Ben had scheduled their date for Friday after lunch and Auradon Prep's 'long weekend' policy allowed Evie, Mal and Ruby to help Rain get ready.

Evie had chosen a short, black, flared dress for Rain, and once being informed that she'd be riding a moped, had thrown some shorts at her head.

"Well you can't wear heels then," Ruby mutters, looking through Rain's collection

"I didn't plan on wearing them anyway," Rain watches Mal sit on Ruby's bed, watching the other two girls fret over her friend.

"Aha!" Ruby pulls up a pair of metallic red boots "These,"

"Oo good choice," Mal nods

"I feel like I'm on one of those reality TV shows. Princess..."

"Pageant?"

"Tiara?"

"Dress?"

"There's that many?!"

"Snow White runs one too," Evie adds "'Fairest of Them All', Mom said she deserved payment for the name"

"Oh, I used to love that when I was a kid!" Ruby exclaims "It was the only show where they didn't take off the girl's glasses or straighten their hair,"

"We only had three channels on the Isle and Princess Pageant was one of them," Evie explains to Ruby whilst she applies a light blush to Rain's cheeks "I used to use it for inspiration, I'd re-design them-"

"Okay Evie, lovely story, can we continue when you've eased up on the blush? I don't want to scare Ben away,"

Mal laughs "Not that you could,"

"Please. My mom taught me how to apply blush before I could talk. Always use upward strokes,"

"My mum was never really big on makeup tips - too focused on hair, and I never had a sister." at that, Ruby's phone rings and she runs to grab it.

"I'm late for horse riding," she rushes off "Good luck on your date Rain!"

"Well now you have two sisters," Evie smiles "I think probably three given how nice Ruby is," Rain smiles "We're going to need all the family we can get if we don't pull this off. My mother's not a barrel of laughs when she doesn't get her way. Just ask Snow White."

There's a moment of silence as Evie grabs Rain's mascara wand

"Are you afraid of her, are either of you afraid of your mothers?" Mal asks

"Sometimes..." Evie looks off into the distance "Rain?"

"Uh," Rain gulps, she didn't like to think about her mother these days, she tried to forget about her friends' 'mission', and what would happen when it was completed. Mother Gothel terrified her. Rain had been afraid her whole life, she'd been mocked for it as well, hell, her whole name, her attempt at a new identity, was just a reflection of her mother's rage.

"Are you okay?" Evie asks

"Is it bad if I say yes?"

"I just really want mine to be proud of me," Mal admits "She gets so angry with me when I disappoint her. And sh... yeah, she's my mom, so I know she loves me... In her own way."

As the girls take those words in, Evie looks at Rain critically "Swiftly moving on," she grins and pulls Rain up "Come and see"

"We're done?"

Evie pulls her to the mirror, hugging Rain from behind. Her hair is curled, the ends shining a more pastel red, a sharp contrast to the dark burgundy that she'd entered Auradon with. Evie had given her some simple makeup, some blush, a red lip gloss and enough mascara to cover the light eyelashes Rain had inherited from her father - or so her mother said when complaining about him.

'When a man offers to buy you a house and hide you from the guards, you do what you gotta do Gabby, even if he looks like he's got no eyebrows'.

Evie sees Rain's shocked expression "I know"

"I look..."

"Say it,"

"Not hideous."

"Not even close,"

"Dare I say pretty?"

"Stunning," Evie kisses the top of her head and a sharp knock awakes Rain from her trace and Mal gives her a thumbs up as she walks towards the door. When she opens it, she sees a smiling Ben dressed in a dark pair of jeans and an untucked blue shirt, a varsity jacket completing the look. It was nice to see him so casually.

"Wow," he smiles, "I think I finally understand what the difference between pretty and beautiful is,"

"You practice that line in the mirror?" Rain smirks, taking the bike helmet from him.

"Every day since Wednesday,"

"Mhm," Rain waves to a giggling Evie as she links her arms with Ben and walks down the hallway.

The moped ride was relatively short, and Ben parks them on the outskirts of a forest, helping Rain off the bike.

"The clearing is just through here," he explains, leaving his helmet behind.

Rain finds herself leading the way into the forest, and Ben speeds up to walk with her. They walk in a comfortable silence for a bit until they reach a bridge over a valley of trees. Rain walks ahead and puts her arms out like a little kid as Ben suddenly speaks.

"Tell me something about yourself that you've never told anyone"

"That's deep," Rain laughs, looking back

"Too much for a first date?" there's a hint of insecurity behind Ben's sweet smile and Rain stops walking

"Gertrude,"

"What?"

"My middle name is Gertrude," she explains "I've never told anyone that, I was afraid they'd tease me relentlessly: Gabrielle Gertrude Gothel,"

"Huh," Ben sighs slightly "Sounds nice,"

"Flattery doesn't work on me," Rain snorts

"No I'm serious!" he walks up closer to her "Gabrielle Gertrude Gothel. It's catchy,"

"Am I naming a band? Names aren't meant to be catchy,"

"Fairytale ones are," Rain looks back at him, and up into his eyes

"Maybe it only sounds nice when you say it," with that, she's walked off

"Mine's Florian."

"Benjamin Florian Beast,"

"Well, actually " he laughs a bit uncomfortably "It's Benjamin Florian French. I was given my mom's surname, but publically Dad likes to go by 'Beast'"

"Huh, I never knew that... Florian French...Now that is pure evil," she grins and Ben laughs, he walks up behind her and gently grasps her hips

"Come on, close your eyes, it's just up ahead. I'll lead you the rest of the way"

"I'm putting my life into your hands right now," she does as she's told though, and listens to his instructions.

"Watch your foot. Yeah. Are you good?"

"Yep,"

"Now, step up. There you go. You ready?"

"Okay," Rain opened her eyes slowly, blinking at the sight before her, a large lake ran through the forest, and the small ruin of a gazebo stood tall, a picnic set out under it "Oh, wow," she grinned, it was all so bright, she felt slightly out of place in her black dress.

"You like it?"

"Yeah,"

Ben smiles and grabs her hand, pulling her along to the picnic "Come on, sit down" he drags her forward and Rain laughs at his child-like excitement.

As soon as he can, Ben is opening up the picnic blanket, displaying all the goodies he'd tucked away; cheese and cucumber sandwiches, strawberries, cherry tomatoes and enough sweet treats to give someone a heart attack.

"Did you just assume that a love of chocolate was a VK thing, not just a Carlos thing?"

"Little bit," he laughs, watching Rain dig into the picnic.

Conversation flows easily between them, Ben not being able to stop rambling as he talks about his family and friends. Rain didn't mind, happy to sit and eat, making the occasional quip.

"Oh, and next Friday is family day,"

"What's that?"

"Every term we have a day for families to come and visit their kids, this year Fairy Godmother lined it up with the Coronation to give everyone a bit of time to spend in the capital,"

"Oh, that's nice. I guess you see your parents all the time though?" Ben shrugs and looks down, "Sorry I didn't-"

"I don't see them as often as I used to. Dad's always busy and Mom tries her best but is always caught up in something,"

"Maybe time will free up when you become King?" Rain tries to comfort

"Their time will, mine won't. Dad wants to take Mom on a world tour, so that's a few months without them,"

"I'm sorry Ben," Rain genuinely feels bad for him. He was clearly family-orientated, and barely saw his parents.

"It's fine!" he puts on a bright smile "I'm sure you don't want to hear about all that,"

"Better than thinking about my own issues," Rain laughs, taking a bite of her chocolate cupcake, Ben raises an eyebrow and for some reason, she keeps talking "The Isle doesn't exactly have picture-perfect families, I'm sure you've guessed that. My mum thinks I'm a moron, that I'm just there to keep her looking pretty and to spy on Maleficent for her. It's probably why I'm so standoffish. I'm just...I'm not used to being wanted." silence follows and Ben reaches out to touch her hand comfortingly, he can tell Rain wants a topic change and speaks up.

"Is this your first time?"

"Uh, We don't really date much on the island. It's more like... Gang activity. I mean, people do date. No one's very good at it," she laughs nervously, thinking of her ex-girlfriend "But it's nothing like this," she gestures to the beautiful scenery, then licks the icing off her fingers.

"I meant, is this your first time eating a chocolate cupcake?" Ben smirks and Rain's jaw drops

"That's embarrassing," she bites her lip "Is it that bad?"

"You got a... Just a..." he moves forward and wipes some crumbs from her lips, his hand lingers and Rain rubs her lips together, looking at Ben and his close proximity, she can see the green flecks in his eyes from this position, when Rain feels herself lean forward, she speaks quietly

"Gone?" he nods "You can't take me anywhere, I guess," she smiles and pulls back

"You know, I've done all the talking. Your turn. I really don't know that much about you. Tell me something."

"You already know my full name, what else can you know about someone?" she jokes "Okay, fact file. I was born on the 18th of July right before the Isle barrier was closed. My mother is a famous kidnapper and my father was some random townsfolk my mum manipulated to hide her," she shrugs "Uh, you've probably guessed I'm not naturally a redhead. I'm an only child and I've only ever lived in one place,"

"We have so much in common already! Minus the uh, parent stuff,"

"Being only children does not mean we have loads in common," Rain snorts, she pauses to put more cupcake in her mouth "And now you're gonna be king,"

"Yeah,"

"You don't sound so enthused about that,"

"A crown doesn't make you a king,"

"Yeah it does, tiny bit," Rain gestures with her fingers, Ben breaks a smile but sighs.

"No, it... I've got the poster parents for goodness and your mother is..."

"Insane? Evil? A literal kidnapper?" Rain suggests

"Yes... But we're not automatically like them. We get to choose who we're gonna be. And right now, I can look into your eyes and I can tell you're not evil. I can see it."

"How?" Rain asks honestly

"I just can," Rain looked down slightly, she smiled, but then remembered her real reasons for getting so close to Ben. She remembers Malificent and her own Mother watching her and the VKs leave for Auradon.

'Grab that wand!'

"Let's go for a swim,"

"What?" Rain looks up in panic "Right now?"

"Yeah, right now," Ben stands and starts to unbutton his shirt.

"Okay One, no swimsuit on me, Two, no thanks,"

"No thanks?"

"No thanks," she nods "I think I'm gonna stay behind and try a strawberry. I've literally never tried a strawberry before." Rain shoves one in her mouth and makes a fake sound of admiration which soon turns to real when the taste hits her tongue "Oh wow," she grabs another one "These are amazing,"

"Come on, you can just tie your dress up," he suggests, Rain sighs, he wasn't going to let her say no.

"If I say something, Promise not to laugh,"

"Okay?"

"Say promise!"

"Promise,"

"I can't swim," she blurts out

"Really?"

"The only water that's swimmable is infested with sharks Ben, do you think we have a public pool with Mummy and Me classes?"

"No...Sorry,"

Rain eats another strawberry, glaring slightly at Ben's ignorance

"Come on, just put your feet in, I'll make sure you don't drown," he jokes and Rain looks at his pleading face.

"Fine," she starts to take off her boots, and when she stands  by the shore, she can see Ben's stripped down to trunks

"Are those little crowns on your shorts?" she laughs

"Maybe," Ben steps into the water and gestures for Rain to join him, she dips her foot in and walks towards him, her arms out for balance, the water now reaches her knees and she grabs onto Ben's arms. He gently leads her over to a ledge and she sits on it.

"Okay, if you scoot over to the right, you'll be higher up and the water will reach your thighs," Rain does as instructed "Just don't fall in,"

"Don't fall in?!" at her own exclamation, she slips forward and into the water, screaming. Ben quickly grabs her hips and she clings to him, the entire skirt of her dress submerged in the water, her arms clinging to Ben's back, her legs instinctively wrapping around him. Ben bursts out laughing.

"Don't laugh!"

"I'm not!"

"This was your fault!" she looks up at him in fury and he just laughs harder, Rain tries to fight her own smile, but breaks finally and giggles slightly. Ben starts to move them further into the lake "What are yo-"

"Well you're already in now, you might as well join me,"

"I am not letting go of you," she warns and he grins

"Who said I wanted you too?"

Rain shakes her head and looks away, a silly grin appearing on her face, she feels her stomach flip slightly.

If only I knew what my heart was telling me