"I don't know if this is a good idea." Chad said for what seemed like the millionth time.
"I am very aware, but… I don't want to hide forever."
"It's been a week, Scarlett."
"We don't even know that the message was for me." Scarlett lied, pulling up the red hood on her hoodie.
"The Big Bad Wolf? Really? We don't know it was for you."
"Little Wolf?" She countered. Chad paused, as if thinking about it and sighed.
"Okay I have nothing for that but still… There has to be something. This isn't normal."
"It's fine, Chad. Seriously, tonight let's just have some fun. It's a carnival right?" She asked. He nodded. Her last experience at a fair hadn't been great but Audrey insisted the one in Auradon was way better. The two of them were met by the rest of the gang.
"Hey Scar." Audrey walked over, looking Chad up and down before turning her attention to Scarlett. "Are you sure-"
"Yes, I'm sure. I am very, very sure. Look, I know you guys are worried but please stop, I'm just… I want to have fun tonight." She practically begged. "Just a normal night where I can pretend I'm a normal person."
"You are a normal person." Ben spoke up.
"No she isn't." Chad and Audrey answered in unison.
"Thanks, appreciate it." Scarlett quirked an eyebrow at them, slipping her hands into the pockets of her hoodie.
"You're going to need a warmer jacket." Carlos warned her. "I'm sure they make thicker red hoodies."
"They probably do, but this one is mine." Scarlett shrugged, walking past him, heading off the grounds towards the town. They all walked together, a large group, kind of moving into couples slowly. Ben walked alongside Mal, their fingers intertwined, Jane and Carlos were whispering together and Evie and Doug seemed attached at the hip, as per usual. Scarlett, though she was walking next to Chad, was watching Jay and Audrey, trying to keep tabs on them and what they were doing.
"Scarlett?" She looked up at Chad, her brown eyes wide.
"Yeah?" She asked.
"I've been talking to you for about the past five minutes…"
"Sorry! Sorry, I just- I know Audrey is into him and I want her to be happy-"
"I think they're doing just fine on their own." Chad glanced over to the couple. Jay had taken Audrey's hand and they were walking a little ways off from everyone else.
"Perfect." Scarlett smiled happily. Chad grinned and placed a hand on her lower back, the group got to the carnival, which was a lot like a fair, in Scarlett's humble opinion and they kind of all broke off, going their own ways. Chad and Scarlett stuck together, heading for Scarlett's favorite, the food.
"Carnival food is delicious, but terrible for you." Chad informed her.
"I'm not super concerned."
"You wouldn't be. You eat more than the rest of us combined." He replied, laughing.
"I'm a growing girl." She shrugged as they got to the front of the line. She ordered fried candy bars and sandwich cookies, pulling out her wallet, before she could get the money out, Chad had already paid, ordering a single funnel cake for himself.
"You didn't have to do that." She commented.
"I know I didn't, I wanted to." he shrugged, picking up his plate when they put it down. Scarlett grabbed her own, biting into the soft melty chocolate from the fried candy bar.
"This is heaven in a deep fried coating." She groaned.
"You're not going to get sick on the rides? Are you?" He asked. She shook her head in reply, stuffing another bite of the candy bar in her mouth.
"Nope." She mumbled around it. He chuckled and started in on his funnel cake.
"How did I know you would start with food?" Audrey appeared with Jay right behind her.
"Because I am nothing if not predictable." Scarlett replied, offering Audrey the last bite. She reached out and took it, grasping it with two fingers, popping the last bit into her mouth.
"Okay, it's pretty amazing." She admitted. Scarlett nodded.
"Right?" She asked. Audrey grinned and took a napkin from Scarlett, cleaning off her fingers.
"Let's go on some of the rides, I'm dying to try out the ferris wheel." She grabbed Jay's hand, dragging him off, with Scarlett and Chad on their heels. The group got in line and after a few minutes of waiting, Jay and Audrey got a seat and Chad was with Scarlett in the next one.
"You're not afraid of heights, right?" Chad asked. Scarlett stared at him a moment and shook her head.
"No, not in the least… why? Are you?"
"No! No, of course not… okay maybe a little, but just a little." He insisted.
"It's okay, You can hold my hand, I'll protect you." She teased lightly. Chad smiled.
"Great, I feel really protected right now." He replied as the ferris wheel started moving, taking them up to the next level.
"So you're really afraid of heights? I thought Charming Men weren't afraid of anything."
"They're not… usually." Chad replied.
"Your castle has towers."
"Towers are stable, with walls. This is a wooden bench on a pole balancing a hundred thousand feet in the air."
"A hundred thousand feet is a little bit of an exaggeration, Chad."
"Not much of one." He insisted. Scarlett smiled and scooted closer to him.
"It's not that scary." She replied, taking his hand. "Just don't look down and we will be fine." She promised. He smiled and she leaned against him. They rode up to the top in virtual silence, making it up to the very tip top.
"It's actually really peaceful, more than I thought." Chad commented.
"Up here it's like there's nobody else in the world." Scarlett agreed. Chad turned so he could look at her,
"Scarlett?" He asked. She turned her attention to him and smiled.
"Yeah?" She replied. Chad hesitated before leaning forward, kissing her. Scarlett's eyes widened as she realized what he was doing, then closed as she kissed back. They pulled away only when they heard cheering from below. Scarlett looked down to find Audrey clapping and whooping, watching them.
"You're a creeper, Princess Audrey." She informed her.
"I don't even care." Audrey called back.
They got down to the bottom, the lap bar releasing. The pair hopped off and walked over where Jay and Audrey were waiting for them.
"I knew it! You two are too adorable together!" Audrey squealed. Chad turned red, looking down and Scarlett rolled her eyes.
"You are completely insane." She insisted, but couldn't stop the smile spreading over her features.
"Guys!" They looked up to find Mal and Ben, along with everyone else, standing around one of the booths. Jay headed that way and the others followed. It was a game, the milk bottles stacked on top of each other that you had to throw a ball at.
"Care to try your luck, your majesty?" The man running the booth asked. "The first throw is free." Ben smiled and took the ball.
"Alright." He nodded. He got into position and threw the ball, completely missing the tower. Ben's smile faltered but he quickly regained it, laughing it off. "Give me another." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the money, handing it over. The man took it and gave Ben another ball. He took a bit more time, lining up the shot and threw it, again missing.
"Come on Ben, you can do better than that." Jay taunted.
"Why don't you give it a shot, young man?" The booth runner held out a ball. Jay took it and Ben moved out of the way. He threw the ball, knocking the top milk bottle down, but the other two remained firmly in place.
"What about you, my boy? Care to try?" Carlos looked up, surprised.
"Oh- No, I don't think-"
"Come on Carlos, You can do it." Jane encouraged, her blue eyes wide with excitement. Carlos thought about it a moment more then took the ball. He stepped back and threw, knocking over all three bottles. Jane brightened and cheered as the man grabbed a stuffed bear for Carlos, who gave it to Jane.
"For believing in me." He explained. She happily took the bear, holding it to her chest. Scarlett laughed, staying close to Chad. She felt a strange pull, she couldn't explain it, it felt like a pull deep inside her chest and she turned, the laugh dying on her lips when she saw him.
"Come, Little Wolf." Ezekiel James beckoned. She stepped closer, moving away from her friends.
"Scarlett?" Mal asked, they followed at Scarlett found herself face to face with the man her grandmother had told her to avoid a long, long time ago.
"Surprised to see me?" He asked with a wicked grin.
"No. Disgusted, yeah, but not surprised." She answered. Ezekiel laughed, throwing his head back as he barked with laughter.
"Just as much bark as ever, Little Wolf." Scarlett felt Chad stiffen next to her.
"What did you call her?" He asked.
"Nothing." Scarlett answered.
"Little Wolf. Let's call it a pet name." Ezekiel looked Scarlett up and down slowly.
"Little Wolf wasn't that-"
"Shhh." Carlos interrupted Jane.
"You're the Big Bad Wolf." Audrey accused.
"Not The. He's just a run of the mill bad wolf." Scarlett corrected.
"I'm here to take you home, Little Wolf. Your mother misses you."
"My mother is dead and I'm not going anywhere with you, Ezekiel James." Scarlett growled.
"Scarlett… is this the person who broke into the school?" Ben stepped in front of the others, shoulder to shoulder with Scarlett.
"I can't say for sure he was." She admitted. "But chances are good." She shrugged.
"Get out of Auradon." Ben ordered. "By order of King Ben of Auradon, you are to get out of my kingdom, if you're not cleared out by tomorrow morning, I will send the royal guard after you. And if I find any scrap of evidence that you broke into my school and threatened one of my friends, I will have the guard find you and send you to the Isle." He threatened. "Stay away from Scarlett and stay away from the school." By the point the guards presiding over the carnival had seen the show and were walking over. "Gentlemen, please escort Mr. James out of the carnival, see to it that he doesn't return."
"Don't bother, I'm going." Ezekiel grinned at Scarlett. "You can't run from me, Little Wolf, not for long. I told you then and I'll tell you now, you can't avoid destiny." He warned, snapping his teeth at the group before stalking off into the dark night.
A/N - After a hundred years, here is a new chapter! I'm pretty excited about this story again, I've been feeling a lot of inspiration for this one lately. I'm going to stick to The Curse, The Enchantress's Daughter and Heart of Ice for right now. All three are going to be pretty large stories, probably all duologies. So they'll have sequels. Anyway, as always, if you enjoyed it, or have any comments or questions feel free to leave a review! I have a busy weekend but hopefully I'll be able to squeeze in some time to write!
