Not Normal

(Day 46-47: Wednesday Night- Thursday Morning)

After Ben is finished with his shower and putting on his pajama pants he gets out of the bathroom and finds Doug sitting at the table, "Hey."

"Hey." Ben goes over and sits down himself, before he picks up the remote and turns the channel. "What are you doing?"

Ben slowly comments, "I am finding a movie." as he examines each selection.

"I thought you were supposed to be sleeping tonight."

Ben glances down at his watch, "It's only ten. Besides, I'm still waiting for dinner."

Doug gives him a look, "You didn't have dinner? Where on Earth were you, then?"

He hums, "Let me think. Ah, right." He looks at him, "The workout room." before straining a smile and turning back to the TV.

"Is that where you always are when you're not at dinner?" Doug inquires.

Ben takes a stressed breath, "No. Sometimes I'm at my parents."

"Not three times a week," Doug points out. "Just Sundays."

"And the occasional unscheduled night," Ben informs, but after a moment of looking at him he turns away again. "I may also happen to go out to eat sometimes."

It takes a minute to Doug to ask, "Where?"

Ben glares at him, "None of your business. Why does it matter?"

"Why is it important that I can't know where it is?" he questions back.

"Because," Ben stresses, "I don't need a bunch of people showing up, interrupting me when I'm trying to eat." There's a long silence as Ben glares at him, but then there's a knock at the door and he lets out a breath. "That's the pizza." Ben goes over to take the cash off of his bedside table, before he walks over to the door and opens it.

Doug watches as Ben takes the large box, shuts the door, and turns back around. "What is that?" Ben gestures to it. "I mean, what kind is it?"

Ben smiles when he sits back down at the table, opening the box for Doug to see, "Mozzarella stuffed crust with extra pepperoni, extra sausage, and extra bacon bits."

"That has to be four thousand calories," Doug exclaims.

Ben shrugs as he lifts his thumbs up, "A little more than that, actually, but—"

"You're not planning on eating all of that tonight, are you?"

Ben eyes it for a moment, "I might save a couple pieces for tomorrow."

Doug gives him a look, "A couple pieces."

He awkwardly smiles, "Ah, yeah."

"Ben," Doug lets out a stressed breath. "I know you've eaten this many calories in a day before, but in one sitting?" Ben frowns. "This can't be good for you."

Ben glances down, "It's not like I've never done it before."

"What?" he whispers.

Ben feels something settle in him. It's not guilt. It's— He doesn't know what it is, "It's my favorite kind of pizza… I get it sometimes." He sees Doug's concern. "Look. You don't need to worry. I ran twelve miles. It's fine."

"No. It's not fine," Doug furrows his eyebrows at him. "Ben," he breathes. "This isn't normal."

"Well, I'm not exactly normal, am I?" Ben counters.

"What?" Doug inquires.

He shakes his head, "Nothing."

"Ben. How often do you do this?"

"Do what?" he raises an eyebrow in confusion.

"The extreme exercise. The binging," he gestures to the pizza.

Ben wets his lips, "What's up with the sudden interrogation? You've never questioned it before."

It takes a moment for him to comment, "I had a talk with Evie—"

"Evie," Ben nearly yells. "She's an anorexic. You're really going to listen to her?"

"I defended you," Doug says a little louder, and when Ben silences he calmly continues. "Maybe it's because she has an eating disorder that I should listen to her." Ben shakes his head in annoyance. "You can't keep doing this. The amount of stress you must be putting on your body… It's not good for you."

Ben lifts up a hand, "Look, Doug. I appreciate the concern. I really do, but I'm fine. Trust me." He widens his eyes at him, "I'm fine."

"How can you know that?"

"Because," Ben lets out, before he whispers, "It's always been this way."

Doug looks at him for a minute, seemingly in disbelief, "What?"

Ben shrugs, "I've always had a lot of exercise and eating in my life, for as long as I can remember. What I'm doing, it's normal for me. I'm fine."

Doug slightly shakes his head, "No, Ben." but he doesn't respond. "You really don't remember when this all started?"

Ben places a hand to his head, "The pizza is going to get cold."

"I don't care," Doug sternly replies. "It's not normal for a human to eat this much."

"Well, I'm not human!" Ben stares at Doug for a moment, before he shuts his eyes and scratches in between his hair. "Apparently, I'm a hybrid. That's part of the reason why I got fifteen stupid miles done today, is because my parents neglected to tell me and I had to find out by being told I have no rights to see my girlfriend in jail." He opens his eyes to find Doug sitting in shock, and then he shakes his head. "Maybe that's how I'm able to exercise so much. Maybe that's why my eating is all… whatever." He looks at him, "Or maybe you're right. Maybe it's not normal, even for someone like me. But what I can say is that it's always been a thing, and I'm fine." He looks down for a moment, "I've been fine." before gauging his expression. "There's nothing for you to worry about."

"You're a hybrid?" Ben doesn't speak, and then Doug nods. "Well, it certainly explains a lot." He eyes the poster, "Like how you were able to punch through a thick wall."

"Oh, right," Ben remembers. "I'm sorry I haven't gotten someone for that yet." He looks down, "It's been busy."

"Yeah," Doug agrees. "Your girlfriend is in jail. And you're not allowed to see her?" Ben looks back up. "How are you?"

"More worried about her, actually," Ben softly comments. "The trial won't be until the twenty-third, so she's going to be held there for a couple weeks… without me."

"You're not saying that you'd like to be held there with her."

Ben half laughs, "No. Of course, not. I wouldn't survive." before he shakes his head. "I just worry that she might not either."

"Why wouldn't she?" Doug questions.

"She can't even generate her own body heat," Ben frowns. "I don't know how much heat she needs, but somehow I doubt a simple handshake or hug will do justice if she usually has to resort to kissing or making out with people."

"And since you're not allowed to see her," Doug starts.

Ben lets out a breath, "It means I can't be there for her when she needs me."

It takes a minute for Doug to ask, "What are you going to do?"

He shrugs, "I don't know. I mean, I think I have an idea, but… I'd rather not. It's something to sleep on, I guess." Doug nods, and then Ben eyes the pizza. "Can I eat now?"

Doug smiles, "So long as I can have a piece too."

Ben almost rolls his eyes, "Sure." before he presses play and they watch the movie.

The next morning Ben knocks on the door, and when Evie answers he asks, "Can we talk for a moment?"

She offers a look of suspicion, "Sure." before she lets him in. "What is it?"

He turns towards her, and it takes a minute for him to get it out, "I'm not allowed to see Mal. They're monitoring who's visiting her."

Evie takes a step forward, "But you're king. You're her boyfriend."

"It doesn't matter," Ben continues to frown. "Because of my, uh, condition, I'm not allowed to see her."

Evie's quiet for a second, "She needed you." but Ben doesn't respond. "What do we do now? She won't last more than just a few days, maybe a week if we're lucky."

"You should be allowed to see her," Ben comments.

She gives him a questioning look, "Are you saying—"

"You're her best friend," Ben interrupts. "I would hope that if she really needed help and I wasn't around for her, then you'd be able to step in."

"And you're okay with that?" she skeptically questions.

Ben laughs through a breath, "No." and they share a look for a moment. "But what other choice do we have?" Evie stays quiet. "Please. I need to know she'll be taken care of."

Evie glances down, "I'm not as warm as you. I won't be able to help as much."

"But it would be more than if she were to have no one at all," Ben counters. "You need to be able to do this for us. For Mal."

Evie looks back up, "Okay."

Ben nods, "Okay, then." and it's quiet for a minute. "I'll give you directions. All you do is go inside, wait in line to see the desk guy, and then you will be brought to see her." She nods. "Oh! And bring your ID. They're going to want to look up your medical papers."

Evie slowly responds, "I don't have any medical papers."

"Which means there shouldn't be an issue." He looks down, "Hopefully." before glancing up at her. "You are human, right?"

She takes a second to respond, "I'm a witch, actually."

"A witch?" Evie doesn't speak. "Yeah. Okay. That counts." He warns her, "Just don't tell them that. Not everyone knows that witches are considered to be human." She nods. "Alright, then. That should be about it."

She watches his thumbs anxiously circle around the inside of his palms, "Are you really okay with this? You know, for the situation."

"Yeah," Ben quickly answers. "Don't worry about it."

"Okay, then," Evie evenly observes him. "You send me the directions, and I will go see her tomorrow."

Ben nods, "Yeah. I'll do that."

It's quiet for a minute, before Evie comments, "I need to finish getting ready."

He notices her red nightgown, "Right." before he moves towards the door. "I'll just leave, then."

Evie opens the door and smiles with raised eyebrows, "Bye, Ben."

He steps outside, "Have a nice—" but the door shuts on him before he's given the chance to finish his sentence. "Yeah," he comments to the door. "I will too."

- For anyone who may be confused as to why Ben has said that he both ran twelve miles and got fifteen miles done, the deal is that his watch picked up on the extra three miles of walking he did.