"Are you ready for this?" Mal asked, watching Evie's features carefully.

"Yeah," she replied, her voice shaking. She continued to look down at the carpet.

"Hey, E," Mal said gently, pulling Evie's head up with her fingers. "Look at me."

Evie adjusted her eyes so brown met green.

"It's just me. Just you and me. The doors are locked, Macie is with Chloe. You are safe." Mal tried to reassure her. "No one will walk in. No one will see you but me okay?"

Evie nodded slowly, trying to remain calm.

"Just you and me," Mal repeated.

"Okay," Evie said, her voice small.

"We don't have to do this if you don't want to." Mal told her. "I promise."

"I want to," Evie reassured her.

"Okay then," Mal told her. She reached down and grabbed the hem of her own shirt and pulled it over her head. She stopped and waited for Evie to do the same. She watched as shaky hands pulled her own shirt off. Mal looked down at the scars covering the other woman's stomach. She reached out and gently traced one.

"Mal..." Evie said quietly, "don't."

Mal immediately pulled her fingers away. "It's okay. You don't have to be ashamed of them."

"Yes I do. I did them to myself." Evie reminded her.

"I know you did. But you still shouldn't be ashamed." Mal told her. The blonde undid the buttons on her jeans and shimmies out of them, letting them pool to the floor at her feet.

Evie chewed her lip, slowly unbuttoning her own pair. She stopped for a moment and looked over at Mal, finding comfort in her green eyes. She pulled them down and stood perfectly still, nerves eating her up.

"You okay?" Mal asked, she didn't dare touch the girl again. Not yet anyway. "No sex okay? I'm not going to touch you. You're safe."

"I'm okay," Evie told her, her voice was still shaking. Being exposed was hard for her.

Mal nodded and undid the clasp on her bra, letting it join the discarded clothes on the floor. She heard Evie's breath hitch but didn't acknowledge it.

Evie stared for a bit. Mal was beautiful. It took her breath away.

"E," Mal said quietly, shaking Evie from her daydream.

"Sorry," Evie said quickly, "it's just...wow."

Mal laughed, slightly embarrassed. "Your turn."

Evie nodded and undid the clasp of her own bra, letting it fall to the floor as well.

Mal grinned but tried so hard to not stare. "Alright, ready for the last bit?"

Evie's face dropped to one of complete fear but she nodded anyway.

"Are you sure? I promise I'm not going to touch you okay? This is just for you to get comfortable."

Evie nodded again. She was ready, just scared.

Mal wiggled out of the underwear she was wearing until she was completely naked. She felt exposed but not in a bad way.

Evie stood with her mouth open, amazed by what she was looking at. Mal was perfect. Completely.

"Okay, babe, your turn. Ready?" Mal asked.

Evie gripped onto the band of her underwear and slowly slid them off.

"You're beautiful." Mal told her. She had seen Evie naked before but this was a different experience. She was actually looking now.

"I'm not," Evie told her.

"You are, E. You're beautiful."

Evie dropped her head, not making eye contact. She wrapped her hands around her body.

"Can I kiss you?" Mal asked.

Evie nodded and Mal walked over to her, locking their lips before Evie could protest. The kiss was sweet, no hunger, no need for dominance. Just reassurance. They pulled apart and Mal opened her eyes to look at Evie. "Are you okay?"

"Yes." Evie told her, her arms still wrapped around herself.

"Do you want to get under the covers? We can maybe cuddle, watch a movie?" Mal suggested.

Evie nodded and followed Mal to the bed. The girls slipped under the blankets, still naked and let their bodies intertwine. Mal could feel her arousal but refused to acknowledge it until Evie was ready. She kissed the top of Evie's head and flipped on the tv.

—-

"Hello?" Evie said, answering her phone. "Oh, hi mom." Her voice dropped.

Mal's eyes got wide. "What?" She mouthed.

Evie waved her off and walked into the other room.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you," Evie told her.

"I want to have dinner with you."

"Why?" Evie asked instinctively. She hadn't seen her mom since she stole her money a few years previous.

"I heard you are in a relationship. I want to meet this man," the Evil Queen said.

"Ummm..." Evie stuttered, trying to figure out a quick enough lie.

"So when would be a good time for me to meet this prince of yours?"

"Well, mom, I don't know if we can figure out a time. I'm really busy. I've been trying to get clean and it's really hard." Evie managed to ramble out. Her being a drug addict would go over easier than her being a lesbian.

"Yes, we need to talk about that as well. I know you stole money from me."

"I'm sorry," Evie said quietly. "I'll pay you back."

"Yes you will," the Evil Queen replied. "So when is good for dinner?"

Evie sighed. Loudly. She was resisting the urge to bang her head against the wall. She began to wonder if she could also turn her mom into an animal.

"Evie? I'm waiting."

"Tomorrow?" Evie asked figuring it was better to get it over with.

"Tomorrow is perfect. Ursula's fish and chip shop?"

Ew. "Yeah, that will be fine. We will be there. 7pm." Evie hated that stupid fish place.

"Bye." The Evie Queen hung up the phone with no other words.

Evie stood there for a moment, staring at her phone, wondering what the hell she had just gotten her and Mal into.

"E?" Mal asked, slowly coming into the room. "You okay?"

"She wants to have dinner," Evie told her.

"That's not so bad."

"She wants to meet the prince I'm dating," Evie finished.

Mal's mouth dropped open. Apparently she was now roped into dinner with a crazy person. "Did you tell her the truth?"

Evie shook her head, "I couldn't think of a lie fast enough. I just didn't say anything."

Mal leaned against the wall and put her fingers on her temples, rubbing slow circles. "When?"

"Tomorrow night. At Uma's." Evie said.

"God, not the fish and chip shop. That place stinks." Mal sunk to the floor. Evie followed suit.

"Yeah the Evil Queen loves that place for some reason." Evie told her.

"I remember." Mal replied.

"Ugh!" Evie threw her hands up in exacerbation.

"Fuck!" Mal said at the same time.

This was gonna suck.

Evie and Mal walked hand in hand down the streets of the Isle. They weren't speaking much, both too nervous for words. Far too quickly, they were standing outside of Ursula's.

"Are you ready?" Mal asked.

"Not even a little."

"Let's go," Mal squeezed her hand before letting go of it.

Evie took a breath and opened the door. She glanced around and saw her mom sitting down at the table. She took one more breath and walked over. "Hi, mom."

"Evie!" The Evie Queen stood up and pulled Evie into a bone crushing hug.

"Hi," Evie pulled herself out of the hug.

"Where is your prince?" The Queen asked, looking around.

"Um...well don't freak out but," Evie gestured over to where Mal was standing, "it's more like a princess."

The Evie Queen looked over at Mal before collapsing back into her chair.

"Mom!" Evie shook the woman as Mal rushed over. "Mom!"

The Evie Queen's eyes fluttered open and she looked around. "Mal? Mal is your prince? She's horrible!"

"So great to see you too," Mal said in a monotone voice. "I can hear you by the way. In case you're wondering." Mal rolled her eyes.

"This isn't a prince, Evie. You have been taught to be a princess. To do they, you need a prince."

"Mom..." Evie started.

"You look horrible by the way. I taught you better than that." The Evil Queen told Evie, causing Mal to tense up and clench her fists.

"Don't," Evie whispered to her.

"Oh and your hair! It looks like a bird's nest. Do you own a comb?"

"Watch it," Mal growled.

"M, please," Evie begged. The last thing she needed was her girlfriend beating up her mom. "I'm an adult. I don't need you telling me how I should look."

"I just want you to marry a prince and take your rightful place as a queen."

"I don't want to be a queen. I want to be with Mal!" Evie snapped, causing the other patrons to turn and look at her. "Sorry."

"Mal is a girl! And quite frankly beneath you," the Evil Queen told her.

"Don't." Evie warned.

"I'm just saying. She is a dragon, that's not exactly high up on the list," the Queen told her.

"I said don't!" Evie warned again. She looked over at Mal and saw the bright green eyes glowing. "Woah, woah, no no, Mal." Evie turned and grabbed both of Mal's hands, looking her straight in the eyes. "Calm down, M. Calm down."

Mal could feel her anger. She was trying so hard to calm down but she couldn't. This crazy Queen was talking shit about her and demeaning Evie. She wasn't about to let that go.

"This is what I'm talking about," the Queen rolled her eyes. "Half breed."

Evie turned around in a flash, getting straight up into her moms face. "Watch yourself before I let her light your ass on fire. Back. Off."

Mal had never seen Evie this angry. It was an interesting thing to experience.

"Evie," The Evil Queen said, shock filling her features.

"Listen carefully," Evie told her, moving back to Mal, taking her hand and rubbing circles with her thumb. "You do not under any circumstances EVER talk to me about my relationship again. If you try, I will have Mal turn you into a lizard and put you in with Maleficient. Do you understand?"

The Evie Queen nodded slowly, clearly trying to decide whether she actually thought Mal could turn her into anything.

"Goodbye." Evie told her, taking Mal's hand and walking out of the restaurant. Once outside, Evie leaned in and kissed Mal, deep enough to distract the girl and by the time they pulled apart, her eyes were back to normal. "You okay?"

Mal nodded, "Yeah. Thank you."

"Well, well well," a voice from behind them sounded.

"Oh fucking hell." Mal spun around and came face to face with Harry. "I hate this island."

"What are you 2 doing so far from home?" He asked.

"Seeing my lovely mother," Evie sighed. "What do you want?"

"I just wanted to say hi to my 2 old friends," Harry told her, turning his hook in his hands.

"Don't you need Uma's permission to do that?" Mal smirked.

"Don't mention her." Harry snapped, bringing his hook to Mal's throat.

"Mal!" Evie said.

"Oh you're so scary," Mal laughed, taking a step back. "Goodbye, Harry."

"Goodbye, lassies," Harry smirked but let them leave.

"Can we please go home now!" Evie begged.

"Happily," Mal said, taking Evie's hand and leading her down the street.

—-

Evie sat in the shower, letting the water pour down over her back. She wrapped her arms around her knees, pulling them close as tears fell down her cheeks. The run in with her mom had really messed with her brain. She hated her mother so much for making her believe she didn't matter.

Evie picked up the razor and spun it around in her hands. She was debating whether it was worth it. She took the blade and pressed down on her skin.

At that moment, there was a knock at the door. "Baby?" Mal pushed the door open a bit and glanced inside, not wanting to make Evie uncomfortable. She saw the bright blue hair coming from the lower part of the shower and realized her girlfriend was sitting down. She walked over to her and saw the blade against her skin. "Baby, no."

Evie looked up at her and immediately dropped the razor. "Sorry."

Mal reached in, turned off the shower and handed Evie a towel so she could cover herself.

"Don't listen to her, E," Mal said, sitting on the ground across from the shower.

"All she wanted was for me to be beautiful and marry a prince." Evie told her, wrapping the towel around her.

"She's a horrible person and you need to not listen to anything she says." Mal tried again.

"I'm such a disappointment."

"You're not. Evie, you're perfect and so beautiful. You don't see if but you're so pretty. And you're so smart. You've always been. You don't need your lunatic mother telling you otherwise okay?" Mal told her.

Evie nodded. "Thanks."

"E, are you happy with me?" Mal asked.

"Very," Evie replied quickly.

"That's all that matters. Your mother not accepting you dating a girl doesn't affect our relationship, okay?" Mal stood up and went to sit next to Evie in the shower.

Mal grabbed Evie's arm and look at the red marks, happy she didn't draw blood. Evie tried to pull away but Mal brought the arm to her lips and kissed the red marks. "This can't be your answer, okay?"

Evie nodded, finally managing to take her arm back. "I'm sorry,"

"You're so much better than you think you are okay?" Mal told her. "Come on, I made us dinner since we didn't get to eat at Ursula's." Mal stood up and offered her hand to Evie.

Evie took it and let the blonde help her up. "Let me get dressed and I'll be right there."

Mal nodded and walked out of the room. Evie stood in front of the mirror and let the towel drop, looking at all her past scars. So many of them were from the things her mom told her as she was growing up. She was never good enough. Never pretty enough. Never smart enough. Never anything.

Mal thought she was though. Evie tried to focus on that and push the thoughts from her mom away. It was so hard though. The Evil Queen's voice was louder than Mal's.

Evie dried off quickly and threw on a pair of pajamas. She didn't even know if she was hungry but Mal's company could only help right now.

"Evie?" Mal yelled from the kitchen.

"Coming," she responded before walking out of the bedroom.