Author's Note:I'm just warning you ahead of time, it ends happy! Nothing is as it seems!

Everything around Mal was black, empty, nothingness. Like a void. And she couldn't see her hand if it was in front of her face.

Then to her surprise, she heard laughter.

Ben... She knew his laugh anywhere... He had the most amazing laugh.

But then she heard a girl's voice say sweetly

"Oh Ben!"

Mal's heart stopped, she followed the sound of the voices and to her surprise ended up out of the void and suddenly at the enchanted lake.

There sat Ben, having a picnic with a fair skinned girl around fifteen, with raven black hair in a high ponytail. Mal couldn't see her face, but her heart sank.

He had taken this girl to their special place...

Then hot angry tears erupted down her face.

She stormed over to the girl and turned her around to face her. Big sea blue eyes looked back at her in alarm.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Mal growled.

"Melody, daughter of Ariel, Ben's new girlfriend!"

Mal was floored. She had no response to that.

Then more tears rushed across her cheeks.

"YOU'RE LYING!" She sobbed.

"Face it Mal... I'm much better for him... And besides... Why would he make a villain kid a queen...?"

"NO! He belongs to ME!" Mal pleaded.

Melody stood up, taking Ben's hand in hers as they werewalking away.

"BEN! BEN! BEN!"

"MAL! MAL WAKE UP!"

Mal bolted upright on the couch in Ben's dorm room, papers fluttered to the floor.

She looked up in alarm, to see thebrown eyes of Ben looking at her, terrified.

"W-what happened... Where am I?"

"You fell asleep when we were studying together... Then you suddenly started screaming my name..."
Then the dream came rushing back to her, and she collapsed into his arms. Sobbing.
Ben stared at her, bewildered.
"What was in that dream?"
"It was awful! I was lost in the darkness, then I finally found my way out and saw you and the new girl melody at our special place!"
"The enchanted lake..." Ben whispered.
"Yeah! And you two were having a picnic! And she said she was your girlfriend now!"
"Oh Mal... I-"
"And she said that she'd be better for you than me... That a villain kid and the king of Auradon would never work out! And she took you away from me! And the worst part of it was...
She was right!
I don't fucking deserve you!
You're noble, a perfect gentleman, pure of heart and mind, and let's get real, my life before I met you was awful!
Helleven after I met you, I only put the love spell on you so you'd ask me to the coronation, so I could grab the wand, so my own mother would be proud of me for once!
And then I realized, that I really did love you! Sitting there at the enchanted lake, and that a girl like me didn't deserve a prince like you..."
Mal closed her eyes in defeat, but then was shocked when he felt Ben kissing away the tears on her cheeks.
She opened her eyes, startled, and looked at Ben,his eyes were gentle, but his face was hard.
"Don't you EVER say things like that again! You have no idea how much you mean to me! I wake up in the middle of the night with nightmares of losing you every night! That my parents, or even your mom, will take you away from me!
Every night I have dreams that you'll find someone more handsome or more witty, or more daring. Like you...
You are the best thing that's ever happened to me.
Before I met you, I was a complete nerd, reading all the time, studying all the time, though thank god I didn't look like one, but except for school and sports and my parents' parties, I didn't socialize much, the only reason Audrey started dating me
wasbecause I was a prince, and I thought that all Iwas destined to be was a king like my father, with a prissy pink princess as my wife.
But then you came around and something happened...
You turned my life completely upside down.
I had never felt this way about anyone, even Audrey, and I knew you were the only girl for me..."
"But why? Why me?" Mal said frustratedly
"Why you? Oh god I could think of a thousand reasons why I love you!
You're brave, you're talented with art, which I find amazing, you've got a heart of gold despite being from such a questionable background.
You're beautiful-"
"No... I'm not... "
"Yes you are... And one day I will make you see that. Make you see what I see...
And lastly, you love me for me, not just because I'm king of Auradon."
Ben leaned down and kissed her hair,
"You just... You just need to trust me... Okay...? Time will prove how much I love you..." Ben said gently.
"Okay..." Mal said shyly.
Then Ben leaned down and kissed Mal passionately, when he pulled away Mal looked up at him longingly, and said
"Can I stay with you tonight...?"
Ben chuckled,
"It is getting kinda late isn't it... Yeah... You can... Just don't get caught going back to your room in the morning, people might get the wrong idea..."
Mal giggled, and Ben scooped her up, placing her on the deep bluecanopy bed, and laying beside her, Mal snuggled up to him, her head laying on Ben'smuscular chest. His arms wrapped around her tiny figure, and Mal sighed,
"I love you..." Mal said sleepily.
The last thing she heard before falling asleep was
"I love you too Mal... Never doubt that."