Here, have some Jay obsession. I don't own the characters
She's to die for,
A little murder on the dance floor calls her name
A little further to his heart she holds the flame
Tonight Alive - To Die For
The dancing had been going on for a good hour, even after the crescendo of singing and celebration under the bright, firework-lit night sky. Laughter and squeals of glee filled the air as the back quad swirled with all manner of silky color and glittering luster; every dress, every dashing suit and twinkling crown adorning every royal brow was a work of art, the same as the breathless smile of those who wore them. After an excitingly terrifying coronation surprise, all the students of Auradon Prep were keyed up and eager to let loose.
Tess leaned across the baluster, chin on her hands, wishing to every known genie she had the courage to traipse down the stairs and join in the merriment below. After the initial explosion of dancing, most of the students who had been on the stone balconies gravitated to the lower dais and wide back lawn. The ever-quick royal attendants had swiftly set up chairs and cloth covered tables in their wake, before sparingly dotting them across the lawn for those dancers who might require a respite, or a sip of spicy cider to liven them once more. Tess followed the graceful movements of the royalty with her eyes, a soft, dreamy smile appearing at her lips as she did. They were all so beautiful, so elegant and vibrant… it was times like these that Tess felt the most different from her fellow classmates. She watched Audrey and Lonnie giggle behind manicured hands as they twirled in those gorgeous dresses; Tess felt plain by comparison, in a simple dappled yellow shift. Dewey had assured her it looked wonderful, and it did remind Tess of home—of the sun-mottled roof on her father's bungalow, and the warm rays filtering through the tall canopy trees to the jungle floor. It was what made her buy the dress immediately off the rack, not even trying it on. She liked it very much, but it just couldn't compare to the flowing pink confection donned by the princess.
"T, would you stop staring and just get down there already?" Dewey said, coming to stand beside her friend at the railing. Tess blushed, caught.
"Oh, I couldn't; I'd only embarrass myself anyway… did you see Audrey's dress? God, it must be so nice having royal tailors." She sighed, glancing up at Dewey. The taller girl wore a tight green gown that clung to her slender, fairy curves; she'd cut the slit up the side herself, smirking at the updated version of her mother's signature sheathe mini.
"And how the hell would you, the principle dancer in Auradon's best ballet class embarrass yourself at dancing?" Dewey needled in exasperation. "And don't tell me it's 'a totally different dance style' because I've seen you dance in the mirror in our dorm T. You're good at it."
"Shut up, it's still different," Tess said. "Look, their all dancing with partners now. You know I always make a fool of myself with those princely types…" She trailed off, eyes glazing over slightly as they lit upon the decidedly un-princley vision in red that was now dancing startlingly close to the aforementioned Princess Audrey. Dewey followed her friends sightline and gave a short, disbelieving laugh.
"Oh my god, Jay?! Damn, Audrey moves on quick." She giggled. Tess flushed, chest suddenly tight. She felt the familiar bite of jealousy deep in her gut, and the corners of her mouth turned down out of reflex. As she watched, Jay's arm snaked around Audrey's waist, and Tess swore she could almost feel his burning, sultry gaze even all the way up here. Crestfallen, Tess withdrew from the railing, arms wrapping around herself in attempt to squeeze away the sudden miserable mood that had settled over her. Her possessiveness of Jay was completely unfounded; she'd never even spoken to the former villain. The attraction she felt was a one way street. She doubted he'd ever noticed her as person, let alone a possible romantic interest. Ever since the VK's had arrived, Tess's heart had been beating overtime. The first time she'd seen Jay on campus, in that red leather vest, bronzed bare arms flexing in the sun… Tess spent at least 15 minutes in the bathroom after that, struggling to get her breathing under control. It was textbook infatuation.
"Hey," Dewey said, noticing her friend's change in demeanor. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that. I mean, they're just dancing right?" She moved closer and put her arm around Tess's shoulder. Dewey's platinum bun wiggled a little as she pulled Tess towards the stairs. "C'mon T, let's show them how it's done."
Tess smiled. "Yeah, okay." She wanted to feel good again. Dancing with her best friend could only help, right?
Half an hour later, the two girls were entrenched in an intense dance battle with a crowd of other non-royal Auradonians. The music pounded in Tess's ears, and her cheeks ached from the smile that would not fade. She stood en pointe (heeled sandals discarded somewhere in the grass) in the center of a cheering circle of her friends, gathering her bearings before she attempted to break her previous pirouette record. As she spun, hair whipping in her face and laughter spilling from her lips, Tess felt beautiful for the first time that night.
~X~
Audrey had proved to be an enthusiastic dancer, and surprisingly responsive to Jay's flirting. He chalked it up to the mood of the night as he left her at a lawn table to hunt down the punch bowl. A happy smirk played on Jay's lips as he weaved through the crowd of students; this was even more fun than tourney games. He chalked that up to not having the threat of his dad or the rest of the villain parents at the back of his mind.
They were free now. Free to dance, and to do good things, and be who they wanted to be. He looked over at Mal, wrapped up in the embrace of the newly crowned King Ben, and something in Jay's chest did a little happy shimmy shake. It was a new feeling, this genuine happiness for his friends, but not altogether unpleasant. He actually quite liked it. He liked being able to feel these things, to be softer and sentimental and not be afraid he might get cuffed over the head for it.
Jay found the refreshment table eventually, and began to immediately load up a plate for himself and Carlos. (This was another new thing; being freely considerate. Jay liked that too.) He was just tucking a bottle of spicy cider into his back pocket when a cheer went up somewhere behind him. Curious, Jay paused in the middle of stuffing a cupcake in his mouth to turn and seek out the cause of the sound excitement. He saw a crowd of students surrounding a girl twirling—and twirling and twirling, twirling so much and so fast that Jay himself got dizzy. He smiled and licked the icing off his thumb; he'd have to find out who that girl was so she could teach him how to do that. Jay looked away for a moment to pile a few more currant pastries onto his plate, and when he looked back the girl had stopped spinning. She was laughing now, face red and glowing, with a taller girl that had high cheekbones glittering with the distinct shine of fairy dust. Jay's head tilted as he observed the twirl-girl (he really needed to know her name) in the simple yellow dress. She was small but solid, fit and athletic looking. Her long brown hair trailed freely over her shoulders, the wavy strands uncontrived and natural. There was a wildness to her wide smile that Jay found distinctly alluring.
He shook his head and tried in vain to refocus. The sounds of the party rushed back into his ears.
"Yo, Jay! Aw nice, you grabbed some of those currant cakes."
Jay blinked as he was suddenly divested of the heavy plate in his hands. In his distraction, Jay hadn't noticed Carlos bound up. The smaller boy sandwiched a few different pastries together and stuffed the whole thing in his mouth. Jay had to laugh.
"Yup! They're the best, aren't they?" He flipped the bottle of cider in the air, watching the outdoor lights glint off the deep blue glass (and watching twirl-girl out of the corner of his eye).
"Let's go see if Evie wants any. She's been dancing all night, I bet she hasn't had time to even sit down."
Carlos agreed immediately, and the two set off to find their blue haired friend. Jay took one last look at the girl in the yellow dress, but was startled to find she's disappeared.