The first response that came to mind was a flippant one: do I believe it's possible for someone to be taken advantage of after having their drink drugged at a party? Yeah, I'm sure it's happened on occasion. November didn't know about that, though, and however hurt Ben might have been at the moment he wasn't going to tell her. Back to the question at hand, then: did he believe Melody? Maybe, maybe, maybe. He had thought things were getting better, so it wasn't as though he could have predicted her behavior. He'd thought it more likely that she'd been hurt or kidnapped, when he'd started looking for her last night. On the other hand, he'd had one of the drinks she'd mentioned as the potential culprit and so had others he'd interacted with at the party, which made the situation more incredible. Melody as the victim of general mischief was easier to believe than someone singling out her and Beckett Longbottom for obscure reasons, but Ben had a hard time with the former simply because he hadn't seen anyone else do something like this.
That was the crux of it, he thought. He didn't know if he believed her, but even supposing he did, he didn't think the story absolved her as much as she would have liked. He had first hand experience with mind-bending potions slipped into his drink at parties, after all. Melody might have gotten him to agree to marry her when he otherwise never would have, but there had been something there. He'd cared deeply about her and had wanted to do what he could to protect her; that was why he'd procured the potion for her in the first place, and why he hadn't sought an annulment after her family had disowned her. If he hadn't already loved her, he didn't think it would have worked, even with the potion. He didn't think magic could create something from nothing: it amplified or redirected things that were already there. Maybe when she was sober Melody wouldn't have fallen into bed with someone while she was supposed to be at a party with him, but — but it was difficult to believe, in any version of events, potion or magic or not, that she loved him. Not if it was that easy for her to cast him off.
"I don't know," he admitted. "But even if it's true, I don't think a love potion is enough of an excuse. I don't... think I can forgive her." Granted, it was early yet; he'd only learned the story a few hours ago. But at the moment, he wasn't sure how they could possibly claw their way back from this kind of fissure. He had not decided on divorce — that he still wanted to consider in terms of how it would affect Nora — but emotionally, he felt their marriage was over.
That was the crux of it, he thought. He didn't know if he believed her, but even supposing he did, he didn't think the story absolved her as much as she would have liked. He had first hand experience with mind-bending potions slipped into his drink at parties, after all. Melody might have gotten him to agree to marry her when he otherwise never would have, but there had been something there. He'd cared deeply about her and had wanted to do what he could to protect her; that was why he'd procured the potion for her in the first place, and why he hadn't sought an annulment after her family had disowned her. If he hadn't already loved her, he didn't think it would have worked, even with the potion. He didn't think magic could create something from nothing: it amplified or redirected things that were already there. Maybe when she was sober Melody wouldn't have fallen into bed with someone while she was supposed to be at a party with him, but — but it was difficult to believe, in any version of events, potion or magic or not, that she loved him. Not if it was that easy for her to cast him off.
"I don't know," he admitted. "But even if it's true, I don't think a love potion is enough of an excuse. I don't... think I can forgive her." Granted, it was early yet; he'd only learned the story a few hours ago. But at the moment, he wasn't sure how they could possibly claw their way back from this kind of fissure. He had not decided on divorce — that he still wanted to consider in terms of how it would affect Nora — but emotionally, he felt their marriage was over.
MJ made this <3