AN: Flings between Mal and Ben have previously ended even though it's not explicitly stated.
Trigger Warning: Explicit description of violence/sexual assault, bullying, harassment, self harm, ED behaviors, etc.
"I've been treated so wrong, I've been treated so long, as if I'm becoming untouchable." -My Skin by Natalie Merchant
"Hold onto me 'cause I'm a little unsteady." -Unsteady by the X Ambassadors
Evie's Point of View
Evie arose around 6:00 AM, a habit she had picked up because a princess always takes the time to look her best, as her mother had always told her. She didn't give a shit about that anymore though, not since the incident. Old habits really do die hard, she thought to herself.
She tried to move and get up, but she felt constricted, like someone was holding her down. Her breathing suddenly became shallow, and she almost started to cry until the memories from the night before came flooding back to her: she had confessed to Mal what had happened and why she had changed so much.
Shit, she thought, What the fuck have I gotten myself into?
The princess, as quietly as possible, moved Mal's arm as to not wake the sleeping girl up. She sighed looking down at the other girl, who looked so peaceful...well as peaceful as any of the kids from the Isle had ever looked while sleeping.
I want to sleep like that. I thought this place was supposed to be safe. Why did this have to happen? Evie's mind was going a million miles an hour.
So, she went to her dresser, grabbed a change of clothes (long sleeves and long pants because she wasn't letting anyone see those scars.) Then, she headed to the bathroom, making sure to lock the door. Stripping, she looked in the mirror and exhaled a breath she had no idea she had been holding in. She grabbed off the rack and her favorite razor from the bathroom mirror that was also a cabinet (that had been exciting to find when they had first moved to Auradon). But now nothing mattered. She hung the towel on the hook next to the shower.
Climbing in, she made sure to have the water as hot as humanly possible, despite it not being good for her skin. She just didn't give a shit anymore. After bathing, she decided to sit down in the shower, letting the water run down her face. She wanted to cry, but really there was no point. She had let all the tears out the night before.
Grabbing the razor from the place she had put it a few minutes before, she pressed it into the skin of her thigh. Waiting until it bled well enough to satisfy her until, she cut herself three more times on the same thigh. But for some reason, it just wasn't enough. Therefore, she slide the razor angrily across her other thigh, which started bleeding profusely.
"Shit," she said, a little too loud for her liking.
But it was too late when she realized how loud she had been because Mal was at the door picking the lock.
Mal's Point of View
Mal thought she felt something nudge, but it was way too early to get up. Well, anything before 7:45, which was fifteen minutes before classes started was too early to get up. So she let herself sleep in, which was a decision she regretted when she jolted up as soon as she heard the word, "Shit," come from the bathroom.
Memories from the night before came flooding quickly, and she realized Evie wasn't in bed with her anymore, so she ran to the bathroom and tried to open the door, but it was locked.
Of course. Mal thought to herself. Of fucking course it's locked.
This wasn't much of a problem, however, because the girl always carried bobby pins on her, and they were so obviously not to take care of her hair. Fumbling with the lock, she let Evie know she was coming in.
Upon opening the door, steam all but knocked her down. However, she still managed to run to the shower and open the curtain. There, she saw Evie sitting down, blood dripping from her legs.
"Evie..." Mal whispered solemnly.
Evie just sat there, staring straight ahead with a blank look.
Mal knew she had to get her act together, quickly. The wound on Evie's leg was bleeding severely.
Quickly, the girl with the purple hair, cut the shower off, grabbed the other girl's towel, putting it on the wound and applying just enough pressure. Evie winced at this, but Mal knew the girl had been in worse pain before.
It didn't stop her from feeling a twinge in her gut, especially when she noticed the smaller cuts on Evie's other thighs.
Eventually, the bleeding stopped. By then, Evie was mostly dry, so Mal grabbed some neosporin and some bandages from the cabinet/mirror and put them on Evie's wounds.
"Evie, baby girl, do you think you can get dressed or do you need any help?"
"I can do it, M." Evie stated numbly.
Not even waiting for Mal to leave, Evie got out of the shower, and put her clothes on.
"Now, Evie, how are we going to explain this bloody towel to Fairy Godmother?"
It was a legitimate question because the Fairy Godmother was the person who did everyone's laundry, so that any concerning stains would be asked about.
"I don't care," Evie stated blankly, eyes straight ahead, as she walked into their room, followed immediately by Mal.
"Okay..." the slightly older girl stated with a hint of disappointment to her voice.
I guess it doesn't really matter. I'll just tell her Evie cut herself shaving. No big deal. Mal thought to herself.
Mal didn't know how she was going to say this next part because she knew Evie would hate it. But it had to be said.
"Evie, we aren't going to classes today," Mal explained to Evie, trying to look into those cold, distant eyes.
"Okay," Evie said dejectedly, not even trying to put up a fight.
Evie, her Evie, was broken, so broken, she didn't fight back for what she wanted. Evie wasn't ever really defensive, but she never just did what she was told without a valid reason. She hadn't been like this since the isle.
Mal shuddered at the thought of that place, but looked straight into Evie's eyes and put a hand in the other girl's. Evie's hand had stiffened at first, but after a few moments, her hand (ever so slightly) relaxed.
"Evie, I'm going to text the boys and tell them we won't be in classes today and to tell the teachers we're both sick. I will also tell them to come by our dorm later, with our 'homework' so we can talk to them about this. Is that okay?" Mal made sure to ask all of this as slow as possible so it would give Evie a chance to comprehend all of what she said.
Evie nodded solemnly, let go of Mal's hand and went to go sit on her bed.
Mal sighed, texted the boys and went to go sit next to Evie.
Looking the blue haired beauty in the eyes, Mal questioned, "Are you sure you're okay with telling them about this?"
Evie looked at her and ever so slightly nodded.
"Evie, I know you don't want to, but can you please tell me who that asshole says took the video of that happening?"
Evie slowly started to shake her head, looked into Mal's eyes and whispered, "I'm scared you won't believe me."
At this, Mal's stomach physically ached, but nevertheless, she looked right back at the other girl and said ever so softly, "Of course, I'll believe you, E. I always will."
At this, Evie just nodded and stared blankly for a few minutes.
After what felt like forever, Evie let her know everything she wanted to know with one little word, "Ben."
Mal's eyes flickered green, something that hadn't happened in months.
Evie sighed, shrunk into herself and kept saying, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
Mal knew exactly what was happening, it was something that had happened to all of the VK's at one point or another (although none of them would ever admit it). The other girl was about to have a panic attack.
"Evie, baby girl, breathe," she whispered as she touched the other girl's back. She felt the girl visibly flinch at the touch and cringed because that had never happened with Evie before.
"Evie, I need you to look at me."
Evie just sat there with her head in her hands and shook her head as if to say, "I can't."
"Yes, you can, E. I know you can. Look at me."
After several minutes of prompting, Evie finally managed to look into Mal's soft, green eyes.
"I'm not mad at you, Evie. This is NOT your fault. I know how hard this is. I'm here for you okay?" Mal whispered gently.
At this, Evie leaned into her, visibly relaxing. Mal rubbed the girl's back and whispered soothing words into her ear.
They stayed like that for a while and then decided to watch their favorite show, Brooklyn Nine Nine, until the boys came over. It was refreshing for Mal to hear Evie's laugh again. She hadn't heard it in a while. Granted, this laugh wasn't genuine, but it was something.
Before they knew it, they heard a knock on the door and knew it must be the boys. With a heavy sigh, Mal grabbed Evie's hand and said, "You ready?"
"I-I-I think so," Evie replied, "As ready as I'll ever be."
With that, they walked to the door and let Carlos and Jay in the room.
Jay's Point of View
It was weird for Jay to receive a text like that from Mal, saying her and Evie would both be skipping classes because they were "sick." Well, it wasn't weird for Mal, but it was really weird for Evie to go along with it. Evie almost never skipped classes. As a matter of fact, it was hard for any of them to convince her to skip class when she was actually sick.
And then there was the fact Mal wanted them to meet her and Evie in their room after classes. Something definitely wasn't right. Before they headed to class, he told Carlos what was going on, who nodded, seemingly confused.
They both just shrugged it off though, and went to classes as usual, letting the professors know that Mal and Evie weren't feeling well and that's why they wouldn't be in attendance of that day's classes. Classes went about uneventfully, until it was time to go to the girl's dorm with Carlos.
Carlos' Point of View
Carlos sighed. He knew it was time to go to the girls' dorm and give them their homework. They also had something they wanted to talk to the boys about. This was extremely weird for the girls. Yea, they talked to the boys but they usually didn't involve them in everyday problems unless it was serious. The freckled boy had no idea how serious this problem was gonna be. Jay knocked on the door and the girls answered, holding hands.
Carlos looked into each of the girl's eyes and knew something bad had happened.
"What's going on?" He questioned.
Mal spoke up, "Why don't we sit down on the floor?" It wasn't a question, as much as it was a statement. The boys obliged and they all sat in a weird looking circle.
Mal was still holding Evie's hand, and she looked at both Jay and Carlos and proclaimed, "You are not allowed to do anything rash upon finding this information out. We are still trying to decide what to do with this information. Am I understood?"
"Yes ma'am," both Jay and Carlos said. To anyone else, it would seem like they were mocking the girl, but based on her tone, they knew better.
"Good. Now, Evie, sweetie," she said while squeezing her hand, "Do you want to tell or do you want me to?"
"I-I-I-I w-w-want to." Evie all but sobbed. Mal gave her hand a reassuring squeeze as if to say it was okay to speak.
"I'm going to tell exactly what happened if that's okay?" Evie asked so sweetly it almost made Carlos nauseous. Something definitely wasn't right.
"It was at Chad's party about a month ago," Evie gulped, "The one I insisted on going to, and I stayed after you guys left. I was having fun, really, I was and I was super drunk, but then Doug offered me something else to drink, and I took it. B-b-but I-I-I got super dizzy r-r-really q-quick, and started to feel like I was going to throw up." Evie shuddered.
They all got the picture at this point, so Jay spoke up, "You don't have to keep going, Evie, it's okay," he said, giving her a reassuring half-smile.
"N-no, I need to g-g-get t-this out," Evie took a deep breath and kept on, "He offered to take me up to my room. And B-Ben came with h-him."
At this, Evie visibly gulped and Carlos sighed. He wasn't sure if he could hear anymore, but he knew he had to, for Evie, who was always there for the rest of them.
Evie's Point of View
Evie wasn't sure why she was so adamant about getting this out, but she knew she had to.
"W-well, they didn't take me up to m-m-my room. They took m-me to D-D-Doug's room. And I wasn't exactly passed out, but I was super sleepy. A-A-Anyway, t-t-they laid me down in the bed and B-Ben got a camera out. Then, Doug got on top of me and started kissing me. I t-t-tried to say n-n-no, but he just kept shushing m-m-e. So I pretended to be a-a-sleep, but I-I wasn't. Then, he s-s-started to unbutton my shirt. He took my shirt and b-b-bra off and started kissing me e-e-everywhere."
Evie shuddered, because she hated this, but she had to get this out, she just had to. With a reassuring hand squeeze from Mal, she kept on, "Then, he p-put h-his h-hand in my p-p-pants. I flinched, but he just smiled and said, 'I know you like this.' Then, he took my pants and panties off. I wanted to push him off, but I c-c-couldn't. It was like I was f-f-frozen. A-A-And then h-h-he put it inside me. I-It hurt so bad. I-I-I wanted to scream. I begged h-h-him to s-s-stop. I t-t-tried to s-s-scream, but then Ben, while still r-r-recording, p-p-put h-his h-h-hand on my m-m-mouth. And said, 'J-J-Just let h-h-him f-finish.' It felt like forever for h-h-him to f-f-inish, b-b-but e-e-e-e-eventually h-h-h-he did. And t-then he w-whispered, 'D-don't tell anyone about this, or else.' With that, he and Ben left and I just wanted to cry, b-b-but I d-d-didn't. I-I-I p-put m-my c-clothes on a-and went b-back to the r-room and s-showered."
Mal's Point of View
Mal remembered that night. She had left Evie at the party because she was starting to get a bad migraine.
Fuck. Mal thought to herself. I never should have left. FUCK FUCK FUCK.
However, she couldn't think like that right now. She needed Evie to finish the story.
"And then what happened baby girl?" Mal asked, giving the other girl a reassuring look.
"After I s-showered and t-tried to scrub h-him off of me, I went to bed. I w-woke up the n-next morning w-w-with s-several threatening t-texts f-from D-Doug. H-He's l-labeled as Asshole though, and h-he's b-b-been d-doing this s-since that day."
Mal saw the glare in Jay's eyes and the fear in Carlos'. Right now, her feelings were more aligned with Jay's but she also understood why the youngest boy was afraid. The isle hadn't been friendly to any of them. But Auradon? It was supposed to be their fresh start.
"Let me see the phone, Evie," Jay exclaimed pointedly.
"Okay," she replied, handing the phone to Jay.
He looked through the messages, and it was clearly making him angrier but Mal knew why he had to see them. It was the same reason she had. It was because she needed to see what Evie was seeing every day. After he gave Evie back her phone, the oldest boy asked "Is there anything else you need to tell us?"
"G-Guys. I also n-need to t-tell you. I c-cut myself sometimes. Mal find out this morning, the hard way. And I just wanted you two to know. I d-don't want to, b-but I just f-f-feel so gross. I w-want to c-cut my s-skin off."
Mal saw Carlos visibly flinch at the words, but he and Jay both nodded.
"So what are we going to do?" It was the first time Carlos had really spoken.
"That's up to Evie," Mal replied.
Jay nodded in agreement, but made sure to add, "I really think we should tell Fairy Godmother."
"O-O-Okay." Evie told the other three, "But all of you have to c-come w-w-with me."
"So it's settled, but when do you want to do it?" Carlos questioned.
"R-Right now?" Evie said.
Mal smiled, not a genuine smile, but a smile nonetheless, and said, "Alright, let's go, E."
With this, Evie grabbed both Mal's and Carlos' hand and felt Jay's comforting presence behind her.
The rotten four had no clue what to expect from the Fairy Godmother, but at least here, they had hope something would go right even under some of the most horrible circumstances.
And at least that was something.