It's Chemistry

Chapter Nine

Dedication: I've gotten some reviews of what people would like to see in future chapters. One of those reviews asked for a love triangle between Evie, Doug and Chad, and while the end of the previous chapter lays literally the first stepping stone for a forced love connection between Chad and Evie from Chad's side, I've also been asked to have more Ben/Mal, so this chapter will actually focus on Ben and Mal, and we will get back to Chad/Evie/Doug in chapter ten.

Also, thank you all for being so patient with me in regards to updating. It has been a hectic couple of days for me, and I just haven't had the amount of time that I would like to have to write.

Nothing was making sense. Mal was trying to figure things out, but everything was a jumbled mess. Why had her mother really kidnapped her and her friends? What did Ben, Jane, Doug and Audrey really have to do with her mother's plot for revenge? Why had her mother not tried harder to keep them all on the island? Why had her mother allowed them to escape instead of having one her goons standing watch? Almost any question about hers and hers friends' short time back on the island with the words 'who, what, where, when, why and how' were floating across Mal's mind, completely confusing her, and causing her not to be able to focus on much of anything. And when her thoughts weren't on the escape, they were on Evie, lying unconscious in the school's infirmary. Doug hadn't left her side since they had returned, but Mal hadn't gotten to see her. Just as she had gotten to the doors to the infirmary, Fairy Godmother and Ben walked out, and the former had told her that Evie wasn't able to have too many visitors right away. Mal had tried to argue that she was Evie's best friend, and that she should be allowed in, but then she had been told that Doug was with her, and her argument died on her lips. So she had left with Ben.

Since Mal hadn't slept since the night before her date with Ben- 'had it really just been two nights previous' – she had started to head towards hers and Evie's room, but Ben had gently steered her towards his room instead. When Mal had given him a look as to say 'what are you doing?' Ben had simply given a look back saying 'you will do better in my room', so Mal hadn't argued with him on the subject. And as soon as they had reached his room, they had both collapsed onto his bed and fallen asleep with their backs facing each other. Neither of them had realized just how tired they had been until their heads had hit the pillows, but at some point, they had both turned over so that they were facing each other, because when Mal opened her eyes as the rays from the sun started to light the room, she found herself staring into Ben's eyes.

"Were you watching me sleep?" Mal asked.

"Maybe." Ben replied as he reached over and lightly brushed a strand of hair behind Mal's ear.

"Are you going to try and kiss me again?" Mal asked softly.

"I'm thinking about it." Ben said with a small smile.

"You know, our plan of trying to preserve the rose petal so that I could wear it as a pendant hasn't happened." Mal commented.

"I know." Ben agreed.

"Are you going to tell me about your dad at some point? You told me about your mom, but you haven't mentioned your dad much." Mal said.

"I'm surprised that you haven't figure out what I inherited from my dad by now. I wasn't the friendliest person down in that dungeon." Ben said with a slight frown.

"You were chained to someone who had spelled you into thinking that you loved them. I chalked it up to you finally realizing what I had done and you were finally showing how furious you were with me." Mal said with a shrug.

"I'm not furious with you Mal. Sure, I was a little irritated that you weren't opening up to me and that you kept keeping me at arm's length when I had given you no reason to do that, but I'm not furious." Ben said. "But seriously, I inherited my father's temper. He was arrogant and had a short fuse leading up to being cursed, and all throughout his curse up to falling in love with my mother, and earning her love in return." He explained as he sat up in bed and looked away from her.

"What's wrong?" Mal asked as she sat up as well and moved towards him.

"Everyone judges you and your friends for your parents' mistakes and assume that all of you are just mini versions of them, but the conveniently ignore the kind of person my father was, and how I can be at times, just because he found love. I don't think that it's fair that if people are going to judge others, that they pick and choose who they are going to judge. There are times that I feel like people overlook the anger issues I inherited from my father just because I'm about to be crowned King. And they gloss over my father's anger issues from when he was my age, and the ones that he still has at times because he's the current King." Ben explained as he punched his mattress before standing up and starting to pace.

"People probably gloss over your father's past because he changed. He was heartless when he was your age, and he was cursed for it; but then he met your mother, and he changed. He fell in love, and everyone knows that love is truly powerful, so they are looking at who he is now instead of who he used to be." Mal tried to reason.

"But that's exactly my point Mal. They are conveniently forgetting that my father used to be heartless and cruel, yet they judge you and your friends based on your parents' past actions, instead of your own actions. How can I rule fairly, if the people that I will be ruling don't know how to be fair themselves?" Ben asked.

"It's not the people that you are ruling that need to be fair Ben. It's you who needs to be fair. Sure, there are people here who can only see the horrors that mine and my friends' parents committed, and at the same time, ignore the horrors that your father committed, but if you are fair in the way that you treat everyone, or at least as fair as you can be, then people will either try and be like you, and see everyone for who they are as individuals, or they will continue to have blinders on and not see reason. You can't tell people how to treat others and expect them to do it. They need to make the decision to treat others better on their own." Mal said.

"So you're saying that if I own up to my actions, and bring to light my own fathers actions and show that even heroes have flaws, that there's a chance that the people of Auradon will start to do the same?" Ben asked.

"That's exactly what I'm saying. No one is perfect Ben. Not even Royalty. And you can't expect people to be perfect either." Mal said.

"You could be a very wise Queen someday." Ben commented.

"Is that an indirect proposal of marriage Prince Benjamin?" Mal asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Not at all. Just an observation if we were lucky enough to get that far in our relationship." Ben replied with a smile.

"I've never really been on good terms with positive luck in the past." Mal said with a frown.

"All of the bad luck that you have encountered in your life was associated with your life on the island, maybe now that you're here in Auradon things could start to change for the better." Ben said with a shrug as he walked back to his bed and took Mal's hands in his. "I'm sorry our date didn't go as well as planned." He said.

"It's not your fault. Starting a date with you being under a love spell wasn't exactly the best idea to begin with, so there was always the potential that it could have gone worse." Mal said as she looked down at their joined hands.

"Once everything settles, would you like to try again? With both of us 100% in it?" Ben asked.

"I don't know where I'll be once everything settles." Mal admitted.

"You'll be here in Auradon with me and your friends, both your new friends and the ones that you've had your entire life." Ben said.

"How do you know that?" Mal asked skeptically.

"I'm listening to my heart. And it's saying that everything will work out in our favor." Ben said before slowly leaning in and pressing his lips to hers in a light kiss.

As the kiss went on, Mal wrapped her arms around Ben's neck and pulled him closer. After everything that they had been through on the disaster that was their first date, Mal knew that they both deserved some time to just feel. To just let their actions be led by what they were feeling, not by what they were thinking. After they pulled away when the need for air was apparent, they chose to just lay in each other's arms and stared into each other's eyes. Then a couple hours or so later, there was a loud knock on the door, accompanied by Jay's voice saying that they were going to go see how Evie was doing, and Mal hurried to go with them.

When Mal, Ben, Jay, Carlos and Jane reached the infirmary, they found Doug, sitting in an uncomfortable chair, next to Evie's bedside, simply staring at her. Mal's heart broke when she saw her best friend lying so still. It was almost too much for her, but with Ben and Jay by her sides, both holding her lightly, Mal made her way over to the bed.

"Doug?" Mal asked softly as she stepped forward with her friends close behind.

"Hey guys." Doug said as he briefly turned around, before turning back to Evie.

"Has she woken up at all?" Jay asked, the pain in his eyes at one of his best friends lying unconscious evident.

"I thought she might have said my name a couple minutes ago, but when I looked up at her, her eyes were still closed, and she hadn't acknowledged that I'm holding her hand, so I think I might have just imagined it since I want her to wake up so badly." Doug replied.

"Have you tried kissing her?" Jane asked as she walked over and pulled a chair next to Doug's.

"No. But she wasn't put under a sleeping spell, she was knocked unconscious when we pulled on the chain and her cell filled with debris. So I didn't think about it." Doug said sadly. If only she had been placed under a sleeping spell, then maybe he could have woken her up by now.

"Have you eaten anything since we've been back?" Ben asked.

"I don't want to leave her alone." Doug replied.

"Do you want us to go get you something to eat?" Carlos offered.

"That would be great. My dad would not like if I actually didn't eat." Doug said with a halfhearted appreciative smile.

"We'll be back in a little bit." Mal said as she gave Doug a hug.

"Okay. I'll be here... waiting for my Princess to wake up." Doug said as he returned Mal's hug.

Once she had pulled away, Mal looked at the others. She was not going to leave Doug alone with Evie anymore, she could see how much of a toll this was taking on the guy. She wanted at least one of Evie's best friends to stay, but before she could even say anything, Carlos mouthed that he and Jane would stay with Doug and Evie. With a nod, Mal walked away with Ben and Jay following. Once they reached the hallway, she finally broke down. As Mal fell to her knees, with tears falling from her eyes, Ben gave Jay a confused look, which Jay just shrugged off before kneeling next to her and wrapping his arm around her shoulders before Ben followed suit and took her hand in his.

"Why? Why did this have to happen to Evie? Why couldn't it have happened to me?" Mal asked through her tears.

"If it had happened to you, Ben would have been where Doug is, and Evie would have been asking the same thing. This isn't your fault Mal." Jay said as he gently rubbed her back. He had seen his two female best friends break down enough times in their 16 years to know how to comfort them, despite who his father is.

"None of you should have even been there. When she engulfed me in smoke, I thought she was just taking me away from Ben. But then he was engulfed in smoke too... I never thought that she would have taken everyone who I care about as well." Mal cried as she put her head into her hands.

"Look at me Mal." Ben said and tried not to laugh when she peeked at him through her fingers. "My horrible behavior down in the dungeon aside, I guarantee you that if it happened again, none of us would have wanted to be anywhere else. Friends will always have your back, no matter what." He finished as he gently pulled Mal's hand from her face and kissed the back of it.

"Plus, Evie's will to be there for her friends is stronger than anyone might think. She'll pull through because wherever her mind is right now, it wants to get back here and be with the people that she loves and cares about." Jay added.

"How can you guys be so sure?" Mal asked in a small voice.

"Because... because we have to believe that something good will come out of this whole ordeal." Jay replied, making Mal's eyes go wide as she turned to look at him.

"Let's go get some food for us and Doug." Ben said after a couple minutes of silence.

"I've already eaten something." Jay commented.

"Not you, me and Mal 'us', just me and Mal 'us'." Ben replied.

"Oh, right." Jay said with a small nod.

As the three of them walked towards the cafeteria, Mal felt like something was off. Everyone that they passed looked right through them as if she, nor Ben, nor Jay were actually there. Since hers and her friends' arrival at Auradon Prep, Mal had never seen anyone look through Ben being there... it was almost as if they weren't really there. Glancing around, Mal noticed Audrey sitting alone.

"Hey guys, do either of you find it weird that Audrey is sitting by herself? She's the most popular girl at school." Mal commented, drawing Ben and Jay's attention to the Princess.

"Maybe people have finally started to see her as the self-absorbed Princess that she is." Jay replied with a shrug.

"That's one heck of a way to talk about the girl you like." Mal reprimanded.

"Mal's right Jay... that was kind of rude." Ben added. "But yeah, Audrey never sits by herself at lunch... and honestly, no one has acknowledged us since we left the infirmary." He added.

"You noticed that too?" Mal asked.

"Yeah, it's weird for people to walk right past me and not get some sort of greeting." Ben said with his face scrunched up in confusion.

"Maybe it was because we didn't acknowledge anyone on our way over here." Jay suggested.

"I don't think that's it. Let me try something real quick." Mal said before she walked over to Audrey. "Hey Audrey." She said once she sat down.

"What the hell has been going on since last night?" Audrey asked in a harsh whisper.

"What do you mean?" Mal asked.

"No one- and I really do mean no one- has said a single word to me since we got back from the island last night." Audrey said. "It's like they don't see me. What the hell did that island do to me?" She asked.

"It's not just you that people are seeing through. It's Ben, and me, and Jay as well. I'm not sure about Jane, Carlos, Doug and Evie though." Mal admitted.

"So, what? We're all just invisible to our friends now?" Audrey asked as she glanced around.

"I really don't know what's happening Audrey. But we might need your help to figure that out." Mal replied.

"And why would I do that?" Audrey spat out.

"Because... if my assumption is correct, then only the 8 of us that were in that dungeon can see each other." Mal replied before she stood up and turned to head back to Ben and Jay. "Are you coming or not?" She asked.

"Yeah, I guess I don't have a choice, do I?" Audrey said with a sigh. "You pulled me into this whole mess, and you better get me out of it." She spat at Jay once she and Mal had gotten back to the guys.

"I will do my best Princess." Jay retorted with a frown.