It's a Date

(Tuesday Afternoon, July 9th)

After Chad calls out, "Come in." he sees him open the door. "Ben?"

Ben steps into the room, and Chad pauses the show. "So," he faces him. "You love me." He watches Chad eye over at his mother, and Ben reassures, "Don't worry. She's not going to say anything."

Chad stands from the bed, narrowing his eyes at him, "And people think I'm an idiot."

"They think I'm pressuring you into sex," Ben disbelieves. "Someone had to supervise. You're lucky it's only her."

Chad leans forward, "And you're still an idiot." before he frustrates. "You'd have to be blind and deaf not to know."

"I know," Ben whispers.

"I told you," Chad steps forward. "Hell. I showed you. I kissed you, and you didn't even question it. Nice joke, Chad. Really?"

Ben wets his lips, "I may have been a little short-sighted."

"Blind and deaf," Chad sternly repeats.

"Is that what you're really upset about?" Ben questions. "It's not about me asking you to do things, is it? It's about me not noticing how much you… care about me."

He shakes his head, "You're fucking unbelievable." before he sternly eyes him. "Love, Ben. You're the only person that's ever made me feel real, and I would do anything for you. You know that. The least you can do is accept that and say the stupid word."

"Fine." Ben evenly responds, "You love me." and he lifts a shoulder. "What now? What are you hoping to gain from this?"

He shakes his head before meeting his hazel green eyes, "I just needed you to know."

"That's it?" Ben's eyebrows raise, but Chad doesn't respond. "Come on. You have to be expecting something to happen here."

"I guess," Chad hesitates, "I just wanted what we had but more—and more often."

"That's it?" he unsurely says.

"Obviously not, Ben," Chad sighs. "But you have a possessive girlfriend, and this thing is illegal. And you already told me there's no way it would ever get passed." He mumbles, "And God doesn't like it. My life gets worse the more I do this kind of thing." He faces him, "But I feel a lot better with you in it. I would at least like to spend more time with you."

"Then why leave the castle early?" Ben inquires. "Why get your father involved?"

"Because," Chad shouts, before the tears gleam in his eyes and he sniffles. "You…" He shakes his head, "I wanted to be more than just some boytoy to you, but as soon as I let you get that close to me, it was like I didn't even matter anymore… You didn't want me anymore."

Ben wets his lips, "I didn't mean to make you feel that way."

He shakes his head, "It doesn't matter. You're clearly not messed up like me, or else it wouldn't have taken so much to get you to see… I was stupid to think this could ever be anything, that I could ever mean anything."

"You do mean something," Ben counters, before he places a hand on his shoulder. "And if all you need is to spend more time with me, I can do that."

"Really?" Chad hopes.

"Yeah," Ben tries to smile, before he moves back Chad's curls. "I could never leave a mess as big as you."

Chad laughs, and he points a thumb towards the TV, "I was, uh, watching a science documentary. A, uh, show on parasites, if you'd like to watch it with me."

"It's not gory?" Ben concerns.

"No. Of course, not," Chad reassures. "Just a computer simulation here and there, but nothing too bad."

"Okay, then," Ben nods, and when Chad sits back onto the bed, he goes to sit next to him. "Oh. By the way…" Chad faces him, and he frowns, "I did kind of break up with Mal."

"It was the blood thing, wasn't it?" Chad assumes.

"Kind of. Yeah," he admits.

Chad chuckles, "I chose the perfect time to obey God." before he presses play. He feels a hand intertwine with his, and he eyes from it to Ben, "Thank you."

Belle lingers at the door, and after Adam leaves to the stairs, she turns to Ben, "The kiss wasn't your idea, was it?"

"It was Chad's," he confirms.

"But you took the blame," she inquires.

"I just couldn't take it anymore," Ben frowns. "All I knew was Chad had come up with it himself, and no matter what those reasons may have been, his parents just kept insisting that he couldn't have been such a horrible person." He nods, "It was easier to let them think that the atheist thought of it."

She smiles, "I'm so proud of you."

"You are?" Ben doubts.

"Well, of course." She explains, "A person should be judged by their actions, not their thoughts." She hesitates, "But what you're doing for Chad, you know it's okay if you're not comfortable doing it for him, don't you?"

"We're not doing a lot more than what we did before," Ben informs. "And if it doesn't mean anything more to me, why should I stop it just because it makes him happier?"

"You can distinguish that," she notices. "That's good. Too many people assume a relationship is one thing, when in fact both people may feel differently about it."

Ben takes a moment, "Mother." before he faces her. "I had this weird dream yesterday." He unsurely questions, "Did we talk about anything or anything?" as his eyes shift.

She hesitates, "I did check in on you."

"And?" he feels his heart speed up.

"Well," she glances down, "you were a bit incoherent."

"Oh," Ben breathes with relief. "Yeah. That's… That's what I thought."

After some silence, she suggests, "You know, I've been thinking…" He meets her eyes, and she straightens, "I miss the theater. Would you like to go sometime?"

He frowns, "Would Father be there?"

She half laughs, "Adam never understand that type of thing. I think it would be better if it were just the two of us. It would be calm. Different."

"It would be nice," Ben agrees.

"How about Friday?" she suggests. "We can have dinner after to discuss it."

"Um," Ben thinks. "Yeah." He concerns, "But can you really plan like that? I mean, if Father isn't—"

"Adam doesn't need his hand held," she interrupts. "We'll have our phones on silent, and if he doesn't like that I left, I will just have to remind him that he married an independent woman and that he has no right to keep me here."

Ben's brows raise, "Okay." before he unsurely faces her. "So… Friday, then?"

"It's a date," she confirms, and Ben watches as she walks away. He can't help but stare; however, when she reaches the top of the stairs, she offers a smile, and he quickly turns away, scratching the back of his head.

"Commit any crimes recently?" Ben hears, and he frowns at Evie's grin.

"Crimes?"

"You feel tense," she notes.

"Oh, um." His mouth opens, before he realizes, "I think I got a date with my mother."

"Oh." She gestures, "So, you asked her out, then?"

"No," Ben exasperates. "She—" He stares at her, "Why do you think I asked her?"

She snickers, "Ben. You do have a type, you know."

He thinks, "I thought my type was brown hair."

"Curly," Evie corrects. "Brown is secondary, but mostly you like smart, proactive people with curly hair."

"Proactive?" Ben questions.

"Productive," she supplements. "Outgoing. Goal-oriented. Gets things done." Ben doesn't speak, and Evie comments, "But tell me, I am right, aren't I? You like her."

He lets out a breath and shakes his head, "I don't know how I feel about anyone or anything anymore." He hesitates, "Some people just smell good… which is weird, but I don't know who I like how."

Evie nods, "What about me?"

"Um." Ben slowly responds, "You don't have a smell. It's the…" and he points to the top of his neck.

"Perfume?" she offers.

He thinks, "I guess. It just covers it."

"Do you need to smell someone to like them?" she questions.

"I've never thought about it." His eyes narrow, "Maybe?"

"So, with me and my curls, we're safe, then," Evie examines.

Ben frowns at her, "Yes, Evie. You're safe." before he shakes his head. "You're more than safe." His eyes widen, "I need you to do something for me."

She laughs, "And what's that?"

"Keep me as far away from people as you can."

"What?" her eyebrows scrunch.

"Look." He steps closer to her, "See how close we are right now." before he places his hands on her arms. "And I am not thinking anything weird at all."

"Okay," she unsurely responds.

"You have the power," Ben smiles. "If you ever see me about to do anything stupid, you can stop me."

"How am I supposed to do that?" Evie places a hand on her hip. "I'm not even allowed in the East Wing."

"Right," Ben's expression falls, and he lifts a shoulder. "Never mind." His eyes shift, "I'm sure everything will be fine."

Evie frowns, "What about your date with Belle?"

"Damn it," Ben shuts his eyes, before he uses a long swear phrase in French and Evie fails to stifle a laugh. "This isn't funny. I'm going to mess it up."

"How are you going to mess it up?"

"Because," Ben panics. "She probably has this stupid thought that if I can make Chad happy without making it something, then I can be happy with her without making it something. But, no. It's not going to be like that. It's going to be weird, and I'm going to make it weird."

"Well, yeah," Evie makes a face. "If you keep acting weird." She places her hands on his shoulders, "Tell me. What are you guys doing?"

"We're seeing a play," Ben tries to remember. "We're having dinner, and we're talking."

"Okay. Good," Evie smiles. "You just need to remember that." Ben lets out a long breath, and she rolls her eyes as she releases him, "Seriously. Can I go to the library?"

"You can't keep asking me that." Ben pinches the bridge of his nose. "Hell." He faces her, "The library is two floors tall." before he places a hand on her back. "Let me show you." He guides her to the left and points, "You see this?" before they enter the hallway. "We go down here, and this wall here? We open it. We open it, and it turns into a door, and then we walk through." He shuts it behind them, "And now we're in the book room."

She smiles at him, "Thank you."

He sighs, "Just don't get… don't let my father see you. Okay?"

"Yeah," she seriously nods. "Of course."

"Okay, good." He wets his lips, "And Evie?"

"Yeah?" she asks.

He hesitates, "Maybe don't tell Mal about my mother?" before he glances down. "I might just be… Like I said, I don't know how I feel about anything, because my eating is weird and all that. And I don't want anyone to think I would think about my mother like that. You know, it's just… It could be nothing, and I don't want people to think it's something if it's not."

"Ben," Evie gives him a look. "How would that even come up?"

"I don't know." He squirms, "Maybe she asks where I am Friday, and you say I'm with my mother on a date?"

"You still can't wrap your mind around it, can you?" Evie notices.

"It's weird," he cringes. "What am I even like…"

After he makes a disgruntled sound, Evie answers, "How about what a son would do with his mother? You know, just like… I don't know. Just act like you're five and she's reading you a book. You two talk about it at dinner."

He gulps and nods, "Right." before he pulls at his collar. "Is it hot in here?"

Evie places the back of her hand to his cheek, "Maybe you should make up with Mal."

Ben takes her hand off from him, "Mal's not mine anymore. She's yours."

"I messed around with her when she was with you," Evie's eyes widen. "Don't you want to get back at me?"

"No," Ben shakes his head. "Not really."

"Come on," Evie doubts.

"No," he asserts. "Okay? I don't like blood, I don't like sex, and I don't like thinking about it."

Evie's eyes narrow, "You're just one of those guys who hate sex because you like it."

"There's better things than sex," he counters.

"Like blood," she offers.

"No," he shouts.

"Then what?"

He falters, "I… I don't know." and Evie's eyebrows raise. "But I would know if I wasn't thinking about it all the time, and I want that, that chance. I'm not going to get that with Mal."

"So, what?" Evie questions. "You're just not going to have sex or blood for the rest of your life." She sees his expression, "You know that's not possible."

"I can try," he counters.

"I bet you won't last a week," she challenges, before she lifts a finger. "No. A day."

"I," he places a hand to his head. "I can do a day."

Evie observes him, "If you don't want Mal, then you need to take your medicine."

"I don't want medicine," he denies, before he solves, "I'll have ice cream."

"Okay. Good," Evie nods him out.

His eyes shift, "I don't want ice cream. It will make me feel sick."

"Then take your pills," Evie smiles.

"I don't want the pills."

She gives him a look, "What other option do you have, go sit down while I read, and you can slowly die in front of me?"

"Okay," Ben slowly nods. "That sounds good."

Evie turns him around and pushes him towards the door, "Hades' hell. God." before he enters the hallway and faces her. "I'm calling Mal, and you're going to take your fucking pills."