𝑨 𝑫𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑴 𝑰𝑺 𝑨 𝑾𝑰𝑺𝑯 𝒀𝑶𝑼𝑹 𝑯𝑬𝑨𝑹𝑻 𝑴𝑨𝑲𝑬𝑺

𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝟐𝟎

When Delphina hid from people on the Isle, it was a tense, nerve-wracking endeavor. She crammed herself into tight, dark spaces, trying to keep her panting to a minimum and clutching whatever she had stolen to her chest with a vice-like grip. Her heart would pound and her mind would race as she tried to formulate escape plans and prepare herself for the worst possible outcome.

But there were no bad outcomes with Ben. He managed to make everything fun and tender, and Delphina almost forgot the school was crawling with different authority figures until she had to throw herself into Ben's closet when the bed check reached his room.

"How much longer do you think this is gonna take? Because I'm not sure how many more trashy romance movies I can sit through." Delphina sighed, making Ben laugh as he dug through a stash of snacks he kept by his bed.

"It shouldn't take more than another two hours or so. Auradon Prep is very efficient in dealing with disciplinary matters." He tossed Delphina a bag of chips as they both took their places on the bed again. "Besides, I'm sure we can find some way to pass the time." He sighed casually, popping a chip into his mouth. Delphina could see him thinking deeply before he sat up, pausing the movie and turning to Delphina expectantly.

"Tell me something you've never told anyone else. Not even Anthony." He insisted, making Delphina raise her eyebrows in amusement. She told Anthony nearly everything that came to mind. Delphina's mind was a padlocked glove box of secrets and Anthony was the only one with an all-access key.

"Not even Anthony?" She echoed in surprise. Ben hummed in confirmation and Delphina whistled lowly, tossing a chip into her own mouth. She thought deeply for a long moment before it finally came to her. Delphina's cheeks heated and she cleared her throat, thoroughly embarrassed. "OK, I just wanna make it clear that the only reason Anthony doesn't know this is because I realized it recently." She rushed out, holding up a finger. Ben chuckled, nodding and Delphina sighed softly, rolling her shoulders..

"I...guess you could call me a hopeless romantic." She mumbled out, playing with the edge of the chip bag. Ben's eyes widened and he reared back, grinning playfully.

"Really?"

Delphina groaned, rolling her eyes and throwing her head back at his tone. "Oh my God, shut up! It's just...Professor Hamada asked me what I wanted to do after I saved my family and all the kids on the Isle and...I don't know, I guess I just realized falling in love might be nice. It's so looked down on and hated on the Isle because love is what defeated every villain there, but it's so abundant and accepted here. I guess I just wanna find that one person that just makes everything feel...right. Like, you and Audrey, I guess." Delphina explained softly, shrugging and trying to fight the burning on her face. Ben sighed, shaking his head at her words.

"I, uh...I don't think Audrey and I really fall under that umbrella." He murmured, making Delphina pause in confusion.

"Why not? You guys are, like, the picture perfect couple of Auradon." She teased, nudging Ben's leg with her foot. He didn't seem amused, throwing his head back and leaning it against the headboard.

"Yeah, exactly. Picture perfect." He huffed. There was a moment of silence as Delphina watched him, concerned before he finally took in a deep breath. "I love Audrey. She's one of my best friends. And I know she loves me. But we both know we're not in love with each other. We got together freshman year for so many reasons, but none of them were romance." Ben set the bag of chips aside, stretching out on his bed.

"At that point, I only had a year before becoming king and everyone kept throwing the same question at me; who's going to be queen? My circle at Auradon Prep was insanely small, so all eyes turned to Audrey. I didn't want to put her through all the chaos of dating me, but we barely had a choice. My parents needed to get the heat off our family and Audrey's grandmother has been raising her to be queen since she could walk. Not to mention, there was no way Audrey could tell her grandma that–" Ben seemed to catch himself in the middle of his ranting and cleared his throat softly. Delphina's brows furrowed, but then she remembered the salon debacle and decided not to push.