[Report This]Date: June 25 2025 8:17 AM Title: Chapter 38 - House Warming
Ooh, this was a really fun chapter! Any chapter where Angie gets to play with a tiny Ben "doll" is great in my book!
I liked how Ben's family saw him off, too. Maria still concerned and Maggie giving him that slight, lighthearted tease while reassuring him that she'll be there if he needs her. It was very warm and really highlighted the bond Ben shares with his family.
I'm glad Angie addressed the money offer with Ben. She's right that it was awkward of her to do that, but Ben handled this really well. He knew she meant well and just felt bad and probably a little guilty that she has so much money at her disposal while the Carter women are working so hard to make a fraction of what she gets just because of who her parents are. So instead of feeling insulted, he felt appreciative that she was willing to do that.
Angie being self-conscious of her house was pretty telling. At first I thought she just might have felt awkward showing off how well off she is while Ben's family is struggling, but I really appreciate how much deeper than that you dove here. She doesn't feel comfortable in that house. It's a monument to her parents, two people that seem to largely ignore who their daughter actually is and just try to put her where they think she fits into their own lives. Her comments for each room of the house were heartbreaking, and it was sad to see her bitterness at not being able to feel that sense of connection that she clearly has always longed for.
Not until now, anyway.
And yeah, Ben's family situation definitely weighed on her when they first arrived at the house as well. Ben assuring her that living in a glorified castle didn't make her a bad person was really sweet, but her noting that it didn't make her a good person either shows that she's not completely sold on that idea. And the fact that she was so concerned all this time that Ben would view her as a "privileged princess," making her almost ashamed of her family's money, gives us an idea of how long she's been into him. She's cared about what he thinks of her this entire time.
Angie's room being so different from the rest of the house was cool, and I loved Ben's reaction to that. He's dealt with all of this so well, both the size and Angie's wealth. It would be really easy for someone like Ben, who has seen his family struggle so much just to get by, to be bitter about Angie's house. He could easily minimize her problem with her parents and be upset that she "dared' to complain while his family was struggling to keep the lights on.
But he never does that. He takes her problems seriously, and he's just happy to get to know the real her. Ironically, Ben in some ways seems better off, his closeness to his family contrasting pretty hard with the emptiness Angie conveys whenever talking about her parents. I really like how much those two opposites are highlighted throughout the story, but it was especially noticeable here.
Angie playing with her Ben doll was adorable! A light bit of criticism here, but I would have been happy to see more of that scene. It felt like her actually playing and fiddling with his limbs was kind of short. I'm not even talking from a fetish perspective, as this is a PG story. But just from a narrative perspective, it seems to me like she would have played around with him a bit more, given how shyly intrigued she was at the prospect in the first place.
And by the way, that whole thing where she hovered her fingers over him talking about how tempting it was, never just grabbing him and apologizing immediately afterward, was perfect! There was an innocence there that I loved!
I was a bit surprised to see Ben tell Angie about Morgan's feelings for him and him turning her down, but I think this is a good thing. Angie knowing about Morgan's feelings for Ben means that she can make sure Ben and her don't flaunt their new relationship around Morgan, which is pretty cool. I thought it was great that Angie was so considerate not just for Morgan's feelings but Ben's as well. She showed an emotional maturity here that made me like her even more!
Angie almost stripping naked in front of Ben and him not being able to look away was a really cute moment. Seeing both of them so flustered had me smiling, and I like that they both apologized instead of Angie getting frustrated and taking it out on Ben, as usually happens in these situations in these kinds of stories.
It was sweet that Ben wanted to sleep near Angie than sleep in the dollhouse that was only slightly too big for him (that was a great detail, by the way, making the house almost right for his size but not quite). His reasoning made perfect sense, and the two of them laying in bed together was a heartwarming moment for me. Also, the way you described Angie's face throughout this part, from the freckles on her nose that Ben couldn't see when she wore makeup to hitting up that goddess-to-mortal comparison to Ben noting how Angie's whole face seemed to reshape itself with her smile. This, again, was a great way to demonstrate the difference in scale between them and also make Angie feel like an otherworldly beauty at the same time.
Ben actually asking Angie to be his girlfriend and even dropping the l-word was unexpected, but I loved the spontaneity of the moment. And Angie trying to tease him, only to get flustered after he got worried that she was rejecting him melted my heart!
And Angie tying this moment in with their early debate stuff was a nice touch, too. That she fell for him way back then, and that, like Morgan, it was because he helped her, this time with rebuilding her debate instead of math stuff, was really, really sweet. Going back a bit in the chapter, that stubbornness she mentions here ties in with her admitting that debating Ben was more about getting his attention and actually being heard and understood for once (because her parents don't do either of those things when it comes to her).
I liked that point a lot. For Angie, their whole rivalry was about finally finding somebody who engaged with her ideas and just actually listened to her, even when he was destroying those ideas. Angie was so desperate to be seen that she was okay if she had to pretend to hate the person actually seeing her and watching as he dismantled her arguments. For that "hate" really be a cover for her growing love for him is such a wonderful concept!