Ben.
Seventeen. Senior Year.
Ben had hoped the time apart would help cool things. It didn't.
They'd talked sporadically throughout the summer. Mostly texts in the group chat. A few direct ones. The odd phone call.
Instead of cooling the fire, it fanned the flames. Instead of easing, missing her became like a dull ache. He learned to live around it, it wasn't debilitating, but it wasn't fun either.
So when it was time to get back to school, Ben found himself looking forward to his senior year more than usual.
The return to Auradon Prep happened over a few days, the new students had their induction on the Sunday but everyone else was free to arrive anytime from Friday afternoon. Some years Ben came back on the Friday because he had plans with his friends. Some years it was Sunday because either he or his parents had commitments.
This year it was Sunday, and he was riding back with Evie, Jay and Carlos. He'd loved having them around for the summer - hanging out and hearing about their internships and introducing them to all Auradon had to offer. It had been strange without Mal. Evie felt it the most. He almost felt bad for stepping in and making them summer plans.
Almost.
He was selfish that way. He'd have missed out if they'd gone to Greece.
Once they got back to school it was all go - Evie reunited with Doug even though she'd seen him a few days before, with Jay and Carlos unloading all six million of Evie's bags, and Ben had to start the greetings loop.
They were about an hour in when Mal arrived. Ben was catching up with Aladdin and Jasmine while Aziz was making eyes at one of Melody's cousins. He didn't notice her father's car arriving. He did notice Evie's ear splitting screech when she spotted her best friend.
Ben looked over instinctively, and his brain screeched to a stop.
He knew it was Mal - Hades' car and Evie's death grip on her were indication enough. But she didn't look like the Mal he'd seen eight weeks ago.
It's like she was more...everything.
Like she'd been supercharged.
He suddenly understood why she hadn't posted photos to the group chat.
Before, she'd been pale with almost an ethereal glow. He'd always put it down to the fairy in her.
Now she was definitely glowing, like she was illuminated from the inside out.
Her hair looked fuller, longer, and the curls were new. The blue highlights were definitely new, he just couldn't figure out if it was natural or not.
If he'd thought her wardrobe had been edgy before, that was nothing on what it was like now.
She was clad head to toe in leather. Heeled boots with laces. Skintight pants. Blue tshirt. Leather vest.
He supposed that was what happened when you put a demigod back into the realm of the gods.
She went in a fairy. Came out a Hades.
Evie definitely approved if the way she was circling Mal, flicking her hair and touching the clothes, was any indication.
Ben didn't disagree.
"Like what you see, B?" Aziz smirked, appearing from nowhere to clap Ben on the shoulder.
Ben jumped at the contact, turning to Aziz looking guilty. "I...I have no idea what you mean."
"Sure." Aziz drawled, looking towards Mal with a leer that would make Chad Charming proud. "Looks like the Underworld was good to Mal. Maybe I'll go see if she's up for catching u- I'm kidding!"
Ben had actually growled at the suggestion, but Aziz' laugh told him he'd taken the bait. Hook, line and sinker.
"Hey, dude, there's no shame if you like her. It's been months since you and Audrey ended things. You're only human." Aziz trailed off when Mal spotted them. Her face lit up when she saw them, he didn't let himself hope it was just him. Evie said something that caught her attention and Mal turned away to answer. Then she threw him another smile, waved, and then headed into the dorms with Hades carrying her bags. "But damn you can tell she's not."
Ben just nodded mutely, barely able to string a sentence together.
Mal was definitely putting more sway into her hips than usual.
…
It was almost midnight when Ben heard the soft knock on his door.
He didn't let himself hope it would be Mal - he'd avoided her after she'd arrived and at dinner. He wasn't sure he could talk to her without choking on his tongue, so he convinced himself he was letting her get settled in. That everyone would want a part of the most powerful seventeen year old in Auradon, and he could wait his turn.
But despite telling himself it wasn't Mal at the door, he didn't stop to grab a T-shirt or a robe on his way across the room.
"It's past curfew," Ben chuckled when he opened his door to find Mal - in her pyjamas - outside his door. It was still pretty warm out - which was why he was in cotton bottoms and shirtless, while Mal was in shorts and a tank top. He tried not to check her out. She noticed. And he...well, he noticed the dark look that flashed through her eyes too.
The summer would let it burn out. Sure.
"I haven't seen you all day." Her tone was light. Curious. Probing. Kind of accusing. Like he'd missed an appointment he should have known he had.
He probably deserved that.
"Just letting everyone settle in before classes start tomorrow." Ben shrugged, leaning against the doorframe nonchalantly. It was a flimsy excuse and they both knew it. He made sure to meet her eye, and it wasn't like it was hard to smile now he'd seen her again. He'd already messed up once today, and he wasn't making that mistake twice.
"Hmmm." Mal hummed, her eyes sparkling as she laughed at him. She mirrored his position, leaning against the frame.
The move brought her even closer, all he'd have to do was lean forward a little and he'd close the distance.
It would be incredibly un-Princely.
And there was nothing he wanted more.
"You aren't glowing anymore." He noted suddenly, reaching down to grab her hand. He lifted it up between them and studied it carefully.
The glow from earlier had disappeared. She looked...like a fairy again.
There was a delicate silver bracelet on her wrist that he'd never seen before - the stones glinted in the artificial light, but something deep inside him told him this was more than just Evie's latest accessory. The stones were pinks and purples and blues, and he felt like they were judging him.
He was so out of his league.
Then he met her gaze and zeroed in on the blue highlights...
Mal could definitely rock blue. The thought was both reassuring and terrifying.
"Oh yeah...I turned it off." A shrug. She didn't remove her hand. "I learnt a lot over the summer. But I still have so much catching up to do compared to my cousins."
"I'm glad." He didn't let it go either.
Silence.
They studied each other, trying to work out what move came next. Neither one of them quite willing to make the leap.
She'd put herself out there by coming to his room. He knew that. The next part was on him.
But he didn't want to come off as...
"Oh for fucks sake." Ben knew he would be the one to cave. He normally was.
One minute he was holding her hand between them, trapped in her expectant gaze, the next he was pulling her inside by the waistband of her shorts.
She outranked him now anyway. That had to count for something.
Her squeal told him that was exactly the reaction she'd been gunning for. As he slammed the door shut and pushed her up against it, his hands found her hair and she met him halfway.
..,
"You should probably leave." Ben murmured with no real conviction. They'd started off against the door, then once Ben was sure Mal knew just how much he'd missed her, they'd moved to his bed - on top of the sheets, he was still a gentleman after all - and caught up about their summers.
Ben filled her in on Carlos' reactions every time he discovered a new breed of animal. And the way he was sure Lonnie and Jay had been doing more than 'practice sparring' on all those late night training sessions in empty gyms. Mal recounted meeting her Auntie Fates, ferrying her first soul to their final resting place, and discovering just what kind of wardrobe all demigods had access to. It meant nothing to her, but Evie was going to have a ball on their next weekend home.
Then sometime around 3am, he'd started getting sleepy, but neither made the move to leave. So Ben had thrown the covers over them - for warmth, honest - and then they'd gone from sitting, to horizontal, to lazy kisses just because they could.
He wasn't tired anymore. Not even a little. The air was charged, like they were heading towards a cliff edge - and he needed to give her the opportunity to step off the path.
"Mhhhmm." Mal hummed noncommittally, shifting impossibly closer and dipping her hand underneath his waistband. "Probably."
"You are making it really hard to be a gentleman right now." Ben groaned, putting up exactly zero fight as she pushed the fabric out of the way.
He'd always stopped her when things started getting heated. Didn't want it to feel like he was pressuring her - that whatever was going on between them was linked to the future of the VK programme. That he was some creep abusing his power to get what he wanted.
He didn't want to be a Chad, basically.
But after a summer apart, he was really struggling to find that willpower.
"We skipped gentleman when you slammed me up against your door." Mal laughed, rolling on top of him, raising an eyebrow in challenge.
"I didn't hear you complaining." He mused, aiming for nonchalance and landing somewhere in the region of desperate. He trailed his fingers lightly up her thigh, skirting under the hem of her shorts. When she didn't object, he let himself explore a little higher.
"Wasn't." Mal breathed, leaning forward so that her hair fell around them, cutting Ben off from the outside world. "Then or now."
Ben was silent for a long minute, trying to adjust to the fact his world was blue when she did this now instead of the purple. Giving her one final out, he grabbed her arm as she tried to slide further down over his legs. Somehow, he managed to look into her lidded eyes and ground out, "If you don't leave right now, I can't promise I'm going to be able to let you go."
In fact, he wasn't entirely sure he could let her leave now either.
Or ever, actually.
Something softened in Mal's eyes, then that mischievous spark was back. The one that promised chaos, and warned him it was time to just hang on for the ride. She shrugged, "Then don't."
The air shifted between them again, and Ben knew this was the point of no return.
…
That morning he woke up alone, with a vague memory of Mal's whispered goodbye and an instant dreamless sleep.
Somehow, he managed to get up and dressed and make it through the start of term assembly without making a complete ass of himself.
He sent her a quick message when he woke up (I had the weirdest dream last night…), then was quickly distracted by the first day of term duties he had to undertake.
Meet with the new VKs for their first breakfast, even though they all had buddies this time around.
Meet with Fairy Godmother for a rundown of the start of term assembly and any highlights from the return weekend.
Glance at his timetable at least once, so he looked like he knew where he was heading after the assembly finished.
Three hours later, he was up on the stage with Fairy Godmother and a few of the teachers, watching the students trickle in.
The new VKs were nervous, all grouped together on the left side with their buddies in the middle of the audience. Not too close to be considered preppy, but not far enough back to come off as disinterested. He spotted Dizzy, Evie's surrogate little sister, instantly. Her brightly coloured hair was a giveaway, but it was mostly the excited energy that was rolling off her in waves. Ben gave her a wave, and Dizzy almost dropped dead.
Okay, no waving then.
He felt his phone vibrate, and he pulled it out instinctively. He was allowed certain privileges as Crown Prince, and this was one of them. You never knew when a message was going to be Important.
He glanced down at his phone and grinned when he saw the name, swiping to reveal the rest of the message.
Ben: I had the weirdest dream last night…
Mal: And here I thought I was supposed to be a nightmare. Sigh.
Ben: Never
Ben: Do you have plans this weekend?
Mal: Not unless you count being Evie's Barbie doll
Ben: How about you give Evie Saturday and have dinner with me Sunday? I know somewhere that won't end up on the cover of a dozen magazines.
Mal: Only if there's strawberries
Ben: Mal. C'mon. It's like you don't even know me.
He didn't look for her reply as he popped his phone back into the pocket of his blazer. He could hear the room filling up and the last thing he needed was a picture of him grinning at his phone like a lovesick fool ending up in the public domain.
He glanced around the room and spotted Mal, Evie and the boys strolling in. She was back in purple today, he noted, but with some subtle blue tones. The five of them made a beeline for the third row, where Lonnie and Jane were keeping seats. Mal caught his eye as she slid in beside Lonnie, the gleam in her eye positively wicked. Ben grinned, last night flashing before his eyes.
The summer hadn't cooled a damn thing, and he was not complaining.
Mal inclined her head towards the lectern Fairy Godmother had just stepped up to, telling him to pay attention. He sighed in faux submission and turned so that he was facing side on. Then he glanced back at Mal with a smirk and she stifled a laugh.
Feeling proud of himself, Ben finally turned around to focus on Fairy Godmother's welcome speech. It was just as enthusiastic as it was every year. And just like every year he got a kick out of watching new students try to work out how to react.
Uma, daughter of Ursula, looked mildly disgusted. Harry Hook looked like he thought he was being punked.
They had a long way to go...
Just as he was about to step in and save Fairy Godmother from herself, he felt his phone vibrate again.
He glanced back at Mal - he didn't want to check his phone on stage if it was just her causing chaos - but instead he met Lonnie's cool gaze. Mal was too interested in watching the other VKs' reactions.
Deciding to deal with that later, he stood, easing Fairy Godmother out of the way and starting his own speech. He made sure he looked at every part of the audience, making eye contact with as many people as possible.
When he reached Mal, he lingered just a moment too long and felt his pocket vibrate again.
Instead of answering it, he kept his eyes on Mal as he finished with a grand, "My father always said anything is possible. Let's show them what that really means."
…
Lonnie: Did I miss something?
Lonnie: Dude, I swear you have little love heart eyes right now.
Lonnie: Are you guys dating? How did I miss that you guys are dating?
Ben: I have no idea what you're talking about.
Lonnie: Not cool, bro. You do remember I can just beat it out of you?
Doug: I love you, but she is so out of your league and it's only a matter of time before she realises it
Ben: Helpful
Doug: Only speaking the truth
Chad: I messed up
Chad: I have dates with Jilly and Hannah but Audrey wants to go get smoothies on Saturday
Chad: What do I do?
Ben: You bring this on yourself