Thankfully, the confidence spell had worn off by Monday, and Ben had been lovely, as usual, but was not bouncing off the walls as he had been the previous week.

Rain herself had been in a giddy haze, her grin was just too charming for Mal to scold her and remind her what waited for them back on the Isle. And so, on Wednesday after Rain's one and only science class, the VKs had planned a 'meeting' during lunch in Jay and Carlos' room. She and Evie were just walking towards the dorms when Ben appeared, a tall boy with bright blonde hair following.

"Rain, Evie! Hey!" Ben greets and they both wave "Uh, this is Taylor, he's a transfer student like you,"

"Oh?" Rain's eyes furrowed in confusion, he definitely wasn't from. the Isle, although the confidence oozing off him (and the earrings) absolutely gave off that vibe.

"Taylor Bell," the boy introduces himself, his voice deep "Pixie Hollow's school system still doesn't beat Auradon's," he shrugs.

Oh, the green outfit made sense now.

Evie was unusually quiet, and when Rain glanced over she saw her giving Taylor an award-winning smile "Evie Grimhilde, Evil Queen's daughter," she put her hand out, and Taylor took it, bowing and kissing the back of it.

"Princess Evie then," he smiles and Rain grins, watching a gentle blush grace her cheeks.

"Well uh-" Evie stutters a bit, remembering Audrey's comment, but Ben smiles and looks at Taylor

"Yes, Princess Evie," she smiles gratefully "And this is Rain,"

"Hi," Rain smiles politely

"I was just showing Taylor to the cafeteria,"

"I can show him!" Evie volunteers and Rain watches Taylor smile.

"I'd love that," the two walk off and Rain shakes her head, she looks over to Ben and finds him already looking at her

"She stole my new friend," he pouts playfully and Rain laughs

"Well, lucky I'm here then," she links her arm with his "Come on, you can escort me to lunch instead,"

"How's your day been?" Ben asks as they walk forward, people in the hallway glancing at them.

"Eh," Rain shrugs "Mrs Duckling is still strange and Mr Deley is still suspicious of me, oh!" she has a sudden thought "Evie got a B in her Science test! That's good right?" On the Isle, they didn't have a grading system, and so Rain was still learning what everything meant.

"That's really good!" they fall into comfortable silence until they reach the cafeteria, where they're greeted with cutlery clinking and background chatter, Rain looks around and finds Evie and Taylor at a table for two and the others, where were the others?

Oh...She'd forgotten about the meeting. It was Evie's fault!

Rain looks around for somewhere to sit, but finds everywhere full, in the corner is Chad with Audrey in his lap, they laugh loudly, glaring at her and Ben. Audrey makes a show of feeding Chad an apple...he takes a bite, and then begins to choke.

In her attempts not to laugh, she doesn't notice that Ben's pulled her over to a free table where some others had just left.

"I've got to go sign off on some things for the Coronation, but uh, I was wondering if you'd want to get some coffee after school?" Rain looks at him in mild shock "We could get that project for History done-"

"Yeah," Rain smiles "That sounds great,"

"Cool, I'll uh, stop by your dorm at 4?"

"It's a date," Rain smiles "A study date," she 'clarifies' and Ben rolls his eyes, grinning.

"A date,".

"A date?!"

"Well-"

"You missed our meeting to arrange a date?!"

"Actually-"

"Shut up Evie!" Mal is fuming, after Evie and Rain had appeared in Carlos and Jay's room just before the lunch period ended, she had demanded to know where they were.

"You wanted me to start dating him!" Rain exclaims "How do I do that without dates?!"

"We should have just put a love spell on him!"

"No!" Rain stands up from Carlos' bed, her voice firm

"My mother always said you were defiant, that you can never trust a Gothel!" Rain wants to remind her that Evie had been late as well, but she bites her lip, protecting Evie from Mal's wrath "You are so annoying, you think you're in charge but you're not,"

"I don't," Rain walks forward "I don't think I'm in charge, but you do. We are a team Mal, we listen to each other, I am sorry I missed the meeting earlier, but you have to learn that you are not the boss of us," Mal goes to interject "No, my turn. Your mother thinks she can rule the villains? Sure, but she'll never let you become her. If you want to be your mother's pet for the rest of your life? Sure, go ahead, but you will not drag us down with you," Rain storms out of the dorm.

The three lessons Rain had after lunch didn't calm her down, and by the time of her and Ben's study date, she was still angry, her arms crossed with a pout as she sat on her bed, watching the door of her dorm, it swings open and Ruby enters.

"Hey Rain!" she was too happy "How was your day?" Ruby puts her backpack down on her bed and starts to unpack some homework, watching Rain curiously

"Bad,"

"Ah, I see Mal's foul mood has rubbed off on you too,"

"You spoke to her?"

"Yeah, we share Art classes, usually I can get a smile or a laugh out of her, but not today,"

"Shame," Rain mutters, checking the time on her phone: Ben was 10 minutes late.

"She seemed more upset than anything, said something about Evie making her apologise to someone. I think she knew she was wrong but whoever she argued with must have hurt her feelings," thank God for Ruby and her rabbling, the worst part of Rain's day had been imaging Mal acting like she was correct for screaming at her as soon as she entered the dorm.

A knock breaks Rain out of her thoughts and she jumps up, grabbing her black backpack.

"Are you expecting someone?" 

"Ben and I are going to work on our History project together," Ruby raises an eyebrow

"Well, I know I never get that excited over homework,"

Rain sticks her tongue out and opens the door "Hey Be-" It's not him, instead, it's a very grumpy-looking Mal

"You..." she groans and a few seconds pass as mal tries to find her words "You were right, we're a team, ugh," she looks up, clearly uncomfortable "You're my...friend, and I care about you, I just don't want my Mom to-"

"Ruby's here," Rain blurts out stopping Mal from saying anything too revealing

"Oh, uh," Mal nods "I don't want her to hurt anyone else, and I don't want to have known I could have stopped it,"

"Thank you," Rain looks down at her feet, before gulping and looking at Mal again "I don't want to see you hurt either, I want to be able to stand by you,"

"I know," Mal smiles slightly "Thank you. We good?"

"We're good," just as Rain lets out a light laugh, she can hear Ruby back in the dorm muttering to herself

"Amazing how neither of them said the words 'I'm sorry'

The moment is ruined by Ben rushing down the hallway "You're late," Rain states bluntly.

"I know! I'm sorry! My Mom phoned me and I couldn't decline it"

"Mama's boy," Mal teases and Ben blushes, embarrassed

"Are you ready to go Rain?"

"Yep!" she goes to shut the door but Mal speaks up

"Actually, I was hoping to hang out with Ruby,"

"Oh! Sure," Rain turns to walk with Ben, but turns to look at Mal "You're having a study date too?"

"Shut up!".

Ben had clearly thought the 'Study date' through, he took Rain outside to the garage, and in the corner sat a royal blue moped.

"You don't want me to get on that right?"

"I do actually," he throws her a helmet and she sighs "Come on, live dangerously," he winks

"I have seen more danger in a month than you have in your life," she scoffs and puts the helmet on "Now you're gonna have to do it up because I have no clue," Ben laughs and walks over to her, reaching under her chin to tighten the chin strap, his fingers linger on her face for a moment and she looks up, a moment passes.

"Perfect,"

The Moped was mildly terrifying for Rain, her hands clung onto Ben's waist and after every bump, she yelped a little, but when they were going fast on an open road, she understood the appeal. Ben stops them outside a small cafe in a colourful street. The cobbled ground tripped Rain up slightly, and she was glad to be wearing flats.

"It's pretty," Rain comments, looking round at the cottaged homes with vines covering them.

"Well, you need an expert to show you the hidden gems of Auradon,"

"I guess the Future King is my best bet then," Rain smiles, and Ben helps her remove her helmet before heading inside.

They did in fact, work on their History project together, but in between, they found themselves laughing together, and sharing a slice of Red velvet cake - Rain had been impressed by the sponge colour.

"Hey, I was uh, wondering if you wanted to hang out this Friday?"

"Sure!" Rain doesn't think before replying, her answer coming naturally.

"Uh..but like hang out as in a proper date," Rain looks up, shocked "You don't-"

"No, I'd like that," she smiles "Just tell me what to wear,".