"You two need to sit down and talk about this. There is clearly something she isn't saying." Dizzy poured Evie a cup of coffee before sitting down with her own. "You guys need to start communicating or else you won't last."
"You're right. It's like she thinks I will break or something. Not everything is going to send me spiraling to drugs." Evie sighed.
"She just loves you and worries about you."
"I know. It's just frustrating," Evie admitted. "I'm not a kid."
Dizzy took a long drink before speaking again. "She watched you almost die, Evie. She watched the doctors fight to keep you alive. It's going to be a long time before she stops being so protective of you."
Evie sighed again. She knew the younger girl was right. "Enough about me, how is the baby?"
"Good. We should find out the sex Friday." Dizzy put her hand on her stomach, which was showing the smallest bump.
"Really? Oh I'm so excited!" Evie exclaimed. She didn't even try to control her energy level. "So where is Celia today?"
Dizzy looked up at the clock on the wall. "She should be at the arcade by now. They are doing some event with Auradon Prep today."
"School feels like another lifetime ago." Evie admitted, at the mention of her old school.
"For you, it was. You're not the same person from then. You've changed." Dizzy told her, "and so has Mal. Talk to her. You love her. You always have. And she loves you."
"She might," Evie said. She had no idea if Mal loved her or not.
"Do you remember when you came back to the Isle for the first time and you guys needed to make smoke bombs?"
Evie nodded. Ben had gotten his ass captured and they had to save him.
"Mal sat and ran her fingers through your hair, while you sat and looked at your old sketchbook. Do you remember that?" Dizzy asked.
Evie smiled. "I do remember that actually. She ran away to the Isle and it killed me to see her in so much pain."
"She was so absent minded about the way she touched you. That's when I knew that you guys would end up together. That's when I knew she loved you." Dizzy smiled.
"How did you know that? All she was doing was playing with my hair."
Dizzy laughed, "It was the way she was playing with it. Like it was natural. Like you were already hers. It's almost like she didn't realize what she was doing, she just wanted to touch you."
Evie smiled. Everyone in the world knew about them before they did. "And when did you know about my feelings?"
"I've known about yours much longer. About 6 months before you guys left for Auradon, you had taken me for the day to get me away from Granny. You had decided I needed a break and took me to that hideout thing you guys had made, remember?
Evie nodded.
"Mal was there. And her mom had been mean to her and Mal was in an awful mood. She yelled at you for bringing me there. She screamed all these cruel and hateful things to me."
"Oh, I had forgotten about that. God Maleficent was so horrible to her." Evie remembered the almost abusive way Mal's mom treated her.
"Instead of getting angry back like most people on the Isle do, you walk right up to her and pulled her into a hug. You whispered something to her, I don't know what and she immediately relaxed. It was like you had the magic touch. When you pulled away, I saw the look on your face. You would've done anything for her to see her smile. That's when I knew.
"Thanks, Dizzy," Evie pulled the smaller girl into a hug. "I needed that."
"I know," Dizzy smiled.
—-
Mal paced back and forth inside her apartment. Evie hadn't been home since earlier that morning and she hadn't heard from her either. She picked up her phone and called her girlfriend once again.
"Hey E, it's me. Can you please call me back when you get this." Mal left yet another voicemail. Where was she?
Mal looked down at Macie who was pulling a wooden train across a wooden set of tracks, talking to herself. "Are you hungry?"
Macie shook her head, not looking up from the train for a second.
Mal sighed and started pacing again.
The sound of the key in the door caught her attention and she immediately ran over, throwing her arms around Evie as soon as her bright blue hair appeared. "Are you okay? Where have you been?"
"Dizzy's. Are you okay?" Evie asked, concerned.
"I called you 100 times." Mal lightly hit Evie on the arm. "Why didn't you call me back?"
"I didn't get them. There isn't much service where Dizzy lives. I'm sorry. I'm fine though." Evie shrugged. She walked over and kissed Macie on the top of the head.
"It's okay," Mal said. She was happy her heart rate could return to normal.
"I was hoping we could talk though," Evie told her, taking a spot on the couch.
Mal's heartrate sped up again. "Yeah, of course." She walked over and sat on the other end, facing Evie.
Evie took a deep breath before speaking, trying to settle her nerves. "You and I are in a relationship. This isn't a "Mal takes care of Evie" kind of thing. While I truly appreciate everything you've done for me, you are not my keeper or carer."
"I know that," Mal said quietly. It was true though. She hadn't been treating Evie much like a girlfriend.
"You don't." Evie told her, "you treat me like I'm going to break. You treat me like every time I leave the apartment, I'm getting myself into trouble. I'm an adult, M. I'm not a child. I can make my own choices."
"I just worry about you." Mal said back.
"Honey, I know you worry about me but you can't worry about me and neglect taking care of yourself." Evie said. "This relationship needs to be 50/50, starting with Macie."
"Evie..." Mal started.
"No." Evie stopped her. "I'm not going to hurt Macie. I'm not going to take Macie to buy drugs. I'm not going to do drugs while watching Macie."
"How can I be sure?" Mal asked.
"By trusting me, Mal." Evie raised her voice. "I'm not the only drug addict here. I get that she is yours and not mine. Trust me, I get it, but one day she could be mine too."
"I don't trust anyone with her." Mal said.
"You trust Chloe. And the people at your work." Evie snapped back. "And you've known me a hell of a lot longer than them."
"I also didn't have to help bring them back to life after they OD'd, E." Mal stood up and started pacing, glancing over and Macie who was watching them.
"What's the deal, Mal? What aren't you telling me?" Evie asked.
Mal sighed and watched her daughter play for a while.
"M?" Evie said quietly.
"When I was in the hospital, holding her, they told me they were going to take her from me and put her into foster care." Mal admitted.
Evie scrunched up her face, "why?"
"They said it was too dangerous for me to raise a child since I'm half dragon." Mal told her.
"That's bull." Evie replied. "You're a great mom."
"It took a lot of convincing, monitoring, check upsand social service visits for them to finally let me keep her." Mal said, sitting back down.
"Okay...so what does that have to do with trusting me?" Evie asked.
"I'm afraid that if I leave you alone with her and social services finds out, they will take her from me because you are barely clean." Mal finally admitted. She really didn't want to hurt Evie.
"Oh." Evie said quietly, looking over at Macie. "That makes sense."
"Evie, I'm so sorry. I really want to be with you but she's my kid. She comes first. Always. I just really need you to be clean a little longer before you two are alone. I'm sorry." Mal felt the tears welling up in her eyes. It hurt so much to deny the woman she loved.
"I get it." Evie said, almost silently. She understood. She did. It just hurt. "I want to be with you. More than anything, so if you need more time, you can have it."
"I'm sorry." Mal repeated.
"Don't be, okay? We will figure it out." Evie told her, scooting down the couch and taking the smaller girl's hand. "I don't understand how you can trust me with things like sex but not trust me with your kid for a few hours but it's okay."
"Sex is just sex." Mal replied, before realizing what she said.
"Right." Evie said quietly.
"No, baby. What I mean is that sex isn't scary to me. While yes there's some trust involved, it's different for me than it is for you. There is a part of me that's very nervous to sleep with you. It's just different. I don't know how to explain it."
Evie nodded. She didn't really know what to say. Sex to her was all about trust and intimacy and it was terrifying. To Mal though it wasn't. It was just sex.
"Evie, it's a different kind of trust okay? Please understand that it's just different."
"It's okay, M." Evie said. Macie walked over to her and Evie lifted her into her lap. "Hi." Evie kissed the smaller child's head.
"Hi, blue." Macie smiled, giggling when Evie tickled her.
Mal watched and smiled. Evie was so good with her and it made her feel so happy.
"Blue, play please." Macie said, wiggling down and running back to her toys.
Evie glanced at Mal and smiled a small smile before climbing down and crawling across the floor to Macie and her toys.
"I love you, E." Mal said quietly. So quietly that Evie didn't even hear her. They had so many issues, she honestly didn't know if they would make it. In that moment though, it didn't matter. Watching her girlfriend play with her daughter made her so happy.
—
"Hi, dad," Mal waved before leaning in to hug Hades.
"Hi, Malie," Hades said back, pulling out of the hug. "Hi, Macie."
Macie looked up at him and waved before going back to her doll.
Mal got Macie situated and sat down in the chair across from him. "How are you?"
"Not too bad. How are things going with you? And Evie?" He asked, mischief playing on his features.
"How on earth do you know about that? Mal asked.
"Evie's mom has been bitching about it for days. I just happen to hear about it." Hades laughed. "It's about time the 2 of you got together."
"Oh, shut up. What has EQ been saying?" Mal asked. She handed a piece of bread to Macie and took a bite herself.
"The usual crazy Queen spiel. Moaning about how her daughter will never marry a prince if she's dating you." Hades paused for a moment to order his lunch, followed by Mal. "How you aren't the one for her perfect daughter."
"Does she seriously not know that Evie is a lesbian? This isn't exactly new information." Mal shook her head. "That woman is insane and she needs to stay away from Evie."
"Speaking of crazy, how is your own crazy mother?"
"Still lizard-i-fied," Mal laughed. "Macie actually enjoys playing with her and helping to feed her. It's cute. Well until you remember that she's my mom and then it's sad."
"I prefer her like that," Hades grinned.
"Well of course you do." Mal laughed.
"Life is quieter this way," Hades chuckled. "Peaceful."
Mal rolled her eyes, "My life is never quiet. Between being a nurse, Macie and Evie, I don't get quiet. Or a break."
"How's Macie doing?" Hades asked, looking over at the toddler. She was currently spreading butter on the dolls face.
"Well as you can clearly tell, she's a genius," Mal laughed. She took the doll away and started cleaning it which warranted a very loud shriek from the child. "No." Mal disciplined.
Macie pouted for a moment before screaming again.
"Macie Evelyn Moors." Mal challenged, "Stop that."
Macie looked at her mom and pouted.
"She looks just like you, you know?" Hades laughed. "Just with darker hair."
Mal handed the clean doll back to her daughter and rolled her eyes.
"She's something." Mal took the butter away and put it on the opposite side of the table. "Aside from tantrums over butter, she is doing well. Her teacher never really has anything bad to say about her. She loves Evie."
"Do they get to spend a lot of time together?" Hades asked.
"Well she lives with us, so yeah," Mal laughed.
"Evie lives with you? Isn't that a little early in the relationship?"
"It's a long story," Mal shrugged. She shifted a little so the server could place her food on the table. Mal grabbed Macie's plate and started cutting up her chicken into smaller pieces, "She was technically living there before we got together. Drugs were involved."
"You or her?" Hades asked.
"Her. I've been clean since before Macie was born," Mal placed the plate back in front of Macie and focused on her own food.
"Just checking," Hades replied before taking a bite of his burger.
"I'm good. Tired but good."
"She isn't bringing drugs around my granddaughter, is she? Hades asked.
Mal shook her head. Hades didn't need to know about their struggles.
"So how do you really feel about me being with Evie? And dating a girl?" Mal asked, taking a bite of her salad.
"I think it's about time. You guys have been making eyes at each other for 10 years." Hades laughed. "I know she was your first kiss way back."
Mal almost spit out her food. "How do you even know that?"
"Word travels around the Isle so fast. You know that." Hades reached over and wiped Macie's face.
"I also locked her in a closet." Mal reminded him.
"Well it's about time she came out." Hades winked. "Seriously though, I'm really happy for you guys. I think you're good for each other. I may not know all the details of how you ended up here but in the end, the love between you has always been apparent."
"Thanks dad," Mal smiled. "I'm having some trust issues but I'm working on it."
"With the life you had before Auradon and the way you grew up, trust issues are normal." The blue haired man said, "don't let it ruin your chance at love though. Especially since you and Evie come from the same place and probably have a lot of similar fears and beliefs."
Mal nodded, her mind racing. There were very few people who understood how things were when they were kids, especially in the detail that Evie knew. Maybe she was afraid Evie would leave like her dad and mom did.
"Time for me to get back to stealing souls. Thanks for lunch." Hades stood up and stretched before leaning down to give Macie a kiss on the forehead. "Bye, trouble." Macie just waved.
"Bye, dad." Mal smiled, standing up to hug the much taller man. "Happy souls!"
