. "Right now, I don't care what he eats. I'd let him have all the candy in the world right now, if it means he gains twenty pounds."

Charming quiets, "I want my kids healthy. Just because putting on weight might make Ben look healthy, it doesn't make him healthy. Physically or psychologically."

"What do you suggest?" Belle antagonizes, "That we do nothing?"

"He needs to eat meat," Charming answers, "and we need to make him comfortable enough to do that."

"You know the solution, then," Belle concludes. "The next time he tries to attack someone, let him." She turns around and heads down the hall.

Charming places a hand to his head, and after she leaves, Chad reenters the hall, "Dad?" He faces him, and Chad concerns, "What was that about?" Charming opens his mouth, but no words come out. "You're not really thinking about adopting Ben? He's almost eighteen."

"The term is called a dependent." Charming informs, "If someone is physically or psychologically incapable of taking care of themselves, they can be court-ordered a caregiver."

"But that would be a different," Chad assumes. "You would have to prove Belle can't be his caregiver first. That would be a separate trial, wouldn't it?"

"We'll deal with it if the time comes," his father evades.

"I don't want Ben to be my brother," Chad continues. "You know how fucking weird that would be?"

"Ben shouldn't be propositioning you, anyway," his father dismisses. "You're too young for him. Adopting him would make him legally responsible not to… court you."

"He's like a year and a half older than me," Chad disbelieves. "And how is the law supposed to keep him responsible? Homosexuality is already outlawed, and it's not like being related to his mother ever stopped him."

"Chad," he starts.

"You know how often people ask what's up with me and Ben?" Chad asserts, "You know how many of them would laugh their asses off if they found out we were legally brothers? It's a fucked-up porno waiting to happen."

"Don't you think you're exaggerating a little?"

"It wouldn't be that hard for someone to video Ben flirting with me," Chad debunks.

His father thinks, "I'll try not to resort to that. Okay?"

Chad lets out a breath, ruffling his hair, "Oh. Um, and I need a ride tomorrow."

"Where to?"

"The movie theater in Auradon," he uneasily says.

"The movie theater?" he inquires.

Chad hesitates, "I, uh, have a date."

"Oh." Charming places his hands in his pockets, "Of course. Bernard can drive you."

"Okay." He tries to smile, "Thanks." before he heads back to his room.

"Chad," Charming calls. He turns back to him, and he sighs, "Nothing."

"So, she was here to see me," Ben concludes.

"She was just worried." Charming takes a moment, "You know, I'd never resort to half the things your parents have done, but…"

"But?" Ben prods.

"I think I'm starting to understand." Charming recognizes, "When you mentioned that your parents were more worried about you getting caught than you doing anything unlawful…" He faces him, "Chad told me he has a date with Carlos. But now that I've gotten past telling him he shouldn't, I was left with just wanting to tell him to be careful."

Ben's eyes shift, "Did you?"

He shakes his head, "I wanted him to enjoy it, and when I think about the rumors that were spread about the two of you… maybe if they're caught, no one will say anything." Ben looks at the floor, and Charming gets his attention. "Hey." Ben frowns at him. "We're going to get that law repealed. I promise."

Ben observes him, "Don't make promises you can't keep."

- Posted: 05/10/2020