"You got to do something about it! It's getting out of hand!"

Ben sighed for the tenth time that morning as his dad kept ranting about it. Mal sat on a chair staring at the ceiling. She wasn't even fully awake yet. Belle stood beside her husband with an unsure look in her eyes.

"Dad, we're trying to get everything on track, but it's not that easy," Ben declared to his dad. "You're right, there are a lot more things we have to consider. But we're working on it."

"The entire city of Auradon is overflown with these Villain Kids. They sleep in the streets, stealing like there is no tomorrow. Fairy Godmother is already close to her breaking point and school hasn't even started yet. Do you even have a plan?"

"We are working on it!" Ben repeated himself.

"You don't even have a plan, do you?" Adam asked, already knowing the answer. He sighed as he also sat down.

"Look," The Beast continued more restrained. "I know you both meant well by taking the barrier down, but you didn't think this through. More troubles will await us if we keep this up."

"So what would you suggest?" Mal interrupted the conversation and asked directly to the old king. Belle walked up to her husband and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Belle and I have talked about it. We think it's best to go back to the old plan, taking a few VK's in every once in a while. The barrier has to be put back up and the island needs to be under control again. And some kids need to be send back to the Isle." Adam paused for a second to look up as his wife. He continued as he looked at his son again. "Starting with Gaston's son."

"Gil?" Mal and Ben both said in shock. They turned their heads to look at each other. One glance and they both knew they shared the same opinion.

"We can't do that," Mal immediately responded. A desperate expression appeared on Belle's face.

"That kid is up to no good. I heard he already destroyed our roses. I'm absolutely certain he knows what those roses mean to us. Besides that he's part of a pirate gang, which anchored their ship in my harbour without permission. He's a thief and a pest and he needs to leave."

"Dad, how could you say that. You don't even know him," Ben defended the other boy.

"Besides, the pirates helped us saving Auradon against Audrey, remember," Mal said irritated. "Without Uma, Harry and Gil we would probably still be all asleep or made of stone. There is no way we could repay him by sending him back to the Isle."

Beast sighed as he looked at his wife once more. "Ben, you have to think about your mother," Adam continued as he tried to stay calm. "Having Gaston's son here walking around. It probably means Gaston himself will visit us any moment."

"Gil is not a threat," Mal interrupted once more.

"Yes exactly," Ben backed up his fiancé. He walked towards his mom and softly touched her arm. His mom indeed looked terrified. "Mom, I understand you're worried and scared. But I promise you have nothing to fear of Gil. Maybe you two just have to talk to him. You will see he is nothing like his dad."

"I'm not going to talk to that boy," Beast immediately replied as he stood up and walked a few steps away. "And I don't want him near Belle either."

Mal sighed irritated as she stared at the ceiling again. "Well, we're not going to send him back either. Evie told me he and Jay are actually becoming good friends."

"Really?" Ben asked as he turned towards Mal again.

"It actually surprised me as well," Mal said looking back at Ben. "Jay doesn't easily make new friends, but he and Gil seem to be really getting along."

Ben shrugged as he turned towards his mom again. "See, there is nothing to worry about." Belle nodded and putted a smile on her face.

"Maybe I'll go talk to him someday," she said to her son. Ben smiled back at her. He always knew that his mom was the bravest of his parents.

"Well, you still have a lot of other problems," Adam stated once more.

Mal thought about it for a moment as she looked up at the old king. "Maybe The Sea Three could actually help us with that too," she said with a smirk on her face.

...

"What's wrong with you?" Carlos asked Jay when they were walking back towards to the tourney field.

"Yea, what's wrong with him?" Dude backed him up.

Jay looked up in surprise. He noticed he hadn't been able to concentrate on the conversations they had. Everything that happened the previous day kept rewinding in his mind. The way Gil said he and Harry kiss every once in a while and the kiss they had shared on the lonely mountain top. Everything seemed so unreal, as if it was all just a dream. But when Jay woke up, the first thing he saw was the bright red rose, the prove it wasn't a dream after all.

"Jay, did something happen with Gil yesterday?" Carlos asked carefully.

"Did you ever kiss Jane?" Jay asked back, ignoring Carlos's question.

The smaller boy looked up in surprise. "We did," he answered truthfully.

"How was it? How did you feel?"

Carlos looked confused to Jay, not willing to answer the question. "Jay, just tell me what happened."

"They kissed, dummy."

Jay sighed and turned towards the dog. "You're a dog, you shouldn't even be talking."

Carlos got a massive grin. "Is it true though?"

Jay sighed again. There was no point in lying to Carlos. "We did," Jay said. "But it felt different. I mean I've kissed so many people before, both girls and boys. It never was a big deal and suddenly I feel all… fizzy."

Carlos's grin got even bigger, as he walked up to Jay. "Seems like I was right. You're in love. Seriously in love." Carlos said laughing.

"All right, just don't tell anybody about it," Jay hissed back.

Carlos raised his eyes to him. "Why not? Is it supposed to be some dark little secret or something?"

"Of course not," Jay quickly said. "It's just I'm not sure what it actually meant for him. I mean, we were talking about kissing Harry and then he kissed me."

"Wow stop!" Carlos jumped in front of Jay, making him stop in his trace. "Why were you two talking about kissing Harry? That just makes no sense to me."

Jay shrugged while thinking back of the other day. "I don't know. Gil just brought it up all of a sudden."

Carlos saw his best friend looking down. He had never seen Jay like that before, he almost seemed in despair. Carlos decided to help him as he putted his hand on Jay's shoulder. Carlos could see how Jay looked up at him again and he decided to take a little risk.

"Never thought I would see you so tense up about someone. It's actually really sweet," Carlos said with a grin on his face.

Carlos could immediately feel Jay's movement in his shoulder muscles and he started to run, still laughing. Jay wanted to grab the little black-white haired boy, making him pay for his words, but Carlos was too fast again. Jay ran after the boy. He would get him for that.

"Hey, wait for me!" Dude yelled, while he started to follow the two boys.

Jay felt a little bit better, when he and Carlos arrived on the tourney field. He was ready to do some exercises with Carlos, so he could forget about yesterday for a moment. He could worry about that later, just not yet. But then his glance fell on a guy who was sitting alone on the tribune, watching the others practice and train. Jay could already feel his heart racing in his chest when he saw Gil in the golden morning sun. Jay tried to ignore it though and wanted to turn around already.

"Look who's there," Carlos said and he already pointed at Gil, as if Jay hadn't notice him himself yet. "Go talk to him."

"Not here," Jay immediately protested.

"Why not?"

"Look around! It's way too crowded."

"So? I don't see a problem."

Jay wanted to give a sharp response, but he got interrupted by an enthusiastic voice.

"Hey guys!" Lonnie said when she caught up with them. Both guys greeted her back, but Lonnie could already see they were both distracted. Specially Jay, who send a quick glance towards Gil. It seemed like Gil hadn't notice them yet.

"Just talk to him!" Carlos tried to encourage him once more.

"Did I miss something?" Lonnie asked directly to Carlos.

"They kissed," Carlos simply responded. Lonnie put her hand over her mouth and tried to hide the smile that grew on her face. A twinkle appeared in her eyes.

"I told you not to tell anybody," Jay hissed at him as he hit Carlos against his arm.

"Au!" Carlos quickly took a step back and rubbed his painful shoulder. "How was I supposed to keep it hidden for Lonnie? She's been asking me for days if anything already happened between you and Gil." Jay turned his angry glance towards Lonnie, but she didn't back down.

"Jay, it's all right," she said reassuring. "Are you guys official now?"

"No!" Jay said as if he was offended.

"You are going to make it official now?" Lonnie asked with a hopeful smile.

"No!" Jay repeated with the same offended tone, but this time also with a little hesitation. Boyfriend and boyfriend, it sounded so ridiculous in his head. He kicked the ground to let out some of his frustrations, but he also glanced at Gil again. It still seemed like he hadn't notice them yet.

"Jay, come on," Carlos said while grabbing Jay's shoulder. "If I can ask Jane while she's on the phone, you can definitely ask Gil here on the tourney field." A smile finally appeared back on Jay's face, when he remembered how Carlos also had a hard time to ask Jane out on a date.

"Yea, because asking a girl is easy," Jay stated with a confident grin.

"What's the difference between asking a boy or a girl?" Lonnie asked frowning.

"There is none," Carlos answered. "What Jay means is that it's a lot easier to ask someone if you don't really care. I don't think Jay ever really cared about any of those girls, so it didn't matter if he got rejected or not."

"Wait," Lonnie said. She looked at Jay, connecting all the dots. "So you didn't even care when you were flirting with me?"

Jay simply shrugged with an apologetic smile. "I care about you now." Lonnie smiled back at him. She knew that Jay actually cared, always backing her up when the other guys were giving her crap, but never looking down on her.

"Well, I'm glad he's no longer flirting with me," Lonnie said truthfully. "It actually took him weeks before he finally got the hint I really wasn't interested." Jay laughed at the memories again. It indeed had taken him a few weeks to figure out Lonnie wasn't like the other girls around here, swooning over just one smile. Lonnie was much more than just a girl, she also was a strong headed warrior. After Jay had realized that, he decided to treat her as one and they had spent more time together.

"But we're getting of topic," Carlos interrupted the conversation. "And with that I mean, he's already looking at us."

Jay looked up in a reflex and indeed saw Gil directly staring at him. He quickly looked away again and cursed to himself. Both Lonnie and Carlos didn't say a word. They didn't have to, the meaningful looks on their faces said enough.

"You know… He probably has been waiting for you there for a while now." Jay looked down to the dog who patiently sat beside his owner. Jay bend down to pet the dog on his head.

"I know," he sighed. He then turned around to face him again. That guy who put him in a trance for a month now, but suddenly terrified him. Jay raised his hand to greet the other guy and Jay saw how Gil waved back at him. Jay took a deep breath.

There was no turning back now.