What happens next: chapter 7
I do not own these characters... Except the ones I create.
Mal and Evie's room
"Are you sure you're ok Mal, you've been acting weird for the past couple of days," Evie stated.
"Yes I'm fine," Mal lied. The truth was she wasn't fine. She missed Ben to insanity. He had tried to talk to her numerous times, but every time she saw him her mind went to that night in his office where he yelled at her.
"Alright, well I'm going to head out with Doug for breakfast before we to go class," Evie smiled.
"Bye Evie," Mal said unenthusiastically. She decided to eat a granola bar for breakfast and head to class early.
Mal's classes
All throughout the day, Mal couldn't concentrate. It seemed like her mind almost constantly wandered to the thought of Ben. She couldn't keep him out of her head. After school she headed to her favorite spot in the secret garden and began to draw. It always calmed her down.
As she was drawing she had an idea. She quickly picked up her things and hurried on her way.
Belle and Adam's castle
Mal walked up to the front entrance of Belle's castle and knocked on the heavy door. A servant came to the door.
"May I please speak to Belle?" Mal asked politely.
"She isn't busy at the moment, so I guess it'd be alright if you spoke to her... Right this way," the servant replied.
The servant led her to an office at the end of the hall and Mal saw Belle sitting on a rocking chair in the corner knitting what looked like a scarf.
"Mal! What a pleasant surprise! Come in and make yourself at home," Bell announced.
"I was wondering if I could talk to you about something," Mal asked. She began to pour out everything that had happened between her and Ben in the past few days.
"Mal, I think you need to think about the situation in a different way," Belle explained. Mal looked confused.
"Ben is extremely overwhelmed with the responsibilities of being king right now. He's tired, and stressed and doesn't know what to do with himself. I married a beast and I know it can be frustrating when they get angry. My husband will sometimes yell at me for the stupidest things, and you won't believe what he says to me when he gets angry. I just have to keep telling myself that he doesn't really mean it. I know that Ben loves you very much. He would never intentionally hurt you. People get angry when their stressed and they tend to take out their anger on the people who they are most comfortable with. If you just talk to him, I'm sure everything will work itself out" Belle advised.
"Thanks for everything, Belle," Mal said as she got up to leave. She wasn't sure if she was ready to talk to Ben or not. She knew he still loved her, but what he said had still hurt. Was she ready to forgive and let go?
Mal and Evie's room
Ben knocked in the door of Mal's room hoping she would let him talk to her. Instead Evie opened the door.
"Is Mal here," he asked.
"No, but she should be back soon. I'm going out with Doug but you can wait in here for her if you want," Evie replied nonchalantly.
"Thanks," Ben stated.
Evie left and Ben was left alone in Mal's room. He decided to wait on her bed until she returned from wherever she was. He sat down on her bed and glanced at her bedside table. On it were the flowers he had given her on her birthday. He looked around the vase she had put them in, but he couldn't find the note he had left for her. He looked around for it, when he saw some scraps of purple paper in her garbage can. He realized that Mal had torn up the note, and threw it in the trash. His heart broke it two pieces. He quickly found another piece of paper, and wrote her another note.
Dear Mal,
I am so so so so sorry for everything I told you. I can only hope you will forgive me. If you don't I understand. I'll just live the rest of my life in pain regretting everything I said that night. Please talk to me! It breaks my heart that I can't spend time with you everyday.
Love, Ben your favorite king of Auradon.
Ben heard a knock on the door, and quickly placed the note by the roses. Mal opened the door and was surprised to see Ben sitting on her bed.
"Ben, what are you doing here," she sighed.
"I came because I need to talk to you," he replied calmly.
"I can't talk to you right now, you need to leave," Mal stated.
Her reaction was pretty much what Ben expected.
"Bye Mal," he said and walked out of the room. He only hoped that she would find his note and come to him willing to talk. He went to the secret garden to wait because he knew it was her favorite place to be. Without even thinking, he began to sing.
The secret garden
Mal was feeling extremely guilty about not letting Ben talk to her. That's why she went to the secret garden so she could be alone. Ben's note had made her realize how much she was really hurting Ben by not talking to him. She wasn't sure when she would talk to him, but she knew she had to think about what to say. She walked through the gateway, and was about to sit down on her favorite bench when she heard something. It sounded like someone singing. Mal followed the sound and what she saw completely shocked her. There was Ben sitting on a bench by the rose bushes singing.
Did I mention that I'm in love with you? Did I mention there's nothing I can do. and did I happen to say I dream of you every day so let me shout it out loud, that's ok. I met this girl who rocked my world like it's never been rocked, and now I'm living just for her and I won't ever stop. I never thought that it could happen to a guy like me, and now look at what you've done, you got me down on my knees. because my love for you is ridiculous I never knew that it could be like this. My love for you is ridiculous my love is R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S! It's...just... And I would give my kingdom for just one kiss.
Ben looked over to see Mal looking at him, and smiled. Mal ran into his arms and cried. He just hugged her and let her know that it was ok.
"Why did you say those things to me?" She finally asked him.
"Mal, there's something I have to tell you..." Ben went on to tell her everything his father had told him about the beast traits.
"So you inherited the traits of a beast?" She asked him after taking some time to think about what he had just said.
"Essentially, yes," he replied. "And Mal, I am so sorry for those things I said to you. Even if it was just a beast talking, I still feel bad. I hope you know that I would never intentionally hurt you and now that we both know about these traits, it will make things a lot easier." Ben explained.
"And I'm sorry for freaking out, and not letting you talk to me. The truth is I missed you more than anything these past few days. I just wasn't sure what to say to you. And I was also scared. Until that night in the office, you had always treated me with respect and kindness. I had never seen you get angry, or freak out about anything. I was afraid that you would yell at me again," Mal confessed.
"I love you with all my heart Mal, I hope you know that," Ben said quietly.
"I love you more," Mal replied.
"I love you most," Ben said as he leaned in for a kiss. He kissed Mal with more passion than ever before, and she returned the kiss in the same manner. They lingered there for a while before they broke apart, both of them breathless.
"Are you sure you didn't put me under another love spell?" Ben asked her.
"What are you talking about?" Mal asked looking confused.
"Well that kiss was pretty magical," he answered as he leaned in for another one.
Ben's office
Ben was in his office the next morning beginning to get overwhelmed. There so many new problems that had come up that he had to deal with. Running a country was hard, especially with all of his schoolwork on top of it. Mal knew that Ben would be stressed because she had been watching the news and things weren't looking good for some of the people of Auradon. Mal had made some doughnuts the night before and planned to bring them up to his office in the morning. As she made her way up to his office she couldn't help but begin to worry. What would she do if she could't calm him down? What would happen if he yelled at her again?
She walked by Liz's desk and placed a doughnut near her coffee mug. Liz just smiled and thanked her. She knocked on Ben's door. She heard rustling of papers and a grunt for her to come in. As soon as she saw the room, and what Ben looked like, she knew he was in a beast mood. She could tell by his eyes. They had a reddish tint to them. He looked at her about to say something, but she stopped him, and instead she hugged him. Those simple actions made him calm down and as she looked into his eyes they were back to his usual handsome shade of green. He placed a kiss on her cheek.
"Thank you Mal, I needed that." He said gratefully.
"I know, that's why I made doughnuts last night, and one of them has your name on it," she smiled.
"How is it that you always seem to know exactly what I need?" He asked her questioningly.
"Well isn't that what happens when you're in love with someone?" She teased.
"I see who's the love expert now," he teased back.
Mal laughed. "Come on, let's clean up the room, and we'll see if we can work through all of this together."
She handed him a doughnut and they laughed together, as they ate and worked. Soon it was time to be heading back to their dorms.
Mal and Evie's dorm
Mal stood outside her dorm with Ben. She was about to go inside when he stopped her.
"There's something I've been wanting to do all day," Ben said quietly.
"What is it," Mal asked curiously.
"This," Ben said and pushed her against the wall, he began kissing her with such passion and force that surprised Mal, but she returned the kiss trying to add more passion. He opened his mouth and let his tongue work itself into Mal's mouth. She did the same. 2 or 3 minutes later Mal pulled away breathless after such a wonderful kiss. Ben smiled.
"Goodnight Mal, I love you more than anything in this world," he whispered.
"I love you too Ben, with all my heart," she replied and headed into her room.
To be continued...