When she put it like that, suddenly this idea started making much more sense. She knew her family better than he did, obviously, but even from his secondhand interactions with them years ago he couldn’t doubt the truth of what she said. And if that was really what the future held for her, then…

“Yes,” he agreed, reaching out to take both of her hands in his. There was a flush of warmth in his chest — adrenaline, he supposed. This was a huge decision, and not one that he had ever expected to find himself even considering, but… “You’re right. It’s the only way.”

If the alternative was as bad as she said, if she really was going to be disowned and left out to dry by her own family over what they’d already done and couldn’t exactly take back, then, he realized, any future he could give her would be better. He wanted her to be happy. That was all he’d wanted, for months. He still wasn’t convinced that he had the ability to do that, but — at this point it seemed like he was the best shot that she had. Merlin help them both.

“Do we need to find a church?” Ben asked, his head spinning as he tried to wrap his mind around what the next step would even be. It wasn’t as though he’d ever had reason to look into the logistics of eloping before!