[Report This]Date: June 16 2025 6:35 AM Title: Chapter 34 - I Will Do What I Must
Damn, I keep falling behind!
I love that Ben gave Morgan a proper conversation in the last chapter. He kind of did that in the coffee shop, but this talk was more definitive and left no room for doubt. Morgan took it like a champ, too! She's the best, holding it together and being supportive despite losing out on what she really wants.
And my heart broke alongside Ben's when she laughed off crying into a tub of ice cream that night! That's so sad. The worst part is that I don't know if Ben calling her to check up on her would make things better or worse, so he's probably better off just leaving her alone, which sucks. She's in pain, and Ben can basically do nothing to help, since he's inadvertently the cause.
I also loved the nervous flirty energy Angie brought to her texting game, those dreaded dots showing that she's thinking, deleting, sweating out the proper wording to things, all while we see Ben doing the same thing on the other end. But when she called him tiny at the end there, it was fucking adorable!
Shit, she even admitted that she was looking forward to the session, to having him tiny at her feet. I definitely like where this is going!
Then, at school when they were face to fact, she was really shy. She even took Ben's idea from before and had them switch up partners during debate prep. She also clearly wanted to say more when she backed out and told him she'd see him later.
Now, on to this chapter! This! This is what the story has been building toward! The Ben and Angie stuff is all gold already, and we haven't even gotten to the good part yet!
But first, it was a nice twist that Dr. Rivera is an old friend of Ben's mom. I never made the connection that she was a doctor and Maria worked in the medical field as well. I'm not sure if this will be something the story draws on down the line, but I kind of hope this was mentioned for a reason!
That conversation between Kimberly and Ben was also really awesome! Yeah, her getting the whole story from Ben was good, but I was more impressed by the fact that they had it through the shrinking process. Ben still gets a little dazed when he changes size, but he's clearly comfortable at three inches tall, at least when he's in the hands of someone he trusts, like Kimberly. It just really stood out to me that the conversation didn't even break as he stepped into the chamber and shrunk. This was nicely done!
But maybe the most stunning thing here was the way you sold Angie's size! You've done this before, both with her and the other clients he's seen (not to mention Dr. Rivera and Kimberly),. but it just felt ... more here. The way Angie's soft voice boomed and vibrated through Ben's body, especially when she giggled innocently and the vibration traveled through her foot to him. The way she bent over to peer down at him, her hair cascading down the sides of her face as she looked down on him like a benevolent goddess. The way her shins seemed to stretch upward forever and her big toe was as thick as his body. All of this set the scene perfectly and made Ben seem even more vulnerable than before.
And there's just something special about a girl's voice booming and dominating a tiny guys existence as she blushes shyly and speaks quietly (on her scale). It was so adorable when she blushed and accepted Ben's compliment while her voice was so loud, not matching her demeanor at all. I love this so much!
Angie remembering that he likes the color blue, such a minor thing he brought up months ago, is such a clear sign that she's into him! There have been several of those (basically the last three chapters, if not the whole story), but this is an even bigger tell than the mocha was! Not only that, but she wore that same blue dress to their last session, also leaving her hair down like before. Did she subconsciously suspect that Ben was her technician the entire time? The mind works in mysterious ways ...
It was nice to see Ben establish that he always respected Angie and that he never hated her instead of just jumping in about his feelings for her. Clear the air and bury the past before setting off for the future.
That they were both envious of each other, thinking the other was pretty much perfect while their own lives were a mess was kind of cute, too! That also shows that we really have no idea what someone else is going through and that everyone is good at hiding things from the outside world when they feel like they need to. It's been very satisfying seeing these two move past that.
I'm glad they touched on Ben's family situation again, and Angie noted that she didn't realize things were that bad when he said something before. I'm sure part of Angie feels guilty for her complaining about her "high end" problems when he's struggling in the real world. I keep going back to her being annoyed that her parents want her to attend Harvard and Yale while Ben is struggling to pay for college application fees, but it perfectly epitomizes the different worlds they're living in.
Having said that, I respect Ben for kind of dismissing the notion that her problems matter less because she's well off financially. He didn't say that directly, but he apologized for judging her, for not just talking to her and instead viewing her "perfection" as a challenge. He acknowledged that he made some assumptions because of her class and that he now realizes he was wrong to do that.
Have I mentioned how much I like Ben?
On the other side, Angie admitting that she thought Ben was living a perfect life because of his authenticity was eye-opening. Yeah, she's been talking about feeling forced to play a role and her parents trying to decide things for her, but I never made the connection that she looked at Ben and saw a freedom that was well beyond her grasp. That she tried to take some of that from his debate style and incorporate it into her own is kind of sweet, really.
So the two of them saw the lives they thought they wanted in each other, and that seems to be a big part of the reason this rivalry became a thing in the first place. That makes it all the more fulfilling to see them realize that both of them are all too human and have their own problems.
I thought it was a nice touch that both of them started to settle in as the conversation progressed, and we even got to see a little bit of Angie's flirty side show itself with that "Mr. Carter" stuff.
And then of course, you cut us off right when Ben was about to confess! Thanks for that! Ha!
So yeah, I'm really eager to see where this goes next chapter. All the signs are pointing toward Angie feeling quite similarly to Ben about the nature of their relationship, and I'm excited to see if that shows in how she responds to him.
Author's Response:
Ben and Angie finally opening up to each other was one of my favorite things to work on, after all the building up.
I wasn't really sure how to go about it, but I at least had the opportunity to bring up more things that couldn't be discussed at the coffee date.
Rivera and Maria knowing each other was something I came up with later, not something I had planned out from the start but it just made sense!
I'm glad you like Ben as he is, he's been making mistake after mistake up until now, but he tries his best. Just like Jordan, my main characters tend to be kind of prone to making things worse before they make it better, but they have good intentions. :)