Me, Evie and Belle were halfway through walking towards Adam and Belle's suite when Ben walked around a corner; when his eyes landed on me, he quickened his pace and before I knew it, he lunged at me and picked me up and spun me around. My scream echoed down the corridor as Belle and Evie chuckled at our playfulness as Ben put me back on the floor; I looked up at him for a few seconds before I wrapped my arms around his neck, and we shared a brief hug. When we broke apart Ben told me that he came to see me to walk me to lunch, and that he knew he didn't need his father to come with him. Apparently, Adam told Ben that I was with his mother and Evie, so he knew that he was able to come and find me on his own. And after he said this, he then dropped his arms from around my waist; and wrapped his left arm around my shoulders and the four of us started to walk towards Adam and Belle's suite to go and have some much needed family time.
After having a really enjoyable lunch with Adam, Belle, Ben and Evie we all then went back to do our own things. Ben and Adam returned back to Ben's office to work on the proposition, Belle went to go and read in her library and Evie decided to go home to go and work on the spec that she was given by Madam Kield. And as I watched her leave with a very eager look on her face, I couldn't help but feel overjoyed at how my plan had worked. I loved that things had gone the way that I had hoped; and I knew my sister would blow Madam Kield's socks off. And if Madam Kield didn't want to work with Evie then I that was her prerogative – but I believe that this would be a very silly decision on her part.
After sharing a brief kiss and cuddle with Ben I then walked back to my suite with the plan to set up my painting room once more. And I also made the decision that after I had finished setting up, I was going to work on one of my paintings; I just didn't know which one – as I was currently very spoilt for choice.
An hour later and the same four stations that had been in my other painting rooms with the supplies that I needed were ready for me to start working. When I was finished, I stood and looked at all four stations and started to think about my options, I had the two paintings that I wanted to give Ben as a late engagement present, one for King Peter and King Quasimodo. I knew that I had other projects to do at a later date, but these are the four main projects that I wanted to work on right now.
I decided to work on my surprise for Ben and I started to think about which one I wanted to do – the one from my point of view or from afar as if someone was watching. And I decided to start on the one from afar first, my reasoning behind this was that I would be able to use this painting to remember what was going through my mind and what I saw in that perfect moment.
So, with this in mind I started to sketch on the canvas, I started to draw the stone pillar structure that was three quarters of the way down the canvas. I believed that this was the best way to start this painting as it was going to allow me to still be able to put all the small details into the painting without distorting the elements that I wanted in this painting.
It was very easy for me to get lost in doing this sketch as it was always very easy for me to do. But what I felt made it even better for me is that this is for Ben; I loved doing painting for him, especially for something like this. Ben proposing to me was always going to be a very defining moment for the pair of us. But given that this is something that at one point in my life it was never something that I wanted. But now that I had Ben it meant the great deal to me for me to have someone and a place of my own – and this is always something that I wanted.
"Mal!" I heard and I jumped in shock as I heard Ben's voice in the distance. I heard his footsteps quicken as they got closer to me; and I started to fall into panic as I didn't want Ben to unintentionally ruin his surprise.
"Aha?" I called as I quickly put my sketching pencil down and I quickly walked to the door. Thankfully I managed to get to the door, open it and close it behind me before Ben could get to the doorway.
"Hey!" he grinned.
"Hey!" I sang happily.
"Why are you closing the door?" he asked slowly as he pulled his right brow up at me.
"No reason" I dismissed.
"Mal" he said slowly in confusion.
"What?" I asked innocently as I noticed that Adam appeared in the corner of the room, we both meekly smiled at each other before I looked back at Ben.
"Mal don't give me that" he dismissed.
"Ben, I have no idea what you are going on about" I stated, and I watched as a large smirk spread across his face.
"Mal you have that look that you are up to something" he told me. "I better not have a prank coming my way" he teased.
"Oh" I muttered, and I remembered how much me and Ben could read each other. Thankfully he was so off the mark; but I had to make sure that he didn't get any inkling on what I was actually doing. "I see" I nodded.
"So, there is a prank?" he questioned slowly.
"What?" I exclaimed. "No!" I quickly added. "I'm doing something that I don't want you to see yet" I advised.
"Oh" he noted. "What is it?" she smiled.
"Like I would tell you that" I said sarcastically.
"Come on" he whined as he wrapped his arms around my waist.
"Ben it's a surprise" I told him bluntly.
"Fine" he sighed. "At least a prank isn't coming my way" he smiled down at me, which made me start to feel playful.
"Well, I wouldn't say that" I smirked up at him.
"What?" he asked as his face dropped in panic, which made me giggle up at him as I placed both of my hands against his chest.
"Mally" he cooed as he pulled me closer to him. "Please say your teasing me?" he pouted.
"I was" I confirmed. "Initially" I advised, and I watched as he pulled his right brow up at me once more. "But you reminded me that I need to get you back" I stated, and I watched as he sighed sadly at this.
"But you love me" he pouted again.
"I do" I confirmed proudly as I started to trace patterns against his shirt with my fingers. "And you love me, yet you still prank me" I teased with a grin.
"Ok" he joked as he sighed at me again. "So, I best be on my guard" he winked at me.
"Probably" I agreed. "However, I might wait until your guard is down though" I winked at him.
"Good to know" he sang happily as he brushed his nose against mine.
"Yep" I answered before pressing a brief kiss against his lips. "So, was there anything you wanted in particular?" I questioned happily.
"Well yes and no" he advised.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Well- "he started. "I don't really need any excuse to come and see you" he told me.
"No" I said. "I suppose you don't" I teased.
"Hey" he said pretending to be hurt.
"Sorry baby" I cooed before I pressed another kiss against his lips, and when I pulled away, I noticed that my favourite smile was spread across his face. "What was your other reason?" I questioned.
"Mal it's teatime" he told me bluntly before he broke out and chuckled at me.
"What?" I asked in shock.
"It's half six" he confirmed.
"What?" I repeated in shock. Time really wasn't on my side yet again; but I put this down to the fact that when I get lost in my paining and sketching, I do have a tendency to lose track of time. "I didn't realise the time" I admitted.
"I thought you hadn't" he chuckled down at me. "So- "he grinned at me as he dropped his arms from my waist and took a step back as my hands also dropped down. "Shall we?" he asked as he offered me his right arm.
"Oh, go on then" I teased as I slid my left arm on top of his right arm. "Since you have come a long way after all" I joked and I heard him laugh at me as he started to lead me out of the living room area of my suite, with Adam following behind us. As we started to walk down the corridor to go and have our evening meal with Adam and Belle, I couldn't help but smile at the playful conversation that I had just shared with my fiancé. I loved him so much, my beautiful and very handsome Beast.
When I walked into Adam and Belle's suite my eyes landed on one of the bedrooms in their suite and I froze when I saw boxes and suitcases. And when my eyes fell onto some clothing on the bed that looked like Ben's sleep shorts – had Ben moved into his parent's suite? Why had he not mentioned it? Surely it wasn't that big of a deal, unless he hasn't had the opportunity to yet.
"Ben?" I questioned slowly as I looked up at him.
"Aha?" he answered as he looked down at me as we stood still.
"I'm guessing you've moved your things in here" I noted as I pursed my lips together.
"Oh" he said, and I watched as he looked at his new bedroom before he quickly looked back at me. "I was going to tell you over dinner" he advised, which made me nod at the fact that I was right that Ben was going to tell me when he had the opportunity.
"Tell me what?" I asked as Adam and Belle walks into the next room, which happened to be the dining room of their suite.
"It doesn't feel right being in the central wing without you- "he started to explain. "That is meant to be our space, it really unsettles me being there without you" he admitted. "So, when I talked to my parents about it, we decided that I would stay in their wing" he continued. "Just until all this gets sorted out" he insisted.
"I see" I noted as I started to take in what he had just said to me. I fully understood where he was coming from, I wouldn't want to be in our suite without Ben either. That is meant to be our space, so we could start our lives together. So as Ben felt this way, I couldn't be mad at him for this, but I couldn't lie to myself and say that it didn't catch me off guard because it did. It just magnified the magnitude of mine and Ben's current situation as this is how it was going to be from now on – me in the right wing and Ben with his parents. And I was going to have to come to terms with this; until the proposition wasn't hanging over our heads.
"Mal are you ok?" I heard Ben say, which broke me out of my train of thought.
"Yeah" I confirmed. "Why shouldn't I be?" I smiled meekly as I looked up at him. "It's just a temporary measure until this gets sorted out" I added. "Or our wedding day, whichever comes first" I stated as I pursed my lips and I watched as Ben threw me a concerned look. Brilliant! I really didn't want Ben to think that this had upset me as this wasn't the truth. The truth of the matter was the fact that it caught me off guard; as every change that me and Ben had gone through recently had been through had caught me off guard. "Honestly I'm fine Ben" I insisted, hoping that he wasn't going to fixate on this. "I guess I'm just trying to adjust to all the changes" I admitted.
"I get that" he replied. "A lot has changed since we got back from our tour" he added.
"A lot has changed since we left college Ben" I amended.
"Tell me if it gets too much for you" he stressed as something changed in his eyes.
"I will" I promised as we started to walk towards the large dining room in Adam and Belle's suite. "As long as you tell me if things get too much for you" I countered.
"Of course, I will princess" he said, and we both warmly smiled at each other. "Anyway- "he began. "I know it isn't exactly like our other date nights" he continued, which piqued my interest. "I have tried my best" he offered.
"I know you have baby" I replied happily as we continued to make our way towards what Ben had planned for us both. As we continued to walk, I took in what me and Ben had just spoke about and I made a decision; no matter how much had changed I needed to continue to be strong to get through it. As Ben needs his Dragon to be by his side, just as much as I needed him.
When we both entered the dining room, I noticed that the setup had changed, instead of the large yellow pine dining table being in the middle of the room it was now pushed back against the wall. And there were now two small tables that were placed at either side of the large room, and it suddenly hit me. Adam and Belle were going to sit on one side of the room with me and Ben were going to sit on the other side of the room. Yes, it wasn't complete privacy, but right now it was enough – as I knew that Adam and Belle were at a safe distance to not hear every word that me and Ben were going to be saying to each other.
Before we all took to our seats Adam and Belle advised that moving forward, they were going to try and be lenient on us; but they weren't going to leave us alone completely. I fully understood why they were saying this; and I valued that they weren't going to be strict with me and Ben, but I knew that there was going to boundaries. And I was going to stand by them as I was going to do everything in my power to become Ben's wife – and I was determined to get this.
When we broke off into our pairs we then took to our seats, and I couldn't stop smiling at when both Adam and Ben, both pulled mine and Belle's chairs out for us. I smiled as I sat down as Ben pushed my chair in slightly before he quickly walked around the table and dropped abruptly in the seat in front of me. We both shared a warm smile with each other as Mrs Potts and two members of her staff stepped into the room by the side door. I felt my stomach flutter as I continued to gaze into my soul mate's eyes; I felt as if I was falling in love with him even more, if that was even possible! And this is what was going to keep happening throughout my relationship with Ben then I loved it; I loved Ben and I loved everything that he made he made me feel and I couldn't get enough of it.
As we shared a starter of tomato soup, we discussed everything that we had been getting up to today. Ben insisted that I tell him first and after I was done telling him everything (apart from what projects I was currently working on) he then started to tell me about his day. He told me that he and his father had been looking at old laws and propositions and they were trying to figure out how some of the old laws stood today. When I questioned him on this, he stated that there are two laws that contradict each other; the first one states that all propositions by the counsel to the king must stand and then there is another one that shares the same date which states that the proposition can be appealed. He then added however it could only be appealed after being in place for a certain length of time; when I asked them how long a 'certain length of time' was he said he didn't know as he needed to continue with his research and get some conformation. If I was being honest this didn't really give either me or Ben any answers, as it was still very much up in the air. But Ben and Adam had only started looking into this; and if there was anyone who could sort this mess out were those two.
After the four of us had had our meals (which consisted of a very mild Chicken Curry and ice cream assortment for dessert) we all then walked back into the living room area of Adam and Belle's suite and watched a film. Adam and Belle cuddled together sitting up on one couch with a light blanket on them, however when I went to cuddle into Ben, he said he had another idea. He told me to lie down as he placed his crown onto the coffee table in front of us. I grinned at him as I did this, and he slowly and carefully climbed on top of me. He then pulled another light blanket over us as he snuggled into my chest, and I started to run my fingers through his hair. As the movie started to play, I pressed a kiss against the top of his head which made him snuggle into my chest again and I couldn't help but feel happy at being cuddled into Ben like this. However, I must have been enjoying my cuddle with Ben as it was only around half an hour later, that my eyes started to roll sleepily shut.
"Mal! Ben!" I heard Belle say as she stepped up to me and Ben. I heard her chuckle when both me and Ben grunted at her in response as sleep started to evade the pair of us. "Come on you two it's time for bed" I heard her say, which made me slowly open my eyes to see Ben doing the same. My tired eyes landed onto the TV to see the closing credits, obviously Adam and Belle left us to have this brief nap together. Yes, I valued this but right now I didn't want to leave Ben, I wanted to stay cuddled into my perfect man.
Me and Ben sighed sadly as we both slowly untangled ourselves from each other and we slowly sat up on the couch.
"I'll walk you back" Ben yawned as he stretched.
"I'll come too" Adam yawned also.
"No, it's ok" I advised. "I'll walk myself back" I answered. Yes, I knew that Ben would want to walk me back, but I was just trying to make things easier for everyone. Until this whole mess was sorted out it meant that Adam and Belle were going to have to follow us around all of the time, which I didn't believe was very fair on them either. Because of Leah's proposition it was also affecting their relationship too, they couldn't have much time together either which I thought was very unfair.
"Mal I can walk you back" Ben insisted.
"I know you can" I replied fondly as I reached up and cupped the left-hand side of his face with my right hand. "But I'll be ok, I'll like the walk" I smiled at him. "Gives me time to think" I added happily.
"About what?" Ben questioned in confusion.
"Nothing in particular" I dismissed, hoping that Ben wasn't about to fixate on this – as the pair of us looked too tired to have this conversation right now.
"Mal are you sure you are, ok?" he pressed.
"Yeah" I confirmed.
"Mal I know when something is wrong" he told me bluntly.
"I know you know" I yawned. "You know me better than anyone" I reminded him.
"Yes" he said proudly. "So please don't hide what is bothering you from me?" he begged.
"I'm not" I advised. "So, stop worrying" I teased, hoping to make light of the situation. I gave Ben a smile hoping that this was going to reassure him enough in this moment to drop it. As the last thing that I wanted right now was to have an argument with Ben in front of his parents - especially when there is nothing actually wrong! "Anyway- "I began. "Goodnight baby" I said happily. "I love you" I told him, and I saw something change in his eyes which told me that he was going to drop this subject, thankfully.
"I love you too" he told me proudly. I winked at him before pushing my face close to his and I pressed my lips against Ben's, and I smiled against his lips when he quickly returned it. After sharing a long and loving kiss we broke apart and shared a brief glance before I slowly stood up and looked over to Adam and Belle.
"Goodnight Adam and Belle" I said happily.
"Goodnight Mal" they chorused tiredly together. I meekly and tiredly smiled at them for a few seconds before I quickly walked around the couch and towards the exit of their suite, all the while I felt three pairs of eyes on me. I stopped when I got to the doorway and I looked back at them and meekly smiled at the three of them, when my eyes landed on Ben, I winked at him again before opening the door and leaving them to get ready for bed. As I closed the door behind me, I told myself that I could do this, I could go through anything for Ben – and this is what I fully intended to do.