As we ate our picnic we aimlessly chatted about anything and everything that came to our minds; and as our evening meal started to come to an end I started to note that Ben started to look nervous. I decided to not push him on this; he looked like something was really bothering him and even though it was starting to worry me I knew that he would tell me when he was ready.
The feeling of worry only built up even more as we cuddled together on the picnic blanket and lay enjoying each other's company. Of course I was enjoying being snuggled into my perfect Beast; but I still couldn't get rid of the unease that was in my stomach and radiating from my Beast.
"Do you want to dance?" he asked me after we had been cuddling in silence for a short while.
"Erm, yeah but there's no music" I stated starting to get confused.
"Well I could sing to you?" he suggested.
"You never sing to me" I told him confused as I watched as he rolled away from me, stood up and reached out his right hand out to me.
"That's not true" he told me as I put my left hand in his right and I let him lead me so I was now standing in front of him.
"Well you rarely do sing to me" I amended as he put his left hand on my waist and took my other hand.
"Yeah" he added.
"I don't think I can remember the last time you sang to me, with me I remember, but not to me" I said jokingly.
"Yeah well I like to shake things up every now and again" he teased.
"Tell me about it" I muttered which made him laugh at me. "So what song are you going to sing to me?" I asked as I wanted to know where he was going with this.
"I think I have an idea" he answered as we started to sway on the spot.
"O...k" I said slowly as I watched as he took a deep breath as if he was trying to steady his nerves.
"Did I mention that I'm in love with you?" he sang slowly which made my body tense up. The memory of the first time he sang this to me resurfaced in my mind and I watched as he smiled at my reaction. He was singing the first and only song that he had ever sang to me. Yes admittedly he was under a love spell at the time; but he told me afterwards that he had loved me before I tricked him into eating that cookie. Ben used to joke all the time stating that this was his song to me; and it showed me how much I meant to him already at the start of our relationship. The fact that he was now singing it to me now caught me off guard as I hadn't heard him sing it or mention it for months, I would even go as far to say a year had passed.
"What are you doing?" I asked him as he span me around.
"And did I mention there's nothing I can do" he continued as I turned to face him. I took one look at the look on his face and started to smile at him. He was obviously remembering singing it to me as well. "And did I happen to say I dream of you every day?" He sang as we started to slowly waltz and as I stared into his calm, leaf green eyes I felt my stomach start to flutter. "But let me shout it out loud if that's ok? Hey!" he added and smiled my favourite smile. My heart started to pound to the point I could feel it in my ears. We then danced for a couple of seconds more in silence before he continued.
"I met this girl that rocked my world like it's never been rocked" he said as he stopped and let go of my waist and span me around again. "And now I'm living just for her and I won't ever stop" he added as I turned back to look at him. I couldn't help but smile lovingly at him. God I loved him! I didn't think I could fall more in love with him but I was. "I never thought that it could happen to a guy like me" he said grinning as he returned his hand to my waist and we swayed on the spot once more. "But now look at what you've done-" he started; and I knew what was coming next. I just hoped he wasn't going to drop down and pick me up like he normally does, last time he nearly dropped me. "You got me down on one knee..." He added quickly. I froze at the amendment, one knee... he normally sang 'you got me down on my knees'.
"On one knee?" I repeated as he let go of my hand and shoulder and knelt down on his left knee in front of me. My eyes widened in shock; and I involuntarily took a deep breath in.
"Mal I love you, you know that. I can't imagine living my life without you, I never knew what I did to deserve you. I know I have told you this before and I mean it; I have never felt this way about anyone before. I can't stop thinking about you and meeting you is the best thing that has ever happened to me. Mal you are not just my girlfriend. You are my best friend, my shoulder to lean on, the one person I know I can count on, you're the love of my life, you're my one and only, you're my everything" he told me slowly.
"Oh Ben" I said as tears started to build up in my eyes as I saw that he pulled a small dark purple velvet box out of his left trouser pocket.
"I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want you to be my happily ever after. Mal will you marry me?" he asked me not breaking his gaze with mine. He then slowly opened the box; and let me look at the ring. It was a gold band with diamonds going along the top of the band flanking a deep, dark, large amethyst gemstone in the middle that was cut into an egg shape.
"Yes" I said simply before I could stop myself; and I watched as his face broke out into a very large grin. He quickly took the ring out of the box and looked at me as he slowly removed my promise ring that he gave me on our first anniversary. He then picked up my right hand and slid it onto the same finger that it used to be on my left. He then picked up my left hand and slowly and carefully slid my new addition to my hand. Tears started to flow down my face; but I quickly wiped them away with my right hand. Ben then wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me to him and crushed his lips against mine. We shared a very long, deep, loving and passionate kiss before we broke away and stared deeply into each other's eyes.
"So this was your intention?" I asked as I wiped tears away from my eyes with both of my hands. "To lead me away and do this?" I added as he cupped the right hand side of my face with his left hand and he started to stroke my cheek with his thumb.
"Yes" he said and he quickly kissed my lips briefly. "I've had this moment planned for quite a while actually" he admitted happily as he tightened his arm around my waist.
"How long?" I asked him eager to know.
"About the same time I started planning the tour" he admitted as he continued to stroke my cheek with his thumb soothingly.
"That was months ago" I replied in shock as I slowly wrapped my arms around his neck.
"I know" he answered.
"Someone was confident" I teased before pushing my lips to his for a brief kiss.
"Well I hoped you would say yes" he laughed as he dropped his hand from my face and wrapped it around my waist.
"On what planet would I say no. Especially the way you've just asked me" I said happily as I stared into his eyes.
"That is what I was hoping for" he laughed as he brushed his nose against mine.
"Hmmm my Beastie" I said before quickly kissing him again.
"My Dragon" he said tightening his arms around my waist. I growled at him; and he smiled and growled back at me. I rested my head against his chest and snuggled my face into him. "I hope you know you have just made me the happiest man in Auradon right now" he said happily as he rested his chin on my head.
"And you have made me the happiest woman Ben" I replied fondly as I pulled away and we looked lovingly at each other. "I knew that this was coming" I said as I reminded our conversation on the Auradon Rose. "I just didn't expect this soon" I admitted with a goofy grin.
"I know" he chuckled. "I wanted to try and catch you off your guard" he advised.
"Well you did that" I replied happily causing us both to chuckle at each other. Yes I knew that Ben was going to propose at some point but I definitely didn't expect this soon after our conversation about it. I then thought about all of the little things that he had linked to his date; he got Evie to make sure I wore a dress similar to what I was wearing on our first date as he did the same. He had made sure that our conversation had dipped in and out of our first date and the date that we were currently on; and finally he sang me the song that he sang to me in front of the whole school. I loved how he made everything so perfect for me; I just didn't like the fact that he had hurt himself doing this for the pair of us. "Did you know you were going to do this when I asked you about it at the weekend?" I questioned with a warm smile.
"Yes" he nodded happily.
"I see" I replied. "Look at you plotting and scheming" I teased.
"Well I did learn from the best" he grinned.
"Yes you did" I said as I snuggled back into his chest. "Let's sit back down Ben" I added. "I want to cuddle into my Fiancé" I advised.
"Hmm" he purred as we untangled ourselves from each other before we lay back down where we were before. We then cuddled together and smiled at each other and I interlocked my fingers on my right hand with his left on his stomach.
"Ben" I replied into the silence.
"Yes Mal?" I heard him answer which made me look up at him. "Fiancé looks so much better on you than boyfriend you know" I flirted as I brushed my nose against his.
"You are so cute" he chuckled before he pressed a brief kiss against my lips. We were only apart for a few seconds before our lips pressed together again in passion and as our kiss started to move onto a very long and loving make out session I couldn't help but smile against Ben's lips - as by our actions it was very clear that we were both happy with the recent development in our relationship.
"Ben-" I said breaking the silence of us just lying there after we had a very long and heated make out session. When we stopped making out I readjusted myself as Ben stood up and got a spare picnic blanket; he then lay back down on my left hand side and as we cuddled together he pulled the blanket over us.
"Yes love of my life" I heard him answer and when I looked up at his happy face we both couldn't help but smile at each other.
"You said that you had this planned for quite a while" I stated.
"Yes" he nodded. "That is very true" he smiled.
"When?" I questioned eagerly.
"Remember when we had that conversation when I asked you what your long term plans are" he answered
"Then?" I asked in shock. Ben had this planned for months! Yes I knew that when the time came that when Ben wanted to propose to me I knew that a lot of planning was probably going to go into it; but I didn't expect this much! "You've been planning it since then?" I questioned in further shock.
"Yes" he nodded again. "I started thinking about what I wanted in life-" he started to explain. "And I just starting thinking about the life I wanted us to have" he continued. "I then started to think about what I wanted to achieve after we left college and I combined the pair" he grinned as he reached over and took my right hand into his left.
"Right" I noted. "But the trial happened" I reminded him.
"Yes" he said for the third time.
"So what was your original plan?" I asked.
"Well after visiting the Isle I was going to lead you away and bring you here-" he started. "And well you know the rest" he smiled as he started to run his left thumb along my right thumb.
"Aww Benny" I cooed as I snuggled into him.
"I will admit I am still a little bit concerned-" I began as a thought then came to me.
"About what?" He questioned as we both looked at each other.
"I don't want to take the shine of what has just happened" I stated. "But I need to know" I urged.
"Right?" He prompted.
"I know you said that this was planned-" I answered as my mouth started to go dry in nervousness. The last thing I wanted to do was to take a shine from his proposal but there was something that I needed to get off my mind. "But did you propose to me because I said I would sign our marriage contract after the trial?" I questioned before I could change my mind.
"No!" He stressed. "Why would you ask that?" He asked and I started to watch as hurt started to show in his usually calm green eyes.
"Because Ben I made a promise to myself" I admitted.
"Which is?" He asked in confusion.
"I don't want to be like Audrey" I confessed. "Taking control over things, telling you what to do" I added. "I want you to be you" I continued and I watched as the concern started to leave his eyes as a smile started to spread across his face. This was the truth; at the start of mine and Ben's relationship I promised myself that I wasn't going to treat Ben the way Audrey did. She told him what to do, how to say things, how to act; and this isn't what I wanted for our relationship. I wanted Ben to be himself; his happy, free spirited and beautiful self. "If you feel forced into this-" I said.
"Hey!" He exclaimed as he cut me off and he cupped the right hand side of my face with his left hand, which forced me to look into his eyes. "I don't feel forced" he stressed. "I meant it when I proposed to you, I have had this planned for so long" he explained sincerely. "So please don't think that you are forcing me into anything; because you are not" he urged.
"Sorry" I apologised. "I just wanted to make sure" I advised.
"It's ok" he replied. "I can see why you would think that" he added. "But Mal I want to marry you" he said as he continued to gaze lovingly into my eyes. "And I knew that when we left college that I would propose to you soon after" he stated. "I can promise you that" he vowed.
"Ok" I smiled before I pressed a brief kiss against his lips. "So when exactly did you plan this?" I questioned as I pulled away from him.
"You know when I asked you what your long term plans were?" He hinted.
"Yes" I stated as I started to remember sitting on the grass in Auradon Prep and talking about what we both wanted our lives to be. "That morning?" I asked.
"That was the morning that I decided that I wanted to propose to you" he announced. "That was also the same morning that I decided that I wanted to go on tour" he added.
"I see" I noted. "It would appear Ben" I said as a large smile started to spread across my face. "That it was a very elaborate plan for a proposal" I added as I brushed my nose against his.
"Yes" he chuckled. "I didn't think of it like that" he smiled. "But yes" he said as he pulled me back to him and we cuddled back together. Yes this conversation could have gone either way; but being with Ben had taught me that if there was something on my mind then I needed to tell him. And I think the fact that I had done this had shown Ben two things; first of all that I wasn't questioning his proposal - because I wasn't. And finally secondly it would show Ben that I was trying to get better at telling him what was on my mind - given what we had recently been through.
"Mal there is something that I want to do" Ben said into the silence at least twenty minutes of me and him cuddling in silence.
"Yes?" I questioned as I looked up at him.
"Let's stand up" he advised.
"Ok" I smiled at him and we both quickly untangled ourselves from each other before standing up. Ben then wrapped his left arm around my waist as he used his right hand to pull his phone out of his trouser pocket.
"Oh I see" I smiled. "Hang on" I added as I slid my left hand onto his chest so that my engagement ring could be seen easily. I watched as Ben smiled at this before he lifted his phone up slightly above us and he started to take photos on his phone.
"There" he stated as he took a photo of me and Ben smiling at the camera. Ben then took another photo of us looking lovingly at each other; before taking a final photo of me and Ben kissing each other.
"Let me see" I smiled as we pulled away. He then passed me his phone and I quickly flicked through the photos and I couldn't help but smile at the photos. I still couldn't believe that I was engaged! Yes I knew that it was coming but actually being engaged was a whole different thing. It came with a wave of overwhelming feelings; it made things more official - Ben was mine and nothing or no one was ever going to take him away from me. Yes I knew this but getting engaged it felt different - more permanent. "You will have to send me them" I added as I handed him his phone back.
"Yeah" he answered as he slid his phone into his trouser pocket. "I bet they are going to cause a storm on Facebook" he teased.
"Yes" I nodded.
"But Ben-" I started.
"Yes?" he answered.
"I think we should tell our families first" I stated. I don't think our families would be happy finding out second hand; and I didn't want them to find out like that. "Even though I am guessing that you have already told them" I smiled.
"Yes they know" he smiled back. "Jay and Carlos didn't even seem surprised" he stated causing both me and Ben to laugh.
"When did you tell them?" I questioned.
"Just after the trial" he advised. "When you were drawing with Nash" he added.
"I see" I noted and we both fell into silence. "How about this?" I stated. "We wait to post them until after the end of tour and coronation ball" I continued. "As we will have to announce it then" I nodded.
"I guessed so" he nodded back.
"But I value the fact that you didn't publicly propose to me" I advised as I knew that with Ben being King he probably should have proposed to me in front of the Kingdom.
"Yeah" he answered. "I think it was for the best; so much of our relationship is so public" he advised. "I wanted it to be just you and me" he added with my favourite warm and cute smile.
"Yes" I replied. "Thank you" I stated before I pressed a brief kiss against his lips."How was Evie when you told her?" I questioned as we sat back down and cuddled back into each other just like a few minutes ago.
"She's very excited" he advised. "And nervous" he continued.
"Nervous?" I said in confusion as I looked up at him. "Why would she be nervous?" I enquired.
"She doesn't know whether you want her to design your dress" he said as he took his left hand into my right once more. "As you have returned from our tour she knows that she might need to give the role up as your royal dresser" he added.
"I see" I noted again. "Of course I want Evie to do it" I stated. "I wouldn't want anything else designing my wedding dress" I advised. "Wow!" I muttered as I noted how weird it was to start talking about my wedding dress. "Talking about wedding dresses is weird" I noted.
"Yes" he smirked. "And I for one can't wait to see you in it" he winked at me.
"Well you are going to have a long wait dear" I teased. "You can't know a thing about it until I am walking down the aisle" I teased further.
"Meh!" he exclaimed as he pulled a funny face which made me laugh at him.
"I think E knows who I want to make my clothes" I advised. "I just think she doesn't want to assume" I added.
"Yeah" he agreed.
"Can we stop talking about wedding dresses?" I said as I pulled my right hand from his left and I cupped the left hand side of his face, causing him to smile at me lovingly. "I just want to be in this moment with you" I said as I let a big smile spread across my face.
"Me too" He agreed before he pressed his lips against mine. Our lips slowly moved against each other's and the longer the kiss went on the more heated our hands were when they were roaming over each other's bodies. We quickly separated to take a breath and quickly crushed our lips together again; this time I felt Ben's tongue sweep across my lips asking for entrance and I gave it to him willingly. As we were kissing in this heated fashion I felt us shift our positions and before I knew it Ben was lying on top of me. As our lips connected for a third time I felt his arms tighten around me; and I sighed happily against his lips.
"Benny" I panted as I attempted to regulate my breathing.
"Yes" I heard him breath as he did the same.
"I love you" I answered as I looked up at him. "I know a lot has happened recently" I added as he slid down and he rested his head against my chest.
"I know" he answered as I moved my legs so he wasn't lying on them. "But we will always get each other through anything that comes our way" he smiled at me.
"Of course" I replied lovingly. Me and Ben then smiled at each other before he snuggled his head into my chest as I tightened my arms around him. As I started to stare at the stars that were starting to shine brightly in the cool night sky I couldn't help but smile. I really enjoyed it when it was just me and Ben like this; which made this evening even more special. I felt like I was now one step closer to being Ben's wife; which was something I really couldn't wait for - as I couldn't wait to live the rest of my life with my perfect, handsome and beautiful Beast.
Hey guys, I just wanted to take a few seconds to explain three things to you.
First of all when I first started the 'Happily Ever After' story I wrote some of the main key parts that I wanted to include in this story and this chapter was one of them. So I have been sitting on this chapter since 2015; this is actually the first ever proposal scene that I wrote for Ben and Mal. So you can imagine my amazement and how overwhelming it was when I saw a similar instance in D3.
Secondly I don't know (and I am saying this not to offend anyone) if you can remember in chapter seven of 'Disney Descendants: Happily Ever After - I' when Ben and Mal talked about their long term plans. It feels like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders that I have now been able to post this chapter.
Finally I think I have finally answered a question that has been left dormant since chapter 6 of 'Disney Descendants: Happily Ever After - I' - this is why Ben smiled when an idea came to him. I hope that it shows how much time and effort I put into their story, and I hope that you are still enjoying coming on this journey with me.