Chapter Three: Abandoned Regret

Mal awoke because she felt an unfamiliar cold against her face. She slowly opened her eyes, and was surprised as trees and tall grass became clear from her blurry vision. She paused for a second as she looked out over the meadow, confused as to why she was here. As the events from the previous night came to memory, fear began to well in her stomach. The fear soon overwhelmed her, and she quickly started to move as adrenaline began to pump through her veins. She untwisted herself from Ben's arms and stood up, using the top blanket to clothe herself as she frantically searched for her dress.

Ben sat up slowly as he wiped the sleep from his eyes. Although he was surprised by the sunlight that was beginning to stream into the meadow, he was confused as to why Mal was running around.

"Mal what's wrong?"

"Where' my dress?" She hissed as she held the blanket tight around her and walked around the the mattress. Ben could hear her fear, and knew she was fighting back tears.

"Mal, what's wrong?" He asked again.

"Nothing," she replied as she tucked hair behind her ears. She found her teal dressed and shook it as she picked it up to knock off the morning dew.

"Don't lie to my Mal, I know something's wrong."

"So now I'm a liar?"

"Mal, c'mon, just talk to me."

"Turn around."

"What"

"I said turn around." Ben rolled his eyes and complied.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No."

"Was it bad?"

"No."

"That what was it, Mal?" Ben heard her struggling to zip her dress and stood up to help her zip it. At first Mal refused to let him touch the zipper, before reluctantly giving up.

"That's the problem," She hissed turning around. Her tear filled eyes met Ben's, and he was surprised at how beautiful the tears made the color look. "The problem is that I liked it, liked being with you, ok. But we can't be like this. You know we can't be like this. Summer is almost here and you'll be rushed back to your castle, and I'll be forced back to the island. Your parents will fix you up with some girl, or something, and you'll forget about me." She put her hands against Ben's bare chest, and savored the feeling, the closeness, of her skin against his. "We don't love each other, we can't. The king can't love a girl from the Isle of the Lost." Ben felt anger begin to well up in his stomach. How long was she going to be like this? How long would he have to continually tell Evie, and now Mal, that he cared for them? That they were not destined to be their parents? That their actions this past year already proved they were not destined to be their parents? He gripped his hands around Mal's wrists, met her gaze, and lowered her voice.

"Stop it, Mal. You know that isn't true. I love you, and you love me."

"Do I? Do I now?" Her lack of affirmation caused physical pain to pierce through his chest. "I can't love you, Ben, and you can't love me," She forcefully removed her hands from his grip, lifted up her dress and marched through the wet grass towards the entrance to the woods.

"C'mon Mal!" Ben yelled, and his voice echoed from the trees. "There is no need to be like this! You do love me!" She didn't turn back. "You don't even know how to get back to school!"

"I'll find it!" And at that she disappeared into the woods. Ben then realized that he was still naked and sat forcefully down on the air mattress. This is great, just great, he thought. He realized he probably just became the first member in his royal line to lose his virginity before his wedding night, and gave it to a girl to show her how much he loved her, only to be trampled on and abandoned. He had never felt so much anger and hurt at the same time. Unsure of what else to do, he rested his face in his palms and cried. He was alone, exposed, and abandoned in a meadow that no one knew about. He had shown a woman the most intimate side of himself to be completely rejected. What a pathetic king, he thought, and, for the first time, regretted ever bringing Mal and her friends back into his kingdom.