A/N – Thanks for reading. Disney still owns everything and everyone in this story.

Regarding updates I'm planning on one chapter a week (Sun/Mon upload).

Chapter 22

It was 08:30 the following morning before either of the teens began to rise. Thankfully it was the weekend which meant breakfast was on offer till half nine, unlike on a school day where they'd already be heading to class.

Harry was the first one up, seeing that Mal was still asleep he began peppering her exposed upper back with soft kisses. This cause the purple haired girl to slowly wake up herself, at first she was confused about the toned arms wrapped around her waist until the previous evenings events came back to her.

Carefully she turned around so the pair were face to face. "Morning my wee princess" Harry greeted her with a kiss to her forehead. How he wished they could wake up like this every morning. Mal gave a small groan in response but the smile on her face showed it was more due to the fact she wasn't yet awake enough to form words.

"We need to get up otherwise we'll miss breakfast and I can't do practise on an empty stomach" the pirate said referring to the day long practise that was due to start at 10:30. "Let's go have a shower?" He suggested with a suggestive grin on his face.

"Not happening Hook" came Mal's slightly groggy response. "If we get in that shower together you will be late for practise and Chad will be back on the team in your place." Her words had the desired effect and caused Harry to almost jump out of bed and head towards the bathroom, causing Mal to laugh softly under her breath.

When Harry emerged from the bathroom Mal was already up and dressed. As he was already wearing the teams training kit it was clear that that's what was in the bag he'd brought the night before. Mal, however, was wearing a simple pair of black leggings with Harry's team jersey over the top - her hair pulled up in a bun to proudly show off the 'Hook' embroidered on the back. All the jerseys contained the players surname on the back with their team number, in Harry's case a '10'. They also got to pick a small personal symbol to have on it too so Harry got a hook embroidered in the hole in the zero.

"You look irresistible" he almost growled at her, desire clear in his eyes. Clearly he liked the sight of her in his clothes. "Wherever did that new jumper come from?" Raising an eyebrow towards her with a smirk on his face.

"Not looking too bad yourself, although that top could do with being a little tighter" she suggested, indication towards the training shirt they wore - designed for the armour to go on top unlike match tops. The shirt was already fairly form fitting but Mal knew if it was any tighter the whole school would see his impressively toned body. "You like the jumper do you? Unfortunately they're a limited edition to just this one so you can't have it" sticking her tongue out at the end as if to confirm it would never be his again.

At this he just smiled and grabbed her hand. They walked down to breakfast - thankfully due to the time there was nothing wrong with a boy being in a girls room. When they entered the canteen it was still pretty busy with students, sleeping in was popular that morning. No sooner had they entered they were accosted by Ben, "can you both come to my table once you've got food?" He asked, pointing to a small booth where his tray already was.

They both nodded at him in response, not really sure what to say and at the end of the day he was the King - someone you can't say no to!

Both were silent as they approached the table, receiving some odd looks from the other three VK's in the hall. Mal shot the usual group a look to convey it was all okay, at least she thought it was.

The odd trio began nibbling at their plates as none knew how to start whatever Ben wanted this conversation to be, until the King in question almost whispered "why me?"

"What's up Ben, thought we covered last year that we don't bite?" Mal asked, preferring to get this over and done with. "Talk for yourself princess" Harry smirked at her, muttering under his breath, clearly referring to their nighttime activities. He was rewarded with a sharp elbow in the ribs as now was clearly not the time for it and Ben just became even more uncomfortable.

Ben looked the pirate directly in the eyes, quite a feat given the glare Harry was giving back in response, "why capture me, tie me up, dangle me off a plank?"

Ah, thought Harry, the little 'incident'.

"Initially Uma's orders, she heard Mal was back and wanted a form of revenge and then you appear - perfect. For my involvement with that I'm sorry. However I also did it for me" he almost spat at Ben, who appeared to be regretting asking. "You broke the girl who means the world to me, she was a shell of herself and all you wanted was the perfect, polished version back. I wanted you to suffer, you couldn't fit in on the Isle for 10 minutes yet you've got her working to try and fit in here for six months!" He growled, letting all his frustration out at Ben. "Your just lucky it was me who got to you and not her dad."

At this Ben visibly paled at the thought of being on the God's bad side. "Your Dad's never mentioned me right?" He asked Mal.

"Not specifically, though Harry's got a point, he won't be your biggest fan" she shrugged and turned her attention back to the pancakes on her plate. She was struggling to suppress a grin at the thought of what her dad would do to Ben if he had gotten the chance.

Turning to Harry she asked, "was he there that night?", "aye he was, he tipped me off to you being at Curl Up and Dye" Harry responded knowing better than to lie to her.

"Anything else Ben?" Mal asked, she could tell from his body language there was something else he wanted to talk about. She really had to agree with Belle that he was an open book.

"Sorry for going overboard the other morning a few weeks back" he started, scratching a spot on the back of his head while saying it. "I overreacted and it was wrong. I wasn't over the split and I just saw red. However I am now fully over it. I may not like you Harry but you make her the happiest I've ever seen her here in Auradon" he finished, giving Mal a small smile and offered a hand to Harry.

Harry shot Mal a quick look as though trying to work out what the hell was going on. Given the fact he'd told the King he didn't fully regret his Isle actions he was very surprised about the olive branch he was being offered. He shook the King's hand - he suspected they'd never be friends, but they could certainly be allies.

Jay, Carlos and Gil had been keeping an eye on what had been going on at the other table just in case they needed to intervene. When they saw the handshake happen their jaws weren't far off hitting the table.

Hopefully they'd be able to get information out of him during the day's practice. If not they'd have to implement Evie's 'girl chat' methods.

At that moment Jay looked at his watch and spotted the time. They'd better be heading for the pitches otherwise they'd be facing the coach's rathe over being late.

"We'd better get going guys" he said to Gil and Carlos, then turning to face where Harry was sat he shouted, "Oi! Harry! Time to head!" getting the pirates attention. Harry nodded in response and began to get up and head over, leaving Mal and Ben behind at the table.

Before leaving the table Harry gave Mal a quick kiss, and nodded to the King while saying "he just called me Harry right? Not Hook?" surprise evident. Both just laughed in response, clearly being on the same sports team had started to form a bond between the two of some kind.

As the four boys left the canteen, sending Mal a wave on their way out the door, she realised that this was the first time she'd been along with Ben since they'd broken up. Both sat there looking a bit awkwardly at the other, not entirely sure how to begin the conversation.

"That's a nice necklace, did Harry give it to you?" Ben started, indicating the Hook and Dragon design she was currently fiddling with.

"Yes he did" a small smile gracing her face. "Although I've no idea where he got it from, he'd never been anywhere but the Isle or this school at the time he gave it to me." she had no idea why she'd told him that, she'd never even voiced her curiosity to Evie!

"Was there anyone that made it on the isle?" he asked, genuinely curious. "both you and Evie seemed to have some when you arrived?"

"What we had Ben was normally Auradon seconds. Dizzy is the only person who makes jewellery but it's very much Evie's style, from easily manipulated materials. We don't have tools for this sort of detail - the only person strong enough to do this by hand would be my dad." she shrugged, still at a loss as to where it could have come from.

"Here's something for you" Ben said, handing over a tablet to Mal. "Once you're back in your room go to your contacts and call the only person listed - it will be worth it" he said and began to leave, bidding goodbye to Mal with his signature smile. Leaving behind a confused girl, with a cold, half-eaten breakfast.

No longer bothered by breakfast Mal headed back to her dorm room, curious to see what mystery the tablet in her hand held. However about half way there, while crossing the quad, she bumped into the only person on campus she truly despised. Audrey was staring down at her dressed in the full cheer kit, her skirt far shorter than anyone else in the squad.

"Get out of my way you stupid girl!" Audrey sneered at Mal, despite the fact she could easily just walk around her.

"Why would I do that?" Mal responded with equal levels of venom.

"What's that you've got there?" She asked, eyeing the tablet in the purple haired girls hand.

"Just a tablet, surely you've got at least 5 of them already" Mal said with an eye roll. "Ben gave it to me just now at breakfast."

"Did he? I bet there's a certain pirate who would love to know that you and Ben are still so close?" Audrey sounded so victorious as she said this. Potentially she was hoping to unlock his anger by telling him that.

"Whatever Audrey" Mal said as she walked off. Although unknown to the Auradon girl her eyes flashed vivid green. Mal had silently cast a harmless spell on her hair to make it as unattractive as possible - it should give her boys at tourney a laugh!

Finally she made it to her room and sat down at her bomb site of a desk. She'd have to sort it out before lunch as the boys were descending during their break. At least she had actually been working for a change rather than just using it as a dumping zone.

Unlocking the tablet she went to the contacts as instructed by Ben, and was shocked to see the contact was 'Dad'. She hesitantly hit the FaceTime button, as it said Dad she was unsure if it was going to be Hades or King Adam. While she'd been on okay terms with the former King, she wasn't really on video chat terms with the guy.

Her question was answered when a blue Mohawk almost completely filled the screen - clearly the God was struggling with using the new technology.

"Stupid tech, how can it get the better of me" he was muttering as he pulled away from the screen and leaned back into his chair, smiling when he saw his daughter, "oh hey there Mali! How are you?"

"Hi Dad, pretty shocked to see you in all honesty. How on Earth did this get sorted out?" she asked her dad hoping he'd be able to fill in some of the gaps.

"Box came in the mail - thanks for all those newsy letters you sent by the way" he tagged on sarcastically. Mal had sent him about four letters since arriving over a year ago, she felt he had a valid point. "Anyway there was a note from that King of yours saying Harry was worried about you. On that topic what exactly is going on there? I know you were close on the Isle, no matter what I said. Basically the note said you would be getting one of these things too and we'd be able to talk whenever we wished with each other." he shrugged at the end to indicate he wasn't that bothered, but Mal could read the man and could tell he was quite touched by the gesture.

"Harry spoke to Ben voluntarily? Well that's a story I need to hear! As for your question, how much do you know about what happened when we first came?"

"Not much Mali, and your mother wasn't exactly forthcoming with the information. Ever."

"She wanted the four of us to steal FG's wand and bring the barrier down. Easiest way to get to the wand was the coronation. So I put Ben under a love spell to get a front row seat - so that whole fiasco was based on a total lie and all fell apart before the summer. Thanks for saying 'hi' by the way when I was last over. I'm sure you knew Harry and I were as good as together as you get on that rock since it appears I had a Guardian God AND Pirate watching me from the shadows. It's official over here in Auradon too."

"That lizards got it coming for her if I ever find her. That Ben was no good for you, seriously Mali blonde hair? The Hook boy appears to come from a good place, I've had enough run ins with him to know he cares about the real you. That's why I tipped him off, if you'd spoken to me you'd have never gone back." the God explained. "Although if the pair of you ever come back for a visit or I somehow get off we're meeting up - no discussion." by this point he was pointing a finger at her through the screen.

"You got it Dad" she smiled at him, happy to be able to talk to him again.

Given the fact they'd not been as close to each other as either had wished to be when she was growing up thanks to Maleficent, conversation flowed easily. They spent the whole morning catching up, talking about everything and nothing. She showed him round her and Evie's room, she even showed him some of her latest art pieces.

She'd been working on a portrait of him but was struggling how to best draw the flaming hair. The pair were discussing how best to do it, Mal making small sketches every time he told her something else about his magical hair. She was enjoying being able to just talk to him, especially as he was sharing quite a few underworld stories with her.

As both were so invested in the conversation Mal hadn't realised her dorm room door had opened until she felt a hook land on her shoulder, "Excellent the plan worked" Harry said, followed by him giving Gil a hi-five.

Mal got up from her desk to give him a quick hug, only to be interrupted by her fathers voice. "Hook, you'd better be looking after my girl?" He asked, thankfully without much menace, although his signature scowl was on his face. "Yes sir" was the only response to come from Harry.

"Gil, Jay, Carlos" the god briefly greeted the other three, not fully knowing them but knew they were good friends of Mal's. "Talk later Mali, okay?"

"Sure dad, bye!"

She hung up the call and turned to the four boys in her room. They'd only been at the extra training for two hours but from their appearance coach was pushing them hard.

"Is coach trying to kill you off before Wednesday?" She asked looking between the group.

"Two words Mal. Bleep. Test" Carlos responded causing the other boys to nod solemnly at their shared torture experience. Mal just raised an eyebrow, while she was active she wasn't traditionally sporty so she had no clue what he was on about.

"You've got to run a set distance between two beeps sounding with the time between beeps getting shorter" Jay explained, "give me running rooftops any day!" He said with a small smile towards Mal, knowing that was a particular hobby of hers from before.

"That does sound pretty bad. How long have you got till you've got to go back" she asked.

"Only 30 minutes" shot Carlos, clearly not pleased by the short break.

By this point Jay and Carlos had gravitated over to the video games console they'd had installed in the girls room.

"Gil, Harry you had better explain how this morning happened" she rounded on the two boys who had sat themselves on her bed.

Gil began the explanation, "Harry mentioned he'd got to speak to his Dad and sisters and knew you were somehow behind it. Still can't quite believe my idiot brothers are looking out for Harriet and CJ! Anyway he knew you were missing your Dad so I managed to track down Ben for him and here's the result" he finished pointing at the tablet still propped up on her desk.

At the confession she gave to two a hug, genuinely great full for the effort they'd put in to help her out. "Thank you, it was really great to see him and be able to talk to him."

Harry pulled her down into his lap and the three began discussing school related things before it was time for them to head back out to an afternoon of hard work going by the mornings activities.

After they'd left Mal decided she'd spend the afternoon in the art department, hopeful to finally complete her father's hair following their chat.