Unfortunate Genes

(Day 46: Wednesday Evening)

"Is there anything else you'd like to tell me?" Ben frustratedly questions as they talk in the alcove sitting area, the heavy rain heard from outside as the fireplace crackles. "Perhaps you're really an enchantress, as they said. Was the curse really just some story to cover your affections for an animal this entire time?"

"Ben," his father angers.

"Adam." Belle reaches for his arm, "It's okay." before she turns back to her son. "I realize it must feel as though we have broken the trust you had in us, but you have to know that we've never lied to you before. Not really."

It takes a minute for Ben to remember, "You heard Mal at our first dinner. She wanted me to tell you the full truth, because she knew that the omission of truth was just as much of a lie. She took classes on all of that. I'm pretty sure she knew what she was talking about."

"And we're glad that she wanted you to be so honest with us," she sincerely responds, "but there is a time and a place to reveal such harsh matters."

"A time," Ben nearly laughs through his frown. "I'm sixteen. I'm king. When were you planning to tell me, when I was forty-five and my own child came to rule?"

His mother's eyes glisten with tears, "We should have told you sooner. We know that."

"Told me sooner?" Ben continues to furrow his eyebrows at her. "You didn't tell me at all. I had to pry it out of you. You don't know what I'm talking about, huh?" He shakes his head, "You did lie to me. You say you never did, but you have."

"We wanted you to have a normal life," his mother desperately explains. "Or, at least relatively normal for a royal."

"Am I even royal?" Ben skeptically asks. "Was dad ever really a prince?"

"You tell me," his mother calmly comments. "You know what we've told you. He was a twelve year-old orphan, who the staff spoiled because he was never happy. When that elderly woman offered him a rose in the middle of winter in exchange for permission to enter the castle, he refused to let her in. Do you think we could have made that up?"

"You're smart enough." Ben relaxes, "But, no. I believe you."

"And for the record," his mother lets him know, "I'm no witch or enchantress either."

Ben glances down at the white stone table, "My fever." before looking back up at her. "Am I sick, because I'm a hybrid?"

"You're not a hybrid," his mother denies. "Your papers may legally say you are, but you aren't. You've just been passed down some unfortunate genes. Your father runs a little warm too. It's just not as bad with him as it is with you."

"You know what the doctor said," his father comments. "It's because of your age that you're suffering so much. Once you get a little older, it shouldn't be as much of an issue."

Ben turns from his father to his mother, "What about my strength and so-called natural athleticism. Are those just unfortunate genes too?" She doesn't speak. "And what about Coach Jenkins? Has he known this entire time?"

It takes a moment for her to say, "Yes. He has."

"You had him lie to me?" Ben yells.

"We didn't want you to feel defined by what a piece of paper says," his mother persists.

Ben rests his elbow on his leg, as his fist shakes against his mouth, "So, basically, the three people I trusted most in my life were never to be trusted at all."

"No," she lets out. "You can trust us."

"How?" Ben yells even louder. "Just explain to me, how?" When she doesn't respond he stands up, "All of those doctor appointments, the times I was hospitalized, the times you criticized me for showing my strength, and you never explained any of it to me." but then his father stands up tall in front of her. Ben shakes his head, "I'm out of here."

When he heads towards the doors she stands up and calls, "Ben." but he doesn't listen. She has to watch him leave into the pouring rain, the large doors slamming behind him, before she turns to her husband. "What was that?"

"He was angry," Adam tries to explain. "I was protecting you."

She slightly shakes his head, "No. He wasn't angry. He was just upset. And even if he was, what ever makes you think he would hurt me?"

"He's young. He doesn't know how to control himself."

Belle widens her eyes at her husband, "And you think you do?" before he falls silent. "Ben was upset. He thought we betrayed him. We should have comforted him, made him know that we're still here for him. And you did what? Put a wall up between him and me? What could you have been possibly thinking?"

"He was getting mad," Adam tries to explain again.

"He wasn't mad," Belle frustrates. "He was hurt. He was sad. You should know better than anyone that men can display hostility when they're depressed." He stays quiet. "Ben's whole world has been crumbling around him, between his girlfriend being in jail and now with finding out about all of this…" She shakes her head, "You shouldn't have done that. He needed us. He needed openness. And you pushed him away."

"I'm sorry," Adam apologizes.

Belle lets out a stressed breath as she eyes him sternly, "You can apologize to me all you want, but when it comes to the wellbeing of our son I can't accept it. I'm sorry, but you need to know that your words mean nothing when it comes to him. You can't take back what you did."

It takes a minute for him to comment, "I know… but I really am sorry." She just stares at him. "What can I do to make it better?"

She observes him for another moment, "I don't know if you can."

"Ben?" The coach walks up to the treadmill and takes one of the kid's earbuds out, "Hey." Ben looks over in fear and missteps, but then he catches himself and lets out a breath of relief as he continues to run. "What are you doing here? Why aren't you at dinner?"

"Not hungry," he simply says as he continues to look out the window. Coach Jenkins presses the pause button. "Hey!"

When Ben turns to him he asks, "What's going on?" Ben looks back at the treadmill, the timer counting down how long he has to continue the workout or else automatically stop. He goes to press the button to continue, but Jenkins places his hand over it to prevent him from doing so. "Over twelve miles." Ben turns to him in annoyance. "You'd better stop before you hit an unlucky number." He glances down, as he presses the button on his watch three times. "Ben. Tell me. What's going on here?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Ben irritably questions.

"Tell you what?"

"About what I am," he furrows his eyebrows at him. "You knew. You knew, and you didn't tell me."

Coach Jenkins lets out a breath, "So, you know."

"No thanks to you."

It takes a moment for Jenkins to justify, "It was safer for you not to know."

"You and your safety," Ben glares at him. "How does being kept in the dark about myself keep me safe?" He sees the coach open his mouth to speak, but he doesn't let him. "I willing let the police check my papers when I went to visit Mal. So, now there's a handful of other people who know about me now. If your concern was keeping me safe by keeping it secret from others, then you should have told me. This whole 'you don't need an explanation, just do as I say' thing you and my parents did, it put me at even more risk. If any of those people want fame, I'm one post or interview away from being outed." He shakes his head, "This wasn't about safety. If you wanted me to stay safe, then you would have told me."

"I also wanted you to feel like you belonged on the team," Jenkins calmly comments. "I didn't want you to feel like you were cheating or somehow didn't deserve to win." Ben frowns and eyes down for a second. "No matter what you are, you're still just a kid. You deserve to be part of a team without question, to have all the same opportunities and experiences everyone your age gets to have without a second thought." Ben doesn't speak. "You deserved a normal high school experience. You deserved to be able to feel normal."

"I'm sick," Ben reminds him. He puts up finger quotations, "I'm 'special'." He shakes his head, "I never felt normal, not when I was constantly being told not to say or do things." He looks away, "Not when everyone was acting like I wasn't." and then he sees the dark sky out the window. "It snowed during the winter formal. Heavy snow. It was a big deal." He lets out a long breath as he feels his eyes water, "Chad had taken so many photos that my phone blew up every second. They were happy, all smiling. The girls wore the guy's jacket, and people were kissing as though the snow would grant their relationship to last forever." He glances down before turning back to the coach, "I spent that night in the hospital. The whole week, in fact. It was the first snow we had this year, and I had to watch it through the window." He tenses a partial smile, "I couldn't feel the cold of it. I couldn't smell the crisp air. All I could do was watch, and by the time I finally got out of there… all the snow had disappeared." The coach doesn't speak. "I couldn't have that high school experience. I lost it because of my sickness, because of what I am. Don't you think I at least deserved the curtesy to know why?"

"It must have been really hard for you," Jenkins sympathizes, "but knowing why you were so sick wouldn't have changed anything. You still wouldn't have touched the snow."

Ben huffs, "When I told my friends I was sick with the flu a good amount of them said I should just sneak out of the castle for a couple hours. They said it would be good for me." There's silence for a moment, as Ben gulps and tries to keep the tears at bay. "They didn't even know where I was. Some offered to spend some time with me or to facetime me and stop by to take a photo to remember the night, but I wasn't even allowed to let them know I'd been hospitalized. I had to reject their offers. I was forced to lie to them."

"Ben," Jenkins slowly reasons, "if they had shown up at the hospital, they would have known there was more to it than just the flu. They would have asked questions."

It's not like I had any answers. Ben takes a deep breath, "I'm too tired to argue."

"Good," Jenkins comments, "because I'm not looking to." With a quick look over Ben he nods, "Why don't you go get something to eat and then get some decent rest. It will do you some good and help to process everything."

"I'm really not—"

"You burned off over a thousand calories," the coach sternly interrupts. "You're getting yourself something to eat. That's an order."

Ben tiredly responds, "Alright."

"Good," Jenkins comments, before he smiles and nods towards the door. "Now, get out of here. I need to lock up."

- So, just to be clear, when Belle was referring to Adam's hostile depression she's referring more to back when he was the beast rather than the actual current situation... Also, just so you know my thoughts on the subject. I do believe that girls could also have possible irritability or hostility when they're depressed. It's just that because it's less socially acceptable for guys to express their feelings that they're more likely to present it this way, and according to an article guys are more likely to report depressive symptoms as stress or anxiety. Above all, I remember reading a while ago that in general guys are less likely to be diagnosed with depression, because it's not always expressed in the "usual" way. It sucks, but apparently it's a thing. (Side note: I also read that although women are more likely to attempt suicide, that if a guy attempts suicide they're about four times more likely to succeed). But don't take my word for it. If you're curious on the subject, then do some research yourself. I'm sure there's going to be articles out the that either have different statistics or have more information to explain it better.