galileo figaro magnifico ➳ ben hardy [1]

real life

when gwilym and joseph arrived at her flat, theodosia had finished her crying entirely, feeling now a sense of anger. her castmates had just left and she ended the facetime with rami and lucy, leaving her to stare up at the ceiling intensely, limbs flailed out, body deathly still. it was tim who had to let them in, talking to them in hushed whispers. "i don't know her condition but i know ben isn't great," he informed them as he arrived, key in hand. "lots of crying, out of sadness and anger. i so badly want to tell him what happened, but i know it's not for me to tell; that she's the one who needs to tell him."
joe nodded knowingly while gwil knit his brow, confused but not questioning. "has he specified why he won't let her explain?"
"still too angry, he claims. heartbroken. deep down he know it's not true, i can tell, but he hasn't quite gotten to that point yet."
glancing briefly at gwil, joe quickly said, "tim, why don't you let gwilym in to go see her? and then we can continue our discussion out here."
tim did as suggested, gwil nodding to him as he entered the flat. "he thinks she cheated on him like she had on me," tim rushed once the door was once again shut.
"what the fuck? why would he think that? and what do you mean she cheated on you?"
"back when call me by your name came out, we had kinda gotten together after she tweeted me and man, i fell for her hard. i, uh, really thought we were going to be married by now, maybe, just maybe have a baby on the way. she never saw our relationship that serious. we had a fight about it and next thing i know, i'm getting texts from a fellow actor, i won't name any names, of the two of them together... intimately."
"oh, man," joe raked his hands through his hair, eyes wide, facial expression one of extreme shock.
"theo was a much different person then than she is now. little did i know, she had been crumbling, and my mentions of a life together shook her to her core, making it worse. she never saw herself as good enough to be with me, and it all came rushing at her. i didn't blame her, i felt the same way when i was brought out into the spotlight. but we both got help, talking with armie and elizabeth and visiting a therapist together. when she got with ben, i could see her hitting her highest high. she was doing so well, i don't think she had ever done that well before. and then that fucking dickhead came along and when ben got here, i could see her doing better for their three days of peace, and then bam - she's back to square one."
"what was said to ben that he's acting like this?"
"ben had gone to get them coffee at the usual shop, not knowing we blacklisted the place since the brodeur family owns it. étienne's brother, guillaume, was working. said, 'hear about what happened?' ben was, of course, clueless. the brother continued to say, 'you know, cheaters will be cheaters. she cheated on timmy and now she's cheated on you with my brother and she's using a big, elaborate lie to hide it. ruining my brother's life, she is.' he stormed out before he could say more and went to her flat, started yelling and asking her it it was true. he took her sobs of confusion, and, well, they were mainly panic attack induced since she's terrified of men yelling at her, but anyways, he took them for a confirmation and left without letting her explain, coming straight to my flat. and that's where we are now."
"this is a fucking mess."
"you can say that again."
"this is a fucking mess. anyways, i better get back in there and you should probably get back to ben."
"got it. just go easy on her, yeah?"
"tim, it's me. you know i will."
tim let out a breath of air, nodding. "see you later, mazzello."
"later, chalamet."
walking into the flat, joe could hear gwil speaking softly to theo, his voice a melancholy hum through the door. she had filled him in on every little detail, yanking him out of the dark, and now they were talking of lighter things, such as queen and filming for anna and the french kiss.
joe retrieved a glass from her cabinet, filling it with water and chugging it down before setting the glass in the sink, dropping his bag from the couch. nudging open the master bedroom door, he found gwil and theo cuddled up together, a very familiar fanfare playing from her macbook. he chuckled, leaning against the doorframe. "are you seriously watching bohemian rhapsody?"
theo looked up at him, grinning. "joey!" she pushed the mac over to gwil, hopping up and running to give him a hug.
"hey there," he smiled, giving her a tight hug. he pressed a kiss to the side of her head before they pulled out of the embrace, joining gwil back in bed. with her best boys cuddled up on either side of her, theo balanced the mac on her lap, the three indulging in everything the queen biopic had to give.