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It’s late by the time Ben and Mal make it back to Auradon Prep.
“It’s way past curfew. If my parents catch me sneaking back into our castle this late I’ll be grounded for sure,” Ben laments as they approach the entrance to the dorms building.
Mal smirks and slides her hand into Ben’s. “Well technically it’s your castle now, since you are the king,” she says and turns to face him.
Ben looks down at Mal and smiles shyly. “And what kind of example am I setting by getting home this late?”
Mal laughs. “It’s only eleven Ben.”
Ben raises his eyebrows and giggles. “Only eleven?”
The couple laughs as they walk inside the building. “I had a lot of fun tonight Ben, thanks for taking my mind off all of the drama with my mom,” Mal confesses as they reach her bedroom.
Ben squeezes Mal’s hand softly. “I’m always here for you Mal.”
The couple stands outside of Mal’s dorm room awkwardly.
{Usually this is the part where Ben kisses his date goodnight but seeing as how Mal evaded Ben’s previous attempts to kiss her he wasn't sure he could handle being rejected a third time. So Ben stands close to Mal and looks down at her with his charming smile. Mal looks up at Ben and she knows that he wants to kiss her but is unsure about it. There’s a part of Mal, a very small, tiny, voice inside that tells her not to kiss Ben. That voice is enough to confuse her.}
Mal smiles sympathetically at her boyfriend. She reaches up and kisses Ben on the cheek. “Goodnight Bennyboo,” she teases.
Ben chuckles. Ben is a little wounded that Mal didn’t kiss him but never loses him kingly composure. “Goodnight Mal, I’ll see you tomorrow in class?”
Mal nods and watches as Ben walks away. She waits until he is out of sight to go inside. She shuts the door loudly behind her and rests her head back against the door. “Ugh this is so much more complicated than I wanted it to be.” Mal closes her eyes then suddenly feels something hit her face. She opens her eyes and looks down, a pillow. She looks up and sees a very irritated Evie staring back at her. “Sorry,” she tells her.
Evie rolls her eyes. “You know I have to get my full nine hours of beauty sleep Mal.”
Mal gives Evie a confused look. “You do know you only need eight right?”
Evie exhales loudly. “Just give me back my pillow,” she commands.
Mal picks up the pale blue pillow and throws it back at her roommate. Evie catches it and puts it back in its place. She then turns back to Mal. “So what’s up?”
Mal furrows her brows. “What?”
“Why did you slam the door like that? What’s more complicated than you wanted it to be?”
Mal shakes her head. “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it. Sorry I interrupted your beauty sleep Eves.”
Evie raises an eyebrow. “Okay now I know something is wrong, you almost never call me Eves.”
Mal bites her lip and looks away from Evie.
Evie nods slowly. “Ahhh, I get it now. It’s about Ben isn’t it?”
Mal looks back at her friend and nods. “Yup.”
Butterflies rise in Evie's’ stomach.
{She silently reprimands herself, she shouldn’t be happy Mal is upset with her boyfriend. Besides, Evie doesn’t even like Ben. Ben wasn’t the one who made Evie's heart race, it wasn’t Doug either, as much as Evie tried to convince herself it was. No, the person who made Evie’s heart race was Mal. Not that Evie liked to dwell on those feelings, they weren’t right. Then again Evie’s family wasn’t known for doing things that were right.}
Evie calms her butterflies down enough to speak. “What’s wrong?”
Mal runs a hand through her purple locks. She looks at her feet for awhile. Should she tell Evie the truth? That she isn't sure she even wants to kiss Ben? Should Mal tell Evie that in recent days she has begun to question her relationship with Ben? Sure Mal liked the guy but sometimes he was too good and some of Mal’s old habits died hard. She wanted excitement, and danger. Mal wanted thrills and chills.
{ Like the ones she would get whenever she and Evie pulled pranks on the shopkeepers back on the island.}
Mal looks up at Evie and her stomach drops.
{Could Mal want Evie, in a more than friends type of way?}
Mal swallows hard. “I still haven’t kissed Ben,” she begins.
Evie gasps. “Seriously? But you guys have gone out like three times. He hasn’t tried to kiss you at least once? I find it hard to believe a guy wouldn’t want to kiss you Mal,” Evie rambles and then stops because she feels like she might have said too much.
The edges of Mal’s mouth turn up slightly and it makes Evie’s cheeks redden.
Mal shakes her head. “It’s not that he hasn’t tried. I’ve just kept saying no.”
Evie’s heart starts beating faster. “Why? He’s a great guy.”
Mal nods. “He is….I just..” she starts but doesn’t continue.
Mal fidgets with her finger, trying to decide whether or not she should lie to Evie.
Evie watches Mal nervously twirl her fingers. “Come on Mal, it’s me. If you can’t tell me something then who can you tell?”
Mal looks back up at Evie. She looks right into Evie’s deep, dark brown eyes. Mal stutters. “It’s just I- I- I’ve never kissed anyone before and I’m scared I’ll mess it up,” she lies, right through her teeth.
Evie laughs. “Oh come on Mal, you don’t expect me to believe that do you?”
Mal looks at her confused. “Why wouldn’t you it’s the truth?”
She lies again.
Evie looks at her, more serious this time. “Mal you’re sixteen and you’ve never kissed anyone? Seriously?”
“Like you have?” Mal asks her, hands on her hips.
Evie raises a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at the violet haired girl standing by the door. “Mal you don’t become fairest of them all without kissing some frogs along the way,” she confesses rather nonchalantly.
Mal bites her lip, curious to see if Evie isn’t just bluffing.
{Who could she have kissed back on that island? Evie would rather go a week without a brush than be near the Gaston kids and she can’t imagine Evie would deem anyone fair enough for her to kiss.}
“Teach me,” Mal says bluntly.
Evie blinks and furrows her brows. “What?”
Mal hops on Evie’s bed and leans in close to the raven haired girl. “Teach me how to kiss, since you’ve kissed a few frogs already you must be good.”
{Mal tells herself that this is just to mess with Evie. Evie will confess she’s never kissed anyone, Mal will laugh, and then they’ll go right to bed. They will forget about it all by morning. Except Evie is leaning in too, and their lips are dangerously close. So close that deep down Mal knows this isn’t just to tease Evie, this is Mal allowing those particularly frightening and confusing emotions she keeps suppressed to rise.}
Evie stares at Mal’s lips. “Are you serious?” She asks Mal, hesitation and excitement laced in her voice.
Mal nods, “I want Ben to think I’m a good kisser,” she whispers.
Evie nods. “Right, for Ben,” she says as she closes the small space between Mal and herself.
Evie’s lips are soft, Mal thinks, and she tastes like honey. Evie thinks nothing has ever felt more right. Evie bites Mal’s lower lip when she pulls away slightly. Mal lets out a low moan and she leans even closer to Evie. So close that their noses are awkwardly crushed against the others. Not that they care. Mal knocks Evie on her back and straddles her. Evie digs her fingers into Mal’s hair and pulls Mal towards her.
Mal’s senses finally come back to her and she quickly pulls away from Evie. Mal doesn’t look at Evie as she climbs off of her and walks to her bed.
Evie stares at the ceiling, still not sure of what just happened.
Mal tries to catch her breath as she climbs into her own bed. She doesn’t dare look at Evie. What in Lucifer’s name was that about, Mal thinks to herself.
Mal closes her eyes and tries to forget about it. She tries to think about Ben but all she can think about is the faint smell of apples on Evie’s skin and her soft lips. She can only think about how Evie tasted like honey, and fun.
Evie turns to look at Mal. Mal’s hands cover her face and she looks like she might cry. Evie’s heart breaks a little but she can’t shake the thought that after kissing so many frogs it turns out that what Evie wants is a purple haired fairy. Evie swallows hard and takes a deep breath before speaking. “We can pretend it never happened,” she says just loud enough for Mal to hear.
Mal’s hands fall from her face and she turns to look at Evie. There’s a softness in Mal’s green eyes that’s new to Evie. Mal shakes her head slightly. “Eves I don’t know if I can forget it,” she confesses.
A tear falls down Evie’s eye and Mal’s heart twists. They look away and at the ceiling, unsure of where they stand now. Evie closes her eyes and smiles. “For what it’s worth you kiss better than any frog I know,” she says in hopes to salvage a friendship she’s pretty sure is in freefall. Mal laughs and turns to look at Evie. Mal had already chosen Ben and the side of good but as she stared at Evie’s lips she wondered if it was possible for her choose Evie and fun, and still be good.