(Outfit for the date, you can imagine something else, but this is the outfit that I describe.)
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
The song during the date scene is not 'If Only,' nor is it a Disney song. I felt like 'If Only' didn't fit Payton's situation as well as this song, so I hope you enjoy and see where I'm coming from
~Riley Rose
A FEW DAYS LATER Payton is running around the campus, desperately trying to find the person she has spent the last thirty minutes looking for. Finally seeing them sat at a picnic a little ways up, she mutters a few curse words to herself.
"Why is the campus so damn big.." Payton mumbles annoyed before making her way to her desired person.
"Evie!"
The blue haired girl looks away from Doug as Payton comes sprinting over, "I need your help, and I need it bad."
Evie looks at the blonde in confusion, "What's going on?"
"Ben just asked me on a date. A date?! I grew up with like 30 nasty, dirty boys who like to roughhouse, okay, I don't do 'dates'!"
Doug and Evie laugh a little before the blue haired girl turns toward the boy, "I've got this."
Evie stands up and starts walking back to their dorm with Payton, "Didn't you go on dates with Harry and..?"
Payton cuts her off before she can say anymore, "No! Not really! It was more just duo missions Uma would send us on.." Payton gets silent before continuing, "and how do you know about..?"
Evie smirks and shrugs, "I know all the gossip."
Payton gives the girl a weird look before Evie laughs and grabs her hand, "Come on, we've got a date to get you ready for."
~~~
BACK AT THE DORM Mal is sitting on her bed studying her spell book while Evie is helping Payton with little touches of makeup here and there.
The blue-haired girl has dressed the unruly blonde in a slightly see through green top. It has a few flowers visible in the print with an overhang of see through cloth that hangs in front of the breast region. The sleeves are thin, which is good since it's still decently hot outside and they flow out into a bell bottom style.
The skirt is a high waisted brown plaid skirt that has small green and black lines in the pattern. The left hip has a thin, tan bow while the bottom seam of the skirt is hemmed at different lengths with a few thin layers of other mesh cloths underneath that are visible with the layers.
The shoes are thigh high, seamless black boots, that really bring out the black lines on the skirt, that have about an inch and a half heel in the back, which still gives Ben a good three inches in height over Payton. The tops of the boots have cute little bows for decoration, which really tie in the bow on her skirt and the bow Evie is currently trying to convince Payton to let her put in her hair.
"Come on, E, no. My hair is hard enough to deal with as is, if you try to put a bow in it, it will just get more knotted!"
"Or," Evie tries to counter, "it will pull the hair away from your face and give you less knots."
"You're not gonna win," Mal butts into the friendly argument, not looking up from her book. "Might as well just give in now."
Payton thinks for a second before groaning, "Fine, but if it knots more and I look terrible, it's your fault."
Evie squeals and drags Payton over to the vanity as Mal finally looks up from the spell book with intrigue written on her face, "You're actually excited for this, aren't you?"
The room goes quiet and Payton looks down for a moment. She can't help but think about all the times her father would flirt with women on the Isle, older women and teenagers, and the few times her father thought he felt something, he closed it off. He never saw what love could bring him. He has never told his daughter he loves her, but she knows he does. He just sees it as a weakness. Payton doesn't know what she sees it as.
Payton knows she doesn't need anyone to accomplish her tasks her father left for her, and maybe this will help her get there, but her father never said she couldn't make connections along the way. Payton lifts her head and looks at Mal through the mirror.
"Yes. I am."
"Why?"
"Because.." Payton stops before cutting herself off and looking herself in the eyes in the mirror. "Because I've never really felt like this before. Yeah, there was the thing with Hook, but that was really just gang activity and flirting disguised as bullying. Ben.. he actually tries. And he cares. He asks me about my day and my childhood and he wants to protect me.. I've always had to protect myself. It's..nice.. to not have to feel so guarded around someone."
Mal looks back down at her book, but can't help but feel guilty at the fact that she thinks the only reason Ben feels this way toward her is because of the cookie. She can see that this girl who is slowly, but surely, becoming less than her enemy is falling hard for the prince and she hopes that when their plan is put into place, Payton won't be hurt in the process.
When Evie is done with the bow, Payton is spun around and handed a mirror to see behind her and she gasps slightly. Without her even feeling a thing, Evie was able to pull the front strands of Payton's unruly blonde curls back and close it off with a beautiful black bow that cascades down with the rest of her curls that look surprisingly put together.
"How.. how did you do this?"
Evie smiles at the shocked girl, "I've been styling my entire life. This was a cake walk. Now, final touch, blush."
Evie puts the blush on last so that it has that prominent glow that almost makes them look like they are cold or blushing, but in a pretty way. Evie goes through her different blushes and sees one that has purple undertones and eagerly picks it up. When you think of purple blush, most people shy away from it, but Evie knows that the purple undertones will highlight Payton's lavender eyes. Once she starts applying it, she sees that she made the right choice.
Mal looks over and snorts, "Careful on the blush. She doesn't want to scare him away."
Payton also snorts, "I don't think I could."
All three girls laugh slightly and Evie continues, "Please, my mom taught me how to apply blush before I could even talk. Always use upward strokes."
"My mom was never really big on makeup tips."
Payton builds off of what Mal said, "I never really had a mom. Or a sister. Just brothers who I basically raised."
"Well, now you do," Evie starts. "Both of you."
Mal looks at Payton, "Wait, do you have real brothers? Like by blood? Not just the lost boys?"
Payton nods and both girls' jaws drop.
"Who?"
Payton shakes her head, "It doesn't matter."
Just as the two girls go to disagree, there's a knock at the door. Payton's cheeks become red, but luckily for her Evie's blush covers it pretty well. Evie squeals and pulls Payton to the door and gently pushes her in front of it. The blonde takes a deep breath before slowly turning the handle and opens the door to see Ben standing there on the other side with two helmets in his hand. His eyes open wide and he mutters a "wow."
Payton looks down and breathes out a laugh, "What?"
"For once I have a clear understanding of the difference between being pretty and having unmatched beauty.."
Evie silently squeals behind the couple and Mal smiles and silently celebrates with her best friend for their new friend in front of them.
Ben laughs slightly, "I hope the helmet won't ruin your hair?"
Payton snorts, "It's bound to happen."
Ben and Payton step out of the doorway and the prince hands his date her helmet. Payton smiles and takes it, tucking it under her arm and grabbing Ben's hand with the other.
~~~
AFTER ABOUT 10 minutes of driving, the two make it to their destination. Payton gives Ben a confused look as they end up in the middle of the woods in front of a bridge.
"Where are we going?"
Ben smiles and shrugs before doing an exaggerated 'after you' motion. Payton laughs and steps onto the bridge. Ben follows along and they start talking about nonsense as they all but crawl across this bridge.
"Tell me something you've never told anyone."
Payton thinks about it for a moment. She tries to find something that won't be too heavy for this light hearted date. Going through her entire childhood in the span of a few seconds she stops on one specific memory. One that the girls brought up.
"I have three real brothers."
Ben's jaw drops and he lets out a laugh of disbelief, "No way? What are their names?!"
Payton laughs, "Nope, nuh uh, your turn. What's your thing? What have you never told anyone before?"
"Uh," Ben starts, "my middle name is Florian."
Payton doubles over in laughter, "No, nope, not big enough. I gave you, like, one of my biggest secrets."
Ben laughs and looks around in thought, "Uh, well, I actually have a possibility of being able to turn into a beast, but I would be able to control it."
"No way!" Payton's jaw drops. "That's really cool!"
Ben shrugs, "Dad isn't happy about it. He says it's his most hated time of his life, besides meeting my mother, so he's hoping I don't."
"But you want to, don't you?"
Ben shrugs. He knows he wants to be able to turn into a beast. He has always had a fascination with magic, and that only grew when he was about 8 and Fairy Godmother tells the royal family about his possibility. Even Ben's mother was intrigued. King Adam, on the other hand, had to leave the room because of his anger. How could his son find joy in the thing that tormented his life for years?
Looking back up at Payton, Ben glances behind her and sees that they are coming to the end of the bridge. His happiness refills his body and he visibly perks up.
"Come on."
Ben moves around Payton and gently puts his hands on her eyes and carefully guides her to the picnic he set up. The whole walk Payton's nerves are on fire as she can feel Ben's breath on her neck, sending shivers down her spine. The walk is a short one and when they get there Ben tells her to keep her eyes closed as he moves his hands down to her waist. Once his hands are placed softly, but firmly, on her waist, he smiles and tells her to open her eyes.
Payton opens her eyes and what she sees causes her jaw to drop. It was the gazebo from the other night. Yes, it was surrounded by water that could potentially kill her, but that's not what caused her to look at the situation in shock. It was the simple but elegant picnic set up in the middle. There was a blue and white plaid blanket that was laid over the gray concrete that had a little picnic basket sat on top. Next to the basket there were two plastic champagne glasses.
"Benjamin.." Payton starts, awe filling her voice, "this.. this is beautiful."
The prince smiles and leads Payton over to the blanket. They sit down and Ben starts grabbing all the little foods he packed, nothing too heavy. Strawberries, pineapple, finger versions of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and a bottle of sparkling cider.
Payton watches him arrange it all and can't help but let the tears build up in her eyes. Ben, being so focused on making this day perfect, doesn't notice until a single tear falls down her face and onto the blanket.
Ben's head snaps up quickly, "What's wrong? Is this too much? Too little?"
Payton lets out a laugh, confusing the prince more, "No.. no this is perfect. Just.. no one has ever done something like this for me."
Ben smiles and reaches out, gently wiping away her tear that was already trying to dry to her skin, "You deserve all of this and more."
The two continue to talk for the next thirty or so minutes and they talk about everything. Ben learned that Payton is actually the girl's middle name, but she wasn't comfortable giving her first, and he understood. Payton found out that Audrey was Ben's first and only kiss. They both cringed at that fact. Ben found out that Payton's first was actually a lost boy who did it as a dare. That lost boy soon lost his title from Pan hearing about the incident from not only Felix, but also his daughter who stormed into his office and immediately threw up in his trash can.
"You actually threw up? Poor kid," Ben laughed.
Payton gasped in fake offense, "Poor kid? Poor me! I was, like, 12!"
The two of them laugh before Ben continued, "So, is this your first time?"
Payton thinks about it and shrugs, "I mean, this is my first time on a real date. You know, like one where we hold hands and call it a date. But I've been on a few date-adjacent things."
Ben laughs slightly, "Probably still better than drill sergeant Audrey."
Both of them double over in laughter before they settle into a comfortable silence. This is soon broken by Payton.
"So, you're gonna be king soon.."
Ben scoffs, "Yeah.. yeah I guess I am."
Payton tilts her head in confusion, "You don't want that?"
"It's not that," Ben says, but doesn't sound sure. "It's..just.. the crown doesn't make you a king."
"Well.. it kinda does."
Both of them laugh again before Ben continues, "Just your father is the king of Neverland, the prince of mischief, and I've got the poster parents for goodness.."
"Quite literally," Payton cuts Ben off. "Did you know there are actual posters of your parents up around the Isle that they had sent over?"
"Seriously?"
"Dead serious."
A silence passes between them before they, once again, double over in laughter. The two of them continuously make each other laugh and smile. It's a guaranteed thing at this point.
"Anyways," Ben continues his previous statement with a chuckle in his tone, "just because we grew up as their children doesn't mean we are automatically like them. We get to make our own choices."
Payton stops for a moment to really think about Ben's words. Deep down, she knows he's right. She knows she is nothing like her conniving mother, but her father.. she's a lot like him. She has helped build all his future plans he's been scheming on these past twenty some years. She is his second in command, whether or not Felix admits it. Pan doesn't, not, take care of his lost boys, he just has a short temper. He blows his fuse on them quickly and doesn't do forgiveness. But to the ones who are loyal to him, and follow the rules, he will protect them.
Payton remembers once, around the age of 10, when she and her father were walking the marketplace. He was teaching her how to steal without using her powers because he didn't want the wrong people on the island to get it in their minds to use Peter Pan's daughter as a tool. The father daughter duo rounded the corner when they saw one of their younger lost boys caught in a fight with some of the older villain kids. These kids obviously didn't listen in school when learning about the other villain stories because they had no idea who Pan, Payton, or the lost boys were.
"Hey!" Pan yelled at the one who was holding Liam, the lost boy. "Let him go, or you'll regret it."
The three kids laughed and threw Liam on the ground. Payton immediately ran over to the boy and on the way there one of the three bullies tripped her and another one pushed her on her way down. The girl landed hard right next to Liam, badly scraping up her arms and legs.
Pan's eyes glowed red and the boys' eyes went wide. Pan grabbed the tallest one by the collar and shoved him up against the nearest brick wall, making him wince from his head hitting the concrete.
"Touch my kids again, and I will kill you."
Payton mentally winces at the fact that if those had been her kids.. she probably would've said the same thing.. even if it was another kid tormenting them.
Ben, not noticing Payton's zone out, gently lifts her face to look him in the eyes, "I can tell right now by looking in your eyes that you are not evil."
Payton gives a sad smile, "Maybe I'm not evil, but..but I have my secrets."
"We all do."
Ben smiles at the girl before looking over at the water and getting an idea, "Let's go swimming!"
Ben immediately stands up and strips himself of his shirt, making the girl's eyes widen. She then looks at the water and her fear of this place returns.
"Y-You know what? I-I'm good."
Ben laughs at her obvious nervousness, "Come on, can't swim or something?"
Payton fake laughs, "Y-Yeah, something like that."
Ben shakes his head, "Your loss."
The prince makes his way around to a little ledge he found one of the last few times he's come here. Once he gets to the top, he waves to Payton who looks a little closer and laughs.
"Are those little crowns on your shorts?"
"Maybe!" Ben yells back with a laugh. He makes a hold on gesture toward her before he lets out a huge roar and Payton doubles over in laughter.
After Ben jumps into the lake, Payton scoots back quickly, trying her best to avoid the splash. One or two drops touch her skin, making her hiss in pain slightly, but after wiping it on her clothes, she's fine. She watches Ben swim around for a little while before getting lost in her own head.
"I've made up my mind, don't need to think it over
If I'm wrong, I am right, don't need to look no further
This ain't lust.."
Payton looks over at Ben swimming around in the lagoon and smiles.
"I.. know this is love, but..
If I tell the world, I'll never say enough cause it was not said to you
And that's exactly what I need to do
If I end.. up with you."
Payton stands up and takes a few steps forward, clutching her head in her hands. It's very clear that she has a power struggle going on upstairs. One half of her wants to run away from this date right now, break the barrier, and go home with her father and the lost boys. The other half.. the half keeping her on this date.. this half is telling her to just tell Ben everything right now. To pull him out of the water, sit him down, tell him everything, and then beg for him to let her father out and to run away to Neverland with her. But he would never agree.
"Should I give up?
Or should I just keep chasing pavements.. even if it leads nowhere?
Or would it be a waste even if I knew my place?
Should I leave it there?"
Payton sighs and thinks about all the boys who have purposely, or accidentally, called her mother over the years. She thinks of all the plans she conquered up with her father and she knows that is where she is needed most. But to what end? She is supposed to be the queen of Neverland, the mother, but how can she properly take care of thirty or so kids when her heart is in another place?
"Should I give up?
Or should I just keep chasing pavements even if it leads nowhere?
Yeah.."
The girl sighs and puts her back against one of the rigid, concrete legs of the gazebo. She slides down and sits with her legs pulled up to her chest as she thinks about when her father told her to do everything she can to make sure they go home. She then thinks about meeting Ben a few hours later and starts to immediately doubt her plan, which was to walk in, state her reasoning, then basically threaten everyone until they let him go.
"Should I give up?
Or should I just keep chasing pavements even if it leads nowhere?
Or.. would it be a waste.. even if I knew my place,, should I leave it there?
Should I give up?
Or should I just keep on.. chasin.. pavements.."
By the end of her line, Payton has pulled herself into a standing position and spins around, still gripping her head. She fists her hair in her hands and all but screams her next belt.
"Oh.."
A million flashes of different memories pop into her head. Her two halves are trying to pull her apart. The first half is showing flashes of her literal and metaphorical brothers while her other half is showing flashes of Ben, Evie, Carlos, Jay, and even Mal.
The first half is showing her a clip of the first time a lost boy called her Mother. She was about 12 and the boy, Henry, was about 5. He has tripped and fallen when 'hunting' with the other lost boys, or the younger group at least. Pan would send the older group to actually go salvage for food in the marketplace, the more dangerous parts with the better things, while he would send the younger boys to go 'hunt' in the small wooded area behind his hut. Henry tripped and busted his knee on a rock and Payton was bandaging it. He accidentally called her mother and they both paused in their places. After a moment, she told him it was okay, kissed his forehead, and let him scurry off with his friends.
The other half of her, the one that loves Auradon, is showing her clips of her first tourney practice. She, Jay, and Carlos all show up and a good majority of the team try to laugh them off the field..but not Ben. Ben walks up to the trio and immediately high fives the two boys and hugs Payton. Coach then hands them practice jerseys and tells them he hopes they catch on as quickly as Jay did.
And Payton sure did.
She was not afraid to tackle or be tackled, which earned her some respect with the boys pretty quickly. On her first play, she was taken down by Chad mere seconds after the whistle was blown. There was a pause for a moment before she got back up and put her hand out for Chad to shake. He scoffed and walked past her. The next time the whistle blew, roles were quickly reversed, but she gave a hand to Chad who then decided to shake her hand.
"Would it be a waste even if I knew my place?
Should I leave it there?
Should I give up?
Or should I just keep chasing pavements even if it leads.. nowhere..?"
When she finally comes out of her head, Payton looks around and realizes she hasn't heard the splashing from Ben's movements anymore.
"Ben?"
She hears nothing but the echoes of her voice off the empty cove.
"Ben?!"
Nothing.
Payton walks closer to the edge of the gazebo before backing away scared. She knows what will happen if she stays under for too long, but.. it's Ben. Looking around once more, Payton is praying to any gods there may be listening that Ben is about to pop his head out of the water. Waiting one more moment, the girl whimpers in fear before running and jumping into the water.
The second the majority of her body is submerged in the water, Payton gasps in pain. It takes everything in her to not scream from the feeling over her body losing its strength and shutting down. Treding even farther in the water, it gets up to about her chin when her body gives out. Payton's eyes start to roll back and her head is almost fully submerged when she is lifted almost completely out of the water. Payton can feel her body being lifted but is too weak to say anything.
Payton is set down on the soft blanket and can hear her name being yelled through what sounds like a muffler. A few moments later the girl feels a hand run softly across the side of her face and her hair is pushed back. Her eyes start to flutter open and sat in front of her is a nervous, soaked Ben.
"P..Payton?"
Payton tries to sit up and Ben immediately puts his hand behind her back to help her.
"What happened out there?"
Payton sighs, "You disappeared. I jumped in to find you."
"I got that part," Ben gently snaps, "but after that? Why do you look like you just crawled back from the depths of the underworld?"
Payton snorts before coughing, "Because.." she cuts herself off with more coughing, "I basically did."
Ben looks at the girl incredulously and she sighs before continuing, "I..I wasn't conceived like regular children. My parents made a deal. They were both magical beings and what most people don't realize is there is no magic barrier that can completely shut out magic.. but my father is smart. He taught me about all kinds of magic.. including mine. Madness. And his.. pixie dust is only some of it. His is another form of madness, but his stems from a certain point so for the most part, it's blocked on the Isle.
But one day, he met my mother and struck this deal. If she and him use the little bits of magic they have to create me, she gets a sidekick and so does he. She agreed. Flash forward a few years and my mother is no longer allowed to see me as my father and I have added that into the clause."
Ben cuts Payton off, water dripping from his hair into his mouth and eyes, but he doesn't notice in the moment, "What does that have to do with now?"
Payton sighs again, "What I said about me being conceived as a spell and learning all types of magic.. well we're at one right now."
Payton points to the lake and Ben follows her finger, "This lake is the enchanted lake.."
"And it wipes away spells.." Ben finished for her, making her nod with a solemn look. "You could've died?"
Payton nods.
"Why would you jump in there then?!" Ben demands.
"For you!" Payton yells right back, not realizing what she's saying yet. "I couldn't find you.. I.. I wanted to save you."
"You.." Ben starts, trying to find the words, "you risked your life.. for me?"
Payton nods and lets out a pathetic laugh, "Yeah.. but you're fine and.. and I'm just soaking wet and tired."
Both Payton and Ben laugh softly before Ben pulls something out of his pocket, "And you also have a fancy rock. You.. uh.. you make a wish and throw it back in the lake."
Payton snorts, "Wishing stone.. and yeah, I know how it works. Uh.."
Ben hands the girl the pointy, star looking rock and she sighs for a moment, trying to think of her wish before chucking it back into the lake. Ben laughs.
"Damn, that's some arm on you."
"You should know," Payton says, "you are the one who signed me up for tourney."
"Should've been shot put."
Payton and Ben laugh before they move farther on the gazebo. Ben immediately puts his letterman around her and grabs the towels from the basket. He hands them to her as well, knowing she needs them much more than he does. She thanks him with a smile and works on drying off her skin and hair first.
Ben stares at the girl with an unreadable expression. His past expressions always looked like a fraction of the ones from the day of the tourney game.. but this one.. this one is different.
"Pay.."
Payton looks up at the nickname given to her by the prince and stays quiet to let him continue.
"I told you I loved you," Ben starts, his voice shaking slightly but Payton doesn't know if it's from being cold or nervous. "What about you? Do you.. love me?"
Payton never looks away from Ben's eyes, "I don't remember what being in love feels like."
Ben slowly puts his hand up to the side of her face, cupping her cheek, "Let me remind you."
The two of them lean in and their lips meet in a slow but passionate kiss, one that neither of them wanted to pull away from. Not even the slight burning sensation from the water on his lips could ruin this moment for them.
~~~
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Another close call for Payton, but Ben pulled an uno reverse and saved her when she was trying to save him.
Do y'all like how I'm not making the Ben and Payton interactions exactly like his and Mal's or do you actually prefer it to be an OC inserted into his and Mal's scenes?
What do y'all think about Payton having brothers?
Are y'all ready to see more scenes between Payton and the lost boys?
~Riley Rose