A/N: Hey, y'all. I know I've been gone for a while and I have a lot of catching up to do. I've kind of been somersaulting through life lately which has been scary, exhilarating, and stressful all at the same time. I have half drafts for all of my stories that I would like to finish and get posted, but I have hit a bump... in every single one of them. I honestly don't know how it happened, but please let me know if you have any inspiration for any of them. For many, I know where I'm going, but not how to get there.

Twilight Sparkle: I'm so so sorry about the too long wait on your request. I have been working on it a lot, and wanted to let you know that I haven't forgotten about it, I've just gotten stuck.

Thank you all for reading, reviewing, following, and favoriting. It really makes my day when I see that you guys are enjoying this.

Disclaimer: Descendants is property of Disney Channel. I make no claim to own the characters, and have only written this only with love for Descendants and its characters. Thank you.

Ben didn't know what to say. Mal was going to tell him what happened on the Isle, well... some of it. He stared at her, concerned. She still had tears glistening in her eyes, and her face was red from crying. Should he try to comfort her? Hug her? Was that what made her run off before? He didn't know. Mal must have sensed his unease, because smiled half-heartedly and pulled herself closer to him.

"Let's go talk somewhere alone, okay?" she said quietly. Ben nodded and wrapped his arm around her as she turned to face Evie again. "E? We'll talk later?" Evie nodded solemnly, and Mal gave a short nod back before leaving the room with Ben. As they passed through the doorway, Jay shot Ben a warning glance. He had better take care of Mal. Jay held the door open watching as they left. He looked at Lonnie and Doug, and jerked his head to the open door, signaling them to get out. Doug exchanged a glance with Evie before nodding and walking to the door.

"Come on, Lonnie. Let's give them some space." She bit her lip.

"Jay, I-"

"Go. I'll talk to you later." She nodded, and followed Doug out of the room. Jay watched as they got part way down the hallway before closing the door and locking it behind him. Carlos had pulled over his desk chair, and Evie was sitting on the edge of Jay's bed. She sighed.

"Well that just happened." Carlos raised his eyebrows and nodded in agreement as Jay tucked his hands behind his back.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you what happened this morning," he said as he strode over to join Evie on his bed. She hugged him to tell him that it was okay, and he wrapped his arm around her. Carlos shook his head.

"It probably wouldn't have made a difference anyway." Evie nodded sheepishly.

"I knew what we were probably going to talk about, and I didn't warn you guys either." She looked at Carlos, who had gotten up from his chair to sit on her other side. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. He took her hand from her lap and squeezed it.

"It's okay." Carlos gave a small smile. "I think I've had enough apologies for today." Evie chuckled.

"Me too." Jay cracked a smile and almost cracked a joke before he remembered why he wanted to talk to them.

"Hey, Evie?"

"Yeah?"

"Why'd you stop coming to me?" Evie looked at her lap and didn't say anything. Carlos' eyes widened in surprise as he realized that Jay's question was about. He carefully watched his sister as she sat frozen, worried after what happened earlier.

"Evie?"

"I don't know," she finally answered. "I guess I just got caught up in everything." She glanced at Jay before looking away again. "I have school and Evie's 4 Hearts, and Mal needed me." She looked between Jay and Carlos. "You guys have tourney and ROAR. You don't need to worry about me, and it's gotten better," she said optimistically. Jay raised an eyebrow. He didn't believe that after his conversation with Mal. Carlos just looked at her incredulously.

"How bad was it before?"

"Not that bad." Evie pulled her hand away to rustle Carlos' hair playfully. She didn't want them to worry. She would be fine. She knew she would be fine. "Nothing to worry about." Jay frowned, and Carlos eyes managed to get even bigger as he realized he'd heard this before.

"But you zoned out today, in the middle of talking to Ben!"

"Wait, what?" Jay looked between Evie and Carlos. "When did this happen?"

"It wasn't a big deal," Evie tried to protest. "I'm fine." Jay looked at Carlos.

"It was after you went after Mal."

"It really wasn't a big deal! I just had a little flashback." Carlos turned back to Evie in disbelief.

"You started shaking! You almost fell, and Doug had to catch you!" Evie blinked, and she felt Jay's arm tense around her.

"I did?" she asked surprised. She hadn't realized that she was falling.

"Yeah, and then you just started talking again like nothing happened."

"What was it about?" Jay asked quietly. Evie looked at him confused.

"What?"

"The flashback. What was it about?" He felt her shudder against his arm.

"The day I met Mal," she murmured. Jay nodded and pulled her in closer. He was almost relieved. That day was better than a lot of other things she might have remembered.

"I'll never forget when Mal told me that you helped her escape from that place. That was the first time I ever heard her admit that she needed help." Evie cracked a smile, and Carlos chuckled.

"That must have been a momentous occasion." Jay smiled at Carlos before looking back to Evie in his arms.

"Shocked me. I didn't know what to say, but I knew that you must be pretty special for her to let you in like that." Evie leaned closer into his side.

"Thanks, Jay." He nodded, glad that she had relaxed again, but he was still concerned. Evie had always been the most emotional of the group, she was… delicate. Jay had been protecting her since the night that they met. He always walked her home at night, or sometimes would take her somewhere else if it wasn't safe for her to go back. That was one reason that they needed the hideout. The other was more complicated. Evie had known Carlos long before he and Mal had, and had been stitching him up and caring for him after his mother's attacks for years. She had never wanted Carlos to worry about her, so he hardly knew when she was having issues with her own mom. But Jay walked her home at night, so he always knew when she couldn't be near her mother, and he knew whenever she broke down because what happened the night he and Mal saved her. That night Jay gained another little sister. He had to protect her, comfort her when her mother or the stress from being on the Isle almost broke her, and make sure that she ate. The hideout gave him a place safe to do that, and a way for him and Mal to watch over Evie and Carlos, even when they didn't know it. Here in Auradon, Jay could comfort his chosen family anywhere, as everywhere was safe from their parents, but now he couldn't watch over the girls as closely as he had before. When Evie stopped going to see him about her nightmares, Jay had assumed that they had gone away, and after her mother became a lizard, Jay thought Mal would feel less pressure and stress. He never imagined that she would feel even more pressure as Ben's girlfriend. Jay felt guilty for missing so much and not checking on them more, but he knew he couldn't dwell on it. Jay would just roll with the punches, and make sure he didn't make the same mistake again.

"Come to me when this stuff happens, okay?" He gently turned Evie's head to make her look at him. " I don't care when or what's going on, I want you to come see me. Just like before we came here." Carlos cleared his throat, and Jay and Evie turned to him.

"I'm here, too. Anytime you, you know, wanna talk." Jay gave him a small smile. Evie nodded solemnly and bit her lip.

"Okay."