Present Day.
Chad to Ben: I think I should have stayed in rehab
Chad: Listening to Claire complain that you being off the market will reduce her exposure is a torture I did not plan on tonight
Chad: I got Leah's meltdown on camera. It was priceless.
Chad: [video attachment - click to download]
Lonnie to Mal: You guys are adorable, I hope you realise that
Audrey to Ben: I'm hiding in your mom's library. Tristan won't let me leave until you do
Audrey: This better mean you guys finally have your shit together
Audrey: One of us has to have our shit together
Audrey: Grammy was losing her mind
Jay to Mal: Dinner at Evie's tomorrow. No excuses.
Jay to Ben: Me, you, Carlos. Hooked. Monday night. No excuses.
Doug to Ben: So it turns out Cogsworth had a version 6a.1 ready to go. I swear that man's system terrifies me.
Doug: Pretty sure he's going to make you pay for it in the morning though.
Doug: We're going to need a new system of communication if you're going to keep ignoring your messages in a PR crisis.
Doug: Of your own making, might I add. This could have all been avoided if you'd just let Cogsworth use 6a…
Doug: I'll start using pigeons. I'm serious.
Doug: It's not like you're terrified of them or anything
Lonnie to Ben: If you fuck this up I will hurt you
Carlos to Mal: Crushed it!
Jane to Mal: Not to be over excited here - but does this mean I can start looking at wedding vendors?
…
Ben.
The next morning.
Ben woke to the sound of trays and cutlery being banged down in the living area just outside his bedroom.
His suite in the East Wing consisted of a living area with an open plan kitchen, while his study and bedroom were off to the right of the breakfast nook. The guest bathroom and office were off to the left of the sofas. It was rare that he had breakfast brought to his suite - if he wasn't joining his parents for breakfast, he was grabbing something on the run to his first meeting. He deliberately hadn't made plans for the morning after his ball. In an ideal world, he'd expected to be tired and a little hungover, treating himself to a lazy morning the day after he turned twenty five. At best, his plans would have worked and Mal would be with him. Or he'd be with her. At worst…he'd still be alone and would need the day to lick his wounds.
The banging continued and Ben groaned, keeping his eyes shut as he burrowed closer into the warmth of his bed.
His head was perfectly clear, he noticed. He'd had a few drinks, but mostly he'd been running on the high that came from being around Mal. Being open about his feelings for Mal, to be exact.
Flashes of the night before trickled through his sleepy haze. Dancing in front of a thousand plus guests. Kissing her cheek, her hair, the back of her hand, not caring who saw them. Finally getting her back to his suite, long after midnight, and staying up until sunrise started to break across the sky. The whispered confessions that made the last nine years make sense.
'I didn't realise I couldn't see your Story because it was part of mine. I thought you'd… I couldn't survive being in love with you if you were always going to end up with someone else.'
'The void between us seemed so huge, I figured it was only so long before you settled down with an Olympian and created an empire. And all those comments from your great-grandma…'
'I don't sleep like a mortal. Not anymore. That's part of why I never stayed. It felt creepy.'
'I thought acting like there was nothing going on protected you. But all it did was damage your faith in me.'
It was a long time coming.
And even if he woke up alone today, Ben knew they were still in it together. Because the furthest she'd be was his sofa with a book. But he didn't understand why Mal had to be so loud-
There was another bang, and Ben felt the warmth of his bed shift. He frowned, still keeping his eyes closed.
That was odd. Heat didn't move.
As Ben reluctantly pulled himself all the way into the land of the awake, he found himself enveloped in heat as something solid rolled into his side, snuggling into his chest.
Blinking at the foreign feeling - he'd never woken up with anyone before - Ben couldn't stop his grin if he wanted to.
Mal was sound asleep, using him as a pillow. Her hair was everywhere. She'd rolled so she was half on top of him, her legs tangled with his, her head resting on his chest. She looked...peaceful.
Wrapping his arms around her, Ben shifted a little to get comfortable and closed his eyes. Basking in how right this felt.
He was definitely staying in bed a little longer today.
Last night had been...dramatic. He would probably have a dozen requests for comments on Mal's behaviour towards Adele, on what her appearance by his side during the cake cutting meant, on how long they'd been together. Olympus would already have a proposed narrative sitting on his desk, Hermes was efficient like that, but Ben wasn't ready to leave their bubble just yet. To face the politics and the image management and the faff that came with royal life.
Another crash sounded from outside his door, louder this time. Mal stirred, brushing up against him in ways his body took notice of immediately. But before he could act on any of the desires that were swirling through his thoughts, there was another bang.
Louder and closer.
Ben sighed heavily.
He was clearly in trouble.
"Are they always so noisy?" Mal muttered without opening her eyes or lifting her head from his chest.
"I feel like Cogsworth is trying to make a point." Ben smiled ruefully, running his fingertips up and down her spine. She arched into his touch, as if they did this every morning…and he really could get used to this. "No one else would have gone on this long."
There was another very pointed crash.
Ben groaned as Mal snickered, propping herself up on his chest. He saw what she meant now, about how the gods were different to mortals. There was no telltale sign of sleepiness, no residual tiredness that needed to be washed off or brushed away. Mal was up and ready to go, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.
When all he wanted was to lie in bed and forget the word for a little bit.
"We should probably get up." He didn't sound very convincing.
Mal didn't believe him either, because she simply rolled her eyes and leant down to drop a chaste kiss to his lips.
Except it didn't stay chaste. Not when he tangled his hands in her hair and-
"I can hear you whispering!"
Ben swore under his breath when Cogsworth rapped impatiently on the door, obviously deciding that his clattering wasn't having the desired effect. Mal laughed and hid her face in Ben's shoulder, and he suddenly found himself torn between annoyance and the fact that this was so right.
He wanted Cogsworth to leave them alone.
But he wanted a million more mornings like this.
"We know, we know, you miss being a clock." Mal called with a grin.
"Of course I miss being a clock!" Cogsworth ranted, sounding as if he was pacing right outside the door with his tablet, "And if you two don't get up and deal with the mountain of paperwork generated by last night's little lets-sneak-off-from-my-own-live-streamed-party stunt, I will be forced to bring the paperwork to you."
They heard another thud, and Mal's shoulders shook with silent laughter. Ben held a finger to his lips, then gestured towards his balcony with his chin and mouthed 'your place?'. Chaos lit up Mal's face as she caught up with his plan, and with a click of her fingers they were gone, leaving Cogsworth to rant to an empty room.
"Would it have killed you to go public before the party? Would it? I had a press release ready for that. 6a. I wanted to use 6a and avoid all this. The Sherwood Spy is adamant they have footage of you two canoodling in the corridors of the West Wing and your fathers are fit to be tied! Because if they have footage, it isn't of you, it's of Audrey and Chad. I am too old to be talking people out of stealing souls before six am! Oh this was so much easier when it was talking Maurice out of kidnapping charges…"
...
Hours later, when they finally decided they needed to get out of bed and face their parents, Ben checked his phone while Mal was in the shower. He'd have joined her, he'd tried too, but she was adamant they'd have time for that later.
Once they'd dealt with real life.
Royal life.
As expected, there were dozens of messages and emails on his personal cell phone. Ben wasn't brave enough to check his work phone yet. He swiped away the ten missed calls from Cogsworth, surprised there weren't more. There were none from his father, so he wasn't in that much trouble. Yet.
He was clearing though the text messages - Lonnie, Jay, Carlos, even Chad - when the thread from Audrey caught his eye.
Audrey: Thank god I knew how you and Mal really started or I'd be pissed
He read through her other messages - hiding in the library, Leah's meltdown, vague threats to his manhood - before deciding he only needed to reply to the latest one.
Ben: What are you talking about?
Audrey: Clearly I am the only one of us who checked Instagram last night
Audrey: Surprised Cogsworth hasn't blown a gasket over it already
Audrey: It's very cute and makes a complete fool of the media for linking you to other people [laughy face emoji]
Ben: I was a little busy last night
Ben: Checking now
Audrey: [eye roll emoji]
Audrey: And I argued with Chad. He kissed me. I slapped him. It was very dramatic.
Ben: Can't blame you. Just can't believe I missed it. [laughy face emoji]
Ben: What am I meant to be checking?
Audrey: I'm sure there will be security footage. West Wing outside your mom's library.
Audrey: [facepalm emoji] Literally every news outlet is running with it. Check Mal's Instagram. Then Zeus'. God, you think you'd know to do a PR check after a stunt like that.
Audrey: Evie and I had great fun sending Doug after you by the way. That twirl out the door was just magnificent.
Ben: I'm glad someone agrees. Cogsworth started banging plates at 6am.
Ben: Oh. I see what you mean.
Audrey: Cute isn't it.
Ben: I don't think announcement 6a covers that.
Ben: Was I really that scrawny?
Audrey: Yes. Yes you were. I have no idea what I saw in you.
…
21:04 mynameismalia Happy Birthday to the guy who is never afraid to lean into the chaos
21:06 OlympusOfficial Happy birthday son
21:34 BeastCastle King Adam and Queen Belle would like to mark their son's 25th birthday ball by sharing these private photographs of Prince Benjamin and Lady Malia of the Underworld. Photographs by Sir Cogsworth, Private Secretary to King Adam.
…
White as Snow. Live Blog.
Well, it has been quite the night in Auradon's High Society hasn't it? Now that the live streamis over, let's recap.
After years of speculation about just what is going on in Crown Prince Benjamin's love life, and what was the cause of his delay in securing the future of the House of Beast, it turns out there was never a question about who had our young prince's eye.
Rumours started swirling about a possible relationship when Beast Castle announced there would be no traditional courting dance. Candidates included his ex-girlfriend and advisor Princess Audrey, Princess Adele, the great-granddaughter of Posiedon, who he was seen briefly talking to at the beginning of the ball, and our reporter Ali Hale who quickly refuted the claim, asking why she was always linked to 'those damn princes'.
Lady Malia's name was never mentioned in print, but Palace insiders claim that there had never been any question of who Ben would end up with, only when it would become public knowledge.
"Mal is a regular sight around the castle," one source told us, "the kitchens stock her favourite brand of tea and always have a pot of strawberries on hand."
And it seems that Beast Castle was more than happy to dig into the family photo albums to confirm just that. About half an hour after Mal joined Ben for the cake cutting Beast Castle released two never before seen photos of the Royal Couple.
The first shows Mal on Ben's lap, at a table in the kitchens of Beast Castle. It's obviously after hours, and we can see plates of food and piles of paperwork scattered around them. According to the press release, the photo was taken five years ago while planning for the Rehabilitation of Willing Villains Act. The second is from Ben's 21st Birthday, and shows the couple with Hades, God of the Underworld, Maleficent, High King Adam and Queen Belle in the gardens of Beast Castle.
The Beast Castle photos followed posts by OlympusOfficial and by Mal herself earlier in the evening.
OlympusOffical, rumoured to be run by Zeus himself, released two photos. The first is a photo of Ben with Hades, Zeus, King of the Gods, and Poseidon, God of the Sea, around a grill. The photo was taken four months ago during a family barbecue. Location is not specified, which has resulted in speculation that it is, in fact, Olympus or the Underworld. The second is from almost eight years ago, and shows the couple dancing at the gala where Mal made her debut as an Olympian. Photos of these coming of age galas have never been shared with Auradon before today.
But really, it's the posts from Lady Mal's account that have the world in knots because they show such a glimpse into the life of the royal couple.
Everyone should recognise the dress from the first photo, it's the embellished purple mini dress with the translucent train that Mal wore to the first night of the K20 six months ago. And it's just so lovely. It's an entirely unguarded moment captured by their close friend Doug, of the dwarves, and you can see the love in their body language. Ben has his hands on her waist, pulling her closer as he kisses her cheek from behind. And Mal has her eyes closed, leaning into his touch. You can see from her smile just how happy they are.
The second picture was taken at a friend's two summers ago. It's a photo of Ben and Mal resurfacing after what looks like Ben tossing her in the pool. Neither are looking at the camera - that seems to be the theme with Mal's photos - Ben is shaking his hair out like a wet dog and Mal just looks so indignant about the whole thing. I wouldn't be surprised if the water in the pool evaporated a minute later. And you can see some of their friends in the background - Jay is quite clearly rolling his eyes, I can see Carlos and Jane laughing - so clearly everyone around them knew.
But it's this last one. I mean, I can barely remember them like this. Mal hasn't had purple hair since, oh at least, nine years ago. According to the timestamp, this would have been taken the spring of their junior year, so not long after Ben and Audrey broke up. Some of you will remember the rumours that Audrey felt sidelined for the VK programme, or that Ben had a wandering eye, but whatever happened, I think we can safely say it's water under the bridge.
Wouldn't it be adorable if this was their first kiss and Doug was just lurking in the corridors to make sure his best friend didn't die going on a date with a VK? I mean we all know how strong the opinions were ten years ago!
They're just kids here. Babies. Sitting on a wall outside...I think that would have been the art class? and sneaking a kiss.
Now if that doesn't scream True Love I don't know what does.
…
Mal.
That afternoon.
Ben was sitting on one of the chairs on the balcony, still scrolling through the morning's articles when Mal came out of the bathroom wrapped in a bright blue towel.
She stood in the doorway, watching him for a long moment. She couldn't believe how easily change had come to them. How natural it felt to have him here, in the Underworld, working away while she got ready for the day.
He was smiling at something on his phone screen. Letting her curiosity get the better of her, and just because she could, she padded across the room and slid into his lap.
Ben's free arm went around her instantly, pulling her close. He tilted the screen in her direction, showing her the photos that her Uncle Zeus had posted moments after her little update-Instagram spell last night. Mal smiled softly, "Remember when you were terrified of my family?"
Ben didn't say anything. No joke about freak floods or being struck by lightning or stealing souls. Instead, he tossed the phone onto the coffee table, and reached up to cup her cheek, capturing her lips in a kiss she felt right down to her toes.
The fireworks, Mal thought happily as she sighed into the kiss, How had she ever questioned the fireworks.
When they needed air, they reluctantly pulled back, and Ben rested his forehead against hers. "Stay."
Mal hummed in the back of her throat, "Forever."