Loyal
(Sunday Afternoon, June 16th)
The doors open wide, and Belle stands from the red armchair, her book slipping from her fingers and clunking to the ground, as her mouth gapes, "Ben."
"Mother," he whispers back.
She rushes up to him and places her hands onto his shoulders, "Are you okay?" before she goes in to hug him. "I was so afraid I'd never see you again."
"I'm fine."
She straightens up and gives a pointed look, "I tried to call, you know."
"I know," Ben continues to frown.
It takes a minute for his mother to question, "Why? What happened?"
Ben's eyes lower as he shakes his head, "Nothing." before meeting her shining brown ones again. "I overreacted."
"Overreacted?" she nearly laughs. "You ran away, Ben. It must be something." He looks away from her, and she pleads, "Please. Honey, I want you to be honest with me."
Ben wets his lips before facing her, "It's the same shit as always. That's it." He notices her searching for a new way to get him to share, and he shifts in his stance, "I should check the answering machine in the office. It's been a few weeks."
"Of course," she lets out a breath, but when he starts to walk off, she says, "You will join us for dinner."
Ben looks over his shoulder, eying her for a long moment. He can't tell if she was asking for ordering, "I'll be there."
"So," Ben's father clears his throat. "Where did you go off to?"
Ben looks between his mother and his father. There's no way she would have told him about their secret precaution. He must be speaking in general, knowing that he just hasn't been there and nothing more. "I, uh." Ben pokes his fork into the turkey before dipping it into the dark gravy, "I was at a hotel with Chad."
His parents give each other a look, and Ben notices the others staring at him before his mother questions, "Did anyone see you?"
"At least the desk man," he thinks, "but I paid in cash."
"A cash trail can be followed if there are witnesses," his mother reminds him.
"What does it matter?" Ben irritably questions. "It's not like I was doing anything," his eyes shift, "against the law."
He hears his mother let out a relieved breath, "Good. We don't need some nosy reporter finding that you shared a one bed room with another boy."
"Uh," his mind escapes him.
"There was more than one bed," his father sternly eyes him.
It's hard for him to get the words out, "I wasn't planning on him coming. Well, um."
"Not when you bought the room," his mother clears up.
"Right," Ben immediately answers. "That's right."
"Well, that's still no excuse," his father stresses. "He could have done with an upgrade, but no. He'd rather had shared a bed with that Chad."
"It's just a bed," Ben nearly yells. "Girls do it all the time." He turns towards Mal and Evie, "Isn't that right?" before he notices them glance at each other and remembers. "Right."
"I believe you, honey," he hears his mother say, before he turns and sees her nod.
Ben attempts to smile at her, "Thank you."
"Something's wrong," Ben notices Mal's hyper tense posture as he hurries after her down the hall. "What is it?"
Mal swiftly turns around, and Ben nearly runs into her. "What is it?" she disbelieves.
He wets his lips, "Is it about Chad?" and when she laughs he frowns. "I'm not like that. You don't need to worry about him."
"Like that," Mal mutters, shaking her head with crossed arms, before she seethes, "You don't need to be gay to mess around with a guy."
"Nothing happened," he calmly reassures, but when she continues to stare at him he looks away. "Is this really where we are?" Ben faces her, "You've cheated on me a lot. And, okay, sure. You didn't really have a choice, but what? I can have proof and can't be upset, but when you don't have proof you can get as mad as you want?"
"This isn't about cheating."
"It seems like it," he pointedly states.
"I don't care if you fuck some guy," Mal shouts, and Ben stills, shocked. She takes a calming breath, "It's just, you're king. You could have anyone, and you choose him?"
"I wouldn't say choice," he quietly comments. "He's my friend."
"Whatever's going on with you and Chad," Mal widens her eyes, "I don't like it."
"What's wrong with Chad?"
"He's not loyal," she emphasizes. "He doesn't know the first thing about being loyal."
It takes a minute for him to say, "He's loyal to me."
"You think so?" her eyebrows raise.
"He was there for me last night," Ben quietly states, and Mal stays quiet as he steps forward. "And nothing's going on. I promise." She still doesn't speak, and his smile parts in interest as he touches her dark brown curls, "Hey. You dyed your hair."
Mal takes a step back, "Really?" before she shakes her head, walks into the room, and slams the door behind her.