School was finally out for the summer and the teenagers of Auradon Prep decided to kick off the summer with a party at the enchanted lake. Organized by Chad and Audrey meant everybody was in for some good clean fun in retro bathing suits with picnic desserts and pop music. Not exactly what Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos were used to or, if Mal was honest, what they considered a wild time. But they all agreed it was really nice to experience what the happy kids of Auradon did for fun.
Although it didn't really matter to Mal what they did for fun as long as she got to spend that time with Ben. Mal rolled her eyes at herself. When did she become this cheesy person, having thoughts like that.
"What? This is my favorite pair of swim trunks don't make fun," Ben nudged Mal. He assumed her eye roll was in reference to the tiny crown shorts he loved to sport.
"Cheesy," Mal laughed as she made a beeline for the food table after eyeing the huge bowl of chocolate covered strawberries. Ben followed up behind Mal and gently grabbed her waist as she started to dig into her favorite treat.
"I made sure we had them for you"
"Fank fou," She smiled through a mouthful of food.
Mal watched Evie holding hands with Doug and giggling. She saw Carlos playing with his dog in the shallows. Her family. Happy and enjoying their new lives. She sighed, contented.
"This party is a bit of a snore no Mal?" Jay joked strolling up next to them. "But I know how to get it started." Jay held up a giant cooler on his shoulder. He threw it down triumphantly drawing a lot of attention from nearby partygoers, including Evie, Doug, and Carlos.
"Yes please," Evie scooped up a beer not missing a beat and handed it to Doug. His eyes widened but he quickly shook the look and took it. Taking the quickest swig. Mal snickered, he looked as if he had swallowed sour milk.
Audrey stomped over, sensing some fun to be ruined. "Absolutely not! There will be no drinking at this party. This isn't the trashy Isle. We are respectable young people. Ben I can't believe you would let them corrupt you like this."
Chad was at Audrey's side, "Sweetums lighten up. There's not enough there to cause that much damage."
Everyone was flabbergasted at Chad's outburst. Audrey was absolutely not having it, "We're done Chad." She stormed out. Chad ran after her begging her to reconsider.
"Awkward, now I really need a drink," Jay broke the silence reaching down, "Ben you want one?"
"Aw no I'm okay," Ben tried to smile casually. Mal was already halfway bent down to grab one for herself when she heard Ben's answer. She awkwardly switched gears to take off her shoes.
"Oh no Mal please feel free to have one," She wasn't fooling Ben. He didn't mean to call her out in front of everyone. He was just panicked that she would be denying herself on his behalf.
Mal smiled up at him, "I'm okay."
Ben desperately wanted to erase the uncomfortable moment. He offered his hand to help her up. "Come on let's enjoy the water."
Mal also desperately wanted to erase the moment so she followed him over to the lake. She thought they would just be sitting on the edge, enjoying the music and splashing their feet in but Ben seemed to have a different idea as they reached the edge of the water. He lifted his shirt up and over his head.
While he was preoccupied with getting ready for a swim Mal caught herself staring at the newly revealed skin. They'd been together about 3 months now and while kissing was very common they'd scarcely had the opportunity for it to go beyond that. People were always watching them and it wasn't exactly a subject they had broached yet. They were still at that stage of trying to hide their desire for each other from each other out of embarrassment or fear of offending the other. And if Mal was honest with herself she was worried. Worried of what he would think of her past. And worried of what his was. She didn't want anything to ruin this. And because of that she felt like she was walking on eggshells sometimes.
"Come on Mal," Ben shook her out of her trance extending his hand. "I'm going to teach you to swim."
Mal burst out a laugh, "Absolutely not."
Ben advanced on her and she tried to hide her breath catching, "You have to learn how to swim, it's fun!"
"On second thought. I'm not doing this without a drink," She walked over to grab a drink quick and spelled it open with her back turned. Then she set her dress down by the rest of her stuff. Ben looked away as she pulled the dress over her head. Years and years of polite and regal discipline training coming in handy.
Evie had made Mal a cute purple halter bikini made out of spandex leather. A signature fabric for Evie's creations. Her and Evie were the only girls in bikinis. Just further solidifying the obvious difference between the isle girls and the ladies of Auradon. Evie rocked hers with confidence as always. But Mal always seemed to internally let the small differences bother her more than she let on on the outside.
Ben helped Mal into the water up to their knees. "We're going to learn how to keep yourself afloat first. I promise I won't let anything happen to you, trust me." He held onto her arms as they started to wade deeper. Mal could feel her panic rising but she tried to plaster a brave face on. Once the lake floor slipped out from under her her legs started to kick wildly and panic was evident in her face. Lightning fast Ben switched his grip on her to grab her waist and secure her against him.
"It's okay it's okay. You got this I won't let you go under until you're ready." Mal's breathing calmed down now that Ben was holding her tight. She gently started to kick her legs back and forth to keep herself afloat. "There you go! You're getting the hang of it. Can I let go?"
She shook her head and he slowly started to give her some space. She mimicked his arm motions and started to giggle in shock. "I'm doing it!"
Ben found her laughter infectious. He hadn't felt this free or like he could be his own age since his coronation. "I'll race you to that rock!" And Mal took off. A little awkwardly but she definitely had the hang of it. Ben felt empowered by her confidence and started to chase her over to the rock on the far end of the lake.
Mal managed to make it there just a stroke ahead of Ben with her head start and she stood in the chest deep water hand on the rock triumphantly. "Ha!" She stuck her tongue out at him. Ben splashed her lightly in response. Her eyes widened and she gasped. After a beat she splashed him right back. They went on like this playing in the water not a care in the world amongst their classmates.
Ben gently held Mal's back so he could pull her towards him for a kiss, "Truce?" Trying his very best not to notice how different this familiar move felt on bare skin. Mal let him pull her to him and get really close then gave him one last splash. But before he could retaliate, she took advantage of the shock and kissed him. Her hands framed his face and she let herself melt into the kiss like they were the only two people in the world. Again in a familiar move his grip on her hips tighten. And again he forgot about the bare skin factor. He pulled back and kept his eyes closed trying his best to not let the heat flushing over his body progress. He was so practiced at composure it only took a second for him to open his eyes and plaster his regular smile back on his face.
"How do you feel about trying to go underwater?" Ben had a plan.
Mal smirked, exuding confidence. "Not a problem!"
They tested it out with Ben instruction how to breath out her nose and hold her breath. Once she felt comfortable he beckoned her to follow him. They were already hidden beyond the rocks out of sight. Ben led them up to a huge rock front. Mal looked at him confused as she moved her arms to keep herself afloat.
"Do you trust me?" He looked back at her. She had no idea what he was talking about but she nodded anyway.
"Follow me," he told her with a smile before disappearing under the water. There was no way following him would have been possible on the Isle. The minimal water they had was way too murky and filled with dangerous creatures for swimming. But the lake water was crystal clear and easy to see underwater. When she followed him under she saw that Ben was leading her under the rock.
Then came up on the other side of the rock in a cave. Not just any cave but one with the crystal wishing rocks Ben had given her on their first date covering the walls. They pulled themselves up onto the rock inside to admire the beautiful site.
Mal was taking it all in, staring in wonder. Ben could only watch her reaction. It was his absolute favorite thing in the world to see her surprised or happy or laughing. She was so expressive it took Ben's breath away.
Mal couldn't believe he was showing her this magical secret place. She didn't even feel worthy of it. But she was more than grateful. She turned back to face him, staring at her with that dopey smile of his.
It was then it dawned on her that they were alone. Really truly alone. Anyone seeing Ben's expression for even a split second would know that getting Mal alone was the farthest thing from Ben's mind as he brought her here. The thought only crossed his mind as he watched the way her hips swayed slightly walking towards him.
He gulped and looked down. He had actually been hoping to distract himself from their earlier kiss in the lake by showing her this. It hadn't occurred to him that this would mean they would be really truly alone. Ben resolved to impress upon Mal with his actions that that was not his intent.
Mal had other plans. She wasn't exactly confident enough to full on initiate anything. But appreciating his form and his sweetness definitely had her flushed and more forward than she normally would be.
Mal came face to face with Ben and suddenly felt more shy. "Hi." She looked up at him through her long lashes.
"Hey," Ben stared at her lovingly and brushed her hair back away from her face. He then leaned in with the intention of giving her a quick peck to show her that was not why he brought he here. But that was all Mal needed to start sensually moving her lips against his and licking his lip to let her in. You could hear all the breath escape through Ben's nose and his hands balled up at his sides not knowing what he should do. In a split second he decided holding her safely would be far less awkward then just standing there like a dope.
Ben holding Mal was all the permission she needed to gently lean her body against his. For Mal that contact was her undoing. Familiar feelings started to ignite, flames licking up just underneath her skin throughout her entire body. She ran her finger through his tousled brown hair.
Mal's actions both made Ben feel empowered to lean into the feeling of being able to kiss her without eyes on them, but also gave him a healthy dose of fear and anxiety. He feared letting go of his self control even a bit. He didn't want to push her and was feeling a similar way Mal was without knowing. What would venturing into this new territory do to their relationship?
Mal's entire body felt on fire. Her brain was all fogged up. She hadn't realized how much being in the public eye had her wound so tight. Finally being able to be here with her boyfriend alone, just being 17 and enjoying each other, she hadn't realized how much she needed this and she didn't feel as scared and nervous as she had been before. Those feelings were still there, but they were definitely minimized in this state.
Ben on the other hand was in complete conflict with himself. He was trying his best to contain himself. He was enjoying making out with her way too much. Her lips and tongue were so soft. He was trying and failing to not notice how her bikini covered breast were pushing up against his bare chest. How the skin of her hips felt under his hands. He felt like fire but he wanted to remain a gentleman. He pulled back and they both took a moment to catch their breath without letting go of each other.
Ben opened and closed his mouth a couple times trying to find the right words to open up communication about this. He finally settled on, "Hey, are you okay with this? I just want to let you know as amazing as it is to be able to hold you without a thousand cameras on us, it wasn't my intention when I wanted to share this secret spot with you."
Mal felt anxiety burst her bubble. She hated vulnerability. She didn't want to open up about this. She just wanted to keep kissing Ben and feeling his hands holding her to him.
She ducked her head down, "yeah I'm okay."
Ben wasn't satisfied with the answer and felt confused. He used his finger to gently tilt her chin up to look at him. Mal knew that wouldn't be an acceptable answer and she just wanted to keep kissing him.
"I'm more than okay. This is beautiful thank you for sharing it with me. I'm just happy to be able to enjoy time with you without what feels like everybody in the world on top of us." Mal felt good about that answer. She had opened up without having to discuss their physical relationship at all.
The notion warmed Ben's heart. And he didn't have time to dwell on the fact that he hadn't been able to talk to her about what he really wanted, which was how they felt about venturing into a more physical relationship together. Mal didn't give him a chance to think about how she had evaded his question because she was kissing him again. And all thought fled his brain.
Knowing she was okay with this and having this been the second time she initiated making out Ben was able to relax a bit more. His grip on her hips tightened. Mal leaned her body more deliberately against him. Thankfully for Ben his handle on her hips was able to keep their lower halves at a safe distance. Their tongues starting to battle each other. Mal allowed her hands to move from his hair down to explore his back and shoulders, finding his biceps as an anchor for her. They both felt like pure fire trying to battle their inner beasts at bay. All they saw was fog behind their eyelids.
A extremely loud horn broke them apart in panic. They evaluated quickly they hadn't been caught. It was coming from outside the cave and it was like a siren, unending.