[Report This]Date: June 14 2025 6:57 AM Title: Chapter 32 - Nothing Stronger Than Family
Wow, I wasn't expecting Ben to have anything sorted out so soon after telling Angie the truth!
I feel bad for Morgan, but I think Ben handled that conversation really, really well. It just comes down to the fact that he doesn't see Morgan in the same way that she sees him, which is tough but not something that can be helped. She's really important to him, but the love he has for her isn't of the romantic variety. He did an excellent job of making all of that clear to her during his second "coffee date" of the day.
I came away from this conversation convinced that he has learned a lot about honesty and openness from this whole experience. It was really cool to see the how all of this has shaped him as a person!
As for Morgan, it was so sad when she said that he shouldn't treat her with kid gloves because she's used to feeling this way. It had to have been such a struggle being his closest friend, his personal confidant, all while wishing he'd sweep her off her feet. Hopefully it'll get a little easier now that she knows that he doesn't feel the same way about her, and she'll be able to move past this with their friendship still intact and maybe even stronger than it was before.
And in this chapter, we saw Ben finally start to admit that he's crushing on Angie. I love how much shit his mom and sister gave him about it, like he was the only person in the world that didn't know! In fact, seeing Maria and Maggie a little more laid back for once was a treat in general. I think this is the first time we've seen both of them when they weren't dead tired from either going to or coming from work.
Tiny Treatments giving him that bonus was not only cool of them, but it actually made a lot of sense to me. While Kimberly thought he'd get a talking to about professional standards at some point (and he still might), I think Dr. Rivera was likely more worried that the stress of the whole thing was going to cost her an employee. As noted before, it's been hard for her to find people who are both comfortable with the shrinking process itself and willing to "work with" giant people while in that state. So I could see the good doctor just being happy that Ben is still a part of the team, let alone appreciate his flexibility during the Angie-Sabrina situation.
I thought it was awesome that Ben wanted to give his bonus to his mom and sister. He really is doing this for them rather than himself. I admire that about him. Likewise, I love how his mom shut that shit down, knowing that he earned that money and needed to put it toward his own future. Maggie's compromise made a lot of sense, too, and it could be fun to see the family out having a good time, assuming that makes it into the story.
I'm not 100 percent sure, but I think this is the first time we've heard anything about Ben's dad, right? I was wondering if he had died or something, but from what little we got here, it sounds like he just bailed on the family. That's fucked up, but I'm impressed that Ben has been able to step up and become more of a man than his father probably ever will be, even before he turns 18!
This is a minor nitpick, but Ben has said for two chapters now that he texted Angie and they met at the coffee place, but didn't she text him? Am I misremembering that?
Lastly, I'm excited to see that Angie has already booked her next session and love that Ben found out via Tiny Treatments rather than Angie talking it out with him first. This comes off as a tad bit impulsive by Angie, something an organized, sugar-packet-organizing girl like her would never do on a whim, so it feels special with him finding out this way. And the fact that she wants to see him tiny again is really interesting. Does she think it'll make talking to him easier? Does she want to tell him more secrets, this time trusting him as himself? Does she just think he's cuter at three inches tall?
I'm very much looking forward to that session, mostly because I really have no idea what to expect. I mean, yeah, Morgan found out about him during her session, but obviously Ben stopped massaging her after that. I'm curious how Angie will handle that aspect of it and also how she'll handle the size difference, since Ben shared how it changes the way he sees her from that perspective. Will she be more awkward, trying to avoid that? Or will she lean into it?
And how is she going to handle him dropping another bombshell on her mid-session when he confesses his feelings for her?
Yeah, this should be fun! Now I'm just left wondering when she scheduled the appointment for? If it's only a day or two from now, that level of eagerness on her part could only mean good things! If it's a bit longer than that, she's likely being a bit more cautious and reserved, which would be completely understandable.
Either way, I hope we don't have to wait too long to see it (and from what you said before, it sounds like we won't)!
Author's Response:
You're right, it was the first time I'm really bringing up the dad here! I figured someone might wonder eventually where he is. He has no presence in the story itself, he's just absent (and also the cause for the financial struggles by leaving)
And true, Angie texted him, I accidentally kept in a part from a small story change I made where Ben was the one texting Angie asking if they could talk, but then I reversed it later on. Thanks for pointing it out!
As for the next session, there'll be some new things happening soon. The appointments have been pretty routine up until now, so it's going to be switched up quite a bit from there, hopefully something people will enjoy reading. :)