Confused

(Tuesday Night)

"Drawing again?" Evie questions, as she sees Mal on her bed with the sketchpad.

"What?" Mal defenses. "It's a good way to earn money."

"But you said Belle wanted you to stop drinking," she reminds her.

"So, what?" Mal raises her eyebrows. "That means I'm not allowed to make money?"

"Where else are you going to spend it?" Evie counters.

"I'll get a phone." Mal smiles, "Maybe then… I can still give Ben some space." She sighs, "We're not even going to break up, are we? We're just going to drift, until he completely forgets about me and I can obsess about every little thing that led us there."

At the mention of a phone, Evie pulls her own out, "Come on, M. Ben loves you."

"Maybe he used to," Mal mumbles. "Now… I don't see how he could."

"Just remember who his mother is," Evie reassures as she swipes through her phone. "She fell in love with a literal beast. If Ben is anything like her…"

"Then I don't need to worry about it," Mal rolls her eyes. "But Ben's father only looked like a beast. What I did to Ben, there's no way he's going to love me after that." Mal waits for Evie to debunk her argument, but there's nothing but silence. "Must be bad if you agree with me." There's still no response, and Mal sits up, "Evie?" She has her earbuds in, and Mal slowly tries again, "Eves."

Evie takes them out and frowns, before she meets Mal's eyes, "It's Ben."

"What about Ben?" Mal shakes her head.

"Just keep in mind," she attempts to reason, "Chad's just a stupid guy."

Mal sets her drawing pad down and widens her eyes, "What about Chad and Ben?" before she stands to her feet.

"It's just a joke," Evie attempts to calm her down. "It's nothing. Really."

She strides over and gives an intense look, "Show me." and Evie sighs before handing the phone to Mal. There seems to be a short video, and when she presses play it starts out with Chad's obnoxious laugh.

He points the camera towards Ben, "Okay. Say that again. Except, this time in English."

Ben gives him an annoyed look, "Fuck you."

Chad points the camera back at himself and grins, "You hear that? Even the king of the country would fuck me. I guess, I really am charming."

Ben's voice is heard in the background, "Don't show it. It'll make us both look like imbéciles.'

He makes a face, "No. Of course, not." before he grins back at the camera, winking before the video ends.

Mal's mouth gapes, "I don't believe this."

"It was just a joke," Evie reminds her.

Mal faces her and stresses, "He went to our restaurant with Chad. He said I was the only person he took there."

It takes a moment for Evie to question, "Person or girl?"

"Does it matter?" Mal seethes. "He took Chad to where we had our dinner dates."

Evie watches as Mal paces across the room, "Okay. So, it wasn't his brightest idea, but—" before she notices her grab the purple bag. "Where are you going?"

"Where do you think?" Mal says as she goes to the door. "I need a drink."

Evie steps in front of her, "You just promised Ben and his mother you would stop."

Mal widens her eyes at her and leans in, "Well, clearly, Ben doesn't care much about what I think, and you know what? His mother doesn't want a drunk with him anyway."

"Mal," Evie sighs as she passes her.

Mal smiles at her, "Be back, princess." before she opens the door and exits the dorm.

Ben groans as the alarm goes off, and after reaching for it he keeps tapping until it silences. "Loud?" Doug questions, and he hears him complain in French. "Sorry? I didn't quite get that."

"I said," Ben sits up in annoyance, "because my ears aren't good already."

"That's sarcasm," Doug inspects, and then Ben rolls his eyes. "Okay. Forget talking. It's time to get up. We still have class today." He watches as Ben finds the ibuprofen and downs five pills with the water. "Not a good night to get wild, huh?" He stays silent, merely standing from the bed; however, when Ben walks over to the dressers that's when Doug notices it, "Uhh." He reaches for his neck, "Ben." He turns around, and Doug unsurely comments, "Just so you know… that's Chad's jacket."

Ben looks over the lettermen's jacket and finds it has the wrong number, and when he turns his head to peak at his back he sees Chad's name. He squints in confusion, before he faces Doug, "Why?" Doug slowly shakes his head with pursed lips. Ben lets out a breath, "I have to give it back." before unzipping it, but when he feels the air he looks down and finds his chest is bare. His mouth gapes, and he looks back at Doug, "Where did my shirt go?"

Doug's eyebrows raise, before he scratches his cheek with his forefinger and slowly says, "Well."

Ben laughs, "No." as he gives a stern look. "Chad's not like that." He points to himself and stresses, "I'm not like that."

It takes a minute for Doug to say, "Normally I would agree with you, but if you have to tell yourself that…" Ben eyes drift before he swiftly turns back to the dresser, pulling out the first t-shit and pants he can find and changing, before he takes the jacket off from the dresser and rushes to the door. "See you later."

When Ben makes it to Chad's dorm he knocks loudly, and he can hear indistinct sounds as the footsteps come towards the door. Chad opens it with a smile, "Hey." hand on the post.

Ben pushes the jacket up against him, "What the hell happened last night?"

Chad points a finger at him, "You don't remember?" and when Ben fails to respond he closes his eyes and taps his forehead. "Of course, you don't. Drinking is a social thing. You probably don't do it that often."

Ben shoves Chad inside and slams the door shut, "I said, what the hell happened last night." and he sees Chad frown, slightly startled. "Why did I wake up just now shirtless with your name on me?"

Chad looks between Ben and the jacket before smiling, "Oh. I get it. Nice joke."

Ben takes a step forward, "I'm not joking. Does it look like I'm joking?"

He holds up a hand, "Ben. It's okay. Just chill."

"No. I'm not going to chill," Ben shouts. "You're going to say what happened to me right fucking now."

Chad frowns, and it takes him a moment to calmly inquire, "What do you think happened?"

"I," Ben begins, before he sighs and shakes his head, "I don't know." He feels his eyes warm, before he quietly questions, "Where did my shirt go?"

"That?" Chad's eyebrows furrow. "I'm washing that for you."

"Why?"

"Because," he slowly responds, "you spilled wine on it." Ben doesn't speak, and he faces him as he takes a step forward, "Look. You spilled wine on your shirt, and we went to the bathroom to get you cleaned up." Ben's eyes shift, as he recalls them standing in front of the mirrors, Chad unbuttoning his shirt for him. "I gave you my jacket so that you wouldn't be breaking the dress code."

Ben's brows furrow as he pictures Chad sucking on his chest and then moving downwards, "And nothing else happened?"

Chad shrugs, "I wiped the wine off of your chest with the clean part of your shirt."

He remembers how after Chad had sucked the sticky wine off he'd dried his saliva with the shirt. "Okay," Ben unsurely says, before he gives him a look. "That's still a little weird. No one saw that, did they?"

Chad raises his eyebrows, "No one came in."

Ben vaguely recalls Chad's thumb moving along the waistband of his pants, "And you're sure nothing else happened?"

"Yeah. Why?" he makes a face. "What do you think happened?"

"It's just," Ben takes a deep breath, "I've seen you when you drink." His eyes shift, "And sometimes you can get a little touchy with people."

"Yeah," Chad reasons, "but I've never touched someone's junk without their consent." He gives a look, "And people can't consent when they're drunk."

"I don't get it," Ben eyes lower. "It's either it happened or…" He shakes his head before placing a hand to it, "I feel so confused right now."

"Well, you blacked out," Chad reasons. "Confusion is normal."

He sighs, "Yeah, but I shouldn't be this confused, not like this."

"Ben," Chad places a hand on his shoulder, and he looks back at him. "You're one of my best friends. I would never do anything like that to you."

Ben mumbles, "I know."

He pats his shoulder before smiling, "Well, there you go." and he holds up his jacket. "Thanks for returning this. I'll catch up with you at lunch. Audrey's been having just a texting fit over that little video I posted of us last night, and I'm going to have to have breakfast with her to explain it."

"Video?" Ben furrows his eyebrows.

"I know. You told me not to post it," Chad slowly says with a frown. "I guess my inhibitions were lower than I thought."

"What video?" he sternly repeats.

"Well, you swore at me," Chad unsurely explains, "and I kind of made this joke out of it about how you would fuck me." He shifts his eyes, "Like, sexually."

Ben's mouth gapes, "How is that even funny?"

He makes a face as he ruffles through his blond curls, "Yeah. It's, uh, less funny now." before he fakes a smile. "You know. It went viral. So… you should probably check on Mal."

Ben's eyes widen in realization, "Oh, crap." before he turns around to the door.

"So, I'll see you at lunch, then?" Chad calls after him, before Ben hurries off.

By the time Evie answers the door Ben still struggles to catch his breath, "Hey."

Evie gives him a look of suspicion and slowly replies, "Hey."

He clears his throat, "Is." before taking a few more breaths. "Is Mal here?"

"Still asleep," Evie frowns before looking over him. "She drank last night. A lot."

Ben lets out a long breath before taking in another one, "She said she wouldn't."

"That was before she saw that video of you and Chad," Evie counters, before she picks up on how loud his breathing still is. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Ben furrows his brows. "It's just this thing with my heart." He notices her expression turn more serious, "Nothing. It's nothing." before he takes another big breath. "Anyway. I need to talk to Mal."

"So, just to be clear." Evie slowly asks, "You want me to wake the sleeping dragon and send her to you?"

Ben makes an unsure expression, "Yes?"

Evie grins, "I'll get her, then." and as she seems to skip off, Ben can't help but feel he's made an awful mistake. He hears Evie wake up Mal, Mal's groaning, and then more of Evie's encouragement. Apparently, even his name isn't enough to get Mal up. His frown deepens, and he stares down at his feet for a minute. He must have really messed up. He looks up again. It's just too bad he can't remember it.

When Mal makes it to the door Ben smiles, "Hey." and his eyes immediately move up to her tangled hair.

She frowns at his grin, "Something funny?"

"No. Nothing. It's just…" He points, "Your hair."

Mal narrows her eyes, "Is this supposed to be some cruel and unusual punishment for what I did to you?"

Ben frowns, failing to understand, before he smiles again, "I just like curly hair."

Her eyes shift, "Well, that explains a lot."

"Pardon?"

"You know." Mal faces him, "Just how close you are to your mother." before her eyes shift. "And that date you had with Chad last night."

"It wasn't a date," Ben quickly reassures. "And my feelings for my mother are normal."

Mal furrows her eyebrows, "Of course, they're normal. What else would they be?"

He freezes for a second, "I thought you were saying." before he wets his lips. "Nothing. Anyway." His eyes shift as he takes a deep breath, "I'm here about the… the." He looks up in annoyance, "What's it called? That thing people watch."

"The video," Mal slowly answers.

"Yes," Ben grins as he taps a fist in the air. "I'm here, because I need you to know that Chad was… he was…" His smile completely falls, "It was a joke."

"You drank last night."

"Um, yes," Ben answers, "but why do you think I do?"

"Because," Mal irritably answers. "You can't speak right."

It takes a minute for Ben to comment, "That's not from the drank. My head doesn't work, because my arm doesn't work, because I fell. The end."

"The end." Mal grins, "Then you won't mind if I do this." before she closes the door on him, watching the realization pass over his features as she does so.

"Mal," Evie disapproves. "You've been complaining about Ben not being with you nonstop, and now that he's here you're shutting him out? Literally?"

"He's not here to be here with me," she counters as she walks back over to her bed. "He's here to make another excuse and leave again."

"So, you did his job for him," Evie inserts.

"Don't worry about it." Mal takes the wine bottle off from her bedside table, "I've got him right where I want him." before she finishes off the last few inches. "Pretty soon he will be begging to be with me. You'll see."

"I see you're absolutely delusional," Evie counters.

Mal lifts a finger, "Or, maybe, I just want you to think I am."

Evie shakes her head, "I don't know about you, but I have class." before she goes and opens up the door and Ben meets her eyes. "You're still here."

"I was hearing," Ben slowly states, "but I didn't get anything."

"Of course," Evie sighs, before she places a hand on his back. "Come on. Let's go."