Was going to originally do a follow up to my last story Taking a Stand but decided to instead do a standalone one-shot. They can be seen as related if you think so. Either way I love the thought of brother/sister Carlos and Evie. Even as a guy I'll admit they're adorable.
I apologize if it seems out of character, this one kinda wrote itself. I was just along for the ride.
Enjoy.
Carlos hummed to himself as he made his way through the halls of Auradon Prep. His faithful friend and pet Dude following at his feet closely.
Lonnie had decided for the last few hours of their day off to host a movie night in her room. Jay was there already with, surprisingly, Jane and Audrey.
Mal was still out on her date night with Prince Be... Oh right, it was King Ben now. Even though it was only less than a month after the debacle that was his coronation, Carlos still had a hard time thinking of their fellow teen as a king.
The only missing piece of their machine was a certain blue haired girl. Evie, as far as Carlos knew, was back at the room she shared with Mal. Knowing her, she was working on some new dress design or maybe even sewing some of said designs. Mal more often than not had the unwanted pleasure of being her dress up doll. The half fairy would never admit it, but if it made Evie smile she didn't care.
Jay was still having a field day with the teasing. The former thief felt it an achievement when he could make Mal mad enough to flash green eyes.
The guy had zero self preservation.
The boy and dog team had reached the hallway of their target room when Dude suddenly broke into a sprint.
"Whoa easy boy, what is it?" Carlos chased after the dog, not realizing until he was right in front of it, that Dude was running to Evie's room. Dude was scratching at the door as if begging to be let in.
Carlos reached for the door, still confused at his pet's behavior, when he heard it.
There were muffled whimpers and sobs coming from the room.
In hindsight, Carlos probably shouldn't have blindly rushed into the situation like he did but his course of action was not fully thought out. Without thinking, he gripped the knob and tore it open.
Evie sat on the floor, back to her bed. The girl's head was tilted down to her chest, her blue locks having fallen to curtain her face from view. Even if Carlos didn't have ears, the shake of her petite shoulders was enough to prove the sounds were hers.
The sight was... strange to say the least, and extremely heart wrenching. On the isle crying was viewed as a sign of weakness, weakness was often beaten out of you by various methods used to induce pain. Some mental, while others were physical, Cruella's favorite had been more of the physical variety. Suffer enough times and any habit could be broken.
Seeing Evie in such a state... it made Carlos feel more scared than facing his mother after messing up her fur closet.
Of all four, Evie was the most friendly and cheerful. Even if she was just flirting, she was always happy and smiling. Some people like to think it was Carlos who was the bleeding heart of their little group of former misfits but that couldn't be farther from the truth. Why she was like this Carlos had no idea. He always attributed it to her being castle-schooled for so many years while the rest went to public school. Evie simply wasn't exposed to the villainy of the island as much as they were.
Evie had gotten upset over the course of their stay in Auradon a few times. Hell, they all had. One of the worst being when her dream of being with the son of Prince Charming himself had been crushed to dust.
But that was nothing like this.
This was almost as if Evie had been completely broken.
It showed just how Auradon had changed him, before Carlos wouldn't have cared all that much. Sure he would have felt a little bad but that was about it. Even if he knew who was at fault he wouldn't have done anything. Now, he felt an intense desire to make the person responsible for Evie's attitude suffer.
A lot.
First things first, Carlos was at a complete loss standing in the doorway like he was. Give him a machine, something mechanical, he could probably fix it right up. Give him a distraught Evie and he was totally lost.
What should he do? Walk away and go find Jay? Go in and hug her? Offer her one of her handkerchiefs? Ask if she was okay?
That last one made Carlos wince internally and chastise himself within his own head. "Of course she isn't okay you idiot."
Dude apparently didn't follow that line of thinking. As soon as the door was open the dog bounded into the room straight at the crying Evie.
It was a testament to just how upset Evie was that she didn't freak out at Dude's actions. The dog had climbed up into her lap, his paws walking freely over her beloved skirt. Thankfully, Carlos had given him a bath recently but Evie still had a thing about animal paws touching her clothes unless she knew they were clean.
"D... Dude?" Evie croaked out in surprise at the surprise furry animal before her. Her only physical reaction was a slight tilt of the head.
The last time Dude had done this, his paws were muddy and Carlos spent the better part of an hour trying to calm the hysterical girl down. He ended up having to send for Mal thinking he was going to need her to spell Evie.
Needless to say, her lack of reaction to Dude was making the unease in Carlos' stomach grow by the second.
Carlos still couldn't see her face, but that one word made him flinch. She'd been crying a while now if the hoarse and throaty voice was any clue.
"If you're here..." Evie looked up just then, Carlos really wished she hadn't. Never in the time he knew her had Carlos seen Evie's appearance so bad.
The daughter of the Evil Queen looked outright horrible. Her eyes puffy and swollen, still full of waiting to fall moisture. The makeup so precious to her was smeared across her face, black lines from her mascara following the tear streaks down her cheeks.
Carlos had feared his mother, but that look in Evie's eyes was the most terrifying sight he had seen.
She just sat there, staring at Carlos like a deer in the headlights. It was another sign how bad of shape she was in. Normally if she looked even a quarter like this, she would have already bolted for the bathroom to clean up and reapply. Then she would come out all smiling and giggling again.
Oh this was bad.
Not wanting to be ignored, or just wanting to help somehow, Dude had started nudging Evie's stomach to get her attention.
Carlos released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding when Evie's gaze left him to focus on the dog.
Mal was still gone, Jay was too far away, Carlos didn't have anyone else he could go to. Whatever was going to be done would have to be by him and him alone.
Carlos told himself as he stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. Even if all he did was sit beside her, there was no way he was going to leave Evie alone like this.
While Carlos slowly made his way across the room, Dude had curled up in Evie's lap. Carlos did notice that her weeping had slowed since she began stroking the small dog's fur.
"Way to go little buddy." Carlos whispered seeing the effects of the dog's presence on Evie. Any help right now was greatly appreciated.
Evie didn't look up while Carlos sat on his knees beside her. "Evie?"
The girl's body stiffened but otherwise showed no sign she heard him. Carlos knew better though, he was too close for her to not hear.
A small scrap of folded paper beside them caught Carlos' eye. It sat there in the middle of the floor as if somebody dropped it recently.
That was odd. They were on Evie's side of the room and she was meticulous about being clean and organized. Were they on Mal's side, Carlos wouldn't have been surprised to see floor clutter. But Evie's? No way in hell.
Carlos never saw Evie's reaction coming.
"Don't!" Evie cried out as she snatched the item from the floor, almost elbowing Carlos in the face in the process. Carlos leaned back slightly to dodge the near hit but otherwise didn't budge. Dude, despite being almost thrown from his new perch, stayed in place as well. Carlos could almost hear the dog saying "I'm not moving".
Evie clutched the document to her chest like Carlos was going to attack her to get it. The idea was preposterous but Evie was not in her right mind at the moment.
"What is that Evie?" It wasn't like her to be so secretive and skittish like that.
"It's nothing... yes nothing." Evie forced out between sniffles. "Not important at all. Did you need something?" She furiously attempted to wipe her eyes free of tears but failed completely.
Carlos sighed. She wasn't going to make this easy. "Evie... What's wrong?"
"I told you, nothing." She sounded more firm that time but her voice still betrayed how she felt even if she didn't know it.
A soft bark from Evie's lap brought both their attentions back to Dude. The animal was now sitting up starring at the blue haired girl.
"What?" Evie tilted her head slightly.
Dude made no other noises, just looked up at her. It took a moment for Carlos to understand what Dude was thinking. The dog was a lot more intellegent than people ever thought.
Carlos bit his lip hard at the thought of what he was about to do. Evie was going to no doubt be pissed at him but that letter had to have some kind of clue as to what was going on. He needed to know what it said, maybe then he could do something to help her.
"Sorry Evie." While Dude distracted her, Carlos reached over and snatched the letter from Evie's grasp.
Just as Carlos expected, Evie screamed for him to give it back while she lunged at him. The boy rolled back to dodge her clumsy grab. Scrambling back to his feet, Carlos dashed for the other side of the room. Evie had gotten back to her feet a lot quicker than Carlos had thought and was already hot on his heels.
Dude, having been forgotten by both, had opted to dive away the instant Carlos had his hand on the letter. He jumped up onto Mal's bed and laid down to watch the two chase each other around the room.
Only thanks to his reflexes and agility, some of the few perks of growing up on the isle, was Carlos able to evade Evie's attempts to retake the paper. The tight quarters of the dorm room was making his actions a bit harder though.
For a girl raised to be a perfect princess, she was sure acting very unladylike.
Whatever was on it had to be what was bothering her. Never would Carlos had thought she could move this quick. Every time he came close to even opening the first fold of the letter, Evie was right there all but about to tackle him. He had to keep his focus on dodging her instead of reading, he couldn't do both.
Eventually Evie began to tire, Carlos saw it in the way she chased him. Her breathing had grown heavy, her movements sluggish. She might have been able to match his speed out of desperation, but she couldn't match his stamina.
Carlos lured her into a corner of the room before throwing himself over Evie's bed to put something between them for even a moment. Evie tried to do the same but was as physically fit as Carlos. By the time she got across the mattress, Carlos was on the other side of the room opening the letter.
The first thing that Carlos figured out was the person who wrote the letter. Only one person in all the world that Carlos knew had such fancy handwriting.
Evil Queen, Evie's mother.
It became obvious for all four of them that after turning away from the side of evil in favor of good, their parents would be just a little upset. Carlos had yet to hear a word from Cruella, just as Jay hadn't heard from Jafar. To both boys they were perfectly content with that arrangement. Carlos had no desire to even read a word written by his mother.
"Good riddance" had been the way Jay described it, Carlos couldn't agree more.
Maleficent was still locked in a small aquarium under heavy guard so she wasn't going to be an issue for Mal either.
Evie's mother was the last one left. In all honesty, Carlos had assumed Evil Queen would be just like Cruella and Jafar, wash their hands of their rebellious children and never speak to them again.
Carlos was only able to glean a few words form the document before Evie had reached him again. Only this time Carlos made no attempt to keep it from her. He was in too much shock to keep their impromptu game of keep away going.
Traitor.
Disgrace.
Pathetic.
The little Carlos had read held these words and more. Those three words had been the nicer ones Evil Queen had written to her daughter.
Out of all four, Evie had the best childhood. Despite being banished from living around everyone else, being castle-schooled, and living with a slightly insane mother, Evie really did love her mother.
Jay hated his father for being forced to steal for him and being punished when he didn't come back with enough, which was quite often. Carlos hated Cruella for treating like a slave instead of like her actual child, for beating him and punishing him just when she got upset at the smallest slight. Mal hated Maleficent for the impossible to reach standards having been placed on her from birth.
Evie didn't have these things. Yes Evil Queen put enormous pressure on her to be beautiful, to be the most attractive girl in all the island. She had high standards to push toward to but not like Mal did. Evie was never forced to steal, never beaten for not cleaning good enough. Evil Queen had actually taught her some useful skills, how to sew, cooking, and other things that could actually be even a little useful in life.
Jay, Carlos, and Mal were never taught anything by their parents. Just cast into the fire and told to figure it out.
Carlos always knew Evie still lover her mother. He could never fault her for that, if anything Evil Queen was the only one of their parents even slightly deserving of a little love.
Seeing the words written by her though... whatever his opinions of Evil Queen were, now they had been completely changed. She was no better than Cruella, no better than Jafar, no better than Maleficent.
Evie deserved better.
Having ripped the letter from Carlos' hands, Evie stepped back. Again holding the letter close to her chest. She was shaking again but had yet to resume crying.
"She... she..." Evie attempted to talk but was unable to form real words.
Carlos didn't hesitate this time. He threw his arms around her in a tight hug.
That was the straw that broke the camel's back, Evie exploded into violent sobs once more. But instead of trying to hide again, she wrapped her arms around Carlos in a near vice grip. If she were any physically stronger he might have been unable to breathe.
Evie buried her head into Carlos' neck, he could feel her tears drenching his shirt but he didn't really care at the moment. He just stood there holding her in his arms and rubbing, what he hoped were, soothing circles into her upper back.
Comforting a girl wasn't his thing, like everything else not having to do with technology, but for Evie he was going to figure it out.
Carlos had no idea how long they stood there like that. After a while Evie seemed to have cried herself out. She went limp in his arms but still held her tight hold on his body.
"I thought she actually cared..." Evie began. It was the first real coherent sentence she had managed to get out thus far. "She never cared..."
"I know." Carlos whispered in Evie's ear. It sounded better in his head but what else could he tell her? A large part of Evie's world was just destroyed by a simple scrap of paper.
"I wish... I could have been born differently." Evie whimpered. "To a different family." She looked down at the floor. "Maybe if I grew up with you..."
"No!" Carlos hadn't intended to pretty much yell that but he did.
Evie's head shot up with an expression mixture of surprise and maybe a little hurt. Carlos was stumbling over his words trying to explain. "I... I mean, I don't want to image you growing up with me."
Carlos mentally slapped himself when Evie's face looked even more pained than before. "No that's not what I meant! Argh!"
Groaning and dropping his head onto Evie's shoulder he tried again to get her to understand. "Cruella was horrible Evie. You'd have grown up to be like me." Carlos whispered.
He wasn't dumb, he knew he was messed up with a lot of emotional scars and physical ones. A lot of that would take a lot of time to heal if they ever did. He'd give anything for Evie not to have to go through the horrors that he had to.
Evie's quiet "oh" was enough for Carlos to know she understood now.
"Just because we're from different families doesn't mean you can't be my sister."
Evie looked up again, her eyes still teary but for the first time since he came in her lips were turned up slightly in the beginnings of a smile. "Really?"
"Absolutely." Carlos returned that grin with the biggest one he could manage without making it look fake. "Big sister."
The girl sniffled quietly, this time her smile was full. "Thank you Carlos."
"Oh I was supposed to retrieve you for movie night with Jay and a few others." Carlos slapped himself in the forehead. He had completely forgot why he came here. Hopefully Jay didn't send a search party.
Evie said nothing, she merely held up one finger before vanishing into the bathroom.
Carlos took a seat on Mal's bed to wait, Dude coming over to him instantly. The dog let out a soft woof so Carlos scratched behind his ears.
"It's her mom's loss." Carlos spoke to Dude like he often did. He didn't always respond but somehow Carlos just knew the animal understood. "Well who needs parents? I sure as hell don't, not when I have such a great big sister." Carlos smiled at the thought of the blue haired girl as his sibling. "I don't care what the people here think, she's more princessley than all of them put together."
"Thank you." Evie's voice from behind him nearly made Carlos jump out of his skin.
He whirled around to see the older girl with a brilliant smile and standing in the doorway of the bathroom leaning against the frame. She had cleaned and washed her face, a lot of the redness was gone but so too was most of her makeup. Actually almost all of it, it was the first time Carlos had seen her with so little. He thought about asking about it but decided against it. If Evie felt comfortable enough not to need all that junk than he was not going to question it.
"Umm how long have you been there?" Carlos rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
"I didn't close the door all the way." Evie giggled. "And for the record, you're a better prince than most here."
Carlos only rolled his eyes and stood up.
"Well we have a movie waiting for us. Shall I escort you milady?" Carlos held his arm out for her to take. He had seen some guys do this for princesses, maybe Evie would enjoy the gesture. Or she would laugh at him for looking so ridiculous.
Hey, win win.
If Evie's smile was to be believed she most certainly enjoyed it.
Evie giggled as she looped her arm with his. "Yeah, we should go before Jay sends out a search party for us." Carlos barely contained his laughter when he heard that.
Just as they were about to exit the room Evie stopped.
"Wha..." Carlos' words caught in his throat when Evie leaned over to place a soft kiss to his cheek. "Thanks for being you little brother."
The pair left the room arm in arm, the letter having been forgotten by both.
As the movie dragged on, Evie had grown tired. Her time before Carlos arrived in the room had left her exhausted. She barely made it halfway through before she began drifting off to dreamland. She had actually laid down before falling asleep but was so drowsy she didn't find out until she woke up what her pillow was.
Nobody questioned why the boy and girl stayed so close together during the movie. Neither did they question when Carlos shifted his body so Evie could lay down in his lap, his fingers absentmindedly running through her blue tresses.
"Sweet dreams dear sister." Carlos whispered to the sleeping Evie.
Having needed to take a break from my novel, I decided on another fanfiction. This actually wound up being a lot longer than I expected but oh well. Doesn't feel as good as I was hoping either but let me know what you all think.