The Thing

(Sunday Night, June 30th)

"Go on," Evie nudges Mal forward. "Tell him."

"Eves," Mal seethes.

Ben eyes between the two, "Tell me what?"

Mal sighs and faces him, her mouth hung open, before she irritably says, "I kissed Lonnie."

He slightly nods, "Okay."

Mal shakes her head, "What? No 'why' or 'how could you'?"

"No," Ben frowns, before he awkwardly smiles, "We're even now."

"Even now?" Evie inquires.

"No. Wait," Mal holds up a hand. "What did you do?" He folds his hands, his heart quickening. How is he supposed to say this? "Well? Spit it out."

"I slept with Chad," he hurries.

"You slept with him?" Mal's eyes widen in disbelief.

"Not slept slept," Ben shuts his eyes hard. "I mean… we shared a bed. To sleep."

Evie narrows her eyes, "Doesn't Aziz live in a palace?"

Ben grimaces, "Yes, he does, and no one knows we did that."

"Okay," Mal takes a breath. "But you didn't actually do anything."

Ben nervously laughs and scratches the back of his head, "Anything is such a—"

"Ben," Mal's eyes flicker bright green, and he falters.

"A big word," he quietly finishes.

"Just tell us what you did," Evie sighs. "You're you. It can't be that bad."

"I, uh." He clears his throat, scrunching his eyebrows, "I may or may not have gave him a… a, uh, hickey."

Mal widens her eyes even more, "That is so not even."

"It really wasn't like that," Ben frowns, as his eyes glance down. "It just happened." He notices Evie shake her head, and he extends an arm, "What? It did."

Mal crosses her arms, "That still doesn't explain why."

Ben wets his lips and eyes between them, "If I tell you to leave, she's just going to tell you later, isn't she?"

Evie grins, "How perceptive." and he looks off.

"Ben," Mal tiredly says. "Just tell me."

He whispers something, and Evie gives a look, "Sorry. I didn't catch that."

"He has a thing for blood," Mal softly states, before she and Evie give each other a look.

"I know it's weird," Ben eyes down for a moment.

"Define 'thing'," Evie interrupts.

Ben faces her, "Well." but when his eyes shift away, they meet Mal and he scratches the black of his head even harder.

"Would you stop that?" Evie's eyes widen, and she moves forward to take his hands and hold them together. "We just want to know." She eyes Mal, "We won't judge."

Mal slightly shakes her head, "Yeah. I'll listen." Ben's frown deepens, and Evie gives Mal a look. "What do you want to me say?" she lifts a hand. "Whatever this 'thing' is," Mal emphasizes, "he thought he should tell Chad about it and not me."

"Because," Ben quietly comments, and they face him. "Chad I can live with… judging me. He does it anyway." The tears intrude his eyes, "But you—"

"Okay. I get it," Mal cringes. "So," she slowly says. "What is this 'thing'?"

His eyes shift, "I just like it, I guess."

"Okay," Mal unsurely responds.

"And it doesn't even taste like metal," Ben explains. "I don't get why people keep saying it does."

"Well, it does taste like metal," Mal thinks. "But I don't care, really."

Evie half laughs, as she tells him, "She used to try to eat her necklaces."

"Not eat," Mal defends. "I just liked to chew on them."

Evie looks back at Ben, "So, what does blood taste like to you?"

Ben lifts a shoulder and makes a face, "Not metal? I don't know."

"It doesn't matter," Mal intrudes. "Ben. I don't think this is as bad as you think it is." She notices him eye down, "Unless, there's something you're not saying, because when people say they have a 'thing' for something, half of the time it's about sex." He faces her, unsettled, and she raises her eyebrows, "So, question. When we… do things, are you thinking about blood?" He shifts his stance, and Mal lets out a breath. "Okay. Well, do you think about sex when you… when you have blood."

Ben fails to answer immediately, and Mal looks away in stress. "It's not like I think about sex when I'm eating steak," Ben defends.

"When you were giving Chad that hickey," Mal puts up air quotes, "were you thinking about sex then?"

"It's not about him," Ben's voice raises.

"No, Ben," she counters. "It is. Because, if this thing you did with Chad wasn't just about the blood, then that means you were actually with him."

Ben puts up a hand, "Can you slow down."

"If you didn't do that with Chad just for the blood," Mal rewords, "then you cheated on me. And you just blamed it on needing the blood."

"He just smelled too good." Ben objects, "I couldn't help it. I needed to have him."

"Him," Mal notices. "Not the blood."

He watches her cross her arms, "I get… confused. Okay? If someone smells good, I don't know how I want them. I just want them." He glances off, "But Chad's a guy. It's not like I wanted him like that."

"Yeah," Evie murmurs. "Because, no one could ever like someone that's the same sex."

Ben gives her a look, "You're taking her side?"

Evie's eyes widen, "No, way. I'm not taking any side. I think you're both wrong."

Mal huffs at her, "We're both wrong?"

"Yes," Evie asserts, "because if you two can't go one day without each other without cheating on each other, then there's something seriously wrong."

"She does have a point," Ben realizes.

Mal narrows her eyes at him, "Says the real cheater. I was just trying to figure out a way to get heat without awkwardly laying in a bed with her with nothing to do."

"And I couldn't help myself," Ben says again. "I had to do it."

"Who?" Mal dismantles. "Who told you, you had to?"

Ben falls silent, frowning, before he shakes his head, "I'm done here."

When he turns around, Mal yells, "Fine. Go. Leave. Again."

Evie glances at Mal, before she hurries after Ben into the hall. She taps his shoulder before moving in front of him, "Hey." She notices the tears in his eyes, "Are you okay?"

"You know I had to," he quietly comments.

"It was the voice," she assumes. "It told you, you needed Chad's blood."

"It's not a voice," Ben manages. "It's… It's…"

"Intention," Evie finishes.

"It's a strong feeling," Ben finalizes. "I really couldn't help myself."

Evie slightly nods, "I get it."

Ben runs a hand over his mouth, glancing over his shoulder at the door, "Mal."

"You should tell her."

"I tried," he furiously whispers.

"You talked around it," Evie addresses, "but if you told her—"

"No," Ben hurries.

"You would have a reason," she finishes. "Mal would understand."

"Does she understand you?" he counters, and Evie eyes down. "That's what I thought."

Evie faces him, "Would you rather have Mal know about your binging and not understand or have her think you just wanted sex with Chad?" Ben doesn't speak, and Evie softly says, "Look. I can tell her for you, if you want."

"I—" Ben's heart speeds up, "I don't know."

Evie places a hand on his arm, "You're scared."

The tears leave his eyes, "No one can know. I only trust you."

"And Doug," Evie adds on. "You told him."

Ben thinks, "That was a mistake."

"You need to tell her," Evie asserts.

"Like I need to tell her I'm sick," he exasperates.

Evie frowns, "Ben. Don't you get it? If you don't tell Mal the truth about this, there will be no reason to tell her the truth about that. If you don't tell her why this happened, then you two are over. You get that?"

Ben's eyes shift, "I don't want to lose her."

"Then tell her," she emphasizes.

He shakes his head, "Sorry. I can't." before he rushes past her.

"Ben," Evie calls out, but he doesn't stop. He turns down the stairs, and Evie breathes in thought before going back to her room.

"He say anything?" Mal questions from the bed.

Evie shuts the door and stands in front of her, "Ben's a carnivore. He may not know it, but he needed that blood. And you know that."

"There's other places," Mal rationalizes. "He didn't need to get it from Chad, especially not if he knew he was confused about what he really wanted." She watches Evie fold her arms, eyeing down, and Mal sighs, "Okay. What did I say?"

"There's something you need to know," Evie softly states, "and Ben's too scared to, so I'll have to." Mal eyes over her in caution, and Evie explains, "Ben has binging problems."

She laughs, "Sorry. What?"

"Ben has binging issues," Evie sternly repeats. "When there's something he wants, he has to have it, and after he starts to eat, he can't stop. He wasn't saying he had to do it as an excuse. He said it, because he really couldn't stop himself."

Mal thinks, "He couldn't stop himself from telling Chad about his thing with blood and convincing him to offer some up? That requires a lot of planning, E."

"And you probably think when I was giving food away that that was a choice too," she assumes. "But it wasn't. I had to, because the voice told me to."

"The voice," Mal repeats.

"The eating disorder voice," Evie asserts. "The one that tells you you're never good enough, pretends to be on your side, offer solutions, and convince you to do things you really don't want to do."

Mal takes a minute, "And Ben has this voice?"

"He says it's more of a feeling," Evie quietens. "A sense of strong intent."

She glances down before meeting Evie's dark brown eyes, "Do you think the… intent made him do it?"

Evie slightly shakes her head, "I think he would have thought about it more, knew you would get upset, and stopped if he could have." She watches her nod, "But Mal." before she faces her again. "Even if this was a choice, you need to remember that you did things with your best friend to satisfy your needs for a long time without him knowing."

"And he came clean to me," Mal realizes.

"And Chad and him have been friends forever," Evie reminds her. "Chad and the blood is really no different from us and your heat issue."

Mal stands, "I should go find him, see if he's okay."

When she walks past her, Evie turns, "Apologizing wouldn't hurt either."

Mal halts and then whispers, "I'll think about it."

Mal knocks on the door, but when no one answers she slowly opens it. She notices Ben laying on the pull-out bed with the aqua blanket and softly says, "Hey."

"Hey," Ben mimics.

She shuts the door and walks over to sit beside him, "Look. I'm not good at saying sorry, but Evie says that you were telling the truth." He doesn't respond, and Mal hesitates, "Just tell me one thing: how much control… did you have a say in what happened with Chad?"

"Evie told you," he realizes.

"A strong feeling you couldn't ignore," Mal informs.

Ben sadly laughs, "I'm not crazy."

"No," Mal agrees. "I know." He quiets, and she asks again, "Did you have any control?"

Ben thinks, "Not a lot." and Mal nods. "He just… smelled so good, and I had to have him. And I lost it." He sits up and faces her, "Mal. I am—"

"You don't need to apologize," she interrupts. "If you really weren't in control, then you don't need to say sorry."

"It's just," Ben glances down before meeting her jade green eyes, "it was more than one time. People came the first time, and he left, and when he came back—"

"You know what?" Mal stresses as she takes his hands. "It's okay."

He frowns, "I thought you would be mad."

"I'm not happy about it." Mal takes a moment, "But my mother hypnotized me to do a lot of horrible things. I know what it's like to not have control, to be told to do something and feel a strong need to do it."

"You would know," Ben mutters.

"And this strong feeling that controls you," she continues, "I want you to be able to tell me when something is wrong. No matter what happens, I want to you come clean and tell me the truth like you did today."

Ben whispers, "Sometimes I can't tell a difference between it and me." and tears intrude his eyes. "I think I… Mal. I let it control me."

She shakes her head, "Why would you do that?"

"It's just easier," his voice crackles. "I'm tired of fighting it, I guess. I'm tired of fighting everything." He bends his head down, and the tears fall to the blanket. "Mal. There's something else." He meets her eyes, "Something I wanted to tell you for a long time."

She eyes over him, "What is it?"

"I'm sick." He heavily breathes, "My body temperature, it's high."

"I mean, I know that," Mal unsurely responds.

"It's hotter than you know," he whispers, and his pitch raises. "I take stuff for it. What you see or feel… it's after I take them."

Her eyes widen, "Ben. What are you saying?"

"When I really get sick," he informs, "I never know if… I have a good doctor, but—"

"You're saying I could lose you," she asserts, and when he fails to respond she shakes her head. "Who else knows?"

"Evie," Ben thinks. "She told me I had to tell you, but the time never…"

"Who else?" Mal frowns.

"My parents and Coach Jenkins." He lists, "And Aziz, and Doug, and Chad."

Mal looks off, "Of course, Chad knows."

"If anything happens," Ben explains, "I want him to be king." Mal faces him, and he stresses, "I don't want my father to take the crown back. If I… I want Chad to take over. You can make sure that happens, right?"

"Not by force." Mal pauses, "Why Chad? He's an idiot."

"An idiot who's been learning three," he looks off in annoyance. "Languages. He cares about his people, Mal. He plans to be able to talk to them and speak for them. He cares."

"He's a pill popper," Mal counters. "How's a drug addict supposed to be king?"

Ben falters, "You have a drinking problem. Are you saying you don't want to be my queen one day?" He halfheartedly laughs, "You know, if I make it there."

Mal's eyes lower, "I haven't really thought about it."

He lifts her chin, "I like us. I would like it to happen one day."

"I like us too," she settles. Ben brings a hand to his forehead, and Mal leans down to see him, "Ben? You okay?"

He shakes his head, "I hate crying." before he puts his arm down. "Mal. Can you…"

She frowns as she places a hand to his cheek, "You're really warm." before she moves it to his neck. "I can help, but just to be clear… I know you said you don't know what you want when you want someone, but we're not doing the blood thing when we're together. Okay?"

"Yeah," Ben quietly accepts, and when she notices his exhaustion, she moves forward to kiss his hot lips.

Posted: 04/27/2019

- Thank you to everyone who's been reading. This weekend I will be starting a compilation of short stories for these series. I'm planning on it being called Islander Adventures, but I don't think all of the stories will actually be about the people from the Isle. But, unless enough stories add up over time and I end up having to separate them out, this seems more convenient. Yes, I know. Convenience is horribly sloppy when it comes to writing. The first mini story is called "The War of the Pink, Fluffy Blanket". Feel free to check it out. It's fairly short.

- Also, sorry that there's no image yet for the thumbnail. I wanted to take the one from the first, change the coloring a little and add a 2 to it, but for some reason the image editor hasn't been loading the end result. The other thumbnails I've done recently, I've had to exclusively use the Paint software. I can't do it with the picture from the first story's thumbnail, though, because it doesn't have the same font.