Chapter Two: So This is Love
Mal and Ben emerged through the front doors of the school, greeted with a roaring party. Nearly every student from Auradon Prep was on the lawn, banners with flame patterns and semi-welcoming messages held high. The marching band was just ahead, blaring horns and banging drums. The pair went through the crowd, nodding at commoners and the rulers of the provinces of Auradon. Ben took particular delight in passing Captain Hook, the pirate king of Neverland, and his three children, including Harry, Mal's ex-boyfriend. The young surly pirate gave him a begrudging nod that made Ben grin like a cat with a mouse.
Mal led Ben up onto a platform with two dragons curled into a heart, her official crest (and the new stamp of Auradon). When he started to step down towards the car they would ride in to pick up the Isle kids, Lady Tremaine, the headmistress of Auradon Prep, stuck her cane into his path, glaring. Ben decided to stay on the platform.
Chad and Audrey were grinning at him, standing in front of the marching band, while Jane was holding her boyfriend Carlos's hand. Ben raised his eyebrows at them, but they just shrugged, silly smiles on their faces.
Something was going on.
Mal took a microphone from Lady Tremaine and smiled at Ben. Her eyes were glittering, and her fingers were twitching.
Ben felt his suspicions grow.
"Hello Auradon!" her voice echoed across the yard. The crowds cheered, waving signs with a purple dragon breathing green fire. "We really appreciate you all for coming out to welcome our new arrivals. They'll be here soon!"
"Not like we had a choice," Harriet Hook, the eldest daughter of Captain Hook, muttered. She rolled her eyes and brushed a stray dark hair off her red leather coat. Her father nodded in agreement.
"It worked out pretty well for the first four," Mal continued.
"Especially for you!" CJ, the youngest Hook child, laughed.
Harry glared at her. "Really funny."
But CJ just giggled harder, her wild blond hair blowing in the wind, hitting the people behind her.
Mal turned to face Ben, taking his hand with hers. "Ben, this is the spot we first met not so long ago. I didn't know it then, but you stole something of mine. My heart."
Ben flushed under her gaze. She'd said something similar the first time she'd told him she loved him, the day of the first Steal-A-Thon game that Chad had won.
Right after he'd given her a love spelled cookie.
But they'd come so far. Their love had been tested and refined like iron in a forge. Now, Ben was sure Mal loved him. But even more, he was sure that he loved her.
Mal leaned closer to him, their bodies only inches apart. "And I never want it back."
Ben was about to kiss her, but she wasn't where he thought she was. Instead, she had sank to the ground, on one knee before him.
Ben's heart fell into his stomach then leaped back into his throat.
"Ben, it's you and me," Mal said. Her voice was soft and deadly serious. "It's always been you and me. We've been through fire together and we've come out so much stronger for it. I love you."
In her hand was a ring box. Ben didn't realize she'd pulled it out. She opened it, revealing a gold band adorned with a beast head that had sapphires for eyes, its face a frozen snarl.
He couldn't breathe.
"Will you marry me?" Mal asked. "Will you be my king?"
Silence rang across the courtyard.
"No!" Harry exclaimed. Harriet smacked his arm.
"Yes," Ben gasped, nodding, his breath returning, his heart attempting to beat through his ribcage.
The crowd broke out into even louder cheers. Green fireworks shot up from the ground, bursting right overhead. CJ was leaping in the air as Harry fainted next to her, dropping to the ground with a dull thud. Chad and Hades fist bumped under the angry eye of Maleficent, but even she couldn't help smiling just a little.
Mal stood and slid the ring onto Ben's finger, pressing against the fingerless leather gloves he was wearing. He was laughing, Mal swore she had tears in her eyes, and they clung to each other, lips pressed together. The crowds continued to roar as Ben dipped Mal back. He never wanted this moment to end, he wanted to live in it forever.
Audrey and Evie hugged each other, having been very invested in the proposal and ring selection. Lady Tremaine offered a few polite claps while her granddaughter, Dizzy, wolf whistled next to her and Celia, the daughter of Dr. Facilier and Dizzy's best friend, threw confetti.
Carlos was watching the video screen strapped onto the academy wall, showing what was being broadcast to all of Auradon. His smile had a touch of melancholy.
"Makes our movie nights look tame," Carlos told Jane, his arm around her waist.
"I love y-" Jane started to say but then fell off when she met his eyes. They were wide, dark like the night, and so scary, like leaping off a cliff. "…our movie nights."
Carlos nodded, trying to smile a little wider but it looked more like a grimace. "Me too."
Jane abruptly turned back to face Mal and Ben, her heart beating faster than was healthy.
"Well, there goes your plan, Harry," Harriet remarked, looking at the screen as Harry stood up, recovering from his fainting spell. Ben and Mal were nuzzling noses for everyone to see. "I'll inherit Neverland, CJ already has early acceptance to Pirating University and she's only a sophomore, and you'll… do what exactly?"
Captain Hook waved off his daughter. "Oh, lay off the boy, Harriet. You know Harry never had a shot with a girl like Mal anyway."
"I was going to be her king, Dad," Harry shot back, brushing dust off his long leather pirate jacket. "I-"
"Let her slip through your fingers," the pirate cut in. He shrugged, lighting a pipe and taking a strong huff. "Much like I expected. Face it, Harry, you aren't cut out for scheming for the throne. Not like that Ben boy is."
Harry could feel his anger boiling.
"Ben and Mal are the best. I can't wait for him to be our king."
Harry spun around to face Dizzy and Celia who were giggling and gossiping, barely stopping himself from throwing a punch. "You'd really rather have an HK on the throne than me? What is wrong with you?"
Celia flicked a razor-sharp playing card into his face, and he jumped back, crashing into CJ. The two girls disappeared into the crowd as Harry pulled the card off his face, glaring. He turned to look at the video screen again, at the happy couple waving to their adoring public. "What is wrong with everyone?"
Ben and Mal finally stepped off the platform, into the group of their waiting friends. Evie and Jane embraced Mal as she teetered forward.
"I'm engaged, guys," she gasped. Her cheeks were flushed, and she couldn't stop smiling.
"Did you know?" Ben asked Audrey as she hugged him tight.
"Everything!" she laughed, reluctantly letting him go. "You are going to rock that crown."
Ben laughed. His mind was going a million miles a minute, hardly believing this was real, remembering how much his father had lamented losing his crown. How he'd always wanted Ben to be king one day.
Oh, the irony.
Audrey was bouncing on her toes. "So, I've already done about a thousand sketches for your wedding suit and Hades has already planned an engagement party for next week!"
Ben turned to find the god of the Underworld behind him, grinning. His dark robes were freshly pressed, the shadows of screaming faces shimmering in the fabric. His blue hair was flaming, and his ember was on a chain around his neck.
"Well, it's a good thing I said yes," Ben said, a bit hesitant. Mal's parents still scared him a little bit.
But Hades reached forward and embraced him. "I finally get a son!"
Ben stayed in that embrace a bit longer than was normal. It had been so long since he had been hugged by his father, let alone talked to him. And even then, it's not like Adam would have accepted Ben's current choices.
It was nice, being accepted by a father figure, being embraced by him.
Maleficent nodded at her daughter. "Congrats."
Mal stood tall. "Thanks, Mom."
Ben finally broke away, allowing Hades to dwarf Mal in a massive bear hug.
Lady Tremaine was suddenly next to Ben, nodding at the ring on his finger. "Congratulations."
Mal joined Ben, her arm looped with his. "Ready for four more of him?"
Lady Tremaine barely smiled. "Absolutely."
Their friends swarmed them again and Ben couldn't stop himself from showing Chad the ring. Mal leaned over to Evie, smirking.
"Think he liked it," she said.
Evie grinned. "Well, when your mother takes over a bunch of dwarf mines, you get access to the best gems in Auradon."
"All bow to His Royal Majesty!" Jane called out, mockingly curtsying in front of Ben.
"Oh yes, all hail to His Royal Beasty-ness!" Chad added, bowing absurdly low.
Ben just rolled his eyes as Audrey joined them, her curtsy princess perfect, giving them his best 'king' wave. "Silence, you annoying peasants."
"As you wish, my liege!" Jane rose, nodding rapidly.
"Your Snarky-ness," Chad exclaimed as Ben turned to the rest of the crowd of well-wishers.
Suddenly, Ben's arm was yanked, and he stumbled forward, turning from his laughing friends to face a brooding pirate clutching his wrist in a vice grip.
"Congratulations," Harry drawled with that musical accent of his, grinning widely. His eyeliner was smeared and bigger than Ben had ever seen it. He was swaying, despite standing still, and his free hand was clutching a hook reminiscent of his father's, sharpened to a wicked point.
"You won her fair and square." Harry's grin fell and he glared. "Oh wait, no you didn't. You spelled Mal to destroy all of Auradon. Touching story for the grandkids?"
Once upon a time, Ben would've been upset. He would've been scared, unsure if his and Mal's relationship was strong enough, if there were flaws he couldn't see. But now…
"Oh, Harry," Ben laughed in his face, chuckling. "Nice try, really. But you can't touch us."
"Let's do this!" Mal called from the purple limo that Chad, Jane, and Audrey were climbing into.
Ben glanced back at the pirate, shaking his head, still suppressing laughter. "Speaking of kids, we have some waiting on us. So, bye."
Harry was left gaping like a fish as Ben gave Mal one last long, deep, kiss, much to the delight of the crowd. Then they climbed into the limo, the door shutting behind them.