Mal laughed to herself the effects of the alcohol showing; earlier that night, she went out with her new friends to celebrate Ryder's birthday, and of course, there were a lot of toasts going on. She enjoyed her new group of friends, ever since she met Ryder and the rest of the group two months before when they helped her moved they had adopted her. Life was different now that she found a new support group, sure Evie was always there for her, but Mal sometimes felt like she was imposing in her's friend relationship; Doug was Harry's friend in the end, and she knew that it was awkward for the boy not to take sides.
The thought sobered her a little, and soon she found herself wishing she had a little wine to get her buzz up again; instead, she moved to her closet and got out her pajamas ready to change. Taking her clothes out, she noticed Ben's hoodie on her drawer and without giving it a second thought she put down her pj's and put the hoodie on; sure it was already July, and it was hot outside, but she needed to feel like he was there with her. She smiled, thinking about their conversation of the day before, Ben talking about his work and making silly comments with the sole purpose of making her laughed. No matter how happy she was with her new friends, she would love to be in Seattle with him at this moment. Their weekly conversation was the highlight of her week, she looked forward to calling him, and every single time he said hello smiling at her Mal felt like there was nobody else in the world but them. Shaken her head, Mal decided that it was time to sleep, so lying down she closed her eyes her last thought was Ben.
She woke up and felt someone next to her; Turning slowly, she saw Ben sleeping with a content smile on his face that she mirrored instantly while snuggling against the guy. Ben opened his eyes and gave her a small kiss on the lips, saying good morning; Mal smiled into the kiss, feeling happy. "Did you sleep well?" His voice was raspy, and Mal felt herself tingle with anticipation while he leaned over to kiss her again. Before he could end the kiss, she took control and deepened it while Ben brought her to lay on top of him. The kiss grew in intensity until the ringing of Mal's phone disturbed the couple, and she found herself being pushed gently by Ben. "Hey, you need to wake up and get that."
Less than a second later, she opened her eyes again, and she was alone in her bed in complete shock of what happened on her dream. In all the time she knew Ben, she had never dreamed about him like that. Her phone rang again, demanding her attention and Mal answer not paying attention, suddenly Ben's raspy voice was coming from it, and she had to put her hand over her mouth to stop herself from screaming. "Hey, you sent me a text last night telling me to call you. What's up Mal?"
It took her a second to remembered that drunk Mal wanted to talk to Ben, so she sent him a text while she was at the club with her friends. After sending it, she realized it was 1 am where he was, and the boy was definitely not available to talk, so she forgot about it until that moment. It was 10 am in NY, so Ben was calling her at his 7 am, which was super early for the boy who only slept in on Sundays. His voice came again from the phone, making her paid attention to the boy. "I'm sorry, Ben. I was just missing you."
Ben chuckled and asked her if she wanted to facetime. Soon they both were seeing each other through their computers while lying on their beds; the scene made Mal think of her dreamed, and she started getting red. The boy noticed and asked if she was feeling ill, which she denied. "Is just getting hotter in here already."
Ben rolled his eyes and told her that his hoodie wasn't the right choice of clothes just for Mal to stuck her tongue at him, making him laughed before speaking again. "So, I was thinking. Next week is my birthday, and I know that you always ask me what I want, and I always say nothing, but this year I do want something."
Mal sat up ready to hear the boy out; she didn't have a lot of money lately, mainly due to the security deposit and the appliances she bought for her new home. Still, she would find a way to get Ben whatever he wanted for his birthday. "That's great, Ben, tell me, what would you like?"
"I want you to come visit me. I know that you are busy, but I was wondering if you used all your vacation time this year already. Now, listen to me. I will be paying for your ticket; if you even try to buy them yourself, I won't let you come. I just want you to be here with me." He put his best pout out, knowing that Mal could never deny anything to him when he did that. It took her a few seconds to gather her thoughts because her first instinct was to cry out of the pure joy she felt of knowing she would be with him soon.
"I haven't used all my vacation time this year, I have two weeks free, but I can't go away for that much time. I do, however, can go for a week. So I would love to be there with you on your birthday." Ben jump out his bed, celebrating the news, and Mal couldn't help but laugh at his excitement. He went on to tell her all the things he wanted them to do while she was there, sure some days he would need to go to work but only for a few hours, and after that, they were going to spend all their time together. While he talked, Mal couldn't help but to think back to her dream and wondered if maybe she shouldn't have accepted the invitation. Living with Ben for a week was not going to help her emotions calm down; still, she told herself that the dream was just an anomaly, so there was no need to worry about anything.
A week later, the girl made her way to Seattle; as soon as she picked her bags, Ben was there to greet her hugging her and thanking her for coming to visit him. Mal loved her time in Seattle, but she noticed that her mind would start to create scenarios where she and Ben were more than friends. Was Ben always that charming to her? Was his smile that bright? Ben called her name, making her focus on the boy that looked worried. "Are you ok? You keep spacing out, are you worry about work?"
"No, sorry. I think I 'm still in shock that I'm here. We didn't see each other for four years, and suddenly we are traveling and visiting each other three times in one year. I'm not complaining; I'm just happy." Ben nodded and hugged her bringing her closer to him, telling her how happy he was that they were able to be together for his birthday. It was her third day there, and they were spending the majority of there time going around the city so Mal could have a sense of how was living there. The couple was planning to have lunch with Azis, Jay, and Lonnie so Mal could see her friends, and while Ben went to his office, she could go out with Lonnie. When the boys called asking them where the girls were so, they could join Lonnie told them that they would go to the office to pick them up.
Mal was excited; she only went once to their office, and it was a quick visit; however, when they arrived, she saw a cute blonde girl talking to Ben, and the boy was blushing. That put a damper on her mood, and she found herself getting annoyed in a split second; Lonnie, who saw her change, asked her if everything was ok and Mal forced a smile nodding. Azis and Jay came to meet the girls, and even though Mal tried her best they noticed that she wasn't in the best mood. The girl asked them where the bathroom was, and after Mal went on her way, the boys talked to Lonnie, asking her if anything happened, but the girl was as confused as they were. Ben made his way to the friends and asked them where Mal was, and Lonnie decided not to tell him about the sudden change in her mood and just said that she was in the bathroom.
It took Mal a couple of minutes to get herself together, she didn't understand what was happening to her, but she knew that it was wrong to get annoyed by something as innocent as her friend talking to another girl. So after taking a deep breath, she went to find the group and managed to get herself back to the right state of mind to enjoy the rest of the day. Three days later it was finally Ben's birthday, and his friends organized a small get together, that day he didn't go to work and spent his day with Mal enjoying having time for them. Both of them knew that she was leaving the day after, but part of them didn't want to accept that after today it was probable that they wouldn't see each other for months or even the rest of the year. The hour of the party came, and Ben's place filled with people from his work and his friends of game night; Mal and Jane hugged and started talking about what was new in their lives.
Carlos came to stand next to Jane, and Mal smiled at how happy the couple looked, and for a second, she let herself believe that maybe she wasn't far away from having something like them. Without even thinking, she searched around the room for Ben, and her heart hurt when she saw him talking to the blonde girl from the office. Jane and Carlos called her name, but Mal couldn't listen to them all her attention focus on how Ben and the girl seemed to be having a moment. The couple noticed what she was looking at, and without even asking her, they knew that Mal wasn't happy to see Ben talking to Veronica. Jane cleared her throat, finally getting the girls attention and asked her if she got to meet some of Ben's coworkers, Mal shooked her head still not able to stop looking at the boy wishing he stopped getting so close to the girl.
Jane put an arm around her, forcing Mal to turned and started pointing to people telling their name while Carlos shared little stories trying to distract the girl. By the time they turned back to where Ben was, they saw the boy kissing the blonde girl, and Mal felt like someone had punched her in the stomach; quickly, she excused herself and went to the bathroom, but it was busy.
She turned and tried to open Ben's room, but it was locked too, she tried to force it open, but a voice came from inside telling her that it was occupied. Mal was about to tell off whoever was inside when Jane came to her side and told her to go with her, together they exit the apartment. They walked until they were a couple of blocks away in silence, then Jane asked if she was ok, and Mal turned to her friend. "I think I like Ben."
"I think you like him too. I never thought this moment would come, and I know Evie is going to be so annoyed that she missed your realization." Mal couldn't stop the smile that came to her lips sure that Evie was going to be mad at her. Jane called Carlos and told him that she was taking Mal to their place so they could talk, and the boy told her to take her time and text him if they needed him to do something.
Jane managed to help Mal order her thoughts, and when exactly, she started to change the way she saw Ben. Both of them remembered how mad Mal would get with anyone that suggested that Ben and she would be anything but best friends. Carlos called the girls a few hours later and told them that people were getting ready to sing happy birthday, and he was sure that Ben would notice if Mal weren't there for that. When Mal asked him if Ben was still hanging out with Veronica, Jane had shared with her the name of the girl, Carlos hesitated a moment but shared with them that they were currently making out on the sofa. Jane told Carlos that they were going to make their way there and that Mal was staying with them that night, the boy said great and ended the call. "I know this was not the way you plan to spend your last night here, but I thought you rather be here than there. I promised Carlos and me won't even hold hands in your presence."
Mal chuckled and thanked Jane for her offer; she was right; this was the best way to handle the situation. She wasn't sure if she wouldn't try to pick a fight with Ben if she stayed at his apartment. When they finally made it to the apartment, she went straight to the room, Carlos had managed to evict the people that were using it, and together with Jane who picked her stuff from the bathroom, the girls packed her things. Carlos put her suitcase out of the room and into the walking closet next to the door, so they didn't need to go back there in case another couple ended up using it when they wanted to leave. Lonnie, who saw Mal looking at Ben and then leave with Jane, noticed everything the girl was doing now and came to talk to Mal. The girl went straight to the point, telling her that she understood then why she was upset the other day and also promised not to tell anyone about it.
Mal was shocked, but before she could say anything, Lonnie was hugging her, and she hugged her back. Jane told Lonnie that Mal was staying with her that night, and the girl asked them if she could join in and make it a girl's night. Jay announced that it was time to sing Happy Birthday, and the girls went on to find a place to stand so they could join in the song. Suddenly Ben appeared next to them and asked Mal if she was having fun, and the girl nodded, forcing herself to smile. "Wow, it definitely is my birthday. I thought you were going to start asking me millions of questions about Veronica, but here you are completely silent."
"I have nothing to say. It is your party, and you can do whatever you want." That answer shocked him a little; Mal wanted to scream she was trying so hard to be nice, but even she knew that her response was harsh. Before Ben could say something, Lonnie cleared her throat, gaining his attention.
"Ben, first, I want to wish you a happy birthday again and also thank you for bringing Mal here." Ben smiled at Lonnie and looked at Mal, ready to ask her what was happening with her, but Lonnie continued talking. "Also, we are taking Mal away for tonight so that we can have a girls night."
It took him a second to realize what the girl told him, and he turned to look at Mal, who was moving to the side, letting Jay who was carrying Ben's cake get in front of the boy. Suddenly the lights were out, and everyone was singing happy birthday to the boy, but Ben was trying to find Mal. What exactly happened? She was mad at him, was it because he spent the entire party with Veronica? Ben tried to smile; he didn't want to make it awkward for the people there, but he wished the song would end so he could talk to Mal and make things right between them. Claps erupted, and his friends started hugging him, wishing him happy birthday one more time.
That was it; the moment Mal went to hugged him, he wouldn't let go until he forgave him. Sadly she didn't come to embrace him, and he found himself being hugged by Veronica, and then they were kissing again. When they stopped, Ben excused himself and searched the room for Mal, and found her eating cake with Carlos, Jane, and Lonnie. Jay appeared next to Ben handing him a plate with cake and asking him if he was ok. "Mal is not staying here tonight. Lonnie said that they are going to have a girl's night, but I think she is mad at me for not spending time with her tonight."
"Sure, that could be it. Still, Mal and Jane are friends since they were kids, and Lonnie knows her since college. Maybe they want to spend their last night together because they barely got to see each other, and honestly, Ben, you seemed to be very busy tonight."
Suddenly Carlos said something and all the girls laughed, making Ben think that what Jay said was true. Taking a deep breath, he agreed with his friend, and together they went to join the group, a couple of minutes later Azis and Veronica joined them, and Mal was introduced to the girl for the first time. After a couple of minutes, Jane announced that they were leaving and hugged Ben goodbye while Carlos, Mal, and Lonnie said their goodbyes to the rest of the group and finally to Ben. When it was Mal's turned, the boy held on to her a little longer and told her that he would be picking her up tomorrow to take her to the airport, and she nodded. Ben let go of her and promised her to pack all her things, but Carlos told him no to worry because they were taking her suitcase with them.
Then Carlos took the suitcase from the closet, and Mal put on her backpack, waving goodbye to the boy and her other friends. At that moment, Ben felt horrible; Mal even managed to pack all her things without him realizing it; he promised himself to pick her up early so he could apologize for not being with her that night. The party went on, and even though Ben wasn't having the best time at first after a few shots, he felt better. Sadly he didn't realize what time it was and ended up falling asleep late; he woke up disoriented and with a headache. Ben searched for his phone and saw that he was supposed to be at the airport with Mal at that time and cursed, he opened his messages and saw that he had a few texts from Mal first asking him where he was and then telling him not to worry because Jane and Carlos were taking her to the airport.
A notification from Carlos account came, and he found himself watching a boomerang of Lonnie, Jane, Mal, and Carlos wearing sunglasses while rocking to a song at the airport. Ben went on to call her, but her phone was off, he then called Jane who informed him that Mal already went through security so she couldn't give her any messages. The boy called Mal again and left her a long voice mail apologizing for not giving her a ride to the airport and asking her to please call him so they could talk.