Author's Note:
Hello lovely readers! I am back with another update. And I know I said I would update earlier than this, but I completely forgot about it. So, here it is now, and I'll actually update again this week to make up for that.
Anyway, here's the new chapter.
I don't own it.
Chapter Four
Mal woke to the sun shining in her eyes. She opened her eyes slowly, at first not remembering what had happened the previous night. Then it came back to her. The servant informing them that Ben had been kidnapped. Going to the library to find the culprits. Finding the political documents from LeFou's court case, and the location of Ben's kidnappers.
Mal sat up, stretching her sore back and wiping the dried saliva from her cheek. She concluded that she must've fell asleep during her research. She closed the book and slipped it back into its place on the shelf.
Then, Mal left the library, wondering where she'd go next. She knew that she couldn't possibly go back to Auradon Prep now, as they were in the middle of a school day and she'd surely get caught for skipping class. In addition to that, she reckoned that she had gotten about four hours of sleep in the library and could really use a comfortable bed to sleep on for a little while.
With that in mind, Mal headed to the one place she knew she'd get the best sleep – Ben's room. Sure, there were around ten guest bedrooms in the palace, but they were cold and unfamiliar. She'd get the best sleep surrounded by something that reminded her of Ben, and she knew for a fact that his bed smelled distinctly of him (but she'd never admit that).
On her way to his bedroom, she passed by Belle and Adam's room. Usually she'd simply pass by this door, and she almost did again. But she heard the muffled cries coming from within the place, and had to make sure that everything was alright.
She tapped her knuckles against the wooden door, and immediately the cries stopped. Mal realized that the door was slightly cracked, so she pushed it open slowly and stepped inside.
"Mal?" asked the soft and lovely voice of the former queen. She sounded quite choked up, and Mal saw that she was sitting on the couch by the lighted fireplace with a mountain of tissues by her side and a book on her lap.
"May I come in?" Mal asked politely, even though she was already technically 'in'.
Belle nodded, patting the cushion next to her, on which Mal took a seat. She looked around the room rather awkwardly before her eyes landed on the book that was perched on the former queen's lap. There was a picture of a goofy blonde-haired toddler grinning up and her. Something about the bright blue eyes reminded her of Ben, and she felt her eyes start to water as she realized that it was Ben.
"I-is that…?" she asked, and Belle nodded, knowing exactly what Mal was trying to ask.
"It is," she confirmed. "It's one of Ben's baby books."
Mal smiled sadly. She had always wanted to look at her boyfriend's baby books, but in her imagination Ben had been there for her to tease.
"Can I…can I look at it?" Mal asked.
Belle set the book on the young woman's lap and watched as her face broke into a smile with the next picture. Ben was still a toddler in this photograph, and was wearing his father's crown. It balanced on his head, half of it hanging over his face, and in the photo he was laughing.
"That's one of my favorites," Belle said. Mal looked up at the aging woman, the tears that were pooling in her eyes spilling over.
"He's so cute," Mal choked out, wiping the tears from her cheeks before they fell onto the photograph.
Belle nodded. "There's another one back here," she said, reaching over and flipping back a few pages, "that I really love. It was on his first birthday." She stopped at a full-sized picture of baby Ben with his face covered in chocolate, his head thrown back, laughing with a mouth full of cake.
Mal laughed through her tears, hugging the book to her chest and wishing with all her might that Ben was there to be humiliated.
"I wish he was here," Mal confessed.
"Me too," Belle agreed. "He'd be so embarrassed."
Mal laughed again, and so did Belle.
"Mal?" Belle asked. "Can I ask you a question?"
Mal nodded, still flipping through the pages of the book.
"Do you love my son?" Belle asked.
Mal's head snapped up. She wasn't expecting that question for a while. She thought about it for a moment. "…I don't know." Then, she asked Belle a question. "How did you know when you loved Adam?"
Belle stared into the fire, a fond smile on her face. "It was the moment he fell to the ground after defeating Gaston. I couldn't live with the fact that he was gone, quite possibly for good. That's when I knew."
Mal thought for a while longer. "That's how I feel right now," she admitted finally. Wow, she thought, I love Ben. It seemed so simple to say, only three little words, and yet she knew that it meant so much more.
Belle reached up and stroked the young woman's purple hair. "He loves you too, you know."
Mal nodded. "I do."
The two women turned back to the book, and spent the next hour going through the photos, laughing and crying together.
Mal stopped only when Evie texted her, asking her where she was. "I should be getting back to Auradon Prep," she told Belle, handing her the book.
Belle pushed it back into her hands. "You keep it," she told Mal.
"Are you sure?"
"Of course," Belle said sincerely. "Besides, there are plenty more where that came from."
"Thank you," Mal told her. Belle nodded in response, and Mal turned to leave.
"And Mal?" Belle said. Mal stopped and turned to face the woman again. "I'm here, if you want to talk. Even after we find Ben."
Mal smiled gratefully, then left the former queen to herself once more. She walked back to the school, holding the book close to her heart the whole way home. She needed Ben to come back. She needed him there, with her. And not only did she need him, but Belle needed him too. Adam needed him. Everyone needed him to come back.
Auhtor's Note #2
Alright, there you go! Just a little chappie featuring a motherly Belle and some cute-ass pictures of Benny-boo. We'll be back to the actual story and plot and stuff next chapter.
Please leave me a lovely little review, it would mean the world.
Lots of love,
~SmartyPants210
