A/N: Hey, I'm back! I promise you I haven't forgotten or abandoned this story, even though it has been too long since I updated. I've actually been working on this chapter the entire month or so that I didn't update, and I finally fixed it and got it together. Yay! I have also started going through my old writing and revised my "If Only" one-shot from a while ago, if that interests you.

I really want to thank all of you for reading and keeping up with this story. I can't even express how much it means to me when I read a review or see that someone has followed, favorited, just said that they like this story. I never expected much of a response, and your support always makes my day.I want to especially thank Hawkfrost99 for the encouragement, ideas, and support. Hawkfrost99's story "Life on the Isle - Short Stories" is simply incredible, and I'd love to encourage any of you who like this story to check that out, too, because they have written it in connection to this one.

Now without further ado, chapter 8!

"I'm sorry for everything that you guys went through. I'm sorry for being so naïve." Ben looked at Evie. "I'll try to speed up the process for the next group of kids, maybe add some more of the younger ones into the mix." She nodded, surprised. "I'm so sorry for everything."

"No." Everyone turned to look at Carlos. "No," he repeated. "Don't be sorry. We knew that you didn't know. We should have told you sooner."

"But that wasn't just your decision to make." Everyone turned again to face the voice coming from the door. Mal's voice.

"And it wasn't mine either." Mal was standing in the doorway with Jay behind her. His arm was around her shoulders protectively, and he watched her carefully. Tears still glistened in her eyes, but she looked up and nodded to Jay. He removed his arm, and she walked over to Evie and Carlos trying to cover the slight shake in her step. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have tried to stop you guys from saying something. I should've-"

"Mal," Evie interrupted her best friend, wrapping her in a hug. "It's okay." She pulled away, but kept he hands on Mal's shoulders. "We knew that you were only trying to protect us. We were responsible, too." Mal shook her head. Regardless of what Evie said, she still felt responsible for her and Carlos. They were like her younger siblings. She knew it was the same for Jay. He would do practically anything to protect them. He'd proven that enough times.

A few moments before Jay had found her halfway down the stairwell to the girls dorms, sobbing silently. Her forehead was resting on her knees, which she had tucked into her chest. "Hey," Jay murmured as he slid down next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She turned toward him to cry into his chest, and he just held her for a few minutes. "It's okay, now" he whispered. "They're safe. We're safe."

"I know." Mal's voice was quiet and unsteady. "I know. I just, sometimes I just remember that day, and I-" she looked up at Jay, her eyes wide. "It just all feels so real. I will never forget the look on Carlos's face, Evie screaming." She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to force the images to leave her. "If I had never gone to the docks that day-" she stopped, and Jay held her tighter.

"Mal, it's not your fault. It would have happened. There was nothing we could have done to prevent it." Mal pulled back, looking away.

"But everything got worse because of me. My mom-" he voice broke. "My mom knew. She knew that I had started to care." She looked Jay in the eye again. "If I had hidden it better, that never would have happened. If I had kept her believing that lie then-"

"Mal," Jay interrupted. "They were going to find out eventually. You did what you had to do, and you were good enough at pretending that Evie and Carlos were afraid to get close to you until we came to Auradon." Mal looked down.

"I regret that. I should have told them earlier." Jay shook his head.

"They figured it out before you told them at the coronation." Mal looked up in confusion.

"How do you know?" Jay gave a hint of a smile.

"After family day, I heard Carlos ask Evie if she thought you'd help him protect Dude from his mom after we brought down the barrier." He shrugged. "She assured him that you would. We'd all help, but he was asking about you." Mal was silent for a minute.

"I still should have told them. They should have known that I cared about them before my mom did." Jay shook his head, putting a hand on her shoulder to get her attention.

"Mal," he whispered, "you've got to stop blaming yourself." He paused. "I know that's why you didn't want to tell Ben about the stuff with our parents or anyone about what happened that day. Before cotillion, you thought that Ben expected you to be perfect, so you didn't want to tell him then, because you thought he would see you as a failure. Now, you know that he loves you, would never see you as a failure and would only try to help, but you don't want to tell him because you think you don't deserve it." Mal looked at him about to argue, but Jay kept going. "Well if you don't deserve it, then neither do I."

"Jay-"

"Do you think I didn't used to lie awake at night wondering how I could have stopped it? I finally overpowered my dad, and then I couldn't save you." Jay hugged her, and Mal slowly accepted the hug, returning it. "Mal, you're like my little sister." Mal tried to jokingly shove him for using the word 'little', but she didn't put enough energy into it, and ended up just leaning into him. Jay held on to her. "I would do anything to protect you and I couldn't." He paused for a moment. "That's why I didn't really tell Lonnie this morning," he admitted. "I told her that one of my scars was from when my dad got mad. Nothing more. I didn't say anything about how I got it, and I won't say anything about what happened that day our parents got together if you don't want me to. That can stay between us. No one will know what really happened but us, not even Evie and Carlos. " Mal frowned.

"They deserve to know what happened, I just-" she sighed. "They don't need anything else to have nightmares about." Jay's eyebrows furrowed.

"Evie's still having nightmares?" Mal nodded grimly and Jay raised a hand to his head.

"Which kind?" Mal bit her lip as she recalled the two main things that gave her best friend nightmares.

"Both." Jay's eyes widened.

"When she started dating Doug I thought that she was starting to move on, that they would go away." Mal shook her head.

"They're less often now, but she still has them."

"How about you?" Mal blinked. Jay's question had caught her off guard.

"What do you mean?" she feigned. Jay huffed, knowing that she knew what he was asking.

"Have your nightmares gotten any better?" Mal bit her lip again.

"I don't have them every night anymore." Jay frowned. He could guess at what Mal wasn't saying, but he knew how to get a real answer of how often the girls had nightmares.

"If I broke into your room tomorrow morning before Evie's alarm went off would I find you in the same bed?" Mal looked away. There was his answer.

"It's good that they didn't split us up," he thought out loud. The girls were together. They could help each other at night, and he could help Carlos. Mal looked up at him, confused.

"What?"

"It's good that when Ben invited us to Auradon, whoever assigned us our rooms kept you and Evie, and Carlos and me together." Mal nodded.

"It would have been a disaster if they had split us up. What would have happened to Carlos if he was rooming with anyone else?" Jay grew somber.

"Whoever it would have been probably would have gone to Fairy Godmother, but they might not have kept it a secret. The stuff with our parents probably would have come out a lot sooner." Mal nodded grimly, and then raised an eyebrow.

"So you didn't say anything about that day?" Jay gave a slight shake of his head.

"I'm sorry," Mal whispered, looking away as tears started gathering in her eyes again.

"What for?" Mal ducked her head.

"I blew up. I got so angry at you for telling Lonnie about your dad, when that wasn't even my choice." Jay turned her face to look at him.

"It's fine." Mal finally looked at him, and realized that he wasn't angry with her.

"You're not mad?" Jay shook his head, still serious, a rarity for him.

"No. I know why you did it. That's enough for me." Mal nodded and then closed her eyes in dread.

"I need to go back and explain. Apologize to Evie… and Ben." Jay nodded. He stood up, and pulled her with him. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders to support her on the walk back, and after if need be.

"E, I'm always going to feel responsible for you," she looked at Carlos, "and Carlos, and Jay, but that doesn't mean that I should make choices for you guys. I'm sorry for getting so angry." Evie nodded, starting to tear up, and Carlos gave a small smile.

"It's okay." Mall nodded, giving a nervous laugh as she hugged Evie and Carlos before turning around.

"Ben."

"Yes, Mal?" The young king stood wide-eyed, not knowing what to do.

"I love you." Ben smiled and took Mal's hands in his own.

"I love you, too."

"I'm sorry for yelling at you, and for keeping secrets from you." Ben's smile disappeared again. "I still can't tell you everything. I'm not ready for that, and maybe I never will be, but I'll tell you what I can about the Isle. Carlos is right." She glanced at the boy as she said his name. "You need to know."