“Are you proud of me, Beatrice? You’re dating this.” is not only adorable, it’s the clearest confirmation yet that Ben and Bea are abiding by the rules in technicality only. They’re still dating, they’re still definitionally a romantic relationship, and the other flatmates have apparently decided not to punish Ben for that. They could have, but they aren’t.
It’s interesting, because you’d think they’d jump at the chance to punish Ben- but they’re all so busy hiding their own bending of the rules (budget, curfew, Freddie’s obvious crush on Kitso, and veganism, as we’ll soon see), that it isn’t in their interest to call anyone else on rule breaking in case it draws attention back on themselves.
It also makes me happy because Ben did not in fact choose the rules over Bea. He meant it when he said he wouldn’t sign if he actually had to break up with her. And that’s why she isn’t that mad at him right now, at least not as mad as the fandom expected in 2015. I definitely think they’re still having their daily Skype call that ends with “I love yous” every time. Nothing really has changed. Not while they remain long-distance, anyway.
