Chapter 12 – Everyone Loves a Surprise

-:-:-

To be fair, Chad had deviated from his usual schedule. He was only predictable to those who truly knew him because broadcasting a distinct routine was one of the bigger faux pas of being a royal – it left you vulnerable to attacks or potential ambushes, not that they had to worry about those kinds of things all that much, but with Chad losing his mother at such a young age, he was always conscious of things that could lead to an attack. So yes, he did have a routine, but only his friends and dad really knew about it. The routine generally had him out of his suite on Saturday mornings so he could have brunch with his dad and Queen Snow while Ben caught up with his dad back at Auradon Castle, only that day his father had texted him earlier to inform him of some last-minute meetings that might help push the refugee relief bills through faster.

It wasn't a cancellation Chad minded, not when the kids were on the line and his father sounded so apologetic, so they rescheduled for Sunday and instead of leaving campus, Chad made a quick trip to the library to check out some new books before returning to the suite to drop them off. He'd call Ben next and see if he wanted some company, or maybe drop by Dizzy and Uma's room to see if he could work on a sewing project with his cousin. Both Queen Snow and Sultana Jasmine ordered him to have the morning off, because even he needed breaks, so he didn't have to feel guilty for shirking his duties a little, even if they were very necessary ones that he didn't mind performing. Ben would certainly do them were their positions reversed, so it wasn't that big a deal – except both women definitely insisted that it was.

Maybe he could take Dizzy to brunch. That could be fun. He could take her to a nice café and maybe get to-go hot chocolate for everyone, that would be a nice surprise. And he could always invite Uma too, if she wanted to go. They could have a nice friend-bonding afternoon.

Chad was riding the high of his new plans when he got into his suite, making a beeline for the bedroom. He'd managed to get one of the books that had been on hold for Ben, so he could surprise the brunette by leaving it on his desk or maybe his pillow, he would like that-

Chad probably should have recognized that the light was on in the room when it shouldn't have been. He acknowledged that in hindsight, but in the moment, there was very little to prepare him for the sight of Aziz and Gil cradled together, Uma curled around the prince's back while Harry was wrapped around Gil.

Which in reality wasn't that big an issue, everyone deserved cuddle times, only Gil and Aziz's dicks were definitely out and definitely hard and Uma was definitely rutting them together, pumping them in her hand while they moaned and clutched onto each other, cheeks flushed and eyes closed and maybe it was a very pretty picture but the main point was that Chad now knew what Gil and Aziz looked like when they were aroused and also they were in his room.

And that wasn't a problem – after showing the others the secret passageways, he'd told them they could use the suite when they needed to get away from other people, seeing as it was the only one on this floor, and everything important was locked away, but he hadn't thought they'd use the privacy to do this.

For one horrible moment Chad was frozen in place, struck still by the sight of it, and then Uma and Harry were canting their gazes towards him, likely angry at his intrusion because a normal person would have heard the moans and stuff-

"Sorry," he might have squeaked, shoving the books onto the table next to the door before breezed back out of the room, shutting the door firmly before he kept walking, right into the hallway, then down the stairs, and then down another hallway-

And then he was at Doug's door, because it was the same as his old room and Doug was still in it except he bunked with Aziz now and-

"Chad?" That was Doug, the dwarf kin coming to a halt as he exited his own room, likely intent to go practice his trumpet in the band hall, only Chad was standing in front of him like a dunce and what if Aziz followed them?

"We can't stay here," Chad said, panicked, and then he was grabbing Doug's free hand, dragging him down yet a different hall until they made it to Mal and Evie's room.

That time, Chad knocked, sending frantic looks over his shoulder before a confused Evie finally answered the door.

"What's wrong?" she asked, immediately herding Chad and Doug inside.

"Nothing's wrong, exactly," Chad said, letting go of Doug's hand when he realized that was a thing he was still doing and immediately regretted the loss. "Just- a thing happened that isn't a big deal and I probably shouldn't talk about it, but I'm um- I'm processing, right now. Right now I'm processing and um-" He turned to Evie, who was standing beside Doug, watching him from the entryway. "Can I hide here for a little bit?"

"Of course," Evie said, ushering Doug inside, the musician hesitating for all of a second before he set his trumpet case down by her desk. "Does this have to do with Ben?"

"No," Chad sighed with relief. "No, he's fine, I just- my dad had to reschedule brunch so I went back to my suite early and um- maybe people were doing some things in there that I hadn't been expecting – not that it's bad, it was just… unexpected." He furrowed his brows together in consideration. "Very, very unexpected."

He knew Aziz was adventurous, and he knew from what Jay had said that the pirates were sort of an unbreakable trio, he just hadn't been expecting them to take a shine to Aziz, or vice versa.

There was a beat, and then Evie released a low string of curses in German. "Was it Jay? It was Jay, wasn't it?"

"What? No." Chad shook his head, feeling flushed. "No, it was- um- well, it doesn't matter-"

Chad cut off when his phone started ringing, and he paled when he realized it was Uma.

"Oh man," he murmured, running a distracted hand through his hair. "Oh man, oh gosh – please text me, I can answer a text, please-"

"I can answer," Evie offered, coming up beside him and furrowing her brows when she saw Uma's name flash on the screen. "It was the pirates?"

"And Aziz," Doug determined, because he was always a smart one, and he flushed when they both turned their attention onto him. "He's been hanging out with them a lot lately," he explained. "He was supposed to be with them this morning too."

"He definitely was," Chad said, letting out a sigh of relief when the phone stopped buzzing. "Um- I mean, again, not a problem, I'm in total support-"

"Asshole," Uma said, materializing in a flare of blue energy, because at some point she had figured out teleportation Chad guessed. "Don't ignore my calls."

Chad flailed, dropping his phone in surprise, though Evie was quick to catch it and slide it back into his pocket.

"You could give him some time to process things," Evie tutted. "If you wanted to be private, you should have done that shit in your own room, not his."

Uma offered her an annoyed look. "When I want your help, I'll ask for it," she muttered. "And it wasn't something we intentionally set out to do anyway."

"I'm sorry if I made you guys feel bad," Chad cut in before they could keep arguing. "That wasn't my intention. I was just surprised, but you guys- I mean, I'm happy for you."

Slowly, ever so slowly, Uma turned her head to stare him down with an unreadable look. "You're happy for us."

Chad's cheeks flared with an embarrassed heat. "Yes, that you- that you have each other, like that. That you're um- comfortable pursuing- that you trust and are um- happy with each other."

"There are three of us," Uma pointed out, making Chad frown.

"What about Aziz?"

Uma quirked a brow at him. "What makes you think he's the odd one out?"

"Because- I mean, you guys love each other," Chad said, feeling confused. "Don't you? I mean- I just thought- the three of you guys- I always assumed you were an um- item, so…"

He didn't know where he was going with that, but Uma didn't seem to need more than that anyway, her brows drawn together in a look of confusion.

"And you were okay with that?" Uma pressed. "I thought in Sardinia you were all about monogamy or whatever."

"I guess most people are," Chad allowed. "But polyamory's popular in um- Apheliotian culture and dwarven and Fae culture, so I mean, if it works for you, why should I judge it? What matters is that everyone's happy and comfortable and respects each other."

There was a moment of tense silence, and then Evie was clearing her throat. "So you don't think it's weird for multiple people to be in a relationship?"

"If they all love each other – or care about each other – why shouldn't they be in a relationship together?" Chad asked. "It seems dumb to stifle themselves just because the majority weren't lucky enough to have multiple people they loved and are loved by in turn."

The other three just sort of stared at him, and Chad was pretty sure Doug was blushing, though maybe he was embarrassed on Chad's behalf.

"And how does Ben feel about this?" Uma pressed, still a little gruff.

"Oh, he supports it too," Chad said, and then, feeling hit by a sudden stroke of inspiration, he continued, "He's always been open to the prospect of adding someone to our relationship, it's just- you have to find the right person. Or people."

"And you dad would be okay with that?" Evie asked, and she was blushing now too.

"Considering the whole brainwashing stuff, my dad's cool with me doing pretty much anything within reason," Chad said. "And having more healthy, romantic attachments in life really isn't unreasonable, so… yeah, it'd be fine."

He hoped.

Either way, Evie would be sure to pass this information onto Mal, and then maybe Chad could get things back to normal for Ben and her.

He really was a great friend.

They were back to staring at him again, like Chad had said something monumental instead of something obvious, but the blond was distracted from that by his phone ringing again. This time it was Aziz.

"Hey, buddy," Chad greeted, turning away from the other three so he could have a relatively private conversation. "Sorry if I freaked you out. I was just telling Uma how much I support you guys."

"What?" Aziz asked, sounding breathless. "You don't hate me?"

"No, Aziz, never," Chad confirmed. "No, but um- maybe put a sock on the doorknob or something next time so I don't walk in on you." Behind him, Doug let out a slightly strangled noise. "Anyway, I'm super happy for you guys and um- hoped you had a lot of fun." Yes, that sounded nice. "And I'm sorry for temporarily hogging Uma, I'm sure she'd much rather be with you."

"Light, Chad," Aziz gasped, sounding overcome. "Just… we're not dating or anything."

"But if you were, that would be cool," Chad said. "And if you're not, that's also cool. It's cool all around, just um- remember the sock thing."

And Chad would try not to remember the way Aziz looked all flushed and pretty with his head thrown back, his hips rutting into Uma's hand as his length twitched and leaked within her grasp.

"I'll pass that on," Aziz said finally.

"Cool," Chad said. "And I'm sure Harry would like some attention from you too, so uh- yeah, have fun, and I'll see you guys at lunch."

With that, he awkwardly hung up, hoping Aziz got the hint that Chad would stay out of his room for the rest of the evening.

"Did you just tell Aziz to give my first mate a handjob?" Uma asked, sounding confused.

"You could also give him a handjob," Chad offered with a flush. "Since our conversation's over."

Uma opened her mouth. Closed it. "You raise a fair point," she said finally, and Chad thought that was the last of it, but then she aimed another considering look at Chad. "How do you and Ben feel about casual sex with other people?"

"Um." Chad was pretty sure he flushed down to his toes. "I'd have to ask him."

"Please do," Uma hummed, and then she disappeared in a flash of light, leaving Chad back where he started. Sort of.

He turned his attention back to Evie and Doug. "Sorry for kidnapping you," he told Doug, whose flush had darkened over time. "Could I walk you to the band hall?"

Doug just stared for a moment, then blinked towards his trumpet case, as though remembering why he'd been leaving his room in the first place. "Okay," he said, retrieving his instrument. "I'd appreciate that."

"We'll both walk you," Evie declared, ducking back to her desk to pick up her red purse. "After that, I think I could use some fresh air."

"Sorry," Chad sighed, offering her his arm once they were out in the hall and she'd locked up behind her. Despite his best efforts, he'd ended up between them again, but he just reminded himself that it was a work in progress. Eventually, Doug would see himself as the cool stud that was worthy of Evie's affections.

Evie accepted his arm with a blink, and when Chad noticed Doug tense in his peripherals, he offered out his hand to the musician. Seeing as he'd already done it once with Doug, it probably wouldn't be an issue for them to do some platonic hand holding again. After all, Doug was his bro, and he didn't want him to feel purposefully left out.

Just as Chad thought Doug was done blushing, it returned in full force, the dwarf kin staring down at the ground, though he still tentatively slipped his hand into Chad's.

"And, we're off," Chad chirped, guiding them down the hall. "Thanks for hearing me out, guys."

"Believe me," Evie hummed, her gaze fixed forward. "It was our pleasure."

-:-:-

"What did you tell them?" Ben asked, not quite demanding, but definitely insistent when he came upon Chad later that afternoon, and where he was normally more grounded after a visit to Auradon Castle, now he seemed a bit manic.

"I- what?" Chad blinked up from his homework, grateful that he'd called it quits with his work on the spell book that day just a few minutes prior.

"I have five texts from Uma asking me what my stance on casual intimate relations is," Ben said with a flush, holding up his phone as though to demonstrate this. "And another few from Aziz apologizing for setting that off, so I ask again, what happened?"

Chad sighed, and with a flush he tried desperately hard to will away, gave Ben the abbreviated version of what had transpired that morning. Upon completing the tale, Ben froze, staring at the spot Chad had indicated as the one the pirates and Aziz had been discovered in (it turned out that they had been in the room for Gil to drop off his latest art piece, Chad had it framed on his desk, and he loved it a lot).

And then he was blinking back towards Chad. "You told them… that we were looking for another person."

"I said we were open to it," Chad corrected. "That way-"

"Chad," Ben groused, flopping himself down onto their bed with a heavy sigh. "You promised this could happen organically."

"It will!" Chad insisted. "And that was an organic segue so I decided to let it drop-"

"That explains why Jay keeps sending me all these flirtatious texts," Ben grumbled, staring at his phone in despair.

Chad stilled. "What, really?" And with that, he was abandoning his work, crawling onto the bed so he could get a look for himself, only Ben was being stubborn and clutching it close to his chest, giving Chad a rueful look. "Ben."

"Chad," Ben countered evenly. "I know the other me found a good and loving relationship and you – being the kind-hearted person that you are – want me to rediscover that."

"Exactly!" Chad chirped, glad Ben got it as he tried to fumble for the other teen's phone.

It was no use, though, Ben had beast strength on his side, so it mostly ended with Chad groping his chest a lot.

"But," Ben continued. "You need to come to terms with the fact that me and other Ben are different people. We had vastly different lives that conditioned us for vastly different things. There's no way of knowing that I would still be a fit for whatever VK you're trying to set me up with, or if they'd be a fit for me, because this world is completely different, and please do not feel guilty about that because it wasn't your fault."

"But-" Chad tried to counter, tugging nervously at his hat because it sort of entirely was.

Ben let out a growl, and then Chad found himself pinned back against his mattress, Ben staring down at him with a feral look. "I have declared it so," he rumbled, the vibrations seeming to rock through Chad's body like a palpable thing, leaving him shivering as a curl of warmth settled in his stomach. "What's done is done and I don't begrudge it." That was only because he didn't know how awesome his mom was- how much he deserved to be king. "But you need to embrace the fact that in this reality, I might never fall in love with the person I supposedly loved in the old world."

Chad felt his gaze go wide, his breath tensing in his chest because if he'd wrecked that too-

"And that will be okay," Ben rumbled, burying his face in the curve of Chad's neck because he knew how much the blond appreciated the feel of his lips against that sensitive skin. "Because maybe we'll find something even better. Something that works for this version of ourselves. So please- please let that happen."

"But-"

"Please," Ben interrupted, shifting up and capturing Chad's lips in an easy movement that left the blond gasping.

They didn't do this much, it always felt like they were crossing some sort of line, but Chad couldn't help but be appreciative of the small contact. Audrey had only ever kissed him in public, when she wanted to put on a show. She didn't like him touching her in private, and Chad had respected that, because Audrey's body was her own and she didn't owe him anything.

This though, it felt special, and Chad was a little bit afraid of that, of how nice it was, about how much he would grow to want it. The rest of it seemed like things he could live without to some degree, but this was- well, fairytales often did place a big emphasis on kissing. He couldn't really be faulted for fixating.

Ben pulled back with a grin, likely knowing that this would always be an effective way to shut Chad up. "I do appreciate your thoughtfulness," he said, thumbing at the blond's lips, making Chad gasp at the contact. "I know you only do this because you care about me, but you need to let us have a chance to find our own way this time."

"Ben," Chad murmured, his cheeks feeling unbearably hot.

He shouldn't enjoy the fond look the other prince was giving him, an open sort of adoration Chad hadn't earned and couldn't keep. His heart felt like it was stuttering in his chest, moving in fluttered motions that flooded him with anticipation and want and-

"Okay," he whispered, trying to redirect his focus because otherwise he'd be stuck with the unyielding realization that he had a crush on this version of Ben, which would be a betrayal to the platonic bond they had created. The friendship Chad had only ever hoped for in his own world but never managed to achieve.

It was just a crush, it would be fleeting, it didn't mean anything, but this Ben was only pretending to be his boyfriend and Chad couldn't lose track of that.

Ben aimed a brilliant smile at him, something that seemed to knock the air completely out of him, before he bent forward and pulled Chad into another easy kiss.

"Thank you," he rumbled when he pulled back. "Now, Aziz might have given me a good idea as to how to properly reward you."

"Ben," Chad gasped, because before their intimate acts had always been somewhat a celebration of trust in the exploration of casual intimacy, but now his brain wanted it to mean something when Ben kissed his way down Chad's chest. "You don't have to-"

"Want to," Ben purred as he undid Chad's pants, and if Chad had been helpless to stop him before, he was entirely defenseless now under the weight of that heated gaze, sultry and half-lidded as Ben eased him out of his pants, making a show of licking his lips before he slowly but surely eased Chad into his mouth with a relished lick.

With that, Chad promptly gave up. It was just another thing to feel guilty about, after all, and Ben seemed to enjoy this anyway. Maybe he just liked practicing. Maybe it was a beast thing. Maybe he enjoyed the trust aspect just as much as Chad. Either way, he may as well sit back and enjoy it and try to find his old mindset where he could do this without worrying about it, because he was pretty sure it wasn't going to end anytime soon.

-:-:-

Chad didn't get a lot of time to dwell on his sort-of, maybe crush on Ben because the next day things took a turn for the worse.

"Is it true, then?" Fritz asked Chad during Tourney practice, elbowing Malvin out of his usual spot beside the group of transfer students (plus Chad and Aziz) to get in on the hot gossip, Chad guessed. "Is Ben really such a shitty boyfriend that you're looking to add another person?"

"What?" Chad asked, too startled by the words to process them.

"Don't be stupid," another guy, who Chad suspected was one of Fritz's many cousins, muttered. "If anything, Ben's the one not satisfied and he's forcing Chad to date someone else to sate his beast needs."

"Fuck off, guys," Aziz said, sort of bullying his way between Chad and the other royals while Carlos and Jay made a protective barrier at Chad's back. "That isn't true and you know it."

"Well, what else are we supposed to think?" Fritz countered. "Since Chad's 'interest' in polyamory seems to be all the VKs can talk about."

Chad was confused how this knowledge came to light, though the answer came to him not long after.

"Our phones got hacked," Carlos deduced after school that day, looking over everyone's devices with growing ire. "The VKs, I mean. They didn't bother with anyone else, likely because your security is miles beyond anything we have."

As was the standard for all young royals, but- "What does that mean?" Chad asked, twisting his hands nervously together.

"They got access to our texts over the last few days," Carlos muttered as he started typing up a storm of code into his laptop. "But that's it. And it's certainly not happening again, but-"

"Son of a bitch," Uma muttered. "I knew we should have stuck to coded messages."

"I'm so sorry, guys," Chad said, cheeks heating with embarrassment. "I didn't think this would happen."

It hadn't last time, but then again, the VKs hadn't so obviously integrated into Ben's friend pool. They'd kept to themselves, and sure, Ben had made an effort, but those efforts had never seemed to be reciprocated.

That wasn't the case now.

"Don't blame yourself for not thinking like an asshole," Carlos muttered. "It's entirely outside the realm of your nature."

"If anything, it's our fault for texting about this shit," Mal groused, crossing her arms with an annoyed look.

"It's no one's fault but the guys who hacked you," Ben growled, his words seeming definite, final. "You're allowed to discuss whatever you want in the privacy of your own phones, same as anyone else. Whenever we find who did this, they'll be punished accordingly, the same way they would be for doing this to anyone else."

"I might have a few leads on that," Carlos said, Doug typing on a laptop beside him, and between the two of them they were able to track down the security breach to a San Fransokyo teen hired out by none other than Fritz himself.

"Should have known," Harry growled. "The way that shithead always picks at ye. If we were on the Isle, I would have fucking gutted him by now for having such nerve."

"Your restraint is appreciated," Lonnie said, offering Harry a few shoulder pats that didn't really seem to settle the first mate, but he didn't shake her off either, so that was progress.

Fritz, of course, tried to escape punishment, claiming the student he'd hired had been acting on his own, but he wasn't the only one who could hack phones, and an 'anonymous' source had forwarded a heap of evidence against him that showed the minor prince soliciting, hiring, and paying out the hacker.

Both of them were suspended for school for a week and assigned one hundred hours of community service, setting off new stirs of gossip, though they were unfortunately not strong enough to counter the information Fritz had already leaked.

So that was-

Yeah. Guess they had to deal with that now.

-:-:-

Endnotes:

Frickin' Fritz, man. Always so terrible ;)

Story notes:

Apheliotia is something I found on a fan map, but I basically use it as a stand in for Greece.

San Fransokyo is from the movie 'Big Hero 6'.

Hey look, it's Fritz being the worst again. And we were all surprised ;)

Until next time