i spent the rest of the night awake, well mostly going in and out of sleep. in total i probably got thirty minutes of sleep. i was scared that if i fell asleep i'd end up getting a nightmare. with everything that's going on i don't know what's in store for my dreams, i however didn't want to risk it. the shower woke me up, and i quickly got changed. i was going to wear my regular clothes, i instead changed into some of princey's clothes. he's not fat, of course not he's in great shapes, but we're different sizes. again, that's because i'm starved. growing up in the isle meant many of us were malnourished, surviving on fish wasn't much. i went with my own pants, but the shirt and sweater were his. i look like i'm going to a family dinner.

audrey picked me up, she handed me a cup of coffee and we made our way to the car waiting for us. mal was already there, i don't see why she's coming with us but i didn't have the energy to care. all my energy is on princey and him coming back alive. the ride back to the hospital was painfully quiet, i just rested my head on audreys shoulder as i drank my coffee. i wonder if hades is already or they're still trying to bring him over. they're probably having trouble getting into his lair.

once we arrived we were lead up to princey's room, his parents weren't there yet. i took a seat next to princey, it looked like he sleeping but i knew he wasn't. i held his hand, i rubbed circles in his hand like he does to me. he can't feel it obviously, but doing it relaxes me. the door opened up after a few minutes of waiting there in the silence. it was belle and adam, mr. beast? mr. florian? king adam, king beast, don't know and don't care.

"what is she doing here? you did this to my son, i can't believe we almost let you into our family!" i quickly let go of princeys hand as i almost fell out of my chair. his fathers voice was loud and scary, i did not like it one bit. i thought he was talking to me, i mean who else would he be talking. i was wrong though, he was talking to audrey.

"sir, i-i had nothing to do with this, i would never hurt ben." audrey defended herself but he wouldn't listen. "i want you out of here, i don't want you near my son ever again!" his voice boomed all over the room, it was so loud i thought princey was going to wake up. "yes sir." audrey lowered her head and stood up to walk out. i stopped her though, i don't care who he is, no one talks to audrey like that.

"with all due respect sir, you have no right to speak to audrey in such way. she is one of ben's best friends,  he wouldn't allow you to speak to her like that either. audrey has nothing to do with this, what happened out there wasn't her fault. she was possessed by evilest force there is, the same ones that possessed maleficent. she wasn't herself when things happened, it isn't fair you blame her." the way that beast was looking down at me kinda frightened me not gonna lie, he could squash me if he wanted to. he has the power to do so after all.

"val is right, what happened out there isn't anyone's fault. audrey was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. this thing, the black fog ben warned everyone about, her name is eve. she's the mother of all, both evil and good, monsters and fallen souls. to roam the earth she needs a vessel, so she chose audrey just like she once chose my mother. she was created by the gods, but when she became too powerful they left her to roam free. only a god can destroy her, or she can take herself out by taking a human life with her. she took herself out by taking ben with her, and that was after she left audrey's body." mal was now defending audrey too, i'll be honest it was nice seeing her defend audrey.

"adam please, ben would never allow you to speak to his friends in such way. we're all hurt by these events but you can't just lash out at everyone like that. audrey dear, please excuse him he's not being himself right now. your parents are here to see you, i'll help you out." i don't know how belle can stay so calm around him like that. she walked over to audrey and helped her up, thankfully audrey allowed herself to be helped up instead of doing it herself.

"we'll be back once he's here. again, i apologize for his behavior. i know we all just want our ben back." belle said to me as she and audrey passed me on their way out. i didn't say anything and just watched them leave, i mean i know we all react differently to these things but still... the door closed and i was alone with princey, that was until i remembered mal was with me too.

"val, i know you said you could never forgive me for what i did and i'm not going to force you to forgive me. you don't have to say anything now even, just hear me out okay? that's all i ask of you, please hear me out." what can she possibly say that can make anything she's ever done better? i didn't look up at her or say anything really, she can take that as 'keep going' or 'no' it's up to her really. it's not like i'm going anywhere.

"well first i'd like to apologize about how i treated you, it wasn't because i didn't like you but because you were in uma's gang. it's a stupid reason really, but i'll admit i was angry when you joined her gang instead of mine. i should've seen that coming though, i didn't let her into my gang so of course she went after the son of another great villain..." she wanted me in her gang? i don't buy that, she's probably just saying that because of our little situation here.

"when we arrived at auradon i was still angry when i shouldn't have been. you didn't like me though so i just returned the energy. i should've been the bigger person though, i mean you did help us spell ben and reminded us what our goal was. the day of his coronation i actually felt really bad during the carriage ride, i knew you liked him and i knew how the others were enjoying auradon. seeing you two dance together during the party actually made me real happy. seeing everyone enjoying themselves made me real happy..." yeah and then you went and took him from me.

"i'll be honest, when i spelled ben again i felt terrible. i mean you were willing to stand between mom and i, i shouldn't have spelled him. i only did it because i was so infatuated with the thought of one day being queen of auradon. i know you probably hate me even more because of that, and that's totally okay. i never intended to hurt you, but i did and i'm terribly sorry about that. when we were on the isle, you had the chance to off me but you didn't... i'm not mad you felt that way either, i know you had every reason to be angry at me." i didn't because i was stopped... i don't like how she said 'mom and i' instead of 'my mom and i'.

"and, i know it's not my fault, but i'm sorry about what happened between us and our parents. if i had known i would've done everything to reach out to you, i've always wanted a sibling of my own actually... now i get a whole twin and that's really awesome. i guess maybe i should've known we were related, i mean when queen leah spoke to me, you and audrey came over and she asked 'there's two of you?' that should've been a big clue." i let out a small chuckle as mal tried to imitate queen leah's voice, and yeah she was right that should've been a clue.

"then when you grabbed my hand and dragged audrey and i from the scene, my hand burned as if it were on fire. i take it that was from our dad's side. then during the coronation, mom called you samael... i didn't question it but i really should've. especially since i don't think you've ever met her. and you're able to perform spells! i mean not just anyone can do that." when is hades getting here? this is taking forever...

"i hope we can give it a try, being a family. i won't force you of course, if you don't want to that's completely understandable. i just don't want you to hate me forever..." she really wants to give it a try? well i don't. 'for me.' mothers words echoed in my head for a bit, she wants me to give this family a try. i already have a family though, why do i need a new one? val it's okay to say no sometimes, just say no. val say no.

"i guess it is pretty unfair to be mad at you for our parents actions. i just, i'm not sure about this. i mean a simple apology won't make up for the past. you can't just apologize to me about the stuff from the isle, you have to apologize to uma and the others. an apology won't make up for the pain i went through as i watched you and princey get together and become 'auradon's it couple.'" it's not just me holding a grudge, it's true. i can't just forgive and forget. it doesn't work like that,

"i'll do whatever it takes to make up for that. i just want things to be okay between us, please let me make it up to you val." how can i trust her? after everything, how can i trust a word she says? mother wants me to do this though, should i say yes or no? "i... maybe.." she smiled widely, did she really want this or was this another trick? you never know with her...

soon the door was opened again, or rather slammed opened. two guards, hades, belle and adam. hades!? he's here! either he came or they forced him here. i take it they forced him here as he's wearing chains and handcuffs. they were all staring at him with a mix of fear and hatred. okay, we just need him to wake up princey and that's it's. mal stopped up and walked over to him, why does she seem happy to see him? does she actually like her father despite him abandoning her?

"i don't see why i should do this, you're just gonna throw me back to the isle. it's not like i'm getting anything out of this." yeah they definitely forced him. "he's our friend, please dad. do this for us, for your kids." yeah him being my dad will totally make princeys parents like me more. he looked over at me which made me uneasy. just because mother wants me to give them a chance doesn't mean i'm suddenly going to comfortable around them and shit. "he really means this much to you?" he asked me, what type of question even is this?

"yes, please just help him." i didn't want to sound so hopeless and desperate, but if he didn't help us then princey was a goner. i can't bare to lose him. "fine, but i'm gonna need my hands." belle motioned the guards to release him and they did. mal handed him the ember quickly before standing right besides me. his hair went up in flames as soon as his hand made contact with the ember. woah cool, let's move on please. hades walked up to adam they had a sort of staring contest. then they both began to growl each other like animals? are they fucking serious right now? princey is slipping away from us and all they can do is act like chil- animals.

"dad!" mal's voice snapped hades and adam out of their little thing. i get hades being immature, but adam? this is his son that needs saving, what's wrong with him? if they keep acting like this i'm serving beast and god for dinner. hades let out an annoyed sigh before walking to the hospital bed, he stood at the foot of it as a bright blue light from the ember filled the room. he began to move his hands around, i guess gods don't need to know spells for their powers to work? the magic from the ember left and hit princey. when nothing happened i felt like my heart was being pushed around and beaten up.

we stood around waiting for princey to wake up. hades did what he had to do, there was nothing else to do. as the minutes passed by my breathing became heavy, my eyes began to tear up and my heart began to hurt. he's.... he's gone isn't he? i felt a hand on my shoulder, it was hades' hand. he squeezed my shoulder and gave me saddened look. normally i would question if it was genuine but right now i just felt empty inside. i closed my eyes to try and stop the tears that wanted to spill. it's normal for me to cry, but part of me didn't want to cry. i felt like if i did cry, then i would have to accept he was really gone.

"v...val?" great now i'm hearing things. "val? where am i?" hade shook my shoulder and i finally opened my eyes to see a half awake princey. princey! i practically jumped over to him, he was alive! my princey! why am i the only one that seems glad? are his parents in shock still? whatever, my attention was on princey right now and forever. "princey, how-how are you feeling?" i asked him as i held his hand in mine. he was still trying to take in his surroundings i guess because when he saw hades he almost jumped up.

"better as long as you're here." i went to kiss his cheek but he turned it into a kiss on the lips. of course i didn't mind but his parents were in the room, i really doubt they want to see their son kissing another boy. i quickly pulled away and stepped aside to hide my face. i was both crying and blushing, a rather weird combination. his parents finally wrapped their ahead around what was happening and went to greet their son. i let them have their moment and awkward stood next to hades and mal.

after awhile of just standing there watching the royal family talk, it was time for hades to go back to the isle. belle told them what to do before she and her husband left the room.  the guards were quick to handcuff him again, they were about to leave the room before princey stopped them. "thank you for helping me, is there any way i can repay you?" princey asked him, he probably wants to be released from the isle. i doubt princey would let that happen though. "no not really... just don't die again. we don't want sa- valentin to be left heart broken, isn't that right son?" i didn't say anything, i just nodded and looked down at my feet. i don't know why i felt so intimidated whenever he looked at me.

"i'll try." princey joked, it really wasn't the time for jokes though as we did almost fucking lose him. with that the guards took hades out of the room and we were left alone with one another. before i could even move towards princey mal grabbed me and led me out of the room. um excuse me? what the fuck? "dad!" the guards and hades all turned to look at us, they weren't even down the hallway before we stopped them. mal dragged me towards them, why am i not fighting back?

"i'm going to have to miss you all over again." she hugged him before kissing his cheek, did i miss something? when exactly did they bond that he made up for being a bad dad? why isn't she mad that he left her? i didn't realize but during their hug he gave her back the ember. well obviously he has a favorite. mal went back to standing next to me, she then proceeded to nudge me and motioned towards hades. does she want me to hug him too? she stepped back a little before pushing me towards him, again, excuse me??

"i... thank you for helping us." i mumbled out, hopefully he heard me because i wasn't going to repeat myself. "you're welcome, son." was he expecting a hug too? don't tell me he was expecting one too. instead of a hug, i just awkwardly shook his hand. that was enough father-son bonding right? yeah that's enough. the guards pulled him back and they continued to walk him down the hall. we watched until they disappeared, hopefully he didn't give them much trouble afterwards.

"you should give him a chance too, you know." mal said to me but i paid her no attention, giving her a chance was enough for today. i have yet to come around to the idea of giving hades a chance... anyways back to my boyfriend. i walked back into the room and smiled at princey who was on my phone doing god knows what. i walked over to him and took a seat next to him. i wonder if he can leave the hospital yet, i mean it's not like he was seriously hurt. right?

"so princey, do you need anything? i'll go get you whatever you want." he looked up at me and smiled before moving around and making space for me on the hospital bed. "all i need is you." what a sap, but okay. i carefully got on next to him, i get i was going to break the bed though if i'm being honest. he wrapped his arms around me and kissed my forehead, i wonder what it felt like to be dead or almost dead. i'm not entirely sure.

"you know, i saw the light but it didn't let me go near it. a voice kept telling me that it wasn't my time, that i can't leave my people without a king. you know who's voice that was? yours, you pulled me back and kept me away from it. you're my anchor val, thank you." thank you? why is he thanking me? "you're welcome? i-i don't really know how to reply to that..." i hope he doesn't regret what he said... maybe he is, or like he's going to take it back.

"it's fine, val i don't expect you to say anything. i know how you feel about me, and that's all i need. we're not all great with words, and that's okay. just hold me, tell me you love me and that's all." i wish i knew how to use my words, i almost lost him and even then i couldn't really say anything. i'm unbelievable. i know he wants more than an 'i love you' and he deserves more than just that. for now that's all i can offer him.

"i love you ben, i really do. and because of recent events, i'm going to remind you every day because i don't want to lose you without letting you know how much i love you. i know i'm new to this whole loving someone romantically, and i'm glad you're the one that i get to experience it with. it sounds silly, but i'm really grateful to have you in my life. i couldn't ask for anyone else."

"you called me ben."
"is that really what you got from all of that?"
"of course not, i love you val. love love love you."
"shut up you sap"
"just kiss me already."

(i'm not going to expand this story like with my evie one, there'll be an epilogue probably i'm not sure. something like set a few years later (or two years really) and whatnot)