Sorry
(Day 136: Tuesday Morning)
After the alarm continues Mal mumbles, "Evie. Your phone's going off." but there's no response and the tone still doesn't stop. Mal opens her eyes and leans up, "Evie." before she shakes her. "Hey." She doesn't move, and Mal shakes her harder in panic, "Evie."
Carlos groans before looking over at them, "What's going on?"
"She's not waking up," Mal stresses.
"Stop touching her," he urges in realization.
"Oh, God." Mal backs off from her and stands from the bed.
Carlos rushes over to Evie and touches her arm, "She's freezing."
"She's alive, though. Right?" Mal asserts.
Carlos takes a moment to place a hand near Evie's mouth to check for breathing, before he notices her slight movement, "Yes."
"We need to help her, get her to the hospital," Mal worries. She widens her eyes at him, "Get Doug or someone." Carlos doesn't say a word before hurrying off.
When Carlos gets to Doug's dorm he knocks hard on the door, and after only a few seconds he does it again. Doug opens it, "Carlos?"
"It's Evie," he rushes. "She's hypothermic."
Doug quickly turns to Ben, "Get your driver for me."
"Why?" Ben frowns.
"I'll tell you later," he quickly responds. "Please."
Ben offers a confused look, "Okay." before he goes to get his phone.
Doug turns back to Carlos, "Where is she?" before Carlos leads him to the girls' floor and they enter Evie's room. Doug notices Mal sitting on the end of the bed, tears fallen to her face. He lets out an acknowledging breath, before he watches Carlos go up to Evie.
"She's here." Doug follows him, and he pauses only a moment to take in her pale skin and limited movement. If he didn't know better, she could be dead. "Do you need help?" Carlos questions, before Doug removes the rest of the blanket, moves one arm beneath her back, and then lifts her before moving his other beneath her legs. He turns around, her body seeming to be effortlessly held in his arms, and Carlos looks over them, "I guess not."
When Mal enters the room she notices Evie lying under the electric blanket on the hospital bed. Doug frowns at her, "You could have came sooner."
Mal's quiet for a moment, "I had a court-ordered class to attend."
"Right," he recalls. "Sorry."
She goes to sit in the chair next to his, before she stares back at Evie, "I still can't believe I did this to her."
"Yeah. Neither can I," Doug replies, but when he turns to see her shameful expression he continues, "It's not entirely your fault, though."
"No," Mal disagrees. "You're right. She wouldn't be here if it weren't for me." She sadly laughs, "You blame me, don't you?"
He bobbles his head from one side to the other in contemplation, "Am I a little peeved that my girlfriend's best friend slept with her and turned her into a popsicle." He looks back at Mal, "Yes. I am."
"I can't tell you how sorry I am," she expresses. "This has never happened before. If I knew—"
"I know," Doug interrupts. "You care about her." He looks back at Evie, "And I know she cares about you too."
When Doug looks back at her Mal notices his eyes move towards the door, and Mal's eyes soon follow. Ben shuffles inside before shutting the door, "Hey."
"How did you know we were here?" she asks.
"I told him," Doug answers, and Mal quickly looks back at him.
"Is she going to be okay?" Ben wonders.
Mal looks at the floor, unable to speak, so Doug answers for her, "The nurses say she'll be okay. It's just going to take a while."
"Good," Ben nods, before he gives Mal an intense look, "Because, we need to talk."
Doug stands and softly comments, "I'm just going to use the bathroom." as he points to the exit. "Yeah."
After letting Doug pass, Ben glares at Mal, "You slept with her, didn't you?"
"Carlos was using the other bed," she evenly defends.
"We had rules," Ben sternly reminds her. "What other ones have you broken?"
"We just slept in the same bed," Mal bypasses.
"After what?" Ben accuses, "Making out with her?"
"Not this time," she mumbles.
Ben wets his lips as he nods, "This time." before he shakes his head in disbelief.
"There are worse things," Mal tries to reason.
"Worse things?" Ben exasperates. "You might as well say you didn't even do it for heat." She looks away, and his mouth gapes, "You've been with her just to be with her."
Mal swiftly faces him, before she sighs, "It's not like that."
"I can't believe this," Ben mutters, before he yells, "You've been cheating on me."
"It's not like I had sex with her," she defends with wide eyes.
"And that makes it okay?" Ben steps forward, "This is Auradon." and he glances down in remembrance. "You just told me you get that when people are together it's about more than sex." He shakes his head, "So, how could you think this is okay?"
"That's here," Mal asserts. "That's with you, but on the Isle people go all the way all the time. So, sorry if I'm not sorry for getting a little close to my best friend."
"Have you ever gone all the way?" Ben accuses.
"What?" Mal's eyebrows furrow in disbelief.
"You heard me," Ben sucks on his bottom lip before turning his head up. "Have you gone all the way before?"
Mal sadly grins, but the laughter doesn't escape her. She gulps, "You know I have."
It takes a minute for Ben's expression to fully change, before he places a hand to his forehead in regret, "Mal. I'm so sorry. I forgot."
She yells, "Forgot? How the hell do you forget about something like that?"
"Mal," he says again.
"No." She grits her teeth, "Tell me. How? I would love to know how to forget it."
"I don't know," Ben glances down, before he meets her shiny, green eyes and pleads, "Please, Mal. I'm so sorry."
A disgruntled breath comes from the hospital bed, and both Ben and Mal look over before Evie tiredly glares at Ben, "You should leave."
Ben takes one last sorry glance at his girlfriend, but Mal is too focused on Evie to watch him leave. Instead, she stands up and races over to her side, "Eves. You're awake." She instinctually reaches for her hand, but at the last second she has enough sense to pull it back. "How are you?"
Evie takes in her surroundings, "Where am I?"
When Ben enters the castle he hears the laughter and walks to the back of the foyer, before he sees his parents out on the patio. He frowns, steadily stepping forward, before they notice him, grow quiet, and he slides open the glass door. The round, white table is filled with cold cuts, cheeses, and a scented candle. "Sorry. Am I interrupting something?"
"Not at all," his mother smiles.
Ben looks at his father in unsureness, before he gestures, "Take a seat."
When Ben sits down he looks down at the woven table, watching as he folds his hands under it. His parents don't speak, and it takes him a minute to collect his thoughts, "Evie's in the hospital." He looks between them. "She has hypothermia."
"What happened?" his father questions.
Ben gives him a look, "What do you think happened?" before he lowers his head, lets out a breath, and shakes his head.
"Are you saying it was Mal?" his mother calmly asks.
It takes a moment for him to say, "Apparently she and Evie shared the same bed last night, something went wrong." He looks up at his mother, "I accused her of cheating."
"What did she say?" she inquires.
"She said that at least they didn't have sex." His eyes lower, "Seemed pretty unapologetic about it, actually."
"That doesn't seem fair," his father inputs.
Ben sighs, "No. I'm the one at fault here."
When he doesn't elaborate his mother prompts, "How so?"
"Because." Ben look up, out at the pool and lawn chairs, before he admits, "I asked her if she's ever had sex before, when I already knew she'd been…" He feels the tears intrude his eyes, "On the Isle of the Lost. She'd been… raped."
His mother gasps, "Oh. That poor girl." and Ben's father takes her hand.
Ben feels the tears fall to his face, "I just don't understand. How could I have forgotten something like that?"
"You were upset," his father reasons. "In the heat of the moment things can happen."
"I knew. I knew," Ben repeats. "I knew, and I just trudged it all back up for her to remember." He looks up at his mother, "I never meant to hurt her like that."
"Oh." His mother places a hand on his shoulder, "Honey, we know that."
"We never mean to hurt the ones we love," his father reassures. "Sometimes it just can't be helped."
Belle shares a look with her husband, before she asks, "Why didn't you tell us about this before now?"
"It happened a few years ago," he whispers. "She just seems to really want to forget, and I wasn't going to bring it up if I didn't have to. It's private."
"She may want to forget," his mother responds, "but you still should have told us."
Ben glares at her, and she lets go of him. "Do you honestly expect me to believe that you were completely honest in those interviews you guys had when you were first married? Because, I don't think you told anyone about the claw marks Dad left on you." He turns to him, "And I know you didn't tell them that you had Mom locked in that prison cell for far longer than just a couple measly hours."
"That's private," his mother defends. "You know the people would never understand."
"Exactly my point," Ben yells. "What happened between you two while Father was still the beast is private, just as what happened to Mal is very private to her."
His mother nods in understanding, "You make a fair point." before she meets his eyes. "So, what are you going to do now?"
"I—" Ben sighs, "I don't know."
"If I might make a suggestion," his father begins, before Ben faces him. "Apologize to her. Take a rose from the garden, and give it to her."
"But those roses," Ben disbelieves.
"You need to show her you care," he softly interrupts. "That requires something special."
Ben slowly nods, "Okay." before he hesitates to smile. "Thank you."
When Ben knocks on the door Evie opens it, and he slightly smiles, "I'm happy to see you're better."
"Yeah. So am I," she tiredly responds.
"Is Mal here?"
Evie looks over her shoulder, "Your boyfriend is here to see you. Are you home?"
"How about not?" Mal retorts.
Ben sighs, "Please. I need to see her."
Evie glances down, "Are those for her?"
"Yeah," Ben hurries to respond. "They're strawberry crème."
"Let him in," Mal calls out, and Evie opens the door wider.
Ben walks in, noticing Mal sitting on the edge of her bed, and he goes over to kneel in front of her, "I'm so sorry, Mal. I didn't mean to hurt you." He holds up the rose, "I got this for you. It's from my parents' rose garden."
Mal evenly comments, "You killed a flower for me. How sweet."
He pulls the golden box from behind his back, "I got you some chocolate too." She doesn't speak. "Please. I don't know what came over me. I'm so sorry."
Mal looks up at Evie, "What do you say? Should I accept his apology?"
"If I was given flowers and chocolate every time someone said something terribly stupid to me," Evie frowns, "then I'd be the happiest girl alive."
Mal smiles before smirking down at Ben, taking the large box from him, "Strawberry, you said?"
"Yes," Ben hopefully smiles, before she opens the box up and tastes one. "They're good." Her smiles widens, before she looks over him, "You can get back to your feet." Ben does as instructed but doesn't dare to speak. Mal lays the box down, before she stands and stares into his hazel green eyes, "You're mine tonight."
"Pardon?" Ben slightly frowns.
"A movie," Mal clarifies. "Tonight. Your room. And bring snacks."
"Tonight?" he shocks.
"We're girlfriend and boyfriend," Mal evenly responds. "We should be dating." She looks up, "Unless, of course, you don't want to be with me."
"No." Ben immediately answers, "I do."
Mal maliciously smiles, "Then I'll see you tonight." before she leans forward to kiss him, lightly shoving him back instead. "You can wait. Can't you?"
Ben opens his eyes, "Yes." before he stares into hers. "You won't be sorry."
"I'd better not be," Mal proclaims, before she places her hands on his shoulders and walks forward. "You have a lot of time to make up for."
"I know," Ben hesitates, glancing down as he frowns, and before he knows it the carpet changes to the color of the hallway. He looks off to his right, and there it is: the hallway.
"Make it good," he hears Mal say, but by the time he looks back at her the door is already shut in his face.