Precaution

(Monday Night, August 12th)

"Jay?" Belle knocks on the door, and she doesn't hear anything, she opens the door. "Have you seen Mal? I can't find her."

"Did you try Evie?" he offers.

"She's not there," Belle affirms.

Jay takes a deep breath, "Damn." before he pulls out his phone. "She was saying that her therapist recommended more sessions to the court. She was really mad about it."

"More sessions?" she questions.

"Yeah," Jay sighs. "They're really trying to domesticate the crap out of her, but, luckily, Carlos convinced me to bug her phone with this crazy app." He taps the screen, "I know where she is. We should catch up with her."

"Right," Belle agrees, before she pulls out her phone and makes a call. "Yes, Travis. Thank you."

"This road," Jay commands.

"To the left," Belle instructs, and when they turn, Belle points. "There."

He sees Mal tag a blue car with red spray paint, before he shouts, "Stop the car." Travis pulls over, and Jay rushes outside. He sees Mal pull a crowbar from her bag, runs down the road, and raises his arm to catch it. "What are you doing? You're on parole."

"My parole ended today," she dismisses.

"Then why are you still chained to that bracelet?" Jay gestures to the ankle monitor.

"It would be off right now," Mal seethes, "if that witch didn't lie to the court."

"Her job was to make you get along with humans," he reminds her.

"And surprise, surprise," Mal widens her eyes. "She sucked at her job." Mal raises the bar again, and Jay wraps his arms around her before twisting her away from the car. "Get off my back. I know what I'm doing."

"No. You don't." Jay whispers, "You're the most powerful person here, you're on track to make yourself rich and respected, and you're going to give it up for revenge so small that no one will even remember it next month."

"I didn't need a title on the Isle to be respected," Mal reminds him.

"I thought you loved Ben," Jay disbelieves. "Why are you doing this?"

"I might love Ben," Mal argues, "but he doesn't love me."

"What are you talking about?"

"This is never going to work," Mal's pitch raises. "I'm not the girl of his dreams, if you can even call me that. Dragon. Fairy. Demon. No one here sees me as just a girl."

"That's because girls aren't powerful here," Belle frowns, and Mal looks at her. She steps forward, "You're powerful, and people see that. Believe me, if someone is pointing out that you're a girl here, you're doing something wrong."

Jay lets go and faces Mal, "Everything you could ever want is going to be yours. Don't let your feelings get in the way of that."

"It's time to go home," Belle agrees.

Mal drops the crowbar, as she starts to cry, "I'm not the girl Ben wants."

"No." Belle places her hands on Mal's shoulders, "You will be much, much more."

"I would hold off on that," Travis comments, when he sees the brunette pull out her phone. Her soft blue eyes meet him, and he explains, "I'm here on behalf of Queen Belle."

She frowns, "The queen can't buy me off. This girl needs help."

"Then help her," he evenly expresses, before he hands her the envelope. "Tell the court you were mistaken so that Mal can move on with her life."

"She can't be left alone," the therapist counters.

"Then let someone else take over," he negotiates. "What you're doing isn't working. Maybe someone else will have better luck."

"Mal's dangerous," she debates. "I'm not putting someone else in a dragon's line of fire."

"Is she dangerous," Travis counters, "or are you just biased?" She silences, and he continues, "You're too close to this case, and you know it." He nods to the envelope, "You can either take the money or lose your job." He warns, "It would be a shame if the judge found out that Maleficent ate your father and burned your home to the ground and that you're putting the sins of the mother on a child who has done nothing but improve since her stay here."

She gestures to the car, "Does this look like improvement to you?"

He shrugs, "You're still alive, aren't you?" She stares at him, and he advises, "You diagnosed her with borderline personality disorder. Find someone who can compassionately treat her for it."

Mal runs her hand over the skin of her ankle, "It feels so good to be free."

Adam whispers to Belle, "How is she free?"

Belle looks at Mal, "Your new therapist has asked that you have video sessions, until you've built trust with her. Just a small precaution, given your skills."

"Skill," Adam scoffs.

Mal stands up and glows her eyes at him, "Tell me, what's your problem with me?"

"You're putting us all in danger," Adam proclaims. "Do you know how long it took for us to earn the country's trust, and now—out of all people—my son has chosen the daughter of the most evil villain in history to take our name?"

"Oh," Mal's eyes widen. "I'm not taking anyone's name. You don't need to worry about there being a Mrs. Ben Bertha or however names around here work."

"That is a little old-fashioned," Belle acknowledges, before she turns to Adam. "Woman aren't property anymore. I'm sure you know that."

He readjusts his tie, "That, I do." before he eyes down at Mal. "You can tell the new king your demands, once he shows his face. Where might we find him again?"

"Funny," Mal strains a smile. "I don't recall ever saying."

"But you do know," he insists.

"You can check my phone," Mal shows him the purple cell. "I honestly have not talked to him since he ran away."

He snatches it from her, "Let me see that." and Mal widens her eyes. He taps the phone and shakes his head, "Why are your apps so small? Belle."

"I'll help," she smiles, as she takes the phone from his big hands. "Okay." She finds the messages, "Mal's being honest. She hasn't texted Ben in weeks." She shows the phone to him, "See. The date's right there."

"What about Evie?" Adam thinks. "Maybe they talked about it."

"Uh," Mal opens her mouth. "You're not going to want to look at those."

"Why?" Adam insinuates, "Something to hide?"

"Oh, my," Belle covers her mouth.

"Just the nudes she sent me," Mal answers.

Belle turns the phone upside down before handing the phone to Mal, "You're going to want to delete those before the school year starts. Gossip can be a horrid thing."

"I wouldn't worry too much about that." Mal examines her nails, "No one at that school would dare objectify my girlfriend." before she meets her brown eyes. "But I see your point."

"Wasn't that why she was dating Doug?" Belle inquires. "She got sexually harassed last year, because rumor was she's homosexual."

"That?" Mal smiles, "That's just a small precaution."

"So, you have no idea where Ben is?" Adam asks again.

Mal purses her lips as she shakes her head, "I have no idea what he's doing right now."

"You really don't need to do this," Ben unsurely says.

Evie stands from the sewing machine, "It's already done." before she tosses the shirt to him. "Try this on."

He pulls the stretchy, black material over his tank top, "It's a little tight on the shoulders."

"Right," Evie evaluates. "I could make shoulder holes."

He sits on the end of the bed, "This is useless." before he places his head in his hand and looks at her. "You know, now that you're upping my protein, my arms are going to start growing again. I'm going to rip anything you make apart."

"Okay," Evie grabs the drawing pad and sits next to him. "Back to the drawing board. You need something that can't be ripped."

"But that will also hide everything," Ben concerns.

"How about a blouse?" Evie inquires.

"A blouse?"

"Yes." Evie smiles, "A loose, see-through, long-sleeved shirt. You can have it over a tank top." She points, "Just not the kind you're wearing."

"Don't girl tank tops have, uh, things in them?" he questions.

"Bras?" She thinks, "Not all of them. I think that's more for kids. You know, when you start getting a figure, but your boobs aren't big enough for a bra." Ben doesn't speak, and she continues, "Anyway, you're going to want something tight under the see-through shirt."

"I don't know," Ben's eyes lower. "I don't have a good shape to show off."

"Nonsense," Evie dismisses. "You're beautiful, and you don't need boobs or a tiny waist to show people that."

"Would you stop trying to be nice?" Ben voices.

Evie falters, "I'm not."

"You are," Ben insists, "and all it's doing is making me feel worse."

She takes a moment, "How can I help?"

"You can stop calling me beautiful," he solves.

"But you like it," she counters.

"But I'm not," Ben protests. "Be honest. Do you really think I'm beautiful?"

"Of course, I do," she whispers.

"Funny," he counters, "because you're the only one who calls Ben that." He frowns, "And Mal. Did you tell her to call me that?"

"No," Evie sadly answers, and Ben looks away. "She dates feminine people. She probably didn't even think about it." Ben bites on his knuckle, and Evie asks, "Please. Tell me what I can do."

"For this to work, I need lines—walls."

"Boundaries," she understands.

He faces her, "If this whole Beth thing happens, you can call her beautiful and whatever else, but Ben's king. He can't be beautiful, when people need him to be strong. He's handsome, because he's a guy. And that's what people call guys."

"Are you really happy with that, though?"

"I don't think I'll ever be happy," Ben admits. "My entire life sucks, and I honestly…" He faces her, "I don't know if I'm doing this Beth thing for Chad or if…" He wets his lips, "It would just be nice to be someone else, you know? I really hate the person I am, where I come from, and this is my chance to start new. I can be whoever I want to be. I don't need to be an emotionless king who doesn't speak up. I could just be…"

"You," Evie finishes.

"Girls have it so easy," Ben sighs. "You can feel whatever you feel, and no one second-guesses who you are or if you're not crazy in the head."

"I don't know." She reminds him, "A lot of girls get called crazy."

"Yeah." Ben meets her eyes, "But at least it's not by your friends." He clasps his hands, "Whenever one of my teammates was explaining how his crazy ex broke up with him, I had no problem pointing out what he did wrong. They thought I was some sort of freak."

"Yeah." Evie agrees, "I think you'll definitely have an easier time with the girls." before she turns the page. "I'm going to make a few sketches for Beth. Let me know what you think."

"I was thinking," Ben intrudes, before she faces him. "At the store I saw this one shirt that had these x's crossing down the arms."

"With or without skin?" Evie questions.

"With," Ben answers. "Can we make it loose around the waist and hips? Even flat-chested girls have those."

"Don't worry," Evie reassures. "We'll find something that works."

- Posted: 07/29/2020

- Guest: Thank you. That's very encouraging.

-Sorry for posting so late, but I really needed to do these chapters in chronological order, since characters from another story appears. Anyway, it took me a while to find a good stopping point for all three stories, since one of them had a time jump. I hope everyone is doing well. Thank you for reading.