Benielle: It's Complicated

Fifteen

*Ben looks over at Danielle to ensure she's okay before he starts talking*

Ben: "My bachelor life? You make it sound a lot more appealing than it is, Anne."

Anne: "I don't think I'd believe you if you said that you're unwillingly single."

Ben: "Bars would be a lot more fun with a girl on my arm, one that I would get to see every time I come home."

Anne: "So then what's holding you back? If you want it, why don't you go get it? Why haven't you got it yet?"

*Ben takes a brief glance at Danielle then looks down*  Ben: "I missed out a long time ago. Kind of given up by this point."

Anne: "You sound as if you feel you don't deserve it."

Ben: "Well, I don't know whether or not I would have deserved it. But I do know that you don't always get what you deserve, good or bad."

Anne: "Tell me what you want, Ben. Tell me what you want, then tell me if you think you deserve it."

Ben: "Honestly Anne, I wish I could have a do-over, and I think I deserve that."

Danielle: "But why Ben? A do-over? You would throw away every memory you have to try and do it over again?"

Ben: "If I could experience some of the moments from my life for the very first time again, that'd be the best return I could ever receive from a risk."

*Anne smiles because Ben and Danielle are actually having a conversation together*

Danielle: "But what we've done in the past shaped us into who we are. Why would you want to change that? Sure, you may have made some mistakes – we all have – but I love you just the way you are."

*Ben rests his head on his arm but doesn't respond*

Anne: "Hearing that from Danielle, doesn't that mean a lot?"

Ben: "You know... everyone sees me as this most cheery person. Believe me, I am, most of the time. I don't even need a drink in me to be an upbeat life of the party. But –"

Danielle: "– But you're fun drunk."

Ben: "I'm sure, but what I was going to say is that I sometimes regret coming back into this whole thing and rebooting up our old show and all that. You may see me as the wild and crazy man child on set but sometimes Girl Meets World brings out a really deep sadness that I shield away from everyone."

Danielle: "I don't like the thought of you bottling up sadness and not telling me."

Ben: "I guess it's just one of those topics that is a little more difficult to confide in you about."

*Danielle frowns*

Ben: "It's not you, though! It's my sensitivity to nostalgia. When I see Rowan and Sabrina talk about their friendship and their relationships on the show, I remember when that used to be me. It reminds me of everything I used to have and how good life was at that time."

Danielle: "I miss it, too."

Ben: "Filming Girl Meets Pluto broke us. Remember, we almost didn't go through with that episode. Recreating Feeny's garden, and being back there with you and Rider. It almost didn't feel right. As bad as it sounds, having the girls there made it feel like a bit of an intrusion into our past life that was supposed to be for us and us only."

Danielle: "But that's what parenthood is, right? Inviting your kids into your life. Bill said it himself. Sitting on the bench talking with them felt like he was actually talking to the children of the kids he helped raise. But Ben, the past will always be ours."

Anne: "Just to be clear, these children that you're talking about, they're yours on the show?"

Ben: "Yes" *he gestures to himself and Danielle*  "Cory and Topanga's little girl, and her best friend."

Anne: "What's it like being an on-screen dad?"

Ben: "I love it. It just gets a little difficult when we have to film certain scenes about the past, because the past is so real and they're not."

Anne: "Have you ever had a desire to have kids of your own some day?"

Ben: "You know, Anne, the show that we're making now is so cross-generational. Those who watched our first show are parents now and they watch the new show with their own kids."

Danielle: "And that's something that was really important to us when we decided to create this. Just like our past affects us, the adult viewers would surely feel the same. It's a really special bond to be able to watch a new show with your same childhood characters, and share that will your own kids."

Ben: "Exactly! The truth is I wish I had my own little one to share this new filming experience with. I wish I could experience that special feeling myself."

Anne: "Now the question is, do you think that's something you deserve?"

*Ben looks over at Danielle*  Ben: "I think that's something we deserve."