Royals

Complicated Love

Jay's mouth dropped open in horror. "I most certainly did not." Jay said. "I've been dating Mal since we were 13 years old! It's not like she chose to like me spur of the moment the second she got out of the Royal Limo." "The day after I told you and Evie that Mal and Carlos were coming, I saw you and Evie writing a letter and laughing. You told Mal to pick you over me because you hate me!" Ben accused. "So you're reading my mail now? And I do not! I wrote that I was happy to see her!" Jay fired back. "Ben, I love Mal! She's not just the feisty purple haired daughter of Maleficent to me. She's the girl I've grown up loving. She may not have the nicest mother in the world who bakes her cookies and gives her presents, so she's scarred. I don't care if she has blue skin, or if she's scarred, it's the person inside that I love!"

"Sure Jay. How many letter have you written Mal over three years?" Ben asked. "Too many to count." "What's her favorite color?" "Purple. Haven't you noticed?" "What's the worst thing Maleficent has done to Mal?" "I can't tell you that. It's not in the right place for me to say Ben." "Why not?" Ben asked. "Ben, you've never been out of Auradon your entire life. On the Isle of the Lost, if your parent is abusive, there's no where for you to run. If your parent is abusive, you stay and suffer the wrath. Which is exactly why I go to the Isle every week on Saturdays." Ben's eyes widened, and he almost spit out his tea. "Say what?" "You heard me Ben. I go to the Isle every Saturday." "Mom, Dad, did you know about this?" Ben asked and Belle and Beast nodded. "Why would you let him go there? That place is horrible! Why would you even want to go there?" Ben asked. "Because Mal was there, with the self proclaimed queen of the Isle, the mistress of all evil. Maleficent. Also, to make my weekly rounds with the government there. I risk going there to make sure Mal is alive. Mal gets beaten so much, I needed to get her off the Isle, and then I found out Carlos gets beaten too, and I've been trying to get the two of them off the Isle for a year now, but I've always gotten rejected because of their parents." "He also asked." Beast said taking a sip of his tea.

"Maleficent gets so bad on Fridays, that before I left, Mal would spend the whole day running from Maleficent all over the Island. Maleficent would pursue Mal until Mal collapsed, and then drag her home in the most painful way possible. Then Mal wouldn't be able to move after Maleficent leaves Mal alone. When Mal is able to move again, she makes her way to the roof of her house and stares at Auradon, not moving a muscle until I get on the roof too. When I go back to the Isle on Saturdays, she's still sitting there as if willing me to be next to her again. I send her letters almost everyday, to keep her aware that I've kept my promise. Before I left the Isle when I was 13, I promised Mal I'd wait for her in Auradon. Evie promised the same to Carlos, but she cracked. But I kept my promise. None of the girls in Auradon are like Mal. Sure, they're pretty, but Mal isn't royal or a perfect girl, which I love that about her. Even though Evie broke her promise, I kept mine, because I love Mal. So you can't just go saying that I stole Mal from you. I wouldn't make her choose between the two of us if we weren't dating." Jay said looking Ben in the eyes. Ben looked at his parents and said, "Do something."

Belle shook her head, but Beast said, "I don't think this is my decision to make. I don't know if everything Jay says is true, but you if can prove him wrong, I think we can arrange to have Mal as your girlfriend." "Thanks Dad!" Ben said beaming. Jay was so angry then, and Evie could tell because of Jay's clenched fists against the table. Evie's head snapped up as she remembered the nightmares. "Jay, we should get back to the dorms." Evie said softly and Jay nodded quickly. Evie took hold of Jay's wrist as they exited the room, and Ben got a little suspicious as to why Jay was so angry. He also wondered why they were leaving when there was still 40 minutes to curfew.