A/N – Hey Guys! Hope you enjoy the new chapter! Leave a review if you have any thoughts or ideas; I love reading them!
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"And then I said, "not as much as you!"" Gil roared. The VK's burst out laughing.
Lonnie, Doug, Jane and Ben looked at each other confusedly. Evie, Jay and Carlos were quick to fill them in, but Ben was left out of the loop; Mal too busy laughing with Harry to notice he didn't understand.
Ben sighed, glancing down at his watch. He tapped Mal softly on the shoulder. She turned around quickly, forcing a smile on her face to meet him.
"Hmm?" She questioned.
"Could I speak to you, please?" He asked, gesturing away from the table.
"Sure," Mal answered, swinging out of her chair and following him away from the table.
"Well?" She spoke, running her fingers over her nails.
Ben glanced behind her, catching everyone sitting at the table watching the scene intently.
"Perhaps," he started, as the others pretended they hadn't been listening, "We could go out into the gardens and speak?"
"Ben, I'm hungry, just say whatever it is you want to say, please," she replied impatiently.
"Mal, I really think it would be better if we spoke somewhere else about this."
"Ben, just tell me!"
"Fine. I don't think it's appropriate for you to be behaving in such a manner around Harry. You're a Lady of the Court, and my girlfriend,"
Mal flinched at the word 'girlfriend', but Ben didn't notice, and continued.
"And it's really not appropriate for you to be so 'friendly' with him," he finished, making speech marks with his fingers.
Mal stood, staring at him, shell-shocked. "Excuse me?"
"I don't think it is suitable for you to be spending so much time with him. I haven't seen you in weeks! You've spent all your free time with him!"
"Can you even hear yourself right now?" Mal asked, her voice dangerously low.
"Mal, please, just try to understand, you have an image to maintain!"
She lost it.
"WELL, MAYBE I DON'T WANT AN IMAGE TO MAINTAIN ANYMORE!" She yelled. "YOU EVER THINK ABOUT WHAT I WANTED, HMM?!"
Ben gaped at her; the others at the table watched on, shocked. Evie stood up, rushing over to Mal's side.
"Maybe this isn't the place to be having this discussion, honey," she spoke softly to Mal, placing a reassuring hand on her arm.
"No, I think it's exactly the place to have this discussion," Mal retorted, brushing her hand off.
"Mal," Evie said, warningly. "Easy."
"NO! NOT EASY! I'M SICK OF EASY!" Mal yelled, turning back around to Ben. "YOU DO NOT GET TO TELL ME WHO I GET TO HANG OUT WITH, UNDERSTOOD?!"
"Mal, stop this! You must be tired or something, you wouldn't normally act like this-"
"NO BEN! I WOULD ACT LIKE THIS!" Suddenly, she felt a surge of power flow through her. She closed her eyes and took a breath. When she spoke next, her voice was back to normal.
"You turned me into something I'm not to suit your publicity campaign. And I'm done. With it," she paused, glancing at Evie, then the ground. Thinking carefully for a moment, she decided what to do, and raised her head. "And I'm done with you."
The breakfast hall was silent. The air was so thick with tension you could cut it with a knife.
Ben let out a strained chuckle. "You don't mean that. You're just overwhelmed, and stressed, but we, we'll sort-"
"I mean every word of it," Mal responded softly. "We're over. I don't want to keep playing a part to keep people happy."
"But you, you need-"
"I don't need anything, Ben," Mal cut in, sharply. "I have Evie, I have my friends. I do not need you or your publicity campaigns, or the dresses and hair, or the shoes, or the nails, or the cameras, or any of it! I'm done playing Princess!"
"Mal, we can talk about this, I-"
"Ben, we're not talking about this. We are done. Period."
Ben was silent for a moment. No one else spoke, waiting to see what would happen next. Jane, Lonnie and Doug sat unbelievably at the table, not able to comprehend what they were seeing. Harry stood up slowly, approaching Mal and Evie slowly.
Fury rose in Ben's eyes. He clenched his fists, taking a shaky breath. "It's cause of him, isn't it?" He demanded. She didn't answer.
"You, you," he started, relatively quietly. "You ungrateful little BITCH!" He roared, lunging for her. He slapped her clean across the face, and grabbed her by the throat, practically tackling her to the floor.
Jay and Harry reacted instantaneously, jumping in to yank him off Mal.
"Let go of her, ya bastard!" Harry cursed, throwing himself down in an attempt to free Mal from his grasp. Jay wrapped his arms around Ben's waist, and lifted violently upwards, pulling him momentarily off of her. Harry and Evie used the few seconds to tug Mal out from underneath him, and away from the two boys slugging it out.
"I'll kill him," Harry muttered, an evil glint in his eye. "You alright, love?" He asked, running his hands over her, checking for injuries. Hs hand stopped on her cheek, where already a purple hand print was forming.
"You deal with Ben," Evie directed him, "and I'll deal with her."
"I don't need you to deal with Ben, or me!" Mal shouted. She launched out of their grasp, stalking over to where Jay was still struggling to pin Ben down. They both were shouting and cursing at each other, rolling about the floor like pigs in the mud.
"ENOUGH!" Roared Mal, spreading her hands out in front of her. A blinding blast of green light flew out from them. Ben froze, surrounded in a green vapour, like a corpse on the floor, with Jay straddling his stomach, pinning him to the ground.
"I DO NOT NEED SOMEONE TO LOOK AFTER ME! I AM NOT GOING TO BREAK!" Mal screamed; all focus on her.
She stopped, spinning on her heel to look at her friends. "I- I have to go."
She stopped at Harry and Evie, both of whom were watching her warily.
"That'll wear off in about ten minutes," she muttered. "Can you deal with-"
"Course," Harry answered.
"And, someone calm our apparently traumatised friends, please," she added.
She glanced around the room, as though checking if she had anything left to deal with.
"See you guys later, ok?" She murmured, before leaving the room.
Everyone watched her go; no one entirely sure of what had just happened.
Evie glanced at the other Auradonians, still glued to their seats. "I'll sort them, I guess," she whispered to Harry.
Harry stood still; his eyes stuck on the door that Mal had disappeared through.
"Harry?" Evie prompted.
"She did it. She bloody well did it," he grinned, awestruck.
"What do you mean?"
He laughed, throwing his hands in the air in triumph. "Ma dragon's back!"
….
A/N – Hope you enjoyed, and if you did, leave a review and let me know!
