Happy Halloween y'all

Here's a spookay (sorta) oneshot just for the occasion

Ben and Mal are just engaged at this point.

Also-

1K reads! What- how??
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~Mal's POV~

What have I gotten myself into?

Ben just convinced me to go camping with him. In the woods. At night.

No, I wasn't scared of the woods. Or the dark.

I swear.

I'd just prefer to stay inside with running water and a heating system and all that jazz.

Plus, it was fall. The temperature was dropping rapidly. I'd just pulled out my sweaters and long-sleeved shirts from the back of my wardrobe. Okay, it was Evie who went through last year's cold-weather supply and sorted out everything that was 'so last year'. At least, according to her.

And who was I to argue? Honestly?

I texted Evie once I was back in my own room in the castle. I didn't share a room with Ben yet. We'd decided to only live together once we were married in a few months.

Mal: hey E

Evie: what's up M?

Mal: Ben and I are going camping

Evie: Ooh. Where?

Mal: some private nature reserve I guess

Evie: omg

Mal: what?

Evie: I need to make you a new outfit

Mal: E you don't really have to do that

Evie: yes I do. Be over at my place in 30 mins

Mal: okay. Don't go overboard

Evie: that's exactly the plan

Mal: oh boy

I quickly changed. Evie would have a heart attack if she saw me just in a sweatshirt and joggers.

'You're gonna be Queen soon, M' she'd say. 'You need to start dressing like one.'

I felt like a child. But I don't wannaaaaaa I said every time.

I threw on one of my dresses that Evie made for me, then headed out. Evie's cottage was a bit far away from the castle, so I took out my motorbike from the palace garage and rode it there.

Once I got there, I parked my bike and left my helmet on the seat. Then pulled out my compact and quickly fixed my hair, which always gets messed up when I wear a helmet.

Before I even knocked, Evie opened the door and immediately took me to her design room. The hated measuring platform was slap in the center of the room. And I was made to stand on it as Evie took my measurements again. She's seriously done this so many times, one would've thought they'd be memorized by now.

She sat down and handed me her sketchbook of sorts, with a bunch of pinned fabric and designs drawn on the pages.

"The last page," she told me.

I flipped past all her previous designs, most of which were now hanging on the clothing rack behind me.

On the last page was a sketch of a denim jacket with an embroidery on the right side that looked suspiciously like a dragon. It also had sketches of camo cargo pants and black leggings, and a long-sleeved shirt that had a swirling leaf design.

"E," I said. "These are gorgeous."

"Of course they are," Evie said with a bit of smugness in her voice. "When are you going camping?"

"This weekend," I said. It was only Tuesday anyway.

"Which reserve?"

"He didn't specify."

"It'll be fun." she said, tapping her pencil against her desk.

"I hope so." I said.

"I'll have your stuff done in three days," Evie said, putting down her tape measure and pencil.

"Thanks, E," I said.

"What are best friends for M?" Evie asked. "Other then to have girl talk?"

"We haven't had one in a while," I noticed.

"Nope," Evie said, pulling me out of her design room and into her living room. "But we're having one now."

"Okay," I knew there was no saying no.

~Time Skip (cause I'm a lazy bean)~

Evie had just dropped off my new camping outfit a yesterday night. As always, they fit perfectly. I was wearing them now so I didn't have to change later.

I packed a small backpack for today with my pajamas, two water bottles, and a few protein bars. I also brought a portable charger for my phone, just in case. And a box of matches. Ben told me not to bring a sleeping bag or anything else like that, so I was pretty sure he had that in order already.

An hour passed with me finishing up the last of my homework. Someone knocked on my door.

"It's unlocked!" I shouted, not wanting to get up from my desk, where I was reading a book.

And who should come into the room but my Benny Boo.

"Hey," he said. "You ready?"

"We're going this early?" I asked, folding my page to save it and closing my book.

"It's 11 AM," he said.

"Oh," I looked over at the clock.

"We can go later if you don't want to go now," he said, in true Ben fashion.

"No, I'm ready. Just thought we'd go in the late afternoon," I got up and grabbed my little backpack.

He took it from me. "I'll carry it."

"Such a gentleman," I teased.

"It's how I was raised," he winked at me, most likely causing me to blush furiously.

I couldn't look him in the eye. He grabbed my hand.

"If you keep blushing like that we may never get out of here," he warned.

"Not my fault," I responded breezily. "I have no control over it."

"Well whose fault is it, then?"

"Yours," I said in a duh tone.

"Mine? How?" he asked, in a surprised tone that was obviously fake.

"You're just too freakin adorable," I smirked.

"Well," he smirked back, squeezing my hand in his. "You're also freakin adorable," he mimicked my tone.

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

He shut me up by kissing me.

"Are too," he mumbled when he pulled away.

"Fine," I pouted. "Let's go anyway."

He led me out to the garage and handed me a helmet. Then he got on his motorbike and gestures for me to sit behind him, which I did. I wrapped my arms around his waist, and he started up the motor.

We drive for about fifteen minutes past the castle and into the woods. Finally, we reached a little clearing. The sun shone through the opening in the trees above. The leaves were cleared away, leaving nothing but sparkling green grass. There also was a red and white checkered blanket with a wicker picnic basket sitting atop it. A tent stood in the corner of the clearing.

Ben walked up to me from behind and hugged me. "You like it?"

"I love it," I turned around and smiled at him.

"I'm glad you did," he unwrapped his arms from around me and sat on the red and white blanket. I sat next to him, and he pulled me into his lap.

"You hungry?" He asked.

"A little bit," I said, resting my head in his chest.

~Time skip cause I have a deadline~

The sun had set. Ben and I finished up having a picnic dinner, not that different from lunch.

He packed up the rest of the food and then turned to the tent.

"We can either sleep in the tent or just on the grass," he said. "I have sleeping bags though."

"Do you know if it's gonna rain?" I asked.

"I checked earlier," Ben said. "It shouldn't."

"Then let's not use the tent," I said.

"Okay," he grabbed two sleeping bags, one purple and one blue, and laid them out side by side in the middle of the clearing. The stars and crescent moon were just becoming visible through the shadowy trees.

I sat down on the purple one, and Ben sat next to me on the blue one. He grabbed my hand as I leaned into his chest and closed my eyes.

"We should probably go to sleep," he said quietly.

"Probably," I repeated, moving away from him so I could lie down on top of the sleeping bag. The night wasn't that cold, surprisingly.

Ben did the same, and we ended up cuddling and kissing for a bit before falling asleep in each other's arms.

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A rustling noise woke me up in the middle of the night. Ben was still asleep, his breathing soft. I carefully turned over onto my back, still wrapped tightly in his arms. I didn't want to wake him up.

Another noise sounded in the bushes. This one sounded much closer then the last.

I quietly got up. Ben must've noticed my movement, because he shifted and opened his eyes.

"Is there something wrong?" He asked in a tired voice.

"I heard something," I said.

He sat up. "Heard something like what?"

"Something in those bushes," I pointed over to where the noises had come from.

"Probably just a squirrel," he said, leaning back on his arm.

Then another rustle. And then a different noise. I couldn't quite identify it, but it definitely wasn't something an animal could make. It was closest to a snort and a muffled voice.

"A squirrel?" I asked, my voice more like a tiny squeak.

"Hm..." Ben stood up. "I'll check it out."

He went towards the bushes, grabbing a flashlight from the tent. I couldn't help but follow him, even though I was a bit terrified. Curiosity won over fear.

As soon as we got witting three feet of the bush, someone jumped up.

"BOO!" Uma screamed.

I shrieked and fell backwards. Ben accidentally dropped the flashlight in his hand.

Uma was laughing so hard she doubled over. Harry was also by her side, cracking up.

I stood and hastily brushed the dirt from my clothes. "What in Hades was that for?" I demanded.

Ben also seemed to have gotten his bearings. He picked up the flashlight and shone it in both of their faces. "And what are you two doing here?"

"We wanted to spy on you two," Uma said bluntly. "Obviously."

"Precisely," Harry agreed in his Scottish accent.

"So you were watching us the whole night?" I asked.

"Yep," was Uma's response.

"Okay, whatever," Ben said. "Now get out of here."

"Or what?" Harry cut in.

"Fine," Uma said before either Ben or I could respond. "Let's go, Harry."

She grabbed his arm and dragged him off.

I glared at the two, watching them disappear into the shadows.

"That was too easy," Ben said suspiciously.

"Yeah..." I murmured a spell under my breath that would instantly take Uma and Harry back to the Auradon dormitory. "But they're gone now."

"How can you be so sure?" He asked.

"I just am," I smirked.

"Okay," he said meekly, setting down the flashlight and taking me into his arms. "I'll trust your judgment."

I was pretty sure he'd heard what I'd done, but I didn't care at the moment.

We laid back down on our sleeping bags, watching the stars in a hazy heaven above us. I cuddled back into him, the adrenaline rush from that scare wearing off, and replaced by drowsiness.

Ben leaned down to kiss me. Once we pulled away, his hand cupped my face and his thumb flicked lightly over my cheek. "You tired?"

"A little bit," I admitted.

"Go to sleep then," he said. "I'm not going anywhere."

"You better not," I said flatly.

"I won't," he promised, kissing my forehead.

I smiled to myself and fell asleep again in his arms.