Chapter Seven: Whatever Happens

Mal's rage carried her down the hallway, and she wondered if this was how her mother felt before she took off. Where is he? She scanned each hallway she passed. It was nighttime so he wouldn't be outside, therefore, she just needed to locate him within one of the buildings. She stopped as she passed by the windows of the library. That's him. She could recognize the back of his head from anywhere. And that's her. Seeing them together increased her rage, and forced her into the library.

Students turned on their heels to watch her as she marched by. Ben and Audrey looked up because they heard her coming before they saw her.

"Oh, it's just you," Audrey hissed before turning to look back down at her book. Audrey glanced at Ben, anxious as to what he was going to do. He chose me, she attempted to reassure herself. There's no way he will go back to her…I hope.

"How dare you?" Mal screeched the only words that came to her. "Not just to me but to Audrey. How dare you?" Ben felt fear begin to rush through his veins. Oh no, she knows.

"Ben, what is she talking about?" Audrey asked making sure to not have her eyes meet Mal's. Before he could answer, Mal interrupted.

"He doesn't like you Audrey. He's doing this as some sick scheme he and Evie came up with to get me back." Audrey laughed so hard she snorted.

"Yeah, right," she responded as she flicked her hair. "Ben is better than that." Mal raised her eyebrow as she placed her hand on her hip.

"Really?" She asked. "Are you Ben?" Before he could answer the familiar sound of quick steps in the library interrupted his thought.

"This behavior may be acceptable where you come from," the librarian snapped. "But I will not tolerate it in my library. Get out!" The librarian pointed towards the door.

"Tell Audrey what you did!" Mal yelled as the librarian took her by the elbow and began to lead her out the door. "Tell her!" Audrey had to wipe sweat from her forehead as she began to panic.

"Ben?" Ben shook his head. Evie.

"I'm sorry," Ben said standing up. He stood up so quickly that his chair fell over. He decided an explanation was not necessary, Audrey was smart enough to figure it out. And, besides, if he stayed any longer he did not think he would be able to handle the guilt. He ran out after Mal, and pushed past gawking onlookers.

"Your behavior was absolutely unacceptable, especially for a king," the librarian remarked as Ben passed her, and he realized this was the first time he had heard her speak. Great, what a great first time. Ben was sick of everyone reminding him of his kingship. Sure, he was a king, but he was also a seventeen year old boy.

"Mal!" He yelled as she chased after her. "Mal!" She turned around and her eyes flashed with rage.

"What?" She yelled. Her voice echoed through the stone hallways. Without thinking Ben ran up to her, put both of his hands on her cheeks and pulled her into a kiss. To his surprise he was met with a slap.

"I hate you!" Mal screamed as she took off again towards her room. "I wish you never brought us here! I wish I never met you!" Her words cut through his heart like a sharp knife.

"Mal," he said as tears ran down his face. "Mal!" He chased her in silence back to her dorm room. She fumbled to get her door open, and his foot stopped her from slamming it. She threw a pillow back at him from her bed before barrying her face in her pillow.

"Can we just talked?" He begged as his voice cracked. "Please? You said you loved me Mal, and I know you meant it."

"You want to talk?" She yelled, her voice hoarse. "What have you turned into Ben? Lying to Audrey and treating us both like that?"

"Don't you dare put this on me, Mal. You want to talk, okay, let's talk! I show you nothing but love for the past year, I take you to a special place to me, I give you my virginity, and you just leave! Like our night was nothing, like I was nothing. I give you everything I have and you treat me like I'm nothing. You know the control you have over me and instead of appreciating it like a sane person you manipulate me when it's convenient for you. Why should it bother you if I'm with Audrey and if I like her or not? If you want me gone as much as you say you do, you should be happy!" His words cut through her and guilt began to swarm within. She knew he as right and she couldn't think of anything to say back. In the silence she could hear Ben breathing hard from his rage, and it reminded her of the night they had spent together.

"Because I need you now," she finally responded. Ben rolled his eyes.

"Why, because you're lonely? That's great Mal," she got up from her bed and walked towards her dresser. "You only need me when you're lonely, that's not how love works!" She grabbed the box and tossed it at Ben. He caught it in midair.

"You want to know what I got in the mail today?" she said quietly. "Well, there it is." He didn't even look at it.

"Why are you changing the subject?"

"Just look at the damn box!" she yelled. Ben was physically taken back, this was the first time he had heard her swear. In fact, he realized that was the first time he'd heard anyone swear in person. He looked over at the box, he'd never seen anything like it.

"What is it?" He asked, lowering his voice. As soon as he did, he regretted it. The word pregnancy immediately jumped out again. He asked the question again, this time not out of confusion but out of fear. Mal nervously twiddled her hands together.

"I think I'm pregnant," she whispered. Ben realized the door was open and went up and shut it. The last thing he needed was the school finding out about this. Hopefully they would be so busy gossiping about the fallout in the library that no one would be looking for him.

"What, what do you mean you think?" Mal rolled her eyes and went back to her bed.

"Like, I'm late and I'm never late. And I just feel different."

"Well sometimes I feel different after I eat a beef burrito but that doesn't mean I'm pregnant." Mal rolled her eyes and sat on her bed. She took a deep breath before placing her head in her hands in beginning to cry. Panic began to paralyze Ben as the gravity of the situation sunk in.

"Baby, I'm sorry," he said as he sat next to her. He began to run his hand up and down her back and she felt her muscles relax.

"I just really need you right now," she said between cries. He pulled her closer to him and she relaxed in the comfort of his arms. She had forgotten just how comforting he was. They sat there for awhile before Mal suddenly stood up and took the box from his hand.

"I just have to know," she said as she wiped the last tear from her puffy face. "Do you want to do it with me?"

"Do it with you?"

"Well, like wait here and I'll bring it back?" Ben nodded and nervously ran his hand against his knee.

"Of course." She smiled faintly before heading into the bathroom. As she closed the door panic flooded Ben. This can't be happening. This can't. As odd as it may sound, Ben didn't even think it was possible to get pregnant before marriage. Well, when he had learned about human reproduction with the wide variety of magical creature reproduction, he realized it was technically possible. But, in a land so full of magic, and he the heir and King to the most important throne in the land, he never thought it could happen. Hadn't his parents had someone or something put some spell over him to protect him from messing up this bad. What would happen if people found out about him and Mal? What would happen to him? To Mal? His kingdom? A million different scenarios began to run through his head, and the minutes passed quickly due to the fear. Don't worry about that yet, it's probably just a scare.

Mal emerged from the bathroom with a cup in one hand in the stick in the other. Ben had to wipe his hands on his pants because they were so sweaty. He stood up as she placed the cup on her dresser.

"It's a lot harder to catch your pee than it looks," Mal said with a smile, trying to ease the tension. Ben's face twisted.

"That's your pee?" Ben squirmed, he hated bodily fluid. All of it. It was suppose to stay inside of the body after all.

"This isn't a magic stick, Ben," she said as she dipped the top of the stick in the liquid. "It's ones that humans use from non-magical realms. It says to dip this part of the stick in here, and a few minutes, it will tell us if our future is about to change."

"My mom's from a non-magical realm, you know?" Ben said, trying to change the subject.

"What? Really?" Ben nodded.

"Yeah, talk about a shock when she ended up in an enchanted castle!" They both laughed awkwardly.

"Okay, the box says we should know within sixty seconds." Ben reached over and squeezed Mal's hand. Although she may have thought it was for her comfort, Ben needed her strength. She was the strongest woman he knew, and he needed her right now. They needed each other. Ben pulled her in front of him, and tucked a strand of her dangling purple hair behind her ear.

"Mal, whatever happens, I love you. For you. Not because you're pregnant or because you're not. Whatever happens, we'll face it together." She nodded and he kissed her forehead. Soon after, the test beeped. They both sucked in air. Here it was the moment of truth. Mal's hand was shaking so bad when she picked up the test that she thought it would be difficult to read, but, the word was perfectly clear. Pregnant.

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