Arundel Castle - Bad Guy | Bae

Saturday, August 19, 1922
Arundel Castle Ballroom
9:15 PM
❤︎

Summer was quickly winding down and within a week or so, Benji would find himself back within the walls of Hogwarts to commence his sixth year. The season had flown by, marked by family chaos that the boy still couldn't begin to wrap his head around. Having only returned at the end of July from New York, Benji felt like he hadn't had a moment to breathe between everything that had been going on. It was non-stop.

There had been his mother's marriage and a new baby. His family blended, Kate and Julia seeing themselves off to integrate more thoroughly into the Barlowe family while he remained behind to shadow his uncle and continue learning the ins and outs of not just running a family, but an empire. There had been the attack and Cass and Rosie's return that had turned his family upside down and spiraled them into a legal frenzy. A funeral, having to lay his cousin who was only a few years older than him, to rest.

Lucy's wedding. A girl he'd hoped to never even catch sight of again, but his uncle insisting that it was time to let bygones be bygones and there would be no further threat to his person or mental health again. At least not at Lucy's hand.

And now here they were, back at the castle, celebrating James and Amelia's fourth wedding anniversary with a gala he couldn't have cared less about.

His demeanor wasn't helped by the argument he and Rae had had beforehand. It was always something with her. Whether it was his nonchalant attitude or simply that he wasn't being as physically affectionate with her as she wanted, she was always finding something to be mad at him about. This time he hadn't said something exactly the way she wanted him to, and when she whined and complained that he wasn't showering her with flattery, he'd insisted he wasn't some soft boy, and if that was what she wanted she knew she was barking up the wrong tree.

He'd probably said it a little meaner than he should have, but the boy was tired.

It was rough when it looked like Hogwarts was going to be the long holiday he needed.

He'd dropped her arm as soon as their announcement was over, barely giving his betrothed a grunt of goodbye before he'd wandered off to the drink table to help himself. There was wine, harder liquor of course. These uppity aristos never did anything without liquid courage, but Benji knew better.

Pumpkin juice it was.

He caught her eye as he poured his drink, watching as she smirked at him and waltzed off to wherever demons went when they weren't torturing the souls they had possessed.

That girl would be the death of him if she didn't send him to the psych ward first. He'd take up residence right next to Everleigh Nutterstone. Two peas in a weird ass pod.

He sighed leaning up against one of the far walls. He was meant to be socializing, welcoming people to the party and all that jazz, but he wasn't in the mood.

September first couldn't come soon enough.

Ruth Anaya would find the right tree.

Bathed in the twilight of summer, having been dragged across the Atlantic far too many times for it to be considered reasonable, the girl had some decisions to make. Deep decisions. Important decisions. The sort that would change the trajectory of her night and maybe even the day or two after. Having so many choices laid before her made the task all the more difficult.

There was George, lanky and with a fuzz of a moustache that he was better off shaving. William, whom she'd met on a prior occasion in this very room for another of the Laurences' many opulent events. A bit handsy, that one, with no real sense of danger. He smiled and believed the world should swoon. It wasn't worth inflating his ego at the cost of her stomach churning.

No. This game was meant for her.

If Benji wanted to be pigheaded and emotionally deficient, she would find someone more amenable to her needs. The end of her freedom was staring her in the face, and with everything else that summer had thrown at her, the Slytherin was done playing nice. Unlike her betrothed, Rae floated into the ballroom, the picture of perfect charm and grace. It was necessary for her plans, quite indispensable.

He grunted his goodbye. Rae's smile spread wide. "Goodbye, my love."

So sweet.

So patient.

So calm and understanding of her grumpy gremlin of a boyfriend.

Was there ever a more perfect girl to have had wrapped around his arm for the announcement? She'd dared to think not. Rae watched him walk off to the food table, her own sights landing on Emmanuel. The boy leaned against the wall, looking a bit lost in the spread. Dark hair, dark eyes, and dimples when he smiled at the fine lady who must've offered him a compliment as she and her husband walked by. His family was Spanish, looking to increase their reach now that they'd made a name for themselves over in Spain and parts of Portugal – the very place her mother was fabled to have come from.

Rae spared a smirk over her shoulder to her brick of a boyfriend before turning toward Emmanuel. The girl didn't walk; she sauntered, her hips swaying lightly, her posture erect and her strides unbothered. Her dress clung to her, crimson and shimmering. It flowed to the ground, spreading outward as it ran by her ankles before bunching on the ground. Her shoulders were left exposed, delicate brown skin showing itself deceptively inviting, while her lower arms were gloved. Her curls were a little looser than she'd like, courtesy of the man who'd hovered over her throughout her break, but they fell gently behind her, all pulled away from her face and toward the back of her head, save the two locks she allowed to frame her face.

"There's a handsome face," she said, leaning against the wall next to the boy. It just so happened that the position had her directly facing a certain surly Laurence leaning against his wall. She never looked. Rae smiled up at Emmanuel, allowing it to spread wider when she managed to coax one out of him. Anyone who knew her would note the glint of something almost predatory as she looked him up and down, but the boy was none the wiser as his features brightened at her arrival.

"You're too kind," he replied, his voice heavily accented. Exotic. He would do.

"And honest."

"You look beautiful also. Radiant, I think I heard my father say."

"And what do you say?" she asked, reaching a hand up to 'adjust his collar. "Such exquisite material. Is it custom made?"

In a move she could see was bold for the boy, he reached a hand up to catch the one that held his shirt. "My father deals in textiles." He planted a soft kiss on the back of her gloved hand. Emmanuel Álvarez de Toledo, and you, Angel?"

Rae giggled, sparing a brief glance across the room to make sure a certain someone was still watching. "Ruth Burke."

And they said she couldn't be poised.

The boy's gaze flitted amongst the guests, taking attendance of all those he recognized. His mum and Maddox were hand-in-hand, talking to a group he didn't recognize while Kate stood stubbornly at Julia's side. Morgan was somewhere around here, probably with her lizard dressed up in a mini tuxedo.

At the far end of the room was Edith, looking as stern as ever, staring down a man who had tried to impress himself upon her. Benji couldn't help the small curl of his lips, remembering how Edith had slapped the hell out of Gretchen and looked ready to do the same to the unwanted suitor.

Somewhere, upstairs in the nursery, the four little ones were likely giving Fidèle a run for his money. Benji mused he'd rather be up there in the chaos of three toddlers and a chubby forever-hungry infant, than down here amongst the show of politeness, pretending he wasn't annoyed by his exhausting girlfriend's antics.

She was forever annoying him. Had been annoying him since they were eleven years old, and seemed to consistently find new ways to get under his skin without even trying.

Hazel eyes found warm brown again, his eyebrow lifting slightly as she leaned against the wall with some dark-haired bloke. They smiled at one another and Benji rolled his eyes, a slight shake of his head as he tilted it back, mussing up his perfectly combed hair as it made contact with the stone wall.

She wanted him jealous. He hadn't pacified her in the way she wanted and now she thought to punish him for it.

Benji raised his drink to his lips again, never taking his eyes off the pair, telling himself not to take the bait. He wasn't a shithead fourteen-year-old anymore. He could control himself and the building seethe he felt low in his stomach.

An adjusting of a collar. A kiss on the back of her hand.

There had been plenty of times Ruth Elliot had perhaps not sought, but succeeded, in making Benji jealous. Since their first year, it was always someone, always something that liked to remind him he didn't deserve her and that she had options if she wanted them. Benji wasn't an idiot. He knew how beautiful his girlfriend was, knew the way other blokes looked at her, even knowing how explosive her personality was.

They couldn't handle her. Not any of the other guys before, and certainly not this fluffed up dark-eyed weasel.

Rae's eyes locked with his again. Benji's jaw clenched, but he only offered her a slight tilt of his chin. Go on then, he thought.

She wouldn't dare.

Oh, but she would. She really, really would.

Benji of all people should've known by now that his girlfriend never bluffed. When she took action, she committed. Her spite wasn't performative, nor was it meant to be pulled back short of the other party yielding. What that looked like for her boyfriend, she wasn't sure yet. She knew she wanted him riled up, that she wanted him seething, but Rae also knew he wouldn't apologise. He'd never admit that his words could've been nicer. He'd double down, tell her he wasn't wrong and that she was the one who'd blown things out of proportion.

She hadn't. Not yet, but she could fix that.

Everyone knew that the subtle art of provocation worked better when you pretended not to notice your target paying attention to you. Beyond a glance to be sure Benji was watching, Rae turned inward, lost in her own world. Benji tipped his chin; she pretended not to see.

"I don't mean to trouble you," she went on, quite affable as she turned her back to Emmanuel and cast another look at him over her shoulder. Rae reached up to pull her curly mane over her shoulder, revealing her neck and an area of exposed back. "I don't think I clasped my necklace right. Could you adjust it for me? I'd like it hanging a little lower."

"Of course," the boy replied with less hesitation. Emmanuel fumbled with the clasp, apologising when his hand brushed against her shoulder.

"It's okay," she encouraged. "Try again. I know it's a bit tricky."

He smiled shyly, attempting her request with a bit more purpose the second time. Her smile emboldened him, as she'd hoped it would; even after her pearls fell by a half inch, he kept his hands on either side of her shoulder. He gave them a gentle squeeze before allowing his hands to trail down the length of her arms.

Bolder than he looked, but needed permission. It was an unfortunate combination.

Rae slinked free of his hold in one fluid motion that looked like nothing more than her turning to face him again. "Thank you. I must've fussed with it for ages before they hurried me in here."

"You're here with the hosts?" he questioned curiously. His gaze moved from her to the wall across the room, and he nodded. "Are you with him, too?"

"Hmm?" Rae hummed, pretending not to have understood his question or who he was talking about. She cocked her head to the side, the picture of innocence and confusion. "I'm with you, right here. Having a conversation while you fix my pearls."

"Him." Emmanuel insisted.

Rae barely turned before looking to him again. "My brother? Half-brother, really. My father brought him home one day. Mother was horrified, but the family's been taking it in stride. Don't mind him. He looks at everyone that way. My father says he's got some form of astigmatism in his eyes that makes him look at people funny." She leaned in, gesturing for him to do the same. Like a moth to a flame, Emmanuel leaned in, hanging onto her every word. Rae understood that it didn't have much to do with her scandals about her brother, but rather a desire to be closer to her. It worked well. "Be nice to him. Sometimes I don't think he's all that there – but you mustn't say I told you so. It'll be our little secret, hmm?"

"O-Of course. You have my word," he promised, easing away only after she did. Emmanuel spared another glance at Benji, his unease fading with the girl's assurances. He slinked an arm around her waist. It was his turn to whisper, leaning in close to request a dance.

"I'd love to."

Of course she would. He'd been kidding himself to think otherwise. Ruth Elliot was more than a menace. She enjoyed toying with him, never more than when she could use someone else to get under his skin. They'd been here before - maybe never as blatant as it was now - and it had never ended well.

She knew it never ended well, so color him confused as to what she was trying to achieve now? Did she want him so angry he could barely see? So consumed with jealousy that he destroyed the entire party with his outbursts?

Did she -

His mind screeched to a halt, watching as she not only tucked her hair aside for the bloke, but let him touch her neck and bare shoulders. Was...she...trying to cheat on him? Right in front of him? Benji scoffed, his own neck flushing red with heat and he shoved himself off the wall, setting his drink down on the table with a loud thud.

The bloke looked at him, but Benji merely stared. If Rae wanted to play this game, then fuck it. They'd play. He was meaner, and her jealousy rivaled and succeeded his on a good day. In a normal, healthy relationship, perhaps Benji would see that his next moves didn't exactly lend to de-escalation, but that wasn't what he was going for anyway.

He broke his gaze from the two, scouring the crowd quickly. He wasn't particular, anyone would do, but a pretty girl was better. It only took him a moment, finding a petite girl in a knee-length pink dress with beading and bangles all over. She wore a beaded headband through her mousy-brown hair and smiled up at Benji big brown eyes when he approached her.

Cora, he though he remembered her name as. A distant cousin of Amelia or something. Hufflepuff like him. It didn't really matter. "Hi Benji," she said sweetly, "You look handsome tonight."

"Heeeeey," Cora probably, "You." He grinned widely and stuck a finger out to play with the beading along her waist. "Nice dress you're wearing. Is it custom?" Cora tilted her head at him slightly, her eyes narrowing but her smile remained. "Since when do you care about fashion?"

"Never," he said, his voice lowering a bit as he raised he lifted his gaze to settle on hers, looking past her only momentarily to ensure his girlfriend was still interested in his attention. "Good ice breaker though, yeah?"

Cora blushed a bit, her cheeks turning rosy as she glanced around the room. "What about your girlfriend?" Yes, Benji. What about your girlfriend? There she was, being led to the dance floor by the dark-eyed weasel. "I don't think I have one," his grin grew as he ran his hand down Cora's arm before taking her by the hand.

Benji had woken up and chosen the wrong kind of violence.

Pity.

Escalation it was. Rae wasn't an idiot. By now, she was used to this toxic song and dance. It wasn't always with people; it wasn't always with reason, but the two had always tried to be the one to take it further. Their screaming matches were, perhaps, the greatest testament to that fact. Both knew it wasn't healthy; neither was willing to relent. Only the nastiest words would do, only the harshest insults. It was the same with this. Benji wouldn't take her provocation lying down – she'd never give him peace if he did.

Rae knew what came next before Benji could finish crossing the room.

Cora. Pretty girl in her own right, if not a bit plain. She tutted to herself, thinking he could've done better. His choice certainly hadn't been for the sake of preserving her feelings. In a clearer head, this may have been the moment she stopped. Rae was well aware of her own volatility and how her emotions could flip on a dime. There were buttons Benji could press, ones that would leave her with puffed cheeks and hot tears she could scarcely keep to herself. Her pride would force her to hold it in, of course, but the devastation would run deep.

Knowing that wasn't enough to make her stop. She wouldn't fold. The girl's pride held two faces, and this one understood well that Benji was waiting for her to cross the room and make a scene. He expected that she'd give in, that her explosive temper and poorly controlled jealousy would do the work for him. It would pull her away from sweet Emmanuel and firmly re-establish him as the one in control.

Not tonight.

She watched, of course. It was only polite. Rae saw his hand run along the girl's arm and the timid way Cora surveyed the room. When their eyes met, Rae offered the girl a smile that meant her no good. If she were wise, she'd walk away while she could, but when it came to Benji Laurence, most girls seemed to lose their heads and their sense of self-preservation. It was a phenomenon to be studied, but not tonight. Something hot and angry bubbled in her stomach, but she wouldn't give her temper a chance to derail the perfect plan.

"Wait," Rae said, placing a hand on Emmanuel's chest to halt their progress toward the dance floor.

Dark eyes searched hers, looking for an explanation for the sudden change of plans.

"I didn't realise it was so crowded," Rae explained quietly, taking on the air of a girl who knew shame. She feigned bashfulness, knowing from experience that boys like Emmanuel liked to use it as an in. "Do you...do you want to take a walk first? Wait for some of the traffic to die down? I could show you around. Even at night, the gardens are a dream. I could...show you my favourite flowers." She looked up at him through long, plaintive lashes.

"...Oh," he said dumbly. "Oh!" Emmanuel said a second time, catching on to the implication of her words. The boy looked around the room again, some of his earlier hesitation creping back in. "You are sure it's alright? They, the host, they won't mind us looking?"

"Of course not." She laced her fingers with his. "I'm a guest of the castle, and I'm inviting you for a walk. Come on," she encouraged, tugging him lightly. He was nervous, but he was also a teenage boy who'd just been invited into seclusion by a pretty girl. There wasn't a bone in his body that would refuse despite the way warning bells began to blare inside his head.

Her pathway was deliberate. It took her right by Benji and his dancing partner before leading out a side door that she knew would get her out of the ballroom.

Nothing needed to happen. She only needed Benji to believe something was.

Cora’s smile tightened at his touch, her timid gaze meeting his with questions he had no intention of answering. Benji wasn’t normally so cavalier, especially not when it came to shyer girls, and he tried not to lead anyone on as a rule. Since becoming official with Rae, he’d tempered his naturally flirtatious nature, but this was war.

All was fair in love and war.

Rae apparently felt the same, dragging off her date towards the exit and to the secluded gardens. His face burned as she moved past him, but he didn’t look at her, didn’t even offer her the slightest glance, letting her go without incident. He kept his gaze trained on Cora, his fingers linking through hers as he pulled her closer to him.

“I…I didn’t know you liked me…like that. I don’t think we’ve said more than a few words to each other in five years.”

“I’ve always noticed you.” He hadn’t. “Just been a little preoccupied.” That part was true. Rae occupied all of his free time if she could help it, if nothing else to ensure nobody else got close. Was Cora his type? A brief study of her face had the boy deciding she could be, if he were single and wanted a good time. He imagined she’d be lots of fun to pull into random closets for a snog or behind a bookshelf in the library.

As it stood though, this was only a game and he wasn’t interested in actually doing any of those things. Rather, he was making a point to his insane girlfriend that she couldn’t get away with this sort of thing if she didn’t want him doing it too.

As Cora moved closer, Benji tugged, taking her with him as he too moved towards the exit. “Ever seen the cherry orchards?” he asked. “I hear great things happen there.”

He was answered by Cora’s nervous giggle, and it took every ounce of restraint not to roll his eyes.

She didn't need him looking, only paying attention.

Rae was playing the long game. Somewhere in all their arguments and misunderstandings, the girl had learned something important. Screaming meant she'd already lost. Fussing, crying, clinging – those were the tools of the defeated. It didn't mean she didn't still fall into such traps or that they weren't her first thought more often than not. Sometimes, nothing would do but a good scream. When the volatility inside her grew overwhelming, action took precedence over words and thought and strategy.

Tonight, Rae wasn't overwhelmed; she was tickled. The young girl was thoroughly entertained by her little game and the effects it had on the boy. Benji was something of an open book to her, despite remaining a charismatic enigma to some. After so many years of getting under his skin, she had learned to read his tells.

Rae had seen him unbothered before, unapologetically and infuriatingly so. This wasn't one of those times. What Benji failed to realise was that he'd already shown his hand. If he truly didn't care about the strapping Spaniard with his sun-kissed skin and curly hair, his hand would never have found itself trailing along Cora's arm. A sip of his pumpkin juice, an unimpressed grimace, and then he'd have gone on with his night, thinking she was better off being someone else's problem for a little while. Leaning against the wall, he'd have waited for her to march back to him, cheeks puffed, wondering why he wasn't doing anything while he grinned that insufferable grin and proudly told her what a great night he was having.

In many ways, Benji was a little shit. He was provocative and impish when he felt he had the upperhand.

That he'd taken time out of such a lovely evening to fight back was more satisfying than anything else he could've done. As a rule, Ruth Anaya loved her boyfriend's attention. She loved when he thought about her, yes, but she loved even more knowing that he was thinking of her.

The thought filled the girl with a certain glee as she led Emmanuel through the corridor and out into the night, so much so that there was a notable spring in her step.

Her company was liberal in his compliments as they walked, comparing her radiance to that of the mysterious moon hanging low in the sky. He played with her curls, and she giggled like a girl without a care in the world. It was light, floating above the shrubbery before filtering up into the heavens. Rae let herself laugh at his jokes, even when she didn't find them particularly funny, the whole time listening for those extra footsteps or the sound of other voices carrying on the gentle breeze.

He would come.

Benji wouldn't leave her alone with a handsome boy who'd displayed a willingness to put his hands on her.

Benji Henry could never.

It was only a matter of time and stretching his tolerance. The two entered the section housing hedge walls and carefully sculpted topiaries. All the while, Emmanuel was becoming more comfortable with the idea that they were largely alone. The boy pulled her close under the guise that she must be cold; he mumbled into her hair how beautiful she was in her dress.

"Come," she said, pulling out of his hold as smoothly as she had back in the ballroom before leading him off the path. "Let me show you the hydrangeas just over there." He pulled her close again. She swatted lightly at his hands with another giggle. "Stop," she said, coy but inviting enough that it left him walking close.

Collateral damage was an unfortunate side effect of war, and Benji was the type of soldier to go for broke. In the moment, where his usual care may have taken over and he may have realized what he was actually doing wasn't fair to Cora, he was willing to do whatever it took and sacrifice whoever he needed to for the necessary outcome.

He wanted Rae's heart slamming as purposefully as his was. He wanted her stomach boiling with rage. He wanted her skin to crawl at the idea of his hands on someone else. He wanted her so beside herself that he didn't feel as crazy as he did now.

Did he want her crying? He knew she was emotional, knew the look that would come over her face when her hurt won and she lost the game.

He...didn't want that, but he wasn't in the right frame of mind to consider it at the moment. That was a problem for Future-Benji.

Current-Benji relaxed his grip slightly on Cora as the warm evening air met them, the clear sky sparkling with stars and galaxies that should be reserved for the romantics. Had she not been such a....HER....it could have been the two of them beneath the stars, his eyes smiling down into Rae's as they swayed to the music filtering from the ballroom.

Instead it was Cora as he watched Rae out of his peripheral duck off the path with whoever that bloke was. He heard her giggle, his chest raising slightly with rage, but Cora's traveling hand tugged him violently back to her. "It's a nice night," she said softly, her fingers slinking beneath a button on his vest, brushing against the warm skin of his chest. He inhaled roughly, clearing his throat and took firm hold of her hand again.

"It is," he answered, and forced a smile on his lips, trying not to focus on the flirty 'stop' that came from the direction of the hydrangeas. Normally, Benji would already be halfway through the air in a lunge with his fists flying, but...

Cora was looking at him curiously before she glanced over her shoulder in the direction Rae had disappeared. "I thought you said you didn't have a girlfriend?" she asked timidly, her gaze returning to his as she tilted her head slightly.

"I don't." He wrapped an arm around the girl's waist and pulled her flush against him. "She broke up with me."

Cora smiled, a curling of her lips that finally met her eyes. "Wanna make her really jealous then?" She leaned forward, lifting her chin towards Benji's. "Kiss me?"

Benji certainly knew how to test her patience.

Rae had to admit, all things considered, he was holding out longer than she'd have hoped or liked. It wasn't in any overt and impressive manner – hardly. Barely any time had passed from the moment Emmanuel adjusted her necklace before her boyfriend had been on Cora. His response had been brisk, and it left her thinking they wouldn't need to play this little game of cat and mouse for too long.

How wrong she was.

It seemed that Benji had learned temperance at the worst time. No matter, Rae had no plans to surrender. If he truly wanted to pretend he was above it all, despite the way she knew his blood was boiling...well, she supposed she'd just have to step her game up.

There were plenty of places she could take the evening – plenty she was sure she wouldn't, but Emmanuel didn't need to know that, and neither did her darling boyfriend. The sweet boy followed her through the garden like a lost puppy, one who was told there was a prize if he just did as he was told. Obedient, earnest, boring, but willing. And why shouldn't he be? She was a pretty girl who'd taken him from a crowded venue and into a setting most would consider intimate. A night under the stars; could anything be more romantic?

As a matter of fact, yes, but those things were yet to manifest. As always ended up being the case, Rae would have to take matters into her own hands.

"What are you looking for?" Emmanuel asked when he caught her trying to peer around the hedge wall they'd just come around.

Rae straightened, turning to offer him a disarming smile. "We've got some company, that's all." She couldn't hear them, but she could make out their silhouettes in the distance. Whatever they were talking about, it was enough to keep him from paying attention.

That would never do.

Benji Henry would not ignore her, not with what she had planned.

Rae leaned against the shrubbery, her back pressed into the leaves. Without warning, she let out a low and sensual moan that sent a flood of colour onto Emmanuel's face. The boy stuttered over his own whispered words, trying but failing to ask her what she was doing. What did come out was a series of half English, half Spanish and all confusion. He stepped forward before reflexively stepping back.

She did it again. Louder.

Rae dug deep for her performance, reminding herself of the last time she and Benji had come together. Greedy hands, hungry kisses – the sound of splashing water echoed in her ears.

"R–Ruth, maybe we should—"

"Join me if you'd like, but don't interrupt," she chided, her voice as low as his.

She tussled her hair and undid the thin straps of her dress.

"Ruth!" Emmanuel whispered more urgently. She pretended not to hear.

"Just like that – harder. Harder. Fuck." Her voice broke with her swear, sounding every bit as desperate as she intended it to. Internally, she counted the seconds, already knowing it wouldn't take much longer.

If it did, she and Benji would have bigger problems than their poor conflict resolution skills.

The girl paused to listen, hoping she would be able to catch the run of approaching footsteps. When she thought she did, Rae moaned again.

Shit.

Benji sucked in a breath, almost able to taste the scent of chocolate that lingered on Cora's lips. Mere inches from his own, the warmth of her breath on his face, the boy had to pull back, his bluff called and every alarm bell going off in his head. She was a pretty girl, seemed nice enough, but despite his game, Benji wasn't an outright cheater. He'd never kissed another girl since he and Rae had become official, and he hadn't intended to start now.

He wanted to make his girlfriend jealous, not break her heart.

He took a long step back, feeling his shoulders slumping as Cora's eyes opened, looking at him in bewilderment. It had been a night of confusion for the otherwise unremarkable Hufflepuff girl, and it was obvious she was lost amongst the various signs Benji was throwing her.

"I - I can't," he started to say, "It's not you, but -"

A sound reached his ears, floating from the direction of the hydrangeas that immediately had him straightening. Cora all but vanished from existence, the boy's face hardening as he became focused on the betrayal that called out to him.

She wouldn't.

Another cry.

SHE WOULDN'T.

The boy's fists clenched in on themselves, nails embedding into the palms of his skin so deep it hurt. All rationality and attempts to win this so-called 'game' were being sucked right out of the proverbial window, destroyed by the sounds that reverberated through the garden.

"Just like that – harder. Harder. Fuck."

The boy went blind, his vision taken over by pure rage that cast red across his eyes.

His feet were moving before his brain gave the signal, his legs carrying him across the garden with a speed he could only recall one other time. Flashes of sandy desert beneath his feet, dust flying in every direction glitched against the warm damp soil that thudded with each step, as loud as the pulse that thundered in his ears. Summer air whipped through his hair as he all but forgot the girl he'd led out here.

It didn't take them long to collide.

Bypassing his girlfriend and nearly shoving her out of the way, he lunged, fist slamming into the side of the face of the boy that'd been bold enough to put his hands - and whatever else - on Rae.

They fell to the ground in a heap in a mess of shouts and expletives that Benji couldn't hear, fists swinging wildly, over and over again, consumed by a level of rage he hadn't felt in years.

Well, he didn't have to hit him.

Rae watched Benji burst into that section of the garden like a flash of lightening against a dark sky. She knew he'd come – of course she did. Anyone who knew Benji for more than five minutes would know it was the sort of insult he'd never suffer. Kissing Dimitri had been enough to have the boy enter a death match. He'd broken the boy's teeth and got himself a bloody mouth – had his nose been broken that time? It seemed like a lifetime ago now that Benji had shown such a possessive side. The girl could hardly remember.

Rae refrained from further noise, no longer needing to when her boyfriend had dutifully answered the call. Instead, she huffed loudly in exasperation. Poor Emmanuel hadn't been brave enough to get close. Had Benji taken even a split second to look around, he'd have realised the great distance that had existed between them.

Of course, if he hadn't even noticed the way he'd nearly knocked her clear off her feet, something as minor as who happened to be standing where would be completely lost on him.

"Benji!"

The cry came from behind her. Cora hadn't been able to take a hint, following behind her boyfriend even after he'd come to claim his prize. The other girl fell into the periphery quickly, becoming little more than background noise in all her horror while Benji yelled and Emmanuel begged. The poor Spanish boy could only lift his hands in defence, Benji's swings coming in rapidly and with much violence.

"I never touched her! I swear! I swear I never! She's lying!"

She was, and he was horrible at pretending.

Emmanuel tried to level his own hits, bless him, the sweet thing, but the few hits he did manage to land only seemed to enrage her boyfriend further. In this state, it would be difficult to pull him away, and there she was without her wand.

Pity.

Rae walked over to the pair, getting there just seconds after Cora already flung herself into the mix. She was new to Benji's tantrums and hadn't yet learned that he took the term 'blind rage' rather...literally. The Hufflepuff reached for him, trying to yank him off of Emmanuel, and got a hard shove for her efforts. Rae herself stood clear of his reach, unwilling to become part of the mounting collateral they'd accumulated between themselves.

"I'm telling the truth! Ask her! I never touched her!"

She crouched by the boys, hugging her knees to keep her balance.

"You're making a fool of yourself," she drawled, not sure he'd even be able to hear her over the sound of his own conviction. Why Benji thought fists were the answer every time he suspected someone of getting close when he himself entertained overly friendly girls on a daily basis was beyond her. But there they were, and there his fists went flying. Was she any better? After what she'd done to Kaitlyn, Rae couldn't exactly consider herself a saint, but this was overkill by every standard...

Well...

By most standards.

Rae was well aware of what the noises would do, and there was a part of her that was thrilled to see it had worked out so well. That didn't mean she wanted Emmanuel unconscious. She couldn't begin to imagine how they would explain any of this when they all inevitably had to return to the gala.

A worry for another time, she supposed.

"Are you quite done?"

"I never touched her! I swear! I swear I never! She's lying!"

Benji didn't speak English. Had no idea what the words coming out of Emmanuel's mouth meant. They were noise, garbled into nothing. Benji swung at him again and again, his knuckles splitting, his shoulder burning, his teeth clenched so hard his jaw ached. He wasn’t thinking. Thinking meant slowing down, and slowing down meant feeling the thing beneath the anger. The horrible, clawing, humiliating thing that had wrapped itself around his ribs the moment he’d heard Rae’s name in another boy’s mouth.

As he swung, Emmanuel’s face blurred.

For half a second, it wasn’t Emmanuel beneath him at all.

It was Elliot, grinning in that smug fucking way he always did, like he knew something Benji didn’t. Like he had been waiting for Benji to prove he was exactly as stupid and worthless as everyone assumed.

Then it was Dmitri, his mouth on Rae’s, his hand where Benji’s should have been, stealing something Benji had already half-convinced himself was his.

A pair of hands grabbed at him from behind and he stopped only momentarily to shove whoever it was away, not caring if it was Rae, James or Merlin himself. Benji’s breath tore out of him, ugly and ragged. He grabbed Emmanuel by the front of his shirt and slammed him back down into the grass.

"I'm telling the truth! Ask her! I never touched her!"

The boy almost scoffed, his fists tightening around Emmanuel's shirt as he geared up for another round of hits. A few had landed on him, and he a cut lip for his troubles, but nothing compared to what the kid underneath him looked like.

"You're making a fool of yourself."

It caught his attention as he fought hard for breath, glancing only slightly at her out of the corner of his eye. He grimaced, his lips tightening as his blood boiled within his veins. She did it. She fucking did it. She was so fucking insane she'd actually cheated on him. She'd let someone else touch her, let someone else...

"Are you quite done?"

"No," he growled, suddenly releasing the boy in favor of snatching up Rae roughly by the arm. He stood, yanking her with him, not taking the usual care he would when handling her - or any girl for that matter - becoming a glimpse of the type of bloke he actually fucking loathed. His anger took precedence, driving any lingering rationale from his mind.

He stalked from the gardens, not giving a second thought to Emmanuel or Cora as she rushed to the bloke's aid. Like the time when she'd kissed the Russian kid, he pulled his girlfriend away from prying eyes and ears, directly towards the cherry orchards.

"No."

Oh my.

Benji grabbed her, a storm raging behind his hazel eyes. Most girls she knew would've been terrified by the look in Benji's eyes, the look that said he could murder a man and lose no sleep. They would cower, tremble, or recoil. It was the look of someone whose eyes were trained on you, while they lacked the ability to see. There was no control; there was no promise of a verified endpoint at which he might not go beyond. It was raw...feral...animalistic, but Benji's storms had never frightened her.

The pair had always given as good as they'd gotten. In the past, they'd both screamed and thrown things. They'd called each other mean things and preyed on each other's vulnerabilities, knowing exactly where to strike.

Rae didn't see some beast about to explode, only her enthusiastic boyfriend who didn't always know how to control himself. Even more, she saw her win. The game of cat and mouse had ended, and the boy was positively seething.

Good.

She'd been seething, too, when he'd so flippantly suggested she go find affection elsewhere – though not in nearly so many words – but, unlike her boyfriend, her anger manifested inwardly. It narrowed itself into the singular task of having the bottom of the boy's stomach burning like hers had, unable to contain the sheer volume of rage ravaging her. She could've hit him then forgotten about it, sure. She could've rolled her eyes and decided he was exactly who he'd always been.

But where was the fun in that?

Impish as she could be, the girl had decided to turn it into a show, and what a climax it was.

Unlike the fight back in the gardens at Hogwarts, where she'd felt utterly humiliated by Benji's intrusion and the way he'd managed to draw a crowd, Rae found herself thrilled. She would be nothing more than a dirty liar if she said she didn't enjoy the moments – few and far between as they happened to be – where Benji was the one to lose his mind. For her, it was undeniable proof. She wasn't the crazier one, only the louder one. All the thoughts she'd been told were irrational, and he harboured them, too. Her inability to regulate her impulses? He wasn't any better; he'd simply been provoked less often.

It was a potent moment of vindication, one that left the girl grinning from ear to ear like a Cheshire cat despite the rough way Benji yanked at her.

Where they were going, she didn't know, but she didn't imagine it mattered either. Anywhere would be better than the dull ballroom with its many 'important' partygoers and suffocating societal expectations. Benji Laurence wasn't dragging her toward what looked like the orchards; Benji Cuddrun was, and she happened to love him infinitely more.

"They'll lock you up for attempted murder some day," she taunted, not at all swayed by the severity etched into his expression. In fact, her voice was nearly singsong, seeking and trying to poke at other areas in case it might cause him to lose his mind a little more.

When it was all over, she would pull the mirror before him and ask that he not get in the way the next time she felt justified in ruining a girl's entire career and prospects of making it to adulthood. They were more than even; they were equals in this toxic game, and the girl didn't have a single complaint – except maybe that he'd taken his sweet ass time in getting there.

The sounds of the evening gave way from the chaos they left behind. Instead of string music and jazzy piano notes, crickets chirped and bullfrogs croaked along the edges of the various ponds they stalked past. In the further forests at the edge of the meadow, mourning doves cooed, signaling their warning to various nocturnal creatures that something wasn't right within the world.

It wasn't right, none of it.

His grip tightened on her arm as the scent of cherry met the summer evening, the warm glow of the family castle burning through the vast orchard. Benji's mind buzzed with electricity, his veins heavy with adrenaline acting as gasoline needing only a spark. He didn't know where he was going; didn't know where he was taking her.

All he knew was the endless hammering of his heart and the way he wanted to rain hell down upon everything.

It had been another difficult summer. At this point, the boy mused he should have been used to it. He should have been prepared for the three months that signaled a litany of frustrating and heart-wrenching events that would only serve in him losing more and more of that faith in humanity - and the people around him - with each season that passed.

Still, here he was. Blown away again by how crappy everything had been. His girlfriend getting herself felt up in the gardens by some random prick was just the icing on top of a shit-cake summer he’d already been forced to eat with a silver fucking spoon.

"They'll lock you up for attempted murder some day."

He swung her around to face him, his hand on her arm digging in so roughly it would likely leave a bruise. Her voice was sweet and teasing, almost gleeful and taking delight in what was transpiring. It only served to raise his temperature. Made his face burn hotter. Made the blood in his ears pound like a fist against a locked door.

"You think this is fucking funny?" he asked, hazel eyes snapping beneath furrowed brows. Of course she did. Rae loved it when he lost his cool over her. She loved it when he showed his whole ass, proving that she wasn't the only one crazy and possessive. It did something for her that he didn't quite understand, and didn't know that he actually wanted to.

He released her, shoving a hand through his hair, pacing back a step before snapping right back toward her.

“And now you’re smiling. Of course you’re smiling. Why wouldn’t you be? Great night for you, right? Get your little garden fuck, get me to beat the shit out of him, then stand there acting cute while I look like the crazy one.”

His chest heaved. His throat ran dry, his arms heavy as he tried to shake some of the fury that made his entire body a livewire. He hated this. He fucking hated this. In all the time he'd known Rae, he knew she was nuts, knew she was the type to do shit that other girls wouldn't even imagine, all to get his attention. Bad or good, it had never mattered; his attention was all the same to her.

But actually cheating? Actually letting someone else touch her?

His laugh came out ugly.

“Fuck that.”

The orchard swallowed the words, but not fast enough. Not before they tore out of him and left his throat raw.

“You don’t get to do that,” he shouted, backing away from her before he lashed out without thinking. He wasn't that type of man. He would never let himself spiral into that type of man, no matter how enraged he was. No matter what she did or how she behaved. “You don’t get to make me look stupid and then smile at me like I’m the asshole.”

"You think this is fucking funny?"

"Wasn't that obvious?" she chimed, the grin never leaving her face.

How terrifying he must have thought himself to be. So very serious. Eyebrows furrowed, nostrils flaring, a grip that would cut off her circulation and leave her with memories come morning. It had been a while since she'd gotten one of those. Benji Cuddrun Laurence. So scary; hear him roar.

It was all she could do to keep the giggles in. Rae went as far as pulling her lips into her mouth, exercising some small modicum of restraint in the face of this raging tempest who had her heart.

She watched him pace back and forth like a cornered animal, her dark eyes shimmering with mirth at the work of her hands. Rae recognised in him the same madness that often overtook her. It was feral and uncontained. Even more, it was unwilling to hear reason.

Why bother making the attempt then?

“And now you’re smiling. Of course you’re smiling."

Was it still so obvious? Try as she might, there was nothing she could do to fully ward off the smile that kept tugging so forcefully at the corners of her lips. Both hands rose to clasp over her mouth, but the way her eyes danced made it clear that the amusement never left.

“Why wouldn’t you be? Great night for you, right? Get your little garden fuck, get me to beat the shit out of him, then stand there acting cute while I look like the crazy one.”

Her little...her little garden...what?

It was more than she could stand. Rae burst out laughing, the sound only marginally muffled by the hands clamped over her lips. Rippling giggles made their way up the back of her throat, the girl growing all the more amused with each moment that passed. My my, so worked up and all for nothing. He was his own undoing and a large part of why her trap had worked in the first place. Rae had to admit that with Emmanuel standing so far away when Benji entered, it might be harder to sell her story, but his singular mind had done the work of blinding him to all the things that matter.

"I did no such thing." She stepped closer when he stepped away. "You're the one that ran in, fists swinging. I didn't tell you to do that. Ruined a proper moment, you did. Another minute and Emmanuel would've combusted." Likely from mortification, but the details were hardly worth mentioning.

"Always so serious, Cuddrun," she tutted with a shake of her head.

"What was it you like to say? You're exaggerating. It wasn't like that. I was only being...nice. Found myself a good tree to go barking up, like you wanted and now you're getting mad at me for doing what I was told."

Very few things made her so mad, and she was under no illusion that Benji didn't know that.

"Stop yelling. You'll get us caught. Now then, do you really think I looked cute back there? I thought you'd barely noticed with how fast you were going. You should've said something - while Cora could hear you. May as well kill two birds with one stone."

Everything was a fucking joke to her. Ruth Elliot loved to cry foul. She loved to wear the mask of a victim when it suited her, tears falling and big brown eyes looking at him like he was the worst person on Earth. She loved to tell him what a piece of shit he was, and then turn around and smirk at him when she did an equally shitty thing. When she was the one laughing, it was fine.

He was always the villain, in every scenario, where she got to skip away looking like the hurt party, or in this case the one who wasn't crazy.

She was fucking certifiable.

"I did no such thing. You're the one that ran in, fists swinging. I didn't tell you to do that. Ruined a proper moment, you did. Another minute and Emmanuel would've combusted."

"Yeah I bet he would have," he answered lowly as she stepped closer to him, his hazel eyes darkening. She could say whatever she wanted, denied whatever she wanted. He knew what he heard. He wasn't fucking deaf, or stupid for that matter, despite what she and everyone else liked to believe.

"Always so serious, Cuddrun."

"Don't call me that." She loved using his old name when disparaging him, to remind him of the boy she preferred. The boy she wanted him to be. The boy he loathed and wanted nothing to do with. Cuddrun was broken. Cuddrun was a drunk. He was a fucking idiot who followed madmen blindly because he was desperate to be loved and chosen.

He wasn't that person anymore. If that was who Rae wanted - and he knew she didn't - then she couldn't pick and choose what parts of that person she got.

"What was it you like to say? You're exaggerating. It wasn't like that. I was only being...nice. Found myself a good tree to go barking up, like you wanted and now you're getting mad at me for doing what I was told."

"I didn't tell you to go barking up some Spanish fuck's tree," he nearly spat. Exaggerating. She was such a fucking...he clenched his jaw, not allowing himself to think the ugly word that had flitted through his mind. He wouldn't let her get to him, not like this.

"Stop yelling. You'll get us caught. Now then, do you really think I looked cute back there? I thought you'd barely noticed with how fast you were going. You should've said something - while Cora could hear you. May as well kill two birds with one stone."

Something in him went quiet. It was the sort of silence just before glass shattered against a wall. Benji stared at her, his pulse hammering so hard he could feel it in his teeth. She knew exactly what she was doing. Every word. Every smile. Every sweet little tilt of her head like she hadn’t just dragged him through hell and then asked if he liked the view.

His jaw clenched.

“Shut up,” he growled. She knew she'd won. Knew he'd come running. Knew he'd break first, if nothing else because he didn't want to actually hurt her in the way he knew he could.

He snatched her again, anger boiling over so fast it blurred the orchard around them. One second she was standing there with that grin and the next he had her backed against the nearest cherry tree, one hand braced beside her head, the other locked at her waist, fingers digging into her back.

For half a breath, he just glared at her, furious and idiotic enough to still want her.

Huh.

Maybe he really was as stupid as they all said he was.

Benji crashed his mouth into Rae's.

There he was, her precious boy.

Rae supposed she should have felt some type of way for how angry she'd made him. When you loved someone, you didn't poke them until they were ready to explode. There were several ways her hurt could have been handled, but how dreadfully boring and ineffective they were. This way had teeth and immediacy, making it the most appealing.

Not for the life of her could she understand why he didn't like to be called 'Cuddrun'. He'd never said why. Personally, she liked the boy. He was a bit rough around the edges and didn't always make the right choices, but he had grit. His blood ran hot, and he didn't worry so much about what people up in their ivory towers thought of him. Cuddrun was alright being a shithead, using it as his armour and showing people just what that meant when they crossed him. He wasn't so weighed down by petty trifles because he knew what real problems were.

He slammed her into trees and didn't worry about who he'd offend in doing so.

Delicious.

"I didn't tell you to go barking up some Spanish fuck's tree."

"Ah, but you didn't tell me not to." Surely he could see the issue for himself. How was she meant to know that her boyfriend wasn't a fan of those conquistadors without him saying so? It was an honest mistake, one hardly worth getting so riled up about – but she wasn't about to tell him that. Reason had no place in wherever this was going, and while there was a part of her that warned she should stop him before he managed to trigger himself the way he'd done in the library, the night was still young, and she wanted to see what type of angry he happened to be.

His order that she shut up did a great deal of silent work. It was the final surrender, the admission that the war was ended and she'd come out the victor. No words? Only a command that she kept quiet? They were finally getting somewhere.

He wouldn't hit her, she knew. Would've started yelling already if he had any plans to. Of course, there was every chance he would start something that he couldn't finish, but they'd cross that bridge when they got there.

Rae was here for the show.

Her lips were sealed, or...they would have been were they not suddenly occupied with his. Benji glared, and her eyes shimmered with admiration in response. It was what she'd come for, his attention, all of it. Good? Bad? No such thing when it came to Benji Henry. It was the oxygen that her lungs burned for, growing uncomfortable when it was gone too long. When he'd said what he did, she'd known better than to read it as anything more than Benji being unapologetically himself, but that didn't mean it hadn't stung. She could've told him that, but it was much easier to claw every tendril of attention out of him until he couldn't look away.

Her mouth met his readily, hungrily. She reached up to cup his face, holding him as desperately as the hand at her waist. Rae drank in his angry kisses, her lips matching his pace to reveal their own want.

Around her, the orchard faded, the trees melting from the background until there was nothing but darkness and the overwhelming scent of liquorice and fresh grass.

Emmanuel? Cora? The brawl in the garden? Nothing but distant memories tethered only by the tinge of metal from Benji's busted lip.