What I Want

Chapter 44: Ben's Mistake

Mal sighed in relief as Dr. Pratt informed her that she was allowed to walk again, as her ankle had magically, thanks to her fairy healing powers. After thanking the doctor and texting Ben, his parents, and her friends the good news, Mal went to class, but she couldn't stop thinking about her previous conversation with Ben. Sure, it went a lot better than she thought it would, thinking Ben was going to fight her on this. However, she couldn't help but think that Ben would have a hard time learning to control his temper. To him, it was practically instinctive to react so violently, but he had no right to blame it on his beast side. Mal was going to have to teach him that he is more than just part beast; he was human too. She then realized that he was starting to forget that, but she couldn't figure out why this was the case. She was going to have to talk to her new therapist about it. Sure, she hadn't found one yet that they could both talk to, but she was already forming ideas of what she needed to talk about. However, this was going to be a challenge for her.

It was hard enough opening up to Ben, but to a complete stranger, it was going to feel impossible. How could she trust someone she didn't know? Sure, they were legally obligated to keep what is said confidential, but Mal wasn't convinced. For all she knew, this person could judge her or try to change her. Heck, the therapist might even feel like Mal isn't good enough for Auradon and try to send her back to the Isle. She was going to have to talk to Ben about it. This person had to be the perfect fit for both of them. For now though, all she could do was focus on her classes.

After she got out of her last class, Mal's phone buzzed. She looked at it and saw that she had a bunch of notifications from everyone. Most of them were congrats on being out of the wheel chair. However, what stood out was a missed call from Jay. Mal wondered what that was about. He hardly ever called her. If anything, he'd send her a quick text to check in with her. She'd usually hang out with him and the rest of the gang every Friday evening. So this was out of the ordinary. Mal texted Jay and asked him what he wanted to talk to her about. If he was calling, and not texting, it had to be important. He replied and asked her to meet by the benches in the outside common area in five minutes. They both arrived at the same time.

"Is everything okay?" Mal asked curiously, wondering why he needed to talk to her face to face.

"I was actually going to ask the same thing," Jay replied.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I talked to Ben today. He told me what happened last night. And after talking with him, I'm sensing a bit of tension between you two. Is everything alright between you guys?"

"I think so. Sure, we've had our share of problems, but every couple does. What gives you the impression that things aren't going well?"

"Ben was really beating himself up over last night,"Jay explained,"like really beating himself up. I've never seen him so upset before. He was so distraught that I didn't want to ask him why he was so upset and angry with himself."

Mal sighed. The last thing she wanted to tell Jay was how her husband hurt her, even unintentionally.

"Please, hear me out before you react, okay," Mal urged him,"just hear me out."

"Okay," Jay said cautiously, sensing he wasn't going to like what he was about to hear.

"First of all," Mal began,"this isn't easy for me to talk about. You know I don't like opening up to people."

"You can trust me, Mal. I know it's hard, but you can. I promise."

"I know, but that doesn't make it any easier," Mal continued,"anyway, well... he... he... he... he hurt me last night."

Jay's eyes narrowed, his body tensing as he felt anger rush through him. How dare Ben hurt Mal, especially after he promised he wouldn't?

"I'm going to kill him!" Jay declared.