Hey guys, we will get to the bottom of both Ben's and Mal behaviour soon, I promise. I have had to rewrite a couple of the chapters as I wasn't happy with them. Much love RSD xoxoxoxoxox

The rest of the night went painfully slow; I tried to hide my feelings but I knew that everyone thought that me and Ben had an argument. This was probably due to Ben's quick departure and me standing on the balcony on my own for a few minutes. After being questioned a few times I reassured everyone that I was ok; but I knew that they didn't believe me. Especially Evie and Sam; thankfully Sam waited until we were walking down the corridor towards our hotel rooms before he started questioning me again.

"Mal" I heard him say.

"Leave it Sam" I warned him as I walked ahead of him.

"Mal" he said as he walked quickly to catch me up.

"I said leave it" I snapped as I tried to get my key out of my bag. I felt my chest start to burn and I knew that the tears would start to follow and I wanted to be on my own.

"No I won't" he said as he put his left hand on my wrist.

"What happened?" He asked.

"I don't want to talk about it now" I advised as I looked down at the ground.

"Come on Mal. You know you can speak to me" he started.

"Everyone knows that something happened when you and Ben spoke. The way that he left and your behaviour afterwards shows that things didn't go very well" he said sadly as he stepped closer to me.

"I knew I should have hidden things better" I said as I quickly stole a glance at him.

"Well you can't hide it from me" he said as he lifted my chin to look at him.

"So tell me about it?" He asked. I know that Sam only wanted to help; I sighed to myself. Maybe I just need him to hold me and reassure me that everything is going to be ok. Like he always does.

"It was really awkward" I started.

"Most of the time we stood in quiet" I added.

"Like we didn't know what to say to each other" I finished as I looked down as tears started to gather in my eyes.

"Mal" Sam said and he pulled me into a hug.

"I couldn't read his face or tell how he was really feeling" I said against his chest.

"Because of this I couldn't speak to him; he seems like a completely different person" I advised.

"So you didn't speak to him?" Sam asked. I shook my head against his chest and I felt his arms tighten around my waist.

"So because of that it makes me think that maybe Ben had other reasons to break up with me" I admitted. I felt the sting of my admission in my throat and a stray tear escaped and rolled down my cheek.

"He told me that he understands that a lot can change in time and that I don't need to worry about anything" I said out loud more for my benefit than Sam's so I could start to rationalise the situation.

"He told me that he is happy for me" I continued.

"He's happy for you?" Sam asked.

"Yeah; he probably thinks I have moved on" I said against his chest.

"He also said that he was sorry that he didn't come and see me when I came back before" I explained as the memory played in my mind.

"I said that it was ok because I knew that he was busy. I said I understood that that he couldn't just drop everything" I continued as the memory of Ben's blank face stayed in mind and refuse to leave.

"He just said no" I went on to explain.

"Very bluntly and final. Like he had fully detected himself from me" I said sadly as I resisted the urge to start sobbing.

"He was very dismissive, cold and distant" I said as I gritted my teeth together and balled my fists up.

"I tried to speak to him three times but I just couldn't get over how distant we were" I said as I pushed away from Sam and looked at him through tear filled eyes.

"He's obviously moved on" I said bitterly. There was always a chance he would; I wished I never agreed to it. But I couldn't force Ben to stay with me if he didn't want to; which his behaviour showed me that he didn't want to.

"So I decided not to say what I came back to say" I said as I pulled my key out of my bag. I watched Sam open his mouth to say something but I cut him off.

"I saw no point" I said sourly as I angrily forced the key into the lock.

"In a way I got the answer that I wanted" I stated.

"So maybe I don't need to come back home now" I said as I hastily opened the door.

"I know you want to be with me Sam but right now I need to be on my own" I said as I stepped into my room.

"You know where I am though" he said.

"Of course" I said.

"Goodnight Sam" I said.

"Goodnight Mal" he said and I slowly closed the door on him and I locked the door. I then threw my bag onto a nearby chair and threw myself down on the bed and let my body finally heave painfully with the sobs that I had been suppressing all night. I knew it was going to be a long night; but I had got used to it. Trying to sleep with a broken heart.

*Sam's POV*

I watched as Mal closed her hotel door and I heard the door lock and I knew that Mal needed her space but right now I just wanted to hold her and support her. Part of me hated Ben and I wanted to go looking for him but I knew that Mal wouldn't want me to do. This would only make the situation worse for her and I didn't want that.

As I closed my hotel room door I let the memory of Mal coming home after her break up start to replay in my mind:

*Flashback*

I was preparing to go to bed for some well deserved sleep; today had been a very long day. I knew that Mal was coming back in a couple of days time but I did miss her. I missed my best friend every time she went home to Auradon but I knew that she had to return; especially to go and see her boyfriend, Ben. I knew that being away from Ben and all her friends was very hard for her however I had spent nearly the last two years with Mal. She was a great support to me and I missed her.

After pulling my pyjama shorts on and pulling back the covers I started to get myself comfortable in bed. I intended in having a long lie in tomorrow and having a lazy day before having to sort the apartment out before Mal came back. I felt my eyes start to roll as I heard a loud series of banging on the flat door.

"Who's knocking at this time?" I thought out loud as I threw the covers back. I quickly walked through the flat to hear the banging getting worse on the door.

"Hang on!" I called and the knocking stopped. I pulled one brow up in confusion before I unlocked the door and opened it. I gasped in shock at what I saw.

"Mal" I said taking in her appearance; she obviously had been crying. I could tell by the redness and puffiness around her eyes; the flight from Auradon was six hours so this must have been a hard flight for Mal. Her eyes still looked fresh from crying.

"Sorry for waking you up Sam" she said as she walked past me.

"It's just I couldn't get in" she said as she watched me close the door behind her.

"I left the key in the door" I advised.

"Mal what's wrong? I wasn't expecting to see you for a couple more days" I said as she looked down as if this would hide her puffy red eyes. She knew that I had seen them but there was no way that I was going to let this drop - the state she was in.

"I came home early" she said as she looked up at me for a few seconds and I could see the exhaustion on her face.

"Mal has something happened?" I asked. I watched as she pursed her lips together; it was as if she couldn't voice what had happened. My mind started to think of every situation that could have caused Mal's behaviour but I needed to hear it from Mal. Only then I would know how to support her; of course I knew that she could choose not to tell me. But I wouldn't be able to help or support her until she did. I stepped up to Mal and pulled her into a hug hoping that this would help her. We stood in silence for a little while with me stroking her back; I knew that this is what Mal needed right now. She needed to be held; she needed reassurance that everything was going to be ok. I could only help to give her this.

"It's over Sam" she finally said into my chest as she started to sob.

"I don't understand Mal" I said as I didn't know what she was talking about.

"It's over between me and Ben. We broke up; we both decided that it was for the best. We are both struggling with the separation" she explained. A couple of seconds went past and then Mal broke down fully. Her ribcage started to heave with crying and I felt her warm tears started to gather on my bare chest. We stood like this for what felt like hours and when Mal's sobbing started to slow down a little bit I decided it probably would be better if we sat down.

"Come on Mal" I said as I stepped out of the hug and guided her to the sofa. She let me guide her there in silence and this told me that she was close to breaking down again. I hated seeing Mal like this and I started to hate Ben for doing this to her. However I wasn't able to start making any assumptions yet. For all I knew it could have been Mal that suggested it; I know she said they both had decided. But this was going to be something that wasn't easy for either of them.

"Everything will be ok Mal" I said as I pulled her to me and she snuggled into my chest. We both adjusted on the sofa so we were snuggled into each other and lying down.

"Promise?" She muttered.

"Promise" I promised as I pulled the fleece blanket over us that was draped over the back of our sofa. We lay like this for the rest of the night; I just held Mal and kept stroking her back. At some point she fell asleep but I continued to hold her as I didn't have the heart to wake her up. When we woke up in the morning she went straight to her room; what I didn't know was that as soon as her bedroom door shut she wouldn't leave for the next few days while she started to grieve her relationship with the man of her dreams.

I felt so helpless I wanted to do something to help her and then it hit me. At the moment Mal was breaking her heart next door because she assumed a lot of things. She didn't have concrete answers and she needed them; otherwise she would never heal properly because of this. Ben was so cyyptic with her that she didn't know where she was; but Ben wasn't the only one to blame in this situation. Mal should have told him how she really feels and told him her secret. My mind started to rack about how I could get the two back in the same room and talking again and then it hit me - Evie!