#barvie

True Love’s Kiss would be easier if someone would mention that sometimes you need two of them.

My hella late Secret Santa gift to @benlos​. Sorry love, Merry Christmas!

Warning for some dark themes. Ben is depressed, Evie struggles with self esteem and Carlos is abused. Also warnings for neglect, kidnapping, implied rape and suicide.

Despite all those warnings, this fic isn’t that dark. It’s background stuff that is referenced or short scenes. 

---

Someone is knocking at the door. No one ever knocks at the door. Ben doesn’t know what to do.

According to Mrs. Potts, normally, a person would open the door to greet the guest, but nothing about Ben or their castle is ‘normal’. But Mrs. Potts told Ben not to open the door and he isn’t going to.

“Hello? Is anyone home? I’m looking for the prince.”

Ben is the prince, yes. His father, Adam, had been the king, but that was many years ago. He’s probably not the prince this girl is looking for.

“The who is, supposedly, cursed? I think?”

Oh. Maybe he is the one this girl is looking for.

Ben still doesn’t open the door.

She doesn’t go away.

He can hear her, so can Mrs. Potts, Lumiere and Angelique, as she walks around the castle and steps over the wild vines and peers in through windows.

Lumiere argues to let her in. “A pretty girl? Open the door! She is looking for you, Master!”

“Don’t you dare!” Mrs. Potts chastises Lumiere. “You know what happened the last time a lovely lady came in through the doors! We don’t need a repeat of...you know who.”

Ben pretends to not hear them. It’s clear Mrs. Potts doesn’t want him to. He follows the young girl through the windows, staying back in the shadows.

“Hello? Hello?” She raps on the glass with her knuckles. “Please, I’m looking for the prince! I have to see him!” She holds her hand to the window and peers in. “Hello?”

He’s fascinated by her. It’s been years since Ben has seen another human. Well, he sees Maurice every few months, leaving a basket of food in the middle of the night, but Ben never says anything to him. Maurice doesn’t like talking to him. So he thinks this girl is pretty, but he doesn’t have a lot of references to compare her to. Her hair is blue and her voice is sweet, it reminds him of Fifi.

“I’m not leaving until I see him, please!”

Ben reaches for the door. He can’t remember the last time the front door was opened.

Mrs. Potts shouts for him. “Benjamin, what are you doing?”

But the door is already open and the girl is running back to the stone path, having heard the rusty hinges creak to life as they opened.

“Holy shit.” She says as Ben stands in the doorway, head tilted at her. “You really are a beast.”

Then she closes her eyes and falls to the ground.

---

Ben lays her in the library and grabs the books he can find on passing out and fainting, but none of them mention anything about snoring.

Which she does. Kind of loudly.

It’s cute. It’s exciting. There’s a person in his castle!

Cogsworth is not happy about it. But Cogsworth is rarely happy about anything.

“Master! Master!” Lumiere comes running up to Ben later in the day. “She is awake! Your guest, she is asking for you!”

Ben had been in the garden in the back. It’s how they feed themselves, as well as what things Maurice brings once a month. He wipes his claws on his pants and tries to shake the dirt in his fur out.

“Whoa.” The girl says as she stiffles a yawn. The blanket Ben covered her with is know wrapped around her shoulders. “I thought maybe I dreamt you.”

“No.” Ben says. “I’m real.” He studies her. “Are you real?”

She nods. “Are you Ben? Prince Ben?”

“Yes.”

She stands and cursties. “Well I am princess Evie.”

Princesses in story books have big gowns and crowns and hair in curls. Evie has on a pretty dress and hiking boots and her hair pulled back.

“Where did you come from?” Ben asks her. “Why are you looking for me?”

Evie sits back down. She yawns. “You’re not the only one who’s cursed. Ever hear of the Evil Queen?”

Ben shakes his head. He doesn’t hear anything. All he has in his castle now are the employees, his friends and family as furniture, and they leave as often as he does.

“Well she’s my mom. And she’s not the nicest.”

His mom hadn’t been nice either.

“She wanted me to find a prince.” Evie says. “But none of them would come to our castle to meet me. She said I wasn’t pretty enough for anyone to travel to meet me.” Evie tugs at the fabric of the couch she’s sitting on, her nails worrying little dents into the side. “So she cursed me. Not with eternal sleep, but close to it. She thought more beauty sleep would help.”

“I think you’re pretty.” Ben tells her. It’s true, he does think Evie is pretty, but he’s not sure what pretty actually is. But Evie is the only person he’s ever met since his mother, so she’s already the best thing Ben has ever seen.

“Thank you. I think you’re quite handsome.” She slowly reaches out and touches the fur of his face. “You’re only half beast, right?”

Ben nods. “My dad was full beast because of a curse. My mother was a human.”

“They’re not around anymore?”

“No.”

Evie doesn’t ask anymore. Ben would not be upset if she did, though. Everyone in the castle already knows about it, but they all don’t like talking about it.

“If your curse is beauty sleep, how did you get here?” Ben asks as he leads Evie down the hall.

“I’m always tired. I sleep too much.” On cue, she yawns. “But if I was cursed to eternal sleep, I would get lazy and wouldn’t be able to shower or practice cooking and cleaning. It makes it hard to do stuff, but not impossible. I can’t waste my time making friends or reading or daydreaming.”

Ben waits. That didn’t really answer his question. But he doesn’t want to scare Evie off with his curiosity. He hopes she stays for a little while.

“And it can only be broken by true love’s kiss.” She says after a moment of silence. They have reached the kitchen. Evie stares at Chef Bouche, who stares right back.

He’s never been outside the castle walls, but Ben had heard about the forest outside from his mother when he was young. “How did you survive?”

Evie pats the bag on her hip. “I stole my mother’s spell book when I ran away. It’s hard to practice in between...power naps but I manage. It took me months to get here.”

“I’ll walk you out.” Ben tells her. “When you want to leave.” He hopes that’s not for a very long time.

“Actually I was hoping I could stay.” Evie says as Chef Bouche sets her plate down and she thanks him. “It seems we both need to find true love to break our curses.”

Despite what happened with his mother and father, Ben does believe in true love. He sees it with Lumiere and Fifi. He sees love with Mrs. Potts and Chip. He feels it toward all of the people in these walls. There is love in this castle, Ben knows, but none of it has ever broken a curse.

---

Now that Evie has been here for a month, Ben can see that she doesn’t look like the pictures of people he has in his books. She has dark circles under her eyes. She falls asleep in random places, like at the table and over a chess set. Sometimes she sleeps more than a whole day and Ben will take time to watch the rise and fall of her chest to make sure she’s only sleeping.

He likes her. He really likes her. She’s pretty and soft and doesn’t sneer at his fur or claws or teeth. She isn’t afraid of Ben. She struggles with reading on her own - her mother insisted she only learn how to read enough for recipes and nothing more - but she likes when Ben reads to her.

Sometimes she falls asleep with her head on his shoulder and Ben’s chest feels so tight, he can’t figure out how he’s still breathing.

Lumiere says he’s in love.

“Master, it’s been many years, but I know that look!” He says, hopping to follow Ben as he walks around outside. It is warmer now, nearly summer. “The enigmatic Evelyn is in your every waking thought, yes? Your dreams too?”

Ben has resigned himself to being half-beast. It’s not awful. His father hated it, but his father had also been human once and knew what he was meant to be. The fur and claws are all Ben has ever known. He’s half human too, though. He’s not as large as his father, not as hairy or strong.

He’s afraid to give the other’s hope though. He’s afraid to give Evie hope. He doesn’t want this to crush them if it doesn’t work.

“Speak of the angels,” Lumiere waggles his brows over Ben’s shoulder. “I will leave you two to your...talking.”

He hops away, kissing Evie’s hand as he passes her.

Evie is fascinating. Not just because she’s the first person Ben has talked to in years, but she’s an actual princess. She’s been all over the world. Ben is not the first prince she’s reached. She met a prince from Agrabah whose father had cursed him into a magic lamp, using the prince as genie for whatever he wanted. She met a prince whose mother had mice and birds as companions, speaking to them as easily as they were humans.

Ben may read her stories, but Evie shares her own stories, sparing no detail. She was once also trapped in her own castle, she remembers how exciting anything new is.

The world outside is still waiting for her and Ben feels so selfish that Evie stays with him. He tells her she can leave at any time, as soon as she wants. She’s came of her own free will and she can leave of it too.

She always grabs his hand and says “I was hoping I could stay longer.”

“Are you gardening again?” Evie asks as she stands by his side. She had once been fearful of dirt and ruining her clothes, she admitted one day, but she’s traveled everywhere to find her prince and fallen asleep outside more times than she can count.

“No.” Ben tells her. “I came outside to think.” He hesitates before speaking again. “You can come with me though.”

Evie follows him. “What is this?”

“It’s my mother. Her grave.” Ben says. He looks down at the dirt before them. It had been rounded once, overturned and unsettled, but that had been years ago. Now, it’s just a flat expanse with a stone that Maurice had brought once. Sometimes Ben finds flowers out her and he’s never sure if they’re from Maurice, who braves the woods for a chance to visit his daughter, or from the staff that had cried for Belle more than Ben had.

“Was she a good mom?”

“No. Mrs. Potts is a good mom to Chip. She’s a good mom to me too.”

“What happened?” Evie asks as she stands closer to him.

“She hated living with a beast.” Ben remembers. “She hated having one for a son even more.”

Everyone says that Belle had been so kind when she first came to them. She treated them with respect and gentleness. She would do anything for her father. She helped around the castle.

But she wasn’t allowed to leave. She missed her father, she missed human interactions, she missed what few friends she had in her village. She was afraid of the beast, who took everything Belle had to give.

She never had love to offer him. She was never the cure for the curse.

The Belle that Ben knew hardly looked at him. The staff had to beg her to feed him as a child, too young to do it himself. She touched him as little as possible, locked herself in a room for days at a time as Ben sat outside waiting for her. She saw the half beast in him - no paws or hooves, but claws; the partial fur on his body as a boy; the lack of horns, but the presence of fangs - and hated him instantly.

When she died, having been found in the bathtub by Adam, Ben was not allowed to see. Fifi and Mrs. Potts kept him in his room as her body was carried out. The staff were all sad, yes, but they hardly wept. They had mourned the loss of Belle many years before Ben was born. The body they found had not been Belle in a very long time.

Adam had dug a grave, only at Lumiere’s pleas, and then left for the woods a few months later.

That was ten years ago.

“If she had given you the chance, she would have loved you.” Evie tells him.

Maybe a mother’s love would have been enough to break Ben’s curse. He’s never thought about it. There was never a chance of it happening.

“You’re kind and gentle, you’re not a monster, Ben.” Evie says as she slips her hand into his. She’s so much smaller than him, her whole hand encompassed by his. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry for your mother too.” Ben looks at Evie. “She shouldn’t be pushing you to find love. Even I know that. She should love you herself.” I do.

“Yeah, but then I would have never left to find you.”

Ben feels his face heat under the warm sun. “You don’t have to stay, you know. You can leave any time you want.”

“I know. But I was hoping I could stay longer.”

---

“Kiss him! Mademoiselle, please!” Fifi dances around what has been declared as Evie’s room for the past few weeks. She has been here for months now, allowing the her feelings to grow and hoping for Ben’s to do the same. “I beg you! Ze master speaks of you constantly!”

Evie soothes down her dress. For how few people live in this castle, there were plenty of clothes in her size, a leftover from the days before Adam was cursed.

“You need true love’s kiss, ze mast needs true love’s kiss, you are a match made in Heaven!”

“How do I look, Fi?”

“Stunning, gorgeous, the master will not be able to resist you!”

They don’t have a time limit. Adam had one, Evie knows from the stories the villagers still whisper. He had until the last petal fell on his enchanted rose. But Ben has all the time in the world. Adam’s curse has been diluted for Ben, passed down to an innocent child who’s only mistake was being born.

Evie, having a mother who places curses and being under a curse herself, is a bit of an expert in them.

And Ben knows exactly what tonight is. Evie had told him and he had nervously agreed, after reminding Evie a thousand times that he had never kissed anyone.

Evie has kissed a few princes in her travels for her true love. Jay and Chad and Harry, all kind and charming, but not her true love. Last she had heard, Jay was spending plenty of time with Chad, and Harry had met a princess named Audrey. As far as Evie knows, Harry and Jay’s curses have not been broken yet, but she hopes the best for all of the princes she’s met.

This is different with Ben. He’s more than kind and charming, he’s soft and gentle and looks at Evie like she crafted the very world they live on. He adores all of his staff and has put her happiness above his own at every turn, reminding Evie that she can leave the castle at any time to see other people again.

She loves him. She is certain of it.

The ballroom is lovely. Angelique had told her that Adam and Belle had once danced in here, trying to ignite a spark, but it had led to Belle running to her room and Adam clawing up the walls, which are still there today.

They will replace the haunting memories of this castle with brilliant ones, joyous and hopeful and loving memories. Evie loves Ben and nothing else matters.

He’s in a suit, looking so awkward and uncomfortable, but he doesn’t pay his clothing any mind when he sees her on the staircase. She can’t hear him, but from across the room, she can see his lips form her name.

All of the staff are watching on the sidelines. Because their curse originated with Adam, it follows down to Ben, but Evie thinks that they aren’t concerned with their own curses and former lives. They just want to see Ben happy. They love him just as he loves them.

“Ben.”

“Evie.”

Now is not the time to yawn, but she can’t help it. Ben doesn’t mind. Evie’s tired. She’s tired of being tired. She’s sick of having half her energy and being wiped out from every walk around the castle. She wants to feel awake again, she wants to feel alive and Ben makes her feel alive.

She cups his face gently and he allows himself to be pulled down to her, completely giving up his control. Evie takes a breath and thinks I love you and presses her lips to Ben.

Curse or not, she wants to kiss Ben. His lips are chapped and his fur tickles and Evie smiles into his mouth.

But nothing changes.

A lifted curse will be lifted immediately. There is no waiting period.

Ben is still a beast and the staff are still furniture and Evie is still yawning.

“I don’t understand.” She looks into Ben’s eyes. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” He says back. Evie believes him completely. “I don’t know what’s supposed to happen.”

He’s not supposed to have fangs and fur and claws. The staff aren’t supposed to be made of candles and feathers. She’s not supposed to want to lie down a sleep on the floor.

“How can it not work?” Evie pulls away from him and looks at the floor.

“I don’t care if it doesn’t.” Ben says as he reaches out his hand and waits for her to come to him. “I still love you.”

Curse or not, she loves Ben. Evie can feel it in her chest and her heart and her blood. She loves Ben.

She’s not his true love.

And Ben’s not hers either.

“I don’t want to leave you.” She tell him.

“You can stay longer.”

---

More months pass. Their curses are still not lifted. But this is the best life Evie has had in a while. She has a home in the castle, she has Ben and friends in the staff. She has a giant bed she can sleep most of her day on. Blankets and pillows have been stored in every room just in case the staff wanders in to find her sleeping on the couch.

Evie asks to go to the village. She wants to pick up hobbies. Maybe she’ll get into sewing again, regardless of the infinite clothes in the castle. Or she’ll try to learn to read better. Maybe she can write a letter to Jay and Chad and Harry and ask how they’re all doing.

Ben takes her through the forest, snarling at anything that gets too close. It’s funny because Ben is not scary, but the animals of the woods don’t seem to know that.

He leaves her at the edge of the trees, staying in the shadows, even though no villagers are nearby. He is technically king of these people now, but he knows none of them. None of them know Ben, their king, exists.

She had passed through here earlier in the year, but now it’s fall, nearly winter, and Evie keeps her hood up. She hopes no one will recognize her. They are all set on food because of their garden and Chef Bouche who preserves everything, but she comes for writing supplies and fabric and maybe a toy for Chip, something he doesn’t need hands to play with.

People pass by. Evie sees Maurice, Ben had pointed her out to him one night as he snuck food onto the ground - some meats and bread - as Belle’s father. Ben has only ever met Maurice a few times in his childhood. Evie has never met him and he does not know of her.

A large man with black hair talks loudly over the marketplace. A trio of blondes swoon at his side, each of them holding the hand of a child that looks very much like this man.

Evie forgot how social she used to be. In her travels to find love, she met many people. She has the grace and smile of a princess. She wishes she had time to speak with more people, but she’s tired and Ben is waiting for her.

“Out!” A woman shrieks across the road. Evie turns to the noise. “Get out, you insufferable brat!”

Furs and Fauxs is a shop Evie had avoided. With Ben in her life, she’d rather not use fur, real or fake, in her clothing. There’s a woman with black and white hair shoving a young man onto the pavement. There is blood on his face and arms. He cowers at her feet.

“I’m so sick of you!” She screeches as she brings her hand down on the man, hair just like hers. “You can’t sell anything! You can’t clean worth a damn! You lazy son of-!”

“Hey!” Evie shouts and takes off running as the woman draws her foot back. “Leave him alone!”

This woman, the owner of the store, pays her no mind and kicks the young man.

Evie drops to his side and yanks his arm over her shoulder. Her bags are forgotten in the street. She hoists him to his feet and grunts under his weight.

“Take him!” The woman screams. “I don’t ever want to see his worthless, shit face again!”

Evie tunes her out. “Hey.” She gasps. “Can you walk?”

The man groans. His face is swollen and he has a lump on his temple. One of his legs is bent and he cradles his free arm to his chest.

When Evie looks around, no one is looking at them. People are making an effort to not look, backs turned decidedly away.

They are completely ignored as Evie guides him to the edge of the village, down a hill and through a field.

She collapses before the edge of the woods, where Ben is waiting. She’s too tired. Adrenaline hit her hard enough to get this guy away from that psycho, but now she’s crashing.

“Evie?” Ben is standing in front of her, crouched down. “What’s happened? Who is this?”

“Don’t know.” Evie sighs. It’s dark out, it’s night time, it’s sleep time anyway. “Didn’t get his name.”

“Okay. Okay.” Ben says, partially to himself and partially to her. “Okay. He looks really bad.” Ben turns around, stays low to the grass. “Can you hop on my back?”

Evie grunts as she does so, wrapping her arms around Ben’s neck.

“I can’t hold you up, okay?” Ben asks as he tries to look at her. “Can you hold on to me?”

Evie nods into his neck. She’s tired. They have to get home. Home is where the bed is. But the field is nice too.

“Evie!”

“Yes!” She groans. “I can do that.” She tightens her grip and wraps her legs around his waist.

Ben, with the strength of a beast, scoops up their stranger, one hand under his knees and the other around his back. “Evie, he looks awful. What happened?”

“She was beating him.” Evie looks at the young man over Ben’s shoulder. “I think it was his mom. No one was helping him.”

“Well, we will, okay?” Ben begins to walk into the woods, toward the last bit of sun that is disappearing over the horizon. “Just stay awake so you don’t fall okay? Tell me about the village.”

True Love’s Kiss would be easier if someone would mention that sometimes you need two of them.

Part 2 to my hella late Secret Santa gift to @benlos​. Sorry love, Merry Christmas!

Part 1

---

"Holy shit. Am I dreaming?”

Ben looks at Evie, who is watching their new guest with wide eyes. “That’s the second time those are the first words someone says when they see me.” Ben says. “Is that normal?”

Evie blinks at him, then smiles. “No, dear. But you’re so captivating, there are no other words for you.” She pats his hand and looks down at the boy, still wrapping his wrist. “You’re awake. How are you feeling?”

But the stranger is still looking at Ben. His eyes are squinted in concentration and he flickers over to Mrs. Potts as she tips herself to pour water into Chip. “I’m definitely dreaming.”

Over his head, Ben and Evie share a look.

“You are dreaming.” Evie tells him with a solemn nod. “But how are you feeling?”

“Bad.” His eyes are back on Ben, narrowed and studious. “This is some nightmare.”

Evie winces, but Ben does not. He’s still just excited about having a second person in his castle. Two! Two people!

"What’s your name, dear?”

He thinks for a long moment, eyes never leaving Ben. “...Carlos.”

“Well, Carlos, I am Evie and this is Ben. And Mrs. Potts and Chip.” Evie grabs Chip and lifts him to Carlos’ mouth.

Chip says hello and Carlos has wide eyes, but opens his mouth and allows Evie to help him drink. “Whoa.” Carlos says. “There’s...there’s no way I’m dreaming.”

Ben and Evie both freeze.

“The water was cold. And so is the ice.” He touches his temple. “And I can feel my arm and leg hurt.” Carlos looks at Evie and at Ben and at the moving, talking furniture. “I’m not dreaming.” His wide eyes are trained on Ben’s fangs. “Please don’t eat me.”

“I won’t.” Ben says.

“You’re part dog. Or part wolf. Or something.” Carlos shrinks down into the couch. “I’d rather die by you than her, though.” He closes his eyes and throws his head back, exposing his throat, already littered with scars, as if Ben wants to go for his jugular.

“You mean the woman who was hurting you?” Evie asks as she puts her hand over Carlos’ head. “Who was she?”

“The devil herself.”

---

Evie has been everywhere in her travels for true love. She’s met men, both handsome and not, beautiful and pretty and horrible and toothless. She knows good looking men.

Carlos is cute. He’s adorable.

When he first came, with his face bruised and hardly conscious, she wasn’t sure. But now that his swelling has faded and he’s talking more, he’s very cute. So cute it makes Evie flustered with his freckles like constellations and dark eyes like shadows.

She’s not dumb. She knows she has a crush. So does Ben.

Evie loves Ben with all her heart and she trusts that he loves her just as much. They have known each other for almost a year now, but that’s a year where they have been each other’s only company. Evie would never complain about that, she’s happy here, truly, genuinely happy, cursed or not.

But Carlos is new and fascinating and cute. He had found her sleeping on the ballroom floor and woke her up to help carry her to bed, despite his injuries. He had stayed with her to make sure she was okay and merely nodded as Evie explained her curse. Evie likes him. She hopes he will stay.

Ben is wary of Carlos staying, just like with her. Carlos is not his prisoner. Carlos can leave whenever he wants. Carlos is free. He tells Evie this constantly. He would tell Carlos too, but Carlos doesn’t like to be in the same room as Ben.

The first people to wander into the castle had not been as lucky, Evie knows. The staff don’t like to talk about Belle. Ben is neutral to the topic of her. Evie never met her, but she doesn’t like to discuss Belle either.

Carlos doesn’t seem to want to leave though. Evie thinks that he doesn’t have anything waiting for him outside these walls and her heart hurts for him. He originally didn’t want to stay either, it seemed. Too wary of Ben and too shy of Evie.

But then Evie found what Carlos likes.

She brought him scraps of wire and screws and every tool she could find in the castle. She broke a clock (a nonliving one, of course) and brought the pieces to Carlos.

He’s an inventor! An engineer! A creator!

Evie finally says he’s well enough to walk and she brings him to the furnace, tucked away in a back closet, and asks Carlos to fix it. It hasn’t been used in years.

His face lights up and he gets giddy and he looks at her with pink cheeks and Evie thinks she and Ben aren’t the only ones developing a crush.

---

Ben likes kissing Evie, even though he’s scared of it. He’s still learning how to be around another person. His father was an animal all of the time, what if Ben becomes an animal if he’s too excited?

Evie seems to like kissing him too, careful of his fangs, but a big fan of the fur on his face, which she likes to stroke.

Neither one of them have much experience in this field, so they go slow. Ben is pretty sure people in their 20′s don’t make out for hours, but it leaves him breathless just the same.

And Evie is distracting, not that Ben minds, but when the door bursts open, he’s caught off guard.

“Evie! Evie! Evie!” Carlos jumps into the room, wobbly on his bandaged leg. “I think I can build a wash-!” He looks at the two of them, laying in Ben’s bed and Carlos reigns in his excitement.

Ben is embarrassed, but not like Evie is. She moves away from him and wipes her mouth.

Carlos is not embarrassed at all. In fact, he very openly studies them. He studies Ben. Not fearful like usual, but curious. He’s looking at Ben’s bare chest.

No one says anything as Carlos steps closer. “Huh.” He says, almost to himself. “You’re not as much beast as I thought you were.” Carlos’ hand stretches out, as if he wants to touch for himself and see that Ben doesn’t have fur on his torso, but he pulls back. “You look like a guy. You look like me.”

Ben stays quiet. Carlos isn’t wary of him right now. Ben is happy with that. If he has to lay shirtless to convince Carlos that he’s not all beast, he’s not all scary, Ben is alright with that.

“You can touch me.” Ben says. The words echo in all of their heads.

Carlos places a finger on Ben’s chest, just his sternum. The skin is warm under his touch. He moves his hand up, onto Ben’s head, and feels soft hair instead of coarse fur.

“You’re mostly human.”

He’s actually only half human, but Ben doesn’t want to ruin this progress.

“Sorry for barging in.” Carlos says, which is ridiculous because Ben is elated over the fact that Carlos feels comfortable to march in wherever he wants whenever he wants.

“Don’t be.” Evie says. She smiles. “What did you want to tell me?”

---

Ben likes to ask Carlos questions about the village. Now that Carlos isn’t scared of him, Ben likes to hear about everyone.

“I kind of know your mom.” Carlos says. “Not personally. I know Maurice. He talks to me about Belle sometimes.”

“Oh.”

“Do you want to hear about her?”

“No thank you.”

Carlos shrugs and drops the topic easily. It amazes Ben. After a childhood of picture books of children who love their parents, he always thought he was odd.

“Just because she’s your mom doesn’t mean she was good.” Carlos says when he feels Ben studying him.

Ben looks at the little scars on Carlos’ throat and arms and knuckles. He feels understood.

Evie and Carlos both get it. They’ve all bonded over mothers who were supposed to love them, but never did, never could. Belle and Cruella and the Evil Queen, Ben and Carlos and Evie understand each other.

They both sit in silence, but Ben knows more about Carlos now than he ever did before.

---

“You can stay here with us as long as you’d like.” Evie tells him one day.

Carlos fits with her and Ben, she feels it. He told them about Cruella (because she does not deserve the title of mother, neither do Belle or the Evil Queen) and how her hitting him was normal. No one ever stepped in. He didn’t belong in the village.

But here, with them, in their little castle of misfits, Carlos is meant to be.

“Thank you.” He says after a moment. “So, what’s with you and Ben? Are you guys dating?”

Evie nods. “I love him.”

“But he’s still... And you’re not...”

“We’re both still cursed.” Evie says. “But I love Ben. I guess he’s just not my true love. And I’m not his.” The words hurt to say, but Evie forces them out anyway. “I’m happy here with him.”

“I was cursed with Cruella.” Carlos says and he laughs. Evie doesn’t think anything about Cruella is funny though. “And you guys kind of broke it.”

---

Carlos isn’t used to the space of a castle. When Evie asks if he wants to stay in her and Ben’s room, he quietly agrees. The quiet of his empty room is too much.

He comes dressed in pajamas that had been given to him when he first came here. They are soft and silk and more expensive than anything Cruella ever sold. He knocks on their door, not wanting to interrupt their intimacy again.

(Maybe he does, actually, but that’s not polite.)

Evie opens the door in her nightgown, yawning already. Ben is behind her on the bed, waving shyly, as if they’re not both in his home wearing his clothes. “Come on in. Lay down. I like to snuggle.”

Carlos follows her onto the bed. He takes his place on the edge, but Evie pulls his wrist to the middle and ushers him to lay down in between them.

He hesitates, but obeys. He has the feeling no one says no to Evie.

She lies down next to him, head on the same pillow. Carlos looks at her out of the corner of his eye. This is not what he expected.

“Carlos.”

“Yes?”

Evie’s hand brushes his cheek and manipulates his head to face her. They make eye contact and Carlos audibly swallows. Evie moves closer and pushes their lips together.

Ben’s right beside them and he’s not stopping any of it, but Carlos doesn’t know what to do.

It’s okay though because Evie is pulling away instantly.

“Evie?”

She sits up. She looks at Ben over Carlos’ shoulder. “I...don’t feel any different. I think I’m less tired?” She looks around. “But it’s still night time. My circadian cycles should have me sleepy right now anyway.” Evie gets out of bed. “I’m going to try and stay up.”

“What’s going on?” Carlos sits up too and Ben follows. Carlos risks a peek at Ben.

“Carlos, dear, would you please kiss Ben too?” Evie asks as she walks in circles. “Then we’ll know for sure.”

“Know what?”

“If you can break our curses.”

Carlos hopes he can. Evie rescued him from Cruella. Ben has given him everything. Carlos had once been so fearful of both of them, but they were never anything but kind to him.

But he feels so inadequate to them.

“You don’t have to.” Ben says.

Carlos turns around and closes his eyes. The sight of putting him so close to Ben’s fangs will still scare him and he doesn’t want to be scared.

Ben’s mouth is warm and his hair tickles Carlos’ nose and chin. It’s different from kissing Evie. It’s nice.

Someone taps his shoulder. “May I kiss him too?”

Carlos blinks up at Evie. “Um. Yeah.”

She smiles at him and leans down, cupping Ben’s face and kissing him easily.

Carlos watches. “No way.”

Ben’s fur is receding, as if it had never been there. The fangs that had once scared Carlos are back to normal canines. Ben’s claws shrink until he has fingernails - long fingernails, but just fingernails.

“True Love!” Evie cheers. “Maybe it’s the adrenaline, but I feel less tired. We should all stay up. Go for a walk. Run around the cast-.”

Ben grabs her wrist and kisses her.

Evie grins into his mouth and cups his face. “I’ll miss the sideburns.” She says dreamily. Then she turns to Carlos and kisses him too.

By the time the last whisker is gone from Ben’s face, there are a dozen screams in the castle.

“Oh.” Ben jumps out of bed. “The staff must all be changing back. We should check on them.”

“And bring them clothes.” Evie says as she and Carlos follow Ben out of the door.

---

The forest clears itself away by morning. Evie stayed awake through the night. Carlos has gotten kissed by Evie and Ben and the whole staff, some of them still without clothing in their excitement.

A small crowd forms outside the castle gates.

“What do I say to them?” Ben asks as they look out through the window. He sees Maurice in the front.

“You’re the prince.” Evie tells him sweetly. “Tell them the truth.”

“I don’t know how to talk to people.”

“You got two of us to fall in love with you, dear.” Evie squeezes his hand. “They’ll love you too.”

“Rumors of your father being cursed still get passed around.” Carlos tells them both as he scans the crowd. “It’s not like they’ve never heard about it before. It’s just never been confirmed. Plus, maybe they’ll remember some of the staff.” Carlos pulls away from the window. “Have Evie take the lead if you’re nervous. She’s the actual princess.”

Evie curtsies on cue. “Or all three of us go out?”

Ben and Carlos’ eyes widen comically. She laughs.

“Whatever we do,” she pulls them away from the windows, “we’ll do it together.”

“Together?” Ben grabs her hand and looks between her and Carlos.

“Yeah.” Carlos grabs Ben’s other hand. "Together.”

They open the doors and are greeted by sunlight.

---

Sorry again to @benlos​ for this being so late! To make it up, I included the deleted scenes down below!

I hope you enjoyed your gift, I had a lot of fun writing it, especially Evie :)

Merry Christmas!

Deleted Scenes:

---

(This is an alternate opening told from Carlos’ POV.)

Carlos is awake, but he does not move. He does not want to startle anyone around him or give away his consciousness.

He hears clattering. He hears voices. They’re all whispering. His face is cold, freezing actually, and there is pressure on his wrist, which is aching. He has one legged propped up and the pain from that alone is nearly enough to knock him out again.

But Carlos knows pain. He keeps his breathing steady.

There’s more harsh clatters, like someone is sliding dishes along a hard floor. Someone touches his temple and Carlos opens his eyes.

Whoever is around him isn’t going to hurt him. If they wanted to, they would have already done it while he was unconscious. Everyone around is making an effort to not wake him up, but they are tending to his wounds. No one else has ever bandaged him up before, but Carlos is pretty sure that’s what they’re all doing.

“You’re awake!”

He winces at the volume.

“Sorry, sorry.” A girl whispers. “I’m just happy that you’re alright. Can you speak?”

“Yes.” Carlos says, then coughs. The harsh movements hurt his lungs and his chest.

“Here, here, here,” a cup is pressed to his mouth and a hand supports his neck and head, as if he were a child. “Drink.”

Carlos obeys and the water is wonderful. He gulps until there is nothing left in the cup and it is taken away from him.

“We’ll get you food too. A sandwich? Soup? Salad? Pasta?”

It’s been a few days since Carlos ate anything proper. He doesn’t want to upset his stomach. Soup sounds perfect, but he can’t ask for food, not from some stranger who has no reason to be helping him.

But when Carlos looks up, the girl isn’t looking at him. She’s talking to someone over her shoulder. “They’ll bring it all.” She says. “My name is Evie.”

“I am Carlos.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Carlos.” She stands and curtsies. “How are you feeling?”

“I’ve had worse.”

Evie stops smiling. “I figured. Was that your mother?”

Carlos looks down at his feet and scowls. He’s not upset, no, he’s long since stopped holding anger over his life, but he’s thinking.

He remembers...Cruella had been unhappy with how he folded the clothes even though that’s how Carlos has always folded them. But that, plus people saving up for winter and not spending as much, had been enough to infuriate Cruella. She had shoved him outside, and then...

“Where are we?” Carlos looks around. He’s on a nice couch, right by a giant window. The sun is on the horizon, but they’re facing east, so it’s almost morning. There are books all around him and a fireplace across the room.

“We’re in the castle.” Evie says easily.

“The castle?” Carlos tilts his head. “The abandoned one from like 40 years ago?”

“Yes.”

Carlos looks around and back out the window. They are high up, not the usual one or two story house. There is a fountain outside, void of water, but still pretty. Tall bushes and once-extravagant (but now run down) stone paths surround them. Carlos looks up, at the ceiling, and sees this room is high enough that his mother’s shop could fit inside. “Oh.”

“Though, it’s not really abandoned.”

“Who else is here?”

“The staff and the prince.” Evie nearly swoons at her own words.

Carlos tilts his head again. “We have a prince?”

---

(This is a deleted scene from Ben’s POV. Originally, Carlos didn’t meet Ben because Evie was afraid Ben would scare him, but I used some of these lines in the finished product.)

Two! Two people! Two people are in his castle!

When his kiss failed to break Evie’s curse, Ben thought for sure she would leave, but he hadn’t wanted her to. And she hadn’t wanted to either.

And now there’s a second person here!

But Evie doesn’t think Ben should see him. At least, not right now. His name is Carlos and he had no idea Ben existed and, unlike Evie, is not expecting him to be cursed.

Evie never shied away from his face or claws or fur, but Carlos might. Maurice and Belle had been terrified of Adam, not just for his personality, but his looks too.

Ben’s only half beast, but that’s still too much beast.

He’s been spoilt with Evie. He wants to go make another friend and talk to another person.

“It was definitely his mother hurting him,” Evie tells him.

They lay facing each other. They’ve shared a bed for months now and Ben thinks that maybe they should add the next step, but they’ve only ever really kissed and Ben is frightened of losing himself and hurting Evie.

Some days Ben wakes before Evie and looks down at her, nightgown slipping off her shoulder and his face burns and his palms get sweaty.

Books explain a lot, but they’re still just books.

Evie is just as excited to have Carlos around though. Her fascination with him rivals Ben’s fascination with her after being alone for so long.

Carlos is smart. He likes to invent things. He likes fashion. He genuinely thanks Evie each time she brings him food or bandages him. He has an aversion to animals.

“That’s why we shouldn’t meet.” Ben says.

“He asks about you though. A lot.”

“Why?”

“He’s in your castle, Ben. You’re providing him everything. You technically rule over him.”

That’s right. In the kingdom where Prince Adam has long since been missing, citizens beat their own children while no one tries to intervene.

---

(This is a deleted scene I removed because it didn’t add anything.)

Evie finds Carlos fascinating. It’s been a while since she’s interacted with another full person before.

Ben also finds him fascinating. Two people! In his castle!

Carlos is wary of both of them. The furniture too. The living furniture. The inanimate furniture, he seems to be okay with.

“So this is the castle that was supposedly abandoned 30 years ago?” Carlos asks from his couch in the library. Evie has not deemed him well enough to put weight on his leg and none of the staff disagree with her.

“Yes.” Ben says from his seat on the floor. Carlos looks worried when he sits nearby, but he has stopped watching Ben’s every move. “Except, not really abandoned. But I guess you have figured that out by now.”

“And you’re the prince?”

“In blood.” Ben’s never done anything princely before in his life. He does have some right to the title though and looking at Carlos, with his wrist and leg bandaged and face and throat scarred up, Ben feels like he has failed. Ben is in charge of these people, the ones who beat their own children while no one tries to intervene.

It’s all a lot to take in. Everything Carlos has been taught is being upturned. Ben is explaining curses and the correct history of the royal family.

“And Evie is the princess?”

“Oh, um, kind of. We haven’t discussed it.”

Carlos doesn’t push. He seems like the kind of person who has his own topics to avoid.

---

(This is the final deleted scene, with Ben and Evie and they discuss kissing Carlos. I took this out because it wasn’t necessary.)

“We could scare him away.”

“Or we could break our curses!”

“I don’t even think I love him.” Ben says as he looks up at the ceiling. “I think maybe I could though.”

“You love everyone.” Evie tells him. “You love the staff here. You loved your parents. You love me. I think you love him too, even if you’re confused about it.”

“Do you love him?”

Things with Carlos are moving faster than with Ben. She’s attracted to him, yes, she’s bonded with him, yes, she wants him to be happy because his face lights up and he gets so excited.

“Yes.” Evie yawns and turns to Ben. “Either we kiss him and we fix ourselves and know we love him, or we kiss him and scare him away.”

“Or we don’t kiss him.”

WELCOME TO THE RETINUE. [@barvie​]

crown empire presents; AI “DJ BARBIE” PARK dj, producer & composer follow & welcome