They got seated after waiting twenty minutes in that time, the girls talked about everything that happened that day, and Mal apologized to Lonnie for her behavior. "I'm going to miss you too. I thought, why don't we all spend some time together and then have dinner with Ben alone. I ruined everything with how I acted today and never told him that I wanted to spend some time just the two of us.

Lonnie listened to the girl but disagreed with why Mal got mad. Still, she knew Mal regretted it, they ordered, and the girl excused herself to go to the bathroom, and when she returned, Lonnie was smiling. Mal asked if she was texting Jay; "I have to apologize to him too.

"Yeah, you should, but no need to do it today." Lonnie changed the subject, and when the waiter brought the food, Mal realized they were bringing an extra plate. She was about to tell the waiter he was wrong, but Lonnie's calling out someone interrupted her. Mal looked up and saw Ben making his way to the table, his hair was wet, and he had changed clothes, and she couldn't help but make her way towards him and hug him.

"I'm sorry," they both whispered simultaneously, and then putting their foreheads together, they closed their eyes, enjoying being that close with the other for the first time on that day. Lonnie took a picture and sent it to Jay, and her boyfriend sent her an eye-rolling emoji in response, making her smile. Ben gave Mal a quick peck, and then taking her hand, they walked towards the table where Lonnie was waiting for them. Mal sat down, and Ben did the same next to the girl kissing her hand before letting her go and saying hi to Lonnie.

Lonnie told them that they should enjoy their meal, and then they could drop her off at the house and have some alone time. Ben and Mal looked at each other and nodded, smiling a little that, in the end, they still had a little time for them to be together. While Mal was in the bathroom, Lonnie had called Ben and explained the girl's perspective and told him that in the end, this was not the time to hold on to grudges but the time to enjoy time with the person he was falling in love with while he could. Ben had agreed and went to change quickly, wanting to look his best for Mal, he really wanted to be with the girl, and he made himself promise to talk about how they needed to communicate better at some point. /

They drank, talked, and had a great time, and suddenly a girl came to the table calling his name, making the boy turn. Ben stood and said hello to the girl, which went in for a hug, then she let go and noticed Lonnie and wave.

" I was going to call you for a favor; remember Rachel? She just got engaged, and they are going to have a party next week to celebrate, and I wondered if you could be my date. The groom's parents have this amazing house, and they are making a big event out of it, and I was hoping you could go with me." The girl smiled brightly at Ben, and the boy wasn't sure what to say; until he heard Mal clearing her throat. Ben and the girl looked at Mal, who waved at the girl who looked surprised and apologized for not saying hello, assuring her that she didn't see her there. Mal took that opportunity to stand and offered her hand to the girl and introduce herself as Ben's girlfriend, the boy smiled and nodded, and the girl seemed embarrassed. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know Ben was dating anyone; I guess it is recent?"

"Yes, but I think it would be great if he goes with you to your friend's engagement party. I'm going on a trip, so I'm sure he would like that if his work isn't an issue. Right?" Ben nodded and told Shelby to send him the details, and they could talk later about going together. The girl, who was now looking a little crestfallen, said her goodbyes and walked towards a table with a group of girls that were staring at them. Mal waved at the table, and one girl seemed to recognize her but didn't move, so she sat back down with Ben.

"Are you sure it is ok for me to go with her to the party? We went out a couple of times, nothing serious, but Lonnie always said Shelby wanted more from me. I've never talked to her about that, but I don't want you to feel uncomfortable about me going out to an engagement party with her." Mal nodded, listening to the boy ramble for a while how he never liked the girl that way, but he did appreciate her friendship, which was why he would usually be her date for events like the one she invited him now.

"Ben is evident she likes you. Her friends were looking at you two smiling until I stood up, then the entire mood went down; I'm pretty sure one of them knows or follows me, and now they are all checking their phones. I'm guessing they are looking for a post or video where I mention that we are together, which they won't find because I haven't posted about it yet. I have no issue with you being her date as long as she knows that we are together; with that said, if you fill uncomfortable going, feel free to tell her that I feel uncomfortable about it, ok?" Ben nodded and turned to look at their table, and sure enough, they were all on their phones.

"Hey, does it bother you that I haven't posted about us?" Ben turned towards Mal and found it hard not to laugh at the question; with Jay posting their lives when they were young, the last thing the boy wanted was more people trying to find out about his love life. He assured her that he didn't care if she posted about them; if she saw it necessary to keep them on the low for a while or not tell her followers at all, he was fine with it as long as the people close to her knew. "I care that the people important to you know about us because I want to be a part of your life."

Mal smiled and leaned in to kiss the boy, who consistently showed her how different he was from the boys she used to date. Ben went to the bathroom, and Lonnie was texting Jay, so Mal opened her IG looking at her posts. The girl knew that most of her followers were wondering if she would get together with Ben or if they were already together because of several posts she made of their time together at night. Ben never appeared in the pics, but there were always questions if she was with him, and one day, she posted a pic of her snack, and in the corner of the pic, you could see a shadow, and everyone said it was Ben. Sure, it was Ben, but the point of the pic was not to show him; still, Mal loved that everyone was getting a little more obsessed with them being together. Maybe she could tell her followers that they were right without showing them anything; scrolling through the comments, she found a couple that said that they were sure they were dating and heart them.

Ben asked her what she was doing while sitting back, and Mal smiled innocently, and the boy raised an eyebrow and laughed at her expression. "Ok, now I know that you did something."

Lonnie looked at Mal and nodded in agreement making the girl laugh at them. Soon they were making their way out of the restaurant, the couple hand in hand talking with Lonnie about stopping for donuts on their way home. The couple had decided that they would go with Lonnie to the house, and then the girl would go to her room, and they would stay downstairs watching a movie and enjoying some alone time. When they were out of the restaurant Shelby and another girl came behind them and called Mal's name, making the trio stop and turn to see what they wanted.

"Sorry to bother you, but my friend Hannah is a follower of yours, and she was wondering if she could take a pic with you." Mal smiled at them and nodded; she let go of Ben's hand and went to stand next to Hannah but noticed that Shelby was angling the photo in a way that Lonnie and Ben would appear in the background of the picture. Mal didn't mind but wondered if the girl just wanted the photo to prove that she was out with Ben. Lonnie noticed that and pulled Ben away from that spot, making it impossible for Shelby to take the pic with them there, then whispered to Ben what the girl was doing. Ben decided then that he would not go with Shelby to the party; he didn't like the game the girl was playing. The only people that decided when his relationship was going public were Mal and him.

"After taking the picture, Shelby turned towards the boy to wave goodbye and realized that the boy was not pleased with her or her friend. After Mal introduced herself to her, the girl made her way to her table and told her friends about Ben's new girlfriend. Even though they went on a couple of dates months ago, Shelby always hoped that eventually the stars would align and Ben would see their potential as a couple but now seeing him with Mal, it was evident that at least for now, it wasn't meant to be. When she told her friends, Hannah told her that she followed Mal and remembered seeing Ben in her stories; soon, the girl told them how they lived together and the renovation series of his house.

People ask if they are dating, but she never said anything. Are you sure they are? It will be huge news in my group if I get to confirm that." They checked all the girl's social media; Shelby knew Ben never posted anything about them. Finally, Hannah noticed people posting in a group that were fans of Mal about some comments the girl had like about her and Ben dating. Hannah knew then that this was her chance to make a big announcement in the group and wrote that she was sure they were dating, but people asked for proof. Just as she was telling her friends about the group, they turned and saw the couple kissing; sadly, when Hannah tried to take the picture, people were in the way.

That's when the girl asked Shelby for help, and they planned to take a picture of the couple walking hand in hand, but again the people and the lack of light didn't help them. So Shelby decided to take a picture with the boy in the background as proof that Hannah was telling the truth to her group. Now, however, they didn't get the picture, and Ben seemed annoyed with her, making her nervous about the possibility of him going back on his promise to go to the party with her. Ben was a great and private guy; Shelby was sure that if Mal was an influencer, the fact that she shared her life would be an issue in their relationship, so she wanted to stay close in case Ben decided to give her a chance after their breakup. She was sure they would be great together, and even though Mal seemed nice, she was not what Ben needed.

The trio soon made their way back to the house with their donuts, and the moment they were in, Lonnie said her goodbyes promising Mal to be ready to take her to the airport the next day. Mal told Ben that it would be better if they changed and then came back down, but when the boy was walking out of his room, Mal was standing there in her pj's smiling at him. "How about you come to my room, and we talk?"

The boy smiled and nodded, walking in, he saw Mal's luggage ready in the corner, and the reality that they were hours away from her leaving for a month felt heavier. Mal stood in front of him and kissed the boy slowly while Ben put his arms around her pressing her against him, erasing distance. They stood like that for a while until Mal whispered that she would miss him, making the boy smile at say it back to her. Mal took a step back and told Ben that they needed to talk about what happened in the morning.

Ben said no, he wanted to focus on them right now and forget about the misunderstanding, but Mal put her foot down and said that she didn't want to have any more problems, especially now that she was going to travel. They talked for hours after that while laying next to each other on the girl's bed between kisses; the couple shared their fears about spending so much time away from each other. In the end, they fell asleep, cuddling with a clear plan of how they were going to navigate the next couple of weeks and how much they would miss having this time together.

The next morning the alarm woke them up, and they knew it was time to take Mal to the airport; Ben kissed the girl and told her to get ready so that they could eat breakfast at the airport together. They all got ready and went on their way, and after eating, Lonnie said goodbye to the girl wanting to give the couple some time alone and told Ben she would be waiting for him at one of the stores.

"I will miss you, but I hope you have a great time. Send us a text when you get there, ok? And we can text whenever you want. Don't worry about calling every day." Ben leaned and kissed his girlfriend before letting her go so she could make her way to the security line.

"I'm gonna miss you, Ben. I'll send you the text and call you as soon as I can." The boy nodded, and after one last kiss, Mal made her way to the line, and Ben went on his way to search for Lonnie, not wanting to stand and see Mal walk away from him.