Once in the boy's room, Lonnie and Jay asked Ben to sit down, after taking a deep breath the girl went on to share with him that a little over a month before, his parents asked her to please help them make a special celebration for him. "You were not with Veronica, and even though we knew you were already with Mal, they didn't seem to know. At first, I was going to suggest to them that we should ask Mal if you two had anything plan, but as I said, Belle didn't mention you two dating, so I said okay, and she made me promised to keep it a secret. Now I know that you are going to tell me that I should have told you, but your mom is scary, and I also assumed that you were going to say something to them before your actual birthday. Honestly, Ben, what is wrong with you? Your parents would be thrilled to know that you and Mal are finally together. Anyway, I waited and hoped for you to say something while telling your mom that you weren't sure if you were going to be in Seattle on your birthday. However, a week ago I'm guessing you told them you were going to stay here, and once again didn't tell them anything about your girlfriend, so your parents decided to book your favorite restaurant. Belle sent invites to all the friends and people in the office that they know while telling them not to share the party details with you because it was a surprise. I'm supposed to take you there tomorrow and also tell Jay and Azis about the surprise because they were afraid they would tell you if they contact them. Now, before you say anything, they sent me a text a couple of hours ago telling me that they were on their way here and are planning to surprise you today because they were too excited to wait until tomorrow and again that it was a secret. So I assumed you and Mal were going to be doing a celebration of your own, and you wouldn't like them walking on that because they do have the keys of this apartment."
Lonnie was out of breath the second she finished talking; she looked at Ben, wondering what the boy was thinking about her confession. However, the boy didn't seem shocked or angry but mostly confused. Ben started asking her questions, but this time Jay made a summary of the situation, and now the boy seemed shocked and annoyed with Lonnie; honestly, she decided that this was the situation when she was going to stick to keep a secret. Everyone knew she was awful keeping secrets, the power of Belle's intimidation tactics had proved once again to be above anything Ben could ever imagine; still, this wasn't the critical point of the conversation. Belle and Adam were on their way there, and the boy needed to decide how he was going to handle the situation. Sure, Ben was happy to share with them his relationship with Mal, but he also knew that the knowledge would bring a massive amount of pressure for them as a couple. His parents love the girl, and he was sure that they would start to talk about a future that even though he hoped for it would make Mal most likely freak out, and that was not how he wanted their week together to end. With that in mind, he got out of the room and went straight towards the girl that was standing listening to Carlos telling her a story. As usual, she sensed him near and turned ready to asked him how things with Lonnie went, but when Mal noticed his concerned look, she met him halfway. Ben took her hand and told her the situation asking Mal what she wanted to do; he assured her that whatever she decided would be good for him. The girl said to him that she was okay with sharing the news with his parents about them being a couple; however, when the group heard that the door was opening, Mal quickly turned and told him that it was better if they told them later. The entire group looked at Ben, and everyone could see the hurt looked on the boys' face even though it was there for less than a second. Mal tried to explain herself, but suddenly Belle and Adam were opening the door and screaming surprise. Ben smiled and went to hug his parents acting surprise and asking them what they were doing there. The couple went on to tell him about their plans when they suddenly realized that Mal was there, Lonnie said to them that the group was at Ben's apartment, but she didn't mention Mal.
Soon, Adam and Belle were hugging Mal and asking her a million questions thrilled to see the girl after years of only phone calls and the occasional face time. After they shared hugs, they took Mal to the couch and asked her to tell them about how her life was going completely, forgetting the reason they were in Seattle. Jay went to stand next to Ben, taking advantage of how involved his parents were in the conversation with Mal and asked the boy to follow him into the boys' room. Once there, Jay asked Ben how he was feeling, and his friend just shrugged. "I mean, I kind of saw that coming. I understand why she needs to process how my parents are going to take it, sure we both know that they love her, and they will be supportive and happy for us. Still, that also meant that they are going to have expectations about the relationship, and Mal might feel some pressure for things to be a certain way because losing my parents' love would hurt her. Not that they would ever feel differently about her, you just saw how the moment they saw her, they forgot about me entirely and I wouldn't try to change their mind. I see us working for the long run, but if for some reason it doesn't work, I'll always be there for her and they will be too. Mal needs time to understand that, and even though when she agreed at first; I couldn' t wait to tell them now we are going to have time to talk. The only thing is that people at the office know we are dating, so I don't know how we are going to navigate that now."
Jay agreed if they tried telling them that Ben's parents didn't know people were going to start to speculate. "Well, we just need to destroy your parents' plans. I mean, I feel we've done it before when were kids. Sure, we never really try back then, but I have no issues with you getting sick before making it to the party, so we have to cancel it." Ben laughed at the suggestion, but at the same time, he knew that Jay was right, they were going to have to make that plan disappeared if they wanted to keep the secret. Lonnie knocked on the door, asking the boys if everything was okay; Ben's parents were still talking to Mal while asking Jane some questions too. They also knew the girl from when she was little, so they quickly brought her into the conversation, and of course, Carlos was there too.
The boys shared with Lonnie their conversation, and together the trio started plotting a way to cancel the party. Suddenly, the girl had an idea, and soon the three of them agreed that it was the best way to proceed. In a couple of hours, Lonnie was going to send an email to everyone in the office confirming the party and the hour of arrival and also making sure to tell everyone that it was a surprise party, so there should not be any mention of it in the office. While she called the restaurant and changed the day of the reservation; meanwhile, Ben would go to work but would start to act ill; just before five, he would leave the office, making sure to say how awful he was feeling and wishing everyone a happy weekend. Everyone knew that he was not supposed to come in the next day so they wouldn't be a need for Ben to call his team with the news that he was still "sick". So for the people in the office, Ben was ill, and they would assume the party was going to get cancel; however, Lonnie would confirm that a couple of minutes after he was gone. They would end up using his parents' reservation later on as a morale boost for the employees, and of course, the company would pick up the tap.
Now for his parents, Ben would say what a horrible day in the office he had and how mad he was with everyone there for their lack of professionalism. Lonnie would be there to suggest to his parents to cancel the reservation and do just something with them; she also would tell them that she could get them their reservation back, so they don't worry about the money. It seemed unlikely it would work, but in the worst-case scenario, Ben would make himself sick, and they just won't do anything, but he was hoping the other situation work out. Ben's stomach growled, and the boy decided that it was enough planning for the day, and it was time to eat something because he was starving. When they got to the kitchen, Belle came towards Ben hugging him and apologizing for ignoring him, making the boy chuckled while assuring his mom that it was fine, and they all should eat something because he was starving.
Soon everyone was sitting in the living room eating the pizza they initially order and the two other that Carlos order while Ben's parents talk to Mal. Ben sat on a chair next to Jay so they could still try to see if there was another way to get out of the party. The boy was so focused on their planning that he missed how Mal, who was seated between Belle and Adam kept looking at him trying to get his attention. After the way she changed her mind when the couple arrived, Mal was worry that Ben would think she wasn't sure about their relationship; in all honesty, the girl panicked. Belle and Adam were the closes thing she had as a paternal figure, and she didn't want to jeopardize her relationship with them in any way. If things didn't work out with Ben or even if they had a fight, they might get mad at her, and Mal would hate that. However, seating between them hearing the conversation flowing around her, the only thing that matter to the girl was Ben and how much she wanted them to work out.
Finally, the boy sensed her looking at him and turned to her with a small smile that dropped the moment she saw how sad Mal was looking. Standing Ben took her hand and asked to come with him to the bedroom so they could talk, his parents looked taken aback, but soon Carlos was gaining their attention with a question. Mal and Ben taking time to speak alone wasn't something weird for the boy's parents, but the serious tone he used seemed strange for them; still, they decided that there wasn't a need for them to know for now if they were having issues they would find out later on.
When Ben and Mal went into the room, the boy closed the door, and before he could say anything, the girl went on to hugged him and apologized for not telling his parents about them."I know why you did it, but Mal, you don't need to be afraid of their feelings for you changing if theres any trouble at some point in our relationship." The fact that there was no need for her to explained anything because Ben knew what she was thinking made her feel silly; of course, he knew her better than anyone else in the world. "I'm not expecting you to be ready to tell them now or even in a month, but the second you are, we can tell them together or just me. I promised to tell them not to make any comments that are going to make you uncomfortable. Sure, my mom is going to do them anyway, but I'll try to tell her to keep them to a minimum."
Mal laughed at the last comment and letting go of him she kissed him thanking him for being so understanding, and she promised him that it wouldn't take her too long to be able to share their relationship with his parents. Ben smile and told her about the plan for the party, and the girl felt terrible because he was going to mess his parents' plans. "Look, I told you before I only want to spend my birthday with you. A big party was never what I wanted, so either way, I would rather have something more intimate with my closes friends to celebrate, so don't feel bad about it, now we should join everyone before my parents come asking us what is happening."
They got out of the room, and Ben walked towards the kitchen, wanting to have a moment for himself, and also something to eat. Belle was at his side a minute later and smiled when she saw him eating a slice of pizza. "Is everything ok with Mal?"
Ben fight the urged to rolled his eyes at how predictable Belle was and instead decided to shoot his shoot with a white lie. "Mal was supposed to stay here, so she was telling me not to worry about her and that she was going search for a hotel." Belle looked shocked, and now the boy was fighting a smile, knowing full well that his mom was going to find a hotel for herself and his dad. With them gone, at least he could have some alone time with Mal when they went to the hotel. However, when Belle told him that she was going to find them all a hotel so that Mal was comfortable, Ben saw the error of his ways. A second later, his mom was telling Mal not to worry about finding a hotel because she was going to stay with them in a hotel that Adam was going to find for them. Mal turned to Ben with a knowing look, every time the boy tried to outsmart his mom things never went his way; still, Mal decided to help him and told Belle that if they were finding a hotel she would rather stay with Ben. "We don't get to see each other a lot, so the plan was for me to stay here, and we could stay up and talk. That's also why Ben decided not to have a big celebration like last year because he would need to be with everyone, and we wouldn't spend time together on his birthday like we used to. Now that you are all here we can have that. "
The realization of what her party was going to do to the couples' plans came over Belle, and the woman bit her lip, nodding slowly, then she asked Lonnie to talk and took the girl to the room. Lonnie, who had heard everything Mal said to Belle, wink to the girl on her way to the room, making Mal smile at her. Mal then made her way to Ben, who was still in the kitchen, unaware of her conversation with Belle and just sad because he assumed that she was not staying with him anymore. After making sure that Adam was busy checking for hotels, Mal went straight to Ben and kissed him, shocking the boy, who still managed to reciprocate. Mal ended the kiss and told him that she was staying and that she was pretty sure Belle was canceling his party as they were speaking. The boy asked precisely how she managed that, and Mal went on to tell him about the entire conversation and making a comment about how after all these years, it was nice to know that the "Mal effect" still worked on his parents.
"The second they are gone, I'm going to kiss you so hard. Honestly, Mal, you always make everything better." The girl blushed and planed to help Adam find a reservation as soon as possible so Ben could make good on his promise. When Belle emerged moments later from the bedroom, she went straight to Adam, who Carlos was helping make the reservation, and whisper something in his ear. The couple now went into the room with Belle thanking Carlos for assisting them and assuring him that they would only be needing one room. The second his parents close the door Ben kissed Mal until they heard the door from his bedroom opened again, the boy ended the kiss reluctantly but whisper to the girl that he still expected his kiss at midnight.