I wasn't really satisfied with the ending of Descendants so this is my version of events that happen after the descendants kids defeat Audrey. Hades heals Audrey, but Ben and Mal decide to put her into jail for the time being until she can face a trial. The events in this story are exactly three days after Audrey is healed by Hades in the third movie. I will be making the Isle kid's trauma and abuse a bit darker, especially Carlos. I will be focusing on three of the main four with their cannon relationships MalxBen CarlosxJane and EviexDoug. Jay and Lonnie will also get mentioned but will not be a part of my main focus. I will also be focusing on Harry and Uma, and will have a few other characters of my own added into the story.
Jane and Carlos are seventeen, and all the other characters are nineteen with the exception of Ben and Harry who are both twenty for the purposes of my story which isn't completely canon but close. I chose to make it a year between each movie and I'm not completely sure how accurate that is. I also don't follow the rule that Harry and Mal ever dated, but there will be a reason for their familiarity that will get explained. I hope this introduction makes sense and if it doesn't please feel free to ask questions and I will do my best answer without giving spoilers. Warning: There is abuse discussed, swearing and some fade to black stuff. I will try to keep things pg 13 but can't guarantee anything and will put disclaimers on the chapters that might be a little more R-rated.
I do not own any of the Descendants world or the characters. They are all owned by Disney.
Carlos sat next to Jane, their shoulders touching. The sun glinted off Jane's necklace in the setting sun. They sat in the gazebo of the Enchanted Lake, their feet in the water as Dude swam back and forth a little ways off.
"I'm still sorry your birthday party was ruined." Carlos said softly. Jane's hand found his and squeezed it. She felt his body go tense. She held her squeeze until she felt him slowly relax.
Jane knew Carlos' mom had treated him horribly. She didn't know the details but she knew that touch was still hard for him. They were dating but holding hands and hugs were as far as they had gotten.
"It wasn't your fault my birthday went the way it did." She finally answered as she felt him relax to her touch. Her disastrous birthday party had been three days ago. Audrey has been locked up in the Auradon jail. Ben and Mal were still trying to decide how to completely open the border between the island and Auradon all while planning their wedding. Jane had asked Carlos to come out here to get away from all the mess and to just be alone together for awhile. They'd hardly had the chance since before her birthday.
"Are you doing okay?" She turned to look at him. "Carlos kept his eyes on Dude. She stared at his profile. He truly was unique, his freckles standing out on his olive toned skin. She watched him swallow and waited patiently for him to answer knowing that it sometimes took awhile.
"I'm not," He finally answered. "I'm not ready for her to come across." His eyes closed and he let go of her hand. He pulled his bare feet back out of the water and pulled his knees to his chest. Jane kept her hands to herself even though she wanted to wrap her arms around him.
"You can talk to me." Jane dug her fingernails into the dirt they were sitting on to keep from touching him. She kept her eyes on him though. She watched the stiffness slowly relax out of him. He kept his knees drawn to his chest though.
"Jay and Evie are the only ones that know everything." His voice was so quiet that she could barely hear him. "My mom wasn't just mean to animals." Dude seemed to sense how uncomfortable Carlos had to become and swam to shore. The little dog shook the water from his fur and walked up to Carlos. Dude put his paws on him and stared until Carlos' eyes focused on him.
"I know too," Dude said gently, "And it's time you told someone else. She's safe. She cares about you." Carlos gave him a small nod, and Dude trotted off away from the lake. Carlos watched him go. Jane watched Carlos' body start to shake. She resisted the urge to wrap her arms arounds him. She knew she needed to wait for him to make the first move. It had been that way in their relationship from day one. He pressed his forehead to his knees.
"It's okay to talk to me. I'm not going to judge you." She knew it was what he needed to hear. His head came up and he swiped across his face trying to keep her from seeing the tears.
"I know." He looked at her. She could still see the tears threatening to fall.
"What did she do to you?" She kept her eyes on him. He sighed and looked away.
"I talked to Dude about it before he could talk." He swallowed again. "Evie knows because she was the one that stopped the abuse. Her mom convinced my mom to let me live with them for a while. Jay knows because he was there to help me through the nightmares when we were in the dorms together." Carlos reached for Jane's and interlaced his fingers with hers. "Mom liked to put her cigarettes into my skin. She would laugh and call me names when I would cry. I was twelve when Evie witnessed it. She came in and grabbed me as my mom left and took me home to her house.
"Her mom somehow convinced my mom to stop the physical abuse. There was still a lot of emotional abuse and manipulation. We all went through that. She would sometimes threaten me but she never hurt me physically again."
Jane was quiet for a few seconds trying to gather her thoughts. She knew something had happened to Carlos. She knew he had scars. She had seen the few on his arms when he wore short sleeves and the one on top of his foot whenever they came to the lake and put his feet into the water, but she never guessed the reason he never took his shirt off or went swimming without his shirt was because of scars. She placed her other hand over his so his hand was sandwiched between.
"Carlos, look at me." She kept her voice gentle. He turned his face towards hers, but he didn't meet her eyes. She moved her hand towards his face, giving him time to move away if he needed to. Carlos went still but he didn't move. Her hand touched his cheek. His breath was ragged and his skin was clammy, but he slowly softened. "Carlos, look at me please." She repeated.
He finally met her eyes with his own. Jane could see the tears threatening to surface. She moved her thumb under the corner of his eye. He closed his eyes and she swiped at the tears that fell. "She will never hurt you again. You're safe."
"I know." Carlos' voice was husky. He opened his eyes and stared back at her. "You… you should see the scars… I mean, I want you to see them."
Jane wasn't sure what to say but she nodded. She moved her hand from his face and let go of his hand. He unzipped his jacket and kept his eyes on hers as he shrugged it off showing her his bare arms.
"You've seen this one." He held up his arm and she reached up to touch the scar knowing exactly where it was on his arm without taking her eyes off his. She had first touched him there the night that they had faced Uma after dancing together. It was the first time she had seen his bare arms and when she had asked he had just shaken his head and told her he wasn't ready to talk about it. He took a few deep breaths keeping his eyes locked on hers. She moved her hand and he grabbed the hem of his t-shirt and closed his eyes. She could see his hands shaking.
"It's okay, Carlos." She whispered it, but it seemed to help him gain courage. He pulled the hem up over his head. His eyes were still closed. Jane pulled her eyes off his face and slowly moved her eyes over his chest. The first thing she noticed was his muscles. He wasn't big but he was definitely well built. She bit her lip. He was amazing to look at. She looked closer though and hidden inside the freckles that spattered his pecs were the scars. There were quite a few. She could feel the anger bubble up inside her at the woman that called herself a mother.
"It's not as bad on the front." He said. His eyes were still closed. It was what he did when he was afraid. He turned his back towards her and she gasped. His back was pock marked all over with burns, hundreds all over.
"Oh!" She resisted the urge to throw her arms around him. He was shaking though and she knew she wanted to do something. She slowly reached out and laid her hand gently on his shoulder. He flinched. She tried to move her hand, but his hand covered hers.
"Don't stop touching me… please." His voice was deep and husky. She pulled her feet out of the water and moved her other one to encircle him. He didn't stiffen at her touch this time or flinch this time but instead he sunk into her embrace. She wrapped her other arm around him and pressed her lips to the crook of his shoulder. His body was shaking and she could feel the tears hitting her arms.
"She told me no one would ever love me with these scars. She said no one would ever want to look at me. She said I was worthless and ugly. She said she would make sure." His voice was still husky.
"She was wrong." Jane whispered against his skin. "Your scars make you more handsome. It shows what you went through. She never broke who you were." She moved her lips to his neck and pressed her lips against his skin. She could feel his pulse quicken and he made a noise that half gasp and half sob. She pulled her lips away and took her hands away from him. He turned. He was looking at her with a look that had never seen before, a look filled with desire. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest. He pulled her to the ground. She pressed her ear against his chest and heard his heartbeat matching the staccato of her own heart. "I love you Carlos."
"Is this love?" He asked. His voice was still so husky. "If it is, I never want to feel anything else." His voice rumbled under her ear.
"I can't tell you what you feel for me, but I know what I feel for you. I know it's love.
"I've never felt this before. I've never felt what I feel for you. I think it's love. I… I...want you to kiss me" He said the last part so softly that Jane almost didn't catch it. She pushed herself up and looked into his eyes. Her breath was coming in small gasps.
"Are you sure?" She breathed. It was an unspoken rule that they didn't kiss. He responded by pushing his hand into her hair and moving her towards him. His touch was gentle but firm. She didn't resist. Their lips touched and she couldn't breathe. Her body responded to his touch and she pressed herself to his side. She moved one hand up to his face and kept the other on his bare shoulder. She could feel herself getting lightheaded from the lack of air so she moved her lips reluctantly from his but kept her forehead pressed against his. He stared into her eyes, his breath was ragged and matched her own.
"I've been dreaming about kissing you for so long." He moved his hand to her necklace. "I may not know if what I feel for you is love, but I know that you love me. Thank you for being patient with me Jane." His voice was still so husk and she loved it. She had done that to him. She had made him sound like that. Maybe she wasn't so plain after all.
"I love you Carlos." She kissed him lightly. She knew that he was still scared. She knew that he was still so confused about love, but she knew if she was patient he would figure it out.
~.~.~
Mal laid on the small couch in Ben's office and listened to the clack of the keys on Ben's computer. The last few days had been chaotic. She and Ben had been slowly working on implementing the Isle program that would allow the lesser villains that were not charged with violent crimes to apply for parole. They were also working on a program that would allow all of the villain kids to be released from the island and allow them to still be able to visit their parents. It was slow going, but with the help of the council they had managed to get it open for any kids that wanted a chance to prove themselves at Auradon Prep.
The clacking of the keys stopped and Mal looked over at Ben. He had stood up and was now looking out the window. She stood up and walked over to him. She laid her arm on his shoulder and he turned around. Ben wrapped her in a hug and Mal melted into his embrace.
"How are you?" Ben unwrapped his arms from around her and held her at arm's length.
"I'm doing okay." She stood on tiptoe and pressed her lips against his. She pulled away but he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her towards him.
"Tell me the truth." He asked as he pressed his lips against her forehead. Mal sighed. Everything wasn't really okay. She was overwhelmed and worried about the villain kids doing something stupid or making dumb choices, but they still deserved a chance and they also deserved to see their parents. Not all of the parents on the island had been terrible. Some of them had been better than others. Her mom was always manipulative but had never been physically abusive like Carlos' mom or Jay's dad. She had a lot of choices to make and was glad she didn't have to do it alone. She would have Ben's help and the help of the council at least.
"I'm overwhelmed." She finally answered. Ben tightened his embrace.
"We'll get through this." He whispered before placing his hand under her chin. He pressed his lips against hers. She parted her lips just a little and he deepened the kiss. Her heart slammed against her chest. His lips moved from lips to her cheek, to her neck, his hand traced along her collarbone and she sucked in a breath.
"Ben, stop." She gasped out the words and they were the opposite of what she wanted. She wanted him to keep going but they had promised each other to wait. Ben let go of her, but kept a hold of her hand as he ran his other hand over his hair.
"Sorry." He whispered. "Three years is a long time."
"I know." Mal squeezed his hand. She wanted to throw herself into his arms again but didn't exactly trust herself to stop him if he kept going. Three years was a really long time, but she was okay with waiting for him. She was always secretly proud of her virginity on the Isle. Sometimes she wondered if she and Carlos were the only ones that hadn't given it up just because everyone else was doing it.
Evie had shared stories of the boys she had slept with and she sometimes overheard Jay talking to the other guys on the Isle of his "conquests", but Mal didn't just want to give herself up to anyone. She also didn't want to chance getting pregnant on the island either. There wasn't birth control on the Isle and there were plenty of teenage pregnancies. The orphanage was proof of that.
Her phone buzzed in the pocket of her dress. She pulled it out, glad for the excuse to let go of Ben's hand.
Evie: Sounds like a date had been proposed by the council for your wedding… Three months from now. You two good with that?
Mal bit her bottom lip as she stared at her phone. She looked up at Ben. He was looking at his phone too.
"Mom says the council has proposed a date of three months from now." He looked up at her.
"Do you think we can make it sooner?" Mal asked. She knew that they could wait that long. She was tired of waiting and she was pretty sure that Ben was getting tired of it too.
"That's the best part of being a king. I can veto any proposal that the council presents. I mean they might not like it, but with this one, I think my parents will support me. My mom has been bugging me as to why we don't get married sooner." He placed his phone back into his pocket and grabbed her hand that wasn't holding her phone. "Are you sure you want to get married sooner? I know you wanted some time to get used to things and learn what you could before we got married."
"I'm kind of tired of waiting." Mal stuck her phone back into her pocket and grabbed his other hand. The corners of his lips turned up and his hazel-green eyes glinted mischievously.
"How about two weeks from now?"
"Two weeks isn't very long. Evie might kill me."
"Tell Evie we're coming to talk to her. I think she can pull it off in two weeks, Mal. If she can't, we're going to find a priest that will marry us without an official wedding. I can't wait much longer." Mal thought for a moment and then nodded before pulling her phone back out to text Evie. Evie might kill her but she wanted to marry Ben and she wanted her friends and family with her at least to celebrate with them.
~.~.~.~
Evie put her phone down on the desk and leaned back on her chair after texting Mal and got to work sketching the dress she was working on for Ariel. She had a feeling that Mal and Ben would not be okay with three more months. Ben's parents had wanted to propose a sooner date too but the council had wanted to try to push it back so that they could do everything in order and have the time to do an official engagement party. It wasn't exactly needed though since Ben has proposed on national TV. Even if he hadn't it wouldn't exactly stay private. There wasn't much that stayed private on the island with the royal family thanks to the paparazzi.
Evie heard the door open to her studio and turned around in the chair. Her heart skipped a beat as Doug walked in. He walked over to the chair and leaned down so he could press his forehead against hers.
"Hey beautiful." He smiled at her, and Evie smiled back. He pulled her up out of the chair and kissed her gently. He moved his hands to hair and deepened the kiss. When they finally pulled apart they were both breathing hard.
Evie resisted the little voice- her mother's voice- that told her to pull him to her bedroom. Doug pressed his lips to her forehead and she closed her eyes. They had spent so long just having a relationship that was strictly work related and the last three days had been overwhelming to say the least.
After Evie had kissed him and woke him up from his curse, she realized that the feelings she had for him really was true love. Not what she thought was true love. This was different. This wasn't just the butterfly feeling she had on the island with guys that she had slept with.
She had been in shock the last few days in dealing with everything with Audrey and then the council meeting. The night before last she and Doug had come back to her cottage and he had walked her to the door. She invited him and they sat on the couch just talking for a long while. They started to kiss- to make out- and Evie had slipped her hands under his shirt, but Doug had grabbed her hands and pushed her gently away. He had whispered "No,not yet. Let's just keep things slow. ", and Evie had burst into tears. He had just stared at her with a confused look on his face.
She had explained that she had never had someone tell her that he wanted to wait. She thought love was giving everything to someone. It was what her mom taught her- to keep a guy around, you had to give him everything- not that it had worked on the Isle. The guys she had slept with had left her after she gave it up to had poured her heart out to him and he just listened as he held her in his arms. They had fallen asleep like that on the couch and Evie had woken up with an overwhelming feeling of gratitude to the man that had told her no.
They had spent the next day stealing private kisses while they worked on projects that stole her breath away.
"I love you." Doug whispered into her ear, breaking her from the memories of the last few days.
"I love you too." Evie whispered back.
"You're beautiful Evie." He smiled at her before kissing her forehead and then her lips again. Evie shivered in happiness. She would never tire of him calling her beautiful or telling her that he loved her. The way he said both had a truth in them that she had never heard from the other boys on the Isle. She parted her lips and deepened the kiss.
~.~.~.~
"Uma!" Harry's voice broke through the empty kitchen, and Uma smiled to herself before wiping her hands on her apron and turning around. She kept her face neutral, but Harry grinned at her and his gray eyes softened.
"What do you want?" Uma kept her voice casual but her heart pounded. Harry moved some dishes off the counter next to her and jumped plunged her hands back into the water and continued to wash the dishes.
"The Auradon Council and King Ben and the future Queen Mal are askin' us to attend a meeting tomorrow at noon."
"Thanks for letting me know. I'll see you in the morning then." She watched Harry out of the corner of her eye. They had spent a lot of time together in the last three days but they had mostly been meeting in Auradon with not much time to talk to each other. The last three days had been weird seeing him again after an entire year of not seeing him.
She knew Harry's reputation with girls on the Isle and they had kept their relationship as first mate and captain but Uma had started to realize that the way Harry had looked at her and treated her was different than the way he treated other girls.
Her mom had told her that men were all the same and that they would just use and abuse you before they left you and went to the next girl. Uma was proof of that. She was the result of a drunk and abusive man that had cornered her mom on the Isle nineteen years ago. Uma had her mother repeat the story over and over again every time Ursula got drunk. She was the result of a rape. She had almost been raped herself by one of the drunks at the bar when she was fourteen. Harry had been the one to put a stop to it before anything had happened to her. He was the one that had held her while she had cried and tried to brush the feeling of the man's lips and hands off her body. It wasn't long after that they had started her gang together with Harry assuming the position of First Mate without her even asking him.
She risked a glance over at Harry. He was picking at fingernails with a pocket knife. "I said I'll see you tomorrow Harry." She growled at him, before scrubbing dishes again. She didn't have time for him right now.
"Uma?" Harry said her name quietly. She kind of liked the way he said her name.
"What do you want? I told you I would see you tomorrow. Get lost." She snapped. Harry didn't move.
"Uma, look at me." His voice was gentle. Uma looked up and met his eyes. There was something inside of them that she had noticed over the last few days that seemed to draw her in.
"I'm here if you need me Uma. I won't hurt you." He put his hand that wasn't holding the knife on her shoulder and then moved it just as quickly. He flicked the pocket knife closed, jumped down from the counter and headed towards the door.
Uma swallowed hard. Her heart slammed against her chest. Why had he said that? Why did he touch her like that? What did he want? Her mind swirled. What was this feeling that seemed to bubble up in her chest? Who was she anymore? She was Uma. She was a captain and Harry was her first mate. That was it. She'd been around him for three days after not seeing him for a year. Clearly the last year of good food and sunshine had made her soft or something. She stopped scrubbing the dishes and hung her apron up before going upstairs to bed. She clearly needed to rest. She was tired. That was it. She was just tired.
Feel free to leave comments. That always make writing a story so much more enjoyable. I hope to update every day to every other day depending on life. Thanks for reading!