Chapter Text
It was so cold, you wondered if your fingers were not going to freeze. You had travelled such a long way for going to Disneyland… and now you were freezing outside while waiting for your turn to join Hyperspace Mountain. Wonderful…
The spirit of Christmas was so pleasant though, that you could almost forget the cold as much as the long wait. You were just sad that your friend couldn’t come at the last minute. Being alone during Christmas season felt lonelier than during any other time of the year. But you had planned that trip to Disneyland and to Paris for such a long time, you couldn’t just give up on everything. No one you knew could accompany you and take your best friend’s place, but you were determined to have a great time nonetheless. Being on a trip alone didn’t mean that you couldn’t have a good time, on the contrary. You were to spend two days in Disneyland and then a whole week in Paris, you would have the time of your life.
If you didn’t freeze to death first, of course.
You stroked your hands together to get them warmer, feeling your gloves being absolutely not efficient against the cold. Wonderful…
You took a look at your surroundings once again, never tired of how beautiful the park looked like. Disneyland was always filled with magic, but it was taken to a whole new level during the Christmas season. Decorations everywhere came to complete the already magical atmosphere. It had snowed the previous day, and remnants of snow coloured with white the alleys. Children where laughing, and couples were holding hands, and everyone seemed happy and excited…
You heaved a content sigh, as you felt your phone vibrating in your pocket. You picked it up to read the name of your best friend on the screen.
“Y/N! How are you?” she asked without giving you any time to answer.
“Hello, Annie!” you laughed at the excitement in her voice. “I’m great. Waiting to get on a roller coaster right now. How are you? Are you feeling better?”
“Yeah… I can’t believe I got that flue right when we were to leave…”
“Hey, it’s not your fault! I’ll bring you back tons of souvenirs and pictures. And perhaps we can do it again together!”
“I like your optimism, Y/N. But it’s annoying sometimes.”
You laughed at her again.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” you asked again.
“It’s just a bad flue, but I’ll be fine. I’m able to stand now, so I’m slowly healing! But tell me how it is there! How’s Disneyland?”
“Looking magical!”
Your friend moaned loudly in the phone.
“I wish I was there…”
“It’s very cold though, I’m freezing. Oh, wait! I’m finally getting in the building. You have to wait for so long to get in, it’s terrible!”
You walked inside, and the warmth suddenly hit your whole frame. It felt so much better than outside. You could feel your cheeks being less numb already, your fingers finding back their sensations.
“Where are you right now?” you friend asked you.
“Space Mountain. Or well, Hyperspace mountain, I think they renamed it… according to the map, at least.”
“I hate you! I wanted to do this one so much!”
“I know… don’t be sad!”
Your eyes travelled across the hall, and settled onto the sign in the hall. Besides indicating how tall children had to be to get a ride, there was another rule…
Singles would be paired
You couldn’t help but giggle in the phone, and you read the rule out loud to your friend.
“I hope I don’t get paired with someone who’s gonna throw up!” you told Annie. “Or to an old man who’s gonna have a heart attack!”
You recognized the mischief in the way your friend cleared her throat in the blink of an eye.
“Or perhaps you’ll be paired with your prince charming…”
You rolled your eyes.
“Annie…”
“What? It’s Disneyland! It’s a magical place! If you want to find your prince charming, this is the place!”
“I don’t want to find a prince charming!”
“You want to find love, that’s the same bloody thing!”
“No, it’s not!”
“Perhaps you’ll be paired with a handsome young man who is not going to mind losing an ear during the ride by your side. If he’s French it’s even better. I’ve always wondered if the legends about their kisses were true, you could be my guinea pig…”
“Annie! Stop it!” you laughed. “I’m not going to be paired with a handsome young man. And I won’t be your guinea pig.”
“Just saying that you would be stupid to miss an opportunity if you were to be paired with a charming young man, no matter his nationality…”
“You know what? You should go back to bed and rest. I’m going to hang up now, bye Annie!”
“Y/N, wait…”
But you didn’t let her finish and hung up anyway, an amused smile on your face. Your friend was ridiculous, but the funniest all the same.
A charming young man? Prince charming?! Ha! That was ridiculous!
You finally arrived at the end of the line, and waited for the employee to tell you to get inside the roller coaster. Indeed, you had to wait for another single person to arrive to get in. But only a family had to go before a lonely stranger approached.
The lights were quite dim, but nonetheless, you were able to distinguish that he was handsome. Dark hair falling before dark eyes. A short beard colouring his pale cheeks. A shy but genuine small smile painted on his lips…
For a moment, you wanted to call back Annie to inform her that she might not have been so far from the truth when she had announced that you would be joined by prince charming.
You exchanged a smile with this charming stranger, unable to look away from his eyes until it was finally time for you to get a ride. You climbed inside the tiny wagon, lowering the bannister when Charming Stranger had sit down as well, and the two of you exchanged another smile.
“Have you done this before?” he asked softly as the wagon slowly advanced through the dark.
“Never. You?”
“No, never.”
“I promise I won’t throw up on you. But my friends always say that I’m loud in this kind of roller coasters, so… sorry if you get deaf from one ear because of me.”
He let out a bright wave of laughter, the kind of contagious laughs that made a smile appear on other people’s lips.
“I might scream too, so that’s fine. And I won’t throw up either, don’t worry.”
“Thank goodness, I was scared to be put with a stranger who would throw up on me easily.”
The wagon started to gain some speed, and you both fell silent. It was dark but some flashing lights blinded you from time to time.
When you reached the scariest part of the roller coaster, you tried to grab the bannister before you for support, but you rested your hand on Charming Stranger’s instead. He didn’t push you away when you grabbed his hand, and on the contrary he let go of the bannister to take your hand as well, and you both shouted as you felt yourselves falling with the speed of the wagon. And none of you let go of each other’s hand before it was all over and the wagon was slowing down again.
When you finally hopped out of the wagon at the end of the roller coaster, your heart was still pounding in your chest, but the rush of adrenaline was more than welcome. You exchanged a smile with Charming Stranger, and you walked outside together.
“Thank you for not throwing up on me,” you smiled. “How’s your ear?”
“I beg your pardon? I can’t hear anything,” he joked, making you giggle.
“I said ‘How’s your ear’? you asked again louder, struggling not to laugh.
He chuckled, before nodding reassuringly.
"Still functioning, no worries.”
He put on a Christmas hat, and you grinned at the sight. Now that you were out in the sun, you could take a better look at his features, and your verdict was still the same. He was very handsome… There was something warm and reassuring that oozed from him as well, something kind and sweet that made you want to stay by his side for a little longer. But he cleared his throat, eventually.
“Well, I hope you have a nice time here,” he smiled kindly.
“You too. And merry Christmas!”
“Merry Christmas.”
You both walked in different directions, soon swallowed by the crowd around you.
But you couldn’t help but turn around one last time in search for him, although he had already disappeared.
And he did the same for you…
——————————————————————
“Jack, stop apologizing!”
“You’re on your own at Christmas in Disneyland, it’s depressing, Ben!”
“Depressing, depressing… not that depressing!”
Ben was caught in another long line to get in a roller coaster. But at least he was inside the building, which meant that he wasn’t freezing to death, so he couldn’t find a way to complain.
“Let’s see the bright side then, you may meet someone there…” Jack cautiously added.
Ben rolled his eyes. His last break-up had been hard to deal with. Not that he held grievances against his ex, not really. He understood that it was hard to deal with the distance and the many travels he had to go through as an actor. But he loved his job, it was such an important part of his life, he reckoned that the right person for him would understand it and embrace it as a part of him. His ex was just not the right person for him. Nevertheless, he had suffered a great deal at the end of this relationship, and he had needed a long while to get over it. Since he had started to show signs of improvement, his brother had tried to find him dates. Which was both sweet and terribly annoying…
“Jack! I don’t want to meet anyone!” Ben laughed his remark away.
“Come on! I’m sure they pair you up in those things, right? Perhaps you’ll find a nice stranger…”
Ben couldn’t help but smile at the memory of you. A couple of hours had gone by since you had both shared this seat in the wagon, and yet… yet he couldn’t find a way to stop thinking about you. He had caught himself looking for your face through the crowds full of strangers. He didn’t know why. He had never done this before. It was all too ridiculous, he knew nothing of you, he didn’t even know your name. Perhaps you were even married. What was happening to him?
He hadn’t even noticed that he hadn’t replied to his brother, and before his silence, Jack knew that Ben was hiding something.
“You did meet someone!” he almost shouted into the phone.
“No, I didn’t,” Ben rolled his eyes again.
“You did!”
“Jack, shut up!”
“You met someone! How is she? What’s her name?”
“I… I didn’t really meet her anyway, we just got paired for a ride and… there’s nothing into it really. There’s nothing more to say.”
“What was she like?!” Jack insisted.
“She… she was quite… nice,” Ben stuttered, feeling his cheeks blushing. “Quite… huh… charming, actually.”
“Charming?! And what is the name of this charming stranger?”
“I have no idea.”
“Ben! Are you serious? You meet a lovely stranger who seems to be alone in Disneyland right before Christmas as well, and you don’t ask for her name?! No wonder you’re still single…”
“Hey! I’m the big brother here, I’m the one to give you this kind of snarky remarks!”
“You’d better ask for her name the next time you see her.”
“What makes you think that I’ll see her again? It’s huge around here, you know? I’ll probably never see her again…”
But his voice died out, caught in his throat when he recognized your scarf and then your hair and…
… there were no doubts to have, it was you indeed, standing just a few meters before him, waiting in the line just like him.
A smile crossed his features as the thought of being paired with you again crossed his mind. After all, there were two families between him and you, so you would surely be together again… But what if someone else needed to be paired before you?
“Ben? Are you still here? Have you been trampled by a group of kids heading to see Mickey?”
“She’s here,” Ben breathed.
“What?”
“She’s here. The woman I was paired with, she’s right in front of me, waiting in the queue…”
“You have to talk to her.”
“What? No, I mean… She will probably not even remember me!”
“It was today, of course she will remember you!”
“It’s not a good idea…”
“It’s a brilliant idea. It’s a sign, Ben! Go and talk to her. Ask her if she wants to be paired with you again. And then, try to make some conversation. AND ASK FOR HER NAME, MORON!”
Ben had to put the phone away from his ear because of his brother’s shouting, but he reckoned that Jack was right. He had to stop asking himself so many questions about everything. You looked like a nice person, and he had nothing to lose. He was not asking for more than to spend a bit more time with you, that was all. In the worst case, you were married, and he would soon find out, and he could still enjoy the ride with you. So why was he so nervous at the idea of talking to you again?
“Ben? Are you still here?”
“Yeah, yeah… I’m here.”
“Go. Get. Her. Number.”
Ben slowly nodded, taking a deep breath to summon his courage.
“You know what… I’ll call you again later, Jack.”
“Sure! Or you know what? Don’t call me at all and spend some time with this charming stranger of yours. What are you still doing here on the phone! Hang up and GO!”
This time Ben did listen to his brother and he ended the call, before apologizing and walking through the line to reach you.
He stood still for a few seconds right behind you, looking at you and wondering what he could say without looking like a creep. But his mind was blank and he mentally slapped himself for it.
“Hello again.”
You turned around quickly as you recognized his voice, and you couldn’t help but smile at the sight of Charming Stranger standing right behind you.
“Hi!” you grinned up at him.
“It’s funny we meet again.”
“Yes! I… hmm…”
You both stared at each other for a moment, wondering what to say, and feeling both happy and uncomfortable to be around each other again, until you both broke into laughing.
“I’m sorry, I… I just found it funny that we were meeting again, but I’ll leave you alone now,” Ben mumbled shyly, his cheeks turning crimson as he brushed a lock of his dark hair away from his eyes.
“No, no! I mean… I’m glad you came and talked to me again, I hadn’t spotted you in such a crowd. But I’m glad to see you again, so… huh… would you like to be paired with me again?”
You bit down on your lip nervously, and his smile widened at the sight. He found you adorable…
“Sure. That would be nice. And I can still hear perfectly with both ears, I should give you another shot at making me deaf.”
You both exploded with laughter.
“You clearly have a taste for danger!”
“I’ve been waiting for almost half an hour to get in a scary roller coaster, I though you knew that already.”
You couldn’t refrain another wave of laughter as you walked further in the hall. But you were a bit disappointed at the sight of so few people waiting before you… it meant little time to spend with Charming Stranger…
“Is it your first time here?” he asked with a smile.
“Yes! I was supposed to come with my best friend, but she has the flue and couldn’t come. She convinced me to go anyway without her though… so here I am!”
“I was supposed to come with my brother. But he broke his leg, so… here I am.”
“Judging by your accent, you sound like an Englishman…”
“I am English.”
“I live in London.”
“I’m from London.”
“Really!? How crazy is that!?”
You exchanged a bright grin.
“For how long are you staying here?” he asked as you advanced again.
“It’s my first day here in the park, and I’m leaving tomorrow but not to go home just yet. I’ll spend 6 days in Paris first.”
“I’m staying here tomorrow too as well.”
You were about to speak again, but it was time for the two of you to get a ride. You didn’t speak again until you could climb out of the roller coaster, and were back on your feet.
“That was scary,” Charming Stranger breathed.
“Are you okay?”
“Of course, just… Lots of adrenaline!” he laughed, resting a hand on his rushing heart.
“Where are you going next?” you asked softly, putting your gloves back on.
But he merely shrugged in response.
“I don’t know… just… walking around a bit. You?”
“I don’t know.”
You saw him hesitating, biting the inside of his cheek. But after he took a deep breath, Ben had gathered enough courage to speak again and ask you the question that burnt his tongue.
“You know, I was thinking… as I’m alone and… you’re alone,” he said quite quickly but tripping on his own words nonetheless. “Perhaps we could… stay together for the rest of the day. I mean… so we can be paired together. What do you think? At least we’re sure we won’t be paired with someone too terrible then.”
A shy smile appeared on your lips.
“So… you’re not deaf yet, huh?”
“Not in the slightest.”
You exchanged a smile.
“Well then… perhaps we could do that,” you nodded, and he smiled at how shy you looked all of a sudden.
“Wonderful! So… it’s almost one…” he went on, checking his watch. “What would you say about some food? I’m completely starving.”
You slowly nodded. A little voice in your head asked if it was a date, but you shushed the thought almost immediately. You had barely met. It was just time to eat. Nothing romantic involved. He was probably not even single…
“And by the way, I’m Ben,” he tore you away from your thoughts as he offered you his open hand.
You smiled, shaking his hand.
“Y/N.”
“Nice to meet you, Y/N.”
“Nice to meet you, Ben.”
“Are you hungry then? Or perhaps you’ve already eaten… sorry, but I’m truly going to die of starvation if I don’t find food quickly…”
“I haven’t eaten either,” you reassured him in a chuckle. “Let’s find something to eat then.”
You exchanged another smile, before walking through the crowd, but not caring for a second about the many people around you, nor the cold air that bit your skin. Instead, you merely walked aimlessly, stealing glances towards him from time to time, and on your lips, your smile matched Ben’s grin.