Monday took everyone by surprise, Ben spent a good amount of the weekend going out with his friends which was great except for the fact that to be able to finish all his work before the week started he was pulling some all-nighters. When Monday came he was the human version of a zombie, still, he managed to pull through the day and finish his work the only thing left to do were his interviews.

Azis told him that it would be best if he just added another day to his stay. "I know that if you applied yourself tomorrow, everything that is on your schedule is going to be done, but the quality of the work is not going to be up to par. Honestly, Ben, you looked like you haven't slept in days and that is our fault, maybe you should have stayed and work instead of going out with us."

"No, you guys were right I needed to go out and have some fun. I would probably only stayed here and thought of Mal and not do any of my work. I'm going to take your advice again and stay till the end of the week, I know you said one more day, but I want to spend some time with you before going back home if that's ok. I really miss you Azis; you are a good friend." Azis didn't know what to say; he was happy that his friend decided to stay because as much as he loved his life there if he was honest, he missed his friends too.

The boys hug, and Azis helped Ben to write some emails about the possibilities of changing the interviews to another day. To his delight, only one person couldn't change the interview day but asked if they could meet later than scheduled. At the end of the night, the boys had managed to change all but one interview to Wednesday leaving the majority of Tuesday for him to sleep. Azis offer Ben something to eat, but the boy declined, he was too tired, so he just went to the couch and fell asleep.

The alarm woke him up at 10 am, with enough time for him to take a shower and eat something before going to meet his only interviewer of the day. After his meeting, he went back to the apartment and fell asleep again until eight when hunger woke him. He noticed that there was a note on the coffee table next to him from Azis asking him to join him at Evie`s apartment when he woke up. Ben wonder if maybe he should just give the couple some time alone, and so he texted Azis that he was going to stay at the apartment preparing for his interviews and that they shouldn't worry about him because he was going to order something to eat.

After preparing everything for the next day, he took a shower and turned on the tv trying to find something to watch. Ben didn't even notice that he fell asleep or that Azis came home and got him into a comfortable position for him to sleep. It wasn't until his phone went off that he woke up disoriented and wondering who would be calling him in the middle of the night. His question was soon answered when a visible upset Mal appeared on his screen demanding to know where he was. That's when it hit him. With all the exhaustion he felt the day before and the fact that he slept pretty much the entire day he failed to tell Mal that he wasn't coming back that day.

He apologized but the girl was too angry to accept his apology, she just told him that she would appreciate if in the future he would tell things like this, so she didn't spend the night in an airport waiting for him. With that said she ended the call, and Ben felt horrible. A sleepy Azis emerged from his room, the ringing of the phone woke him up and without wanting too, he was able to listen to the couple's conversation. Ben was wallowing on the sofa when Azis sat next to him. "Let her be upset for now. She has a right to be, it was insensitive of us not to call her first but men you were not capable of thinking yesterday and you've been mostly asleep today. Tomorrow you call her and explained everything to her."

Evie woke up the next morning to the earliest call from Mal since she moved to another continent. The girl was angry, and it seemed that she wanted to tell her off for not calling her yesterday to share the news that Ben was staying more days there. Even though Evie loved Mal, she was not inclined to let her friend vent her frustration on other people towards her, so she let her talked and then told her that she was wrong for talking to her in that way. She did accept that Ben was wrong not to call her, but she also told her friend that the boy wasn't precisely in his best state of mind the day before.

Mal wanted to stay angry with everyone but the more she heard Evie's explaining the harder it was to be mad. Sure, she was still upset with Ben, and he needed to apologize. Still, Mal felt terrible when she listen to Evie about all of Ben not sleeping to finish his work. The girls talk for a while until Evie asked Mal if she was planning on going to sleep because where Mal was a little past 1 am. They said their goodbyes with the promise of finding a better time to talk to each other.

Ben sent a couple of texts to Mal apologizing and asking her when was a good time to call her. Part of her wanted to make him suffered a little, but in the end, she decided that nothing good would come of that and so with that in mind she asked him to call her at 6 pm. Sure, it would be midnight for him, but Mal wanted to be home when they talk so that she could have a calm environment for them to have a long conversation about what happened. Also, the fact that Jane was constantly asking her where Ben was, Mal had told her that he was arriving the day before, only got her in a bad mood.

That night Azis, told Ben that he was going to stay in Evie's apartment so the boy could have some privacy which made Ben feel like he was imposing on his friend. The boy stared at his Ipad until the clock mark midnight, and then he rang Mal.

The conversation was tense the first few minutes, which he understood and even anticipated it although part of him really hoped that the girl would be at least a little happy to talk to him. Even though she was mad he was glad to see her and talk to her; it was weird to think that she had only left five days ago and he was already missing her so much. At one point Mal noticed that he was just watching her with a longing look in his eyes and her annoyance disappear.

"Stop looking at me like that when I'm trying to be mad at you." Ben laughed the second she said that which only made her laughed too. Soon the couple was telling each other how much they wished they could be together at that moment and how much they missed the other. Ben told her about his interviews and how much fun he had over the weekend in the amusement park and all around the city attractions.

Mal told him how much she would have loved to be there with him but also share with Ben how amazing her big meeting on Monday went. While she talked, Mal noticed how intense was the look Ben was giving her and how focus he seemed to be in her image and wonder if she could tease him a little. Mal decided to act like she forgot part of her story and started to nibble on her lips while thinking, she enjoyed seeing how Ben lick his lips without even noticing what he was doing.

She continued to do little things that usually would make her boyfriend kissed her nonstop until the boy seemed to be a little uncomfortable like he couldn't sit still and she felt a little bad for him. "Do you want me to pick you up from the airport?"

That seemed to startle him a little, it took Ben a couple of minutes to answer her, but Mal didn't say anything. "Thanks but no. I'll arrive half-past eight, but I'll just take a taxi to the building. I'll call you before the plane takes off so that you know I'm it."

To the couple's joy, Friday came fast, and Mal found herself checking her phone regularly in anticipation of Ben's call. When it came, she wanted to run to the airport and wait for him which was crazy because his flight was over eight hours long, but he seemed equally excited to be on his way home. Jane made sure to make her day as tedious as possible, and Mal wondered if her friend was trying to make her go home late so that she wouldn't be there to welcome Ben. Mal was finishing singing some documents when her phone rang, and Ben's name appeared on her screen making her heart go faster.

"Babe, I'm walking out of the plane now. I'm going to pick up my luggage and then I'll go to the building. Can you meet me at my apartment? I really want to see you Mal, let's stay in for the entire weekend I don't want anything or anyone to interrupt us." His voice betrayed how tired he was because of the long flight, but mostly Mal could hear how excited he was to be back and she felt the same.

As soon as she hung up she sign the last contract and close her office, Mal made her way towards the street and luckily into a taxi. Jane started to call her, the girl was also in the office but had just walked into the bathroom when Ben called. Mal had already told her that she needed to stop behaving like this towards Ben, but the girl denied that she did anything that would prevent the couple from being together.

Mal answered the call, and without giving her friend a chance to speak, she told her that she was going home and was going off the grid until Monday. Jane said to her that there were still some things that needed to be done before Monday just for Mal to tell her that they needed to wait because she was not changing her mind.

Once in her building, Mal got into the elevator as fast as possible and went into her apartment to take a quick shower and change. Mal was sure Ben had arrived already to the building by the time that she made her way towards his place and was proved right when she was raising her hand to ring the bell and the door open showing Ben with a huge smile on his face.

"I was about to go looking for you. I've missed you so much Mal." with that said he took a step forward and leaned a little so he could kiss his girlfriend. Soon though, the girl was being carried into the apartment directly towards the boy's room where the couple didn't lose a minute to start showing each other how much they've missed each other. Night became day while they continued their activities when finally they succumb to sleep both of them were smiling and cuddling.

Ben woke up a couple of hours later and noticed that Mal wasn't in bed with him. He was about to get up when the girl entered the room dress in one his shirts carrying a tray with food. "I thought we could use something to eat. I was hoping to make it back before you woke up."

She made her way to the bed and Ben took the tray while Mal got into bed. However, instead of putting the tray on the bed so they could start eating, the boy put it on the floor and turned toward her with a mischievous grin on his face.

"So it occurred to me that you were a little naughty the other day when we were talking. At first, I didn't realize that you were nibbling on your lip on purpose or that you would lean forward so I could see a little more cleavage. " Mal wanted to deny it, but she could feel herself blushed under Ben's look.

Ben told her that now it was the time he was going to get even, but she shouldn't worry because he was sure that Mal was going to enjoy it. Mal wasn't sure what he was talking about until the boy was suddenly on top of her giving her little kisses. First, they were all over her face except for her mouth, although he made sure to kiss the corners of it agonizingly slow making her wished that he would just kiss her already.

She tried to guide him toward her mouth, but that only earned her that Ben took both her hands in one of his and put them over her head so that she couldn't do it again. Next, it came her neck which he kissed and nib making sure to go at it in the places that he was aware Mal enjoyed the most. After, he let go of her hands with a warning look as to make clear that she wasn't supposed to move her hands, and continue to kiss every single space of her skin that was exposed.

By the time he finished and made his way back up her body, Mal was chanting his name which only seemed to encourage the boy to take his time. After he finished, he finally gave her a long kiss which Mal didn't doubt to reciprocate for a second. In the end, the girl turned the scene as soon as she could, and soon Ben found himself under Mal which he utterly enjoyed.

Hours later, they remembered about the food, but it was so cold that they decided it was best if they order something. Ben put his boxers on and went to look for some takeout menus. The rest of the weekend was spent in a similar way which made both of them very happy. By Sunday night they decided that it was best if they went out for something to eat and that's how they made their way towards the dinner where they ate breakfast at the beginning of their relationship.

They sat in a booth and were looking at the menu while giving each other small kisses every now and then when a familiar voice invaded their bubble of perfection. "Well hello there. I didn't think we would find you two here."

Ben hoped that when Jane said "we" she was talking about Carlos because his and Mal's weekend was so perfect that he really didn't want to end it with a tense conversation with the girl. He looked up and noticed a mortify looking Carlos mouthing apologies next to his girlfriend which made him smile.

"Hey Jane, Hey Carlos. Do you want us to join us?" Ben said in his more pleasant voice which he could only master because of Carlos.

"Oh, really? Can we sit with you two? I thought this weekend was only for Mal and you. I feel so honored that I can sit with you guys." The second she said that Ben wanted to say something, but he didn't even get a chance because Mal was telling Jane that she was acting horribly and she was not welcome to sit with them with that attitude.

"I'm sorry Carlos you know I love you, but I'm not going to sit here and let your girlfriend talk to us like that." And before Jane could say anything else Mal was telling Ben to stand so they could leave and so they did. The girl was fuming, and it took Ben a couple of minutes to calm her down and convinced her to go to another place to eat.

The couple talked throughout the dinner until Mal was in good spirits again. That night they spent it in her apartment, and Monday morning Ben took her to her office in hopes of helping her remained calm when she saw Jane. However, the girl was nowhere to be seen which both of them thought was weird since the girl never missed a day at work. Ben suggested to Mal that maybe she should call Janel or at least Carlos to see if she was ok.

Reluctantly, the girl called Carlos, and the boy told her that it was best if she came to the apartment he shared with Jane to talk to the girl. Ben asked Mal if she wanted him to go with her, but she declined his offer. "I think is time that we have a long talk about this. Jane is one of my best friends, but she can't talk to us like that and assumed that is ok because she thinks she knows best."

Ben felt terrible to be the reason why Mal was having a bad time with one of her friends, but he didn't want to endure Jane's comments. One day when he and Mal get married and have kids he didn't want to be afraid of Jane making some snarky comment in front of them.

Today was also his first day back since Paris, and the amount of work he had was way more than he expected, so by the time he made a dent to the mountain of paperwork most of the office was empty. He rang Mal, but the girl didn't answer, and even though he was nervous about Jane talking Mal into ignoring him, Ben knew that maybe the girl just needed time.

However, when he made it home a couple of hours later than usual, he found that Mal was sitting outside his door with a sad expression on her face. He didn't need to ask to know that the conversation between the friends hadn't gone as good as anyone expected. Mal cuddled with him in bed and told him that she didn't want to talk about it.

Before Mal fall asleep that night, he heard Ben whisper that he was sorry to make her sad. She gave him a kissed on his cheek but said nothing and turned away from him to sleep.

Notes

Thoughts?