More Than This

Chapter 5

The King of Auradon was relieved that it was finally Saturday, and that he could take the day off to spend it with his unfortunate guests.

He was on his way to the secret room when his mother, Belle, stopped him.

"Ben," she started.

"Yes, Mother?" He responded cheerfully.

"How about you use this time to teach your friends..." She began.

"Oh I've already arranged for a tutor to stop by and..."

"That's not what I meant," the former queen continued. "Teach them things they missed out on when they were on the isle. Like... Singing... Piano... Or cooking!"

Ben thought over his mothers suggestion. "Cooking..."

He went to the staff kitchen, grabbing everything he could think of for a good breakfast.

He walked through the castle (nearly dropping the eggs several times) and eventually made it to the secret room. He opened the door and walked in, noticing his sleeping friends all cuddled together. After putting the ingredients on the counter, he walked over to get a better look. Mal was at the edge of the bed, curled in a ball and facing away from the group. Carlos was on the other side, holding dude in one arm and the other flopping onto Jay. Jay was holding Evie tightly. Her head was in the crook of his neck, and her arms tucked into her chest. His head rested on hers and at some point in the night his leg had wrapped itself around her as well.

Ben chuckled before kneeling down to his girlfriend's level and kissing her nose. Her eyes opened and she met his gaze.

"Good morning, beautiful," he smiled.

"Morning," she yawned.

"So," he gestured to the others. "What's this?"

"We were all having nightmares," Mal admitted softly.

"Oh," Ben sighed. Then in an attempt to lighten the moment he added. "I guess that sort of explains Jay's choke hold on Evie, doesn't it?"

Mal laughed and looked at her two best friends.

"They've been like that a lot lately," she admitted.

"Really?" Ben awed.

"They both deny each others existence though, of course." Mal added.

Ben nodded, knowing how stubborn all four of them could be at times.

"Well maybe it's meant to be," Ben assured her. Mal smiled at her cheesy boyfriend and got out of the bed, nudging Evie's leg as she got up. Evie let out a soft sigh as her eyes opened, and Ben noticed her smile even though she quickly hid it.

"Rise and shine," she yawned, sitting up and stretching. Jay's arms fell off of her as she moved. He rubbed his eyes before also sitting up, and he turned to wake Carlos.

"Wake up," he said, pushing him out of bed.

Carlos groaned and glared at Jay as Dude began to bark again. Jay just smirked.

Carlos rubbed his head as he walked into the small kitchen, and took a seat at one of the stools.

"What's this stuff?" He asked, gesturing to the pile of food Ben had previously thrown there.

"Ingredients," he smiled down at Mal. "We're going to cook breakfast."

Evie got out of the bed and walked to the kitchen, looking at the pile.

"What exactly are we making though?" She asked.

"Pancakes," Ben grinned. The isle kids looked at him. "You've never had pancakes?" He guessed.