*Mal's POV*
"Ben what's wrong?" I questioned in confusion. When I had left Ben he had been playful and eager for me to return; and now that I had returned he looked tense, concerned and panicked with his laptop in front of him. I could only think that this was down to whatever had been sent to him; and there was a gut feeling starting to form in the pit of my stomach that was telling me that this had something to do with Bobby or the trial.
"Erm-" he muttered as he threw a quick look at his laptop before looking back at me.
"Please don't hide it from me!" I begged as I walked up to him and I sat back down next to him.
"Well I've been sent something-" he began. "And I don't know whether I want to watch it," he added sadly. "However" he gulped before he looked down to the ground and started to fidget with his wedding ring. "I need to" he finished before he looked back at me with concern flowing through his eyes.
"Right" I nodded. In all honesty I had no idea what could have been sent to Ben to make him like this - but given his current state I knew that I wasn't going to like it. What made it even harder was the fact that whatever had been sent to him was something that he didn't want to watch; but he had to. He had to watch it as it was probably going to be evidence in the upcoming trial; and it probably was better to watch it now so we had no surprises or further backlash down the line. "What is it?" I questioned.
"Look" he nodded at his laptop and when my eyes landed on its screen I froze. I was now looking at Bobby in the hotel room that he had arranged for me and him to meet up in. So this would mean? No! He intended to record him forcing me to have sex with him! This was a whole different level for Bobby; but I quickly discarded this. If he could kidnap and torture Ben; secretly recording us was just another feather in his psychopath cap.
My mind then was suddenly assaulted by a new realisation - Ben was about to see what happened between me and Bobby. Of course this wasn't a problem - I hadn't lied to him. I told him everything that had happened; but what I was concerned about was hearing about it and actually seeing it was two different things. Ben already had so much mental anguish coming from this situation I didn't want anything added to it - and surely this was going to!
"I would say I can't believe he was going to record us-" I started breaking the awkward silence. "But saying that-" I continued. "It's Bobby" I sighed sadly. "He probably wanted this for a number of reasons" I finished sadly.
"Like?" I heard Ben ask which made me tear my eyes from his laptop to look up at him.
"Blackmail" I replied. "And for his own self gratification" I stated as I pursed my lips together.
"I see," he noted.
"Should we watch it together?" I offered. I didn't really want to leave Ben alone while he was watching this; but I wouldn't force the issue if he chose to watch it on his own. I just hoped that he was about to let me support him through this; as I was going to hate seeing me go anywhere near Bobby - so Lucifer only knows how bad it was going to be for Ben.
"Yeah" he answered meekly as he wrapped his right arm around my waist. I then watched as Ben then took a couple of deep breaths to steady himself before he pressed play once more. I gulped as my mouth went suddenly dry - I really hated this situation, and I just wanted it over and done with. Hopefully it was going to go over quickly so me, Ben and our family could try and move on from this - and I just hoped that everything was on our side.
As me and Ben watched the video we held each other tightly; even though I knew what was going to happen I knew that it was going to hurt us both to watch it - especially when it came to me kissing Bobby.
I felt my stomach start to flutter when I watched me enter the hotel room and Bobby locked the door behind me. I felt Ben's arms tighten around me; and I snuggled into him as I felt his breathing start to quicken. I really hated the fact that even though me and Ben had lived through this terrible ordeal we couldn't just put it into the past; we had to keep reliving it over and over again. I only hoped that after the trial was done this was going to be the end of the matter; fingers crossed!
After watching me storm out of the hotel room as the police fought with Bobby, Ben quickly stopped the video; I opened my mouth to say something but I suddenly stopped when Ben quickly untangled his arms from me.
"Ben?" I questioned in confusion Ben quickly stood up and began to walk around the couch. "Ben!" I exclaimed as he started to walk into one of the guest bedrooms that was close to the living room.
"Mal please?" he begged as he stopped and looked at me, with tears in his eyes. "I need some space," he advised. "Please give me it?" he begged and I could tell by the deep breaths he was currently taking that he was trying to hold himself together.
"Ok" I nodded; and I watched as he walked up to one of the guest bedrooms and quickly closed the door behind him. Our living room then filled with an eerie silence; I didn't know what to make of this situation I really didn't. Of course I understood that Ben might want some space; but we normally saw these things through together; and the fact that he had asked to be on his own scared me. Even though he knew what was going to be on that video recording I knew that seeing it was going to be hard for him; I only hoped that this wasn't going to affect what we two have together, as it meant the world to me.
