Not So Happily Ever After

Midnight, Cold and Sweet

It was the dead of the night when Ben woke up. Gil was snoring across the room, sprawled out, half hanging off the bed asleep. A growl rose in his throat and it took everything in him not to get up and strangle him for the annoying noise escaping his half-brother's throat. The idea of even considering him a half-brother at all was still positively revolting. He didn't want to acknowledge his mother or her asshole husband. They weren't only his thoughts but what his father instructed of him. Though he may be stuck on the isle, there was no telling how long this stay in Auradon would last or whether they would only be allowed here during the school year. The rest was a complete mystery. Ben laid back trying to sleep but the snores from Gil kept him awake with his thoughts and it was excruciating. Ben grabbed his phone and tried texting each of the gang members but the only one to respond was Audrey, who simply told him to go the fuck to sleep and not wake her up again. Ben looked at the slip of paper Carlos gave him from earlier and contemplated it before typing the number into his phone saving it under his name before sending a text message.

"Hey, it's Ben... you know the Isle guy." Ben texted awkwardly not sure what to say, something that he didn't usually deal with. On a normal day, he exuded confidence and was often told by Audrey that he struts around like he has the biggest ego. So for him to feel genuinely awkward and almost nervous texting someone felt foreign to him. He couldn't quite place where those feelings were coming from, but he didn't care too much. He chalked it up has been a long day in a new place.

"Hey Ben. Did you need something?" Carlos replied surprisingly quickly. Ben couldn't help but imagine the poor intimidated boy pressed up against the lockers again squeaking out his replies. Something about it made the beast in his gut gnaw and gnash wanting something he couldn't quite put his finger on. It wasn't a feeling he had before, but then again, he was in a place with people he had never met before.

"Well, no. Sort of. I can't sleep and Gil snoring. I'm wide awake and everyone else is sleeping. I guess I'm bored." Ben still sounding rather awkward for some reason. It was starting to get on his nerves. He took a deep breath while he waited for his reply.

"It is sort of nighttime; most people sleep right now. I'm only up because I get nightmares." Carlos replies and the beast inside him growled so fiercely that one deep growl escaped his throat. He didn't like the idea of something other than him terrorizing Carlos. His inner beast wanted Carlos to be only his to torment and terrify. Ben sighed at the feeling and blinked out at the night sky for a second before letting the icy exterior he puts up to come down for now. Carlos was already dealing with something. Yes, Ben was evil but he needed to be good a little bit.

"What kind of nightmares?" Ben asked both out of curiosity and out of a desire to comfort him a little bit. He knew that when he would have nightmares, venting to Audrey helped him a lot. Maybe, talking about his nightmares might help Carlos. The soft side of Ben was out in full now, the safety of his bed and the comfort of the night making it feel safe to be vulnerable and even pleasant.

"My father was a part werewolf and he attacked me as a child. I always have nightmares about it or sometimes being part werewolf myself but according to Maleficent herself, the part of me that is a part werewolf is entirely dormant. She cast a spell to keep it that way as well but it still haunts me. I figured since your father is the beast you would maybe understand." Carlos replied and Ben couldn't help but smile a little. That must be it. Their connection from the beginning, they could sense the beast within one another. That had to be it. There couldn't possibly be a reason other than that for why he feels so drawn to Carlos. None whatsoever. Ben repeated these thoughts to himself.

"I have my own inner beast; I don't transform like a werewolf but I am affected by it. It is a struggle sometimes, but I have control over it, unlike my father. I was blessed upon birth with the gift to control it. By who I do not know but my father says it is so. I can understand your fears Carlos but with Maleficent's spell there should be nothing to fear, right?" Ben replies quite kindly and honestly. Carlos doesn't reply. His phone sits in his hand for a long moment silent before there is soft tapping at his door.

Ben gets up and crosses the room to find a sleep disheveled Carlos in some black and white pajamas with puppy paw prints all over them. Carlos smiles at him toothily and something warm fills Ben's gut. His beast practically soothed into submission. Ben is confused and a little intimidated by this effect but does not show it. He smirks at Carlos who gestures down the hall. "You hungry?" Carlos asks and Ben eagerly nods, he is always hungry honestly. With a nod, he starts leading Ben down the hall and they silently sneak to the kitchen. Carlos goes to the fridge and smiles. "Sweet tooth?" Ben nods again guiltily now, surprised by how suddenly docile and comfortable he feels around Carlos. It bothers him inside and he mulls it over until Carlos sets a bowl of something on the counter handing Ben a spoon. Ben leans over sniffing it curiously. It smells sweet and sugary but he can feel cold coming off of it. Before he can really figure it out himself Carlos tilts his head chuckling. "It's ice cream." Ben's eyes got a little wide and he takes a spoon full trying a big bite. It's creamy, cold and sweet. It tastes of something he has never had before and it is a warm shade of brown. He assumes this must be chocolate ice cream. He digs into the ice cream until frozen pain shoots through his skull and he whimpers and growls in equal measure recoiling. "Eat it too fast and you get an ice cream headache. Just put your thumb on the roof of your mouth. It helps." Carlos comments taking a bite. Ben does and told and it slowly ebbs away.

"So you've never had ice cream before?" Carlos asks curiously and Ben shakes his head.

"There isn't any ice cream, chocolate, or many sweets on the Isle," Ben admits taking a fresh bite of ice cream. Carlos nods thoughtfully and lets a comfortable silence fall as they finish up the ice cream slowly. Ben grabs the bowl and licks it clean, getting some on his nose. Carlos lets out a laugh and wipes it off the tip of his nose licking it. A fierce warmth burns in Ben's cheeks, a reaction he isn't accustomed to. He assumes it is from embarrassment and scolds himself for being so emotional in front of someone else. He brings his walls up and lets the frigged cold exterior take over. "What are you laughing at?" Ben snaps a bit and Carlos goes pale. He smirks at the fearful look on Carlos's face. Yes, this is how it should be. His beast snarls at him however, for reasons he cannot discern but sighs and settles on a less harsh cold exterior much more akin to soft snow rather than the rigged spiked ice.

"Sorry." Carlos replies and Ben shrugs in reply. Now full of something sweet Ben feels his lids heavy again and gestures to the door. Carlos nods and they head back to their rooms silently, only waving goodbye. Ben can't get the image of Carlos laughing and being so close to him out of his head as he goes back to sleep. Carlos can't escape his thoughts of Ben either in how much they are alike and how cute Ben looks with ice cream and a blush. They both dream sweet sugary ice cream induced dreams of the events of the night and how they could have gone differently. Ben's dream is fiercer, with him shoving Carlos into the refrigerator and intimidating him again like he did at the lockers. Carlos dreams of chocolatey kisses and sharing cold ice cream between warm mouths. Both of them satisfied with their dreams by morning.