Evie lead Ben down the corridor. She chewed on her bottom lip in worry. The fallout of the situation could be detrimental to the dynamic of her friendship with Mal, but she was way in over her head and it was absolutely exhausting trying to pretend she isn't falling apart on the inside.

"Evie, can I ask you a question?" Ben's voice broke through the silence.

Evie raised an eyebrow at him, but she didn't give him an answer. She wasn't sure if she could answer the question he had and she didn't want to give him false hope.

"How are you?" Ben glanced over at her.

Evie's steps stuttered in confusion. Did he not realize that there was a major issue on their hands? "I'm fine. This situation has nothing to do with me." She was curt with her answer, but she was annoyed that any bit of focus was off of Mal.

"You have been dealing with this just as much as Mal has. You are trying to keep your best friend together at the sake of your own mental health. It is okay not to be okay." Ben tried to smile reassuringly at her, but it was more of a grimace.

"You don't get it, do you?" Evie felt her composure crack even more. She didn't want to completely lose her self-control, but she could feel everything slip. "We don't GET to be anything other than okay. Mal has had her entire life ruined. She lost her fire. She lost her sense of control. She believes that everything that has happened has been her fault. She is tormented even in her dreams. She is keeping everything bottled up like normal and it will eventually explode." She was screaming by the end of her speech, but she couldn't focus on anything but her frustrations.

"You mean she'll lose control like you are now?" Ben pointed out without being judgmental. "Evie, there is nothing wrong asking for support. Mal is going through a lot right now, but so are you. I can see the unfocused look you get when you think no one is looking. I can practically feel the tension radiating off of your body. Your teeth are going to tear a hole in your bottom lip." He had paid attention to the small movements in each of them over the time they had been there. He didn't put the actions together until this moment. "I've seen the way Jay walks stiffly behind Mal. He keeps his muscles flexed in intimidation. He stares down anyone that looks in Mal's direction. Carlos is a little harder to read. He doesn't actively intimidate anyone, but I know that he has hacked a few things."

Evie flicked her eyes at Ben in defense. "You can't prove that was him." She was too quick to go on the defense, but she didn't want to find out what happened if Auradon knew about the hacking.

"The hacking is the least of my concerns right now." Ben put her worries to ease. "I don't know the extent of the damage the Isle has left on you all, but I do know that I want you to heal. You can't do that if you are constantly in fear that something is going to happen. You have my word that the only thing that would get you sent back to the Isle against your wishes is murder." He had thought about the consequences for the children he brought over. The goal in the end was to integrate them into Auradon completely. It wasn't fair to hold them at a higher standard than the average citizen.

"The people of Auradon, your own father, thought that the Isle residents didn't deserve basic items. He thought that all children born to the villains were evil. Every day, Isle citizens fight over scrapes of rotten foods. You'll have to excuse me thinking that this is anything more than an empty promise." Evie didn't want to argue with Ben. She truly had no energy, but she needed him to see his own guilt by association. She had been deemed less than a person because of her mother.

"I understand, but Evie, I promise you," Ben hesitated for a moment. He wanted to take her hand in reassurance. He was raised on physical contact when being sincere, but he knew that life was different for Evie and he didn't want to make it worse. "I will prove it you. Just let me make this right with Mal first. After that you can tell me how I can make you believe in me."

Evie dropped her shoulders in surrender. "Can we just go to the dorm?" She wasn't about to stay in one place and continue to hash out everything that she blamed Auradon for, everything that she blamed Ben for.

"Of course," Ben was nervous again. He couldn't decide if he wanted Mal to be awake or asleep. He knew it was a coward move to hope she was awake so he didn't have to taint his vision of her, but he needed to see her.

"I'm going to go in first. If I don't open the door for you in three minutes, she is awake and you need to leave." Evie had her right hand on the doorknob while she was staring down Ben. She was trying to convey the seriousness of the situation. "I mean it. She can't know anything that happened. I'm pretty sure once tomorrow comes, she won't remember hurting you. You need to keep that a secret, too." She was hoping Mal's mind had shut down in response to the terror.

"Does that happen a lot?" Ben noticed that Mal didn't remember multiple moments in time, but he didn't want to assume anything.

"Trauma makes compartmentalizing things easier." Evie shrugged off his question. Each of her friends had moments they couldn't remember in the past.

"Three minutes." She reminded him and gently turned the knob. She was not willing to wake up Mal if she was in a peaceful slumber.

Evie crept in the room and used the moonlight streaming in the window as a guide. She saw the blanket moving slowly with each breath Mal took. She sighed in relief that any explanations needed would wait until a later time. She slipped off her heels by her bed and moved back to the door to gesture for Ben.

"She's asleep. You need to be quick and quiet, can you do that?" She whispered.

Ben nodded his head in assurance. His stomach tightened in fear of the sleeping figured. It was merely hours before he had been in this room an inch from his life. He had to tell himself that Mal would never intentionally hurt him.

"Can I have a moment?" Ben whispered to Evie. He wanted to let everything off of his chest, but he didn't want to expose his vulnerability to Evie, too.

"I'll just be in the bathroom removing my makeup. I'm leaving the door open. Do not try anything." Evie had her reservations about leaving Ben with Mal. She honestly didn't know which one would hurt the other more.

With one final look at her best friend, Evie tiptoed into the bathroom and started to remove the makeup gently. Her nighttime beauty routine was not something to be altered, so she took her time as much as she could with a sense of urgency. She was halfway through the routine when she heard a scream she had heard every night.

"What did you do?" Evie was screaming at Ben. She wasn't sure how, but she knew it was his fault. She knew from the thrashing, Mal was stuck in her flashback, but she was worried.

"No! Please stop! Patrick!" Mal screamed and bolted up right.

Evie was frozen in place. She felt her stomach churn with the new information.