*Ben's POV*

I barely slept a wink all night; all I could think about was whether Mal was ok and whether anything was happening between her and Ethan. I knew she said some of it to hurt me but I couldn't let the fact drop that something may or may not have happened between her and Ethan last night. I knew that it wasn't my place to worry about it anymore but even if Mal didn't want me to be her boyfriend I still classed her as a friend. As her friend I was allowed to still be protective over her right?

I quickly rolled over and sat up in bed; today was Saturday and I had a rare day off. I let my face drop down when I remembered that I had plans with Mal today; but due to the break up that were obviously null and void. Why did I think that this was a good idea? Of course it wasn't! Mal meant everything to me and I shouldn't have given her up.

As I had nothing better to do I decided that I would have to do some coursework that I was a little bit behind on; however to do this I would need to go back to Auradon Prep as all my coursework was in my dorm. I glanced at my bedside clock and noticed that it was now half ten; I would go for around dinner time I decided as I stood up to get ready. At least I've managed to have a little bit of sleep I said as I walked into the bathroom; even though it was very limited.

It was now half past twelve and I was travelling to campus; fingers crossed I could just go to my dorm and then leave when I wanted to without too much bother. Audrey had spent the latter part of the week following me around campus; she obviously knew that me and Mal had broken up. So she had now resorted to following me around campus all of the time. I only thought of Audrey as a friend so her company was valued; however I didn't like it when she tried to hug me, kiss my cheek or walk around campus trying to hold my hand. I knew that she thought that we should get back together; but I only saw Audrey as a friend. I didn't even know how I was going to get over Mal; if I was ever going to.

Speaking of Mal I glanced up and looked up at her dorm window as I walked past; I hope she in in there with Evie I thought to myself. She will be a voice in my head told me; Evie wouldn't have let her wander off it quickly added. Fingers crossed I thought to myself as I started to walk into the dorm building to go and find my dorm.

*Mal's POV*

When I woke up my head felt like a train wreck; I groaned as I put my head in my hands.

"Someone's awake" I heard Evie say. I dragged my duvet over my head as if this would shield me from Evie's lecture that I was just about to get.

"You can hide all you want Mal, but I still want to speak to you" she said. I heard her get up from her bed and I felt her jump on mine.

"Evie" I whined.

"Come on Mal" she laughed.

"Urgh!" I said as I felt her pull my duvet down so she could see my face.

"How much do you remember from last night?" She laughed as I looked up at her through groggy eyes.

"Everything?" I muttered.

"Really" she said as she tried to get me to look at her.

"Yes I got drunk, danced with some dude, argued with Ben and then swapped my number with the dude I was dancing with" I said as I covered my face with my hands.

"How do you feel?" She asked.

"I feel really bad" I admitted.

"Really?" She asked.

"Yes" I muttered into my hands.

"I never meant to dance with Ethan or give him my number" I said into my hands.

"Then why did you?" She asked. I pulled my hands away and looked up at her and noticed that she was pulling a stern face at me.

"I don't know, I panicked. I was only being nice; I was never going to see it through with anything more than that" I said.

"Evie can I admit something to you?" I asked as tears started to gather in my eyes as my mind started to reply the memories from last night.

"Of course" she answered as she reached over and took one of my hands in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"I had no idea how to react when Ethan started speaking to me last night. I wanted to tell him that I wasn't interested but I just couldn't" I admitted.

"You've never had a problem before" she said as she pulled one brow up.

"I know, Ben's changed me quite a lot" I said and I quickly widened my eyes when I started to remember what I said to Ben.

"Oh no" I gasped as my hands flew in front of my mouth.

"What?" Evie asked.

"I've just remembered what I said to Ben" I muttered.

"Evie I didn't mean any of it, I just wanted to hurt him, like he did to me" I said.

"Oh I've really screwed things up now" I said as I slowly sat up and brought my knees to my chest.

"He might not want to speak to me after last night, especially after he came looking for me" I said looking at her.

"Oh that reminds me" I said looking at her.

"Yeah" Evie replied nervously after hearing the tone I had just used.

"You told Ben where we were?" I accused.

"Well he kept ringing and asking" she said quickly.

"He did seem very worried about you" she added.

"I know, and I can't lie and say that deep down I didn't like the fact that he came looking for me. Because I did" I admitted.

"I just keep remembering his face when I told him to go away. He looked so broken" I said as I remembered Ben's face last night.

"Well I don't think he expected to find you dancing with someone" she said.

"Well I didn't expect it either" I said trying to defend myself.

"Look at you, having older men chasing you" she teased.

"Evie" I warned.

"There's only one man I want chasing after me and right now I don't know whether he will ever talk to me again" I said sadly.

"Well there is only one way to find out" she said.

"Yeah" I replied as I hoped that Ben would speak to me. I threw the covers back and went to go into the bathroom but my phone went off. I went and picked my phone up and groaned.

"What's wrong?" Evie asked.

"Ethan's just text me" I said as I started to read it.

"Hey Mal, it was fun spending time with you last night. Do it again sometime? Ethan".

"What does he want?" Evie asked.

"He wants to meet up again" I advised.

"Must be nice having a string of men after you" she teased.

"Evie" I warned again.

"I only want Ben, that's if he ever gives me the chance to speak to him" I said as I sent Ethan a reply.

"Hey Ethan, yeah it was fun. Maybe, we will have to see :) Mal"

"I'm now going to get ready so I can go and speak to Ben. Hopefully he will speak to me" I said to Evie as I set my phone back down.

"He will" Evie said reassuringly.

"He obviously still loves you" she added.

I had to go looking for Ben; I knew that there was a chance that he might not want to speak to me after what I said to him last night but I still had to try. I had to explain to him that everything I said was because I was annoyed at him. I knew it was a stupid excuse but I wanted to hurt him just like he had hurt me.

I decided against texting him and just went to find him. I think this was mainly due to the fact that I felt that Ben deserved me going to find him and to speak to him face to face. I owed him that after my behaviour last night; so after Evie wished me good luck as I closed our dorm door the nerves really started to kick in.

I tried his dorm first of all and of course there was no answer. He probably was staying at Auradon castle to keep out of the way of everyone. My mind spitefully started to tell me that it was me that he was keeping out of the way from but I pushed this away. I didn't need this way of thinking taking over my mind; I needed to try and remain confident to some degree so I could speak to Ben - if he let me.

I was now leaving the dorm buildings and was thankful that there wasn't that many people around. Fingers crossed they weren't still there when I came back if things ended badly after my conversation with Ben. Auradon Prep was a lovely school; but it was rife with gossip; and I had been involved in a lot of it this week.

I was just about to walk across the court yard and I then suddenly stopped in my tracks. I saw Ben standing with Audrey and Chad; at least I didn't have to go to the castle. That would have made the conversation awkward with his parents. I then took a deep breath to steady my nerves and started to walk slowly towards them; I would say that he looked like he was in a good mood however I knew Ben better than anyone. I knew when Ben was hiding things from the world and right now he was wearing his mask to hide that he was upset. I just hoped that I wasn't just about to argue with Ben in public; even after last night I hoped that we would be able to be civil enough to each other to speak in private. That was based upon Audrey letting us talk on our own; when I had saw her the last couple of days she had been unbearable to deal with.

However my resolve was broken when I saw Audrey take Ben's hand; I widened my eyes in shock and then quickly span round. Was Ben now with Audrey? No surely not; he had come to see me last night. Or was he only doing that to be a good friend? I pushed the lump in my throat down and started to walk away from them. My mind started to frantically worry, so was this the real reason why Ben wanted to break up with me? So he could get back together with Audrey? How long had this being going on for? Was I ever going to be good enough for Ben? Well it looks like he now has someone who is fitting for him. A king needs to be with a princess not some street trash from the Isle I spitefully told myself. I took a couple of deep breaths to steady myself as I didn't want to start crying is public. I needed to go and think; I needed to go and be on my own. I let my hair fall in front of my face so no one could see my face in case I was unable to stop myself from crying. However I wasn't that lucky.

"Mal are you ok?" I heard Evie say.

"Leave me alone Evie" I said as I tried to walk away from her. I just needed to be on my own for now. I needed to digest the full situation. At least now I understood; Ben was now with Audrey. I had lost him and there was no chance of getting him back.

"Not when you are like this" she said as she walked after me.

"Now hold on and tell me what has happened" she said as she put her hand on my arm to stop me. She quickly stood in front of me and stepped close to me so we could have a little bit of privacy.

"Have you spoke to Ben?" She asked.

"No" I muttered.

"I didn't need to" I added as I pushed the lump that was forming down my throat.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"I now know the real reason why he broke up with me" I admitted.

"Ok, what's the real reason?" She asked.

"He's back with Audrey" I muttered.

"What?" She exclaimed.

"I've just seen them standing together in the court yard holding hands" I explained.

"But he came to see you last night" she said sounding confused.

"I know, I don't understand it" I said dropping my face to the floor. I knew that I had to end this conversation soon as I didn't know how much longer I was going to be able to last before I started crying.

"He has got me so confused" I admitted sadly.

"Evie I don't think I could cope if he has been cheating on me with Audrey" I begged.

"In fact cheating with anyone" I added.

"I couldn't tell deal with it" I said as I bit down on my bottom lip to help stop me from sobbing.

"Hey come here" she said and she pulled me into a tight hug.

"Ben's a jerk" she muttered.

"Yes he is" I agreed.

"Evie I know you want to speak to me but I need some time on my own to think" I advised.

"Are you sure you want to be on your own?" She asked as she pulled away and looked into my eyes.

"Yes" I said.

"No offence" I added.

"None taken" she replied. As I looked into her eyes for a couple of seconds I knew that she didn't really want to leave me but I knew that she would give me the space that I needed.

"But you know where I am when you need to talk" she offered.

"Ok" I said.

"Thanks Evie" I said as I turned away from her.

"Your welcome" I heard her say as I started to walk away from her, as I continued to fight back the tears that were becoming to much to deal with.

*Ben's POV*

I was about to leave campus when I heard someone call my name; when I turned around I noticed Evie was waking quickly towards me and she looked angry.

"A word" she spat at me.

"Of course" I said as we walked off on our own so we couldn't be overheard.

"I thought you loved Mal" Evie said.

"I do" I said sounding confused.

"Whatever" she said.

"Evie can you please explain, you have me really confused" I said.

"Well you came looking for her last night, saying that you had made the biggest mistake in your life" she started.

"Yes that is true" I agreed.

"So please explain to me why when Mal comes looking to for you, she sees you hand in hand with Audrey?" Evie asked.

"Mal was right, there was something else going on" she quickly added.

"How long have you and Audrey been going on behind Mal's back?" She asked.

"Whoa! Evie! I'll stop you right there" I said as I held both hands up to defend myself.

"I'm not with Audrey. She has been following me around since me and Mal broke up she won't leave me alone. She grabbed my hand not so long ago but I can swear to you I love Mal. I don't want anyone else but Mal" I said quickly.

"Hang on" I said as I realised what she had said.

"Did you just say Mal came looking for me?" I asked slowly.

"Yes, but I saw her crying after seeing you and Audrey together. When I spoke to her she said she needed time of her own to think. Ben she wanted to speak to you; but now she thinks you are back together with Audrey" she advised. I could now see that she could see what had happened and she was starting to calm down.

"Oh no" I said as my mood dropped. I might have had a chance to fix things if Mal had found me without Audrey. I needed to speak to her.

"I need to speak to Mal" I muttered.

"You need to go and find her" Evie agreed.

"Thanks Evie" I said and I quickly walked away from her. I had to find Mal and I had to set her straight; I needed to fix things with her and hopefully we could get back together.