Ben was frustrated by her response, but ready to end the conversation there and just figure the whole thing out himself — since she apparently didn't care — until her last comment. What did she mean, if they were hoping to make people believe that this wasn't what it was? It wasn't like there was any other option. He realized suddenly that they'd never actually talked about it, and while he thought something like please don't get yourself sent to Azkaban without running it by me first would have been safely left unsaid, he would have thought the same about going home to her parents mere hours after eloping and having a whole fucking chat about it before he'd even figured out what he wanted to do.
"Wha — of course we're going to sell it," he sputtered, his mind whirling as he thought about what level of damage might have already been done if she had said anything to anyone. She hadn't been in contact with anyone from England that he knew of, but she'd been at the hotel room by herself all day, everyday. She certainly could have been sending letters, and saying whatever she wanted to in them. Merlin — why hadn't he thought to talk about this earlier? For someone who was objectively smarter than him on paper, Melody could be so stupid about some things.
"We have to do this," he stressed. "Put on the show, and everything. You know what would happen if anyone found out what really happened? It'd be bad for both of us." Ben wasn't sure exactly how illegal the potion he'd acquired was, on a scale of 'minor fee collection' to 'go directly to Azkaban,' but he wasn't willing to find out. And even if they did avoid criminal charges of any kind for possessing the thing in the first place, there was no chance that anyone would support the two of them if they knew the truth. Ben would have no choice but to divorce her, and she'd be out on the streets — and even now, after living in relative squalor on the outskirts of Paris for weeks, Ben wasn't sure she really appreciated the gravity of that possibility.
"The minute we get back to England, we're going to be lovesick fools whenever anyone's looking — and yeah, it's going to be fucking exhausting, but we're going to do it," he insisted. "Because that's the only thing we can do, at this point. That's the only way any of this ever ends up okay again. We're going to be okay," he added, slightly softer now. "We're going to have a place to live and food on the table, and eventually people are going to get tired of talking about this and we'll be able to live normal lives again. We're going to get there, but we're going to have to do our part and get through this, first."
He had a quick impulse to do something — reach out and take her hand, maybe, or offer some other gesture of vague comfort — but he wasn't sure how it would be received, so he ended up just fidgeting. After a beat, he asked tentatively, "Have you told anyone anything about... what really happened?"
MJ made this <3
"Wha — of course we're going to sell it," he sputtered, his mind whirling as he thought about what level of damage might have already been done if she had said anything to anyone. She hadn't been in contact with anyone from England that he knew of, but she'd been at the hotel room by herself all day, everyday. She certainly could have been sending letters, and saying whatever she wanted to in them. Merlin — why hadn't he thought to talk about this earlier? For someone who was objectively smarter than him on paper, Melody could be so stupid about some things.
"We have to do this," he stressed. "Put on the show, and everything. You know what would happen if anyone found out what really happened? It'd be bad for both of us." Ben wasn't sure exactly how illegal the potion he'd acquired was, on a scale of 'minor fee collection' to 'go directly to Azkaban,' but he wasn't willing to find out. And even if they did avoid criminal charges of any kind for possessing the thing in the first place, there was no chance that anyone would support the two of them if they knew the truth. Ben would have no choice but to divorce her, and she'd be out on the streets — and even now, after living in relative squalor on the outskirts of Paris for weeks, Ben wasn't sure she really appreciated the gravity of that possibility.
"The minute we get back to England, we're going to be lovesick fools whenever anyone's looking — and yeah, it's going to be fucking exhausting, but we're going to do it," he insisted. "Because that's the only thing we can do, at this point. That's the only way any of this ever ends up okay again. We're going to be okay," he added, slightly softer now. "We're going to have a place to live and food on the table, and eventually people are going to get tired of talking about this and we'll be able to live normal lives again. We're going to get there, but we're going to have to do our part and get through this, first."
He had a quick impulse to do something — reach out and take her hand, maybe, or offer some other gesture of vague comfort — but he wasn't sure how it would be received, so he ended up just fidgeting. After a beat, he asked tentatively, "Have you told anyone anything about... what really happened?"
MJ made this <3