InsaneJournal

The Dalton family were close, but there were times when Bennet wished they were just the tiniest bit more distant. Today was one of those times. His parents and siblings had all gathered together to celebrate his birthday with a family dinner. Even though it was supposed to be a day about him, his family had decided it would be better to gang up on him and tease him relentlessly about Sadie. Every time he thought they were running out of material, someone would have something new to say. He knew the best thing to do would be to not react, but it didn’t seem he had that in him.

It was all meant in good fun, but after a straight hour, he was starting to wonder how difficult it would be for him to leave his own party. When he heard the doorbell ring he about fell over himself, offering to go get it. It wasn’t much, but it would be a small relief. He walked to the door, muttering to himself under his breath. His brother and sister had no idea who they were crossing. Hell hath no fury like a middle child scorned. He was plotting the downfall of his siblings when he opened the door, only to reveal the last person he would have expected.

“Sadie?” he asked in disbelief. What the hell was going on?

"Bennet?" Sadie shifted to try to see around the giant cake box in her arms, which was easier said than done since it was roughly the size of her torso. "Am I late? Oh god, did I miss the surprise? Shoot, I'm so sorry, but surpriiiiiise!" Her laughter was nervous and embarrassed, and she was mentally kicking herself for being so late. "Is everyone else here already? Selfishly I hope I'm not the only one who got the time wrong but…" she faded off as she really took in his expression. She frowned in return. "Is everything okay?"

He reached out automatically to take the large box from her. The shock of seeing her there, at his parents house, was making it difficult to reason out how she'd ended up there. "Surprise?" he echoed back, his shock morphing into anger he tried to keep from letting her see. This had his mother written all over it. "Everything is fine," he said, stepping back into the house and motioning for her to follow. "I'm just going to murder my mother in her own home," he finished as he lead her into the entryway.

"Your mother?" She was taken aback by the sudden anger in his normally composed tone, and it took her a moment to follow him inside. "She just told me the wrong time, please don't murder anyone." She tried to sound light and teasing, but it was hard to keep the concern from leaking into her words. Everything was not fine, and there was nagging worry that she had done something wrong by showing up. "Bennet." She caught his arm, and she gazed up at him with barely concealed uneasiness. "What's going on? Should I go?"

It really was his fault, he should have caught on that his mom had left to easily the other day. He sighed and put the cake box down on the entryway table before turning to Sadie. "Did my mom tell you there was a surprise party for me?" he asked, looking down at her. He didn't want her to go, but maybe it was for the best if he got her out of the situation before his family descended on them. "Because if so, I'm thinking we have been well and truly match-made," he said with a slight grimace.

Sadie gaped at him. Words completely failed her. It was true, Sadie had set a trap or two herself though nothing quite like this. And it was true, Bennet had warned her that his mother was likely planning something. And yet, somehow, it had never occurred to her to be suspicious. Instead she had blindly followed along. "Oh my god," she gasped, feeling a wave of shame and embarrassment. "So what, is there no party?" She had made a mistake, that much she knew, but she couldn't figure out just how bad it was. "I can go. I probably should go." She took a step backward as her heart raced in her chest. "You can enjoy the cake and it will be almost like I was never here."

“There is a party, but it’s just-” Whatever he’d been about to say was cut off by the sound of footsteps in the hall. He turned his head to see his mother floating into the room, looking like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth. She passed right by him and grasped Sadie by the shoulders fondly, giving her two quick air kisses near her cheeks before pulling back and saying, “Sadie, we are all so glad that you could make it,” before turning to Bennet who was pinching the bridge of his nose so hard that it was beginning to turn white. “Mother,” he ground out through clenched teeth. “This was really too far. Look at her, you’ve mortified her!”

"Oh, no, I'm not, I'm just…" she objected automatically, her voice going high. She was mortified, but she still couldn't kick that desire to impress. "I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding?" She didn't believe that for a minute, and it was clear that she didn't believe it, but she was trying very hard not to panic or embarrass herself even further. "I think maybe I should just go?" she repeated, for what felt like the millionth time that night. If she was wise, she would have just turned on her heel and fled. Instead she shifted her weight from foot to foot nervously, on edge and ready to run the second she received permission to (but, alas, not before then).

Enough was really enough. He picked up the cake box, and handed it to his mother with a look that would have frozen steam. "Mother, please go ahead and put that in the kitchen," he said, motioning for her to go. Something in his eyes must have let her know it really was best if she left the room, because she went. He then turned to Sadie and moved closer to her, his gaze softening as he looked at her. "So, I don't know how I'm going to make this up to you, but I promise I'll figure something out," he began, reaching out to take her hand. "But you're here now, and I am glad to see you." He gave her hand a little squeeze. "Would you want to stay? You'd be doing me a favor, really. They'll have to at least pretend to be decent human beings while you're here."

It felt comforting to have her hand in his, and Sadie felt herself relax, just a little. He had that effect on her, that ability to make her feel like everything was going to be okay, even if just for a moment. Did she want to stay? The idea of walking into an ambush wasn’t an altogether appealing one, but she would be lying if she claimed that she hadn’t started her day excited and looking forward to seeing him. And moreover, he wanted her there. That was enough for her. She nodded slowly. She had experienced far worse in her life than a family dinner. This would be fine. She tilted her face up towards his as she smiled shyly. “I’ll stay.”

---

“And this,” he said as he pulled open his bedroom door with a flourish, revealing a room with light blue walls and white trimming. There were posters of Ken Griffey Jr, Jason Giambi, and Hank Aaron, as well as a few for different bands. There was a queen size bed up against the left wall, and a desk on the right with various family and solo photos. Nearly the entire far north wall was taken up by french doors that lead out to a small balcony. “Is where I really wish the magic would have happened,” he finished. He and Sadie had slipped away so he could give her a quick tour of the house, and so they could have a moment alone without his family hovering. They’d been on relatively good behavior, but he still wanted to check up on her, make sure she wasn’t feeling too overwhelmed. “What do you think?”

Sadie's eyes darted around his room, unsure of where to look first. Should she examine the posters of people she didn't know, search for the cutest young photo of Bennet, or inspect the view from the balcony? There were far too many options and she hovered in the doorway as she took it all in. "Where you wish the magic happened?" she teased, "what, were you shy and awkward in school? No magic for you? Or did it all take place elsewhere?"

“I was not shy, but I was chubby, short, and really into magic,” he said, motioning towards one of the pictures that showed him in a full Magician’s outfit - top hat included -, holding a dove. He was fifteen in the picture, but his short stature and chubby cheeks (and everything else) made him look younger. “I grew a little between junior and senior year, but my real growth spurt didn’t happen until the summer after graduation,” he continued, wincing as he picked up a picture of himself in full juggalo face paint. “As I’m sure you can understand, I wasn’t the most popular kid around. For some reason highschool girls really want you to be cool?” he said, laughing a little as he put the picture back down and looked at Sadie in the doorway. He wondered what she’d been like in highschool. It was difficult for him to imagine her as anything other than the ray of sunshine she was to him, but he knew that she’d had real problems with her powers in the past.

Well then. This made that decision for her. Sadie made a beeline for the photo and lifted the frame for a better look. It was unmistakably Bennet, it was true, but a very different Bennet than the one she had come to grow and love. She smiled automatically as she inspected the picture, the image coming to life in her mind as she considered what it would be like to have known him then. “Oh my god,” she gasped “So this is where the magic literally happened?” She bit down on her lip, but that did little to stifle her giggles. “It’s really endearing,” she reassured him. “That-“ she glanced at the juggalo picture and decided she didn’t want to know, “less so, but this is very cute.” Which, fine, she knew wasn’t what he wanted to be called, but there was no way around it: it was precious. “Well, I bet I would have liked you then, if we knew each other.” A beat. “And, well, if we were the same age because I was, what, 8 when you were 15? You could have been performing at my birthday parties.” Her grin was uncharacteristically mischievous as she looked up at him. Was that necessary? No. But when else could you tease someone about their age than on their birthday?

She set the picture down and nudged her shoulder against his side. “So can you still do magic? Because if so, I demand a show.”

He crossed his arms over his chest and shot an exaggerated scowl at her, before dropping the act and laughing along. He really couldn’t blame her for finding his pictures amusing, even he had to laugh at some of them. He could do without the mentioning of the age difference, which sounded much more sinister when put in the context of him as a teenager and her as a third grader; but she wasn’t a third grader now. “I think we would have been friends too,” he said, looking down at her. “And I could have done your birthday, if you were able to book me. I was very in demand.” If they’d been in school together she would have probably been one of the few girls he was taller than, even back then. Although, he wasn’t too terribly upset that she’d met him after he’d grown into his body. Bennet liked the mischievous look in her eye, even if it was at his expense. Maybe he’d actually be able to put some of his magic skills to good use.

“I’m pretty rusty,” he said, moving towards the closet to see if any of his old magician’s tools had survived the years. It seemed like something his mother would do, to store them away rather than toss them. Sure enough, when he opened the door to the closet the first thing he saw was his magician’s truck. “Keeping in mind it’s been roughly fifteen years since I did any magic of any kind, what would you like to see?” he asked as he pulled the trunk out. “Would you like me to saw you in half?” he asked, moving his eyebrows villainously before dropping to his knees to start rooting through the trunk.

Sadie whistled appreciatively at the trunk. He had not been kidding. This, to her uneducated eye, was a trunk for serious magicians. She followed him to the floor, sitting beside him and tucking her legs underneath her as she peered inside. “I think I would like to stay whole,” she responded earnestly as she watched him rummage. “I am small enough already; I do not need to be any shorter, even though I have every faith in your ability to cut me in two.” Her serious demeanor broke as she cracked a small smile. "Surprise me," she declared. "Whatever will most wow me. Be careful because if I am disappointed, I reserve the right to leave."

“Cool, so no pressure,” he replied, mentally going through a few options. His best bet was a card trick, since he was unfortunately short on bunnies to pull out of his hat. He pulled out his deck of cards and cape, before closing the lid of the truck back to leave a flat surface for him to work over. He put on the too small cape with a flourish, then moved to the opposite side of the trunk. “Okay,” he said, taking the cards out and shuffling them a few times. “I’m going to need to pick a card,” he added as he spread the cards out facedown. “After you’ve selected your card, place it faceup on the trunk, and I’ll make it vanish.” This was not how he’d thought the night would go when he saw her at the door, but there was no denying there was something inside him that enjoyed the thought of showing off in front of her.

Sadie was, truthfully, utterly charmed by all of this, right down to the cape that was ludicrously small on him. She was largely indifferent to magic tricks, or so she had thought, but the idea of teenage Bennet studiously practicing his craft was incredibly sweet, and it was delightful to realize that he still retained some of that knowledge. She watched him set up with a goofy, giddy grin on her face that she tried to tone down (with little success) when she surveyed the cards spread out on the trunk. She tugged out one from the middle and lay it face up Two of hearts. She looked back up at him expectantly. “Now what? Do you have a magician's name I can call you?”

Bennet drew back the remaining deck of cards until only the Two of Hearts remained on the trunk. He made a face at her question, making brief eye contact with her before looking back down at the card on the trunk and mumbling, “Benicio the Magnificent,” and then coughing slightly into his hand. It had seemed mystical and mysterious when he’d been twelve. Now it seemed silly and possibly even a little racist? “Now, watch the card carefully,” he said as he waved his hands slightly above the card, snapping when he passed directly over it. After three passes, he pulled his hands back to show that the card was gone, then flipped his palms over to show that there was no card in his hand. “Looks like I’ve lost my heart,” he said, pressing his palm against his chest with a wink.

Benicio the Magnificent. No matter how mortified Sadie had been around his mother, it had all been worth it for this, for this wonderful, adorable tidbit that she would never let him forget. She made a mental note to change his contact in her phone later, but for now, magic. She did as she was instructed, and while she had expected to catch him in the act (and then not mention it because she was polite and considerate), that was not how this played out. “Oh!” Her gasp of surprise was 100% genuine. “Oh, dear Benicio, we must recover your heart!” she cried out in faux-distress. “Where could it have possibly gone?”

As he looked at her he realized it was entirely too late for him to recover his heart, but the show must go on and he couldn’t exactly sit there mooning after her when she was staring right at him. With a flick of his wrist he revealed the card, grinning at her. “Not to worry, it’s right here. But now I have another trick for you.” He took the deck, shuffled it and palmed another Heart card before picking the Two of Hearts, seemingly at random, from the deck. “Was this your card?” he asked, handing it to her for her to inspect as he quickly did what he needed to do behind the trunk while she was distracted. Once she’d inspected it, he took it back from her, folding it in half lengthwise, then horizontally, so it was folding into a square. “Unfortunately, sometimes we have to deal with our hearts breaking,” he said somberly, as he ripped into the card, showing her that he’d pulled the corner off the card completely. “Luckily, I happen to know a trick to fix that,” he said, tapping the ripped card twice, before showing her that it was still fully intact and handing it back to her and performing a quick half bow over the trunk.

As was befitting such a wonderful magic trick, Sadie clapped enthusiastically. “Bravo! You are truly magnificent, Benicio!” It had been a simple enough trick- one she, admittedly, hadn’t quite figured out- but her joy was genuine. This was what she loved: the moments between them that were sincere and playful and unexpected, moments that left her feeling warm and content and happy. A magic trick was but a small thing but it was enough to fully erase her earlier unease, and she beamed at him with unabashed affection. "I am very impressed," she declared brightly. "Though I hope no one ever breaks your heart, even if you know the trick to fixing it. If someone does, why, they will have to contend with me." Her pout was too cute, too exaggerated to be truly threatening, but there was still a steely glint in her eyes; as silly as they were being, that, at least, she meant.

Bennet didn’t quite know how to reply to that one, so he busied himself with tidying up the cards while he composed himself. She genuinely had no idea - no concept at all - of the way he felt about her. It was times like these that he felt like he was doing something wrong for harboring these feelings for her when she so obviously had no idea of the way he felt. It was almost like he was misleading her, taking her goodness and light through duplicitous means. The issue was that he knew he wasn’t able to cut himself off from her, so he buried the feeling and looked back up at her with a smile. “I’m glad to hear it,” he said, taking off the too small cloak and leaning over the trunk to put it around her. “Both that I’m magnificent, and that I’ve got a tiny attack person on my side if I ever should need one.” He put the cards back in the trunk and stood up. “Now, time for the best part of the room,” he said motioning broadly towards the french doors. “The balcony.”

Laughter burst from her throat and she lifted one hand to clutch at the neck of the cloak. She couldn’t see it but she was sure it fit her much better. Or perhaps it was too big; while he may have been shorter, she very much doubted that he had been close to her size. “I am a very good tiny attack person,” she agreed, sounding entirely too chipper to be talking about potentially attacking anyone. “I am small but fierce!” She didn’t exactly sell that but she wasn’t too fussed. She stood and smoothed her skirt before moving towards the balcony. “I can’t believe you have a balcony in your room. That’s just… Incredibly bougie, honestly, but.” She laughed, though not unkindly, as she opened the door, stepped out, and leaned against the railing. “I’m jealous. Did you ever have anyone toss stones at your window?”

He followed behind her out onto the balcony. It looked out over the backyard, showing the pool, before the yard sloped off into rolling hills. It was pretty bougie. He hadn’t really considered that, it was just the house he grew up in. “I had plenty of stones thrown at my window,” he said as he leaned over and rested his elbows on the railing, taking in the view. “Mostly from my friends who wanted me to sneak out,” he continued, tiling his head to look over at her. “The lattice was pretty easy to climb up and down. I’m pretty sure my parents knew about it, but also realized how much of a nerd I was and that I needed something to toughen me up, so they allowed it.” He had thought that he was getting away with it for a long time, until one night when he was climbing back up to his room his dad had walked out the back door to take out the trash. They’d made eye contact for five full seconds before his dad looked away and carried on like he hadn’t seen anything.

She was silent for a moment as she took in the view. It was certainly different from how she had grown up. The Turner home had been a step up for her, but it still had nothing on this. She had never lived anywhere like this, and she couldn’t imagine what it was like to grow up in this place. She forgot, sometimes, that they had dramatically different upbringings. She glanced over at him. “So where exactly does a nerdy magician sneak out to?” she asked teasingly. “Were their top secret magic meetings you needed to attend? Or were you engaging in underage drinking?” She gasped dramatically, raising a hand to her neck to clutch her imaginary pearls. “Have you secretly been a bad boy this whole time?”

“Oh, the baddest,” he said, puffing his chest out. “We skipped underage drinking and went right to hardcore drugs,” he teased, tapping his shoulder against hers. “No, mostly we rode our bikes around the area. We thought we were badasses though.” He stood quietly for a beat, taking in the moment. He would have killed to have a girl like Sadie on his balcony when he was in high school. Honestly he was pretty excited about it in the present. “But I feel like I’m at a disadvantage,” he said, looking back down at her. She was adorable in his magician’s cloak, facing the setting sun in the distance. “What were you like when you were younger?”

“Oh, you know,” Sadie sighed, her smile replaced by something more somber. Her stomach tightened at the question; her past as always a difficult thing to talk about. “Not that different.” More anxious. More afraid. More desperate for approval and acceptance. Things had stabilized for her by the end of high school, but getting there had still been a rough road. Her most vivid memories were of adjusting to a new family or of accidentally unleashing her powers, of agonizing whether the people she cared about really cared about her or of being terrified that someone else would abandon her. That didn’t make for a cute story. That wasn’t a tidy, sweet tidbit that would endear him to her. “No sneaking out for me; I was very well behaved. I did choir. Chorus in school plays. Organized the absolute best bake sales. I remember that I desperately wanted to be class president in my senior year. I didn’t have any real political aspirations, I wasn’t especially passionate about helping my school or eager to use it on college applications or anything. I just wanted people to vote for me.” She laughed and shook her head. “But they didn’t and I was crushed.”

Even if he hadn’t been paying close attention - and he always was paying close attention to anything that involved her - he would have been able to sense her mood change. He should have thought more about the question before he asked. He’d never pushed her to tell him about her life, but he knew she was adopted, and that the adoption had come later in her life. Sometimes it was difficult for him to remember that not everyone had warm, loving, albeit overbearing parents that were always there for you no matter what. She hadn’t had that, at least not at first. He’d never met her parents, but her siblings that he’d met seemed to be a cohesive bunch. They were standing side by side - shoulder to upper arm - and he wanted to take her into his arms and let her know that she was never going to have to worry about finding a place that she fit, because it was with him.

But, that’s not really what she needed, was it? It was just what he wanted. So, instead he leaned slightly closer and looked down at her. “You’ll always have my vote, for what it’s worth,” he said, giving her a small smile and reaching down to adjust the collar of the cloak around her neck. If his hand lingered a moment longer than necessary, at least he’d kept himself from doing more.

She stilled, practically holding her breath as she gazed up at him. She could have sworn her pulse sped up, just slightly, when his fingers grazed her throat, and when he pulled back, she was surprised to find she was almost disappointed. She was being silly. It was Bennet, one of her dearest friends, and yet, the romantic side of herself was wondering if this was some kind of moment, however far fetched the idea may have been. Impulsively, she reached out for his hand and laced her fingers through his. “It’s worth a lot,” she told him softly, her smile matching his. “It’s worth more than all of theirs combined.”

This was a moment if Bennet had ever seen one. They were standing so closely together that all it would really take would be for him to lean down slightly, take his free hand under her chin to tilt her face up, and he could kiss her. She was looking at him in a way he didn’t think she’d ever done before, and he really thought that if he did it right now she would kiss him back. So, with Luke’s words echoing in his head, he made the slightest move to begin. “Sadie, I-” he said gently, only to be cut off by the loud sound of a throat clearing behind him. He jerked back upright, and turned to see his father standing in the bedroom.

“I did knock,” David Dalton said, covering his mouth with his hand. Was he laughing? He was going to disown his entire family. He’d just go by Bennet, like Madonna. It had to be easier than constantly having his family show up at the worst possible moment.

He was going to kiss her. She was suddenly so sure of that, and without thinking or analyzing further, she found herself moving a fraction of an inch closer. But the spell was quickly broken, and she practically jumped when she heard a voice. “Hi, Mr. Dalton,” she chirped, her voice breathy and fast. “We were just…” except she couldn’t tell him the truth about what she thought they were about to do. “Talking.” She felt like a kid who had just been caught in the act, and her skin suddenly felt hot and red with embarrassment. She realized she was still holding Bennet’s hand and she dropped it quickly as if burned.

Bennet felt like he had been pushed back to square one when she dropped his hand. At least she didn’t mention that they were ’Just Friends’ this time, but he had the feeling it was on the tip of her tongue. He reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose briefly, wishing fervently that his dad had been just a few seconds slower. Had she moved closer? He couldn’t tell. With the squeaky tone of her voice and her suddenly flushed face, it didn’t look like she’d be up for take two. He released his nose and made eye contact with his dad, who still looked like he was holding back laughter.

“Your mother was wondering where you two had wandered off to, sent me to investigate,” David said, managing to look the tiniest bit sheepish about the situation. “I see you found your old magic things?” he asked, motioning towards Sadie and the cloak she still wore with a friendly look in his eyes.

Sadie reached up to gently touch the collar of the cloak. How quickly she had forgotten about that. She had been too distracted by their proximity and the look in his eyes and her unexpected excitement at the thought of kissing him. “He was just showing me some tricks. He’s a — a very good magician.” This shouldn’t be this awkward. They were adults, and nothing had happened. And maybe nothing would have. Maybe it had all been in her head, and maybe that was for the best. Still, she couldn't help but feel the smallest bit of disappointment, no matter how irrational it may have been.

David looked between the couple. At first he’d thought that maybe his wife had gone too far in inviting the young lady over, but now he had to admit - at least to himself, he’d learned it was best not to tell Bridget she was right about too many things or the power started to go to her head - that she had been correct. There was something between his son and the woman wearing his magician’s cloak. He walked up and took Sadie by the arm, saying, “Did he tell you about the time that he nearly set the neighbor’s living room on fire during one of his shows?” as he swooped her out of the room, leaving Bennet behind to wonder what exactly he was going to do next.