Hi Guys, and welcome to Chapter 7 of WILTW. Thank you guys for the continued support of this story, it honestly means so much to me! Um, try to enjoy?
Wednesday -Family Day, Ben's POV:
Throughout the night, I was awoken many times with Carlos having a coughing fit. Every time, I asked if he was ok, and he insisted that he was fine, but I couldn't help but feel he wasn't letting on to something. I got him a glass of water, and after a while, they seemed to calm down. I woke up properly at 6:30am to my annoying alarm clock, buzzing repeatedly. "Will someone turn that damn thing off" I heard Carlos groan, as I released him from my arms, and slammed the snooze button, silencing the infernal machine.
"Come on, time to get up" I muttered, shielding my eyes as I sat up in the bed, nudging Carlos as I did so. He sat up beside me, and grumbled as he forced himself out of bed, making his way over to the shower.
"Ben, I don't have anything to wear" he commented, rubbing his eyes as he did so.
"Don't worry about it, I've got some clothes for you. Just get showered, and I'll pick them out for you" I replied, and he just nodded, before locking the bathroom door behind him. I got up from the bed, and decided it would be a cute idea if we wore matching outfits today. I mean, it was family day after all, so I wanted to make a good impression. I pulled out a two blue blazers, one with gold embroidery down the sides, and another without. I then pulled out two white shirts, but decided to vary it with the trousers a little. For myself I pulled out a common blue pair, whereas for Carlos, I pulled out a nice white pair so at least he would be wearing one of his favourite colours.
Before long, we swapped positions, with me getting in the shower, whilst he got dried. We both got changed, and then made our way down to breakfast. I noticed Carlos was still having coughing fits throughout the morning, and his breathing had picked up quite a bit. "C, are you sure you're ok?" I asked, guiding him down towards the dining hall.
"Yeah, I'm fine honestly. I just need a drink" he said, in a rather weak tone. We got down to the dining hall and were greeted my mum and dad. They were shocked by Carlos' presence so I decided to explain.
"It was late, and I didn't want to trouble the chauffeur, so I offered Carlos to stay the night" I said, and they just chuckled. "I hope I'm not intruding" he said, and they both shook their heads. "Of course not dear" Belle said, extending her arm, and ushering us to the seats opposite them on the table.
We sat, and shared a breakfast together, discussing the events planned for today. I noticed that Carlos didn't really eat much, but I decided it was best to not question him on it. After all, today was going to be difficult for him, with us all celebrating our families and what not. I had asked Fairy Godmother to arrange a call for them earlier in the week, and by the sounds of it, it did not go too well. She said that the parents had started to argue in the middle of the conversation, which resulted in Jay turning off the TV, all four of them with sorrow on their face.
I reassured him that everything would be ok, and that he could spend the whole day with whoever he wanted, and he decided that he wanted to spend it with me. All four of us made our way back to the school, to begin the day's events. Well, the King and Queen had to do an official statement for the press, and I had some rehearsals to do with the group. This year, we all decided to sing 'Be Our Guest', so we needed to do a final run through, making sure everything was perfect. Carlos decided to meet up with his friends, and bring them down when they were ready.
Carlos POV:
I made my way back to the dorm room, only to find Mal, Jay and Evie inside. "CARLOS" they screamed as I walked through the door. "Where have you been?" I heard Jay ask, with fear in his voice.
"Oh yeah, I spent the night at Ben's" I said, heading towards my bed. After everything that had happened, I finally decided to speak up. "I don't want to go through with it." I said, causing everyone to look at me, with confusion on their faces. "I want to stay in Auradon, and I don't want to free our parents from the Isle. I spoke to Ben, and he said that we aren't going to be sent back after the coronation. Guys, we could have a real life here. I mean, Jay, you admitted to me that you love it here! You're getting into Biology and Tourney, and god, you've even started to see Lonnie" I said, causing him to blush, but I continued anyway. "And Evie, you admitted the same to me. You were able to get a B+ on your chemistry paper, and you said it was the happiest you've ever been!" I said, causing her to blush as well. "And Mal, I can see you love it here too! I mean, you've fell in love with your art class, and even you have to admit the food is delicious!" I finished, causing her to smirk.
She was the first to speak up. "You're right. I don't want to go back, and I never have. But I don't know if I can be good" she confessed, looking down at the floor.
"Mal, it's going to be difficult for all of us, but we can do this. We just need to channel our energies elsewhere. Like Jay does with tourney. Instead of suppressing your evil impulses, explore them in a harmless way. Continue to do drawing that are different and unique. It's what makes you, you" I replied, causing her to smile.
"But what are we gonna do about Ben?" I heard Evie ask, "Are you gonna keep him under the spell" she continued, causing me to shake my head.
"With the help of Mal, I baked an anti-love muffin. I plan on giving it to him today. At least then I can be truly honest with him." I said, sighing.
"Don't worry Carlos, we'll be here if anything happens" I heard Jay say, placing his hand on my back.
"Thanks Jay. Now, let's get to family day" I said, pulling myself off of the bed. As I walked out of the room, I started to feel a little light headed, but luckily Jay caught me. "You alright C?" he asked. "Yeah, It's was probably just the rush confessing everything." I replied, smiling.
Ben's POV:
"Ma Cherie Mademoiselle. It is with deepest pride and greatest pleasure, that we welcome you tonight. And now, we invite you to relax, let us pull up a chair as the dining room proudly presents -Your dinner!"
I began whilst everyone started to sing behind me "Be Our Guest". I looked around, and could see Carlos stood with Mal, Jay and Evie, each chuckling slightly at my performance. I waved at them, and winked at Carlos, causing him to blush, before I joined in with the song.
"They can sing! They can dance!
After all, Miss, this is France!
And the dinner here is never never second best!
Go on, unfold your menu
Take a glance and then you'll.
Be ou…"
We began, but before I could finish, I saw Carlos collapse to the floor. I quickly pushed everyone out of the way, and ran over to him. Luckily, Jay had managed to catch Carlos in his arms, so he didn't hit is head against the ground. "C, C, wake up" I said, taking him into my own arms. Belle, Beast and Fairy Godmother quickly rushed over as well, providing as much support as they could. "He's burning up" I said, placing my hand on his forehead, and feeling how hot he was.
"Come on, let's move him to the infirmary" I heard Fairy Godmother say, placing her hand on my shoulder. I picked him up, and made my way inside, with each passing second, his fever rising. When we arrived at the infirmary, Nurse Potts was already waiting for us, and I placed his body into one of the beds. "What wrong with him? Is he going to be ok?" I asked, tears rolling down my face.
"Come on Ben, Nurse Potts needs to room to work" I heard my Dad grabbing onto my arm. "No, I want to stay with him!" I protested, but Beast practically dragged me out of the room. We all waited outside, hoping to hear something about Carlos' condition, but nothing came. An hour passed, and Fairy Godmother made her way out of the room. "We've managed to calm his fever, and take a few tests. Have any of you noticed anything strange over the past few days?" she asked, her voice rather calm.
I was the first one to speak up, "Well, he's been coughing quite a lot. He was up all night, but insisted he was ok. He was also complaining about a headache during our meal yesterday, and he didn't really eat much breakfast." I said, and Fairy Godmother nodded as I did so.
"He also nearly collapsed when we left for Family Day. But nothing as bad as this" Jay admitted, and I smiled at him.
"Ok, from the sounds of it, Carlos is suffering from Pneumonia, probably due to his weakened immune system, with being from the Isle. Mal, Evie and Jay. If you would follow me. I'm going to give you a vaccination against the disease, just as a precaution" she finished, and they nodded.
"Can I see him?" I asked, but the Fairy Godmother shook her head. "Not at the moment, as we need to monitor his condition. But I'll let you know the moment he is awake, ok?" she said, and I nodded, tears still streaming down my face.
It had been two hours since Carlos was rushing into the infirmary, and I was awaiting a call from the Fairy Godmother. "He'll be ok" I heard Belle say, for the hundredth time today. "From what Fairy Godmother said, he is only suffering with a mild case, so he'll be able to recover with the help of some antibiotics. And I'm sure she's cast every healing spell she knows on him, so he'll be fine" she continued, rubbing my back. I had stopped crying by this point, but was still extremely worried about his health. That's when my phone started to buzz, and I was quick to answer it. "Hello?" I asked down the phone, with a rather nervous tone.
"Ben, it's the Fairy Godmother. Carlos is awake, and he wants to see you. He asks if you can bring his bag" she said, her voice void of any panic. "Is he ok?" I asked, grabbing his bag, and making my way towards the infirmary. "He's fine. We've brought his fever down, and with a weeks worth of antibiotics, we will be fully recovered. I'll see you in a minute ok?" she said, hanging up the phone.
The walk to the infirmary was a relieving one. I knew that Carlos was going to be fine, and that's all that really mattered. Well, that was until I walked into the room. "Baby, are you ok?" I said, running over to his bedside, and placing my arm on his. "I was so worried about you" I said, but he just sighed as I spoke.
"Ben, will you do be a favour. In my bag, there a box with a muffin in. This is going to sound really weird, but would you be able to eat it for me?" he asked, in a rather serious tone.
"Ok, but what's up?" I asked, reaching into his bag and finding the box.
"I can't do this anymore" was his only response as I bit into the muffin.
He waited for a minute, whilst I ate the whole muffin, and then he began to speak. "Ben, before the tourney game last Wednesday, we spelled you." He admitted, gulping as he said so. "The plan was for one of us to get close to you, and then…at your coronation, steal the Fairy Godmother's wand" he confessed, and I could feel the anger growing in my body.
"Really? That was your stupid plan? I knew about the love spell Carlos, because it washed off on our first date, but instead of saying anything, I wanted to see where you were going with it. And boy were you good. Hell, I actually thought you loved me back" I said, pacing back and forth in his room.
"Wait you knew?" he asked, rather panicked.
"Yeah, I knew. I knew when you asked me to give you a swimming lesson. I knew when we made out on the platform, and I knew when I invited you to meet my parents. I loved you Carlos, and I was willing to overlook the fact that you spelled me, because I thought you loved me back. But instead, you've embarrassed me time after time. When I sung in front of the whole school foolishly admitting my love for you, when I had to hide the love bites you gave me, when Chad insulted me for being a 'faggot.' When I admitted to Lonnie that I liked you, twice! And that was without the potion. All because of some sick plan! Well, that's it, I'm done. Done with whatever we had!" I said, storming out the room.
"Ben wait!" I heard him shout, but I was too infuriated to listen, and I knew exactly where I was headed next.
"Oh hey Ben" Evie said as she opened the door.
"Don't you dare! How could you! I invited you to Auradon because I felt sorry for you guys, and you spell me for your own personal gain. That's…that's just sick!" I said, ranting to Evie, Mal and Jay from the door way. "Tell me it's not true. Tell me you hadn't planned this whole thing from the beginning, since…since the moment you stepped into that limo!" I said, causing the three of them to look at the floor.
Mal was the first to speak up. "It was true, but we decided against it. We've come to appreciate what you've done for us. Ben, you've provided us with a chance to change ourselves" she said, trying to justify her actions.
"Sure, but while you were soul searching, you also managed to toy with my emotions, and then crush my heart at the end of it. I actually loved him you know, and I was willing to overlook the potion. But to find out it was all part of some sick plan. That's just heart breaking" I said, shaking my head at the door.
I went to walk away, but I felt someone grab my wrist, and I turned to see it was Jay. "He loved you too you know" was all he said, but I was able to free my wrist from his grasp.
"And how can I trust anything you say" was all I said, before I walked off.
I think it's easy to say what happened for the rest of the evening. I just cried. Lonnie came to check how I was doing, as she only knew what that Carlos had collapsed, and I explained everything to her. Including the VK's stupid little plan. "Let's just say, I'm going to enhance the security at the coronation" I joked, but she could tell I was still in pain.
"Oh Ben. I'm so sorry. I know this has been difficult for you" she said, stroking my back.
"And you know what the worst thing is. After it all, I still love him" I said, fully sobbing into my hands. "And I'd be willing to go through it all again, if it meant spending more time with him" I admitted.
"Ben, you're talking like this is the end, like everything is over. You still have a chance to make it work with Carlos. You just need to talk to him, and see how he truly feels. Who knows, he might feel the same way." She replied and the thought comforted me slightly. "Now, I suggest you get some rest, and try to take your mind off the whole situation. Whatever is meant to be will be" she said, standing up from the bed.
"You're right. I'll see you tomorrow" I replied, smiling at her. I looked down at my phone, to see that I had about 101 texts from Carlos, but I decided to ignore them. She was right, I needed to take my mind off of it, try to get some rest and deal with it tomorrow. I got into bed, flicking between channels, but every show remind me of Carlos. That science show that he loved was on one of the channels, followed by that sitcom he loved. The next was some romantic movie, and of course I flick onto it when the two main protagonists kiss. I flicked onto the sports channel, only to see that they were watching highlights of a tourney game. 'God, I can't catch a break' I thought to myself, turning off the TV, and trying to get to sleep.
Um, please don't hurt me... So this is the part in every story where the relationship crumbles, cause you know, DRAMA! So, little baby Carlos has Pneumonia, and Ben is heartbroken. These guys cannot catch a break.
With it being Halloween on Tuesday, I'm deciding to be nice, and upload another chapter of this. All in the holiday spirit!
So thank you to Sexly Sango for the review, and I'm sorry if this wasn't what you wanted. But for the sake of the story, there must be DRAMA! (Every time I say DRAMA! Imagine lightly strikes for added effect.)
Anyway, I hope you guys semi-enjoyed this chapter, and I will see you tomorrow funnily enough for Halloween.