Never Alone

the good ole fam

Evie shrugged and started telling Ben the entire story, and Mal turned to her with her mouth open in shock. "How can you do this? Don't you care about Jay at all?" Mal asked her. "This isn't our secret to tell Evie!" "You told your mom!" Evie protested and Mal shot back right away," I most certainly did not! If it were up to me, you wouldn't even know about this! I knew from the beginning you couldn't be trusted with this secret, because you love being the center of attention, and I get that. You're beautiful Evie, something every girl wants. You're talented, you're smart, and your mom is nice and caring, and willing to help you. You haven't grown up in Jay's footsteps. You aren't understanding how serious this is, and you're not understanding how secretive this needs to stay." Mal said.

"But Ben can help." Evie said. "No, he cant!" Mal snapped at her. "The only way he can be helped is by the way we're doing it currently. He recently asked me to do something to help him further on the path to healing, and I'm thankful. I'm not going to let anyone hurt Jay again."

"You make this seem like Jay's the only one that you love." Bens aid after an awkward silence. Mal's head shot up, and she said, "Of course I do! He's my best friend!" "There's something else, isn't there? You love him more than that!" Be shouted and Jay started to shift and Mal held him tighter. "Shh! You'll wake him up!" Mal hissed.

Ben quieted down down as Mal continued to stroke Jay's hair to calm him. "You haven't loved on the Isle of the Lost. It's too painful to talk about because I've seen what Jafar does, and I've been on the receiving end of things too from Jafar, not just Jay. What he did to Jay is beyond words. I hate that man for what he did to Jay. Jay never deserved that. No one deserved to get beat as much as Jay did." Mal said softly. Carlos leaned a his head on Mal's shoulder, and she reached out to ruffle his hair. Mal returned her hand to Jay's hair and felt his forehead. "Thank God he's back to normal." Mal said a bit too loudly.

"What do you mean?" Ben asked. "We can tell when he's having noghtmares, because he'll have a raging fever. He was running a pretty high temp before he fell asleep." Carlos explained. "He's back to normal temperature now. He should be better by morning." Mal said and Carlos nodded. Ben looked at his watch, "How long do you guys stay up? It's past curfew, we should all be asleep." It was like no one could hear him as Mal and Carlos were talking quietly and Jay was stirring again. Mal quickly got him to stop moving again, and Mal and Carlos resumed conversation. "Mal?" Ben asked again. Mal didn't answer as Carlos had her full attention. Mal glanced at the clock and looked back at Carlos. "You should get to bed, otherwise you'll be tired for class tomorrow." "What about you?" Ben asked her. "I'll make it, don't worry about me. Carlos, get into bed and sleep, you have that Trig test tomorrow." Mal said and Carlos saluted. "Wake me up if you need anything." "Got it." Mal said and Carlos climbed under the covers of his bed and fell asleep. 

"Evie, you should get going to bed too. Wouldn't want you to fail your chemistry test." Mal said and Evie said her goodnights before scampering down the hall. "Goodnight Mal. Can we talk about going on another date in the future?" Ben asked her. "Possibly. We'll see where we are when that time comes." Mal said. "See you soon." Ben said before kissing her on the head, and leaving the dorm room. Over the next few days, whenever Ben walked into the same room as Jay, or came within 50 feet of him, Jay would make an excuse to leave, or disapear from the room completly. Mal soon figured out why he seemed so off, and one morning three weeks after Ben had been told the story, she followed Jay out of the dining hall into an open grass space. "Okay Jay. Tell me. Why do you keep leaving whenever my boyfriend walks within 50 feet of you." Mal said when she and Jay were completly alone. Jay slowly turned around and sighed. He didn't say anything as he kept his eyes fixated on the ground. "I'm sorry Jay." Mal said softly and stepped foreward to tilt his chin back up. "I didn't mean it like that, but could you please tell me why?" Mal asked him. Jay nodded and he looked down at her. 

"The thing is, I'm afraid. Since Ben was revealed my secret, I'm afraid to go near him. I remember how mad he was at you, and for a moment, he reminded me of my dad. I know it sounds stupid, but I'm afraid of him. Ben looks like my dad, just without the red robes, stupid parrot, and beard." "I know Jay, but I'll protect you no matter what." Mal said folding her hand into his. "Thank you." Jay said softly before resting his forehead against hers. "MAL!" A voice yelled with extreme anger. Mal and Jay both met Ben's angry blue eyes that were almost bugging out of his head. "Hey Ben. Can we help you with something?" Mal asked. Ben's eyes were so angry looking, Mal decided to say something about them. "Umm, Ben, your eyes are kinda bugging out of your head, I don't know if that's something you want checked out or-" "Shut up." Ben snapped. "I'm sorry, what?" Mal asked. "I said shut up! I know what you two were up to!" "Not this again Ben! I'm dating you, not Jay!" "Explain this then!" Ben screamed shoving a phone in her face. On the screen was a picture of Jay and Mal with their foreheads pressed together, and then havoc broke loose. Again.