"I can't believe this!" Adam exclaimed furiously, pacing the width of his study. It was early morning; no one in the castle was awake besides him, Belle and a few guards who were working their night shift. Adam's desk was a mess, heavy leather-bound books carelessly thrown onto stacks of incomplete paper work, an almost empty jug of water squeezed in between the telephone and the computer. He and Belle stayed up half the night making phone calls and poring over the books, trying to find a suitable punishment for Julian.

"Adam, dear, I'm sure we'll find something..." Belle tried to reassure him from her place in one of the rotating desk chairs in the room. He only banged his fist on the table, to indicate that he was, not in the least, reassured.

"I wrote half the laws of this place, its only disappointing that I can't find a law to punish a foul, hateful VK who had already caused chaos in Auradon Prep in his first month," he muttered, sitting down at last to browse through his computer; it was his last option. "It's Ben's fault too."

"How?"

"Do you think it was right for him to invite new kids, while we're still not used to the arrival of the first batch?" Adam stared at his wife, as if it were that obvious.

"Well, no, but..."

"Don't make excuses for your son!" He snapped, suddenly furious. He mimicked Belle's voice; "Dear, he's just a kid, he wouldn't know..." He returned to his own voice. "He's seventeen; he's old enough to understand! When in the world will you stop calling him a kid? When he's 40?"

Belle sighed and sank back into her chair. "Your temper..."she muttered. "You're getting it again."

Adam took a deep breath, beginning to calm down. "Fine, but I still say that he some way or another contributed to the situation."

Belle, knowing she couldn't win this, opened the door and started to leave, saying, "I think some breakfast will do me good, you come and eat too."

Ben woke up, finding Mal's side of the bed empty. He stared around the room in confusion, and then noticed his clock, which indicated there were 20 minutes before class started. The past few weeks' events had messed up his sleeping schedule. He did not have time to ponder over this, though. He got ready at what he thought was lightening speed, and rushed down towards the lockers.

The hallways were half empty by now, and Mal was nowhere in sight. He saw Evie and caught up with her.

"Oh, Ben, where were you last night, Mal was..." Evie began, but Ben cut her off.

"Where is Mal?"

"She must be in class by now; you know how strict Mr Devon is."

"How is she? Did you talk to her?"

"Well, I was with her last night when you were gone, until she got upset and told me to go. She did catch up with me this morning and apologised, but I still think she's a little troubled. She sounded relieved, though, when she said you were back. That's all I can tell you."

The bell rang, telling everyone it was their last chance of getting to class or else they'll be marked absent. "Thanks, Evie," Ben told her as he ran to class.

Ben didn't have any chance of talking to Mal that day. They did not have any classes, and right when he was about to walk up to her during lunch, his father called, and told him that there was an important meeting where he had to be in attendance. So, he walked into his dorm at about half past seven, completely exhausted.

Mal was on the desk, completing her homework. Ben had no way of telling how she was feeling at that moment; her face was expressionless. Quietly, he walked over inside, dropping his bag on the floor. She didn't look up, despite the sound it made.

Half hoping she'd say something to him first, he placed a hand on the table. She looked up at him.

"You're back," she said blankly.

"Of course I'm back, how could I leave you on your own?"

"You did, last night, didn't you? How could I think you were coming back after that?"

"I know, and I'm sorry," he pleaded, reaching for her hand and grasping it tightly. She stared at him but did not remove her hand. "I was not thinking straight, I was so confused, I..."

Lost for words, he looked at her, madly thinking he could make her understand that way. Her face softened a little.

"You were at the castle, in the dungeons, trying to give Julian a piece of your mind," Mal said lightly, giving his hand a little squeeze.

"How'd you-"

"Your mom called me this morning," she replied. "She said that you were with her last night. Oh, and that she'd let Adam know and they'd figure something out."

Ben sighed in relief. "You're not mad at me, are you?"

She stood up from her chair, still holding his hand. "A little," she said as she watched his face fall.

"It's all my fault, I'm- I'm so, sorry," he looked into her green eyes. "I didn't know what I was doing, I just felt so...overwhelmed."

"Apology accepted," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck and giving him a hug.

"You aren't usually this forgiving," he said, without a hint of complain in his voice. She felt his arms around her.

"I'm just glad you're back," Mal whispered, pulling back. "I love you."

"I love you too."

How long has it been since 20th of May? Oh, I don't know, only about FOREVER. JK, my genuine apologies for not posting on type. I got caught up with some stuff and forgot. And I'm really lazy. And a million other excuses. Sorry, and also for the cruddy ending. :-)