Friday ended up with the group of friends getting to know Oliver while Mal repeated how gracious and generous he was with his time there. Oliver arrived at the apartment almost half an hour before the movers came, and when he realized that Mal was going to deal with the entire arrival of her things alone, he stayed and helped her. As luck has it, Oliver knew one of the guys, and even though Mal was sure she could have deal with everything on her own, she was grateful to have Oliver there. Soon, the guy talked to his friend, and the movers did everything in record time and even went on to suggest how she could arrange things so they wouldn't inconvenient her while she unpacked. They only took a little break to eat some of the snacks Mal bought for them, but then Oliver's friend told his friend to continue bringing the things, and they would take the snacks to go.
So after they finished, Mal was smiling brightly and thanking the boy who she felt so lucky to have there with her. Oliver assured her that it wasn't a big deal, but Mal told him that it was for her; suddenly, she found herself feeling a little overwhelmed, and a couple of tears escape her eyes. The boy was alarm and was quick to ask Mal what was going on with her, sure they barely knew each other, but seeing the girl so emotional make him feel protective of her. Mal tried to tell him it was allergies, but the boy wasn't fooled, and without even know it, she shared how, with her things there, it was more evident that there wasn't a place for them there. Oliver was shocked by that, he only knew that Mal moved from New York to live with her boyfriend, but the boy assumed that things were good between the couple; however, now listening to her, the boy wondered if maybe they were having problems. Either way, he was not going to pry, perhaps in the future, his relationship with Mal would grow stronger, and he would ask her about why she moved if Ben wasn't giving her the space she needed.
Oliver then offered Mal to helped her find a place to move her things into a storage unit; he even told her that he could talk to his friends so he could help them move her stuff. Mal smiled brightly at the idea, and soon they were doing just that, Oliver called his friend who was already home after leaving the moving truck at their offices. However, he offered them his pickup truck, and together, they carry half of the boxes to the place that Oliver and his friend knew, and Mal rented a unit there. Tom, Oliver's friend, then drove them back to Mal's apartment and told the girl that if she ever needed to move the boxes back or to another, place he would glad to help her.
However, when Mal was telling the story, she didn't mention any of that and only shared with the group that half of her boxes were in a storage unit. Oliver noticed then how Ben was shocked by it and how he asked Mal why she did it; Ben had told her that they would make space for them together in the apartment. Still, Mal said to him that with half of her things there, they were going to be uncomfortable surrounded by boxes, and even though it was evident to everyone that knew Ben that the boy wanted to argued that point, he decided to wait until they were alone. The boy knew then that not taking things into his hands and getting rid of some of his stuff when he came back from New York after knowing her decision was a mistake, but he wanted to do it with Mal as a way to show her that from now on they were going to make this type of decisions together and also to show her how much he wanted her to feel welcome.
When the night ended, and everyone was gone, Ben asked Mal again why she decided to rent the unit. The girl told him that she felt like that would be better for them; Mal didn't want to give him any reason to be stress about her being there, especially when she was not paying her share of the expenses. Ben felt defeated, he tried several times to assure the girl that he didn't mind having her stuff all over the place or even throwing some of his to make space, but it was like Mal didn't listen to him. The boy also told her that he didn't want her to pay anything; he could pay for the apartment just like he always did but, in the end, agree to Mal sharing the expenses to make the girl feel better about the situation.
Saturday morning found Mal alone in bed; the girl felt tired after everything that happened the day before with the moving and her second work session with Oliver. A smile appeared on the girl's face when thinking of the boy, Mal was glad to have another friend in the city, and the fact that he wasn't part of her group was exciting. She loved all her friends, and reconnecting with Jane and Lonnie was great, but she was used to having a group of friends different from Ben's. Now, in Seattle, she felt like her friends were closer to Ben than to her, and Mal didn't feel comfortable talking to them about everything like she did with Evie.
A noise came from the living room, and for the first time, she wondered what Ben was doing. Reluctantly she stood up and made her way there and was shocked to see Ben packing things into boxes that she didn't remember seen there yesterday. The boy was focused on the task at hand, so he didn't notice Mal walking towards him and leaning on the refrigerator until she cleared her throat.
Looking up, Ben looked at Mal, asking her if she slept well, and then if she wanted to eat something. At the mention of food, Mal's stomach made a sound, and Ben couldn't help but chuckle; he stood up and walked towards the microwave and turned it on. "I made you pancakes earlier, they are not going to be as good now, but they are ready." The beep announced that the food was warm now, and Ben took the plate out and walked with it to the table, telling Mal to sit down so she could eat. As the boy turned to go back to packing, the girl took his hands, preventing him from walking away and standing on her tiptoes, she kissed him.
Ben's response with a quick peck and then went back to packing, making Mal wondered if the boy was mad at her. Slowly she sat down to eat and started to go through last night's events, and it didn't take her long to understand that Ben was not happy about her decision to move out some of the boxes. Still, she was sure about what she did and was confident Ben would appreciate it more as time went by, and he realized the lack of space. Taking another bite, she stood and walked to where the boy was carrying a box towards a pile that Mal just noticed; she realized then that Ben was already dressed for the day. Turning towards the kitchen, she saw that it was nine am, and Mal wondered how long it was since Ben was awake.
In the end, she decided to ask him what he was doing, and as he was turning around to tell her, the doorbell rang. Ben opened the door, and Jay was standing there looking a little tired, and after saying a quick hello to Mal, the boy picked two boxes and went out. Ben took another two and gave them to Azis, who suddenly appeared at the door, waving at Mal before taking the boxes. After that Ben took two more and told Mal that he was coming back in a couple of minutes, Jay and Azis came back with the boy and together they took all the boxes in a matter of minutes. They never stop for enough time that would allow Mal to asked them what they were doing.
At first, Mal thought Ben was simply putting away more of her boxes, and even though she assured him that she didn't mind not having her things with her, the thought that the boy was taking her stuff away made her feel awful. However, it took her just a couple of minutes to realized that the boxes didn't look the same, so she counted her boxes, and all were there. Then Mal went to the closet in the room and the one in the bathroom. Ben had empty the closet of the room while she was sleeping and his clothes or at least some of them were in the closet in the bathroom. Then Mal went on to check the kitchen and notice that several appliances were gone and that Ben and the boys weren't coming back, so she looked out the window and didn't see them there either.
Mal's phone rang, and Evie's face appeared at the screen, smiling on the last picture she took of her friend in New York. Taking her iPad from the table, Mal answered the facetime, and without letting Evie say hello, the girl went on to tell her what happened that morning. Evie was surprised, but knowing Ben, she knew that there was more to the story, and with that in mind, she went on to ask how the move went. Mal went on to tell her everything that happened in great detail, and by the end of the story, Evie understood what was going on with Ben.
"Well, you two talked about having your things and going through the ones that weren't personal together so you can choose how you are going to handle everything. You did the opposite, and I'm sure Ben decided to do the same, I don't know where he took his things, but I know why he did it. Now, why did you do that? If I were Oliver, I would think Ben is some evil dude that is forcing you to get rid of your stuff." For the first time, the idea came to Mal, and the girl groaned, putting her head between her hands.
"I didn't mean too, but Evie there were so many boxes, and there was no space. I promised Ben would've been stress bumping into everything, and he wouldn't say anything because he is nice. Remembered how annoyed he was about the movers not coming on Wednesday because he planned his day around it." Evie told Mal again to remember that she already had the conversation with Ben, now the boy was doing what he thought was right by cleaning up the apartment and giving Mal more space. Also, Evie made sure to assured Mal that Ben wasn't mad about the movers not arriving on time because he took time off but because he wanted to be there to help Mal.
Mal nodded, and Evie asked her how her new job was going, and soon, they were talking about all the projects the girl needed to focus on and how amazing it was working with Oliver. Time flew by, and in the middle of their conversation, Mal noticed the door opening, suddenly Jay appeared walking backward, carrying a box with Azis walking in bringing the other side of the box. After them came Ben pushing another box, the three of them put both of the boxes in the middle of the living room and made their way outside again. Mal turned her Ipad to show Evie the boxes, and the girl asked her to get closer so they could see them better, but before she could, the door opened again with Ben and Azis carrying another box.
Jay came a couple of seconds later with a few bags from the supermarket and settled next to his friends. Evie screamed a hello from the Ipad, and the three boys turned shocked to hear her, they had noticed Mal there and said a quick hello but never realized that she was talking to Evie. The three boys stopped what they were doing and waved at the girl, and Mal took that opportunity to walked with the Ipad to where they were, and Evie asked them what they were doing. Ben explained then that they bought a couple of cabinets for the apartment, and now they were going to build them.
"Oh, that sounds like fun! I wished I could be there to help. If you are ok with waiting a couple of weeks, I'll be there to help with them." Mal turned the Ipad then and asked Evie to repeat herself after her friend assured her that they heard her right and then Evie smile brightly. Mal went into the bedroom to talk with Evie about her visit, and after that, she stayed there answering a couple of emails that Oliver sent her earlier. Without realizing it, the girl felt asleep again and only woke up when the smell of food invaded the room, and her stomach growled.
Mal stood up and noticed a plate of food on the bedside table and was about to dig in when she decided against it. Taking it, she walked out of the room and saw the three boys sitting on the couch playing videogames while telling each other how the other two were losers, and Mal couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face. That image made her think of when they all lived in the same city when they were attending college. The girl made her way to the couch and sat on Ben with her plate, asking them what they were doing, which made the boy dropped the remote out of surprise, which gave the other two a chance to kill his character.
Mal and Ben saw his character died, and the girl turned her face towards the boy saying sorry and then proceeded to put some food on her mouth. Ben shook his head but smiled putting his arms around her waist while Azis and Jay continue to fight over who was going to win. Mal continued to eat, sometimes giving Ben some of her food, both of them encouraging Jay and Azis to get the boys more excited about who was going to win. Finally, Azis won, and by that moment, Mal was in the kitchen cleaning her plate, so the three boys stood up and carried one of the cabinets into the room. Mal followed them and noticed how there was a space ready for it there. There was another one in the living room, that one she saw the moment she walked there.
The third one was in the bathroom it was different from the others, but it worked perfectly, and it already had the towels and most of the things that were in the closet. Jay and Azis said goodbye to the girl that was admiring the cabinet in the living room, and Ben walked out with them, telling Mal that he was coming back in a minute.
Mal stood in the middle of the living room, and she felt overwhelmed again, Ben managed to make space for her in less than a day. Why did she ever think he wouldn't do that for her?. The door opening startled Mal, and she turned to see Ben closing the door of the apartment. Taking quick steps, she went to hug the boy thanking him for everything he did that day.
"I just want you to feel like this is your home too. I feel like you still think that you are in my apartment and is not true, this is our place now. So let's open some boxes, and when we are done, let's go for the rest of your stuff, and if we don't feel comfortable, let's move. Mal, I'm really trying, but you need to meet me halfway, ok?" Ben finished saying looking straight into the girl's eyes, and Mal nodded, she was going to try harder and not just assumed things about how Ben was going to act.