A/N: I am not very computer savvy, and did not realize that I had to approve guest reviews by hand. I think I have it fixed now. If you tried to leave a review on either this story or "Follow the Leader" and it did not get approved, I'm sorry. It had nothing to do with you, just my inability to function.

This chapter has only Jay and Evie, because it was just too long otherwise. Carlos and Mal will come in the next chapter.

I Prefer Dangerous Freedom over Peaceful Slavery

Thomas Jefferson

The look of shock on Mal's face was hysterical. What, did she think that Evie was too stupid and naive to know when she was being played? Then Mal's face relaxed. "Of course it's my diary. I'm 'revved up' as you so elegantly put it, because I don't want my private thoughts being read by every person in Auradon. But if you don't believe me, go ahead and take a look." She made a sweeping gesture with her hand.

Evie flipped it open and skimmed over a few pages. They did appear to be diary pages. Cute boys, she hated her mother, what she had done that day. It all seemed to be quite normal.

But she still didn't buy it. When she held the diary, she got the same feeling as when she held her magic mirror. It was a vibration that seemed to flow directly into her own body.

Plus, and she hated to sound snobby, this was a really nice book. Fancy leather and thick pages. Her own father wouldn't buy her something this nice for a disposable diary, and she was sure that it would be even more precious on the Island. There was no way this was what it appeared to be.

It was clearly something magical, and something that Mal knew she wasn't supposed to have. A communication device? But without magic on the Island, how would Maleficent get the calls? No, that didn't work. So that only left... "It's a spell book, isn't it?" She shook the book sharply. "Show yourself." Maybe her mothers magic would be enough to make it appear.

It didn't exactly do that, but there was a brief shimmer over the book, as if she had somehow disrupted the glamour. "I knew it."

She expected Mal to get upset, and maybe even kick her out of the room, but that didn't' happen. Mal just smirked at her instead. "You know, Princess, I like you. You're not afraid of the big bad wolf."

"No, I'm not." Which might be the most foolish thing she had ever done in her life, but Evie didn't care. She was making her own choices and mistakes, and it was strangely exhilarating. "You know that you can't use this."

"And why not? I brought its with me and it's my property. Or are you going to snitch on me? Is that it, Princess? You're going to narc?"

Evie had never heard the term before, but she guessed that narcing was the same as tattling. "No, I'm not. But I'm not going to just give this to you either. Besides, you don't have the power to use it." She kept her voice calm and rational.

"Yet." The word was grumbled under Mal's breath, but Evie heard it anyway. "So what are you going to do with it?"

"Just put it away for now. I like this place and I don't want you to blow it up. I would also prefer that you not set fire to or freeze our dorm room. You have no idea what that would do to my make-up." She smiled a little and waited for Mal to catch up to her.

It only took a few seconds. "Our dorm room? So you decided to come take a walk on the wild side?"

"Yes. I think that it's important that I spend time with everyone here instead of being separated in the castle all the time. Besides, you needed a room mate, and here I am."

She was making it sound far easier then it had actually been. Neither parent had attempted to forbid her, but they had both been hurt, Ben even more so. Now that he was assuming more and more responsibility for the kingdom, sometimes the only time they saw each other was at home, right before bed. Now they wouldn't even have that.

It had been hard to make him understand that wasn't him. It had been even harder to make her parents understand that this had nothing (ok, almost nothing) to do with the truth that had come out about how she had joined the family. She wanted a chance to be something other then the princess. Or at least something more. Was she Princess Evie or Evie from the Isle of the Lost? Or was she both? She didn't know, and she would never find out if she didn't get herself a little independence.

"Kind of a downgrade from the palace." Mal leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest.

That didn't seem like the sort of comment that she should reply to, so Evie brushed the thought aside. Talking to Mal was a bit like stepping around quicksand. There was a method to the madness, but she was sure she would misstep and be sucked in eventually. "Anyway, you just have to focus on getting better so Fairy Godmother will want to release you. I'll see about getting a room set up for us."

"You know I'll figure out where you've hidden my spell book. Then what keeps me from turning it on you?"

She wasn't going to be intimidated. "I guess I better hope that you like me a lot better by the time you find it, then."

Mal gave her that half smile/half smirk that she was so very good at. "That would be wise."

"So, I thought we could maybe look at getting our room decorated for when they release you. Did you draw the dragons on your suitcase? Because those were amazing."

A little shameless flattery never hurt anyone, and, sure enough, Mall puffed a bit. "Yes. I do all of my own artwork and stunts."

"Well I love it. Maybe I can talk them into letting you go wild on our walls." She was a little worried about telling Mal she had free reign, but the worst that could happen was that she had to sleep in an ugly room for a while. It wasn't like Mal could do too much damage with paint, right?

When Mal smiled this time, it was less of a smirk and much more natural. "That would be...alright, I guess."

But her eyes said differently. Her eyes said that she very badly wanted a chance to paint and show off her work. So why not just say that? What had been said or done to her that Mal felt like she couldn't express joy in anything?

"I can't promise, but I can try. You need to try to get out of here. They aren't going to hold any of the really good rooms for long, and Jay and Carlos already got one of them." That was a bit of a lie, since there were plenty of rooms, but if Mal thought that she was in competition with someone, especially Carlos, she would be more likely to work hard.

Sure enough, her lip curled and her eyes went narrow. "I'll be out by the end of the week. Are we going to be in the same dorm as those two?"

Unfortunately, yes. There was only one building on campus that had the sort of suites that they needed, and therefore it was the only building with mixed genders. "Yes, we will. I would really like it if you and Carlos would at least make an effort to tolerate each other. Jay is my best friend, and it would be nice if the four of us could hang out."

"Tell him to keep his hands to himself and leave me alone, and I promise to do the same for him. I will...tolerate...his presence." The word was spit out like it was physically painful for her to say it.

"I appreciate it. Jay will have the same talk with Carlos, and I'm sure he'll agree to leave you be if asked."

Mal snorted. "Good luck with that. You do know that he's as crazy as his mother, right? Don't let that sweet, shy, little boy act fool you."

Unknowingly, she had just provided Evie a chance to ask a few questions without being obvious. "What do you mean? Jay says he seems ok, except he doesn't talk. He really never has?"

"Nope." Mal shook her head, seemingly disinterested. "Never. Not even to his own mother." She seemed to think about it, and smirked. "Or your mother either. Completely mute."

"Do you think he can't do it, or he can and is refusing?" Maybe Carlos was just fearful of strangers.

"Don't know, don't care. I'll admit that he has more brains then I originally thought, but I don't think they those brains are wired right. Plus, he's fucking mean."

If she wanted to hang out with Mal (and she did. Goodness she did), Evie figured she better get used to the potty mouth. The pictures Jay had sent revealed a shy looking and obviously very scared kid who looked younger then them. Mean wasn't exactly the word that came to mind.

Then again 'baby snatcher' wasn't the word she would have thought of with her father, either. "Why?"

Mal pulled back her sleeve to reveal a scar on her arm. "He got me with a knife."

"Why?" Evie didn't want to sound accusing, but it did worry her. "I mean, did he just charge you out of nowhere."

"Of course not. I was trying to get him as well. I think I did. Hopefully."

Did Carlos hate Mal as much as she obviously hated him? If they had not only been fighting, but doing it with weapons, thing were far worse then she had originally thought. "I wish the two of you could get along. It would be nice if you could help each other out, since you're going through a lot of the same stuff."

"I know, I know. I already said that I would try and be nice to him. What else do you want?" She sounded sweet as pie.

Again, Evie felt that Mal was willing to say whatever she had to to get out of this room. Evie didn't buy the repentant good girl act for a second. Mal had a plan and it was nothing good. Her stunt with the spell book proved that.

So why wasn't Evie ratting her out? It would be the right thing to do. Beyond that, it would be the good thing to do. It was what was expected of the Princess.

But Evie was tired of doing the good and right thing. She had done the right thing her entire life, and look where it had gotten her. She didn't even know who she was any more. If there was even the smallest chance that Mal could help her with that, she was going to take it. She wouldn't let Mal turn her into something she wasn't, but what if, deep down, she really was and Island girl, and was bad at heart?

"You're sure about this, Jay? 100% sure? Because there is no going back. This is what you want. Not what Evie wants, but what you want." Fairy Godmother was giving him that look that she always gave him when she was trying to figure out if he was lying. And Jay would definitely be lying if he tried to say he didn't see that look a lot.

He nodded. "I'm 100% sure. I really want Carlos to come and be my roommate. We're cool together. We're buds." At least he thought they were buds. Carlos had been standing by the bed instead of underneath it yesterday and had seemed happy to see Jay. The orderly had told him that Carlos had been restless all day, watching the door and seeming to be waiting for something. Hopefully what he was waiting for was Jay.

"Alright. I've approved your rooming with Carlos, but I want you to make sure that you're keeping up with your own schoolwork and Tourney practice. You need to worry about yourself as well as him."

"I will." Jay was never really sure what to say to Fairy Godmother. She was nice and all, but not the sort of woman you really talked to, you know? "I'm ready for him to move in any time."

"That's noted, and we're going to try and move him in after curfew tonight. I don't think that he's ready to face everyone just yet. We're going to have him evaluated academically tomorrow and go from there."

Jay didn't think that that was very fair. He might not know that much about Carlos, but he already knew that he didn't take change well. If he would barely even come out from under the bed for anyone but Jay after being in the hospital for several days, what made them think he was going to test well for a stranger right after he had been moved again.

But who really cared? Did it matter what grade level Carlos was if he never talked and wouldn't even leave their dorm room? Jay already knew that Carlos could write, which meant he could probably read, too. He had handled the tablet carefully and had been tapping at the apps carefully when Jay left. He was smart, Jay was sure of it. So he would catch up academically. "Oh. Ok. I get to come help him move, right?"

"Yes. He seems to like you a lot." Her eyes were probing him, trying to figure out what Jay had done that she couldn't.

"Cool." May I be excused, then? Evie and I want to get the room set up for him."

"You may. Good luck with everything." She sounded way too formal.

Evie was waiting for him outside. "Ready?" She was practically bouncing with excitement.

"Ready." He was kind of excited to get things set up, but he knew Evie, and she was going to go absolutely crazy with the decorating. Maybe it was a girl thing.

She wound her arm through his. "I thought that I would order us some pizzas for dinner. How does that sound."

And it was starting already. "We're not going to be done by dinner? You do realize that we're just in a double with a bathroom, right? We're not in one of the huge rooms."

"No, you guys got a huge room. Right now, Daddy feels so bad about everything that he would give Carlos and Mal whatever they want. And since Carlos won't tell anyone what he wants, he's just getting the best of everything and we're hoping something works." She gave him her patented sad look, which he fell for every time. "I just want things to be extra nice for Carlos. He's probably never had anyone do anything special like this just for him."

Damn. She was right and now Jay felt bad and wouldn't be able to say anything about it. "Fine. But lets not go overboard, ok?"

"Of course not." She smiled at him, and he knew that they would probably still be working when it was time to go pick Carlos up.

The room had come with standard furniture, but Jay had dug his heels in and insisted on a half loft bed for Carlos. It was about chest height, which would give Carlos plenty of room to hide underneath if he wanted to. He had even gotten an extra set of sheets so that he could put one on the top part and pull it down like a canopy for privacy. If he decided he wanted to sleep up top like a normal person, it would be a simple matter to lift the mattress up. It didn't really match the other furniture, but he was sure that Carlos didn't care.

Jay's had brought his own stuff over last night, but it was all still in boxes. Evie was sure to have a plan for it, and he didn't want to get in her way. He had to admit, this room was way cooler then the thought it would be. Big windows with a bench you could sit in, lots of space, bathroom with a shower and tub. This was pretty nice.

Evie pointed at a box. "Bedding is in there, if you want to make the mattress up for him. I bought some new stuff for you, too. " She busied herself in setting up a desk for Carlos, with all black, red, and white supplies. Jay had to admit, it looked pretty neat.

He made up both beds and busied himself setting up his stuff. He had never thought of himself as having much, but, compared to Carlos, he realized that he had a lot of crap.

"Hey, Jay?" Evie's voice was timid, and it made him look up in surprise. She wasn't looking at him, though. "If you knew something terrible about someone, but they didn't know it, would you tell them?"

Uh-oh. "I don't know. I don't really like secrets, so I guess I would probably tell them. Why? Who do you have the dirt on?" It wasn't like Jay was above a little gossip when it came right down to it.

"I...can you help me hang this thing?" She gestured at a giant poster that she was trying to unroll.

"Sure." Jay knew Evie well enough to know that she wasn't trying to put him off. She just needed a few minutes to sort things out in her own head before she was able to tell someone else.

The poster was huge, at least 3 feet wide and 4 feet long and was a detailed rendering of the periodic table. "Does he even like science?"

"My...um...my mother said he did. My other mother. Grimhilde, not Belle."

That was new. Jay had never heard Evie call Belle by her first name before. Or Grimhilde, for that matter. She always called them 'Mom' and 'My other Mom.'. "Oh. I guess she would know. It sounds like she did her best with him."

"Yeah." The word was clipped, and he took the hint to shut up.

They hung the poster carefully, with Evie taking special care to make sure it was perfectly straight. She waited until she was fastening the last corner to the wall before she spoke. "It's you. I know a secret about you."

About him? Really? Jay ran through things in his mind, but couldn't think of anything. He was actually pretty boring when you came right down to it. "Me?"

She nodded. "I don't want you to hate me when I tell you." Her fingers found his, winding their hands together. "Promise me you won't."

"Of course not." Evie was his best girl, and he could never hate her in a million years.

"They took us." Her voice was low and miserable. "Off the Island, I mean. Our parents didn't give us up for adoption, the people from Auradon just went in and stole us."

"Ok." That didn't make any sense. The fact that ethics hadn't come into play with their adoptions wasn't a surprise to anyone. It was kind of an open secret on the Island. Was this some weird girl midlife crisis? "And?"

She looked shocked. "Doesn't that bother you?"

Did it? "Sometimes." It was the most honest answer he could give. His parents had been honest about his adoption, even when he was too small to really understand. With his dark skin and black hair, Jay looked like he could easily be their own child, and Aziz his actual brother.

As he got older, he learned more and more. At seven or eight, his mother held him and gently explained that they hadn't asked permission to have him. That they had done a very bad thing to get him, but that is wasn't his fault. They had thought they were doing a good thing, and they loved him very much, as much as they loved Aziz. Jay had been confused and angry, and both parents accepted that anger.

It was only after that day that the talks about his original family become more serious. No one knew about his mother. Nothing, not even her name. She could have been just as awesome as Jasmine, or just as mean as Cruella and Jay wouldn't have known the difference. Since Auradon had virtually no access to the Island's actual residents, he just had to accept that he might never know.

There was plenty of information on Jafar, though, and none of it good. While Jay understood that King Adam and the rest of the royals had done a bad thing by stealing them, he still couldn't help but feel like he had been done a favor. Jafar was a killer, and who knew what he might have done to Jay? And image of Carlos, bruised and scared, unwilling to be touched or comforted burned into his brain. That could have (would have?) been him.

Evie was staring at him, still confused. "Sometimes? What do you..." Her voice trailed off and horror dawned in her eyes. "You knew. Really, Jay? You already knew about this."

"You didn't?" His breath caught. She had to have known, right? No one would try and keep this a secret for sixteen years.

"No. No one told me." She blinked hard, her jaw clenching. "They lied. Every Christmas, every holiday, every birthday, they looked at me and lied. Ben, too. We're their kids, and the told us the worst lie in the world."

Jay had no idea what to do or say. His head was spinning and he was pretty sure that he had never felt so bad in his life.

Then Evie started to cry and he realized you can always feel worse. There weren't really words, so he just wrapped his arms around her and hoped that his body could say what his mouth couldn't.

"It should have been different." That was the only thing she said, and Jay couldn't have agreed more. But wasn't that always how it was? The people on the Island should have been helped instead of ignored. Carlos and Mal should have been taken with the rest of them. Everyone should have been honest from the very first moment. Too late for all of that now.

Evie might have been overwhelmed, but she pulled herself back together quickly, giving him a tight squeeze and a kiss on the cheek. "Don't lie to me Jay. Ever. Ok? Promise me that we won't do that to each other."

That was easy to promise. "Of course."

She wiped her eyes. "Ok. Let's finish getting this room set up."

Instead of talking, she turned on the radio and they both sang along, making beds and setting up desks. Jay had textbooks, while Carlos had nothing yet. Once his testing was complete, they would get the appropriate books.

He and Evie had been best friends since kindergarten, so the silence between them didn't feel awkward at all. In fact, it was so comfortable that he jumped when she spoke up. "Ok, what do you think?"

She was unpacking the clothing that she had found for Carlos. Everything was black, white, and red, and it all seemed punkish and grungy. She laid a few outfits out on the bed. "He brought this one from home, and these two are ones that I made. I think the style's pretty close, right?"

Uhhh...maybe? They looked close enough to Jay, but he had never quit figured out the difference between colors like white and eggshell and ecru and bone, even though Evie rolled her eyes and insisted it was there. "I think your outfits look great."

They really did. The ones she had made were of an obviously higher quality, but, other then that, all three looked like they could have been purchased together. "I think he'll really like them."

She flushed a bit. "Thanks. I bought the pajamas and socks and Ben did the, you know, underwear and stuff. It was kind of hard, since he couldn't tell me what he wanted. He didn't have any long pants, but I don't know if he doesn't like them, or he gets too hot, or he just didn't have any with him. I used what he brought to guess on sizes, so I hope I'm close."

"He's kind of small." Jay helplessly held out his hands, trying to show her height. "Not, like, super small, though. He's probably close to your height."

"I can take them in or let them out if I need to." She folded the outfits back up and set them on the dresser. "I want him to be happy here. Do you think he is?"

It was a good question. No, Jay didn't think that Carlos was happy here in Auradon. But he didn't think that Carlos had been happy on the Island either. Maybe he didn't know how to be.

But it wasn't too late, right? Carlos was only 16 years old, the same age as Jay. He couldn't be ruined yet. Besides, he was already starting to relax, and Jay had even seen him smile a little bit. It was just too soon to tell. "Not yet. But it's only been a few days."

"We can help him. Mal, too." She leaned under Carlos' bed to affix a reading light to the slats. "She already said that she would make an effort to be nice to Carlos, so the four of us can hang out. Do you think you could ask Carlos for the same thing?"

"Sure." He really didn't think that Carlos would bother Mal, anyway. From what everyone had been able to piece together, most of their fights were over food, and that wasn't going to be an issue here. It might take a few days, maybe a week or two, but they would realize that they would always have enough. "I'll talk to him."

They were just putting the finishing touches together when Fairy Godmother knocked on the door. "Are the two of you ready?"

Jay looked around the room, checking for anything that was out of place. It looked good. The sides were very different, with Jay's being full of Tourney gear and Carlos' oriented more towards science and learning, but Evie had managed to pull them together in a really neat way.

"I think so." Evie tugged on Jay's sleeve. "You think he'll be ok with me coming along? I'd really like to meet him."

"Yeah, it'll be fine." Jay wasn't really sure that it would, but Carlos knew him, and he knew Fairy Godmother, so it wasn't like Carlos was going to be faced with bunch of strangers. He needed to know and get used to Evie as well.

The car ride was quiet. Fairy Godmother spoke to both of them, asking about what was going on with school and sports, and they answered robotically. Everyone was nervous. If Carlos bolted (and Jay had heard all about him trying it before), they might not catch him in the dark. He had brought some Peanut Butter Cups, which he perceived as Carlos' favorite, to use as a bribe. He just had to remember that if they were nervous, Carlos was a million times more so. That hospital room sucked, but it was at least a familiar place. Once he left it, that was it. His brand new dorm room with all the cool stuff was as alien to him as the darkest alleyway in the middle of Auradon City. With no speech and his ability to survive with no adult help, their chances of getting him back were slim.

Jay made sure that he was the first one to walk into the room. Carlos was sitting on the bed, a small bag next to him. When he saw Jay the corners of his mouth quirked up in a 'blink and you'll miss it' sort of smile. But it was something. "Hey, Dude. You ready?"

Carlos gave quick nod and hopped off the bed. He appeared fairly relaxed, but Jay was getting quite familiar with his movements, and he noticed that Carlos remained on the balls of his feet, his eyes darting back to the hallway. He didn't move towards Jay like he usually did. He just waited, eyes fixed. Clearly he either heard or sensed Evie and Fairy Godmother.

"There's someone I want you to meet. Remember my friend Evie that I told you about? She brought you that blanket? Well she's here and she wants to say hi." He looked back towards the door. Carlos hadn't indicated that he didn't want her around, so he was going to try this.

He had spent enough time here to recognize Carlos' usual reaction to meeting strangers. He would tip his head away and down, peering at them out of the corner of his eye. Then he waited, expressionless. Usually the effect was disconcerting enough that the other person backed off. Between his oddness and Mal's aggression, it was a wonder that any of the staff would deal with them at all.

None of that happened with Evie. When she stepped tentatively into the room, Carlos stared at her, making steady eye contact. A sudden tension hummed through his body, and Jay would have given anything to know what he was thinking.

Evie smiled at Carlos, and he shocked Jay again by smiling gently back. "Hello, Carlos, I'm Evie."

He raised one hand, flipping it slowly until his palm was up. He didn't hold it out as if asking for a handshake, but it was an unmistakable greeting. It made Jay burn with sudden jealousy. Why was Carlos so friendly to Evie, when it had taken Jay himself forever to get him out from under his bed?

Of course, Evie was a gorgeous girl and a princess to boot, while Jay was just Jay. Was it any surprise that Carlos was captivated? Besides Mal, he had probably never even seen a girl his own age before. And why did that make him feel more jealous instead of less? He had to bite down on an urge to snap at Carlos that his chances with Evie were less then zero, unless he had some hidden ability to swap genders.

A closer look, though, told him that Carlos wasn't nearly as comfortable as he first seemed. He was still up on his toes and he kept looking over at Jay, as if asking a silent question.

Even though he had no idea what that question might be, it did make him feel good that Carlos trusted him, and knew to look to him for cues.

Ever the diplomat, Evie sensed what was wrong and eased back a few steps. She had started out a few feet away, but obviously Carlos felt like his personal space was being invaded. "Are you ready to come and see your new room?"

He nodded, and gave her another, unreadable, look. Either he was the worst flirt in the world, or he wasn't quite as dazzled by her beauty as most boys. Jay guessed that either was possible, though being a terrible flirt was more likely. Who wouldn't be interested in Evie?

The three teenagers sat in the back of the car, with Carlos leaning against the window and staring at all three of them. Evie kept up a steady monologue, telling him where they were going and pointing out landmarks. Jay wondered if she was having the same thoughts as he was about Carlos trying to run away, and was trying to make sure he knew how to get back.

Fairy Godmother said nothing, though she was watching carefully in the rearview mirror. The way she looked at Carlos, worried and somewhat nervous, bothered Jay. She, and the adults around her, were the only reason that Carlos was here in Auradon. He hadn't asked them to come here. They needed to balls up and take care of him, even if he was more work then they thought he would be.

It as past curfew, and the dorms were mostly quiet. They could hear music coming from some rooms, and even some laughing and talking, but all the doors remained closed. That Goodness for small favors, especially since Carlos jumped every time he heard a strangers voice. Poor kid.

Fairy Godmother unlocked the door for them. "You'll both have keys, of course, but I would like you to stick close to Jay for a little while, Carlos, at least until you have your bearings around the school. It's easy to get lost here. I don't want you to feel like a prisoner, so if you need something, you can always call me or any of the security people. They'll be glad to escort you."

He nodded without looking at her. Jay wondered how she thought Carlos was going to call, since he didn't talk, but he didn't ask. He just wanted everyone gone so Carlos would lose that trapped animal look in his eyes.

The look lifted when Carlos got a good look at his side of the room. He actually smiled, a real one, and it made him look like a kid for the first time. He walked over to the desk, running his fingers over the periodic table. Interestingly, his lips moved when he traced each element, and Jay was struck with the sudden thought that it wasn't that Carlos couldn't talk, but that he simply refused to do it. Could he possibly have the willpower to do that for so many years?

"See, I told you he'd like it." Evie was attempting to whisper, but Carlos heard it anyway and nodded. "I made you some clothes, too. I tried to base it off of what you had, but if there's something you don't like, or something you really do, let me know and I can fix it "

She walked over to the dresser, and this time he allowed her to stand close and hold up each piece of clothing. He still looked a little worried, but obviously he liked what she was showing him.

Evie's eyes darted over to Jay and Fairy Godmother, before she leaned over and whispered in Carlos' ear. She didn't touch him, and he seemed to be intently listening. Then he nodded and Evie stepped back. "I think you and I are going to be good friends."

Fairy Godmother clapped her hands again. "Well, I think it's bedtime for our boys. Evie? Will you escort a lady out?"

What she meant, of course, was that Evie had spent enough time in the boys dorm room, and it was time for her to leave. While there was no actual rule against opposite sexes being in each other's rooms during the day, it was somewhat discouraged, especially when the girl in question was the Princess who had just moved out of the house. Jay hugged her tight. "Bye, Evie."

Carlos didn't hug her, but he waved more enthusiastically. Jay wondered what she had told him. He had seemed to be relaxing as time went on, but when the door closed and it was just him and Jay again, he let out a heavy sigh. Clearly he had been more worried then he let on.

"So, this bed is yours. I thought you might feel better the mattress underneath, but we can always move it up if you want. Just let me know. This is the bathroom. My stuff is blue and yours is red so we can keep it straight. It doesn't really matter for towels and stuff, but lets just use our own toothbrushes and deodorants, ok? This is the bathtub. Right knob is cold water, left knob is hot water. Pull it out for the shower." All of that seemed pretty obvious, but if Carlos didn't know what a straw was, maybe he had never seen a shower either. "Um, that's pretty much it. I'm going to jump in the shower now, so if you want to explore a little in there, feel free."

He had already showered, but he wanted Carlos to feel comfortable looking around, and he knew the other boy wouldn't do so if he felt watched. This way he would have some privacy to look.

It worried him a bit, how quickly he had learned to interpret Carlos' needs and gestures, but that was a good thing, right? Carlos needed someone on his side, and Jay could be that for him. This was a good thing.