A/N: Hey all! There are a few things to mention in this Author's note today. Thank you to Ember411 and It'sHardIKnow for being the only two people to drop a review on last week's chapter. Thank you for taking the time to do that

Now, I am heading into finals week very soon. I only have finals Calculus and Chemistry, but those are tough courses, and they are cumulative. Also, I do technically have a final in my theater course, which I am taking to fulfill my school's fine arts requirement. In that course I have to memorize a crap ton of lines a do a whole scene with another person. That will take up a lot of time too. As a result, there is a possibility that during the week before and the week during finals there may not be a chapter written nor uploaded. I have to focus on my school work if I want to get into Veterinary School.

Now most importantly, on the week of December 16th, I am leaving the country for ten days on vacation. I am traveling over 6,000 miles and half way across the world. During that time, I will not have my laptop nor will I have access to any other computer. I might not even have phone access. So obviously, there won't be a chapter during that time either. So most likely, practically the whole month of December won't have chapters written or posted. I'll be busy from December 5th to December 29th. Plus, I'll probably be tired after not only having finals mere days before my trip, but also traveling 12,000 miles round trip, plus the traveling I will be doing in the country I am visiting. Let's just say the air is very dry there. I'll also say this trip is very important to me. Anyway, I do apologize in advance for not having chapters during that time. However, that does NOT, and I repeat, does NOT, mean this story is over. When I get back and get settled back in at home, I'll be jumping right back into my usual upload schedule. I already have several chapters prepared and am about to start Chapter 46. So please forgive me for missing a few weeks. Anyway, without further ado, here is Chpater 37, titled "Need."

Another week had passed since Mal's confrontation with Audrey. In total, she had only been home from her honeymoon for five weeks, but she felt like that wasn't enough. She was feeling pretty stressed. Sure, she had a lighter workload now, but she had other things on her plate. Belle had been trying to help her schedule her upcoming coronation, which she was dreading. Mal would have to be in the spotlight again, and this time Ben wouldn't be up there with her to calm her nerves. On top of all of that, she and Ben had to speak with Aurora to figure out how to deal with Audrey. Of course, dealing with all three of their schedules hadn't been easy, but they finally agreed on a time in the middle of next week. In her one interaction with her, Mal thought Aurora was a kind woman, but she wasn't sure how kind she'd be once she found that they wanted to take some kind of legal action against her daughter. But the thing that was bothering her most was her father.

Mal had been having this uneasy feeling lately that Dr. Facilier would sneak up on her again or something. She felt like he was constantly around her. That was why when Ben had tried to join her in the shower on the day of the Audrey incident, she ended up not letting him in. She just couldn't do it. Plus, she still had a bit of unease about showering with him anyway. Showering with a guy had more than just the sex part of it. It was literally a lot more hands on than Mal was comfortable with. That combined with slick tiles and the water itself was a lot more than she could handle right now, due to her hypersensitivity to some touches. She had discovered that hypersensitivity when they had sex in the ice cave. In the moment it was fine, but after thinking about it, she figured out that it had been a bit too much for her. However, that didn't mean she didn't want to try shower sex eventually. She would someday, but for now, bedroom sex was fine. Unfortunately, that hadn't been happening either.

Mal was still getting back into letting Ben touch her, even innocently. However, she was getting impatient with herself. She wanted him, bad, but her mind just wouldn't let her do anything. Her mind felt a bit uneasy about it all. Mal could not get her mind or body to agree with each other. Something had to give, or else she was going to lose her mind. That was why she decided to push that unease to the back of her mind today when she got home. She had to get over it somehow, so why not jump in head first?

Mal pushed the apartment door open to find Ben working on his math homework at the table. She sat down next to him to see what he was working on. Now that she was closer, she could see how frustrated he was. Ben's eyes were filled with worry and his body had so much tension that it seemed like it was going to explode. He was even sweating a bit. Suddenly, he threw down his pencil in frustration and roared, making Mal jump. She wasn't expecting that.

"I don't get this!" Ben growled,"I don't get what the hell I did wrong here!"

He then looked up to see Mal sitting next to him, a shocked look on her face.

"I'm sorry," Ben breathed,"I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's okay," Mal assured him,"I just wasn't expecting that. I'm okay. What are struggling with?"

"Well," Ben explained,"I've been working on this problem for a while, but I keep getting five. The back of the book says it is 13, but I can't figure out what I did wrong."

"Let me take a look then," Mal suggested, pulling his text book and notebook over to her. She scanned his work and found the problem instantly.

"Ah I see what you did here," Mal smiled,"you just dropped the negative sign here."

"Dammit, I should have seen that," Ben grumbled.

"It's okay. That happens to me too sometimes when I work on my trig. Don't beat yourself up over it."

Ben smiled at his wife in appreciation before reworking the problem and finally getting the right answer.

"Thank you, Mal," Ben cooed,"I appreciate your help."

"Any time Bennyboo," Mal teased.

"I wish you wouldn't call me that."

"But it's fun! Don't ruin my fun!"

"Mal, you are something else, you know that?"

"Yep."

"What am I going to do with you?"

"For now, nothing. You need to finish up your homework."

"Actually, that was the last problem."

"Well in that case," Mal began as she got up and moved herself so that she was straddling Ben's waist,"I can think of a few things."

"Are you sure? I don't want to push you into something you aren't comfortable with."

"I am. Besides, I really," Mal stopped and ground her hips into Ben's,"really need this. I miss being with you."

"I do too, but I want to be sure you're okay with it. I mean, it wasn't that long ago that you were…" Mal stopped him by pulling his shirt up over his head and kissing him fiercely.

"Does that answer your question?" Mal smirked after pulling back.

"What question?"

Ben had already forgotten what he was saying. Mal had a way of making him lose his original train of thought to focus on what she was trying to get him to do.

"Oh, never mind. Say, why don't we go have some fun in our new bed for the first time?"

"You don't have to ask me twice," Ben said happily as he stood up, holding Mal's body to his. She wrapped her entire body around him, letting him carry her to the bedroom, a trail of clothes falling behind them. When they got there, he threw both of them onto the bed, making sure he landed carefully so he wouldn't crush her. Ben then reached down and lightly ran his fingers up her crotch before looking at them. Of course, they were already slick with Mal's desire.

"Wow, someone's excited," Ben teased.

"Shut up and kiss me," Mal demanded.

Ben eagerly pressed his mouth to hers, hungry for her strawberry flavored lips and kissing her aggressively. He wanted her just as bad as she wanted him. He missed this; he missed being able to let loose.

Mal's hands ran all over Ben's back before landing on his tight butt cheeks. She squeezed them roughly, her nails digging into the sensitive flesh, appreciating how firm they were. She smiled into his lips, letting him know that she liked what she felt. He sat up a little and growled at her, his beast side loving her rough foreplay. He then reached down and pinched one nipple, causing a slight purring sound to resonate from the back of her throat. The touch was almost painful, but it wasn't too bad. Mal liked it, but they did notice it was more sensitive than either of them had remembered. Not letting it interrupt the moment, Ben locked eyes with his lover and slowly slid into her, watching as her eyes rolled into the back of her head and listening to a quiet sigh of relief. She clenched him tightly, almost making him lose it right then and there, but he forced himself to stay together, not wanting to let her down.

Ben's movements were slow and easy at first, not wanting to overwhelm her. It had been quite some time since they'd made love, so he didn't want to risk hurting her. However, she wanted more.

"Harder, Ben," Mal begged,"harder."

Wanting to keep her happy, he picked up the pace, using her soft moans of joy as his guide. When her breath hitched in her throat, he focused on that spot, knowing that was where she wanted him. Mal scratched at Ben's back, trying to keep herself grounded, but with the way he was moving inside her, she could barely even breathe. Ben was hitting all the right places.

"Gosh dammit, Ben!" Mal moaned,"Holy f*ck that feels good!"

"Oh, Mal," Ben groaned lowly. He could feel everything. He could feel her holding him in her tightly like a vice but still spasming violently as she edged closer to her release. He felt the way her smooth skin moved against his, her nipples tickling the sparse hairs on his chest. He felt the way her hot breath heated his face as she moaned her pleasure. He enjoyed the feeling of how his pelvic bone continued rubbing against her clit, making her scream loudly with joy. He was fully aware of how Mal dragged her nails down his back as she attempted to keep herself from floating away into a world of bliss without him. Ben could sense her eagerness to not only please him, but also to subconsciously please herself. Her body wanted to cum, but he could tell that she didn't realize that.

"Mal!" Ben cried out,"I can feel you! I can feel you! You're gonna cum! You're gonna cum! I can feel it! Cum for me, Mal! Cum for me!"

"Ben!" Mal squealed,"Bennnnn! I…. I… Ahhhh… Ahh… Oooooohhhh…. Shiiiiiittt!"

Mal screamed loudly in Ben's ear as they both came, together. They tensed for a moment as they hit their high, holding each other closely as if their lives depended on it. He held himself up with his arms as he came, his body trembling violently as his orgasm washed over him. Mal clung to Ben for dear life as her orgasm enveloped her entire being, shaking intensely with release. They both cursed silently to themselves as they came down from their peaks, panting heavily. Once the storm was over, Ben pulled out and landed next to her, tugging a blanket over them and pulling her into a spooning position. He kissed her neck lightly, savoring their shared closeness. Mal leaned her head back, exposing her neck to him, her eyes closing as she enjoyed the feel of his soft lips against her skin.

"I love you, Ben," Mal whispered.

"I love you too, Mal," Ben sighed into her neck.

"I really needed that, Ben," Mal told him softly.

"I did too, Mal. I did too."

They just laid there silently, content with just being near each other. After a few minutes, Mal spoke up.

"You know what we should do?"

"What should we do?" Ben asked softly.

"We need to get away for the weekend."

"And why is that?"

"I think we've gotten so caught up in our daily lives that we haven't really made time for each other. We haven't been us for awhile. We need to get away and find ourselves again."

"But didn't we just get back?"

"Yes, but we jumped right back into everyday life and almost forgot about the sole purpose of our honeymoon. We've forgotten to be us. We need to learn how to do that again, so why not take a weekend off? Do you think your parents could cover for us like they did while we were away on our honeymoon?"

"I don't see why not. And I agree with you. We've kind of drifted apart when we got back. It would be nice to only have you and no other distractions."

"So what should we do then? Where should we go? Should we just lock ourselves in here?"

"Nah. If we are going to step away from our everyday life, that includes getting out of where we live everyday. Have you ever been camping?"

"No. I didn't have the equipment or the time to do that."

"I should have known that. Sorry."

"It's okay, but from what I've heard, it sounds fun."

"So would you like to try it?"

"Sure."

"Okay. Let's get all our homework done Friday afternoon so we can leave in the evening and set up camp before the sun goes down okay?"

"But that is tomorrow. Do you think your folks would be okay with us leaving them in charge on such short notice?"

"I think so. They're pretty flexible."

"I hope so."

"I promise you they are. So it's settled then. We'll go on our own little camping trip tomorrow!"