Reunited

Chapter 16

A week later

"Mary. Hey" Mary turns around from helping Elizabeth with the wig for her performance and comes face to face with Ben. He even cuter up close.
"Oh. Hey" she says, looking back at Elizabeth who was grinning at her.
"I'll leave you two alone" she says with a wink and Mary glares at her as she walks away.
"Hey so I was wondering if you'd like to maybe go see a movie tomorrow night. I'm sure your family has something planned for you and your...sister?" Ben says, scratching the back of his neck and Mary smiles.
"I'd love to. And yeah. She's my sister and yes our family has stuff planned"
"You two seem very different. She's always on the move and you're so cool and calm and collected" Ben says with a chuckle and Mary nods.
"Yeah. We like to joke that we're like our moms. Mine is like me and Anne...well Anne is basically an adult version of Lizzie" they trade phone numbers and Ben heads off to get changed for the first scene. Mary smiles and gets ready, finding Elizabeth talking to Elaine.
"Hey guys" she says, grinning when she sees that Elizabeth's lipstick is smudged and Elaine has the same shade on.
"I don't think your character wears that shade Elaine" she jokes and both of them blush.
"I ship it" she chuckles, watching as Elaine and Elizabeth quickly fix their makeup and stand up.
"Hey Mary? Can I talk to you real quick?" Elizabeth says and Mary nods, following her to the bathroom.
"I'm scared. What if I mess up?" She says and Mary smiles, hugging her tight.
"You're not gonna mess up Lizzie. You're awesome. So. You and Elaine?"
"Yeah. You and Ben!"
"Oh shh" Mary laughs, playfully punching Elizabeth's arm.

***

Anne was excited. It was her baby's show opening night! She and Catherine had been full proud mom mode all day. She'd woken Elizabeth up that morning with her favourite breakfast in bed. Then had peppered her face with kisses before she'd left for school leaving a myriad of lipstick marks that had to be cleaned and she and Catherine had banded together to convince the others that they should go for dinner afterwards. It had ended up in promise of a pillow fort, KFC and Disney+ which Anne knew the kids would much prefer. She sits waiting in the auditorium with Catherine, Jane and Edward beside her, Cathy on the other side of her and Mae on Cathy's other side looking at the programme for the show. Then beside Mae was Anna and Kitty.
"Whoa! They're using real life dogs!" She exclaims and Anne smiles.
"They are? Now that's pretty awesome!" She says, looking at Cathy.
"No Anne we aren't getting a dog" Jane says and Anne gasps.
"How'd you know I'd ask that?" She says and Jane smiles.
"Because I know how you think" she says and Anne grins.
"Okay. Okay. No dog" she says as the lights go down and the music starts playing.

Time skip

Elizabeth smiles as she walks out onto the stage to take her bow and her mom starts cheering louder than everyone else. They perform the finale and the curtain drops and the mics are switched off.
"Lizzie that was incredible!" Mary says, running over and hugging her followed by Elaine who kisses her cheek and smiles at her.
"I'll text you later okay?" She says and Elizabeth nods, leaning from Mary's hug to kiss her.
"Okay if y'all are making out please leave it until I let you go Lizzie" Mary says and Elizabeth laughs, giving Elaine one more kiss and going to change.

***

(Okay so this gets a little dark so it's advised to kinda skip to the end of the chapter if you don't wanna read this. TW for mention of sexual assault)
She was packing her bag when Ben walked in and shut the door. Everyone else was gone and Elizabeth was in the bathroom.
"Hey Mary" he says with a smile as he walks over and puts his hands on either side of her so that she was basically stuck there.
"Umm hey. You were great tonight" she says nervously. What was going on?
"So were you. So why don't you skip that thing with your family and come away with me?"
"I can't. It's a really important thing. Especially with Elizabeth's anxiety. It was a huge thing for her to go out and give such a huge performance tonight and I would very much like to be there for my little sister" she says, trying to push Ben away. Instead he just gets closer, touching her cheek.
"Please just let me go. I really have to-" she's cut off by Ben roughly kissing her, gripping her by the hips. She lets out a muffled cry and tries to push him back. Instead he grabs her ass and smiles at her as he starts feeling her up.
"I'm gonna have my-" he's cut off by the door handle rattling.
"Shit! My bags are in there" Mary sighs when she hears Elizabeth's voice outside.
"Lizzie! Get help!" She yells, wincing when Ben suddenly grabs her arms and pins her to the table harder.
"Mary?" There's more rattling and then a click and Elizabeth kicks the door open holding a hairpin in one hand and glaring at Ben.
"Let her the fuck go" she snaps and Ben just laughs, walking out and shoving Elizabeth out of the way as he passes.
"Mary? Are you okay?" Elizabeth says, starting to walk towards her.
"N..no. Why would he do that?" Mary says, feeling tears prick her eyes.
"He's a dick and frankly I'm gonna ask if I can perform with Ethan"
"Ethan?"
"The understudy. Remember? The blonde guy"
"Oh yeah. Him" Mary says with a nod as Elizabeth gets her stuff and then holds out a hand to her.
"Come on. We better tell your mom what happened so we can solve this"
"What will getting an adult involved even do?"
"Mary. It will help. Trust me like literally. Of all people that are here I think I'm the one to trust in this"
"Okay. Okay I'll talk to my mom about it" she says as they walk outside to where everyone was waiting.
"There's my little star!" Anne says, running over to hug Elizabeth. Mary hadn't realised but Elizabeth was shaking. Had what she'd seen bring back bad memories?
"Hey you guys both look terrified. What happened?" Jane says and Mary sighs sadly, explaining the situation while Elizabeth covers Mae's ears. When she finishes, there's a moment of silence before she's hugged tight by her mom.
"I don't know what would've happened if Lizzie hadn't come in...she picked the lock" she says as the director, Mrs Olivier comes out with Ben.
"There they are. Our very own Elle and Vivian" she says and Mary steps closer to her mom while the situation is explained.
"Right. Ben that's it. We've discussed this before. I'm sending you to that boarding school" Mrs Olivier says, shaking her head.
"I'm so sorry you guys. Ethan's being put into the lead. Feel free to press charges" she says as she drags Ben away.
"Let's get home. I think we need the KFC and relaxation more than anything" Anne says and Elizabeth nods, still clinging to her arm as they walk to where the cars were parked.