Melody was quite obviously in a mood, and Ben was sure it was his fault. Their conversation at the Pettigrew party hadn't gone the way he'd thought it would, and he knew even in the moment that it was a mistake to bring it up. Now she was... angry, was the vibe he was getting. At him, at the situation, at the world, he wasn't sure. Maybe she was angry at all of them.

He wanted to do something to make it up to her, but he couldn't imagine what he might be able to say to make her feel better. He couldn't take back anything he'd said at the party that hurt her, and if he tried she'd know he was only doing it to soothe the tension and that he didn't really mean it. After his confession, he was sure a fake sentiment was worse than no sentiment at all, so he'd just let her be angry and hoped that she'd burn through it and be ready to talk about it sooner or later. Hopefully sooner, since they had plans to visit his brothers on Christmas Day and even Aldous and Roman could not fail to notice how tense she was. They certainly weren't going to be selling the lovesick story like this.

She was alternating between glaring at him and attacking her food during dinner, while Ben just sat there awkwardly and picked at his food, his appetite having fled him (he would, most likely, sneak down to the kitchen and eat two dinners' worth of leftovers after she'd gone to bed).

"If you don't want to go to Christmas, I can tell Aldous you're ill," he eventually offered.