After a long night of dancing and partying, long after midnight, despite Fairy Godmother's usual curfew, Mal was never so relieved to see her dorm room. It had been a long day of anxiety before the coronation, and all of the events that followed. She had spent the day defending the kingdom, Ben's kingdom she thought with a small smile, from her mother, and then with all the dancing and fireworks and a ton of time in Ben's arms as they danced the night away, it all seemed to rush by in a blur. She had never thought she would be so happy to see the overly pink and purple frills of the canopy above her bed, never so thrilled at the prospect of getting into baggy pajama pants and falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Only, Ben was still holding her hand in his. She couldn't forget about Ben, the crown still on his head, the dorky smile that hadn't left his lips for nearly the entire night, and the sweet smell of the night clinging to him, his cologne barely covering the evidence that they had been dancing for several hours.

Mal turned to face him. He looked about as exhausted as she felt, but the smile still remained true on his face as he leaned closer to her. She knew he was about to go in for yet another kiss. She knew she couldn't let him. She was still trying to reason out her true feelings after she had love spelled him, and family day, and after all that had happened at the coronation.

"As tired as I am," Ben began, his cheeks flushed with all of the dancing and partying, "I still don't want this night to end," He told her gently. He didn't lean in again as Mal expected him to, and she felt relief flow through her. It was getting more difficult not to kiss him, the magic of the night practically begging for it.

"Has it set in yet?" Mal asked him, not wanting him to leave quite yet either. She knew the longer she waited, the harder it would be to explain what she knew she had to tell him. "That you are king of all of Auradon?" she continued, watching him with a gentle smile. He did look quite cute with the crown.

He returned her smile and shook his head, the crown shifting just slightly. "It still feels like a dream," He admitted. "Though I can understand why, with such a beautiful girl on my arm." he finally leaned in for another kiss and she turned her head away, knowing it was what she had to do. "Though the crown is heavy," He added, pulling away, acting as if the near kiss hadn't even happened.

"A lot of things take getting used to I guess," She answered with a small shrug. Then their exhaustion seemed to overtake them and they were plunged into a long silence.

Mal knew she would have to tell him eventually, and there was no time like the present as Fairy Godmother always said. "Um, Ben," She started, just as he said her name at the same time.

"You can go first," She told him with a little smile, whatever he had to say was probably less serious than what she had to tell him.

"No," Ben answered, suddenly a lot more nervous. "You should really go first." He decided. "Beauty before Kingliness," He said, a little smile breaking through at his making up new words.

Mal forced herself to remain serious, even though he looked so cute. " Ben," she said, "King Ben, you should really go first."

He shook his head. "Just Ben is fine," He told her, "Well when it's just us anyway," He continued, twisting a tendril of her hair between his fingers again.

Then he pulled away and sighed. "I haven't told anyone about how you spelled me," He spoke, his voice suddenly becoming more regal, as if he was going to make a proclamation.

"Ben-" she started as she stared up at him, a sudden fear crossing her face that she tried to hide away. But he didn't let her continue.

"I have no intentions to," he continued and she couldn't help the sigh that escaped her lips. "But if it ever did come out, there could be doubts of your intentions and mine." She could see that his hands were shaking, the only evidence that he was as nervous as she was.

"What are you saying?" She asked, trying to remain confident and collected. She didn't want to jump to any conclusions. She searched his face for any meaning, but he kept his face neutral.

Ben took a deep breath. "It would be wise if we spent some time apart," He explained, avoiding her eyes. "Really decide how we feel about each other, just in case anyone finds out about the love spell. That way they can't question our loyalties." He avoided her eyes, "That way, we'll know if what we're feeling was real, or could be, or if it was just the love spell."

Mal hated to admit that he was right. "How long are you thinking?" She asked, focusing on the golden piping on his coronation suit rather than his blue grey eyes.

"Two weeks," Ben decided a little too quickly, "Or until we can't stand the separation," He continued. "I'm going to be busy with kingly duties anyway most likely," He said, "but if it makes you more comfortable we can say we're still figuring things out after our first date."

Mal nodded slowly. "Ok," she answered, "Two weeks to figure things out." She could feel the weight of everything, including exhaustion, hitting her all at once. "Anything else we need to talk about?" She asked him, finally looking at his face again and his eyes.

He shook his head slowly.

She slipped his ring from her first finger and handed it to him. "Then I'll see you on Monday, King Ben." She could feel the not so familiar sting of tears against her eyes as she bowed low. She didn't look at him again.

She knew she had to get into her room before he noticed anything. She shut the door and crumpled to the floor, all of the emotions of the day hitting her at once.

Everything had changed so quickly.

Ben stood and stared at Mal's door for several minutes before he turned and headed for his own dorm. He wanted to badly to just knock on her door again, tell her his true feelings and kiss her as he was sure she had never been kissed before, but he knew what the tabloids would say, what the reporters would pull from any loose thread in his intentions.

And all because she was Maleficent's daughter with an unknown father that could be royalty.

It was a wise idea to take a step back from things, see how she did on her own, see how he really felt about her without the love spell as a catalyst. See how she really felt.

Happy and love were two very different emotions.

Still, she had taken it all better than he had expected her to. If he had said something like that to Audrey, or any of the other princesses in Auradon, they would have either wailed themselves hoarse into hysterics, or started throwing things at him. Mal had just accepted it, as if he had told her that he was going to go to the library or something else mundane.

He wondered just how much she had really been hiding from him as he unlocked the door to his bedroom and shuffled in, barely enough energy to turn on the light or lock the door behind him. He pulled the crown from his head and collapsed onto his bed, too tired to even think about undressing. The events of the entire day replaying themselves in his head as he closed his eyes.

He knew why he needed to take a few days of distance. Her love spell, while it hadn't lasted too long, had made him think of several possibilities, several options he hadn't ever thought to explore before her arrival, both in his dreams and in Auradon.

Several options that were quite dangerous for Auradon.

As much as he wanted to explore those options, he had to know that what he was feeling, what they were feeling was love.

He could survive a few weeks alone, keeping his distance. He needed to if he was ever to prove that their relationship was real and not just a product of a love spell. He could survive time apart from her, if it meant proving to the rest of the kingdom that she really was good and not just using him. He could survive a week or two without her, he had already spent sixteen years of his life without her.

But that didn't mean he couldn't think about her.

The events of the day replayed themselves in his head as sleep overtook him, only as he dreamed, her lips met his every time he had tried to kiss her.

He fell asleep with a smile on his face.