Ben made his way downstairs and saw Mal talking to a group of people close to the kitchen; for a second, he wondered if he should join them but decided against it. Looking around, he didn't see his friends and decided to look for them outside, so Ben made his way outside and saw them talking on the sidewalk. Calling Jay's name, the boy joined the group asking them why they had left the house.
"Azis and I are going home. We said our goodbyes to Mal, and we were waiting for an Uber but no luck for now." Ryder said while turning his phone, showing Ben the screen that showed they were still looking for an available driver. Ben offered to take them, but they assured him they could wait for a driver. They all waited for ten minutes before Ben told them that he was going to look for his keys and he would drive them home. Jay came with him and helped Ben look for the keys, then told him that he was going to drive them and he should stay behind because Mal's party wasn't over.
They made their way outside together, where Ryder and Azis stood next to Ben's car with Lonnie. Jay got into the car, Ryder and Azis waved goodbye to Ben while Lonnie made her way towards the boy, and together they stood seeing the car go out of sight. Ben turned towards the girl raising an eyebrow, and Lonnie avoided his eyes, muttering something the boy didn't understand.
"Look, Lonnie, I just want to know why you said those things to Carlos. He is Mal's friend, and he was just trying to help her; you would do the same for me if you thought someone was taking advantage of me." Lonnie rolled her eyes at Ben and told him how annoying she found the guy.
"I know he means well, but he always finds something wrong with you. Even when he said he was trying, it was like he wanted it known that you weren't exactly in Mal's league." Ben shook his head; he knew that Carlos wasn't the best communicator, but he was a great friend to Mal. In the end, they didn't need to like her friends, but creating situations like the one back at the party was unnecessary, in the boy's opinion. Lonnie disagreed and told Ben that someone needed to make things clear to Carlos, and she would do it every time he said something like that. "Ben, I know you don't like when people assume you don't work for what you have, so I don't see why you don't say something."
"They are important to Mal, so I rather not say anything. When they get to know me, I'm sure they'll realize how wrong they are. I know he noticed these things, but he just worries about her. In the end, whenever they say something annoying, Mal usually talks to them." Lonnie was going to point out that the girl was silent this time but decided to drop the subject for now. Ben asked if she wanted to go in, and she agreed but told him that she would go straight to her room to rest.
Together they made their way inside; Ben looked around and saw Mal sitting on the couch surrounded by her friends laughing. At that moment, he yawned and decided to follow Lonnie upstairs without saying anything to Mal so the girl wouldn't feel like she needed to end her celebration. As soon as he made his way to his room, Ben changed out of his costume and sent a quick text to Evie telling her that he was going to sleep but only to tell Mal if she asked for him. Finally, he closed his eyes and fell asleep in seconds, tired from all the late nights at work and the relief of seeing that Mal had had a great time.
When he woke up the next day, Ben went downstairs, ready to have breakfast, and was shocked to see the state of the first floor. Furniture was pushed against the walls; the entire counter was covered in what he assumed were dirty dishes, wine glasses, platters, etc. Even the stove had things covering it; at that point, Ben started to feel overwhelmed, so he turned and opened the fridge to see it empty.
Jay appeared at the stairs and stood on the last step looking at the kitchen and then at Ben, turning around, he made his way upstairs and came back a minute later with Lonnie. The girl looked less shocked and shared texts Evie had sent her a couple of hours before, which she saw once she woke up. Apparently, the party went longer than expected, and they told everyone they would pay the extra fee so they would come back later today instead of taking their things and cleaning because they were still celebrating three hours ago.
So now, at ten, the trio found themselves unable to have breakfast, and Ben felt overwhelmed about the state of his house. Jay sent a text to Azis and Ryder asking them if they could help them put the house in order, and the boys texted back, promising to be there as soon as possible. Ben asked about the food, and Lonnie shared that when they came back, there was almost nothing in there, so they finished it and ordered in whenever they wanted something because they needed the space for things for the party.
Jay suggested they go out to eat something, so the trio made their way upstairs to get ready. Jay was the first one down, but someone was at the door before the other two could join. When the others came down, they found people cleaning and putting things away, with Jay talking to a man who was close to the door and seemed annoyed. Lonnie noticed people in the living room cleaning it and turned to Ben, who was trying to take in the entire scene.
"I'm guessing we are not going to go out to eat. So, I'll order something, and we can eat upstairs or in the garage." Ben agreed and gave Lonnie his phone, so she could order from his app while he joined Jay in case the boy needed help.
Jay introduced Ben to Bryan, the person in charge of the cleaning, who was complaining to the boy about having to come today instead of cleaning yesterday like they were supposed. "You know how hard it is to pull people from other engagements to do this cleaning because your friend wanted to party some more? Jay, I know you understand the amount of work we do, and she promised to mention us in a couple of stories."
Jay asked him who exactly talked to him, and he said a girl name Rachel called him and was the one that made the deal. The boy nodded and asked Bryan again what exactly he promised because he would call Rachel now so they could talk about the mentions; that's when he saw the hesitation in the man. After a couple of seconds Bryan shared that they hadn't exactly agreed on a number, but it was more than Rachel told him that there would be a possibility, and that's why he agreed to come today to picked and clean everything.
"So she didn't agree to any posts then. Is she paying you the fee for coming today?" Reluctantly, Bryan nodded but told him that she hadn't made the deposit yet, and Jay seemed annoyed. "Then you are mad because you wanted her to post, and she is not doing it; you know that you could have asked her instead of talking bad about her behind her back. Is she even late paying you?"
Again Bryan said no, and Jay told him that he would pay him right then and he would post about the clean-out, but this was a favor. The man agreed, and Ben asked for the details so he could pay him; Jay didn't argue, knowing that the boy wouldn't let him pay and he was still helping the boy with the postings. It took them an hour to finish cleaning and to put everything back in order, so the trio left the food that had just arrived for them over the counter in case the girls woke up and went out to buy groceries.
It was close to two when Mal called Ben, asking him where they were and if they knew if Rachel had come to talk to the cleaning crew. "We are about to finish grocery shopping, so we should be back soon-ish. Now, Rachel didn't come, but Jay took care of posting for the company, and I paid the extra fee, so no problem there. I'm guessing she must be exhausted, just like the rest of you. We left you some food at the house and will buy something to eat later too."
They said goodbye, and Mal told Evie about what happened while they were still asleep; both girls agreed that Rachel was probably sleeping and would talk to Ben about paying him back. After reheating the food, both girls sat down to eat and talked about the party and how much fun they had; Mal shared with Evie that she was looking forward to focusing her attention on her future trip with Ben.
"Have you done some research into his family? Nothing creepy, but just to have an idea of who they are?. I know Ben is not close to them, but I don't think it is a good idea to go there without a clue who they are." Mal confessed that she had thought about it, but she didn't want to have a preconceived idea of them. As far as Mal knew, they weren't people she wanted to associate with; they were going only because of a sense of obligation on Ben's part.
"I'm going there to support Ben and hope to spend thanksgiving with his parents. Jay said they usually don't spend it together because his dad is too rilled up after the event the day before. I thought we were going to go earlier, maybe, but I'm guessing Ben isn't too eager to spend time there. We are arriving the day before the event, and then we are staying until the next Tuesday, so I think there is a big chance that I will get to know his parents and, of course, spend time with you." Evie smiled and assured Mal that she understood if the girl was too busy to spend time with her.
"Evie, you know there is no chance we are not spending time together. Also, I wanted to thank you for helping me find a place for us to stay. It ended up being close to Jay's place so Ben can be close to him in case things go terribly at the event, and you are definitely invited to Thanksgiving with us. Jay and Lonnie are celebrating with a few friends, and depending on how things go, we will be there from the start or after visiting Ben's parents." Evie promised to make it to Thanksgiving after visiting a couple of friends she had already promised to join for the festivities.
After they finished eating, Evie started packing; she was leaving early the next day and didn't want to run around. Even though they slept late she was still feeling tired from staying up late, and Azis was coming in an hour so they could go out and enjoy the city, just the two of them. Evie closed her suitcase and turned to see Mal sleeping on the bed and smiled; it had been a weird year for her friend, from losing her dream home to finding Ben and starting this new era.
Mal seemed more at peace with herself, she slow down her constant search for the next thing, and Evie noticed how her friend's life was starting to be more balance. Last night when the new apartment was mentioned, she thought there was going to be a problem between the couple and that Mal would miss the opportunity to live alone again. However, when Mal's friend shared how she was taking the apartment and that Ben was happy for her, Evie realized that the couple had managed to communicate well.
Voices came from downstairs announcing the group's arrival, and Evie decided to let Mal sleep and join them. After that, time flew by between stories and cooking until Azis came to pick Evie up, and the group said goodbye.
Mal came later to join the group, which was now enjoying a movie and the last hours of their Sunday. When Ben saw her coming down, he stood and hugged her asking her if she was feeling better after her nap, and went on to prepare a plate for her while she joined the couple on the couch.
The rest of the afternoon was spent there talking about Mal's plans for her new apartment and how excited everyone was about their plans for Thanksgiving.
