I'm really sorry it's been so long between updates. I've been busy and I've been sick. (If this chapter isn't up to standard, blame the pathogens wreaking havoc in my body). Also, this chapter was one of those I wanted to get right.
Mal winced when she heard a clatter from the direction of the door. She turned her head slightly, and sure enough was met with the sight of a couple blank canvases on the floor and Evie giving her a displeased look.
"Really? Right next to the door?" Evie picked them up, placing them against the wall behind the table.
"Sorry," Mal said regretfully. Her shoulders were hunched up by her ears and she was giving a remorseful smile over the top of her book.
"Always by the door,"
"I know. I'm sorry, won't happen again,"
Evie gave a little, amused huff. She walked towards the closet, slipping off her shoes as she did, "That's what you said last time," She said as she disappeared from sight.
"But I mean it this time," She called.
Evie's laughter reached her ears, "You said that last time too,"
"And I did mean it last time, but then I forgot,"
Evie reappeared, clothes more casual. She shook her head at Mal, "No comment," She dropped down next to Mal, laying her head on her lap.
"How were classes?"
"Long," She sighed.
Mal ran her fingers through Evie's hair, "Do you need to go to class? I'm sure you could pass without it,"
Evie rolled her eyes, "I'm not that good,"
"Sure you are," Looking down, Mal gave her a small grin.
Evie's lips quirked up at the corners, "Flattery will get you everywhere, but doesn't mean it's true," She reached up, tucking a lock of purple hair that had fallen into her face, behind Mal's ear, "How was work?"
"Great. Bria's been the best boss since she got back from the honeymoon," Mal hummed, "Not that she hasn't always been the best boss,"
Evie chuckled softly, tilting her head back to glance at a framed picture, one of her and Mal at the wedding, hanging on the wall, with other pictures and a painting of a castle.
"I'd probably be in a good mood if I just got married too,"
Mal quirked an eyebrow down at her.
"What's that look?" Evie asked.
"Just thinking,"
"About?"
"This and that,"
Evie hummed low in her throat in response, "Queen Belle is having a charity event at Auradon Prep. Ben invited us,"
"Ben invited us? Or did he invite the Royal Councillor and I get to go as her plus one,"
"Is there a difference?"
"One case I'm a guest, the other I'm your arm candy,"
Evie laughed at that, "Either way I still get to walk in on your arm,"
Mal smirked, "True enough. What's the event?"
"Friendly Furs,"
"What?"
"It's an adoption drive,"
"For pets?"
"Mmhmm," Evie nodded.
"Since when do we want a pet?"
"Oh no. You keep this place messy enough as is," Evie said with a playful smirk, "I don't need another animal in here,"
"Hey!"
"At least you don't shed,"
Mal pinched Evie's side, "Then why are we going?"
"The usual smile and shake hands for the camera,"
"Gonna need a better reason than that,"
"It isn't just the adoption drive. They'll be taking donations for the Animal Shelter,"
Mal hummed, making a contemplative face.
"We're going to support Ben and Belle?"
Mal considered it for a moment more, "Fine,"
"Thank you," Evie took one of Mal's hands, bringing it to her lips to press a kiss to her fingers. She closed her eyes with a small sigh, holding Mal's hand between her own, hands resting on her hands on her stomach. Mal shifted her hold slightly, so one hand wove with Evie's, her thumb brushing lightly over her wrist. She let her gaze linger on Evie for a few moments longer before she returned to her book. The silence that sank between them was warm and familiar.
"Have you talked to Dizzy recently?" Evie broached the quiet after several minutes.
"Day before yesterday, why?"
"Did she seem… off?"
"Off? Off how exactly?"
"I don't know, acting weird?"
"No. The usual bubbly Dizzy. With that ever-growing undertone of teenage sarcasm I so love about her," Mal said, her own of sarcasm coating her words.
Evie gave a small smile, "I think something happened with her and Neeya, but she won't tell me what,"
"A good something? Or a bad something?"
"I don't know,"
"She hasn't mentioned anything to me," Mal snapped her book shut, "I could text her," She reached out for her phone.
Evie caught her other hand, "No. If she doesn't want to tell us we shouldn't drag it out of her,"
"This is Dizzy. She tells you everything. She'll say whatever it is when she's ready,"
"I know but…"
"You worry too much about her,"
Evie snorted, "Like you don't?"
"Not as much as you do,"
"Said by the person who taught her how to fight," Evie smirk as Mal's shocked expression, "Oh, didn't think I knew about that?"
"Teaching her how to protect herself isn't the same as teaching her how to fight," Mal defended.
"And what are you going do if she ends up breaking the nose of someone with connections to skives like Lord Byron who hate all the kids from the Isle?"
"I'll happily post her bail, then help her prove whoever she punched had it coming,"
"So we're posting bail for her now?"
"If they don't want to turn her over we'll just call Ben,"
Evie laughed, "Why does it sound like you've given this a lot of thought?"
"Are you telling me you haven't mentally planned for the day a kid from the Isle gets arrested, warranted or not?"
"Can't say it's something that's crossed my mind, no,"
"Really? I'm surprised it hasn't happened yet,"
Evie's eyes turned a thoughtful gaze up at Mal, "Are you that dubious?"
Mal gave a little shrug.
"Is it you're expecting someone from the Isle to do something? Or that the trust others have for us is still that low?"
"Honestly… a bit of both. There are still people who hate us because of our parents. That's never going to change. And on the other hand, we try to teach the kids to remember where they're from. How long until one of them keeps too much from the Isle?"
Evie was quiet for a moment. She reached up, brushing a hand across her cheek, "No matter what happens in the future no one is taking this away from us," She said firmly, "Not Auradon. Not our chance to be happy,"
Mal rested a hand on top of Evie's, "I know. But… it's a thing my mom used to say, plan for the worst, and then expect it to go downhill from there,"
Evie brushed a thumb slowly over Mal's cheek, "I could plan for the worst. But every day has been pretty close to the best recently, for some reason," She said with a small smile, "It's hard to imagine anything bad happening right now,"
That pulled a smile from Mal, "Some reason? And what reason is that?"
Her tone was mildly sarcastic, "Don't know. Might be that little tree Foster gave you. Since it's been around everything has been… better,"
Mal huffed, amused. She shook her head, trying to stop her lips from twitching into a smile. "The plant? That's what made things better?"
Evie shrugged playfully, giving her wink.
Mal gave a soft laugh, turning her head to press a kiss to Evie's palm.
"Plan for the worst," Evie mused lowly, "As far as I'm aware, no one is wickeder than us. There's nothing we couldn't deal with together,"
"If it's with you, I could take on the world," Mal wove their fingers together.
"You and me, we're unstoppable. Because we're rotten,"
"To the core," Mal murmured with a fond smile.
"But we were talking about Dizzy," Evie said bringing the conversation back.
Mal smirked and gave a little chuckle, "I'm telling you E, she'll say whatever happened when she's ready,"
"What if something bad happened?"
"I doubt that,"
Evie arch a brow, "And how would you know?"
"What's the worst that could have happened?"
"She could have been rejected. Or had a bad first kiss. Or-"
Mal pressed a finger to Evie's lips, "Now you're the one thinking too much about what-ifs. Whatever happened, we can't do anything to help until she says something and you don't want to ask her,"
Evie let out a slow breath, "I know. I know. I just don't want her to go through the anything like I did,"
Mal snorted, "Like anyone ever rejected you,"
"…Yeah…" Evie turned her head away.
"What?" Mal's brow creased as she looked down at Evie.
"It's nothing," Evie sat up, pushing her hair back out of her face.
"Did someone reject you? There's actually someone that stupid?" Both of Mal's brow went up in shock.
Evie's lips turned upwards at the corners but not light went to her eyes to match the smile as she glanced at Mal. "Of course not," She pressed a soft kiss to Mal's lips, light and barely there, "Who could say no to me?" She said, before standing.
"Wait, something's wrong," Mal caught her hand before she could walk away.
"I'm just worried about Dizzy,"
"You were worried about Dizzy before. Now you're not looking at me and messing with your hair, that's two-thirds of your biggest tells,"
Evie's eyes shut and her head tilted back for a brief moment, "Mal. It's nothing, I shouldn't have said anything," She slipped her hand from hers.
"Evie," Mal followed her with her eyes as she headed to the kitchen. She pushed to her feet, going to stand on the other side of the counter, waiting for Evie to look at her. Evie distractedly poured herself a glass of water, setting it down the counter, opposite Mal. She finally met her eyes. Their gaze was intense, drowning, begging. A part of Mal wished she could listen.
"I just want to know you're okay," She said, voice soft.
"I… am," Evie said, still looking at her, "It's not that anyone ever rejected me,"
"Then, what is it?"
Evie broke her gaze with Mal again.
"E," Mal reached out for her hands.
"It's in the past, it doesn't even matter anymore,"
"If it doesn't matter then you won't mind telling me,"
"You're not going to let this drop, are you?"
"Humour me?"
Evie took a slow breath, her shoulders rising and falling, "I told you about my first kiss. Do you remember what I said?"
"The old ambassador's grandson. Your mother had him over for dinner or something. This tall, dark, gorgeous older guy who sweet talked you, and practically swept you off your feet," Mal's face twisted in a moment of envy, "Closest thing to a prince on the Isle. You bragged about it when we first became friends. What about it?"
"I bragged because I didn't know how else to handle it,"
"What do you mean?"
"Mother invited him over. She arranged everything,"
"Are you saying your mother arranged your first kiss?"
Evie nodded slowly.
Mal snorted, "That's a new level of low, even for her. But why wouldn't want to tell me that?"
"I didn't want you to get upset over something you couldn't change,"
A bit of dread started to edge in Mal's mind, "What else happened?"
"The first time, I didn't know why he was there… at first. Mother left us be. And gave him free reign,"
Mal stood there in silence, each slow second that past bringing with it a creeping understanding that sent her blood cold, "Wait… wait, wait… Are you saying he forced himself on you?"
The silence persisted, Evie's eyes not meeting Mal's. That cold dreed sunk deep into Mal's gut, even as she felt the blinding hot rage threatening to spill from her throat.
"Evie! Why didn't you tell me?"
"How could I tell you?"
"How couldn't you? Evie, that's… he shouldn't have… I can't believe your mother let that happen. Actually, no, I can believe it. She's just twisted enough to think that's okay," Mal paced back and forth her hands clenching into fists.
"And this why I didn't want to tell you. It's in the past, it is what it is,"
"It is wh-" The words could even get out past the fury, "That isn't… Our childhoods are messed up, but this is…" Mal pressed her hands against her face, "Hells, I really want to punch your mother right now. And that guy. The guy," Mal's head jerked with a sudden thought. She spun around to Evie, "Please tell me he isn't someone who came to Auradon,"
Evie shook her head, "No. He was well older than eighteen by the time Ben started to bring kids over,"
"What?!" Mal's voice went so loud and so sharp Evie flinched, "How old was he when this happened? You were thirteen. How did you… How didn't I know this?"
"I didn't tell you. I didn't tell anyone. It was embarrassing. How could I make a prince fall in love with me if I didn't want to kiss them?"
Mal felt a stab in her heart at the look of despair on Evie's face.
"E…"
"I couldn't be bad at romance. I couldn't be bad at kissing. Or… anything else. So when Mother had someone over I just went along quietly,"
"How many times?" Mal's voice waved against her will. She wasn't even sure if it was out anger or grief.
Evie just shook her head, still not meeting Mal's eyes. Her shoulders rose and fell almost imperceptibly.
"Did he… Did anyone ever…" Mal couldn't even bring herself to ask the question.
But Evie's head shook no anyway, "No. Not what you're thinking. Mother wouldn't have allowed it. 'Can't give a prince a tarnished princess,'"
Mal had heard parents' words be repeated back, just as it had been said. She used to know her mother's words in verbatim. But hearing Evie say those words made every part of her boil. She punched the nearest thing to her, which happened to be the back of a chair. It went slamming to the floor and she let out a string of curse words, clutching her hand as pain flared up from her knuckles to wrist.
"What did you do?" Evie moved to her side, taking the hand she used to punch between her own, "Let me see,"
"Stop taking care of me for a minute and… And please, just let me look at you,"
The room was deafeningly silent. Mal didn't move, waiting, her hand still stinging with slight pain, held lightly between Evie's. Evie's head was bowed. She leant back, sitting on the arm of the sofa.
"I didn't want you to know because I didn't want to change how you looked at me,"
"Oh Evie," Mal breathed, reaching for her, "This doesn't change that. It doesn't change how I feel about you. Nothing's going to do that. I just wish I'd known before. I'd would have fought all those suitors on the Isle,"
Evie gave a weak laugh and she crossed her arms over her stomach, "Those were different. Part of the reason I flirted so much and broke so many hearts was because I felt I needed to. I had to be in control. If I wasn't, it felt like I was being suffocated,"
"Is that how it felt...?"
Evie nodded once.
"Has it ever felt like that with me?"
"No," Evie shook her head, but her eyes were closed.
"Evie, don't say what you think I want to hear,"
"I'm not,"
"E,"
"I'm not," Her voice held a firm conviction, even as it dropped to a whisper, "I haven't felt like that. It's different with you. It's always felt different with you,"
"But you've stopped me before,"
Evie grew quiet again, her jaw clenching. One hand clenched around the other arm.
"Evie, you have to tell me. I don't want to hurt you,"
"You could never,"
"Or push you into something you don't want to do," Mal cupped one of her cheeks.
Evie let out a shuttering breath, "I-it's…It's not you. It happened with Doug too. There's a reason I never let him spend the night,"
"But we live together,"
Evie nodded slowly, "And you're the person I trust most in the world. I didn't think it would happen with you. I'm sorry it does,"
"Hey, no. No apologies," Mal wrapped her arms around her in a hug, "You have nothing to apologise for," She murmured, pressing kisses to the top of her head.
Evie tucked her head against Mal, "But M, we're dating. And it's not like we're kids. I should be comfortable enough to be with you. If I'm not, what's the point of us dating?"
"Okay, that sounds like your mother's bullshit again," Mal said, a little testy, "E, look at me,"
Evie lifted her head slowly.
"I don't care if we're sleeping together or not,"
"You don't care now. That's going to change,"
"Admittedly, maybe, down the road I'm going to want to, yeah. But it's not going to be any fun for me if I don't know for sure it's fun for you. This isn't fun for me now, thinking you let me keep kissing you times you wanted me to stop,"
"That never happened,"
"And I never want it to," She held her face in her hands, pressing their foreheads together. "Please, promise me you'll say if you want me to stop. For anything,"
Evie didn't answer right away, "Mal…"
"E, I like kissing you. A lot. But, I love you," Mal watched as her lips parted slightly, "And please don't make a big deal out of this. You knew I loved you before, as a friend. And that's not going to change now because we're dating. It just made me realize it all the more. And I want to make sure you're okay, always. No amount of kissing or not kissing or anything else is going to make me not love you. Evie, if you're not happy I'm not going to be. And I did start rambling?"
"Just a little bit," Evie answered, a smile slowly growing on her lips, "And I promise I'll tell you, if it gets too much,"
Mal sighed, "Thank you,"
Evie shook her head slowly, "No, thank you. For the record, I really like kissing you too,"
Mal smirked and laughed softly.
"And M?"
"Mmm?"
"I love you,"
I hope you enjoyed.
Nardragon~ until the next page.
