13. Ben
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
ben
SAFE PLACE
The second I see Leo’s face change I know something’s wrong.
There’s shouting near the dance floor. It’s Declan’s voice, sharp and terrifying. I can’t make out the words, just the tone. Rage. Fear.
“Stay here,” I tell Katy.
She frowns. “Ben, what’s…”
I’m scanning the crowd and spot Logan by the gate, talking with Rhett. Calm. Sober. Solid.
I turn back to Katy, my hand tightening around hers. “I need to help Declan and the others. Something’s going on.” I take a breath. “Can you stay with Logan for a minute?”
Her eyes widen. “What’s happening?”
“I don’t know yet. But I know I’ll lose my mind if I leave you by yourself.”
Logan’s already moving toward us, reading the situation without needing an explanation.
“What’s up?” he asks.
“Something happened inside,” I say in a low tone. “Can you stay with Katy until I get back?”
He nods immediately. “Of course.”
I squeeze Katy’s hand one last time. “I’ll be right back.”
Then I run.
KATY
Ben disappears into the house, and suddenly I feel like I’m full of bees. Logan stands beside me, quiet and steady. He doesn’t ask questions, just shrugs out of his jacket and drapes it over my shoulders.
“You’re shaking,” he says gently.
“Something’s wrong,” I whisper. “I can feel it.”
He nods, jaw tight, eyes fixed on the door like he’s willing everyone inside to come back out in one piece.
We sit on the curb, headlights flashing across the driveway as people leave early.
I can’t stop fiddling with my bracelet. Logan grabs my hand to make me stop, then looks me straight in the eyes. “Everything will be fine, Katy. Take a deep breath.”
And I do. We keep talking about what he’s been up to this summer, distracting me from getting worried.
When Ben finally comes out, his face is pale, his expression hard in a way that makes my stomach drop. “Everyone’s okay,” he reassures me immediately. “But it was bad. Some guy grabbed Ella. Declan and the others handled it.”
Logan’s already on his feet. “Want me to drive Katy home?”
Ben shakes his head. “I’ve got her.” Then, quieter, to Logan, “Thanks, man.”
Logan nods once. “Text me when you get home,” he tells me.
BEN
Katy sits at the kitchen table in her party dress, mascara smudged, looking small in a way that has nothing to do with size.
“What the hell happened?” she whispers. “Who was that guy?”
I run a hand over my face. “A guy from the hockey team grabbed her. Then said something he shouldn’t have.”
Her eyes sharpen. “What did he say?”
I hesitate. “Katy… Come here. Sit with me.” I pull her into my lap and meet her gaze. “Ella lost a baby. Declan’s baby. Back in high school.”
The room tilts.
“What?” Her voice cracks. “No. Ella… she never said…”
“She didn’t tell anyone,” I say, my voice soft. “Just her dad. She was already well into the pregnancy when she lost the baby. I found out after it happened.” I swallow. “She almost died.”
Katy presses a trembling hand to her mouth. “Oh my God.” Her voice breaks. “I can’t believe I didn’t know that.”
“Yeah,” I say solemnly.
“She was just a kid. And oh, Declan…” Tears fill her eyes. The kind that come from realizing how cruel the world can be. “I’m sad,” she whispers.
“I know. Me too.”
Her hand drifts to her belly. “What if…”
I kneel in front of her, steady. “Hey. Look at me.”
She does.
“You and the baby are safe right now.”
Her lip trembles. “You don’t know that.”
I shake my head gently. “No. But I know I’m not going anywhere. And I’ll keep showing up and making sure you’re not alone in this.”
That’s when she breaks, sobbing into my shoulder. I hold her without saying anything else, because this isn’t a moment that needs promises. It needs presence.
She’s asleep on the couch later, curled against me, her hand resting protectively over her belly.
I text Declan.
Me
I’ve got Katy. She’s home and calm.
Declan
Thank you. She knows?
Me
Yeah. She had to hear it somehow. I made sure she heard it right.
I stare at the screen for a long moment before adding:
Me
I’m so damn sorry, man.
Declan
Thank you.
I look down at Katy. She’s peaceful now, but I can still feel the echo of her shaking.
I brush my thumb gently across her cheek and whisper, low and certain, “Got you, Katy Cat. I’m right here.”
KATY
Ben must have carried me upstairs at some point. I barely slept. Every time I closed my eyes, all I could think about was how easily everything could fall apart.
Ben’s arm is heavy around me, his breathing deep and steady. He hasn’t let go of me since we walked through the door.
My phone won’t stop buzzing.
I slide it off the table and squint at the screen. I have thirty-plus texts, three missed calls, two group chats exploding.
The top one is from Rebecca.
Rebecca
Don’t look at TikTok. I’m serious, Katy. Don’t.
So naturally, I look.
And instantly wish I hadn’t.
There it is, Ella in Declan’s arms. Leo dragging some guy out of frame. Shouting. Chaos. The caption makes my stomach drop.
When your teammate’s sister hides a teen pregnancy from the whole town #RoseBayScandal #GoodGirlGoneBad #WhereIsTheBaby
My hand flies to my mouth. “Oh my God.”
Ben stirs beside me. “What is it?”
I just hand him the phone.
His jaw tightens as he scrolls. “They posted this?”
“It’s everywhere,” I whisper. “They’re joking about it. About the worst possible thing that can happen to you. They just blasted it online.”
He scrubs a hand over his face, jaw working. “I’m calling Leo. We’ll get it taken down.”
Before he can move, another text pops up.
Logan
Saw the video about your brother. You okay? Don’t answer if you don’t want to talk.
My throat tightens.
Katy
I’m okay. Just angry.
The reply comes almost instantly.
Logan
Same. Tell Ben I meant what I said last night. He’s a good guy.
Ben looks over my shoulder. “Logan checking in?”
“Yeah.”
“He’s a good guy too,” Ben says quietly. “Now put the phone down. None of this is good for you, or the baby.”
I roll my eyes, but my voice cracks. “I just can’t believe she went through all that alone.”
He pulls me closer. “She has Declan now. That’s what matters.”
“She must be humiliated.”
He presses a kiss to my hair. “She’ll care that it hurts the people she loves. Not what strangers think.”
I nod, breathing through the tightness in my chest. “Yeah.”
He tilts my chin up. “And no more doom-scrolling. I’m deleting TikTok from your phone.”
“Good luck,” I mutter.
He smiles, soft and tired. “Come here, trouble.”
And I do.
BEN
Katy’s curled against me, and her eyes red but determined. She hasn’t touched her phone in a while.
Then my screen lights up with a message from Mateo.
Mateo
Come over for pancakes. Intervention for Ella. Bring coffee. And don’t tell her it’s an intervention.
I sigh. “Of course their answer to this is pancakes.”
Katy lifts her head. “What’s going on?”
“Mateo wants everyone over. He wants all of us with Ella.”
Her brows knit. “Good. I want to see her. The more I think about it, the more impressed I am with how happy she’s been for me. It can’t be easy. But I’m also upset she didn’t let me and Declan be there for her, you know?”
“I know what you mean.”
She moves slower now, careful, but she’s already sliding on her shoes before I can say a word.
That’s Katy. Wounded or not, she’ll walk straight into a fire if someone she loves is standing in it.
I kiss her temple. “You sure you’re up for it?”
She gives me a look. “Try to stop me.”
So, we grab the coffee and head for the Winters’ house.
The moment we walk into the kitchen, Katy goes straight to Declan.
She doesn’t say anything. She just wraps her arms around him, tight. Tighter than necessary.
He stiffens for half a second, then closes his eyes before hugging her back. He doesn’t let her go for a few minutes.
Breakfast turns into something between damage control and group therapy. I stay close to Katy, an arm always within reach.
Mateo keeps piling pancakes onto Ella’s plate every time she finishes one, like carbs might somehow fix heartbreak. Then again, the triplets have spent their entire lives acting like every problem can be solved with enough food.
Danny is predictably at Ella’s feet and hasn’t moved once. Not even when they started cooking bacon.
Ella doesn’t break. She doesn’t pretend, either. She just… stands there and lets us see her.
By the time we get home, Katy has stopped shaking. She keeps rubbing her stomach, whispering something I don’t quite catch. Something about being grateful for boring days.
Watching Ella face everything she’d hidden broke something open in Katy. She starts opening up to me, too, and telling me a little about what happened with her parents. About how scared she’s been.
She drops onto the couch and leans against me, sighing like she’s finally out of adrenaline.
I press a kiss to her hair. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” she murmurs. “Just… still super sad.”
As she drifts off against my chest, I look down at her—the fire, the vulnerability, the fierce heart that’s somehow both armor and open wound—and think that maybe this is how it starts.
The kind of real love that survives the chaos that comes with life.
The kind that isn’t perfect or easy.
Just showing up, again and again.