It's Going to be Okay

(Day 9: Monday Afternoon)

Evie lies still as she watches Mal sleep, her head lain on her shoulder and her limbs entangled over Evie as if she was something Mal had to guard and protect. She could stay in this position for hours without complaint, she thinks, as she takes in the quiet and comfort of the perfect moment. That is, until she hears a knock on the door. She tries to remove Mal's arm from her waist, but she only clings tighter. She's too strong. "Mal. You've got to let go of me."

"No," Mal whispers. "You're mine."

I'm hers. Evie smiles, "Hey. Look. Is that a deer?"

"A deer," Mal repeats.

"Yes," Evie confirms as there's another knock at the door. "It's getting away. Go on. Catch it before it gets away." Soon enough Mal untangles from Evie to turn over, and Evie laughs, taking in the cute moment before the knocking interrupts them again. She takes in a deep breath and rolls her eyes in annoyance, before she answers the door, "Oh. Hey, Ben."

"Hey." His expression changes to curiosity as he points at her neck, "Is that a hickey?"

Evie slaps a hand to her neck, "No. It's just, ahh, makeup complication." before she swipes her hair over to hide it. "So embarrassing." She tenses a smile, "So. Why're you here?"

"To see Mal." He seems to suddenly forget what he'd seen, "Doug told me about what happened earlier. I wanted to see how she's doing."

"She's fine. She's asleep." Evie looks over her shoulder and sees Mal claw at the pillow, "I think she's pretty into it."

"Could I see her?" he asks, almost worriedly.

"I don't know if you can. I mean, she's asleep." She rolls her eyes, "Personally, I blame the schedule you Auradons keep. I'm not sure if you could really wake her."

"Could you at least let me try? I'm worried about her."

"Okay. Fine." Evie opens the door wider, "Come in, but don't complain to me if she attacks you." He laughs, and Evie smirks with a raised eyebrow. "You think I'm joking."

His smile drops, but it doesn't stop him from coming in and sitting on the edge of the bed. "Hey," he whispers. "Mal."

"Deer," Mal whispers back, but her eyes remain shut. "You are deer."

Ben smiles, "Well. I suppose it's better than beast." but when she doesn't respond he touches her shoulder. "Mal."

Immediately, Mal pulls her arm away and gasps, before her eyes widen and she lets out a breath of relief, "Ben. It's just you."

"Crazy dream?"

"I don't remember," Mal shakes her head and leans up on the pillows.

"I think it was about a deer," he tries to jog her memory.

Mal laughs, "Oh. Right. I was probably just hunting."

"Hunting?" Ben questions. "Is that something you did a lot of on the island?"

"Hardly," Mal smiles. "I've never gone hunting in my life. My mother's always wanted to teach me, but since there's not many animals on the Isle all I got was her words of wisdom."

"I can't tell if you're being serious or sarcastic," Ben treads lightly.

"Both, I guess," Mal grins. "She may have been a villain, but she was still my mother. There were things she felt like I had to learn."

"About that," Ben frowns, before he looks over at the terrarium. "Not to disrespect her or anything—"

"Oh, no," Mal places the back of her hand over her mouth, before she looks over at Evie. "She saw the whole thing."

"Saw what?" Ben asks as he looks between the two of them.

Mal laughs, "Nothing. I was just upset earlier, and Evie and I were, um, talking." She looks away from Ben, "And I just can't believe my mom saw that."

When Ben still seems confused Evie uneasily informs, "Vulnerability really isn't a very good thing on the Isle— or anywhere, in fact. It's seen as weakness."

"You think your mother sees you as weak now," Ben looks back at Mal.

Mal huffs a laugh, "Yeah." not really wanting to explain to her boyfriend about her non-relationship with her best friend.

Ben holds her hand, "About your mother." He looks into her eyes. "I heard that she used her powers on you."

Mal's mouth opens, but no words come out. Evie takes a step back, "I'm just going to give you two some privacy." before she exits the dorm.

After she leaves Ben says, "It must have been a horrible experience… It's one thing for your parents to tell you to do something. It's another to have no choice but to obey them."

"It was horrible," Mal acknowledges, before she looks back up at him. "But it happened a long time ago, and it's definitely not the worst thing that's ever happened to me."

Ben's quiet for a moment, "What could be worse than the loss of your free will?"

What could be worse? Mal remembers how she had all of the free will in the world to defend herself against Hook, but in the end it didn't matter. "What could be worse is having free will but still being powerless, still being forced to do something you don't want to do."

"I don't understand."

"Good." Mal takes her hand away from his, "Because I really don't want to talk about it."

He looks down for a second, "But you should." before looking back up at her green eyes. "It's not good to just bottle things up. You should talk about it."

"No." Mal stands from the bed, looking away from him. "Once a bottle gets cracked open, it can only break into more pieces. And it doesn't matter how much glue or tape you have. Once you see that bottle break, it will never look the same again."

"Really?" Ben asks as he stands and steadily walks over to her. "Because even after knowing what your mother did to you, I still don't see anything but that strong, determined girl I met the first day you got here."

Mal shakes her head, "You don't know what she did to me." before she turns around to face him. "Whenever there was a line I didn't want to cross, she'd push me over it." She takes a step forward, as if trying to scare him, "She made me do things. Horrible things."

He places a hand on her shoulder, "But that was all her. That wasn't you."

"It was my finger on the trigger," Mal yells as she takes a step back, and Ben's hand falls back to his side. "If he hadn't complied, then that butcher could be dead right now."

"But he isn't," Ben tries to uplift the situation as he nears closer to her. "And none of that is your fault."

"I've done things," Mal steps backwards until she's met with the windowed wall. "I've stolen things. I've hurt people." When she sees Ben is only a few steps away she lets out, "I've told children to kill themselves, and I was in complete control. I did that of my own free will."

Ben only falters for a second, before he goes in and wraps his arms around her, "You did what you thought you had to do."

"I meant it," Mal whispers. "When I told those kids that, I meant it."

Ben lets go of her and stares into her eyes, "I don't care. That doesn't matter to me."

"It should," Mal objects. "What if I hurt you?"

"You won't do that."

"How do you know?" she urges.

"I don't," Ben nearly yells, before he takes in a couple calming breaths. "But I love you, and I just have to believe that somewhere deep down you at least care for me."

"Ben," Mal begins to tear up.

"It's okay." He hugs her again and places a hand on the back of her head, "It's going to be okay."

- A lot happened in this chapter. Let me know what you all thought.