Just as Jane predicted, Evie was annoyed that Mal had finally come to the realization she liked Ben when she was away. Mal walked into security with his phone off, knowing that Ben would likely call her the moment he realized it was late. She knew he went to sleep late; his friend's Instagrams show how the party continued for hours after she left, and there was no way the boy was going to be able to come pick her up. Sure, she could have blown his phone with calls, but she didn't feel strong enough to have a conversation with him, so she just texted him, hoping that she was right about her conclusions. Before getting into the plane she turned her phone on and noticed he had called her, and she went on to listen to his voice mail, her heart hurt for the boy, and she gave herself the duration of the flight to get over her issues and be ready to be the friend that Ben deserved. After listening to his message Mal sent a text to Evie telling her what happened during her trip, the answer came just as she was about to turn the phone off again and it said that Evie would be waiting for Mal at her apartment with food and wine.
She arrived in NY at 9 pm and didn't turn on her phone knowing that Ben would call her the second he realized she had arrived at the city. After she found a taxi and made it to her apartment Evie embraced Mal, the girl knew that even though she was excited that Mal finally realized how amazing she would be with Ben, it wasn't a good time for her friend. Who would have thought that Ben would find someone just as Mal was ready to give them a chance, it was like the universe wanted to play a mean joke on her friend. Evie and Mal made their way into the apartment as the girl asked Mal if she had called Ben. "No, I promised myself that I was going to be ok by now, but right now, I don't know what I would say to him."
"Call him and tell him that you guys are cool, but that I came to pick you up from the airport and that you will call him tomorrow. He is not going to relax until he knows you are not mad at him, and as far as I understand, you don't want him to know that anything happened, right?" Mal nodded and taking a deep breath, she turned on her phone, she managed to call the boy, and before the first ring ended, he was apologizing to her making her feel horrible. Evie could hear the boy even though it wasn't on speaker, and taking Mal's hand, she squeezed it, trying to give her friend strength to go on with the call as they discussed. With a little nod, Mal stopped Ben with her best happy voice and told him that they were fine and not to worry about it. Without letting him talk she went on to tell Ben that Evie was there with her, Evie took that opportunity to shout a quick hello, and that she was staying with Mal so she couldn't talk. "I'll talk to you soon, ok? Don't worry about sleeping in; it was your birthday you were supposed to stay up late; I understand entirely, so please don't feel bad. Now I have to go, take care."
They talked at the end of that week, and Mal managed to keep her mood up while Ben shared with her the details of his new relationship. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Veronica, but I wasn't sure things were going to work out, so it didn't seem like there was something to share."
Mal told him not to worry and assured him that she was happy that things were working out for him and Veronica. The girl managed to make it all the call without Ben noticing her discomfort, which was proof to her that the boy wasn't paying close attention to her. From that moment on, calls became more scarce between the friends; Ben busy with his new relationship, and Mal avoiding some calls because Veronica was the main topic now. By the end of August, they had decided that texting was best for both of them, and even that became less frequent.
Mal's friends notice the change in the girls' mood whenever they talk about Ben, so they stop mentioning the boy and try to fill more of their friend's time. That's when Ryder and Mal started to get closer, one night when the girl went out with them, she decided that drinking was the best way of having a good time and the boy ended up having to take her home. When they were alone at her apartment, he finally confronted her about why she was acting that way, and Mal broke down about how much she missed Ben and how she now knew that she had lost her shot at being with him. "I always told him that he was my brother and that people that saw us as anything more were dumb because we knew better than everybody what we felt for each other. I wished I knew back then how wrong I was, but now I can't do anything about it."
"Yes, you can. Mal just call him and tell him what you are saying to me; looked from the moment I saw you guys interact I knew both of you care for the other more than you guys realized. Now that you know that, you should tell him; I'm sure he will be open to trying to be with you." Mal shooked her head to the point that she felt sick and told Ryder that Ben only saw her as his sister now, and the proof was in how invested he was in his relationship.
"He doesn't even realize how sad I am when we talk, and we barely talk because Veronica is his priority now. Look, I had my chance, and I don't want to ruin things for us by saying something and make it awkward between us. I need to move on." Ryder felt horrible for the girl; he had a similar situation in his past, and even though he told Mal to share her feelings with Ben when he did that, his friendship with Maya ended. The boy did the only thing that came to mind and hugged Mal promising her that he was going to be there for her no matter what she decided to do.
Ryder spent that night in her apartment with her hearing the girl sharing with him how much she wished there was a way for her to go back in time and be with Ben. That scene turned into a weekly date for the couple, and soon enough, Ryder and Mal started getting closer, which gave the girl a sense of relief of having another person to share her feelings when Evie wasn't able to be there for her. By October, Ryder and Mal had developed a nice dynamic, which included having lunch together three times a week and spending Friday's night together when the group didn't plan an outing. Evie started to worry about how close they were getting not wanting her friend to fall into an unwanted relationship to escape loneliness. When the girl talked to Mal about it, she was happy to hear that the girl and Ryder had already talked about it, and they both wanted just to be friends; the boy knew how she felt about Ben, and she knew that Ryder wasn't over his feelings for Maya.
On the other hand, Ben started to realized that Ryder was a constant on Mal's social media. The couple was always doing something together, alone or with the group, and even when he talked to Mal, all her stories involved Ryder. Ben was happy for Mal; he noticed how happy she sounded lately and hoped that things continue to go well for her, although if he was honest with himself, he felt a little jealous of Ryder taking his place in the girls' life. With that in mind, he decided to surprise Mal with a trip to visit him for her birthday, but when he told Mal about her idea, she thanked him but declined the invitation. "I already have plans, Ben. I'm going on a road trip to Boston with the group, and we are spending the weekend there for my birthday and Halloween."
Mal's birthday was the day before Halloween, and since they were little, the girl always celebrated it with a costume party. Ben asked her about the party, and Mal told him that she was excited to do something new this year.
"Well, I'm glad you are going to do something new then although it is kind of weird, but you are right; there is nothing bad with mixing things up. Did I tell you Veronica's birthday is the day before yours? I would go to visit you on your birthday, but we are planning to spend it together. I'm still calling you at midnight to wish you a happy birthday though, that's a tradition I'm not willing to let you change." Mal laughed at his comment and assured him that she would be waiting for his call.
Sadly that call didn't came that night, but Mal had Ryder next to her to wish her happy birthday after an hour of waiting, and she realized then that he was her best friend now. Not because he was there then, but he had been Mal's support in her worst moments, making her feel care for and trying to make her life better. The realization sadly made her feel worst, Ben and she were starting to grow apart, and her heart hurt at the thought of that. At two am, when she was watching a movie with Ryder, her phone rang, announcing a call from Ben. Ryder smiled at the name of the screen, knowing how important it was for Mal to hear from Ben, and urged the girl to answer the call.
Mal said hello as Ben started singing Happy birthday to her, like he used to do every year, making her smile. The boy purposely sang of key some notes, and she laughed, like she always did, making the boy join her. Just as he went on to speak, Ryder sneezed, and Mal said bless you. Ben for the first time realized Mal wasn't alone and asked her who was there, the thought that he wasn't the first one wishing her happy birthday made him sad and a little angry at the same time. He was the first person to wished her happy birthday every single year; even when she was with Harry, Mal would lock herself in a room so that Ben could be the first one to say it to her. Mal told him that she and Ryder were watching a movie, as in queue, Ryder said hello to Ben, and that put the boy in the worst mood.
Mal thanked Ben and asked him about Veronica's party making the boy focus on his thoughts back into the conversation, and he went on to tell her all about the party. After the party ended, Veronica and Ben had one of their own, and now the girl was sleeping in his room while he talked with Mal in his living room. "Oh, so that's why you didn't call me at midnight." Mal didn't mean to say it out loud, but now that it was out, she didn't feel bad about saying it.
Ben was quiet for a moment, and Mal could picture him scratching the back of his head, trying to explain his behavior and coming up with nothing. "Hey, Ben thank you so much for calling me; it means a lot to me. You should go back to sleep though I wouldn't like for Veronica to wake up and not found you next to her."
"Are you mad? I'm sorry I didn't call you at midnight, but obviously, you were busy too. I guess I had no chance of being the first one to wish you a happy birthday even if I call you then. Next time tell me if you are changing our traditions."
Mal was fuming by the time he finished talking and told him that Ryder hadn't wished her happy birthday waiting for his call for over an hour, so he needed to chill with the attitude. "You know what Ben I'm going to hang up now because honestly, this is not the way I want to spend my birthday. So go on with your day. Bye." Mal ended the call, and Ryder hugged her telling her that he was sorry for sneezing, making the girl chuckle through her tears. Both of them stared at the phone, hoping that Ben called to apologize, but it didn't happen. Later that day, Mal shared with Evie what happened, and the girl call Ben and told him off for the way he behaved. The boy apologized to Evie and asked her to talk to Mal so they could set up a video call so he could apologize to her.
"Evie, I don't know what happened to me; I call and was so happy to hear her, and then when I realized Ryder was there and suddenly I got so mad with the entire situation. I know it is super dumb, but being the first person she talked on her birthday was our thing, and I felt like now she was replacing me." Evie understood why he felt that way, but she told him that he was the first changing the tradition, so he needed to stop acting like a spoiled kid ruining Mal's birthday. Ben agreed and asked the girl again to please help him convinced Mal to talk to him so he could fix things between them.
Evie set up the call, and the friends made up, although Mal just wanted to scream at Ben for making her feel so horrible on her birthday. By the end of the call Mal could hear Veronica asking Ben if he was ready to go because they were going to be late for their reservation. Mal turned towards Evie, who was listening to their conversation, and her friend could see how annoyed the girl was.
Ben told Veronica to wait for a second, and the girl could be heard telling him to hurry up because it was their favorite restaurant. The moment Mal knew he was paying attention to their conversation again, she went on to tell Ben that they were running late for something and said her goodbyes not giving the boy a chance to say anything but goodbye.
Evie shook her head and told Mal to give the boy some time and then talked to him about his behavior, but the girl wasn't planning on giving Ben more chances to let her feel like his second choice.