The Love of the Lost

Chapter 5

All of the sudden, everything fell into place. Ben, staring right into my eyes with a giant smile on his face. Suddenly, I realized how close my lips were to Ben's. It was almost like they were waiting for....

The door knocked. Ben and I jumped apart, the tension of the previous moment still lingering in the air. He gives me a knowing look. 

"Come in," He rasps, clearing his throat. 

"Oh, Mal, how nice to see you dear, again." Belle says with a warm smile and a wink. I give her a small smile, and then look at Ben for help. Ben sees my discomfort and goes over to his mom. 

"Mom, what do you need?" He chirps, always a catch. I smile against my will, he's too cute. 

"Well, I am in need of someone to help set the table, would you mind helping out?" Belle replied, glancing my way. Ben looked confused, like it wasn't something she asked him often. Then it all clicked. 

"I can help with that." I said brightly. Ben looked startled by my sudden outburst, and then quickly saw what I was doing. Clearly Belle knew as well. 

"Wonderful! Now, I'll have supper ready in twenty minutes, hopefully you can finish by then." she said. Slowly, she closed the door, carefully leaving it cracked.

When we heard her footsteps hit the first floor, Ben launched himself towards me. 

"Mal, this is the chance, she did this with one person before, and it's the first step in her approving of you." Ben told me. Suddenly the two week variant of our relationship was nothing. It could end tonight. 

"Ben, I ....I " I couldn't seem to put it into words. He ran and gave me a hug. 

"No! Mal it is nothing to worry about, I'm just glad you caught on, and plus, you already passed the first test," He said with a wink. I shook my head, confused. 

"Well, the setting dinner part silly! She was testing you to see if you would offer to help out, so, you passed!" Ben grinned. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. At least I had done something right. Now all I have to do is get through this dinner, hopefully Beast was there. 

Ten minutes later Ben and I were finished with  the table, and I was sweating. 

"Ben, this table has to be as big as my entire dorm room, why do you need such a big table?" I panted

"Mal, people, very important people, come to eat dinner with us, it's only proper to make sure there is always enough room for them." Ben says as if it's a script he's been reciting all his life. I stared at him puzzled for a moment. Before he could say anything else, Belle walked in and gasped. 

My head spun. We did something wrong. Maybe the forks were supposed to go on the other side of the place mat. Or maybe the waters were only supposed to be half full. Rich people are so particular. Maybe this is what my life would be like, freaking out over a fork. But instead of yelling, Belle crept over to the table and all I could hear was me breathing. She finally looked up at me, but instead of disappointment, all there was was admiration.  

"Mal, dear, you did a wonderful job, Ben should have you around more often." Belle smiled. 

Ben and I shared a celebratory glance just as Beast walked down the stairs in his usual attire. His eyes suddenly widened. 

"Belle, honey, are we having company? No one told me."He looked panicked. 

Belle chuckled softly and said," No dear it's just Mal." 

I wasn't sure whether that was an insult or a compliment.But I brushed it off. Belle gave me a knowing glance.

"well then, why did you set the entire table Belle?" questioned Beast. Belle gave Ben a smirk, while he looked just as confused as I felt. Then suddenly a realization set through me, she didn't tell us to only set it for the family, but she also didn't tell us to set the whole table. A second test, and, thankfully, I had passed. 

"You can thank Mal for that, she did a wonderful job." Belle smiled.The Beast took a sweep of the table and grinned,"She certainly has."

All the recognition I needed was from Beast, and it made me smile. Mostly, his words meant the most. Swiftly, we all sat at the table, Beast at the head of the table with me to his right, and Ben next to me with Belle to Beast's left. We sat and just enjoyed the meal for a solid two minutes. But for me, the silence was too much. And Ben knew that. 

"So, mom, what plans do you have for tomorrow?" Ben gave me a sideways glance. 

I already saw where this was going... so I decided to let them talk. 

*THE END OF THE DINNER*

The entirety of the meal was good.  I was proud to say that I had not done anything embarrassing,yet.  So I decided to wait until Ben excused me, I didn't really know how to do that to be honest. I was glad when he started standing and said," Mom, dad, this was a great dinner, but would you excuse Mal and I to ," He paused and grinned at me," our bedroom?" I was caught off guard but so excited he had said it in front of his parents, it didn't bother me. 

Belle and Beast looked at each other, and smiled silently, like they were remembering old times. Which, low key gave me a weird feeling but whatever. So I excused myself and washed by plate. As we were walking up the stairs I tugged on Ben's shirt. "How'd I do?" I whispered, careful not to let Belle hear. He gave me a big smile, and, almost too loudly, said, "Mal, they loved you. My mom continued conversations with you, and Dad already loved you. I knew they would. I knew they would always support me, you're just an added perk." and with that he pecked me on the cheek. A sweet gesture that would leave me feeling warm and fuzzy inside. 

*AUTHORS NOTE*

AHHH IT'S BEEN A WHILE. I'm sorry that everything I'm writing is coming out late. But you may have to wait a little longer;). I've decided to release the next few chapters together, which will definitely take longer, but I think in the long run, reading more at a time is more fun! Give me feedback and let me know which way you like better! Thank you for reading!