Descendants: So hard to let go...

Chapter 1: Don't quit us, Mal.

Started: 9/03/19 Finished: 10/03/19

Authors Note:
For future reference, I know Dove Cameron and Ryan McCartan broke up, I do not ship them whatsoever. I ship Thomas and Dove all the way but since Ryan and Dove went out at this period of time, it may be included. K thanks, enjoy the story! :) <3

Mal's POV
It's been 4 months since the Coronation. Ben and I are doing great but the rest of Auradon... aren't as accepting. They keep saying they shouldn't of let us come and that we can't be trusted. I'm kinda dealing with it, we're villains for goodness sake we got this! Well, we're not Villains but it's what we came from.

Right now, Evie is working on some ball gowns, the Royal Cotillion is in 2 months so she's preparing dresses for some of the girls. Jay is getting in some practice for Sword Fighting, he really wants to be team captain, I hope it happens for him. Carlos is playing with Dude, he wants an excuse to not practice with Jay. Ben was in a meeting but he should be finished now so I'm just about to meet him outside the school.

I leave me and Evie's dorm room and head down to meet Ben. I run into Doug on the way. "Oh hey Mal, have you seen Evie?" He asks. Evie and Doug started dating a few days after the Coronation. "Uh, Yeah, she's making dresses in our dorm.." I answer him and quickly walk off. I try to walk as quickly as I can while avoiding other students. I really don't want to deal with people telling me to 'go home' or 'to get lost' right now. I manage to sneak out and hide behind the Beast Statue outside the school.

As I'm hiding behind the statue, checking to see if the coast is clear, I feel a tap on the shoulder. I get a fright and in automatic defense I elbow the person in the stomach, causing him to yelp in pain. Wait... i recognize that voice... I look up and see Ben clutching his stomach and taking a step back. "Oh my gosh, Ben! I'm so sorry!" I exclaim. "I thought you were someone else!" I try to explain.

"And who did you think I was? That you apparently want to attack??" He asks casually with a small smile as the pain starts to wear off.

"Anyone from this school..." I say nervously.

"Why? What's wrong?" He asks, taking my hand. I hesitate for just a moment, thinking if I should tell him.

"It's... nothing. I'm fine." I lie.

"Are you sure?" He asks reassuringly. I nod my head and he pulls me into a hug, kissing my head. I give a slight smile at his gesture as he lets go.

"So, how was your meeting?" I ask, breaking the silence. "Same as always." He tells, implying that it was boring. Someone walks past us and shouts something.

"Hey! Get back to where you came from, Villain!" The boy shouts aggressively. I bow my head in disappointment. Ben gently lifts my head up by the chin. "Hey, ignore them. You're meant to be here, don't worry about it." He says in a warm, reassuring voice. There's something about his soft words that cheers me up a little. I feel okay at the moment, but I know that deep down it hurts real bad. I also know that Evie, Jay and Carlos feel the same way. Evie and Carlos have confided in me about it. Jay puts on this tough front but even he has told us. No one else knows though, not even Ben. I can tell that he knows something's up but I can't tell him. He'll just worry about me. I don't want that to take him off his responsibilities as king.

It's obvious that he sees the pain in my eyes right now. "Hey, everything will be okay." He tries to reassure me. Tries. He pulls me into another hug. Once we let go, he takes my hand and we walk back to my dorm. We took the long way back so we avoided more people.

"Ben, I don't know if I can do this..." I start as we head through a long hallway. "Mal, the people love you... I love you" he replies, gently. "Ben, I know you do... but the people don't..." I tell him. He wasn't expecting me to say 'I love you too' to him, he knows I'm uncomfortable with that but I think he was hoping I did.