"Ben" I said happily as we both started to climb into our bed in Auradon Castle.
"Aha?" he answered after we pulled the covers over us.
"Can we talk about what happened?" I asked.
"What do you mean?" he replied as he threw me a look of confusion.
"I mean after I left" I clarified.
"Oh" he said as his face dropped.
"We don't need to" I urged. It looked like this was going to be a very hard conversation for me and Ben; and if Ben didn't want to talk about it now then I wouldn't push him.
"No" he replied as he rolled onto his right side and propped himself up on his elbow. "I guessed you would want to talk about this at one point" he added as I lay down on rolled onto my left side.
"Yeah" I advised.
"Well after reading your letter I was heartbroken-" he started to explain and I looked down at the bed covers. I knew that I needed to hear this; but this didn't mean that I was going to find it easy or like it in anyway. "After having some time to myself I gathered the others up and told them" he continued and I slowly looked up at him. "Unfortunately Uma, Gil and Harry joined us; and Uma was most unkind" he finished before he bit down on his bottom lip.
"How?" I questioned.
"She said-" he started but stopped and I could tell by the look in his eyes that he didn't want to tell me as he probably thought that it was going to upset me. However me and Uma had been throwing shade and name called each other for years – so nothing that she said was going to affect me in any way.
"Yes?" I prompted.
"That I was finally seeing you for what you really are" he said sadly as he slid closer to me and we cuddled tightly together.
"Which is?" I questioned and he threw me a concerned look.
"Ben please?" I begged. "Nothing Uma has said is going to hurt; we have fought for a lot of years now" I reminded him.
"Ok" I nodded. "Weak" he said. "Pathetic" he sighed. "A waste of space" he finished nervously.
"I see" I nodded back. In all honesty this didn't really bother me; she had said a lot worse to me in the past. I could see though that Ben would be more upset about this than me; but I would make sure to reassure him on this. The last thing I wanted for Ben was for him to dwell on Uma's comments – as they should mean nothing to the pair of us. "To be honest she could have said worse" I shrugged.
"That isn't all" he advised.
"Oh" I muttered. "What else did she say?" I asked.
"She said that it was only going to be a matter of time when you left me anyway; and that she and her baby had done me a favour" he added bitterly as his arms tightened around me.
"Right" I nodded. "Well we both knew different" I urged. "Ben I am so sorry for leaving you" I quickly apologised.
"I know Mal" he replied. "Please don't keep stressing over this" he said lovingly as he cupped the right hand side of my face. "The main thing now is that the three of us are together; and that is never ever going to change" he smiled at me as his thumb slowly stroked my cheek.
"So you don't want any more?" I questioned in confusion.
"Any more?" he asked also in confusion.
"Children" I answered. "You just said that is never going to change" I repeated.
"Oh you" he chuckled before he pressed a prolonged kiss against my forehead. "You are such a playful dragon" he smiled down at me.
"Yes" I chuckled. "But you already knew that" I winked at him.
"Yes" he replied as we adjusted ourselves in bed and we started to snuggle closely into each other. I know that me and Ben still had a long way to go; but we would manage it. As me and Ben could get though anything – as this situation showed me this.