Secret in the Heart ||Descendants|| (♡Ben)

9

Ben stops the scooter at the beginning of a path that leads into the forest. "You can let go now." he says. "Huh?" I say, not realizing that my arms are still tightly wrapped around his torso. "Yeah, right." I say as I let my arms drop to my side and get off the scooter. I take of my helmet and put it on the scooter. "It's kinda hot out here." I say as I take off the leather jacket and scarf. Then I take a moment to look at the scenery around me. There are a few bushes with flowers in them and a lot of trees. I hear Ben chuckle. "What?" I ask as I turn towards him. "Nothing, nothing." he says. "No, tell me." I push. "I've just never seen anybody look at a forest before with such admeration." he says. "Well this is the first time I am seeing one, so give me a break." I say and he laughs. I let out a chuckle. "Come on. This way." he says as he starts waking down the path. I can't stop looking around me. Everything is just so beautiful.
    "Okay, close your eyes." Ben says after we've walked for a while. "What?" I ask. "Just trust me." he says. "Okay." I say and I close my eyes. Ben grabs my hands and starts leading me. "Watch your foot." he says. I feel with my foot and I take a step down. "Yeah." he says. I take another two steps down. "You good?" he asks. "Mm-hmm." I say and I let out a laugh. "Now, step up." he says and I take a step up. "There you go." he says. He steps behind me and lets go of my hands. My back is pressed into his chest. I let my arms fall to my side and Ben rubs them. "You ready?" his voice says right next to my right ear. "Mm..." I say as I nod my head. "Open." he says and I slowly open my eyes and I let out a breath. I am looking at some kind of ruin with a blanket and a picnic basket in the middle of it. The ruin only exists out of five pillars but there are flowers growing around them and it's really beautiful. There's also standing a little white round table and two chairs. The ruin is surrounded by water and it seems to sparkle, but that could just be my imagination. "Wouw." I say. "Do you like it?" he asks. "It's beautiful." I say. "Come on." he says and he grabs my right hand and leads me to the ruin. We sit down onto the ground and I look at all of the different foods. There are sandwiches, little tomatoes, these different kinds of fruit which I have never seen before, a few of these round things with a hole in the middle, and a salad. We start eating and we talk. Well Ben does the talking, I just listen. And I don't mind that actually. I like listening to him. "Mmm..." I say as I eat the last piece of the round thing with a hole in the middle. And it's delicious! I lick my fingers which still have some dough on them. "Is this your first time?" Ben asks. "Mmm..." I say and I swallow the last piece of donut. "We don't really date much on the island. It's more like...gang activity." I say. "Um." he says and he chuckles. "I meant, is this your first time eating a jelly donut?" he says with a big smile. The smile falls from my face and I look at him seriously. "Is it bad?" I ask. He sits up and leans forward. "You got a..." he says as he puts out his thumb and starts to get the dough of off my top lip. "Just a..." he says as he moves to the bottom lip. "I mean, yeah, do this." he says as he pulls back his arm and licks his lips. I copy him and lick my lips. "Gone?" I ask and we both laugh a little. "You can't take me anywhere, I guess." I say. "You know, I've done all the talking. Your turn. I really don't know that much about you." I swallow. This was a subject I hoped to avoid. "Tell me something." I let out a sigh. "Well, I'm sixteen. I'm an only child. And I've only ever lived in one place." I say. "Me, too. That... We have so much in common already." he says. "No." I say with a little laugh. "Trust me, we do not." I say. His smile falls a bit. "And now you're gonna be king." I say. "Yeah." he says and he looks down. "What?" I ask. "A crown doesn't make you a king." he says as he looks at me. "Well, it kind of does." I say and we both laugh a little. "No, it... I've got the poster parents for goodness. But we're not automatically like our parents. We get to choose two we're gonna be. And right now, I can look into your eyes and I can tell you're not evil. I can see it." he says as he stares into my eyes. A pang shots through my heart. He has no idea. I am using him to get to the wand and free the Isle.
"Who are your parents?" he asks. My eyes widen a bit. "What?" I ask. "Who are your parents?" he asks again. I look at the ground. "You wouldn't know them." I say. "Try me."
"Ben please."
"I know every single fairy tale there is. I know every villain..."
"Ben..."
"Do you want me to guess? I'll guess. Uhmm... Judge Claude Frollo..." Images of my father start to appear in my head. The photo of him and my mother.
"Ben please stop."
"Gouverneur Ratcliffe..." Him sick in his bed.
"Pied Piper..." The empty bed.
"Ben, my father is dead, okay?" I almost scream as I look up to him with teary eyes. "Oh." he says as the smile falls from his face and looks at me with sad eyes.     "How did it happen?"
    "He became sick and I had to take care of him. One day I went out to get some medicine and when I got back he was gone. I searched the whole island for him or his body, but I never found him. He probably got tired of being sick and drowned himself. And there I was a six-year-old girl, all alone. That same week I got kicked out of the house and I had to live on the streets."
"But, what about your mother?"
"My mother died giving birth to me."
"I'm so-"
"No. Don't be." He gives me a small smile. He looks at the water. "How about we go for a swim?" he asks and he stands up and starts to unbutton his shirt. "Hm? What? Uh... Right now?" I say confused. "Yeah, right now." he says. I let out a nervous laugh. "I think I'm just gonna stay here." I say. He doesn't have to know that I can't swim. "No, no, no. Come on." he says as he extends his hand towards me. "I think I'm gonna stay behind and try a strawberry." I say as I grab a strawberry out of the tray. "I've literally never tried a strawberry before." I say and I take a bit out of it. "Mmm." I say while I haven't even chewed yet. I chew a few times. "Mmm." I say and I look at the strawberry. This is so good. Ben lets out a laugh. I start to eat the rest of the strawberries. "Don't eat all of them." he says as he starts to walk away. "Okay." I say with my mouth full. I grab another strawberry and eat it. Damn these things are delicious. When I've eaten about ten strawberries Ben yells my name. I turn around and see him standing on top of some rocks. I stand up and lean against one of the pillars. He waves at me. He is standing in his blue shorts. I lean forward a bit. "Are those little crowns on your shorts?" I yell. He looks at his shorts and then back to me. "Maybe." he says and I smile and wave back. Then he lets out a loud roar and I laugh. "Whoo! Ha-ha!" he yells as he jumps into the water and makes a big splash. I laugh again and then the music starts. And I turn around, facing the woods.
    "A million thoughts in my head
    Should I let my heart keep listenin'?" I sing as I rest my head against the pillar.
    "'Cause up 'til now I've walked the line
    Nothing lost but somethin' missin'." I sing as I look to the sky. "I can't decide
    What's wrong, what's right.
    Which way should I go?" I sing as images of my friends and I trying to steal the wand go through my head. "If only I knew what my heart was telling me." I take a few steps forward.
    "Don't know what I'm feeling
    Is this just a dream?" I sing as I reach for my head with my hands.
    "Oh, yeah." I let my arms fall to my sides.
    "If only I could read the signs in front of me
    I could find the way to who I'm meant to be." I sing as I rember all the moments I had with Ben.
    "Oh, if only.
    Yeah.
    Am I crazy?
    Maybe we could happen." I sing as I turn around in circles.
    "Yeah
    Will you still be with me when the magic's all run out?" I see as I bring my arms slowly in a big circle above my head. Then I bring my hands in front of     me and look at them. I spelled him into loving me. Why am I getting the feeling that I am loving him back? "If only I knew what my heart was telling me
    Don't know what I'm feeling
    Is this just a dream?" I sing as I cirkle back to the pillar and lean my back against it.
    "Oh, if only
    Yeah
    If only, yeah
    If only, yeah
    If only
    If only." I sing and the music dies down. I turn back towards the lake and sit down in front of it. I look at my reflection in the water. I am not supposed to be falling in love with Ben. I am only making this harder on myself. Ben. I haven't seen or heard him in a while. I look up and look around the lake. I don't see Ben anywhere. "Ben?" I ask. No reaction. "Ben?" I say a bit louder. I stand up quickly and look around again. "Ben?" I yell and it echoes through the rocks. Still no answer. Before I know what I am doing I jump into the water. Lucky for me the water is very shallow. I run deeper, not even thinking about what I am doing. Then suddenly I feel no more ground beneath my feet. I try to keep my head above the water but I am struggeling. Then I feel two arms. One wraps around my back and the other around my legs. They move me towards the ruin. Then Ben's head comes above water. I start coughing because I swallowed some water. Ben carries me out of the lake and puts me on the ground again. He shakes his head like a dog. "You scared me!" I say a bit angry as I slap his arm. "Y-you can't swim?" he asks in disbelieve as he points back at the lake. "No!" I say stating the obvious. "You live on an island!" he says. "Yeah, with a barrier around it, remember?" I say. "And you still tried to save me." he says. Come to think of it I did. "Yeah, but I failed tho. Instead, you saved me." I say as I smile at him. "That's true. So am I your hero now?" he asks me as he smiles back at me. I let out a laugh and get up. "Sure." I say with a hint of sarcasm in my voice. Water drips down from my hear and dress onto the ground and a shiver runs down my spine. I walk towards the picnic cloth. Then I feel something warm wrap around me and I see that it's Ben's  Auradon knight jacket. "Oh, no you really don't have to-" I start. "No, it's okay." he says. "Oh, okay." I say and I sit down on the picnic cloth. Ben sits down next to me and I shiver again. I pull the jacket tighter around me and look towards the forest. It's all so magical. The lake, the forest, the skie, just everything. Then Ben touches my hair. I turn my head towards him and look at him. He stares at the piece of hair he has in between his fingers and it looks like he is in some kind of trance. Then he looks at me and sees that I am looking at him and he quickly looks down. "Uh, Kara..." he starts. He slowly looks back at me again. "I told you that I loved you. What about you?" he asks as he lets my hair go. "Do you love me?" he asks. I look into his eyes. His beautiful green eyes. I wan't to say no, but then I think I would be lying to myself. I turn my head towards the woods. I mean I've never loved anybody before, so how would I know what it feels like? "I don't know what love feels like." I say and I let out a sigh. Ben puts his finger under my chin and turns my head back towards him. "Maybe I can teach you." he says.

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2338 words
(02/08/2020)