#mal bertha

“Maybe you should get him a hat with a little crown embroidered on it” Felix joins in. 

“Please tell me I don’t actually have to wear any of that” Max quietly asks you, trying to ignore his friends’ amusement at the situation. 

“No, I was just going to try to get you to wear the leather jacket that I love so much. There’s not really a dress code, but any excuse to see you in the jacket is a good one” you respond bashfully, no longer wanting to look him in the eye. 

“You could have just asked, Princess” Max smiles, fully enjoying your reaction, before placing a kiss on the top of your head. 

“I know. But I also knew you would enjoy me asking too much, just like you are now. Can’t have your head getting too big for your hat” you laugh. 

“If it did, you would just steal my hat” Max grins. 

“Oh, I totally would,” you grin back. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that night at Beast Castle, Mal and Ben have finally returned home from two years of trying to form alliances with far away kingdoms. Originally the trip was only supposed to take at most a year, but some alliances were harder to form than others making the extension necessary. 

“Wow it’s good to be home,” Ben sighs in relief. 

“You can say that again. At least we convinced Arendelle to align with us. Can’t say I blame them for being more cautious after the last time they tried to make allies” Mal replies, exhausted from the trip. 

“I cannot wait to sleep in our own bed again and to see everyone tomorrow. My sister even wrote that she has a boyfriend. Can you believe that, little Y/N has a boyfriend,” Ben says, starting to get worked up, feeling bad he hasn’t seen you in so long. 

“Woah slow down there, Benny Boy. Let’s not start over thinking,” Mal says, trying to calm her husband. “Y/N understands why you’ve been gone so long. Let’s get some rest so you can be wide awake when you see her tomorrow. I’m sure she doesn’t want a zombie for a brother.” 

“You’re right. I want to make sure I have enough energy for tomorrow. Let’s get some sleep” Ben yawns out. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After barely getting any sleep and your roommate Pink having to physically stop you from leaving to see your brother, it is finally time to head to Beast Castle. You leave your room practically running down the corridors to meet Max in front of your father’s statue. When you arrive at the statue, you are disappointed that he is nowhere to be seen. 

“Boo” Max says while grasping your shoulders causing you to gasp in surprise. 

“Max, you’re here” you exclaim, pulling him into a hug. Normally you would give Max a bad time for scaring you, but you are too excited to pretend to be upset. “And you’re wearing the jacket!” 

“Of course, I am. Couldn’t disappoint my favorite girl in all of Auradon” He grins at you. 

“Normally I’d question who your favorite girl outside of Auradon is, but the limo is here” you say as you grab Max’s hand, tugging him towards the limo. 

“Limo?” Max questions. 

“Yes, limo” you say, reaching the vehicle with a guard opening the door for you both. “Did you forget your dating royalty?” You wink at him. 

“No, but I just didn’t expect all of this” Max responds in disbelief. He had never been in a limo before. Being the son of Maddox Hatter didn’t really come with the perk of fancy transportation. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier. The limo didn’t cross my mind as it's just how I normally get home” you tell him. 

“Don’t worry about it, princess. We better get inside so you can see your brother” Max reassures you. 

As both climb in and get comfortable in the limo you can’t help but glance over at Max. “You know what the best part about riding in a limo is” you say. 

“What is it?” Max responds. 

“Chocolate” you tell him with a smile, as you open the candy compartment. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a short ride, and multiple chocolate bars, you and Max had finally reached Beast Castle. Suddenly doubt starts to creep into your mind as you get out of the limo. What if Ben had changed in the two years since you had seen him and wasn’t excited to see you? 

“Hey Y/N, are you okay?” Max asks, noticing your worried expression. 

“It's just been so long since I’ve seen Ben. What if we don’t get along anymore” you tell him sadly. 

“Trust me that is not going to be the case. From what you’ve told me about your brother, I’m sure he’s just excited to see you as you are him,” Max reassures you.  

“I don’t know what I’d do with you out” you confess. “Are you ready?” You ask him, holding out your hand to hold his. 

“As ready as I’ll ever be” Max takes your hand as you both walk up towards the castle entrance. 

As the doors open to the castle, you can see Ben and Mal talking to your parents a few feet away. Ben, hearing the doors open, notices you immediately and takes off running towards you. 

“Y/N” Ben shouts, pulling you into a tight hug, while Max stands next to the two of you, taken aback by the King of Auradon’s actions. 

“Ben” you respond with the same enthusiasm. “I can’t believe you're finally home!” 

“I can’t believe how much you’ve grown since I left,” Ben exclaims. Noticing your boyfriend, Ben turns his attention to Max. “And you must be Y/N’s boyfriend,” Ben adds, looking at Max. 

“Yup, this is my boyfriend Max Hatter” you introduce Max to Ben. If Ben is at all surprised by Max’s last name, he doesn’t show it. 

“Nice to meet you Max” Ben tells him before pulling him into a hug, completely surprising Max. 

“It’s nice to meet you too, Ben. Your sister talks about you all the time,” Max says as Ben pulls away. 

“I’m sure only good things are right,” Ben responds, glancing over at you. 

“Only the best. No embarrassing stories whatsoever, especially ones about how your pjs are covered in little crowns” you grin back. 

“Did you say Hatter?” Your father interrupts. 

“Yes, Hatter. But Max is nothing like his father.” You sternly tell him as you move closer to Max, holding his hand. 

“I promise you, I am nothing like my father, and I have no intention of harming your daughter,” Max confesses to him. 

“We’ve already been through this once, dear. Let’s keep an open mind,” Belle calmly tells her husband. 

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have judged you so quickly. I’m just protective of my little girl,” Adam apologizes to Max, wanting to stay on his family’s good side. 

“It’s okay, sir. I know my last name causes people to worry,” Max replies gracefully, not wanting to leave a negative impression. 

“Well, it will be good to have another VK in the mix. These guys tend to get a little too sappy sometimes,” Mal says to Max, breaking the tension. 

“Hey we do not” you and Ben exclaim in unison. 

“Oh, you totally do,” Mal says, walking over to pull you into a hug. 

“I think I’ve got to agree with Mal on this one. You definitely get all sappy,” Max laughs. 

“Do you want to talk about sappy? Cause I can bring up how you acted on our first date” you threaten. 

“And I suddenly, a hundred percent support my beautiful girlfriend,” Max says, changing his tune. 

“Well, it’s very nice to meet you Max. I hope you are up for dinner and some games tonight. Prepare yourselves for these four to get very competitive. Last time we played charades, Mal almost turned into a dragon, and I swear I heard these three roar multiple times” Belle warns him with a smile. 

Max, surprised by the idea of you acting beastly, responds “Roar? I guess I’ll try to prepare myself.” 

“It wasn’t that bad!” You exclaim. 

“Well why don’t we continue this discussion over food” your mother suggests. 

“That sounds good to me, I’m starving,” your father responds. 

As you follow your parents, you grab a hold of Max’s hands and whisper “See, I told you they’d like you. And sorry about my dad, he gets a little protective.” 

“Don’t worry about it, princess. You're worth it,” he grins back at you. 

Unbeknownst to you, Mal and Ben caught this interaction between you and Max. 

“You know they remind me a lot of us,” Ben says, smiling at his wife. 

“They really do. I think your family must have a type. You all love finding the good in everyone,” Mal smiles back at him. 

“Can’t say I disagree when it brought me to you” Ben tells her. 

“Well Benny Boo, we can’t keep your family waiting,” Mal says, taking Ben’s hand as they set off to join the rest of you. 

It looks like you and Max had nothing to worry about after all.

A/N (7/29/26) - Hi everyone my taglist is currently CLOSED and at capacity. For updated information please check my most recent post or my navigation page.

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