To The Moon And Back

Suspicious Minds

For the next 8 months, Mal started dating Ben. Ben had broken up with Audrey, and won Mal's heart. For unstated reasons, Ben never figured out why Jay would glare at him every chance he got. Every night, Ben would ask Mal if she wanted to spend the night in his room, where he had so much furniture, Mal could have a house if she wanted, but she always said no. Mal would instead, spend her nights with Jay. Carlos was always with Evie, in Evie and Mal's room, and everything worked out. Ben tried to figure out why his girlfriend would never spend any nights with him. Ben didn't find out that she would sleep in Jay's bed, until Carlos called him up for their group science project. It was early Saturday morning, and Ben was picking up the plant cell model from Carlos's room, when he noticed that Mal was with Jay in his bed. 

Ben waited a few moments, and saw Jay shift a little, his arms wrapping tighter around his girlfriend. Ben left the room, and slammed the door after him. Jay bolted upright, but Mal whined. "Sorry Princess." Jay said and laid back down on the mattress. Mal curled up into him, and Jay wrapped his arms back around her. "I don't wanna get up." She whined and Jay smiled at her. "We don't have to. You just wanna sleep all day?" He asked and Mal nodded. She yawned, and she fell back asleep. As Mal slept, Jay played on his phone, until he fell back asleep too. When Ben finally went to talk to Carlos and Evie, Carlos wasn't shocked. "They've been doing that for ages." "How come?" Ben asked. "The nightmares. They comfort each other in their time of need every single night." Carlos said and handed the finished plant cell back to Ben.

"You can go check on them again, and put this back on the table." Ben nodded, and he went to Jay and Carlos's room. He went in, and he saw that they were both asleep. Ben shut the door quietly, and as he was leaving, he heard Jay say something about the nightmares he was having. Mal asked him if it was his dad, and Ben felt bad for assuming that they were doing something else entirely. When Mal's birthday rolled around 2 months later, Mal trusted Ben with her life, and Ben never once doubted her. A nice spring morning, Ben was looking for Mal. He couldn't find her anywhere, and he was starting to worry. He thought maybe her friends would know where she was at, but he couldn't find Carlos or Jay. However, Evie was in her dorm room sewing. "EVIE!" Ben yelled, and she jumped in shock, messing up on a few centimeters of her fabric. "Dang." Evie said and got out her seam ripper. "I'm sorry. What are you sewing?" Ben asked coming into the room.

"This." Evie said and pushed the sketch out. Ben shut the door, and went to stand in front of the blue haired girl. "That's amazing! You're going to make that?" Ben asked and Evie nodded. "I'm making it for Mal's 16th birthday. Carlos, Jay, and I are all 17 already. I'm not turning 18 until next year, Carlos the same, and Jay will turn 18 soon." "Mal's that young? I thought she was 17 with the rest of you." Ben said straightening up. "I didn't know either until just recently. Mal kept to herself a lot, as she couldn't trust any people. The only people she really trusts right now, are Jay, and you. She's begining to trust me, and I'm thankful. I apologized for sending her brother away, and she accepted it." "Why does she trust Jay so much?" Ben asked. "I don't know. Carlos and I have asked them before, and Mal changed the subject. All we've gotten out of Jay is that it's complicated to explain. For a while, I was afraid that Jay was hurting her." "Hurting her?" Ben asked. "You know, like hitting her." Evie said and Ben gasped. "But when I confronted Mal, she was horrified that I had even thought that. She told me that Jay had never hurt her, and that he never would." "Well that's good." Ben said, and let out a sigh of relief. 

"A few days ago, Carlos elbowed me in class, and we saw the two of them passing notes back and forth. Jay had dropped one on his way out of class, and it had the strangest things written on it." Evie said and started to sew again. "What did it say?" Ben asked. "I know it's complicated, but we'll work it out together, ILY." Evie recited, "Carlos and I couldn't figure out what it meant. Carlos confronted Jay about it, and he finally cracked down. Jay told him that he would never hurt Mal. He also said that their relationship went way back, and they'd rather keep it private." "What would that mean?" Ben asked, pondering her story for a little bit. "I'm not sure Ben. If you're looking for Mal, she's with Jay and Carlos down in the grove of trees by the Tourney Fields." "Thanks Evie. I'll talk to you later." "Bye Ben!" Evie called out as he left. Ben made his way down to the Tourney Fields, and he found Carlos sitting on a blanket, cradling Dude. He was staring up at a tree, and as Ben got closer, he noticed that it was Mal and Jay up in the tree. "Hey Carlos. You look happy." Ben greeted. "Hi Ben!" Carlos greeted with enthusiasm. "Why are Mal and Jay in that tree?" Ben asked. "It makes them feel as if they're still kids." Carlos answered. "Is there any way to get Mal down here?" Ben asked looking up the tree. "Yeah. Let me do it." Carlos said standing up.

Carlos set Dude down, and he cupped his hands around his mouth. He yelled Mal and Jay's names, and told Ben to move back a few feet. Ben watched as a figure dropped out of the tree, identifying as Jay. "Carlos, how tall is that tree?" Ben asked. "Probably around 80 feet. Why?" "My girlfriend's going to jump out a tree! That could kill her!" Ben shrieked but Carlos shook his head. "Just watch." Carlos said, and then Ben held back a scream, as Mal was sailing through the air. She landed in Jay's opened arms, and she said, "Fancy meeting you here." and Jay rolled his eyes. "Anything for you, Princess." "What was that?" "Don't worry about it." "That's what I thought." Mal said, and Jay set Mal on the ground. "Oh, hi Ben!" Mal cheered and bounded over to him, kissing him on the cheek. "There's a council meeting soon. We should be heading over to that." "Okay. Bye Jay, bye Carlos!" Mal said eagerly, and she left with Ben. "Hey Jay?" Carlos questioned, and Jay turned to him. "Yeah C?" Jay asked. "What does ILY mean?" "Haven't a clue." Jay answered and started walking towards campus.