Mal woke up to someone knocking on the door. She looked around to see the room was empty, Ben wasn't anywhere. The knock came again. "Who is it?" She called.

"Its me, Jay!" She heard barking outside and there was a pause before Jay added, "And Carlos' mutt."

"Come in!" Mal quickly struggled to prop the pillow against the headboard of the bed and slowly leaned back, her hands pressing against the sheets. It turned out to be hard without Ben's help.

The door opened and Jay entered, Dude in one arm. The dog barked, leapt out of Jay's hold and climbed up onto Mal's lap. She laughed and gave him a few friendly pets before turning to him. "Where's Carlos?"

"He's out with Jane," he snickered, "finally got the courage to ask her out. They're going to some càfe for breakfast and then to the movies."

"I'm so happy for him. I can't wait to ask Jane how it went," Mal smiled, Dude still lying contentedly on her lap. "What brings you here?"

"Ben texted me and said he had some work to do and you were alone," he said, pulling a chair towards the bed, and straddling it. "He was worried you'd need something and that kind of stuff."

"I just woke up, actually," she told him, lifting Dude and gently putting him down, and he started running around the room. "I'm going to just freshen up in the bathroom." She slowly swung her legs off the bed, and Jay picked her up and carried her till the bathroom door.

"I'll go get breakfast," he said, rushing out of the room.


"What do you mean you want Mal to permanently move in with you?" Adam asked, rising from his armchair and walking closer to Ben. Belle went over to Adam's side, looking at Ben curiously, too.

"I-I just want to take care of her, y-you know, because Julian has escaped several times and even if he doesn't attempt to do so again, I want her to be with me," Ben blurted out in a rush, but clearly enough. Seeing the uncertain looks on his parents' faces he added, "Besides, she's slept with me a lot of the time. When there was news of Julian returning I asked her to move temporarily to my room until she was safe. And we stayed in the same room when we were on holiday."

"I thought I told you to book seperate rooms for your holiday," his father said, moving closer to him. He wasn't mad, of course, just...confused. Belle put a hand on his arm, saying softly he hadn't told them. "Okay, well, I didn't; I'm getting old, I forget sometimes. But, you're the king, son, how would it look?"

"I don't care," he said firmly.

"What if she doesn't want to share a room with you?" his mother asked. "She's stayed with you temporarily, but..." She trailed off, unsure.

"Its just a thought," Ben said, "if she says no I'll completely understand. Besides, she'll have to share a room with me in the future, when we're married."

"And when will that happen?" Adam asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Well...I'm not sure. And I'm not going to propose to her so soon, but that's beside the point," he replied. "So can she move in with me?"

"If Mal's okay with it, yes," his father said after some thought. Belle nodded, smiling at her son.

"Thanks dad, mom," Ben smiled, trying to contain his excitement as he left the room.


Julian lay back, on the cold, stone floor, just having finished his 'lunch', consisting of a small piece of stale bread with a tiny bowl with little to no water inside. He kicked at the bowl with his foot, groaning. "I wish I could see Mal," he muttered.

"Not happening, kid," one of the guards said, reaching through the dungeon cell and cautiously pulling out his emptied tray, as if the cage held a lion instead of Julian. He went away to put it in the kitchen, and the second guard turned to talk to Adam, who had come in to check on the pirate.

Julian looked around desperately, but saw nothing except a huge black spider and dust. He turned to look at the spider, and grinned widely.

If I can't have Mal, no one can.

He looked again, finding the guard still busy with Adam. He slowly lifted the spider and placed in his palm. "Hey there," he whispered. It seemed to look up at him, so he went on, "you want something to eat?" The spider looked up at him uncertainly.

"Well, there's a really beautiful, young girl, with purple hair, and green eyes. I love her so much, but she loves someone else." The small creature didn't look interested, so he got straight to the point. "No else can have her if I can't. So what I want you to do, is, go. Go to her. Suck her blood. Bite her. Until she gets weaker, and weaker, and she finally dies." He smirked, before giving him directions.

The spider, slowly scuttled out of the iron bars, smartly making its way around Adam's foot, until it was out of Julian's sight.


Ben couldn't wait to ask Mal to share a room with him. But when he got there, she was in deep conversation with Jay, and when he finally left, Evie came round, telling her all about her latest fashion designs and how she had even started a few of them. By then Mal was tired and fell asleep, and for the first time Ben wished she could wake up soon. And when she did wake up, he had a meeting to attend. So in the evening, when they were finally alone, comfortably settled on the couch with Mal's legs in Ben's lap, he decided to tell her.

"Mal," he started. She looked up from the book she was reading. "I've been meaning to ask you something."

"I can tell," she giggled, "you should've seen your face when Evie came in."

Ben chuckled. He stroked Mal's knee, looking at her. "Will...you...you know, move in...with me, in my dorm?"

"I'm already with you, silly."

"No, no," he smiled, taking her pale hand. "Will, you like permanently move in here...with me? I already checked with my parents, they said its alright, as long as you're okay with it. I'll completely understand if you don't want you, I'm not forcing you. I-"

She held up her hand, telling him to stop. He blushed, realizing he was now rambling. Mal smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck, hugging him. "Yes, I'd love to move in with you." She pulled back, her smile fixed on her face. No one noticed a huge spider slowly crawling under Mal's pillow.