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(Day 59-60: Tuesday Night-Wednesday Morning)

When Ben knocks on the door the blond girl he had seen with Audrey in the bathroom the previous week reveals herself as the door opens. He awkwardly smiles, "Hey, Ruby."

"Hey," she cautiously responds with squinted eyes.

He lifts his head to see above her, "Is Audrey here by any chance?"

She stands on her tiptoes, "Noo. I'm afraid she isn't."

Ben frowns, "I just want to apologize."

"For what?" she counters. "Invading her privacy in the bathroom or accusing her of lying about what your girlfriend did to her?"

"It's not like I broke open a stall," Ben defends. "And I never said she lied!"

When a few people stare on at them Ruby partly smiles, "Be careful. Your beastliness is showing." Ben silences. "You really think I would let you see her when you're like this."

"I wasn't like this," Ben grits his teeth, "until you accused me of horrible things."

"So, what? You think you can just beast out and intimidate people like your father whenever something doesn't go your way? Is that it?"

"No. Of course, not," he breaths. "But you're making me out to be some kind of monster. I don't like that."

"I bet you don't," she retorts. "But your actions speak louder than anything you could possibly say to cover it up."

"I'm not covering anything up," Ben quietly states, before he glances down. "All I wanted to do was apologize… and then offer up an explanation if she needed one."

"It takes you a week to apologize," she points out in disbelieving annoyance, and then Ben lets out a long breath through his nose, unable to defend himself.

"It's okay," Audrey says from inside. "Let him in."

When the door opens fully Ben can see Audrey stand from her bed, and he attempts to smile, "Hi."

Audrey looks at Ruby, "Give us a minute."

"But what if he tries something?" she worries.

"He won't." Audrey reassures, "You can go." and after she leaves Audrey looks over Ben. "You don't have to explain yourself. I understand you were just desperate."

"I am sorry," Ben says anyway, before he takes a step forward. "If I somehow hurt or threatened you… I would never want to do that to anyone."

"I know," Audrey frowns, and it's quiet as she contemplates. "You do know that I didn't make it up, right? I'm not just doing this for attention. Mal really did hurt me."

"I know she did," Ben answers, eyeing the ground for a second. "She knows it too." Audrey doesn't speak. "Thank you. For dropping the petition."

"You don't need to thank me," she observes him. "A lot of people may have signed it at first, but at least a tenth of those names have been crossed out over the last couple of days." She looks away for a moment, "Which means you really aren't the only hybrid that can act human." before she looks back at him and shakes her head. "How long have you been a hybrid?"

Ben gives her a look, "Is that a serious question?"

"Well, I mean," Audrey explains, "you never know. It could have been that it developed during puberty instead of, like, you havin' always been this way."

It takes a second for Ben to confirm, "I have always been this way."

Audrey takes a step forward, "So… what? Have you always known or…"

When she stops a couple feet in front of Ben he slowly answers, "I think I've always known I was different somehow, but… it was only recently that I found out what I am." Audrey nods, and after a minute Ben comments, "In your interview you said a hybrid could be someone you love."

She looks into his eyes, "I did."

He opens his mouth before questioning, "If you really loved me, then why did you cheat on me?"

"Ben." She reaches out to touch his shoulder, but then she pauses and slowly retreats, "I never stopped loving you. What happened between us, love had nothing to do with it."

"Then why?" Ben asks again, and after a few seconds he can see tears fill her eyes.

"Because I couldn't make you happy," she whispers, "and it didn't matter how much time we spent together. It was like I was there but you didn't know I was. I could see how alone you felt, and no matter how hard I tried to be there for you, I still wasn't enough for you." Ben doesn't speak, as he watches the tears trail down Audrey's face. "And then Chad started to talk with me." She sadly smiles, "He made me feel like I was wanted, like I was a part of something." She laughs, "Granted. He may pay more attention to his hair than me sometimes, but when he does pay attention to me—" She grins, "It's like I'm the only girl on Earth."

"Even with his reputation?" Ben softly doubts.

"Even with his reputation," she confirms.

Ben looks away, "So, it was my fault. You never even broke up with me. You were just what? Waiting for me to start paying attention to you?"

She shrugs, "Honestly, I don't know. Everything with Chad was just in the moment. Kind of like passion, you know?" He glances down in thought and fails to speak, and after a minute she changes the subject. "I saw your interview too." He looks back at her, and she continues in hesitance, "I need to ask. Are you okay? You're not— I mean, I know you never really were before, but…" She offers a worried expression, "Are you?"

"Things have been hard without Mal," he admits. "Being with her, it must have been the first time in my life that I felt truly happy, and now—" He shakes his head, "It's hard going back to just being content." He lets out a breath, "I was fine with being content before, but now that I've experienced happiness and the least bit of passion… being content feels like being dead."

Audrey's eyes fill with tears again, "I'm so sorry. I really wish we could have solved this a different way."

"Yeah," Ben agrees. "Me too."

She wipes the tears from her face, "If I let you leave, you're not going to do anything stupid, are you?"

Ben smiles, "I can't give the people everything that they want."

Audrey takes a step and hugs him, before he slowly accepts it. "You've better not. I'd never be able to forgive myself if you did."

When she lets go he frowns, "It wouldn't be your fault if I did."

"Yes, it would be," she counters, "because you're standing here telling me all of this, and I could easily tell Fairy Godmother and get you put in the hospital."

"Because a white, padded room would make me so much happier," Ben half laughs.

"Promise me," Audrey urges, "that you won't."

Ben glances down and then wets his lips, "I won't."

"This trial is getting so boring," Mal complains. "Those people didn't say anything that hasn't already been said."

"It is getting rather repetitive," Ben agrees. "But isn't it better that they're saying they don't know you well enough to know what you were doing or intending? Isn't it good that they're giving the court art and small magic as your defining characteristics?"

"I guess," Mal mumbles. "But be honest." She observes his expression, "How much is that actually going to impact the judge?"

Ben glances down, "The point is to make you seem harmless. They will have no reason to believe that you would do something like this again if you seem harmless."

"Seem," Mal notices. "Ben." She hesitates, "Do you think I'm dangerous?"

"I think you're strong," he immediately responds. "Strong and capable, and those are very good qualities, but…"

"It makes me dangerous," Mal finishes.

Ben's quiet for a moment, "Mal." before a small breath escapes him. "Anyone can be dangerous under the right circumstances." Her eyes meet his. "But you have a good heart, and in my heart I believe that you can be good, that at this trial's end the court will see you are good, and pure, and innocent."

"Good, pure, and innocent," Mal disbelieves.

"Yes," Ben softly speaks. "You are thee most real person I know."

Mal looks down, "Maybe here that's not such a good thing."

Ben lifts her chin up, "You have a good heart, your intentions are pure, and you are innocent of this crime, no matter how close you may have come to committing it. The judge will see that, and you will be freed from this charge."

It takes a moment for Mal to slowly say, "So, is there a button to turn on and off or are you always so dorkishly poetic?"

"I may have read a little too much poetry and Shakespeare growing up," Ben admits as he offers her an unsure look. "It doesn't bother you, does it?"

She slightly shakes her head, "It just makes things seem a little less real."

Ben nods before hesitating, "Yesterday, I didn't give you a lot of time to talk about… what happened." Mal lets out a breath. "Did you want to talk about it more or…"

"No," Mal answers, but when Ben slightly nods again she continues. "There's just one thing, though." She pauses, glancing down. "Something that I haven't been able to tell anyone, because no one even really believed me." Ben looks at her intently, but as she starts to say it he hears her breathing quicken and become short.

He places a hand on her shoulder, "Hey. It's okay. It's only me."

Mal looks at him and lets out a long breath, before she uneasily says, "He… um." Tears intrude her eyes as she uncomfortably laughs, "He didn't use protection."

"What?" Ben hears himself say.

"I guess he was too busy holding me down. Or, maybe he just didn't care." She sniffles, "I don't know."

Ben's mouth gapes for a moment, "Did— Were you—"

"No," Mal painfully smiles. "You know, I'm just lucky." She looks down and breaths, "I guess." before Ben wraps his arms around her and she begins to cry. Her breathing is faster, and he can hear her heart pounding. "Everyone gets to brag about their first time. You know, talk about how awkward or amazing it was. But me—" He feels her heave a sob, as a squeak escapes her lungs. "I just wish I could forget the whole thing."

He rubs her back, "It's okay. It's going to be okay." and when her breathing slows he lets go of her, watching as she quickly wipes the tears from her face. "You know." Ben pauses, "It doesn't count as your first time. No one would ever make that count."

Mal gulps, "Yeah, maybe." and her eyes stay widened. "But no one knows. They all just think I was easy, that I was careless and don't take sex seriously."

There's a minute of silence, before Ben comments, "You know. If you wanted to come forward, you could still do that."

"So, what?" Mal breathes a laugh. "So that people here can label me as some liar too?"

"No," Ben counters. "So that they can know that it wasn't your choice. So that you don't have to hear people bring it up out of ignorance."

Mal shakes her head, "Ben. I just really want to put it behind me." and then he glances down. "It happened on the Isle. Can't it just stay there?"

Ben observes her tear-soaked expression, "Yeah. Okay. If you don't want to tell anyone, then we don't have to tell anyone."

Mal tries to smile, "Thank you." before she hugs him and closes her eyes.

"It's not going to stop people from talking about it," he quietly warns.

"I know." She lets go of him and slightly shakes her head, "But I can't be that girl. You understand?"

It takes a minute for Ben to respond, "I think so, but it's not something you should have to be ashamed of. It's not your fault. You understand that, don't you?" When she looks down he lifts her head up, "Hey. It wasn't your fault."

A couple more tears escape her eyes, "How can you know that? You weren't even there."

"Because," Ben insists, "people don't choose for this kind of thing to happen to them. They may fear it. They may even imagine it, but no one actually wants to go through it." He places a hand on her shoulder. "You didn't choose for this to happen to you. You hear me? It isn't your fault."

Mal shuts her eyes, "Don't say that."

"No," Ben disobeys. "I am going to say it, and I'm going to keep saying it until you believe it." She looks back up at him. "It's not your fault, Mal. You have to believe that. It's not your fault. It's his. And only his."

- Which part do you like better: the first half or the second half? Or are you waiting for something better? Personally, I think I might like the first half better... and then also there's a scene that happens after the trial is over that I'm very excited to get to. I'm not sure, but I think some of you may like it too. (On a side note, these baby flies or gnats or whatever keep flying on my computer screen and it's super annoying. Spiders have also invaded my room via the air conditioner... I'm afraid of spiders, and one of them is this big, black one that's thick and probably has a shell and can't be squashed... It's made it's home by my bed. I'm hoping that if I leave it alone, then it won't move until I can figure out what to do with it. PS: It's been living with me for two weeks. It's really had me on edge.)