Saving Christmas!
Summary; Ben finds out why Chad and Audrey aren't going home for Christmas this year and decides that he's going to save Christmas for his old friends. Takes place around d1. Trigger warnings; mentioned death, unintentional neglect, emotional abuse, sick child, unintentional favoritism, sick child, etc.
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"Hey what are you guys doing for Christmas break this year?" Ben asked one day over lunch.
It was a particularly wintery December 1st when the question was asked and Jane, Doug, Lonnie, and four very excited vks answered almost immediately.
Mal and Jane were going to the Moors with FG to celebrate it.
Doug and Evie were going over to Snow White's castle with his family to celebrate.
Lonnie and Jay weren't celebrating but still had plans.
Lonnie was going home to visit her family.
Jay was going to Agrabah after being invited to by Aziz and Jordan.
And Carlos was going to be spending it in London with the Radcliffes after their niece, Amber, had sent him an invite.
After sharing that his grandfather was coming over to celebrate it with him, Ben noticed something.
Audrey and Chad had been eerily silent for the conversation.
And looking back, it didn't take Ben long to realize that Chad hadn't spoken much all morning.
"What about you two? What are you doing?" The brunette asked, shooting the two a sweet smile.
Thinking that they were just getting put off by the new group dynamics again. After all, it did take some getting use to —going from a tight knit group of six friends to ten almost overnight.
And Chad always did have trouble warming up to new people.
"Uh, we... aren't celebrating this year" Audrey replied, uncharacteristically awkward when it became apparent that Chad wasn't going to.
The blonde hadn't looked up from his tray to acknowledge any of them since they sat down and was just playing with his food, looking downtrodden.
The amount of prunes, chocolate pudding, and pizza on his plate had stayed the same despite the fact that lunch was nearly over. His pumpkin spice latte hadn't been touched either.
Ben couldn't help but feel concerned now that he noticed it. After all, the prince never turned his favorite foods down but here he was. Doing just that.
And the fact that he and Audrey now apparently weren't celebrating Christmas—THEIR FAVORITE HOLIDAY—either was just worsened the concern he felt.
Apparently he wasn't the only one feeling that way either.
"WHAT?!" Jane yelped, "but you guys love Christmas!"
"Yeah. What's going on?" Doug added.
He and Chad had slowly began repairing their friendship after Ben's coronation after Chad had apologized to all of them for his behavior over the year. Plus their families usually spent Christmas together since Snow White was Chad's (non-fairy) godmother.
No one had mentioned anything about plans changing to him.
Audrey gave them a tired look– as if almost asking 'really?' Before sighing and halfway giving in to their questions.
"Grammy is still upset that Ben and I didn't work out, Ariana is smug about it and has a new prince boyfriend, and my parents, aunt, uncle, and fairy Godmothers are too busy to attend this year. And since I really don't feel like being criticized over every little thing this year with no one there to buffer it, I've decided to stay at school with Chad."
No one was quite sure how to react to her snappish response. But the vks– Evie especially– looked downright murderous. But instead of commenting after a few painfully long silent moments, Jay decided to prod some more.
"And you can't just celebrate with Chad, why?"
Audrey shot the thief a harsh glare, confirming everyone's suspicions that she had been avoiding the question, before begrudgingly answering. "Because Chad has absolutely no motivation to decorate because this will be his first Christmas without his grandfather, Prudence, and Duke who died before the school year started since before he was adopted."
Ben got a sinking feeling in his stomach as he glanced over at his oldest prince friend. Oh. Oh.
Oh no.
Suddenly the pudding on his own tray didn't seem as appetizing anymore.
Surely he hadn't gotten so caught up in his kingly duties that he had forgotten to check in on his fellow prince to see if he was doing alright? And surely he had checked in on Audrey after the love spell wore off?
Looking back at the events of the school year and Chad's and Audrey’s behavior made him realize that he had, in fact, dropped the ball on this one. But before he could say anything, Doug spoke up.
"But, uh, why isn't Chad going home? Not that I don't understand he's upset—" he said quickly after the hard stare the princess gave him—"It's just that he and his family usually spend the holiday at Aunt Snow's with my family and Jane's, and besides Fg and Jane, no one's mentioned a change in plans."
Audrey gave a long sigh. "Doug, his sister has a heart condition, remember?"
He nodded, likely wondering—like the rest of them were—what Chloe had to do with anything.
Audrey continued.
"Well, because of that, it's dangerous for her to get sick because it can weaken her heart more. So their parents decided that with the Pixie flu going around that it's best that they stay home. And since Chloe is going to be in bed and his parents are probably gonna continue to try and get the Tremaines off the isle nonstop even more than they did before your proclamation the entire holiday, Chad decided it's best he doesn't return either. You know, since he could get his sister sick and will probably just get overlooked while he's there. "
Doug caught on "which also means that we can't visit them at the castle cause we could get Chloe sick if we do. And Chad doesn't want to make Chloe feel bad by going anyway."
Ben swallowed.
He hadn't thought about that.
Suddenly Chad behavior paired with his unkempt hair and him still being in pajamas made much more sense.
Chad was feeling forgotten again. And this time, only Audrey had been around to try and keep him out of it.
It was like Chloe being born all over again, except this time no one had caught onto how he was feeling and people had actually died.
And Audrey had been suffering in silence alongside him.
He had to fix this.
For both of them.
So he said the first thing that came to mind "why don't you two come and celebrate it at my place?"
Everyone stared at him like he'd grown another head.
Chad looked up and Ben felt even more confident in his decision.
"Ben, I don't think that's a good idea," Audrey replied softly.
"Why not? It's not like you haven't stayed at our place before."
"Your parents hate us."
Ben shook his head. "That's not true. Mom and dad love you guys and grandpa's been dyi–begging to see you two again. "
Audrey didn't know what to say to that and finally, Chad spoke up.
"Well.... If you're sure they wouldn't mind, then we'd like that."
Ben grinned in response "I'm positive. Trust me."
The bell rang before the conversation could continue any further and as the group flooded out of the cafeteria, their moods lifted.
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Big thanks to @eahravinqueen and @panthera-tigris-venenata for the help. Happy Holidays y'all.
