Mal's POV
I spent the whole lesson on magical objects waiting nervously for the class to end. My leg wouldn't stop shaking and occasionally Bella would stroke the back of my hand with her thumb. She'd grabbed it from under the desk the moment the three faries had walked away from us to start class.
"I can stay if you'd like" she whispers to me after the bell rings. I try to speak but no words come out, so instead I just squeeze her hand and put it on my knee. I put my hand over hers and she smiles up at me. Seeing her smile instantly calms me, and for the first time in my life I feel peaceful and safe. I smile at her slightly and finally manage to find my words.
"No, I think I'll be ok" I say softly, beginning to pack up our stuff. This is my last class for the day but Bella still has one more class, gym.
"Are you sure?" she asks me and I nod.
"I'll meet you outside of the gym after it's over" I promise her.
"Okay" she says with a smile, and I grin at her. I walk her to the front of the room and wave at her when she turns back in the doorway to look at me. She waves back before disappearing into the crowd of students. I turn to look at the three women that are now observing me.
"You wanted to speak with me?" I say as I move to sit at the table in the front of the room.
"Yes dear, we just wanted to speak with you about the other day" Flora says, and I tense slightly.
"We were just wondering how you knew all that, we lived in the moorse before it turned dark" Fauna explains.
"My dad told me everything that happened after he met my mom, but my mother managed to brew a potion that showed me her memories" I explain to them. While most magic is blocked by the barrier there are some weak and innocent potions that can be used. They nod in understanding and I tap my foot slightly.
"That took a lot of guts, to say all of that to a whole class, including the daughter of the girl your mother cursed" Mary Weather says, and I wince at the mention of Audrey.
"I may not like her very much, but her mother deserved an apology for what my mom did to her" I explain.
"Why don't you like her?" Flora asks curiously and I gulp, unsure of how to explain it to them.
"Whatever you say won't leave this room dear" Fauna promises.
"She was very rude to me and my friends when we first got here and.." I cut myself off, unsure of whether or not I should tell them about Chad and Audrey.
"And what dear?" Flora asks encouragingly.
"That day I told my mother's past, Bella and I caught her making out with Chad" I explain, and they all gasp.
"Oh my" Flora says, her hands on her cheeks.
"We must tell king beast" Mary Weather says, and my eyes widen in alarm.
"No wait! Please don't tell him, I think Bella would rather tell him herself" I plead, and they all exchange a look.
"Alright dear, we won't tell him" Fauna says, and I hold back my sigh of relief.
"But we will be speaking about this to Aurora and Phillip, Audrey should know better than to hurt her friend like that" Flora says.
"Speaking of which, Phillip and Aurora want to meet you" Fauna says with a smile and I raise my eyebrow in confusion.
"They want to meet the young man that is the exact copy of how his mother used to be before she became evil" Mary Weather explains.
"I must admit though that you don't look that much like her, but you do have her eyes and her jaw" Flora says.
"I take after my dad, I look almost exactly like him" I laugh, before a wave of sadness hits me.
"Are you two very close?" Fauna asks gently.
"Me and my dad? Yeah, he's taken care me all my life" I say with a small smile, remembering all the times he took me to the best scavenging spots so mom wouldn't beat me, and to find me some food since I always put my friends hunger first.
"What about your mom?" Mary Weather asks and the other two give her a warning look when they see my face fall slightly.
"Let's just say my parents have different views on how to take care of a child" I say after a moment of silence. The bell rings and I let out a nervous cough before standing up.
"Now if that's all I must me going" I say as I pick up my stuff.
"But what about meeting Aurora and Phillip?" Flora asks as I begin to leave.
"I'm afraid I'll have to pass" I say as I quickly exit the room and make my way to my locker. I quickly put my stuff away before heading to the gym. I make it to the doorway and see Bella fencing with Lonnie. I smirk and lean against the cool metal while crossing my arms, ready to watch the show.
Bella's POV
Lonnie swings her sword at me and I manage to duck before blocking her sword with mine. We continue our fight until Lonnie disarms me and sends my sword sliding across the floor. Suddenly we hear clapping and turn our heads to see Mal leaning against the doorway with an impressed look on his face.
"Not bad ladies" he calls out before picking up my sword and walking over to us.
"Good form Lonnie, Mulan should be proud" he congradulates and Lonnie smiles.
"Thanks Mal" she says with a grin.
"You're very welcome, it's good to know that at least some girls can defend themselves in Auradon" he says with a smirk.
"Do the girls on the isle defend themselves too?" Lonnie asks curiously.
"Hell yeah! Matter of fact I taught my friends Hari and Freddie how to fight" he says proudly.
"That's so cool!" Lonnie exclaims.
"Yeah and while I'm gone they're keeping an eye on the isle for me until I come home" he says with a grin.
"When are you becoming king?" I ask curiously.
"Um..about three or four weeks" he says after a moment of thinking.
"Really? That's when Bella becomes queen!" Lonnie exclaims excitedly, and Mal smiles at me as I put away my sword.
"Cool" he says with a grin. Out of the corner of my eye I see Lonnie looking between me and Mal.
"Well I'll see you guys later" Lonnie says before leaving the gym.
"So how did it go?" I ask curiously, stepping closer to him. He sighs and rubs the back of his neck as he avoids my gaze. I frown and move closer, wrapping my arms around his waist. He hugs me back and buries his face in my hair.
"Aurora and Phillip want to meet me" he mumbles into my hair. I look up at him in surprise and see nervousness in his eyes.
"Are you going to?" I ask gently.
"I really don't want to" he admits, looking away from me.
"Hey look at me" I order gently, putting my hand on his cheek and making him look at me.
"I am not going to let anything happen to you if that's what you are worried about" I say seriously, gently tugging on the back of his neck so his forehead presses against mine.
"But if it really bothers you that much then you don't have to meet them" I say softly, looking into his beautiful smokey grey eyes. He smiles down at me and suddenly we're both slowly leaning in and closing our eyes. Our lips meet and suddenly the world fades away around us. I kiss back eagerly and tangle my fingers in his hair.
"Mal" I pant against his lips as we break away for air after a few minutes of kissing heatedly.
"Yeah?" he pants before resting his forehead against mine.
"I-I've been thinking about this since our missunderstanding..would you maybe consider" I cut myself off, nervous to finish my sentance.
"Consider what?" he asks softly.
"Um..maybe going on a date with me?" I say shyly, feeling my cheeks heat up.
"Are you sure you're not from the isle? You're pretty bold for an Auradonian princess" he says playfully, giving me a small smirk. I giggle and he rubs his nose against my cheek.
"But to answer your question, I'd love to go on a date with you" he whispers into my ear before kissing my cheek. I smile widely and he smiles back before breaking our embrace.
"Now come on, I wanna go get my sketchbook from my locker" he says softly and I smile up at him, nodding my head.
The Next Day
Mal's POV
I nervously wait outside of Bella's dorm, our date is today and I have no idea where we're going. She's planned everything and I'm very curious about what she's come up with. I start to look down at the ground but snap my head up when the door opens. My jaw drops when I see her in the doorway. She's wearing a knee lenth royal blue dress that has two inch wide straps and agold ribbon around her waist and brown heeled boots. I snap out of my daze and manage to find my use of words.
"For the first time in my life I understand the difference between pretty and beautiful" I say stunned and her cheeks heat up as she smiles at me.
"thank you" she says shyly.
"I um..I already have everything set up but you'll have to drive" she stutters, gesturing to her outfit and I smile at her encouragingly.
"I don't know how, we don't have cars on the isle remember?" I say nervously.
"I hope you like bikes" she says with a playful smirk as she closes and locks her dorm door.
'Oh yeah' I think to myself as I wrap my arm around her shoulders and begin leading her out of the building.
30 Minutes Later
"Tell me something about you that you've never told anyone" Bella says from behind me as we walk across a long wooden bridge.
"Umm well my middle name is Bartholomew" I say awkwardly.
"Bartholomew" Bella repeats, and I can hear the amusement in her voice.
"Yep that's just my mom doing what she does best, being evil. Malakai Bartholomew Diaval" I say playfully and we both laugh.
"Mine's Floridia" Bella says and I crack a smile and let out a laugh.
"Hey it's better than Bartholomew" she whines, which causes me to laugh harder.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night sweetheart" I laugh. After a few minutes we make it to a beautiful lake in the forest
After a few minutes we make it to a beautiful lake in the forest, and there's stone ruins in front of the water that has a picnic spread out on it.
"Welcome to my secret hide out" Bella says as she leads me down to the ruins.
"Darn this place definitely makes my hide out look pathetic" I say amusedly.
"You have a hide out to?" she says curiously.
"Yeah back home on the isle I found an old abandoned apartment when I was seven, I fixed it up and that's where I live when I'm not staying with one of my parents" I answer.
"One of? Your parents aren't together?" she asks.
"No, they're just friends and they agreed it'd be too weird to try being in that sort of relationship. That's ok though, I'm lucky enough to know who both of my parents are" I say with a shrug as we reach the ruins.
"What do you mean?" she asks softly, tilting her head slightly as we sit down across from each other.
"Very few kids on the isle know who both of their parents are, the rest only know of one" I say with a sad smile, thinking about Evie,Jay and Carlos.
"So Evie,Jay and Carlos-" she starts to ask.
"Only know about one parent? Yeah" I say softly, and she looks down sadly.
"But enough about that, this is supposed to be a date remember?" I say with a smile, cupping her chin and tilting her head to look at me. She smiles bashfully and I stroke her cheek with my thumb.
"So um, what did you bring?" I ask nervously after I remove my hand.
"Oh ah well I brought sandwiches, jelly donuts,sweet tea,blue berries and strawberries" she says shyly as she unpacks the basket. I smile at her and take one of the jelly donuts.
"So is this your first time?" she asks after a few minutes.
"Um we don't really date much on the island, it's more like...gang activity" I explain, waving my hand slightly.
"No I mean is this your first time eating a jelly donut" she laughs aand I blush as I lick off the remaining sugar.
"Is it bad?" I ask, trying to fight off the urge to blush.
"No you just have a little something right here" she says softly before reaching up and wiping the sugar off the corner of my mouth.
"Oh" I laugh, and she smiles at me.
"Now I think we should go for a swim" she says before standing up.
"Uh what?" I say, slightly stunned.
"A swim, C'mon please" she pleads, and it takes everything in me to not give in.
"Oh ah that's ok, you go right on ahead. I'll just stay behind and try a strawberry, I've literally never had strawberries before" I say nervously as I take one of the red berries out of the bowls that was placed on top of the basket.
"Mmm" I say as I take a bite, my eyes widening slightly at the amazing taste.
"Don't eat them all" she laughs as she stands up and kicks off her sandles. I blush and look away as she takes off her dress. She reaches down and takes a strawberry for herself, and I blush when her lightly toned stomach is very close to my face. She's wearing a royal blue bikini top with little golden flecks on them and matching blue shorts.
"Have fun!" I call out as she begins walking away. She looks back at me and smiles before continuing to walk off. After a moment she reappears in my sight, but now she's on a little rock ledge.
"Are those little crowns on your shorts?" I call out playfully.
"Maybe" she calls out, and even from here I can see her grinning.
"ROAR" she yells and I can't hold back my laugh as she jumps off and dives into the water. Suddenly thoughts of my mother pop into my head and I close my eyes tightly, trying to fight them off.
"A million thoughts in my head, should I let my heart keep listening? Cause up 'til now I've walked the line, nothing lost but something missing" I begin to sing quietly as I open my eyes.
"I can't decide what's wrong, what's right, which way should I go?" I sing slightly louder as I stand up and memories of being on the isle and of being with Bella float around in my head. I lean against one of the stone pillars before I continue singing.
"Ah-oh, yeah if only I could read the signs in front of me I could find the way to who I'm meant to be, Ah-oh, if only, if only...if only" I sing the high notes perfectly.
"Every step, every word, with every hour I am falling in to something new, something brave,to someone I, I have never been" I can't help thinking about how much being in Auradon has changed me, how Bella has changed me. I'm definitely not the same guy I was that day Evie, Jay, Carlos and I were chosen to go to Auradon, the day this whole mess started.
"I can't decide what's wrong, what's right, which way should I go?" I continue to sing.
"If only I knew what my heart was telling me, don't know what I'm feeling, is this just a dream? Ah-oh, yeah if only I could read the signs in front of me I could find the way to who I'm meant to be ah-oh, if only, yeah" My voice gets a little louder as my emotions begin to take over.
"Am I crazy? Maybe we could happen, yeah, will you still be with me when the truth is out?" I feel tears prick my eyes as I think of Bella looking at me with betrayal in her eyes as I give my mother the want. I continue singing the rest of the song with these thoughts running in my head.
"If only" I finish singing. I look around and notice that Bella is nowhere in sight.
"Bella?" I call out, worry beginning to take over my thoughts.
"Bella!" I shout, and I hear my voice echo around the clearing.
'Oh gods, please tell me she didn't drown without me noticing' I pray as I scan the water. Without another thought I yank off my jacket and take a running start before diving into the water.