chapter six
if only

"There you are!" Scarlett exclaimed as she entered the courtyard to find Evie sat with Doug at one of the picnic tables. "I have been looking for you literally everywhere!" Panic filled her eyes as she leaned against the table, nostrils flaring just at the thought of the date Ben has asked her on later tonight.

"What's wrong?"

"Ben just asked me out on... a date." Scarlett struggled to say out loud, Doug chuckled.

Evie cracked a smile. "We can handle this. Bye." She bid farewell to Doug as she stood up and joined Scarlett's side, who was a poor wreck. "You look a little pale, but i can fix that with some gloss and some blush."

Scarlett whined as the two walked off and Evie kept ranting of everything makeup product she could use in her face for her first date.

Scarlett shifted uncomfortably on the bed as Evie sat beside her and finished off her look with blush. Mal sat on the bed opposite of them, flipping through her spell book as she watched them amusingly, glad it wasn't her that was going on this date.

"Okay. Easy on the blush." Scarlett swatted Evie's hand away from her cheeks. The first thing she did was get changed into a mid-thigh length skirt with different stitches of colors and pattern, a dark brown and grey leather tube top and a brown fur jacket on top. Her heeled boots were a shade of red and dark orange, with her normal brown leather bracelet and moon necklace with a light blue hue gemstone in the middle. Her hair was half up, framing pieces of hair pinned to the back of her head but her white strand was still in the front. "I don't want to scare him away. Not that I could."

"Please." Evie chuckled, continuing to gently brush the blush onto her tanned cheeks. "My Mom taught me how to apply blush before I could talk. Always use upward strokes."

"I never had a Mom, and my Dad, of course, wasn't really big on make-up tips." Scarlett parted her lips when Evie began to dab a gloss onto them. "And I never had a sister."

"Well, now you have two." Evie gestured to herself and Mal, who wiggled her fingers as a wave. "We're gonna need all the family we can get if we don't pull this off. My Mother's not a barrel of laughs when she doesn't get her way. Just ask Snow White."

"Are you afraid of her?" Scarlett asked the blue haired girl, watching as she placed the tube of lip gloss onto the bed.

Evie shrugged. "Sometimes. Are you afraid of your Dad?"

Scarlett paused before she answered, brown irises shifted onto the floor as she thought about it. "I just really want him to be proud of me. He gets to angry with me when I disappoint her or I'm not the perfect daughter he wants me to be. And... Yeah, he's my Dad, so i know he loves me... in his own way."

"And he'll be proud of you when we get this done." Mal nodded encouragingly, her own smile not reaching her eyes. "My mom is just like that. But, they'll finally look at us with pride once we've achieved this." Scarlett nodded.

"Moving on." Evie hummed, taking Scarlett's hands. "Come see." Evie brought her over to the full body length mirror.

Scarlett's body stalled when she gazed into it to see herself looking back, only she looked differently. First the first time, her makeup was done and she was dressed in a skirt, but her eyes no longer held the same suppressed longingly for appearance. They looked... innocent. Scarlett laughed in disbelief, gripping her fur jacket.

Evie bounced up from behind, placing her chin on Scarlett's shoulder as she too analyzed her work of art. "I know."

"I look..."

"Say it."

"Not hideous." Scarlett finished as Mal came up from behind as well, flanking her other side. "Not even close." Mal hummed in compliment. Evie nodded in agreement with an enthusiastic grin.

Scarlett admired her self one last time before a knock was heard at the door. Mal and Evie gave her encouraging looks as she stalked over and opened the door, surprising nerves flooding through her body.

Ben's lips immediately fell a gape when he saw her just as she opened the door. He was wearing his blue and yellow letterman jacket over a blue dress shirt with two helmets for a Moped underneath both his arms.

"For the first time in my life, I understand the difference between pretty and beautiful." Scarlett chuckled at his words, feeling Evie and Mal's smirks behind her back from inside the room. "I hope you like bikes." He held out a helmet for her.

"I love them." She responded as she grabbed the helmet and stepped out of the threshold of her dorm room. She sent her two friends one last look before leaving with Ben.

Evie and Mal quickly hurried to the open door, watching them walk down the hall before closing the door. Evie let out an excited squeal for her friend.

Scarlett laughed as her arms tightened around Ben's waist as he drove them through the woods. She enjoyed gazing at the healthy lush green trees. It was beautiful. The Isle had none of that. It was all dirty and crusty.

He never told her where they were going. He led her on a crossing bridge over a raveen. She jumped on it, not used to the bridge that moved so much when you walked on it. She trailed in front of him, looking over the edge to see how high they were.

"Tell me something about yourself that you've never told anyone." Ben suddenly stated from behind her.

Scarlett hummed as she thought of it, having fun balancing herself on the bridge. "Uh, my middle name is Zira."

"Zira?"

"Yep. Just my Dad doing what he does best." Scarlett responded as the two came to a stop, leaning against the railing of only net. "Being really, really evil. Scarlett Zira. That just sounds evil." Scarlett's eyes widened in amazement when she looked down and saw a stunning moving river right underneath them.

"Mine's Florian.

"Florian?"

"Yeah." He chuckled with a nod.

"How princely." She teased him. Their middle names were completely opposites of each other, just like they were. She giggled as they continued to trek along the bridge. "That's almost worse."

"I mean, you know, it's better than Zira." Ben mused from behind her. "But it's still not..."

The two laughed together as they got off the bridge and were beginning to reach their destination. As they drew closer, Ben had Scarlett close her eyes so the surprise wasn't spoiled. He held her hands, helping her walk through the forest as she complained about not seeing where she was going.

"Watch your foot. Yeah." He guided her over a in grown tree branch. "Are you good?" Scarlett hummed in response. "Now, step up. There you go." Scarlett stopped, feeling Ben stand behind her, her back hitting his chest as his hands ran up and down her upper arms, creating goosebumps. "You ready?" He spoke in her ear. She nodded nervously. "Open."

Scarlett gasped lightly underneath her breath. There was a lake that appeared glowing like magic with an old stone structure behind some trees and rocks. The pillars had overgrown purple flowers from top to bottom and there was a small picnic set up for two on the stone platform of the structure. Ben clearly had came earlier to set up. She had to give props to him for all the effort, even if it wasn't real. She glanced at him to see him already looking at her with a big smile, admiring her reaction to his hard work.

"Go on."

Scarlett let go of his hand and trailed over to the platform, sitting down on one of the two cushions set up into of the picnic blanket. The first thing she reached for was a croissant filled and covered with chocolate, she assumed they called it. She hummed in delight, devouring the whole thing quickly, locking her fingers clean off after it was done. The Isle never had such soft and tasty treats.

The picnic was set up so elegantly, Scarlett felt like she was crashing on someone else's date. Ben came prepared with pastries, fruit, sandwiches and lemonade.

He mostly watched her eat with delight, spread out on his side on the picnic blanket. "Is this your first time?"

"Mmm..." Scarlett swallowed down the last of her bite, pursing her lips and unaware to the crumbs on them. "We don't really date much on the island. It's more like... gang activity." She made sure not to mention Harry, whom she had a little thing with before she left the Isle.

Ben chucked, pushing himself up into a sitting position. "Um... I meant, is this your first time eating a chocolate croissant?"

Scarlett paused just as she licked the last crumb off her thumb. "Is it bad?"

"You got a..." Scarlett's body tensed as he leaned forward, using his thumb to wipe off the crumbs on and around her lips she hadn't felt. He could only get some off. "All right, yeah, do this." He licked his lips.

"Gone?" Scarlett chuckled, looking her own lips to get rid of the crumbs. "You can't take me anywhere, I guess."

"You know, I've done all the talking." Ben spoke up. "Your turn. I really don't know much about you. Besides your middle name and your talent for sculpting. Tell me something." He leaned closer.

Scarlett puffed her lips in thought, taken off guard by his request. She's never even told anyone her middle name before, he was the first. "Well, I'm 16. I'm an only child. And I've only ever lived in one place."

"Me, too. That... We have so much in common already." Ben responded quickly.

"No." Scarlett laughed, shaking her head in denial. "Trust me, we do not." Ben's smile faltered a but the essence of it still remained. Scarlett tilted her head at him. "And now you're gonna be king."

"Yeah." Ben hung his head low to his chest as if he weren't excited by the prospect.

Scarlett noticed the change in his mood. "What?"

Ben sighed, looking back up at her comforting gaze. "The crown doesn't make you a king."

Scarkett tilted her head with an unsure look, shrugging. "Well, it kind of does."

Ben mocked her chuckle. "No, it... Your Father is The Pride Lands Tyrant and I've got the poster parents for goodness. But we're not automatically like them. We get to choose who we're gonna be." Scarlett's expression softened as she took in his words. He leaned closer to her, his eyes devouring hers. "And right now, I can look into your eyes and I can tell you're not evil. I can see it."

Scarlett parted her lips but her mind couldn't make any words.

Ben chuckled, glancing out into the sparkly lake. "Let's go for a swim."

Her eyes grew wide as he stood to his feet. "What? Rig by now?"

"Yeah, right now." Scarlett almost directed her eyes to something else — anything else — when Ben began to unbutton his blue dress shirt right in front of her.

"Uh, I think I'm just gonna stay here." Scarlett spoke hastily, keeping her butt plopped on the floor.

"No, no, come on." Ben held out his hand for her to take.

Scarlett quickly grabbed the first thing she could think of. She plucked a blackberry from one of the bowls of fruits. "I think I'm gonna stay behind and try a blackberry. I've literally never tried a blackberry before." Scarlett faked a smile as she took a bite to make Ben believe. "Mmm. Oh. Wow." Her smile turned genuine when the fruit hit her taste buds.

Ben chuckled heartily at her reaction to the fruit, hand dropping to his side. "Don't eat all of them."

"Okay." She called after him as he disappeared into the forest. Before she knew it, she grabbed a handful of blackberry's from the bowl, stuffing them into her mouth as if she hadn't eaten in days.

She glanced behind her to see Ben had changed into swim trunks and stood on top of a ledge to dive into the lake. She wiped her hands off on a napkin before pushing herself to her feet and turning around to face him. She leaned against one of the pillars as he waved to her with a grin from his spot on the edge feet away.

She cupped her hands around her mouth so her her voice broadened to reach his ears all the way over there. "Are those little crowns on your shorts?"

"Maybe." He shouted back. Scarlett giggled, waving back at him. She laughed loudly when he let out a very loud grunting sound that resembled more of a roar as he plunged into the lake, hollering. Her head flew back from laughter.

She suddenly frowned as an unknown feeling pushed against her chest, turning around so her back was to him and he couldn't see her face. "A million thoughts in my head. Should I let my heart keep listenin'? 'Cause up till now, I've walked the line. Nothin' lost, but somethin' missin'."

Scarlett thought go the last moment she had with her Father before she left for Auradon. Not even a smile or goodbye from him. She didn't know what a parental love felt like. She didn't know what love felt like in general.

"I can't decide what's wrong, what's right. Which way should I go?" Scarlett pushed herself off the pillar, standing in the middle of the platform as she struggled to understand what she was feeling. "If only I knew what my heart was telling me. Don't know what I'm feeling. Is this just a dream? Oh, yeah."

She recalled her first meeting with Ben and the way he was already interested by her from the moment they first shook hands. To moments they chatted by her locker or in the hallways of school with smiles on their faces.

"If only I could read the signs in front of me. I could find the way to who I'm meant to be. Oh, if only. Yeah." She sang her heart out, literally, spinning her body around.

"Am I crazy? Maybe we could happen. Yeah. Will you still be with me. When the magic's all run out?" Her tone grew softer and calmer as she realized this would have to end after they've gotten the wand. "If only I knew what my heart was telling me. Don't know what I'm feeling."

"Is this just a dream?" She whipped her body around, laying her back against one of the pillars, clasping onto it and a frown overtaking her features. "Oh, if only. Yeah. If only. Yeah. If only. Yeah. If only. If only..."

Scarlett turned back towards the Lake, eyes flickering all over looking to see where Ben was. Fear coursed her veins for the first time in her life when all she saw was water and no body with crowned blue swim trunks.

"Ben?" She called out in question, hoping any moment his head would pop out out of the water. "Ben?! Ben?" Her voice simply echoed back at her and no boy appeared or answered her.

Scarlett didn't waste another fleeting second, jumping into the knee high water. She trudged through the water, looking for her until the water reached her neck and her feet no longer touched the ground. She gasped, struggling with her arms flying out to keep herself a float. She coughed as water entered her opened mouth.

Just as she thought she was about to drown, she felt arms pick her up bridal style from underneath the water. She cough desperately, hair and outfit drenched as she realized Ben had been the one carrying her and set her down on platform. She grunted in disgust when he whipped his wet head around, water flying into her.

"You scared me!" Scarlett shouted at the boy, slapping him lightly on the chest.

"You can't swim?" The boy asked in confusion, pointing back out to the lake.

"No!" She snapped.

"You love on an island!" He protested.

"Yeah, with a barrier around it, remember?" Scarlett growled, as she plucked her damp hair off her chest which was sticking into it and put it behind her shoulders. She picked her drenched fur jacket off her body and threw it somewhere on the platform, leaving goosebumps on her skin and a shiver down her spine.

Ben's lips parted as he gazed at the frustrated girl. "And you still tried to save me."

Scarkett laughed sarcastically, feeling the mascara Evie forced her to where clumping around her eyes. "Yeah. And do you thank me? No! All I get is soaking wet and smelling like a dog!" She grumbled.

"And this fancy rock." Ben procured a glowing rock from his pockets, extending it out to her who grabbed it incredulously. "It's yours. Make a wish and throw it back in the lake."

Scarlett didn't even make a wish, throwing it right back into the lake like a fast ball, using her enhanced lioness strength Auradon gifted her.

"Argh!" Scarlett grunted as she got up and walked back over to the picnic. Ben pushed himself up into the platform quickly, grabbing his letterman jacket before placing it around her shoulders from behind. "What..."

Scarlett blew a raspberry as she sat back down on the picnic blanket, smoothing her skirt out. Ben grabbed a towel of his own, drying himself off before sitting right beside her, a little closer than anticipated. She shivered, clutching Ben's lettermen's jacket closer to her body for warmth, aware of his intense eyes on her.

She was gazing at the floor as Ben reached a hand out and took a strand of her damp hair between his fingers, towering it around.

As she looked over to him, his eyes dropped to his lap but his fingers remained in her hair. "Um, Scarlett. I told you that I loved you."

Scarlett's breath got caught in her throat as he lifted his head and his eyes met hers.

"What about you?" He asked, his tone vulnerable. "Do love me?" He frowned slowly when all she did was sadly look at him before directing her eyes away from his, giving Ben the wrong impression for a moment until she answered.

"I don't know what love feels like." She spoke with a strange new tone, as if she were... scared. She bit her lip.

In truth, she was embarrassed to tell him this. She was not the tough girl who could handle herself when she became vulnerable. That's what her Father liked most about her, her vicious evil nature. She grew up assuming that was her most redeeming quality and that if anyone else saw the other side of her, they wouldn't like her.

But around Ben it just felt different. Like she could tell the truth and nothing would change. He wouldn't judge. He wouldn't run. He wouldn't leave. He'd stay, and understand.

A strangled breath left her parents lips when Ben gently grasped her chin and moved her head back around to face him, his eyes silently telling her that she could trust him and be herself around him as their irises connected.

His thumb caressed her cheek and she felt herself subconsciously leaning into it, her body speaking for her. "Maybe I can teach you."

As she stared into his eyes, she felt herself letting go and doubting the whole reason she came to Auradon in the first place, by her Father's demand.