The first time they kissed they were on a rooftop. There aren't many romantic places left on the isle of the lost. Considering it was a spur of the moment thing anyway they could have done a lot worse. With less than caring parents no one noticed when the foursome didn't come home. Many sunrises were spent on this rooftop, searching for in each other what they could never find at home. Evie and Jay didn't know exactly when the shift happened. Ever since they could walk they had each other to lean on. It never felt like a brother sister thing, but it was a little surprising to both how as they grew up their linked hands started to feel a little less like friendly hand holding and a little more like soul chaining. So when the sun broke the horizon and Jay realized he couldn't take his eyes of the way it's rays bounced off the color in her eyes he didn't stop himself leaning forward to her lips. And the tilt of Evie's mouth on his told him she wasn't stopping herself either. Mal and Carlos headed home hours before so there really was no reason to pretend it wasn't inevitable.
Mal and Carlos knew what it was like. You find solace where you can on the isle. There is little comfort to be had anywhere. So neither friend thought anything of the lingering hands they hardly noticed, or the way they stood a little too close when they were talking. Only when Mal showed up at Evie's place one morning to see Jay pulling on a shirt and slipping out the window did she start to suspect something going on. And Carlos just knew better than to ask about the familiar blue dress on Jay's bedroom floor.
Their parents were all about rule breaking and sneakiness and being well, bad, but somehow neither thought that their unspoken relationship would have been met with much happiness, especially if their parents ever caught them together. Because if they didn't get to share their bed with someone, nobody did. Who knows if anyone on the island had a complete family. They just weren't bred for lasting love. At least they weren't supposed to be. Besides, Jay wasn't a prince. And Evie wasn't a career thief.
The day they got the news about going to Auradon was bittersweet. Getting off the island was going to be incredible but who knew what they would find out there in the big wide world. They fought about putting a label on what they'd already known they were, argued about telling Carlos and Mal about their feelings for each other. Disagreed about what those feelings were. They got in the car feeling like they were on opposite sides of the world but her grip on his leg was reassuring. After all, they'd been leaning on each other for so long.
They settled into their new home quickly, Jay busied himself with training and tourney practice, Evie made a shit ton of clothes. Even though they each did their fair share of flirting and chasing princes and princesses nothing seemed to stick. It was hard to get used to anyone else's eternally sunny disposition and complete inability to take a joke. Mal pretended not to notice the way Evie tossed all night and didn't pry when she said the bed was "too big" or "cold and empty". In the morning Evie's eyes were perfectly lined with lashes flared but they were slightly red and puffy. Her smile just a little too stiff, her shoulders sagged. Jay had taken to sleeping on the couch with the tv on. Anything to not have to think.
The first time they intervened was after too many night of watching their roommates pine for each other. During the day Evie and Jay had plenty of distractions but the silence of nighttime was deafening. Enough was enough. An admission of knowledge was all it took. "We know why you're hurting, there is nothing stopping you."
When Jay missed practice, Carlos figured they were making up. When he got back to their room later, the bare skin in Jay's bed was too light to be his, the hair too full, the curve of the waistline too feminine. When he finally registered the tan arm thrown over her hip he backed out quietly, met Mal in the hallway and reserved Evie's bed for the night.
Maybe villain's kids can have a happily ever after, too.