The Pain We Hid In Smiles

chapter 5: Welcome Back

Mal's POV
I was walking to the arcade, when I got a sudden craving of strawberries. As I was walking, I passed Ben's office to hear him talking to someone on the phone. And the worst thing was he was giggling, he never giggles well he does but not with me. Ugh who is this person. I decided to enter the room. When I did Ben was on the phone. Who is it? I gave Ben a questioning face. All he did was hold up a finger, meaning to wait a bit.

He then hung up his phone and turned to me. "What's up Mal?" He questioned me. "What's up?what's up, that's all you have to say" I tell him angrily. "Um yeah, because all you did was walk in, and I thought that something was wrong" he answered. "Something is wrong Ben, before you say I'm a clingy or a jealous girlfriend, you should know all I want to know is the truth" I replied.

"Truth? Mal what the heck are you talking about" Ben said confused. "Everytime I pass by your room or office you're on the phone with someone always giggling , don't you ever feel like I'll pass by and start to wonder who the hell you're talking to" I replied getting even angrier. Ben then started chuckling. "Why are you laughing this is a serious subject Benjamin!" I told him.

"I'm sorry, Mal listen to me I'm not cheating on you. Besides I'm not gay" Ben said. "Huh? What are you talking about" I said becoming confused. "Mal the person you heard me talking to was Aziz okay" he replied. "Oh, wait then why did you say you loved him" I asked him. "At that time I was talking to my mom" he replied. "Oh, well this is embarrassing" I said as I felt my cheeks start to blush.

"Aww was little Mal worried" Ben said teasingly. "Maybe" I replied. "Wait how did you get a connection to your parents if they're on the royal yacht cruising in the Bahamas?" I asked. "Well seems like they're coming back..... yay, am I right" he said. "Their coming back?" I asked. "Yep".

"Oh, for a moment there I felt worried I don't know why" I said. "Um Mal, Aziz is also coming to stay in the castle for the summer" Ben said. "Oh yay" I replied. He stayed silent and strained for a bit. "Um soisaudrey" Ben continued. "What? Speak slower I couldn't understand you" I told him. "So is Audrey, Audrey is coming for the Summer" he said looking worried.

"Well it's okay, but I'm kinda worried to the fact that two people I hated at first are gonna live with me for two months and a half" I told him. "So you're not mad?" Ben said. "Nope" I said popping the p in nope. "Oh well that's good, but now the only thing I have to worry about is the fact that my parents will be angry at the fact that i haven't done any of my paperwork" Ben replied.

"Well we have plenty of time to do it, I can help you with your paperwork, after all I am the lady of the court" I said. "Thanks Mal, I love you" Ben said kissing my lips. After a long amount of time of boring problems around Auradon, we finally finished.
The room turned to a big mess, so we quickly arranged it back to how it originally was.

As I was cleaning I accidentally dropped a pack of photos. One specifically caught my eye, a photo of baby Ben it was torn and burnt. "Hey Ben what's this" I asked him. "Oh it's just one of my photos of me as a baby" he said. "Why is it burnt and torn?" I asked him. "My parents said that one day when I was a baby a fire went off in our old castle, and my mom quickly retrieved things and she got this one" he told me.

"Oh, well um we need to tell the others your folks are coming" I said. "You're right" Ben said. We got up and
started heading to the arcade room, where everyone was. Evie and Uma were playing air hockey, while Dude was watching them play. Lonnie and Jane were playing pool. Jay and Harry we're playing some shooting game. Chad and Dizzy were bowling. And, Carlos and Gil we're playing a racing car game.

"Hey guys" I said out loud hoping to get their attention. Only to get Dudes attention. Dude then barked loudly, causing everyone to flinch and look up from their game. "Soooo we have something to tell you. Ben tell them what we have to tell them" I said. "So  it appears we'll be having some guests coming over" Ben said. "By guests do you mean your parents are coming back or royals from different regions" Chad questioned Ben. "My parents Chad" Ben replied. "Oh, do you think that they'll bring souvenirs for us?" Chad asked receiving a wack in the head from Lonnie. "What did I do?" Chad told her. "You spoke idiot" she replied.