Like a dream - a Descendants story (Bal) {Sequel}

Chapter 12

"Well, what did you expect, sooner or later she would've found out somehow," Amelia says, rolling her eyes. "Good luck cleaning up this mess, I'm out of here."

"What are we supposed to do now...?" Evie asks, as a few tears roll down her cheeks.

"We have to send the real video to Auradon Talks," Jay says, always thinking strategically.

"Mal is never going to forgive us..." Evie sobs. Carlos pulls her into a hug as he doesn't really have words to comfort her.

"Of course she is," Jay argues. "If we just make things right-"

"That's not going to fix anything," Carlos tells him. "The only way this is going to turn out alright, is if we go back in time and let ourselves come to our senses before we make this mistake."

"And then? Let her just get hurt again and again by that jackass?" Jay rolls his eyes.

"We betrayed her, Jay! We were just so caught up in our own hatred towards Ben, that we didn't consider any of the possible consequences," Evie tells him. "Amelia was right, we just didn't want to see it..."

"No, if she would've just kept her mouth shut-" he starts.

"Then Mal would've eventually found out some other way," Carlos jumps in.

Jay grumbles something, and sits back down on the couch. "What are we going to do?" he asks, finally starting to realize how bad the situation is.

"Well, you were right about that video; we have to send the full, unedited version to Auradon Talks," Carlos says. "And then we have to try and talk about this with Mal..."

"As if she's ever going to want to talk to us again," Evie says, her face in her hands.

"We at least have to try," Carlos says.

____________________________________

"Morning," Ben says, when Mal finally wakes up.

"Morning," Mal says back, groggily. She slowly sits up on the bed and sees Ben sitting on the couch with Gianna in his arms. It is still dark outside and Mal is a bit disoriented, while slowy the events of yesterday come back to her. Her eyes are still a bit poofy and she feels tearstains on her face. "What time is it?"

"6.30," he says. "You fell asleep just before dinner."

"I slept for that long...?" she questions.

"Yeah, well, you needed it," he says. "How are you feeling?"

Mal shrugs her shoulders slightly. "Same as yesterday, I suppose."

"Would you like something to eat?" he asks. "You must be hungry."

Mal looks at him with a little smile on her face. "How well you still know me."

"Let me see what I've got," he says, walking over to the little fridge he has put in the corner of his room. He took out a few things and walked over to the bed. Mal eats some things while Ben puts on a film for her, as a faint attempt to distract her a bit. But she can't focus on it, her mind constantly going back to yesterday's events. That one moment suddenly changed everything in her life. A whole reality is now gone and that shift is really hard to process.

"Do you want me to switch it to off?" Ben asks Mal, half an hour into the movie.

Mal looks up. "Oh, uh-"

"I can see you're not really watching," he says, switching it off. "Maybe it's better to just talk?"

"Maybe," she agrees, but doesn't say anything else. Ben wants to say something, but doesn't know what. This is probably the last thing he'd ever thought would happen, and she's probably still trying to comprehend what actually happened. Suddenly they find themselves in a very weird and messed up situation and neither of them knows what to do next. He looks at Mal and sees her staring into space, probably lost in her own mind. So, they just sit there for a while in silence, until Ben's phone rings.