Ben had been looking for Mal, knocking on the girl's door only for it to be answered by her pretty blue headed friend.

"Oh, hello," he greeted not even bothering to hide how he was trying to peer over the other girl's shoulder to try and catch a glimpse of the purple haired teen whom he had more than a little crush on.

"Mal's not here," the girl informed him and he glanced at her, trying to discern any emotions but she was smiling as she leaned against the doorframe- and not in that creepy way some girls did when they tried to take advantage of the privacy.

"Well… where is she?" he asked friendly enough, trying to remember the girl's name, who was starting to grow impatient, like she had been the middle of something when he interrupted.

"Out," the girl replied cryptically.

Evie.

Her name's Evie.

"Do you have any idea when she'll come back?" he pestered and she shook her head, finger tapping against the door now as she continued to stare at him.

"Okay," he nodded rocking on his heels awkwardly, "What were doing anyways?"

"Homework," she responded simply, bright eyes gazing at him as she waited for a reply and the expression wasn't so much eager as it was curious.

"Homework?" he repeaterd, not able to hold back his surprise because no one was eager to get back to that, "Why?"

"Because," she replied with a tip of her head, long curls falling to the side as she continued staring up at him earnestly, "I have a test Friday and want to be ready."

"No cheating?" he teased but the way her eyes momentarily darkened signaled that he probably shouldn't have said that.

As quickly as it appeared, it went and she forced a smile to her face as she replied a little less sweetly than before, "Look, I appreciate everything you've done for us but we're not friends and I'd appreciate it if you stop pretending like we are."

"What?" he gaped because no one has ever said that to him and there were times he was aware that people were hanging out with him because of who his parents are but nothing like just now; he supposed they were right, the Isle of the Lost kids weren't like the rest of them.

Not that he found anything wrong with that.

"You're dating one of my best friends," Evie continued and though she was no longer frowning she didn't really look happy, "Your teammates with my other two and- I don't know- I think Carlos considers you his friend but us? The only thing you and I have in common is them, and I'd appreciate it if you stopped pretending like there's more."

"Huh," he muttered, shocked by her words and the truth he realized were inside them.

He never spent much time bonding with her, just knew she was the daughter of the Evil Queen and was as smart as she was pretty. She's also skilled with a sewing machine if the dress Mal was wearing at his crowning was any indication; something he knew several girls gawked at as they whispered amongst themselves, trying to figure out who the designer was.

"Okay then," she said first, breaking the silence as she puckered her lips before flashing him another brilliant smile before moving to slam the door in his face.

He stopped it with his hand before he had time to consider how creepy and desperate that would make him look, and he was surprised when she just opened the door again.

"What?" she demanded and she looked annoyed, which was fair since he was technically harassing her.

"Can I wait for Mal here?" he asked because he still wanted to see the girl and he no longer cared that he was technically begging, "I'll be real good. I promise."

She rolled her eyes but no longer looked as annoyed as she was amused, stepping inside to gesture him inside with a wave of her arm before muttering, "No wonder Mal's crazy about you. You look so much like an adorable puppy."

"Puppy?" he asked with feign hurt as he grinned thankfully and stepped inside, "I'll have you know ma'am, I am no puppy."

"Course not," she agreed as she slammed the door shut behind her and walked past him to return to the large pile of homework sitting on the desk, "Mal would've eaten you alive by now if you were."

He shuddered at the thought, wondering why Mal even bothered with him. He knew she had only been using him at first, when the enchanted lake washed away the love spell, but then she jumped in to rescue him and fed him an anti-love spell and he couldn't help but wonder when things started to change for her.

Probably the same time it had with the other three as he recalled Jay's less than gentle approach to teamwork and Carlos's fear of dogs and how the girl in front of him only seemed to care about catching a rich prince. Now, it seemed, she could care less about boys and was more invested in the books, though he had to admit her and Doug always looked so cute whenever they hung out.

"So… um, how's Doug?" he blurted after a long pause of her ignoring him, and he wished he was better at this but he's never had to force someone in a conversation before.

"He's good," she replied without looking up, "You know, very kind and no longer finds the need to stalk me wherever I go. In a way, he's kind of like you."

"Huh? What?" he asked as he blinked at her in surprise because he's never been compared to the dwarf's son before but something about the way she said it, the ease in her tone, signaled that it wasn't such a bad thing.

"You know," she elaborated as she finally turned back to him, pencil on the desk and it was so strange to see such a pretty girl so invested in her academics, "Kind. Morally good or whatever. You're both one of the few people who showed us any kindness when we first arrived."

"What? Really?" he asked though he had always suspected as much, thinking back to the crocket incident and feeling bad that he hadn't done more to stop it.

"Sure," she shrugged, "which is the only reason I let you in here."

"Please," he snorted teasingly, "you could've probably taken me."

She smirked and something about the way her eyes glistened dangerously made him feel uncomfortable, like it hadn't been her she was afraid for. That's when he remembered she survived on the isle along with her friends and all of them- except Jay- looked so scrawny and defenseless at first.

He was quick to learn that that wasn't the case at all.

"Perhaps," she agreed with a dip of her head before she pouted slightly, extending her hand in front of her as if to examine her nails before she added, "but I'd probably have to break a nail first and Mom would've killed me-"

She stopped, like she realized what she had just said, dropping her hand back in her lap as she found something on the ground really interesting to stare at. It sent chills down his spine, especially considering with them he could never tell when they were joking or not about their parents.

"Evie?" he asked, voice feather soft now as he continued to eye her with concern.

She blinked, shaking her head, as she reassured, "I'm fine. It's nothing. I mean, my mother wasn't like Carlos's mom-"

She stopped again, shutting her eyes as she seemed to mentally berate herself for letting something so personal slip. Ben hated to admit that he wasn't surprised by the confession, having figured a while back that Cruella nor Maleficent nor Jafar nor the Evil Queen wouldn't be winning any Parent of the Year Awards.

"Evie?" he repeated even softer than the first time as his hands itched to reach out and comfort her, "Did any of your parents hurt you?"

Because if they had then he was almost certain that he wouldn't stop until they were punished severely, the uncharacteristic burst of hot blinding fury not even surprising him as he found himself growing more and more attached to the four teens.

Evie just shrugged, slim shoulders slumping up and down before she admitted, eyes still focused on the ground, "I can't speak for the others, but my mother never physically hurt me."

"There's more than one pain though," he finished and felt his stomach twist when she let out a watery laugh, like she was seconds away from crying, but when she rose her head her eyes were dry.

"I guess," she admitted, "I don't know. She would just get so angry whenever I disappointed her. Ah man, if she saw me now then she'd-"

She blinked, stopping herself as she continued gazing at Ben like she wasn't sure how much she wanted to tell him. After all, they weren't friends. At least, not yet, and he made a mental note to get to know her as well as he does the other three.

"Evie-" but he never got to finish because the next moment the door opened and Mal walked in.

She took one glance at the two of them before a mischievous smirk crossed her pretty features as she asked, "What are you two talking about?"

Ben glanced at Evie, who now seemed back to normal as she returned to her homework and he shook his head as he replied, "Nothing."

The next time, she came to him.

It excited him as much as it surprised him, making him feel good as he realized that she trusted him enough to actually come to him. He had to suppress a grin, not wanting to offend her or give her the impression that he found humor in her problems because he didn't. He just wanted to understand.

"Listen, our talk the other day," she started but he interrupted with a shake of his head and his best reassuring grin.

"Don't worry about it," he promised, "my lips are sealed."

And then, to prove a point, he drew a line across his mouth before flicking his wrist, throwing away the invisible key. She blinked before giving him a smile that seemed a little more natural than before.

"I don't know what that means, but I appreciate it," she informed him with a dip of her head and he ignored the way that made his heart suddenly feel so heavy.

"No problem," he reassured, leaning against the lockers and asked, "So how are you liking it here? Find any fairest of them alls?"

She rolled her eyes as she nodded and admitted, "I like it here just fine, though I have to admit that it's still kind of odd that you have people come and make our beds for us, and I'm not the only one. Carlos once mentioned it, talking about how great it is that someone was picking up after him for a change. I mean, you should see this boy clean. He could put my housekeeping skills to shame, and my mother believed that a perfect maid equaled a perfect wife."

She'd been so caught up with her words that she must have forgot who she was talking to because she suddenly blinked, growing real quiet and he wondered how often they've teased each other over something like that. How it seemed so trivial with them because it had been all they knew, and they were still getting used to how different it was here.

Still not perfect but different.

"Wow princey, you've got this way of convincing people to open up to you," she joked and he felt relieved that she wasn't threatening his silence- at least now it seemed like she somewhat trusted him, "Now don't blow it and go around broadcasting all of this. What I tell you remains private."

"Of course," he nodded though he couldn't get the terrible thought her words created out from his head, "Were you kidding though? Did your parents really treat you like that?"

"Like what? Servants?" she asked him before shrugging and admitted, "Sure. Cruella more than any of them, but they all had their moments. They're villains, though, so what do you expect? I mean, you didn't lock them all on an island for fun."

"I know," he swallowed and wondered how he was going to get her to understand what he wanted her to, "but no one thought they'd treat their kids with such callousness."

She shrugged again, looking thoughtful, but just said, "They're villains first. Not our parents."

"And you still want to go back? To the isle?" he demanded because he knew he couldn't trap them here, where it's safe, forever even if he wanted to. And he really, really did.

"Probably not for a while," she admitted and she seemed confused about what he was trying to get at, "but in time I think we will. It is our home after all."

"I know that I just-"

"Can't fathom on why we'd willing go back to all of that," she concluded like she was finally getting it, coming to the conclusion by herself and Ben just nodded.

"Because it's our home, more so than all of this," she explained with a wave at the hall around them, "and they're our parents and we love them. Who knows, maybe in time they'll start to get it themselves."

Ben wanted to tell her that he doubted it, that if they couldn't even love their own children then there was no hope because each of their kids were so incredibly awesome and he was starting to grow dangerously attached to each of them.

He didn't say any of that, though, and the bell rang, signaling class was starting and he knew they ran out of time as he turned to hurry to his next class.

Evie stopped him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder as she said, "I was wrong about before. I think we could be great friends."

Then she took off down the hall, and he didn't think he stopped grinning for the rest of the day.