Please read the Author's Note at the end, thank you.

It wasn't that Carlos didn't like small spaces, he just didn't like being in said small spaces. He definetly preferred the great outdoors, or maybe even a spacey bedroom. In fact, he wasn't fussy, not at all. Unless it came to small spaces, then he was the fussiest of all.

It wasn't a constant fear, not really. It wasn't like he found himself in storage closets often, no. But on the Isle, he often found himself locked in his mother's fur closet, engulfed in the layers of furs Cruella De Vil loved. It was suffocating and uncertain, never knowing when he'd be let out, and so, his fear developed into a fully fledged phobia.

He hated that about himself, his inability to stay in small enclosed spaces. He often found himself unable to enter the sports storage closet alone, nor be able to spend too long in the bathroom. It was a real problem, and he knew that, but he couldn't find it in himself to ask for help.

Meanwhile, Mal was on the same boat. Well, kind of.

It wasn't that she had a deeply embedded fear of small spaces. In fact, it was rarely a problem, but to her, it was a problem all the same. Many times on the Isle she'd accidentally locked herself in one too many small rooms, spending hours banging on the door waiting for someone to find the kindness to let her out. Needless to say, she'd ended up having to break the door down more times than not.

She hated feeling helpless, but that's what it made her feel like. Being trapped in a small room with no way out made her feel like the world was collapsing on her, like she was being crushed by the walls around her. She hated it, and she did her best to avoid it.

Thankfully, she was a fantastic liar. No one ever found out about this little fear of his, unlike everyone had with Carlos. Every single one of their friends had found out in one way or another that Carlos was most definetly not a fan of enclosed spaces. None of the Auradon kids tried to pry into the reason why he was so afraid, but the VK's knew.

They'd heard the rumours on the Isle, of how Cruella De Vil mistreated her son. No one dared to confront her, not even Maleficent, and Mal never found out if it was out of fear or simply not caring. However, Mal made it her mission to look out for the younger boy in Auradon, making sure that nothing could make him feel like Cruella had.

Therefore, she had no idea how they'd ended up in their current situation.

She'd been careful, so careful. When the coach had asked her and Carlos to get the tennis rackets from the storage closet during gym, she'd done everything she could to make sure neither of them freaked out. She'd stayed close to Carlos as they trekked through the tennis courts and through the sports field to the outdoors sports closet, watching him carefully as he clenched and unclenched his fists. She'd left the sports closet door wide open - both of them - as the two of them collected the tennis rackets from the shelves.

What she hadn't considered, in spite of her careful and caring eyes, was the weather.

The wind slammed the doors shut, effectively locking them inside the small cupboard. The space fell in silence, save for their breath.

"We're locked in," Carlos realised, falling back into one of the walls, "Mal, we're locked in."

Mal looked around frantically, pushing against the doors and windows. However, everything was tightly sealed, and she knew that she wouldn't be able to bust down either of the doors. That didn't stop her from trying.

She flung herself against the door multiple times, trying in desperation to break it down. She was freaking out, she knew that, and she couldn't imagine what Carlos was feeling.

Carlos.

She abandoned the door in favour of turning to her friend, who'd now sunk down onto the floor and brought his knees to his chest. Carlos didn't like this, didn't like this one bit. He could feel the room closing in on him, the ceiling falling down.

Immediately, Mal was in front of him, taking his hands in hers. She had to find a way to calm him down, at least until someone found them.

"They'll notice we've been gone for a while, we'll be fine," Mal tried to reassure him, however the teen could barely hear her, "Come on Carlos stick with me."

"We're going to die in here," Carlos choked out dramatically, "I know it."

"No we won't," Mal argued sternly, "We're our parent's kids, remember? We'll find our way out."

In retrospect, Mal knew that the situation would eventually be laughable, freaking out so much after being locked in a room for less than five minutes. However, to the two of them, it was facing their fears, something they hadn't done since they'd stood up to their parents. Regardless, Mal curled up next to Carlos, holding his hand and waiting.

She didn't know how long they'd been on the floor like that, but eventually, the comforting sound of a door opening echoed through the room, and the melodious sound of Evie's voice filled their ears.

"There you guys are!" she exclaimed in delight, "How on earth did you get locked in here?"

Mal shrugged, standing up slowly with a grin on her face, "Guess we're just that clumsy."

And as the three of them walked out of that room, Mal and Carlos realised something. No matter where they were trapped, no matter how small or big the room, their friends would come save them.

Because with a friend, their world didn't seem so small anymore.


A/N: Apologising for not posting wouldn't be enough, but anyway, I'm sorry for neglecting my stories on here.

I've had a ton of college work with my performance exams, but now I'm ready to dedicate time to what I love doing; writing. And so, although updates may be scarce with large time gaps, I will complete all my stories.

Any reviews or suggestions would be very appreciated, and I'd also like to thank who gave me the 'Claustrophobia' prompt. Unfortunately, I hadn't saved a username when I'd written the prompt down. Prompts will always be open, and once again, I'm sorry for the late updates.