(A/N: Sorry for the long break between chapters, life happened. Don't worry, there's still more to come and I already have ideas for other stories that will either come out concurrently with this one or after this one is finished.)

Jay recoiled at Carlos' harsh words. He had never thought the boy he loved so much would ever see him as Jafar had seen Aladdin. He knew not what to make of any of it. Could Carlos still be mad because of their fight? Did this mean that they were now officially over? Or was this to do with leaving him alone in the woods for almost a fortnight? There were many more questions floating around Jay's head as Carlos fell hard onto the forest floor.

"Oh my god, C! Are you alright?" Evie cried, looking at Jay as if he had been the one to push him away.

"Jay! What did you do?" Mal cried.

"N-nothing. It w-was him." Jay stuttered in shocked indignation.

The others all turned to Carlos but he just pushed himself off the ground and continued walking without saying a word. His eyes though… they scared Jay. They put even Mal's glowing green orbs to shame. They were filled with so much hatred and wickedness that it almost felt as though his Carlos was no longer even in there. It hurt Jay to know that he had failed Carlos so much to make him feel this way. Whatever had happened to him in the woods… well, Jay should have kept a closer eye on him.

"Carlos, are you alright?" Ben started cautiously as they made their way back to the school. The younger boy almost froze in shock upon realizing the King was with them. Jay thought he would have been happy to see Ben, the two had always had a close friendship. When Carlos turned around however, his eyes were filled with an even more intense fury. This fury only seemed to grow when they emerged from the forest only a few minutes later.

They hadn't been walking very fast so clearly Carlos hadn't been very far from Auradon Prep the whole time. Jay had been right in assuming that Carlos could probably have heard the school bells from where he was… tied up. Jay hated to think of his… Carlos (he was still unsure where they stood after their fight, Carlos' current attitude wasn't helping him decide very much either) like that. He had endured enough as a child at the hands of that mad woman, why could he never catch a break?

"Carlos! Oh, my child, it is so good to see you back! We must get you to the infirmary at once!" Fairy Godmother cried as she passed the group in the halls. Carlos didn't even glance her way as she joined their group. He just kept walking. "Dear one, are you alright?" Carlos remained silent. If he hadn't spoken to Jay earlier, the older boy would have believed that someone like Ursula or Uma had stolen his voice. Fairy Godmother cast them all a worried glance before ushering them into the room they had spent so much time in during the past year.

"Oh dear, what happened this time?" The nurse hurried over as Ben informed her that they had found Carlos tied to a tree in the woods. "Oh dear, that's… Sit down over here and I can check you out. Everyone out!"

The group didn't need to be asked twice, they knew from experience that the nurse worked better on her own or with Fairy Godmother. There didn't seem to be anything much wrong with Carlos though so even Fairy Godmother had been shooed out of the room.

It was only a short wait before the nurse emerged and ushered them inside. "I can't find anything wrong with him, aside from the obvious scars and bruises. He was beaten quite badly I'm afraid but luckily the damage is all external. He is a little malnourished but that is to be expected from living in the woods for so long. He should be fine for visitors, I'd like to keep him overnight though for observations and to run a few more tests. If everything comes back clear, he should be right to leave tomorrow. I'll leave you to it."

"Oh, C…" Evie started before she was treated to the full weight of Carlos' glare.

"What happened, Carlos?" Ben gently asked, only to be greeted by the same stare as Evie.

They remained silent for a little while, hoping that Carlos would speak up on his own. Jay went to hold his hand but Carlos pushed him away. This took everyone by surprise but no one wanted to say anything. Even Fairy Godmother had learned of their fight and so remained silent until she couldn't wait any longer.

"My child, please. What happened to you? Who took you?" Carlos remained silent as he continued to glare at those gathered around his bed. "You need to tell us. We want to help you."

"Like you helped Cinderella?" Carlos' sudden response took everyone by surprise. It came out harsh and fast, almost in an accusatory tone.

"W-why, yes. Of course!" Fairy Godmother quickly composed herself, taken aback by the tone of his voice. She had never heard anyone other than Maleficent talk to her like that before. She certainly never expected it to come from Carlos.

"Then I don't want it."

"Why? My child, we really do want to help you."

"You didn't really help Cinderella, though, did you?"

"Of course I did!"

"No, you didn't. You dressed her up for a ball, sent her on her way, and then disappeared when everything turned to shit. Like you always do."

"I-I… Well I never…"

"I know you don't, it's alright Fairy Godmother. We're all villains here, you can admit to your mistake. You really are the worst Fairy Godmother, you know that? Flora, Fauna and Merryweather may have been incompetent fools, as is indicative of your kind, but at least they stuck by Aurora her whole life. Where were you?! Where were you when Ella's mother died? What about when her father passed and left her in the hands of Tremaine, Drizella and Anastasia? Where were you when her new 'family' treated her as a slave and changed her name to Cinderella? Huh, where were you?"

"I-I…" Fairy Godmother was taken aback, no one had ever spoken to her like that before. Even Maleficent had just been nitpicking.

"Exactly, you were off doing who-knows-what while Cinderella was kept as a slave in her own home. You only showed up so that she could go to a ball."

"To meet her true love and find her happy ending!" Fairy Godmother quickly interjected, trying to save face in front of her students and the nurse who she could tell was clearly eavesdropping and loving every word.

"Oh, so her happy ending is a man? That's quite the precedent to set there, Fairy Godmother. What a great example for all the young ladies in Auradon. For your daughter. Still, where were you when everything went downhill? Where were you when she had to run away because you were too incompetent to let anything but a glass slipper last beyond midnight? Where were you when Lady Tremaine, in all her glory and wickedness, kept Cinderella hidden away? It was only luck that brought her and her so-called 'true love' together. That and a clearly intense foot fetish. How could you let Cinderella be treated like that? You were supposed to be her godmother, even a mortal could have done a better job. You disgust me. Even now you spend your life as a Headmistress, despite been one of the most powerful beings in the realm. Is this to make up for what you did? Or rather, what you failed to do? Is Auradon Prep just your sick way of trying to make up for the past?"

"Even now you're failing. You failed us on Family Day when Queen Leah was attacking Mal. You did nothing to stop Chad from insulting us! Instead, you reassured Queen Leah! You took their side and made the whole school turn against us! Then I come to you and you fail me even more. You were my last chance, Fairy Godmother. I nearly died because you were so incompetent! You should never have let me go back to the Isle, no matter how much I begged. That place isn't fit for anyone to live in, let alone children! You should have done everything in your power to stop me! You didn't even come to save me, even though it was your fault I was even there in the first place. I nearly died because you couldn't do a single thing right. It shouldn't matter if we're from the Isle or born on Auradon, you should never have let any harm come to us. You're as terrible a headmistress as you are a Fairy Godmother."

Carlos finally finished his rant and found Fairy Godmother to be at a total loss for words. Everything he'd said was true, and Jay could see the pain in her face. Still, Carlos had opened his eyes to parts of Cinderella's story he had never considered before. He was beginning to see her Godmother in a whole new light, and it was not very flattering. Her face growing red, Fairy Godmother quickly left the room without saying a thing.

"Carlos… that was a bit harsh… even for me." Mal admitted, she was the only one brave enough to withstand Carlos' now infamous glares.

"Oh, I haven't even started little Miss Princess-of-Darkness-Turned-Goody-Two-Shoes."

"Hey! We're your friends, don't start on us too!" Mal angrily cried.

"Some friend you are. You're nearly as bad as Jay. You never let anyone in to that infuriatingly little head of yours! If we were friends why didn't you tell us how you felt about Ben before breaking his love spell? What about all the times you felt left-out and not a true Lady-of-the-Court? Which, by the way, you will never be. If we really were your friends you would have come to talk to us, not just abandoned us and ran back home to the Isle of the Lost! We all risked our lives going back there! I nearly died the last time I was with Harry and my mother and you still made us go back there! BEN NEARLY DIED! You're so selfish you don't even notice how your actions affect everyone around you! You live in the United States of Auradon, Mal! Not the United States of Keep-Everything-To-Yourself! I risked my life for you!"

Like Fairy Godmother, Mal was lost for words. Again, Carlos had spoken the truth. It had been harsh but it was true. Ben reached out to touch her but she recoiled and ran out of the room. She knew she was only proving Carlos' point but she didn't care. She just needed to get out and find a space to breathe and think things through.

"I think we should go." Evie suggested, trying to ignore Carlos' scoff. "Before he says anything else he'll regret." She grabbed Jay and Ben's arms and dragged them out with her as Carlos laughed at their backs.

"That's right, leave! Do what you always do! Just abandon me! I WAS WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE TO THE SCHOOL! WHY DIDN'T YOU LOOK?! OR – " Carlos' words were cut off by Jay shutting the infirmary doors behind them. Everything Carlos had said was the truth, but it didn't make it hurt any less.

"What just happened?" Evie asked Jay as Ben rushed off to find Mal.

"I think I really screwed up this time, E." Jay expected Evie to reassure him that he hadn't but he only looked up to find her staring silently at him. Clearly, she agreed with what Carlos had said as well. Luckily, they had left before any of their dirty laundry was aired for everyone to hear. The infirmary nurse was a notorious gossip and so he knew every one of Carlos' words would eventually spread throughout the entire school.

"I'm not so sure. Maybe he's just angry? I mean, he has a good reason to be."

"Don't you think I know that?! You saw the word carved into his spine as well as I did. We really failed him this time, didn't we?"

"Yeah…" Evie replied quietly. The duo silently walked back to their dorms, refusing to look the other in the eye. They both knew what they had done. They spent the rest of the night lying awake in bed, their minds full of all the ways they had failed Carlos and all the awful things he could possibly say to them. Even Mal, who generally slept like a baby, found herself crying late into the night.

The next day the whole school was abuzz with what Carlos had said to Fairy Godmother. Jay had been right to suspect that the nurse would tell anyone who would listen, clearly a lot had. Fairy Godmother kept herself in her office and even cancelled her classes for the day.

"Mum's beside herself, did Carlos really say all those awful things?" Jane was bewildered at the prospect as she sat down to dinner with the group. No one said anything so they all just nodded. "How could he?! Mum has been nothing but nice to him the whole time he has been here!"

"He's not himself, Jane." Evie reassured her. "Something must have happened to him in those woods because he has come out a completely different person."

"Yeah, E, something did happen in those woods. We left him there. That's why he's become like this. For two weeks he would have heard the school bells and they probably gave him hope that we were out there combing the forest for him! But we weren't. No, we stayed in our safe little castle and waited for a miracle to bring him back to us. He hasn't changed, E. He's just mad at all of us. We all failed him, even Fairy Godmother." Jay cast a quick glance at Jane who had bowed her head out of shame. "He has a right to be angry at us, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah, but anger doesn't mean he has to be such a dick!" Mal cried.

"You can't really talk, Mal. Evie and I knew you on the Isle, you weren't much better." Jay had regretted it the minute it left his mouth. But it had been said so there was nothing he could do to take it back. Carlos' harsh truthfulness was clearly spreading and it was sure to destroy a few friendships along the way.

"That was different!" Mal spat through bared teeth.

"Yes, it was!" Ben quickly chimed in, trying to defuse the situation before it escalated any further. "So we all need to take a deep breath and calm down. Carlos really needs us right now. We can't be at each other's throats. He should be back in the dorm by now, Jay, maybe you should go and talk to him, see if you can get through to him."

"Good luck with that." Evie tried to laugh. "We all know how stubborn both of them can be." There were a few forced smiles around the table but everyone was too lost in their own thoughts. They were all too afraid of the next thing Carlos would say if he was still angry at them.

Reluctantly, and after much coaxing from Ben and Evie, Jay left for the dorms. On his way, he found himself praying that Carlos wouldn't be there. Or at least hoping that if he was, he wouldn't be in such a bad mood and that they could have a conversation.

As he entered the room he shared he saw Carlos already curled up in bed, facing away from the door with the covers brought up to his nose and Dude pushed onto the floor. This seemed strange to Jay seeing as how close the two generally were but he had no idea what Carlos had gone through and so knew he wasn't in a position to judge.

For a moment, Jay considered going to Carlos' bed but he was still unsure where the two stood so he hesitantly sat down on his own instead. "Hey, Carlos…" There was no response, not even a movement from Carlos' bed. "Do you want to talk?"

"That's new." Carlos muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Jay to hear him. Clearly Carlos was still upset about Jay's closed feelings, and it hurt the older boy to know this. He had never wanted any pain to come to the one he loved, he hated that he had been the root cause of it.

"I know it is, C, and I am so sorry for that. I never wanted any harm – "

"Well, look what you did." With that interruption, Carlos let the covers slip from around his bare shoulders so that Jay could see the scars on his spine. "That's how you made me feel whenever we were together and you couldn't be brave enough to share your feelings with me."

"Carlos, I – "

"NO! Your chance to share has long since passed. It's my turn to talk. Our whole relationship has just been to satisfy some sick hero complex in you, hasn't it? You couldn't even bring yourself to tell me how you felt until I was on my death bed. Do you know how that makes me feel? Certainly not loved! It felt more like you were being guilted into your feelings for me! Our whole relationship has been you treating me as if I might run away from you if you hurt me, and I have felt the exact same way about you! You made me feel weak! You coddled me and made me want to be weak just so I could get some attention from you! You sure as hell didn't seem so snuggly when I was strong again!" Carlos was shouting now and Jay was sure that the whole building could hear him. He didn't want to interrupt however, because although Carlos was wrong about how he felt, he couldn't deny how his actions could have made Carlos feel like that.

"You're even worse than Fairy Godmother. At least she was consistently absent, you actually made me believe that you loved me. You gave me hope. That was the cruelest trick of all."

"I do love you, C."

"No, you don't. You just want to believe you do because it's so much more convenient. You are exactly like your father, weak and incompetent. He became a bloody genie and he still couldn't stop Aladdin or keep his control over Agrabah. If you really loved me you would have ran after me in the halls, you would have looked for me in the library. I was there for hours, praying that you would walk through those doors! But you never did. Then I found myself in the forest and for two whole weeks you didn't find me! I BET YOU DIDN'T EVEN LOOK! YOU JUST STAYED IN THIS ROOM FEELING SORRY FOR YOURSELF AND BLAMING YOURSELF FOR EVERYTHING! IT'S WHAT YOU ALWAYS DO JAY! INSTEAD OF ACTIONS AND MAKING UP FOR YOUR MISTAKES, YOU WALLOW IN THEM! I wish that fate on you for the rest of your life."

"Carlos… please…" Jay tried to argue but everything Carlos had said was right, he had been thinking about it for the past fortnight, wondering how things could have turned out differently if he had chased him down or found him in the library. If he had just had the courage to do what he had never done before.

"No, Jay, you had your chance with me and you clearly didn't care enough to fight. Well I'm done fighting for the both of us. I can't date a coward who makes me look like a fool. I'm done, Jay."

"No! Please!" Jay begged Carlos, tears streaming down his face. He didn't want this to be the end of their relationship, they had so much more ahead of them. Their happy endings were within reach, they couldn't give up now.

"We're finished, Jay."