Hey guys, I hope you like this story so far; let's see whether Evie and Sam's plan is going to work. However let's rewind a little bit. Much love RSD xoxoxoxo

*Mal's POV*

I barely slept all night as my drunken mind kept replaying me speaking to Ben; I tried not to think about it but the more I tried not to the more my mind would torture me. At least I had my answer now. Ben didn't want anything to do with me; so that had helped me make my final decision. I didn't want to think about that yet; I had until the end of the week until I had to tell everyone. My plan had been on the last night to announce me coming home early as a surprise I knew that people would be happy for me. But this was before I spoke to Ben; this had changed things. How could I ever return back to Auradon full well knowing that I could see Ben on nights out or even worse see him with anyone else? I don't think I could put me, Ben or our friends through it. So instead of coming back home; maybe it would be better for everyone in the long run that I stayed in Schwarzwald.

"Mal are you really sure?" Sam asked again as we started to walk into Evie's apartment block.

"Yes" I snapped. I know that Sam only wants to best for me; but I wished he would talk about something else. He has spoken about nothing else since I told him what I had decided after Evie had left.

"Mal you didn't get to speak to Ben properly" he repeated again.

"Yeah" I muttered hoping that he would drop this subject when we were around Evie.

"Well he made it perfectly clear that he didn't want anything to do with me" I muttered to him as we walked up to the lift; I noticed that there were a couple of people going to their mail boxes and I didn't want them to overhear what we were talking about.

"So why would I inflict my presence on him again? To cause further embarrassment for the both of us?" I said as I quickly pushed the lift call button.

"No" I said quickly as I nodded my head.

"This is the right thing to do" I said as I kept trying to tell myself this repeatedly to even try and convince myself.

"For everyone" I added.

"I don't think it is" he disagreed which made me look at him.

"I know" I answered.

"And I respect your opinion" I added.

"Thank you for coming with me" I said as the lift doors opened.

"You're very welcome Franky" he said as we both stepped into the lift.

"Oh don't start calling me that" I whined as I pushed the number 12 button.

"Why did you have to tell Evie and Doug about that?" I whined again as the lift doors noisily snapped shut.

"Because you are my amazing best friend" he said with a large toothy grin.

"Not everyone would do what you have done for me; especially dressing like Frank" he added as he leant onto the side of the lift.

"Not everyone is like me" I muttered as I glanced at the floor. I knew that Evie wanted to spend time with me as she hadn't seen me in such a long time; but I wasn't in the mood for it. I did feel bad about it; but I knew at some point she was going to question me on my conversation with Ben. I don't think I could bare it; I know as soon as Evie would mentioned Ben's name I would break down. At least I knew I was safe with Evie and Sam but I hated that I couldn't control my feelings and emotions when it came to Ben - I was never able to. Ben was my first boyfriend so I would always care about him and he would always mean something to me. I would like to hope that I meant something to Ben; however after the way he acted last night I didn't know anymore.

"Amen to that sister!" Sam teased breaking me out of my train of thought.

"Did you enjoy yourself last night?" I asked after a couple of seconds as I glanced at the lift electronics and noticed that we were now on floor eight.

"Yeah it was nice to meet everyone. Everyone is so nice" he answered happily. I smiled back at him; I'm glad that everyone accepted Sam into our group. He drank, danced, sang and laughed with everyone. Yes I could tell that they still didn't know how to take him; but at least they had accepted that he was a good friend to me.

"Yeah they are" I replied with a smile.

"That's why you shouldn't make decisions so hastily" he said sternly.

"Sam!" I whined.

"Mal" he said in the same tone.

"I know what you are trying to do. You are not going to guilt trip me Sam. Please don't give me any more agro; I'm going to get a lot on Sunday night" I said sadly as I started to think about how upset all of my friends were going to be when I told them that I had decided to stay in Schwarzwald rather than come back to Auradon after my graduation.

"Yes well they are all hoping that you are going to come home" he stated.

"Well I was going to come home" I countered.

"Sam you know how many offers for work I have turned down because I was coming back to Auradon. It won't be hard for me to find work; everything will be fine" I said as the lift was now moving up to floor eleven.

"I fail to see why you can't come home because you are making assumptions for Ben's behaviour" he said sternly. I knew that Sam only wanted the best for me; but maybe that is what I needed to get over Ben properly. A clean break; whether it was something that I didn't know whether I actually wanted deep down.

"Sam I think I know Ben better than you" I warned as I looked at him.

"Be that as it may but I think you should give it one final chance" he suggested.

"How about I do you a deal?" He asked as the lift came to a stop.

"What?" I asked.

"Talk to him one more time before we go home; if things are the same. Then I'll not push again; I'll support you and help you when we get home" he offered.

"Really?" I asked incredulously as we walked out of the lift and started to walk towards Evie's apartment.

"Yes" he stated as he followed me.

"Do we have a deal? He asked.

"I don't want to talk to him though Sam; it hurts" I admitted.

"I know but you are a strong woman" he said happily.

"Sam" I whined again.

"Please?" He begged as he pulled a sad face at me.

"I just want you to be sure; I don't want you to always regret that you didn't give it a final go" he stated.

"Fine" I said as I shook my head. I knew that it was going to be torture but Sam was right I needed to speak to Ben again before I made my final decision. However I didn't know when I was going to be able to see him; as I was reminded last night - he's a very busy person.

"We have a deal" I confirmed which made him smile.

"However" I said slowly as I knocked on Evie's door.

"I might not get the chance to talk to him" I stated.

"We could ask Evie tonight?' He suggested.

"Yeah" I said.

"We could" I agreed.

"Hi Evie" I said as she opened the door; I noticed that she looked nervous but I decided to leave it. She probably wanted to question me again about last night.

"Hi M. Hi Sam" she said quietly. I pulled one brow up in confusion; why was she speaking in hushed tones?

"Hi Evie" Sam replied politely as we both walked into her apartment.

"Something wrong with your voice?" I asked as I watched her close the door.

"Yeah; I've got a sore throat" she said as she held her neck.

"I see; well I'm not surprised with all those shots" I laughed.

"So what are we having?" I asked.

"I've made spaghetti bolognaise" she advised.

"Yum" I answered back.

"Mal can you do me a favour as I'm starting to serve?" she asked. I noticed as she threw Sam a look.

"Yeah" I answered cautiously.

"What was with that look?" I asked.

"What look?" she asked.

"That look" I stated.

"There was no look" she stated.

"Whatever" I sighed as I knew something was up but again I chose to ignore it.

"What do you want me to do?" I asked.

"Can you go and get my phone out of the spare room?" she asked.

"Can you not get it yourself?" I asked sarcastically.

"Please" she begged.

"Ok" I said and I walked into the bedroom. When I walked into the room the door snapped shut behind me and my eyes widened and I gasped at what I saw.