A/N: Penultimate couple! Enjoy this incredibly long chapter. (Sorry about the length)

Enjoy!

Carlos gnashed his teeth but he refused to turn around. Taking in a sharp breath through the nose, he closed his eyes and focused on the aroma of the food bubbling on the stove. He refused, refused, to acknowledge the Royal standing in his kitchen, having "been in the area" and decided to "pop over" to see Jane.

The Royal that was now holding a glass of wine, because Jane had decided there was enough food to spare for the esteemed Royal Prat to join them. Of course Jane never called him a prat, she called him Edward, Prince Edward of some Neighbouring Nowhere that Carlos never stopped hearing about. Prince Edward did this, Prince Edward did that, Carlos felt his blood boil and he had never been so close to creating a mobile phone that electrocuted someone before. He was damn close now.

Call me. His text to Evie brought back a string of question marks, but he persevered nonetheless. Call me, and tell me you need to chat to me ASAP. Bullshit this one for me please woman, I need your help.

True to form, his phone rang and he made concerned noises down the phone, when he rung off with a promise to be there as soon as he could, he turned to face Jane who was staring worriedly at him. Guilt tugged at him for a moment but not for long, because the Royal Prat was mirroring his girlfriend's expression and Carlos felt the burst of anger again.

"I have to go." He dropped a kiss on Jane's forehead and nodded to the Prat.

"Is Evie okay?"

"She will be when I get there, she thinks one of her servers is on the wobble said I'd fix it." Carlos stroked his thumb over Jane's chin quickly, and felt his jealousy dissipate a little, until Prince Prat opened his mouth.

"That sounds pretty serious, I hope things are okay before her big launch next week."

"I'll fix it." Carlos couldn't stop the tension in his words, so with another kiss to Jane's forehead he waved goodbye and got in his car. He dialled Evie when he was a couple of roads away and sighed as her voice crackled through his car speakers, demanding an explanation.

~Carlos~

She hadn't come home again, she had barely text which had once worried Carlos, but they were weeks into dealing with Prince Prat, and Carlos had resigned himself to her absences. He looked at his phone once more, before putting it to charge in the kitchen and heading up to bed. Usually it would stay beside him, but he had become obsessive of a night time, constantly checking his screen to see if Jane was on her way home, to see if she had messaged him or, called him, or even sent a goddamn GIF. Anything, but usually there was nothing. He had decided to take away the temptation, and left his phone downstairs, with the leftovers of the chili he had prepared that night. In a Tupperware, with a heart shaped note on the top her name scribbled across it. He still loved her, his foolish heart would always love her, even if she slept with three hundred Princes, he would still love her.

Somehow, Carlos wasn't sure how he had managed to drift off to sleep. It had been an uneasy and restless sleep, and it was cut short by the noises in the other room.

"Sshh." There was a loud whisper, that wasn't fooling anybody, and Carlos stopped reaching for the heavy lamp, expecting a burglar and instead he reached for the torch.

"Jane." A male voice, maybe he should reach for the lamp again. "Jane, he's not going to hear us, he's asleep."

"Ed, we have to be quiet." Jane hushed him again and Carlos peeped out from the door. His Jane, and that Prat were beyond inebriated, Jane had a pair of high heel shoes in her hand (when did she buy those?), and she was leaning heavily on the back of the sofa.

"Fine." He mock whispered and sat on the sofa, loosening his shirt. "Do I have to sleep on the sofa, where's the bed?"

"There isn't one." Jane hummed, sitting beside him and resting her head on his shoulder. Carlos swallowed hard.

"What do you mean?"

"There's my bed and there's the sofa, the other room is Carlos' study."

"And your library." Carlos hissed from his hidden spot. "But you won't mention that Jane will you, because Ed clearly doesn't think it's cool."

"You let him have a whole bedroom for a study?"

"Yup. Christ is that the time? We should really be asleep, you have an eleven am meeting." Carlos didn't hear anything clearly, as he padded quietly back into the bed, squeezed his eyes shut and pretended to be asleep.

~Jane~

Jane didn't see the leftovers, because Carlos left well before her the next morning, he took himself off to the beach with his laptop and various gadgets and the chili went with him.

Jane did see the note in the bin. She saw the Have a good day at work note and frowned, bleary eyed as she stared at the trash. Her hangover was killing her, and Ed was still half passed out on the sofa, he had made a few groaning noises, and some words about Jo coming over to help them recover. But Jane's hungover mind was trying to process why Carlos had screwed up a note for her in the bin, it wasn't working, the gears were turning but nothing was happening. She turned to face Ed, the world briefly spinning at the fast movement. Her mouth opened and closed, still sluggishly working over the note in the bin but for the moment she decided she really needed water.

After filling two glasses, she slunked to the armchair and swirled the glass, half in thought. Ed still made noises next to her and after emerging from his blanket nest he raised one eyebrow.

"Your sofa is far comfier than I expected. Must get one of my own."

"It's a charity shop find, Carlos is pretty damn good at finding out treasures." Jane's mind was still struggling over the note, unsure why it was bothering her so much.

"Your boy is very good at that." He winked and smiled and Jane quirked a grin, until the buzzer of the door went and the pair grimaced. "That'll be Jo." She hauled herself upright, note forgotten.

"Hopefully bearing paracetamol and caffeine."

~Carlos~

Carlos sighed; Jane was out late again. Again. He really couldn't stop the permanent nausea rolling through his body. He thought he could trust his friends enough to unburden himself, but instead he kept his worries locked up and festering inside his head. He had gone straight back to his insecure Isle days, when he didn't quite trust anyone enough with the secrets in his heart.

He knew Evie was worried, he'd lost weight, hell even Jay had commented on how pale and thin he was. He had murmured something about new contracts, but even the muscle man, who wasn't exactly comfortable with sharing emotions seemed to be watching Carlos a little too closely. Carlos had stopped seeing them; he locked himself in his study, drawing fantastical, barely doable inventions. He would spend hours fixing one corner of a self-clearing mantle piece only to tear the plans in half when he realised no-one would ever want it. He couldn't remember when he last ate, but he realised he hadn't slept in about 36 hours and there was an almost permanent tic on the right side of his face.

He should probably sleep. Would his brain let him sleep? Maybe. Maybe Jane still had that DreamEasy concoction her mother had made when they were studying for finals. Did potions expire? He wasn't sure. He would take it anyway. He fell into an almost dreamless sleep and he was out for the count when Jane came home. Not that she would know.

Jane was exhausted when she came home, Ed and Jo had far more stamina than she did and every bone in her body hurt as she dragged herself through the front door. Resting her coat on the hook, she was bemused to see the light on in the living room, kicking off the painful heels, she dumped her laptop bag on the kitchen table before padding through to the lounge. There was evidence of Carlos' crazy brain and she smiled fondly at the mess before her. In another time it might have maddened her that his system seemed illogical, but time had taught her that Carlos knew where everything was. Her smile faded as she saw Carlos still working away. He was furiously scrabbling for pens and paper, and Jane frowned at his erratic behaviour, especially considering it was almost two in the morning.

She only became truly concerned when he grabbed a fork and with the handle of it continued to scribble formulas and notes.

"Carlos?" She murmured. He didn't react. She moved through to face him and sighed softly. Sure enough, her beau's eyes were wide open but unseeing. A sleepwalking Carlos wasn't unusual, but it was rare – normally with a deadline looming or a large amount of stress rocketing around his brain, she knew that he was apt to getting up and wandering, that manic mind of his not quite relaxing. Gently prising the fork from his fingers, she was relieved when he meekly followed her back to bed. She didn't pretend to understand the muttered words, and she resolved to be there with him in the morning to try and work out what had got him so worked up.

"Jane, must show Jane. Must show her, she needs to see this, needs to know…. Needs to be…" Carlos hurried words left her bemused and she worriedly stroked his hair away from his face as she tucked him back into bed.

"What do I need to know?" She whispered, keeping one eye on his twitching form while working the zipper on her dress.

"Jane, but she can't have. No she could have. Maybe. But Jane." He blindly reached over and patted the empty space in the bed and whined. "Jane." The hurt in his voice had Jane, still in her underwear dashing to his side, stroking his hair once more, smoothing out the frown lines on his face, lines that didn't disappear under her touch. "No Jane." The quiet words sent her brain tumbling into a bout of confusion, but it seemed that Carlos' brain had finally worn itself out and the rest of the night went quietly.

When she woke up the next morning, his side of the bed was empty and throwing on a dressing gown she found Carlos in the kitchen staring mournfully at his coffee cup.

"Hey love." She pressed a kiss to the top of his head.

"Hey."

"Rough night?"

"Feels like it." He winced and rolled his shoulders experimentally. "Not been this bad in a while." He groaned and went to the microwave as it beeped. Throwing the heat bag across his left shoulder he pulled a face and sipped his coffee again.

"You tried to draw on your plans with a fork." Jane shrugged, grabbing her own cup and digging out a box from her bag. Unearthing a box of tea from the depths of her bag, she flicked the kettle to life and hummed to herself.

"Since when did you drink raspberry tea?" Carlos tried to keep his question light, but he knew what her answer would be.

"Oh Ed made me try some the other day and I am hooked."

"Is that the new fruity thing I've been smelling?" Carlos had been taught how to lie from birth, and he watched Jane with a neutral expression. If you couldn't lie on the Isle you wouldn't make your fifth birthday, and if you couldn't keep your poker face under control, you wouldn't make your tenth. He watched her thoughtful face and felt a sinking feeling in his gut as she nodded.

"That could be it." She was letting the bag steep, watching the tea intently and Carlos felt his heart shatter. He knew the fruity smell was a luxurious perfume from Dronning Af Vandet. He had been going to get it for her birthday after she had a sample at Audrey's wedding, but it seemed that Ed had already beaten him to it.

Well that was his morning ruined, and with that his brain needed an escape plan.

"I need to get some work done, I'm sure you'll be heading off soon." He stood, and Jane missed him forcing himself to relax. She looked up in surprise and opened her mouth.

"I don't have to be in until one."

"Ah, as always we seem to miss one another these days." He dropped a long lingering kiss to the crown of her hair, but when he took a deep breath and smelt the Queen of the Water perfume, and raspberry tea he took a step back. She didn't smell like his Jane anymore. His Jane had smelt like books and sherbet. She didn't know how good Carlos was at lying, at hiding how much his heart hurt. She looked at him confused as he vanished to the bathroom, and was more confused when he brushed off her offer of coming with him to the library.

She was sat in her dressing gown, staring at the closed front door when her phone buzzed.

"Hey Ed."

~Janelos~

He didn't want to be here. Every single part of him hated knowing that he was here because of the Royal Prat. He felt like the idiot was showing off that Jane was now His and not Carlos'. She hadn't spent much time with Carlos, she had instead swanned around with Ed, leaving Carlos lurking at the edges of a society that didn't want him.

He didn't know what had broken him. It might have been Ed's kiss on Jane's cheek that snapped him. He couldn't even remember what he said, but he found himself in a now silent room, everyone agog at seeing Prince Edward's Planner and her boyfriend having a domestic in the middle of the Opening Party.

"You're accusing me of what now Carlos de Vil!? Do you not know who Joe is?!" She snapped while Carlos smouldered against her.

"Jo?" Carlos said blankly, staring at Jane who, despite her anger at him, could see he was genuinely confused. "I thought Jo was his sister?"

"Number one, Joe is a man." Jane hissed, and a man behind her waved cheerfully.

"Okay, so Joe is Prince Prat's brother! Big deal!" Carlos huffed.

"Number two." Jane was using her quiet voice, and Carlos felt suddenly unsure; she only used this voice when she was really mad. "Joe is Edward's husband."

There was a silence and Carlos felt his heart stop and his stomach plummet. The colour drained from his face and he gaped at her. Jane wanted to feel triumphant in the moment of proving him wrong but she didn't because instead of answering her, he fled. He ran as fast as he could from the room.

Carlos blindly ran, his eyes unseeing as he slammed open doors, yanked the keys from his pocket and rammed them in the ignition. He sped away, leaving tire tracks on the road and he let his overwhelmed mind take him to a place he would feel safe. The salt air hit his nostrils and he finally sobbed, broken noises rattled through him his as the pressure of the last few weeks tumbled down around him. His mind, so bent on seeing the worst in Jane had missed all the obvious signs. So sure that he wasn't good enough for her, he had been so sure that she would always choose a Prince over the son of a villainous lunatic, he had been so sure that Jane would never have chosen him that he missed everything in front of him. Another broken sob had him curled on the sand, huddled near the wall with his head resting on his knees.

Jane had watched him leave, politely excused herself and went to compose herself. Which was impossible. She took one look at her own reflection, and decided she needed to leave. She didn't say goodbye to either Edward or Joseph, she didn't stay long enough to collect her coat, she had her purse, and her keys and she went home. To the home she shared with Carlos, to the small library that the pair of them had built within the spare bedroom, she stared over at his desk and saw the clutter of files for different project he was working on, he saw the blueprint paper with different inventions traced neatly across them, with A4 sheets paperclipped behind with his notes and mathematics on them. She had hoped that he was here but it was obvious that their quiet flat was empty, and Jane realised just how cold their last few weeks had been.

She sat in his chair and couldn't stop the well of emotions rushing through, the tears came and she cried for a moment. She cast her mind back and realised why Carlos' behaviour had been so erratic, his sleepwalking and twitchiness made sense, locking himself away in here to work fanatically on new instalments, excitedly rushing to tell her new ideas, and Jane closed her eyes as she realised he was trying to prove himself to her. To prove that he was better than a Prince. She groaned and rested her head on his pile of paperwork, as if he would ever need to prove it… even if Edward had been so inclined towards her, she would never choose a Royal over her Rebel.

Jane thought for longer on the previous moments that had confused her, and realised she had not helped the situation, the dinners between herself and Edward, all harmless but probably not from an outside perspective. Her early morning dashes to the new offices – she had known that the contractors had had issues, but she had never told Carlos, she had been gone when he woke up, and he was usually asleep when she got back. A change in her routines, using new and expensive products, which Carlos had lightly but regularly commented on; sure she knew that Joe owned a luxury spa and Jane had taken full advantage of her client's generosity. But Carlos didn't. All Carlos knew was that his girlfriend had left early in the morning to see Edward, come home after having dinner out with Edward, and came home smelling of different things to her usual products.

It was like Affair 101.

She'd have to find him.

~Jane~

She couldn't find him. It had been a week and now everyone was frantic.

Mal had tried every form of magic she knew to try and locate Carlos but everything deflected back.

"Could he be on the Isle?" Jane whispered when another spell fizzled out.

"No." Her mother said firmly. "We have had the barrier three times checked, it hasn't been lifted or broken. He's still in Auradon."

"We don't know that." Doug said gently, bending down to be on level with Jane.

There had been a serious uproar after Carlos didn't come home. There had been a lot of shouting, a lot of tears and in the end Jay had almost stormed out to find Prince Edward. Married or not, the man was a Grade A prat as far as Jay was concerned, and Jay's behaviour only seemed to confirm Jane's worst fears that Carlos was gone. Gone Gone, not just gone.

The week had passed in a blur and Jay hadn't really come back. When neither Evie's, Mal's or Fairy Godmother's magic couldn't locate Carlos, Jay had gone to search Auradon on foot. He treated the search as he would a Tourney match and he planned every strategy he could to find his best friend. What the others didn't know was that Jay felt guilty that he hadn't pushed more in finding out what had been stressing Carlos out, and that guilt was the driving force behind finding Carlos first. But even now, he was sat on the floor, reading map after trying to work out where Carlos could have ran to.

"This is maddening!" Jane suddenly screamed and stood up. "My boyfriend cannot have vanished from the face of the planet. He may have an IQ of four million and six, and create some of the most magic deflecting technology this kingdom has ever seen but even he cannot leave this damn place. He hasn't chartered a boat or a plane, so he is still in Auradon and I am going to find the damn man." She slammed her way out of the flat and FG deflated slightly. It had taken too long for Jane to get this angry, and she was originally worried that the magic wouldn't work now.

"Mal, Evie, now." The three women quickly joined hands and using the anger left by Jane they wove a new spell.

"What's going on?" Jay stood, watching the magic unfurl around the room.

"If I know anything, it's going to be something to do with True Love." Lonnie commented, leaning against the doorjamb until the magic settled into the form of two mongrel dogs. Godmother knelt down beside the two faintly glowing hounds.

"You know what to do." She nodded and the pair vanished in a sparkle of fairy dust.

"True Love needs a little more emotion to work , and while we had captured Carlos' jealousy, we need a raw emotion from Jane and she kept bottling it up, any longer and Carlos' emotion was losing potency." Mal shrugged, sagging onto the sofa with a sigh.

~Janelos~

Carlos watched the waves roll across the pebbles and said nothing. The sun hit his face, and for a moment he felt utterly at peace with the world. The glow that suddenly filled his soul made a change from the pain and guilt that had tortured him for the last week.

This beach was a hideout, and he had used every inch of his Isle trained cunning to keep himself hidden. The device he kept hidden in his pocket was like an umbrella for magic, it kept him hidden though he felt it vibrate every time a spell bounced off of it, and there had been many.

He had spent the first day or two crying, unable to hold back the pain in his chest, and he cried himself hoarse, collapsing on the floor of the hut when exhaustion finally took him. Thankfully he didn't sleepwalk, his body, and his mind were too numb to even conjure such a possibility. The next few days were spent in silent contemplation, mind running from anger to guilt, to anger, to hope, to shattered dreams, to heartbreak. Rolling from happy memories, until they soured with the last few months.

Now though he was sat with a strange but welcomed sense of peace and calm. Then he saw the dog. At first he tensed, a dog usually meant an owner, but the pooch sniffed the pebbles, snapped at a crab and frolicked in the surf before running up to him and barking happily. Carlos had never been happier to see another living animal in his life and fondled the dog's ears happily. He laughed when the dog rolled over to show his belly, and rubbed it accordingly and he even got up to jump in the waves with the mongrel.

"Shall we call you something? Until I find your real name, because you had no collar." Carlos had already felt the fur around his neck and found nothing. "How about Rex?" A whine. "Arthur? Billy? Carl? Donovan." The dog sat back on his haunches and gave him a droll look. "Fine! You can be just Dog for now?" A playful bark and a yip made Carlos laugh again and they went back to riling up the crab still sat on the beach.

So when the dog grabbed at his sleeve with teeth and made a whining noise, Carlos instantly became concerned and followed his new playmate without a hesitation.

"Pupper where are you?" The female voice made him stop in his tracks but the crashing through the undergrowth found another dog running towards him at full pelt. Carlos froze up as the two dogs yipped and barked at one another happily, but Carlos stopped and stared as the owner of the female voice followed her dog.

"Jane." He said hoarsely and Jane stopped dead as she came face to her face with her missing other half.

"Oh my god Carlos you're alive." Before he could move or protest, she ran towards him and flung herself at him, her arms wrapped around his neck and she noisily sobbed into his shoulders. He found his arms curling around her back and equally he cried as hard as the pair were lost in the moment.

~Janelos~

"So you now have two dogs?" Lonnie stroked one fluffy head while the other nosed Jay in the knee.

"Yes beast, I am here and I think you are adorable but I am not giving you my sandwich." A whine made them all smile, but Jay held firm. "Nu uh this is mine."

"All because of Mom." Jane smiled fondly at the pair.

"Their names?" Lonnie presses, glad that Carlos was home and safe and sound. Jay had rightfully been frantic that his best friend was missing, and had worked himself up, almost scaring her in the process. Now though, normality ruled once more in Auradon.

"Ludus and Pragma." Carlos supplied, taking Ludus away from Jay, allowing the man to eat his sandwich in peace.

"And you named them that?" Jay raised an eyebrow.

"Nope, their names appeared on their collars when we got home." Carlos shrugged.

"And they mean?" Jay continued, scarfing half the sandwich that Ludus was still eyeing up.

"Playful love and Enduring love." Jane finished sweetly, calling Pragma over to her side with a soft whistle.

"Well isn't that perfect." Lonnie smiled at the foursome and nudged Jay in the ribs, he smiled back at her knowingly, not that Carlos or Jane would notice they were too busy being lost in one another.