"What do you think of this one dear?" Belle asked Adam, holding up one of the necklace options for cotillion.

"I can't look dear, Madame is measuring my neck for my suit," Adam chuckled.

"That is right he cannot look." Madame de la Grande Bouche scolded.

Ben got up from where he was sitting waiting to be measured and walked over to his mom.

"Let me help mom." He looked over the necklaces the royal jeweler shipped over for Belle to choose from.

"I think Evie said your neckline is going to be really sparkly. So maybe skip a necklace and do some earrings instead." Ben moved over to look at the earring selection.

Belle stared at this kind and thoughtful young man her son was becoming. "Why don't you pick out something for Mal as well?"

Ben turned to his mom, "Oh I don't know. She's not really one for all this glitz."

Adam chuckled, "Well isn't that a change."

"Adam!" Belle reprimanded her husband for being so crass.

"What! It's just our family in here. It's true, Audrey was a little high maintenance. This is a nice change of pace." Ben tried not to chuckle at his fathers blunt talk of his ex.

Belle tried to steer the conversation away, "How is Mal doing with all this?"

Ben paused and thought for a moment on how he wanted to answer that. "She seems to be doing alright. I know it's been a difficult adjustment for her. I don't think she was thinking about what dating a king meant when we got together." Ben was letting his insecurities slip out in front of his parents. There was no judgement of Mal in his voice saying what he said. It was more he felt so guilty about all this pressure on her. She was handling it so well, sometimes he wished he had her strength.

Adam and Belle shared a look, realizing something about Mal they hadn't before. She was really there for their son. Mal didn't want the crown. It was quite the opposite. She was struggling with it. She just wanted Ben. It warmed Belle's heart. Adam never thought that Mal was like Audrey but it hadn't really occurred to him just how important it was that Mal was going through all of this for Ben.

Belle went over to put a reassuring hand on Ben's arm. "I see a strong young woman who wouldn't be adjusting like this for just anybody. Don't lose sight of that Ben."

Ben smiled thinking about how lucky he was to have Mal. His mom was right. She was going through this for him, adjusting with him. He wanted to do something nice for her. Ben walked over to the earrings picking up a pair he thought Mal might like. They were darker and had jeweled vines dangling on them. "What do you think of these for Mal?"

Belle smiled, "Perfect"

The press and Jane had been hounding them about cotillion all week so the castle walls felt like the only sanctuary.

The incident in Mal's dorm the other day had gotten Ben so worked up. It had been close to two weeks since they had had any significant alone time and Wednesday's heated make out with a forced cool down had enhanced Ben's desperation tenfold.

Since it was right after school and Ben's parents were usually in meetings during 9-5 he thought they would be safe to sneak some alone time in his room. Ben locked the door behind them and pulled Mal close.

"Finally, I've missed you." He held her face in his hands before kissing her. Ben gave Mal a long loving kiss before pulling back.

"I have something for you." He broke from their embrace to walk over to his dresser. "I saw these and thought of you."

He handed her the box with the earrings and Mal accepted it, opening it up cautiously. She gasped when she saw the earrings. "Oh Ben these are beautiful." She stared at them in wonder then looked back up at him. She wanted to say they were too much but knew that wasn't really an issue for Ben, being of the royal family. She settled for asking, "Why?"

"I just like doing nice things for you." Ben said simply. Mal gently put them back down on his dresser so she could fling herself at him. "I've missed you too. So much." She let out breathily.

Ben cupped her cheek and kissed her more passionately. He was wound so tightly and only she could alleviate the hunger. This might have been the fastest he'd ever gotten hard.

Mal walked them back to his big luxurious bed and fell onto it pulling him down on top of her. They scrambled up the bed trying to get more comfortable. Mal hook around Ben's leg and flipped them over so that she was on top. His head hit the pillow and he stared up at her face in awe. He leaned up to rub her cheek with his thumb before dropping his hands down to her hips. Mal lifted up on her knees to start removing Ben's pants. Regardless of what they chose to do next the pants would be in the way. She was wearing a skirt so that wasn't a concern.

Once he kicked his pants off and he leaned up to throw his jacket on the floor, he pulled her back down to him. Ben urged her hips to grind against him. Mal had the desired reaction she groaned and ground her crotch down onto his. Then she did it again. When she opened her eyes they were glowing a bit. He didn't want to upset her so he didn't say a thing about it. He just kept egging her on. Feeling her heat so close he was trying his best not to blow a load. It had just been way too long.

The sound of three loud knocks had Ben's eyes shooting open. They froze and Mal's face read full on panic.

"Benjamin, are you working from your room today instead of the office? We need to go over some more details for cotillion." They could hear Lumiere's voice from outside the door. Not hearing a response from Ben Lumiere tried to open the door but since it was locked it just jiggled.

"Just a second Lumiere!" Ben called out trying his best to sound normal. Mal quick and silent like a cat scrambled off of him and went to quietly hide in the bathroom.

"I can come back later sir." Lumiere obviously hadn't expected the door to be locked in the middle of the day. Ben didn't want to arise suspicion so he scrambled to put his pants back on and open the door.

"Sorry Lumiere I'll be down to the office in a bit. What was it you needed?" Ben definitely looked suspicious. He was slightly sweaty and his hair was tousled. His clothes were out of order. Lumiere was equal parts embarrassed and equal parts suspicious. He casually scanned the room behind Ben. But all he saw was tousled sheets. Then Lumiere's suspicion melted away and he was full on embarrassed.

"I'll meet you down in the office sir."

"I just need a quick shower."

Lumiere turned on his heels and walked away. Ben closed the door again and was breathing heavy from both being intimate with Mal and the whole embarrassing exchange. He locked the door again and went to the bathroom to go get Mal.

She looked just like she did in the dorms, mortified. Ben sighed, why did this keep happening to them. It made him angry but he had to push his feelings aside for Mal.

He gently lifted her chin with his finger to have her meet his gaze. "Hey, it's okay."

"That was mortifying." Mal is still looking everywhere but Ben.

"I'm so sorry. I know how frustrating this all is. I'm trying my best to balance everything I'm just having a difficult time." Ben sighed leaning back against the sink.

Mal met his gaze and her heart melted. "Ben it's going to be okay. I know you have a lot of new responsibilities but you're doing great. How about I make you a picnic date for next Thursday?"

Ben smiled at her and pulled her in for a kiss, "Thank you, that would be great. You're amazing you know that?"

"I have my moments," Mal teased giving Ben a soft kiss, "Now go down there before Lumiere gets suspicious again. I'm going to sneak out and I'll see you at school."

"Evie," Mal called out as she returned to their dorm. She had put on a brave face for Ben but she felt as if her entire world was crumbling around her. She had this nagging fear that she just didn't fit in and all of her efforts thus far had been useless. And now Ben was stressed about it too. It was all too much to handle and she needed her best friend.

Mal heard giggling coming from the room and when she opened the door she saw Evie and Doug cuddled up. They looked really cozy and Mal was embarrassed she had interrupted a private moment.

"Hi Mal," they moved apart slightly, "so sorry we didn't think you were going to be home. We were just popping in a movie. Did you want to join us?"

Mal looked at her best friend and saw how happy she was. She couldn't say anything. She couldn't ruin this for her. She couldn't let her down. So she decided she'd have to swallow this and deal with it on her own. "That's okay I'm just guna grab some books and go study!"

Mal grabbed some books, but mostly to discretely hide her spell book and she left to go find a quiet spot in the woods to study.